Naruto: The new beginning

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted away.

"Crack!" Sasuke snapped his chopsticks in frustration, gritted his teeth, and yelled, "Uzumaki! When I catch you!"

Naruto ran so fast that he couldn't be caught, deciding to avoid the fight for now. He realized he was at fault and couldn't believe he was getting more and more naive, arguing with a six-year-old.

In the afternoon, the class was a taijutsu session. Iruka-sensei explained, "You will all be ninjas in the future, so let's use your strength to get to know each other."

"The first group for training: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sasuke stepped forward, clenching his fists tightly and glaring at Naruto.

Naruto smirked, "Hey, don't be angry. Didn't I apologize?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Stop babbling! I'm going to beat you today!"

"The battle begins! Both sides, form the Seal of Confrontation!" Iruka-sensei announced, making sure everyone paid attention.

Naruto thought Iruka-sensei could have said a few more things like:

1. Don't be impatient!

2. Never miss any important details!

3. The referee must always be fair!

Naruto and Sasuke formed the Seal of Confrontation instinctively. They had done this many times before.

Sasuke noticed Naruto seemed distracted. He couldn't understand why Naruto always had so many random and irrelevant thoughts.

Naruto's inattentive attitude at the beginning of the battle was irritating. Even though Sasuke was used to it, it still bothered him.

Sasuke charged forward, aiming a punch at Naruto's face. He wanted to do this for a long time.

Naruto blocked the punch with his forearm and countered by swinging his other hand at Sasuke's face. Naruto had been annoyed with Sasuke's handsome face for quite a while.

Sasuke jumped back. There was no chakra-enhanced strike; it wasn't the Chidori.

The first round was just a warm-up, testing if the opponent's strength and speed had improved. As expected, both had progressed, and neither had slacked off.

They moved in again, their fists and palms clashing. It was hard to tell who had the upper hand, but Sasuke knew he was at a disadvantage.

Naruto had tough skin and strong endurance. Once Sasuke's strength waned, Naruto would overpower him.

They were very familiar with each other's moves. Sasuke knew Naruto's next move, so he dodged and swept his leg.

Naruto jumped to avoid the sweep. Sasuke took the opportunity to kick sideways, but Naruto caught his calf and threw him to the ground.

Naruto figured this move wouldn't be very effective. Sasuke would probably pull off some acrobatic escape.

Sure enough, Sasuke used his hand to flip mid-air, landing gracefully and drawing cheers from the onlookers.

'Showing off again, huh' Naruto thought, rushing over and twisting into a sweeping kick.

"The Secret Taijutsu of the Blue Beast: leaf Whirlwind!"

Sasuke dodged the initial kick aimed at his head, but Naruto continued his spin, sweeping Sasuke's legs out from under him.

"Whoa!" Sasuke lost his balance and fell. Naruto swiftly pinned him down, ready to strike.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki! Form the Seal of Reconciliation!" Iruka-sensei announced, saving Sasuke from further embarrassment.

Iruka-sensei was impressed. These two, based on their physical prowess alone, were already at a genin level. It was no surprise, given their heritage.

Naruto got off Sasuke and extended two fingers.

"Humph!" Sasuke grudgingly hooked Naruto's fingers with his own, completing the seal.

A group of girls nearby called out to Sasuke:

"Ah, what a pity, Sasuke-kun lost!"

"Yeah, but Sasuke was so cool!"

"But Naruto was awesome too."

"Sasuke is still cooler!"

"Hehe, don't you think Sasuke and Naruto make a good match?"

"Are you gae?"

Hinata, however, quietly whispered to herself, "Naruto-kun is amazing..."

Naruto's mouth twitched as he overheard. Did something weird get mixed up in Sasuke's fan group?

"Hey, that move just now, what was it?" Sasuke asked awkwardly.

Naruto turned and saw Sasuke looking at him, clearly puzzled.

Naruto shrugged and explained, "That move is called leaf Whirlwind. The upper kick blocks the opponent's retreat. The actual attack is with the lower kick. It was taught to me by Might Gai, who calls himself Konoha's Proud Blue Beast."

Sasuke nodded. It was a strong move, but the name was strange. Naruto's friends were as unusual as he was.

"Next time, I'll beat you!"

"Sure," Naruto replied, having heard it many times before.

"Don't look down on me! I'm going to train with my brother, and I'll defeat you!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto dismissed the idea, "Big Brother Itachi is so busy, how does he have time to teach you?"

Sasuke suddenly felt discouraged. Since his brother joined Anbu, he had become busier and spent less time with him.

Forget it; if that doesn't work, I'll find someone else to teach me. All this is to defeat Naruto, prove myself, surpass my brother, and make my father proud!

Naruto watched Sasuke's changing expressions, finding it amusing.

The other students' fights were less interesting, more like children flailing at each other. They barely knew a few moves.

Shino and Kiba seemed somewhat competent, but Sasuke could probably defeat them in three moves.

Choji and Shikamaru, who could have been promising, didn't end up fighting.

Choji was too kind-hearted, "Shikamaru is my friend, how can I fight my friend?"

Iruka-sensei explained, "This is just a training exercise, not a real battle. It's fine."

"But what if I hurt him?" Choji didn't want to fight.

"If you want to be a ninja, you will inevitably get hurt. The teacher is here to ensure safety."

"But... no, I don't want to fight Shikamaru." Choji insisted.

Shikamaru couldn't stand it anymore, "This is too troublesome, teacher. I concede."

"The two of you..." Iruka-sensei sighed. He had seen students afraid of getting hurt, but never ones who refused to fight for fear of hurting others. Even if they were kind, it was too much. Their families were fighting ninjas, not medics!

And Shikamaru, how could a child be lazier than his father.

Iruka-sensei was out of ideas. Next time, he would give them different opponents or find another way to solve this. Children's personalities were the hardest to change.

Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow, "Sasuke, what do you think?"

***

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