The setting sun's afterglow dyed the entire forest red, enveloping two small figures in a warm, golden-red light.
Their clothes were covered in dust and leaves, and their small faces were also smudged with dirt—traces left from falling out of trees again and again.
The two large trees before them were covered with marks carved by kunai.
Each mark recorded their progress, from initially only being able to climb to the middle of the tree, to now almost reaching the top.
During the repeated practice, Naruto taught Satsuki the trick that Sakura Haruno had mastered in the original work: maintaining a calm mind.
By focusing their minds on the tree, both of their progress speeds far exceeded the original, and they didn't have to wait until dawn to master it, unlike the two members of Team Seven back then.
Satsuki stood beneath the tree, her long black hair clinging to her cheeks with sweat.
She felt the flow of Chakra within her body.
After many attempts, she finally found that subtle sense of balance.
Now!
Suppressing the excitement in her heart, she tried to calm herself.
She focused her attention completely on the tree trunk, feeling the subtle sensation of Chakra surging from the soles of her feet.
"Tap, tap, tap."
With a series of light footsteps, Satsuki ran steadily up the vertical tree trunk.
This time, her control of Chakra was smoother than ever before; each step adhered perfectly to the bark, without the slightest waste.
As she lightly leaped onto the highest branch, the setting sun's afterglow just happened to fall upon her small face.
Satsuki excitedly looked down at the tree—she had succeeded!
Just then, a "rustling" sound came from the other tree.
Satsuki turned her head to see Naruto also completing the entire course cleanly and efficiently, landing with a graceful flip onto an adjacent branch.
His golden hair sparkled in the setting sun, and his blue eyes were filled with a smile.
Naruto had also succeeded, but Satsuki thought to herself that she had reached the treetop a step before him, making this competition her victory!
"Hey! Naruto!" She turned around, a dazzling smile blooming on her small face, "I won this competition! How about that, have you seen the power of the Uchiha?"
Naruto stood on the adjacent branch, watching Satsuki's triumphant expression.
Like a proud kitten, her sparkling black eyes and unconcealed happiness revealed a childlike, innocent joy.
This kind of smile... was not often seen on Sasuke's face in the original work... this pure smile born of happiness.
Naruto, who had gone easy on her, deliberately put on a frustrated look, "As expected of an Uchiha genius, I lost this competition."
Upon hearing this, the curve of Satsuki's lips curled up even further.
"But ~" Naruto's tone shifted, "Don't get too carried away, it was only by a tiny bit."
He gestured with his thumb and forefinger, indicating a small distance, "Keep up this momentum and work hard, be careful not to let me surpass you."
"Of course! I'll keep working hard! I'm going to surpass my older sister! I'm going to become a Shinobi who makes my clan proud!"
Listening to Satsuki's proud and naive voice, Naruto noticed a particular detail in her words... "older sister."
What the... has Itachi also undergone a gender swap?
Naruto remembered that when he first met Satsuki, she had indeed mentioned that this was a training ground she shared with her older sister.
He hoped there wouldn't be a gender-swapped Kakashi or gender-swapped Twelve Shinobi later on, but if Kakashi were gender-swapped, would she have those kinds of feelings for Obito?
Naruto really didn't want to see that scene.
Just then, Satsuki swayed as she stood up.
Her small face was slightly pale from exhaustion, and her fingers clutched the tree trunk tightly; she clearly wanted to climb down and return to the ground, but after an afternoon of high-intensity training, her legs were already a bit weak.
"Ah!"
A sudden cry broke the silence.
Satsuki's foot slipped, and her entire body tilted forward.
She instinctively tried to gather Chakra to cling to the tree trunk, but in her panic, she couldn't control it precisely at all.
Satsuki felt a dizzying sensation—she was falling!
Oh no!
Naruto's body moved faster than his thoughts.
He leaped, and as he fell, he precisely calculated the angle and speed, spreading his arms to catch the falling figure.
Satsuki squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating the impending pain.
But unexpectedly, she felt herself fall into a safe embrace.
Opening her eyes, what met them were Naruto's close-up, azure blue eyes, filled with worry.
Naruto deftly pushed off the tree trunk back and forth, each contact precisely absorbing the impact of their fall.
"Whoosh—"
With a final, gentle cushion, Naruto landed steadily on the ground, the fallen leaves at his feet swirling up with the airflow before slowly drifting down.
He looked down at Satsuki in his arms and asked with concern, "That was close, are you okay? Not hurt, are you?"
Satsuki's small face was almost buried in Naruto's collar, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum.
"Mm... mm..."
Only then did she suddenly realize how embarrassing this posture was—curled up in his arms like a startled kitten.
Satsuki didn't know that in the Ninja World, this method of rescue had no special name, but in another world, it had a special name—the 'princess carry'.
Naruto, too worried, completely failed to notice that he had unintentionally replicated his own father's most classic rescue pose.
Hearing Satsuki say she wasn't hurt, he let out a sigh of relief, carefully bending down and gently placing the girl with crimson ear tips from his arms onto the ground.
"Be more careful next time," Naruto patted Satsuki's shoulder, "If you really got hurt, the adults at home would definitely forbid you from coming to the training ground again."
Satsuki's feet wobbled slightly as they touched the ground, and her small hand quickly grabbed the rough tree trunk beside her.
She lowered her head, her dark long hair falling down, covering her already flushed cheeks and ears.
"Mm... thank you..."
Only then did Naruto notice Satsuki's unusual behavior; was this child... shy?
Thinking back carefully, the rescue action just now was indeed a bit too intimate.
However, in his eyes, Satsuki was just a little girl who needed looking after, and he had no other thoughts in his mind.
On the contrary, his own child's body sometimes made him quite unaccustomed.
"...That! Let's go to the river!" Satsuki suddenly said loudly, as if to break the awkward atmosphere, "Now that our training is done, it's time to test the results!"
She hurriedly turned and ran towards the river, her black long hair fluttering behind her, her steps still a bit unsteady.
Naruto smiled and followed, watching the small figure ahead.