After reporting to Hiruzen, Team Hitomi parted ways and went home.
While Suguru walked, the sun eventually set. He decided to have dinner at Ichiraku.
From afar, he could already hear the voice of someone familiar. Suguru walked right under the flaps and climbed onto an available seat.
He sat beside the blonde-haired boy who was ravenously eating his noodles. Naruto didn't notice him arrive.
"I'll have a bowl please, Teuchi-san!" Suguru happily made an order.
Hearing Suguru's voice, Naruto paused. Hurriedly, he glanced to his right.
"A-AH!" Naruto's reaction was as animated as expected, "It's you!"
Suguru glanced over and began to stare. He tilted his head as if to question. The forehead protector on his head gleamed in Ichiraku's lighting.
"Naruto-nii?" He asked.
Naruto choked, "You! You're a ninja already!?"
Naruto's shock made sense. After all, he failed the last year-end exams. His use of the Clone Jutsu was abhorrent.
In comparison, Suguru who was already a ninja despite being younger than him was beyond comprehension. Naruto realized that Suguru was even stronger than Sasuke — whom he never won against in everything they did.
Suguru's lips broke into a smug grin, "Yup! How about you, Naruto-nii? How were your exams?"
Hearing Suguru's innocent question rubbed salt on a raw wound. "I-I-I—"
Embarrassed, Naruto didn't know what to say.
In the end, his mood dropped.
"Iruka-sensei said I failed."
"O-Oh," Suguru nodded, "That's okay, Naruto-nii. There's always next year, right?"
"But..."
"No buts, Naruto-nii!" Suguru really stressed the fact that he was younger. "You need to do your best to pass! Being a ninja is amazing, you know? Going on missions and stuff."
"Ah!"
Suguru could hear Naruto's sorrows in that gasp. Naruto's confidence was like crumpling paper, shattering in disappointment with every word leaving his lips. A part of Suguru deeply enjoyed his ability to tease the young Naruto.
'I should do this to Sasuke too. It would be funny to watch him desperately try to catch up.' Suguru inwardly chuckled.
"Oi, Suguru," Ayame butted in, "That's enough of teasing your senpai. You aren't like this with Isao-kun and Yumiko-chan. What's gotten to you?"
"Ah, Ayame-nee~ Good evening." Suguru smiled sweetly, "Naruto-nii's reactions are funny, don't you think so too?"
This made Ayame think. After glancing at the sulking Naruto, she had to admit that it was pretty cute and funny. Especially since she heard about the recent prank that Naruto pulled...
"Actually, you can keep doing what you are doing. Naruto deserves it!" Ayame nodded, filled with righteous retribution.
"Ayame-nee, so you do understand!" Suguru's eyes glowed, "See Naruto-nii? Being a ninja means that people listen to what you say."
Naruto's expression crumpled. "Y-you! Are you looking for a fight, huh?"
"What if I am?" Suguru said smugly, "Can you win against me, a ninja?"
Naruto choked.
"Wanna try me? I will win. Believe it!"
Like this, Suguru teased Naruto while the two children ate their ramen. Never once did Naruto have the upper hand against Suguru's silver-tongued words. Teuchi and Ayame watched the two of them with a warm gaze.
***
After dinner, Suguru said his farewells and prepared to leave. Naruto took that opportunity to try and get the last laugh.
"Oh, so you're trying to run away now that you've been defeated? W-what a coward. Can you believe it?"
Suguru glanced at Naruto, and with a calm, blank look, "I am going on a mission tomorrow. What about you, Naruto-nii? Is there any mission you can accept?"
"Ack!" Naruto yelped upon hearing Suguru's taunt. "Y-youuuu!"
Chuckling, Suguru took this window of opportunity to flicker away.
When he was at an appropriate distance away, Suguru saw the approach of an unfamiliar, masked shinobi from out of the corner of his eye. However, he acted as if he didn't see them. Pouring a large amount of chakra throughout his body, Suguru flickered at an astonishing speed.
Despite his low chakra reserves, his growing, monstrous control over the Body Flicker Jutsu allowed him to disappear from the approaching shinobi's range. If Shisui could disappear from Anbu-level Root Shinobi despite standing right before them, Suguru would soon be approaching such a level with this feat.
"What?!" The shinobi gaped, thinking, 'That is not a speed that a genin should be able to achieve! I have to inform Lord Danzo..!'
Meanwhile, Suguru's eyes flashed. 'Even though Danzo's forces must be spread thin, he still has time to mess with Naruto. How much has he recovered?'
Or, did he misunderstand and it was just a regular Anbu shinobi?
'Wow, what right do I have to call an Anbu, regular?' Suguru chuckled and returned home.
***
The next day, Suguru went to look for Sasuke. He felt, that with Itachi's immense power at the moment, his revenge would work very differently from the original.
Furthermore, Itachi hadn't worked with Obito in the massacre. It was clear when Suguru didn't see any masked shinobi when his clone went to steal Uchiha corpses. This big connection had no longer been made.
'Although Obito might've approached him after the whole thing...' Suguru felt a small headache.
Shaking his head to get rid of those complicated thoughts, Suguru soon found Sasuke eating a riceball as he walked around.
"Oh! Sasuke-nii!" Suguru acted as if they were meeting out of coincidence.
"You are... Hiryu Suguru," Sasuke said, then he noticed the forehead protector on Suguru's head. "Y-you've become a ninja."
A conflicted expression seeped into Sasuke's calm facade. Suguru was two years younger than him, yet he seemed to be a capable ninja already.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.
Suguru replied while once again enforcing his 'younger sibling' image. "I need your help, Sasuke-nii."
"Huh? What help do you need from me?"
"Sparring!"
Suguru wanted to spar with a Sharingan user. Although Kakashi was an option, Suguru was acquainted with Sasuke, not the famed Copy Ninja.
"...Okay," Sasuke hesitantly agreed. "Right now?"
Whether it was because Suguru called him by such brotherly honorifics or not, he didn't know.
"Un~" Suguru nodded.
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