Chapter 14:
"Sorry about that, Uzumaki. I accidentally dropped the shuriken. I didn't mean to almost hit you." Uchiha Kanmon bowed in apology.
"Just be more careful next time," Kushina said, brushing it off.
Anyone with a bit of sense could tell that Kanmon hadn't done it on purpose. The shuriken had genuinely slipped from his hand, and it didn't even end up hurting anyone. He'd never bullied Kushina for her red hair either. She wasn't the type to hold grudges, so she let it go without much fuss.
"Asakawa-san, you're better at shuriken throwing than I am now," Kanmon finally turned to Asakawa Naoki, a mix of admiration and challenge in his eyes.
Earlier, when the shuriken had slipped from his hand, Asakawa Naoki was the first to react—hitting the falling shuriken with one of his own before it could get anywhere near Kushina.
Hitting a moving target with a shuriken is already hard. Hitting another shuriken mid-air? That was next-level. Everyone who witnessed it could see Naoki had real skill.
"But one day, I'm going to surpass you!" Kanmon declared.
"Sure," Naoki replied with a small smile. "I'll give you time to catch up… but by the time you do, I'll be so far ahead, you won't even see my back."
Since stepping onto the path of immortality, Naoki hadn't once feared being overtaken.
He would keep chasing those stronger than him—and those weaker? They'd just keep falling farther and farther behind.
To some, his words might've sounded cocky. But to those who heard him just now, they felt less like bragging and more like truth spoken with confidence.
"Guess the future won't be boring after all."
Not far away, Namikaze Minato had stopped practicing. All ten of his shuriken were stuck neatly in the head of the wooden target ten meters away.
Like Naoki, Minato hadn't missed a single throw since the start of class.
"Alright, time to gather!" Masaki Yuto called out. "Test time. You need to hit seven out of ten to pass."
"Anyone who fails gets five laps around the field before class is over!"
The rest of the day passed quickly.
Starting in second grade, there was mandatory afternoon training. Students weren't allowed to leave school right after class.
They could either run to build stamina, practice their shuriken throwing, or train in the Clone, Body Replacement, and Transformation techniques—the basics.
Asakawa Naoki didn't know the Clone or Transformation techniques, and running wasn't as efficient as training with true fire. Two kilometers every class was already enough to build his stamina.
So that left only shuriken practice.
Shuriken throwing didn't use chakra. It was pure technique—no fancy ninjutsu, no shortcuts.
Naoki was better than Uchiha Kanmon because of his intense training. That, and the side effects of stepping onto the Immortal Path.
Even without using mana, his body had been tempered by the Samadhi True Fire. His muscles had been refined, his bones strengthened. Speed, strength, reaction time, vision—everything was sharper.
On that foundation, defeating Kanmon was easy.
"Go!"
Naoki threw all ten of his shuriken in one fluid motion.
Thud, thud, thud— every single one landed squarely on the head of a different wooden post. The technique was even more difficult than Kanmon's "Heavenly Blossom Scatter."
He could do that one too, but it burned through stamina too fast. That's why he hadn't bothered showing off.
"Naoki! Let's go!" Kushina called out, waving.
Her training was done as well. Unlike Naoki, her schedule was more balanced—twenty minutes of running, twenty minutes of throwing, twenty minutes of technique work.
"Yeah."
Naoki nodded, packed up the wooden shuriken, and stored them away before leaving the training grounds alongside her.
"Thanks for today," Kushina said with a warm smile, cheeks flushed from the training run.
"No problem. We're friends, after all."
"Mm." She looked down, not meeting his eyes. After a pause, she asked, "I've actually been wondering… why did you decide to be friends with me?"
Naoki thought for a moment. "Probably because I couldn't stand watching Yamagami Taro and those guys pick on you. I just wanted to do something."
Back then, he was on the verge of dropping out because he couldn't refine chakra.
Those bullies who targeted Kushina in class? They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naoki had figured, "If I'm about to get kicked out anyway, might as well make use of this second life and beat up some scumbags."
"Then I guess I should thank them," Kushina laughed. Her voice was bright and clear like a bell, her smile radiant.
Maybe it was because of how impressive Naoki had been earlier, but Kushina finally let her guard down.
Up until now, she'd always kept up a tough front. After all, her home was destroyed, and she'd been thrown into a completely foreign village. She was just an eight-year-old girl, but in many ways, she was stronger than most boys her age.
Only when she was around Naoki did she let herself be soft—just a little.
"Yeah… maybe." Naoki let out a quiet sigh.
If those guys hadn't been bullying her, he probably wouldn't have spoken to her. He'd have stayed in the back row, quietly training or studying alone.
If Naoki hadn't stepped in to help, with how wary Kushina was of strangers after arriving in Konoha, she likely never would've spoken to him—much less opened up.
In the end, only Yamagami Taro and his goon squad got the short end of the stick. Justice well served.
"Don't worry," Naoki said lightly. "As long as I'm around, I won't let anyone mess with you."
"Mm."
Kushina nodded, the corners of her lips lifting into a smile. Her face flushed even redder, like two clouds rising on her cheeks—but thanks to her crimson hair, it wasn't too noticeable.
Wait… is she getting the wrong idea? Naoki thought, a little troubled.
Because of the constant wars, most kids in the ninja world matured fast. A lot of them started developing crushes early. Even in peacetime, Naruto liked Sakura, Lee liked Sakura, Hinata liked Naruto, and Sakura liked Sasuke—all while they were still in school.
And this wasn't even peacetime yet.
Asakawa Naoki had no interest in kids who hadn't even grown up yet. He wasn't some kind of creep. He preferred older women.
He genuinely just saw Kushina as a friend. But if she misunderstood? Explaining might just make things worse.
In the end, the two said their goodbyes outside the school gates, waved, and headed home in opposite directions—putting an end to what could've been a very awkward situation.
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