Naruto Senju the honered one(ON HOLD UNTILL MARCH, 28, 2025)

chapter 3: Unseen Potential

Naruto stood in front of the target dummies at the training grounds long after the sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the field in deep shadows. His arms were sore, his legs felt like lead, but still, he threw another kunai. It flew off-course, barely grazing the side of the target before embedding itself into the dirt.

**"Damn it!"** Naruto cursed, clutching his fists as he stared at the target. No matter how hard he tried, the result was always the same. He gritted his teeth, feeling that familiar burning frustration swell in his chest. **"Why can’t I get it right?"**

In the back of his mind, Sasuke’s words from earlier in the day echoed. **"You’re too slow."**

Naruto’s fists tightened. He hated the way she always talked down to him, like he wasn’t even worth her time. He hated how easily she beat him every time, like it was nothing. And more than anything, he hated the way everyone else looked at her—like she was some kind of untouchable prodigy while he was just the village clown.

But despite how much he hated it, deep down, he knew she wasn’t wrong. He was slow. He wasn’t skilled. No matter how hard he worked, he always seemed to fall short.

His arms trembled as he reached for another kunai, his fingers curling around the cold metal. **"I’ll get better. I have to."** He drew back, ready to throw, when a voice cut through the darkness.

**"You’re still here?"**

Naruto froze, his grip tightening on the kunai. He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was—he’d recognize that voice anywhere. **Sasuke.**

He turned slowly, scowling as he met her gaze. She stood at the edge of the training grounds, her arms crossed over her chest, her dark eyes watching him with the same unreadable expression she always wore. The moonlight cast long shadows over her features, making her look almost otherworldly.

Naruto bristled, the kunai in his hand shaking. **"What do you want? Come to laugh at me some more?"**

Sasuke didn’t answer right away. She walked closer, her footsteps soft and measured, until she stood just a few feet away from him. For a moment, she said nothing, simply staring at the kunai in his hand.

**"Why do you try so hard?"** she asked quietly, her voice devoid of its usual mockery. There was something else in her tone—something Naruto couldn’t quite place.

Naruto blinked, surprised by the question. **"What do you mean?"**

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed slightly, but not in anger. **"You lose every time. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you train, you’re still slower. Weaker."** Her words weren’t harsh, but they hit Naruto like a punch to the gut.

**"Why do you keep going?"**

Naruto opened his mouth to snap back at her, but the words caught in his throat. Why *did* he keep going? He had asked himself that question more times than he could count, usually when he was lying in bed after another humiliating day at the Academy. Why did he keep pushing himself when it always ended the same way—him at the bottom of the class, a laughingstock, while Sasuke stood at the top, untouchable?

His throat tightened, and he forced the words out. **"Because I have to."**

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. **"Have to?"**

Naruto looked away, staring down at the kunai in his hand. **"I don’t have anyone else. No clan. No family. No one who believes in me. If I don’t keep trying, if I don’t get stronger...then I’ll always just be the dead last. I’ll always be...nothing."**

The silence that followed was heavy, pressing down on Naruto’s chest. He expected Sasuke to say something cruel, to remind him of how useless he was, but when he finally looked up, her expression had softened. Her eyes, usually so cold and distant, were filled with something he’d never seen before.