"Looks like he's not home…"
"Then… what do we do next? Should we go find Ino first?" Hinata asked softly.
Kiyonari thought for a moment. "Let's check a few places Sasuke might show up—training grounds and the like. We'll see if we get lucky."
So the two of them started wandering around the village, checking one place after another, but they still didn't see Sasuke anywhere.
Seeing that it was almost mealtime, Kiyonari sighed helplessly at Hinata. "Forget it. Guess we're just unlucky today. Let's go find Ino and Sakura first—"
Before he could finish, a loud argument broke out not far away.
The voice was distinctive—and familiar. It was… Uzumaki Naruto?!
Kiyonari stopped instantly and headed toward the sound. Hinata hurried after him. They crossed a street, and what they saw made them both freeze.
Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were in a fierce brawl.
They rolled and grappled on the dusty ground, yanking each other's collars, neither willing to let go first.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Kiyonari charged in, grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder with one hand and pressed down on Naruto's arm with the other, forcing them apart.
Sasuke shook off Kiyonari's hand, got up, snorted, and turned his back.
Naruto, still held by the arm, glared furiously at the back of Sasuke's head, muttering incoherently under his breath.
Kiyonari took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice calm. "Can someone tell me what happened?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment before speaking awkwardly. "Just now I saw this idiot… begging a shop owner in this pathetic, groveling way to sell him something. I don't even know why… but seeing him act so useless made me angry for no reason."
Even Sasuke felt confused.
Normally he wouldn't care about something like that. But the moment he saw this guy—whose name he didn't even know—looking like that, a nameless fire surged up from his chest completely out of control.
Naruto blinked, his eyes drifting. "Honestly… I'm kind of the same! Whenever I see that show-off making that smug face like he's better than everyone, I just get mad."
Kiyonari's reaction: subway, old man, phone.jpg
What is this even supposed to mean?
It was like a wet, homeless golden puppy left by the roadside in a rainstorm. Another dog passed by, thought about comforting it, then kicked it because its social skills were that bad.
It sounded weird, but if it happened to these two, it wasn't weird at all.
A doomed past-life bond.
"Alright, alright—cool it." Kiyonari sighed in resignation. "Since we've cleared things up, apologize to each other and let's put this behind us."
Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, then both snorted at the same time and turned away.
After a long moment, Sasuke—who knew he was in the wrong—spoke first. His face didn't look happy, but the tone was definitely an apology. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. And… my name is Uchiha Sasuke."
For someone, this was basically the first time in his life he'd ever heard the words "I'm sorry," and the anger in him instantly deflated. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And… I shouldn't have started swinging either… sorry."
"Good." Kiyonari clapped his hands once. "I was going to treat everyone to a meal anyway—why don't you both come too? We'll celebrate how you two 'fight to become friends.' What do you say?"
Naruto's eyes lit up instantly—but the light lasted only a moment before dimming. "I'll pass…"
He worried that if an unwanted "demon fox" like him went along, a shop owner would throw him out, and it would make the kind Kiyonari awkward. Better to refuse right away than cause trouble later.
Sasuke rejected too. "No thanks. I'm going home to eat."
"First of all," Kiyonari said, "I literally just came from your house—your door was locked. What food are you going home to?" Then he looked at Naruto. "And you, Naruto—stop thinking weird things. Just follow me."
Sasuke's face stiffened, but he nodded. "Fine."
"Oh—right." Kiyonari suddenly smacked his forehead, his pace quickening. "It's almost mealtime. We still have to find Ino and Sakura. Move."
Naruto hurried to keep up, his face full of pure curiosity. "Ino and Sakura? Who are they?"
For him, meeting new people felt both exciting and a little scary.
"They're my friends—two girls who are really easy to get along with."
Sasuke frowned. "You only met them recently, didn't you? Why would you want to treat them to a meal?"
Kiyonari smiled, exposing what Sasuke really meant. "You're asking where I got the money, aren't you?"
Sasuke turned his head away. "I'm not concerned about you. And I'm not paying for it either. If you can't afford the bill, you're the one who'll look stupid."
Naruto couldn't resist chiming in. "Sasuke, can't you be a little more honest?"
"Like I care!"
Sasuke sped up, breaking away from the group. The others quickly followed—and soon, they spotted the two girls outside the Yamanaka flower shop.
"Ino. Sakura." Kiyonari greeted them.
Ino stepped forward first. As usual, her gaze was instinctively drawn to the two handsome boys—Kiyonari and Sasuke. But in the next instant, she noticed the dust still stuck in Sasuke's hair and the wrinkles in his collar.
Then her eyes swept over the group and quickly found the suspect: Naruto, with smudges of dirt on his face and the same wrinkled collar.
"What were you two… doing?"
"Oh, let me introduce him," Kiyonari said, pointing at the blond puppy. "Uzumaki Naruto. Um… you could say he's Sasuke's sworn enemy."
"Who's his sworn enemy?!"
"Who's his sworn enemy?!"
They shouted at the exact same time, overflowing with identical disgust.
"Alright… I get it."
Ino nearly burst out laughing at the perfect synchronization. She raised both hands in surrender, making a "fine, I'm scared of you two" gesture.
Then she quickly returned to her poised, friendly manner and extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Yamanaka Ino. Nice to meet you."
Naruto stared at the clean, pale hand. Thinking about how he'd just been rolling on the ground fighting Sasuke, he hurriedly rubbed his own hand hard against his clothes before reaching out, carefully taking her hand.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you."
But Sakura, standing to the side, didn't have such a warm attitude. The moment her eyes landed on Sasuke's messy clothes and hair, her heartache and displeasure practically overflowed.
"I'm Haruno Sakura."
~~~
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