The morning was too loud.
Which meant only one thing.
Naruto.
"COME ON, SASUKE! THEY'RE ALL WAITING!"
Sasuke stood in the doorway of his compound, staring blankly at the sunshine-blasted idiot vibrating on his front step.
"Waiting for what?"
"For you! To hang out! Social bonding! Team chemistry! Friendship no Jutsu!" Naruto flashed a double thumbs-up. "Also we're getting snacks. Ino said she's buying."
"…No."
"But—"
"No."
"Please? I promised everyone you'd come."
"Not my problem."
"I told Ino you'd braid her ego if you didn't show."
"…What?"
"Too late, she's emotionally invested now!"
Sasuke exhaled through his nose like a tired teacher on field trip duty. "Fine."
"YES!" Naruto fist-pumped. "See? I knew we were friends!"
"We're not."
"That's what makes it even better!"
Location: Riverbank Plaza behind the Academy
To Sasuke's growing horror, everyone was already there.
Ino, flipping her hair dramatically every 30 seconds and pretending not to stare directly at him.
Sakura, scowling with competitive fire, already halfway through a debate with Shikamaru about battle formations.
Hinata, quietly poking at the grass with her fingers, occasionally peeking at Naruto like he was a science experiment she wasn't sure she liked being near.
Choji, sitting cross-legged with a whole picnic.
Kiba, chasing Akamaru who had stolen someone's rice ball.
Shino, not moving. Just... observing.
Naruto announced their arrival like he was returning from war. "EVERYONE! I HAVE ACQUIRED THE BROODING EMO BOY!"
Ino gasped. "You actually got him to come?!"
Sakura crossed her arms. "He probably thought it was training. Sasuke-kun wouldn't waste time on social fluff."
"I was blackmailed," Sasuke muttered, sitting under the farthest tree.
"That's what we call socializing!" Naruto grinned, throwing a rice ball at him.
Kiba flopped beside Sasuke. "I'm betting two snacks he ditches within the hour."
"I heard that," Sasuke said flatly.
"I meant you to."
Choji offered a bag of spicy chips to everyone. Ino declined. Sakura took five. Shikamaru sighed. "Too much work to chew."
Naruto sat in the middle of it all like a golden retriever surrounded by fireworks.
Hinata hesitated. "U-Um… Sasuke-kun… it's nice you're here."
Sasuke blinked. "Thanks."
Everyone paused. Naruto gasped. "DID HE JUST—REPLY? To a normal human greeting?!"
Kiba raised his hands dramatically. "He's evolving!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I can leave."
"NO!" Ino and Naruto said at the same time — far too loud and suspiciously in sync.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Okay, why are you two being weird?"
"Shh," Ino whispered. "Don't ruin this for me—uh—I mean—us."
Sasuke, despite everything, found himself leaning back against the tree… and not hating it.
An hour later
Naruto was attempting to climb a tree upside down.
Kiba was trying to one-up him by doing it with Akamaru on his back.
Choji was taking bets.
Ino and Sakura were both pretending not to compete for Sasuke's attention while definitely competing for Sasuke's attention.
Shino was quietly judging everyone.
Shikamaru had laid down on a log and was using a scroll as a sunshade.
And Hinata was quietly... just enjoying being there.
Sasuke watched all of this.
And slowly… very slowly…
He allowed himself to smile. Just a bit.
When Naruto slipped off the tree and landed in a bush yelling "I'M FINE, THAT WAS STRATEGIC," Sasuke didn't even mock him.
He just said, "Idiot."
Which, by now, was Sasuke's version of affection.
_________
Morning at the Academy was chaos as usual.
Naruto arrived riding a broom like it was a summon beast, nearly colliding with Sakura.
"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?" Sakura screeched, dodging with ninja reflexes she absolutely did not have yet.
"I'm training my balance!" Naruto yelled, still airborne. "Believe it—AUGH!"
He crashed into the desk next to Sasuke's.
