Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 20

"I'll let you know, I was cheering for you from start till end baka…" she scolded him, he merely averted his eyes to the side in shame at letting her down.

"And never once did I laugh with them…" she continued on with another poke to his nose to emphasize her point and he looked at her with wide eyes to see the plain conviction in her eyes and behind those words.

...

In a moment she retracted her hand back and let out her usual cheeky grin.

"And don't be all mopey-broody, just 'cause you lost 'kay?" she asked him, and got a tilt of the head from him in honest confusion.

She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes making him shrink under her gaze. His mother used to do that, and it was still quite effective in his mini-me of her right now.

"We are here for another six or seven years, so what if you didn't do good and lost? You have plenty more chances to show all of them up." she said firmly with a sage like nod, finally making him smile and nod.

"Umm…ano?" they heard a third voice and Naruto looked on in confusion as his opponent from before came from behind them. He put his hand forward with two outstretched fingers for him to take.

"You didn't make the seal of reconciliation earlier as are the rules, and I don't want to ruin a tradition coming from generations on our first day here at the Academy." he spoke with a smile.

Naruto looked down on the outstretched hand and yet another smile broke on to his face while he nodded in return and stretched out his own hand with two fingers clasping his fingers in a perfect seal.

"It was a good match, you had me worried there for a few moments." Sakumo spoke in an honest tone, shocking him to his core at the admiration his voice held for him.

For Sakumo, he knew the boy was strong and would get even stronger in time, it was his gut feeling.

"I'm not sure if we are properly introduced, I'm Sakumo, Sakumo Hatake from the Hatake clan. It's nice to meet you." he said in a happy tone and extended his hand, this time for a shake and the start of a new bond of friendship between the two.

Naruto once more looked down surprised at the offer of friendship and saw the genuine look in his eyes while his hand clasped the other one almost on it's own.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uchiha from the Uchiha clan. It's nice to meet you too." Naruto spoke in his ever soft voice getting a nod and a smile from his new silver haired friend.

Both stumbled when a white and blonde blur barreled into them from their side, clasping their necks with her arms.

"I wanna be friends too!" chirped Tsunade with a cheeky smile and all of them laughed at her antics while she put out her tongue childishly. Sakumo looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"You have quite an interesting friend indeed." he drawled out in an amused voice and Naruto sighed softly, nodding sagely at his words.

"I told you, she's a bit impulsive…" he answered tiredly, and Tsunade puffed out her cheeks and raised both her arms over their heads.

BONK…BONK…

"Kuso, it hurts…" both Naruto and Sakumo rubbed the small lumps on their heads comically in unison with a small tear drop in their eyes. Tsunade huffed and turned around, crossing her arms with a small scowl on her face.

"You two deserved it…" she mumbled firmly making the two smile at their impulsive female friend.

"Tsunade Senju and Misa Yamanaka, please step into the rings…" they heard their teacher's voice and Tsunade's ears perked up.

She grinned at having had her chance finally come up, and pulled the two boys behind her, almost dragging them like rag dolls behind her.

"Alright my chance! Finally at last…" she chirped up, forgetting her previous anger instantly. The two boys glanced at each other and sighed in unison while they were dragged back towards the crowd quite forcefully.

They had an impulsive friend alright…

Both drawled out inwardly, and smiled as they wished her luck in her fight.

...

Meanwhile in the balcony on the second floor's hallways in the Academy…

"A shame really…" the brown haired man commented, puffing out a small cloud of smoke from his lips to draw his companions ears to him.

"Hmm?" Tobirama hummed in confusion at his words.

"The blonde Uchiha I mean, he seemingly had no experience in hand to hand combat before this spar. But the stance was quite clear in his mind, most probably from learning the theory behind it.

He missed many chances to counter but his defense was still strong, a little more experience and he will be acing through the physical workouts in no time.

The style was built for his body, fast and agile, requiring flexibility in maneuvers and the keenest of instincts. The boy was born with them in his palms, he will master that, if he has the drive to do so that is…" he explained making Tobirama contemplate his companion's words.

"He will, he has the drive…" he finally spoke, getting yet another raised eyebrow from the smoking man by his side.

"Oh, you know him quite well I presume. He intrigues you doesn't he?" he stated more than asked and Tobirama merely stayed silent, his silence answering the man's question completely.

The smoking man though smiled, seeing the three who were by the side near the tap and seemingly nurturing a new start to some precious bonds.

This was the thing they lived and fought for each day, to secure a peaceful childhood for them before they were thrust into taking up the mantle from them and trained to be shinobi.

"He intrigues me too, the both of them do…" he finally drawled out to break the silence that had sprawled between them when they saw Tsunade pulling them back for her turn to the ring like sacks of potatoes.

This time, it was Tobirama's turn to raise an eyebrow. Though he smirked a moment later but said nothing turning his eyes to see Tsunade's match. If it could be called so much.

As soon as the match had started, Tsunade had charged and buried her fist in the other girl's stomach with all her strength. Who, in turn, had fallen unconscious.

Everyone watching the match sweat dropped when Tsunade poked the girl with the tip of her foot's sandals.

"Oi! I didn't hit that hard, get up I wanna fight." she poked her head again but the girl was out cold. Tobirama and the instructor palmed their faces in unison at the girl's antics, though the former was still proud of his granddaughter to finish her spar off so early.

"Sensei I'll make the seal of reconciliation later, she isn't making one right now…" Tsunade spoke, poking her opponent yet again as if she were a log, getting a tired nod from the teacher who picked the girl up and walked her to the infirmary with a tired sigh.

He had a girl high on sugar in his class it seemed to him.

She walked to her two new friends with a wide and proud grin which was seemingly returned by Sakumo whole heartedly.

"You did great." he spoke, making her grin widen and turn to her first friend to see what he thought of it.

"Congratulations." Naruto spoke in his ever soft and polite tone. She smiled, hearing the honesty in his calm and soft voice. He was certainly different than all her other friends, in a weirdly nice sort of way to her and she nodded.

They watched the rest of the matches till late in the afternoon, before the day was called off much to the relief of some of the exhausted students.

Naruto packed up his bag slowly to make sure he didn't forget anything, unlike his female partner by his side who was logging in everything hurriedly like a man on a mission.

He saw her struggling with the zip, since the clogged up things in it were now making it quite bigger than it should have been seeing it from the morning.

"Damn it, close up!" Tsunade scolded the bag, much to the confusion of Naruto who sighed softly and decided to stop her before she ripped it apart.

"Ano…you need help?" he asked her and got a slight glare from the fired up girl which turned into a tired sigh and a nod. He smiled, taking the bag and rolling up the scrolls and closing the books and things in it properly before placing them in an organized manner.

Finally, he zipped it up and handed it to the girl who took it with an embarrassed smile.

"Gomen, I get a little angry sometimes…" she mumbled in a hushed whisper, which he dismissed and slung his own bag over his shoulder by his waist.

They walked out of the Academy together, with Sakumo having left a little early since he had some work and both walked towards the clan districts together.

"Oi! You still have to show me that Fireball Jutsu of yours." she spoke up in their walk pointedly, making him nod in remembrance of his promise.

"Alright, I'll show it to you where I learnt it then 'kay?" he asked and got a happy nod from the girl.

He took her to near the edge of his own clan compounds when Tsunade saw him walk down the stairs of the bank and onto the porch of the river.

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