Because of that, the utterly nonsensical thing seven-year-old Sasuke did was—
He got into a fight with Naruto Uzumaki at the Ninja Academy, a kid who was two months younger than him.
Lately, Child Naruto had gained a new housemate. A big brother with different-colored eyes, who looked a lot like Sasuke, yet was so kind that even idiot Sasuke couldn't be compared to him at all. It was like night and day.
That big brother could disappear with a whoosh and reappear just as fast. He would even bring Naruto his favorite Ichiraku Ramen. Well… that part was exaggerated. He actually dropped in through the window.
He wasn't very talkative, but he always listened patiently to Naruto ramble on about stories from the Ninja Academy.
He even made really tasty fish-shaped rice balls.
The only downside was that he forced Naruto to eat vegetables every day. At least one tomato a day, no excuses.
But ever since that big brother showed up, coming home on cold autumn nights and seeing the lights on inside the house had already become something Naruto had never dared to hope for.
Most importantly, that big brother taught him a lot of powerful fighting techniques. Even Naruto's always-terrible shuriken throwing became accurate under his guidance. Although his Clone Technique still didn't work, his taijutsu and shuriken skills improved by far more than just a little.
Normally, when two kids fought, there was no need to guess. Child Sasuke would win in "three, two, one."
But this time was different.
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke had subconsciously taught Naruto ways to counter his own fighting style. As a result, when kid Sasuke and kid Naruto fought at the Ninja Academy, the outcome turned out to be evenly matched.
On one side was the second son of the Uchiha clan head, a member of a clan recently at the center of controversy.
On the other was the Nine-Tails kid who had never been welcomed by anyone.
Among the academy students whose parents had warned them to stay far away from those two, only Sakura, Ino, and a few other girls were still cheering for Sasuke. On Naruto's side, only Hinata quietly cheered for him, too timid to raise her voice.
Even the substitute teacher on duty didn't want to intervene, thinking it might be better to just let them fight it out.
Shikamaru and Chōji felt something was wrong and thought they should find someone to stop it.
Kid Sasuke had no idea when that idiot Naruto had gotten this strong, and his fighting spirit only grew more intense.
Kid Naruto had long been fed up with Sasuke's arrogant, superior attitude and wanted to teach him a lesson.
The two of them fought harder and harder.
And no one stepped in to stop them.
In the end, they fought until both of them were completely exhausted, collapsing flat on the ground side by side, and that finally marked the end of it.
"Bastard Sasuke."
"Dead last."
They spoke at the same time.
"Why were we fighting again?"
Pfft—
It was kind of funny.
Naruto lay sprawled on the ground and started laughing, his laughter growing louder and louder.
Sasuke tilted his head and asked what was so funny.
Naruto said, "This way, we're the same."
"The same how?"
"Same strength, same stupidity, same getting avoided by everyone."
Sasuke was shocked. Even Naruto, this idiot, had noticed it.
Recently, something strange had been going on. The atmosphere in the Uchiha clan compound felt off, and the mood at home was gloomy. Only his brother and a few outsiders were constantly running around, busy with something.
Then it suddenly hit him—
Wasn't this feeling of being avoided by everyone exactly what Naruto Uzumaki had been dealing with all along?
"Um… since when did you start…"
"Being isolated? Probably since the moment I was born."
All the other students and teachers had already left. Only the two of them remained, lying under the twilight sky, staring up at the vast expanse above.
"I don't know who my mom or dad were. Maybe they did something really bad to Konoha, so everyone's always hated me like this."
Sasuke stared at Naruto in surprise, shocked that he could say something like that so calmly.
Naruto had already pushed himself up, kneeling on one knee. He awkwardly turned his head to the side and held out two fingers.
"…"
Sasuke understood immediately. He extended two fingers of his own, hooked them together with Naruto's, and pulled him up.
The moment they stood, the Seal of Reconciliation was formed.
…
Watching the young Sasuke and young Naruto from afar, Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War suddenly remembered something.
He and Naruto Uzumaki still hadn't exchanged the Seal of Reconciliation.
He had gained an arm made from Hashirama's cells mixed with White Zetsu components, but what about that guy?
Sasuke Uchiha from the era of the Fourth Shinobi War stared at his own arm, the desire to return growing stronger by the second.
Killing the Five Kage.
Reforming the shinobi world.
Killing Naruto Uzumaki to obtain even greater power.
All of it was pushed to the back of his mind.
Seeing his younger self and Naruto, seeing Team 7, seeing his brother together with Shisui—at this moment, all he wanted was to return to his own parallel world, undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and see that idiot grin foolishly at him one more time.
