Chapter Sixteen: An Acquaintance, At Last

The first fish was nearly done, its savory aroma gradually spreading through the air, but the figure Naruto eagerly awaited had yet to appear.

“Yuu, the fish is almost ready, but no one’s come by yet,” Naruto complained.

“This place is a little out of the way…” Yuu Higashino hadn’t finished speaking when Naruto’s excited voice suddenly burst out.

“Yuu, look! Is that someone coming over there?”

Yuu followed the direction of Naruto’s pointing finger. At the end of the road, a small black dot appeared. With his keen eyesight, Yuu could tell it was indeed a person—a child, to be exact.

“Yeah,” Yuu replied to Naruto’s question.

“Do you think he’ll come this way?” Naruto asked.

“He probably will.” There were no branches in the road here; unless the boy turned around, he would pass right by them.

“I wonder if he’ll accept our invitation,” Naruto said, sounding unsure.

Yuu considered for a moment. “If you take the initiative and invite him, there’s a good chance he won’t refuse.”

“Really?”

“Mm.”

The reason Yuu was so confident was because he recognized the person approaching from afar: Sasuke Uchiha.

To be honest, Yuu hadn’t expected to meet Sasuke under such circumstances, but the Hidden Leaf Village wasn’t that big, and this spot was close to the Uchiha compound—it wasn’t all that surprising to run into him here.

As the reincarnation of Indra, Sasuke shared a fateful connection with Naruto, the reincarnation of Ashura. If Naruto reached out first, there was a good chance Sasuke would accept.

Then again, Yuu thought, perhaps not. But it was worth a try.

The two of them kept their eyes on Sasuke as he approached, watching him come closer and closer…

Sasuke had also noticed the two “suspicious” figures by the riverbank. He didn’t understand why they kept staring at him—was there something odd about him?

As a proud Uchiha, Sasuke did his best to maintain a cool, aloof demeanor, his face set in a haughty, indifferent expression.

Still, the blond kid among the two drew Sasuke’s gaze more than once. He couldn’t say whether it was dislike or a strange sense of kinship—there was just something about him that felt oddly familiar.

“Yuu, should I really invite him?” Naruto had his own inexplicable urge to approach the other boy, but the look on Sasuke’s face annoyed him. “He looks like such a stuck-up guy.”

“Do you want to invite him?” Yuu asked in return.

“I… don’t know.”

“If you don’t know, it means you don’t not want to. Go ahead and give it a try.”

Naruto hesitated a moment, but in the end, he called out to Sasuke, who wasn’t far away now:

“Hey, you over there! Want some grilled fish?” For some reason, after he’d said it, Naruto added, “We cooked too much and can’t finish it all.”

So, that’s why they kept staring at me—they wanted to invite me for grilled fish. Sasuke finally understood their intentions.

At the same time, a question presented itself: should he accept the invitation?

Sasuke was now close enough to catch the aroma of the grilled fish. Even though he’d eaten lunch not long ago, the smell was still tempting.

He really had nothing else to do; his brother was away on a mission, his father at a clan meeting, and he’d come out simply because he was bored at home.

All things considered…

“No thanks! But thank you,” Sasuke finally replied.

Faced with a stranger’s invitation—especially when the blond kid seemed a bit silly—Sasuke, proud and a little prickly, naturally chose to refuse.

“See, Yuu? I told you he’d act all stuck-up,” Naruto whispered.

Yuu’s lips curved upward, as if some thought amused him.

“Naruto, have you ever heard the word ‘tsundere’?”

“Tsundere? What does that mean?”

“It describes someone who acts cold or arrogant to cover up their embarrassment. That’s a tsundere.”

Naruto seemed to catch Yuu’s drift. “So you mean…”

“Yes, this guy is probably a tsundere.”

“Really?”

“Of course. If you don’t believe me, try it. The best way to deal with a tsundere is to be persistent or just drag him along—if you take that grilled fish over and put it in his hand, he’s bound to break and show his shy side.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. If you ask him whether he’s embarrassed, he’ll definitely fluster and say, ‘Of course not!’”

Without waiting for more questions, Yuu handed Naruto a grilled fish.

“Go try it. And don’t tell him what I just told you.”

Naruto stared at the fish for a moment, then, half-believing, walked toward Sasuke.

Seeing Naruto approach, Sasuke looked puzzled.

“I already had lunch…”

But before he could finish, Naruto grabbed his hand.

And before he could react, a stick with grilled fish was thrust into his palm.

“Here. No need to thank me,” Naruto said, watching Sasuke’s expression closely, curious to see if Yuu was right—would he really get embarrassed?

“T-thank you,” Sasuke stammered, finally reacting. Most tellingly, his eyes instinctively avoided Naruto’s gaze.

Whoa! He really is shy—Yuu was right! Naruto marveled.

“So… are you embarrassed?” Naruto asked, unable to resist.

“Of course not!” Sasuke blurted loudly. “Hmph, why would I be embarrassed, you idiot!”

Naruto couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “Yuu was right about everything. Amazing…”

“What?” Sasuke didn’t catch it.

“Nothing, nothing. If you’re not embarrassed, then you’re not. No need to call me names.”

“Hmph!” Sasuke just snorted.

“Do you want to come over and eat with us?” Naruto invited again. He had a feeling he’d just met someone interesting.

Before Sasuke could reply, Naruto recalled Yuu’s advice on dealing with tsundere types, so he simply grabbed Sasuke and pulled him back toward Yuu.

Sasuke struggled twice, but when he couldn’t break free, he went along without further protest, following Naruto obediently to where Yuu stood.

“Yuu, you got it all right!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Didn’t I?” For once, Yuu allowed himself a faint smile.

“What did you get right? What are you two talking about?” Sasuke asked.

“Nothing,” Yuu replied, then introduced himself. “I’m Yuu Higashino, proprietor of Higashino’s Odd Jobs.”

Sasuke, distracted, responded, “I’m Sasuke Uchiha.”

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki—the future Hokage!” Naruto declared in his usual style.

And so, the three of them became acquainted.