When Kakashi brought Sasuke to the usual Team 7 training ground, Naruto was already busy training in the nearby woods.
He was standing upside down on the thick trunk of a tree, feet planted firmly on the vertical surface, completely still. His eyes were shut in focus, clearly immersed in chakra control practice.
Sasuke, who had only started learning the tree-climbing technique the previous afternoon, raised an eyebrow when he spotted Naruto executing it so smoothly.
Naruto sensed someone approaching and looked down. The moment he saw Kakashi and Sasuke arrive, he sprang down from the tree with a light leap.
Landing on his feet, Naruto immediately threw Sasuke a teasing grin.
"Hey, Sasuke~," he drawled dramatically, "Sleep well last night? Have any dreams?"
Sasuke's brows furrowed. "Boring," he replied coldly.
But Naruto clearly wasn't fazed. He kept grinning and continued, "Y'know, some people say they don't want to go, but deep down, they're totally into it…"
He blinked innocently, then exaggeratedly furrowed his brows and puffed up his chest, mimicking Sasuke's aloof expression from the day before. Crossing his arms, he raised his chin and repeated mockingly, "Who wants to have that kind of dream? Not me!"
Then, with a sudden spin and fist pump, Naruto cheered, "YEAH awesome, I'm up again today!"
As he swung back and forth between postures, reenacting Sasuke's conflicted attitude with theatrical flair, he looked more like a hyperactive monkey than a shinobi.
"You !" Sasuke had been trying hard to keep a cool demeanor, but the veins in his forehead started twitching.
Having his awkward moment from the Dream Theater exposed and reenacted so dramatically by Naruto, in public no less, was beyond humiliating for someone as proud as him.
His face flushed red, and he rolled up his sleeves in a rage. "You idiot! Say one more word and I'll pound you!"
Naruto wasn't the least bit intimidated. He slammed his fists together and grinned. "Bring it on, Mister Cool! Let's see what you've got, 'defeated general'!"
Before the clash could escalate, Kakashi sighed and appeared between the two in a blur, casually placing a hand on each of their heads to keep them apart.
"Alright, alright, break it up," he said wearily, rubbing his temples. "It's way too early in the morning for this kind of energy…"
Both Naruto and Sasuke huffed and turned away with synchronized scoffs, their mini-battle defused for now.
Just then, light footsteps approached from the direction of the village, and Sakura came jogging over, a little out of breath.
From a distance, she saw Naruto and Sasuke glaring at each other and tilted her head in confusion. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing," Kakashi replied, shooting her a look that clearly said, don't ask.
With a long-suffering sigh, he added, "Anyway, I came to let you know Sandaime-sama just assigned us a higher-level mission. We'll be setting out in a few days."
"Really? That's awesome!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.
Even Sasuke's expression shifted slightly at the news.
With that, the two boys snorted at each other one last time before turning back to their respective trees and refocusing on their chakra training.
Sakura smiled at the sight of the two rivals getting along just enough to function, then hurried to join them, heading for the nearest tree trunk.
Sakura had excellent chakra control to begin with and had even been the first to master the tree-climbing technique just the day before. But now, watching Naruto and Sasuke steadily push themselves higher and higher, her heart tightened with pressure.
They were catching up no, surpassing her.
She clenched her fists, frustration flickering in her eyes.
I can't fall behind… I won't let them leave me behind!
Determined, Sakura pushed aside the self-doubt and threw herself into practice once more.
In the gentle light of early morning, the three genin of Team 7 trained with unwavering focus, their figures moving rhythmically between the trees as time quietly passed.
By the end of the morning, all three had made clear progress.
Sasuke was the first to reach the very top of the tree, standing tall on the uppermost branch, a subtle sense of pride in his gaze.
Not to be outdone, Naruto soon followed, leaping high and landing on a branch near the treetop with a whoop of excitement.
But strangely, it was Sakura who had advanced so quickly before who now lagged behind. Her progress had slowed, and no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't quite catch up to the two boys.
The gap between them was growing.
It was frustrating.
Still, she gritted her teeth and pressed on.
Kakashi observed their growth from the ground, the corners of his eyes crinkling with quiet pride.
"Not bad. You all did well today," he said with a rare smile. "Let's wrap it up. Go home and rest you'll need your strength for the mission we're taking on in a few days."
"Yes!" the three answered in unison, voices full of spirit.
Their training concluded, and with the promise of a real mission ahead, morale was high.
Naruto pumped his fists excitedly. "A mission! Let's gooo!"
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged brief glances before heading off in different directions, both ready to rest and recover.
But Naruto stayed behind.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" he called out, running up to his teacher.
"Hm?" Kakashi turned with a curious look.
"You said yesterday you'd teach me the third stage of the Rasengan, remember? Can you show me now? Please!"
Kakashi blinked in mild surprise, then gave a small laugh. "Eager, aren't you? Alright. Watch carefully."
…
Half an hour later, Naruto finally understood the principles behind the third stage.
Grinning with anticipation, he thanked Kakashi and bolted out of the training ground, jogging all the way home with renewed excitement.
The moment he returned, Naruto didn't even stop to eat even though his stomach had been growling for hours. He rushed into his tiny yard and got straight to work.
He summoned a pair of shadow clones to assist him, trying to use them to better stabilize the chakra in his hand.
But the third stage was far trickier than the first two.
He had to compress the chakra in his palm while maintaining perfect balance strong enough to hold form, but controlled enough not to explode the fragile balloon used in training.
It was maddeningly hard.
Even with clones, even with everything he learned from Kakashi, Naruto felt like he was hitting a wall.
Still, he refused to give up.
All afternoon, under the sweltering sun, he trained without pause.
Naruto continued condensing his chakra compressing, rotating, focusing…
And failing.
Again and again.
Yet he never stopped.
Not even when the sky had turned orange and the sun began to dip behind the rooftops of the village.
By then, his entire body was soaked in sweat, his hands trembled from overuse, and his stomach let out pitiful growls of protest but Naruto didn't even glance toward the kitchen.
Only when his legs finally gave out did he stagger back inside.
Dragging his drained body to the bedroom, he collapsed face-first onto the bed with a heavy thud. His limbs sprawled out like jelly, and his chest rose and fell as he gasped for breath.
But even in exhaustion, a wide, content smile lit up his face.
"Phew… so tired…" he mumbled, eyes fixed on the ceiling above.
Despite the soreness in his muscles and the sting of chakra burns on his palms, Naruto's blue eyes sparkled with satisfaction.
"The third stage of the Rasengan is really hard…"
He paused, then grinned as he turned over onto his back, gently thumping his fist against the mattress.
"But that's fine. I'll master the jutsu my dad left behind with my own strength!"
As he closed his eyes, a gentle image surfaced in his mind.
The warm, proud smile of Minato Namikaze.
Naruto's smile lingered on his face as sleep gently took him.