Super idiot…
…
They arrived at the Uchiha clan compound, inside the clan head's residence.
It was dinnertime.
Seeing Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War, Mikoto greeted this son from the future who had endured so much and urged him to come eat.
"Itachi's cooking tonight. If your tastes haven't changed, there should be plenty of dishes you like."
Over the past few days, these shinobi from different eras had finally come to understand just how capable Sasuke's older brother really was.
He was basically good at everything.
Today's progress was especially impressive. They had successfully persuaded eight people in one go.
On the mission scroll, it went from—
[Mission Rank: SS]
[Mission Objective: Eliminate mutual prejudice between the Uchiha and Konoha (27/99)]
To—
[Mission Rank: SS]
[Mission Objective: Eliminate mutual prejudice between the Uchiha and Konoha (35/99)]
That was equivalent to the combined results of the previous three days.
Maybe children were simply easier to satisfy, but once they saw real hope, young Itachi Uchiha, Shisui, Team 7, and Minato's team were all rushing around nonstop, brimming with motivation.
Fugaku Uchiha had never seen his eldest son smile with such genuine happiness. Even if he had, it was something he hadn't seen in years.
Add to that Adult Obito and Rebellious Obito—both of whom, without their masks, were basically children at heart—and Kakashi, who had been dragged over to help, and the pace of progress naturally kept accelerating.
Encouraged by today's results, Itachi decided on a whim to prepare a slightly more luxurious dinner for his younger brother from another parallel world and everyone else.
When they saw the table filled with a seafood feast worthy of a top-tier restaurant, everyone was stunned.
"Slightly luxurious"? This was luxurious by a billion times.
Young Naruto even complained that it was a shame he didn't have an older brother.
The others subconsciously looked toward Sasuke. Given the connection between Indra and Ashura, it wasn't hard to default to the idea that Sasuke could basically count as Naruto's older brother.
Realizing this, Naruto shot Sasuke a resentful, wronged look.
"Can you cook?"
"..." Sasuke paused. "I can make fish-shaped rice balls." And wash tomatoes.
"I mean like this." Naruto pointed at the seafood feast on the table.
"…"
That was really asking too much.
Later at the dinner table, the most shocking sight of all was three versions of Sasuke Uchiha—kid Sasuke, young Sasuke, and Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War—actually fighting with chopsticks over the food.
Kid Sasuke: "The fish belly is my favorite part!"
Young Sasuke: "Mine too!"
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke: "Agreed."
"..."
Everyone else was speechless.
Fugaku Uchiha, as the clan head, didn't say much. Still, with the house this lively and noisy, it was impossible for anyone's mood to stay bad.
The Uchiha clan had always been accustomed to locking their emotions deep inside, never daring to let even the slightest bit show.
When that kind of suppression built up for too long, the eventual explosion was bound to spiral completely out of control.
In comparison, this kind of scene felt… rather nice.
"At this rate, it'll still take at least another half a month, won't it?"
After dinner, Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War raised the question of when that SS-rank mission would finally be completed.
"It might not go that smoothly," young Kakashi said, shaking his head.
The moment this was brought up, the mood of both Team Minato and Team Kakashi grew noticeably heavier.
"Whether it's Konoha or the Uchiha, there are always people you just can't reason with, no matter what you say."
Young Obito let out a sigh.
"This is already the result of us pushing ourselves to the limit. Don't just say things like that so casually!"
Young Naruto nodded vigorously beside him, clearly agreeing with Obito.
Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War ignored the two of them and instead looked toward Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake.
"When the next full moon comes, I can use the Rinnegan's genjutsu one more time. We can prepare some more positive content and make it public to the shinobi world. It should have some effect."
Adult Obito immediately expressed doubt.
"Something positive? You? Are you sure?"
A triple question straight from the soul.
The unspoken meaning was obvious: as a full-blooded Uchiha, did he even know how to write the word "positive"?
Sasuke Uchiha didn't hold back either. His mismatched eyes swept coldly over the three Obitos.
"You guys, the ones who started all of this, just shut up."
Young Obito raised his fist in protest.
"This has nothing to do with me! Don't lump me in with them!!"
Fugaku Uchiha watched the Uchiha shinobi bicker among themselves, his expression completely calm. The clan once known for its unity had somehow produced quite a few odd ones right here.
"Well then, let's get back to the main point," Minato Namikaze said, stepping in to smooth things over.
He turned to Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi War.
"As for the content of the genjutsu, do you have any good ideas?"
"…Yeah," Sasuke replied after a brief pause. "I've already thought it through."