In Konoha, the golden afterglow spilled along the riverside, casting a serene and peaceful ambiance over the spring evening.
Uchiha Obito, who had just recently been promoted to Chunin, walked despondently down the path. After a moment, his peripheral vision caught sight of a white figure by the riverbank not far away.
The person appeared slightly younger than him, dressed in light-colored athletic wear, with a cherry-blossom-patterned cloak draped over his shoulders.
"Ueshima!"
Obito slid down the earthen slope in two or three strides, rushing swiftly to the boy's side, his eyes widening behind his orange goggles.
"It's almost dark, and you're still not packing up to go home?"
Peeking over to look at the empty bucket, Obito's expression turned sympathetic, and he suddenly felt that this guy had it even worse off than he did.
"No way, how long have you been fishing? Why hasn't a single one bitten?"
Nariya Ueshima quietly reeled in his fishing rod, and sure enough, he had been skunked yet again. With a sigh, he calmly looked toward the astonished Obito.
"It's all your fault for shouting like that just now, you scared the fish away. Otherwise, one would have definitely taken the bait by now."
"Once I catch this one, and then catch another, I'll have two fish. And after two, I'll catch another, making three. That way, dinner will be sorted out."
"..." Obito's mouth twitched.
Is that really how you calculate the number of fish?
That is complete nonsense!
"Stop wasting your effort. At this rate, it'd be faster if I just went straight into the river and caught one for you."
Having said that, Obito neatly kicked off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and carefully stepped into the river water.
Fortunately, it wasn't very deep here. Once the water rose past his knees, he stopped moving forward.
Through his goggles, his gaze observed the swimming fish in the water with a fair amount of sharpness.
Spotting his target, he struck fast, hard, and precise!
In the end, he caught absolutely nothing.
Obito's already foul mood went from bad to worse.
Just then, the person standing on the bank behind him asked:
"Speaking of which, Obito, what brings you all the way out here?"
"Didn't I see you heading off to the park enthusiastically half an hour ago? You were even holding a bunch of roses..."
Upon hearing this, Obito, who was busy groping around for fish, instantly lost his footing and tumbled ungracefully into the water.
When he finally resurfaced, not only were his clothes completely soaked, but his face had turned an extraordinarily embarrassed shade of red.
"How do you know I...!" Obito's eyes were filled with shock and lingering resentment.
Why did this guy have to see him looking for Rin under the cherry blossom trees at the park?
Then again, this guy probably just happened to see him holding roses in the park and didn't actually know what he was there for...
Thinking of this, Obito, whose face was burning hot, calmed down a fraction.
Yet Nariya Ueshima over there deliberately put on a thoughtful tone, his words striking straight at the heart of the matter: "Judging by your expression, did your confession to Miss Rin fail?"
Uchiha Obito: "..."
In an instant, his face flushed an even deeper shade of red. Intense embarrassment and annoyance intertwined, making him scoop up a handful of water and splash it across.
The flying spray sprinkled toward Nariya Ueshima on the bank, but fortunately, the distance was too short, and it didn't hit him.
"If you keep talking, I'm not catching any more fish for you to eat!" Obito declared indignantly.
"..."
With an innocent expression, Nariya Ueshima waved his hands at him, signaling an apology and surrender.
This was his second year since transmigrating into the Naruto world.
He had intentionally adjusted his physical age to make himself look like a child of around nine years old.
His background was that of an orphan seemingly adopted by a kind-hearted couple in Konoha. Half a year ago, that couple tragically passed away due to illness, and he had reverted to being an orphan once again.
However, this posed no problem at all for Nariya Ueshima; all he needed was a legitimate identity as a Konoha citizen.
Having long since passed the normal enrollment age for the Ninja Academy, he didn't force the issue. Besides, even without attending that school, he wouldn't turn out illiterate.
As for how he came to know Uchiha Obito, it entirely stemmed from the day an elderly woman suddenly collapsed at his feet. Before he could even process whether the old woman was attempting a scam, the hot-headed Obito rushed over and demanded to know why he wasn't helping her, why he was standing by with cold indifference.
He even suspected that Ueshima might have been the one who knocked her down.
Ueshima hadn't wanted to pay him any mind and turned coldly to leave.
Perhaps that attitude instantly reminded Obito of Kakashi, that equally arrogant fellow on his team, making him unable to resist wanting to punch this obnoxious guy who wouldn't even deign to talk to him.
If the old woman hadn't regained consciousness in the nick of time to frantically explain that everything had nothing to do with the white-haired kid, Obito, who was gripping the collar of his shirt, might well have swung his fist right into Nariya Ueshima's face.
After awkwardly letting him go, Obito subsequently learned from the surrounding townsfolk that the white-haired kid was just an orphan who had recently lost his adoptive parents, and how pitiful it was for him to live all alone.
Those words left Obito standing frozen in place for a long time.
...The very next day, Nariya Ueshima, who had slipped out for some casual fishing, was tracked down by a panting Obito, who offered a face-to-face apology for yesterday's incident.
Because Obito, having likewise lost his parents and family, believed he was the one who could best understand and relate to Nariya Ueshima's feelings.
[Let me formally introduce myself, I'm Uchiha Obito, and my dream is to become Hokage!]
[...My name is Nariya Ueshima.]
In the setting sun, the two children shook hands and made peace.