Sasuke didn't flinch.
He just looked at him.
"…You're bleeding."
"It's a training wound," Naruto said proudly, nose dripping.
Sasuke sighed, ripped part of a scroll wrapper, and handed it over like a medic-nin reluctantly treating a wounded dog.
Naruto blinked. "You patched me up."
"You were staining the floor."
Naruto grinned wider than a sunrise.
Afternoon Training Session — After Class
Naruto, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru ran off toward the open field behind the academy. Hinata trailed behind, shy and smiling. Ino dragged Sakura by the wrist, already halfway into an argument about whose kunai form was cuter.
Sasuke lingered. Alone.
"Hey."
He turned.
Naruto stood behind him, holding out two small rice balls. "I got extra."
Sasuke took one. "Thanks."
They didn't talk much that afternoon.
But they sat in the same tree.
That was enough.
Later that Week — Night Training
The courtyard behind the Uchiha estate was quiet except for the thud of sandals against the dirt.
Sasuke moved in a steady rhythm.
Weights strapped to his ankles and wrists now. Small at first, barely noticeable — but gradually increasing.
He trained in silence:
Body conditioning: squats, push-ups, uphill runs.
Chakra control: balancing leaves in complex patterns on fingertips, walking backwards up trees, and skipping stones across water while running on it.
Kenjutsu forms: flowing stances and angled cuts, sharpened over hundreds of repetitions.
The full three-tomoe Sharingan spun under his lids, active only in darkness.
Watching. Correcting. Perfecting.
His body learned.
His chakra listened.
He was building toward something no one expected from a 7-year-old.
Late Night — Secret Clearing
Chakra gathered in his hand.
Lightning flared, uncontrolled at first — then honed into a spear of crackling, vibrating power.
The Chidori.
The sound of a thousand birds screaming echoed in the trees.
But it wasn't enough.
He pushed further — condensing the chakra, refining it to lethal precision, amplifying the control with Sharingan clarity.
The advanced version sparked in his mind — sharper, quieter, faster.
Raikiri.
It burned in his palm.
But he held it steady.
Almost there.
Separate Training Log: Rasengan
It had taken him months just to learn the three steps:
Rotation
Power
Containment
No nature chakra involved. Just pure form.
Sasuke had broken water balloons in secret until his fingers blistered. His Sharingan mapped the swirl of chakra down to its microscopic spin.
It still wasn't perfect. But it was forming.
A contained, rotating sphere of raw force.
The Rasengan.
Every day, closer.
Not a single teacher knew.
Not even Naruto.
But one day… maybe.
Meanwhile — Academy Life
Naruto, as always, dragged him into chaos.
Kiba challenged him to a chicken nugget eating contest. He won. Barely.
Ino "accidentally" dropped her ribbon near him. Sakura kicked it into a bush.
Hinata watched all of this from behind a tree, too shy to intervene.
Shikamaru offered to help Sasuke calculate wind resistance mid-shuriken throw, then gave up halfway through the explanation. "Too troublesome."
Choji handed him a chip. Sasuke didn't refuse.
Naruto was the glue between them all.
And Sasuke?
He wasn't an outsider anymore.
Not fully.
Not with Naruto sitting next to him every day.
Not with friends around — friends he didn't quite know how to talk to yet, but… accepted.
One Night — On the Roof
Naruto lay on his back, looking at the stars.
Sasuke sat nearby, quietly polishing his training blade.
"You ever wonder," Naruto mumbled, "if we'll still be friends after we graduate?"
Sasuke didn't look up. "If you stop yelling so much."
Naruto laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."
Sasuke hesitated… then nodded.
Just once.
At seven years old, Sasuke Uchiha was already training beyond the limits of a genin.
He was building blades of lightning.
Forming spinning orbs of power.
Balancing his chakra like a sage in silence.
But none of that compared to the hardest thing he was learning—
Trust.
And somehow… Naruto was helping him do it.
One loud day at a time.