Hyūga Clan Compound.
Kitazawa spotted Hinata standing at the gate.
As always, she was bundled up in her usual long-sleeved shirt and full-length pants—completely covered.
In the scorching July sun, just looking at her made him feel hot.
Come to think of it, in the original series, Hinata had always dressed conservatively. From childhood all the way through… traditional, almost old-fashioned.
No surprise there. That's just how the Hyūga clan rolls.
Kitazawa's eyes shifted to the man standing beside her—Hyūga Hiashi.
Rigid posture, stern face. One look and you could tell: this guy wasn't exactly warm and welcoming.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Hinata spotted him and jogged over with a bright smile.
Hiashi immediately frowned.
Seriously? As the Hyūga heiress, running up to an outsider like that? Completely undignified.
"Hinata," Hiashi said in a calm but unmistakably firm voice, "wait a moment. I need to speak with your teacher."
"Yes, Father."
Hinata gave Kitazawa a quick glance, nodded, and stepped back.
"Clan Head Hiashi," Kitazawa greeted politely.
"Hinata attending special training is fine," Hiashi said flatly. "But she's still a Hyūga. Gentle Fist is the foundation she must master."
"I'll make sure she gets plenty of Gentle Fist practice," Kitazawa replied.
He immediately caught the hidden meaning: Hiashi wanted him to cancel the extra training. But instead of backing down, Kitazawa had just agreed to add more Gentle Fist on top.
Hiashi didn't like that. Not one bit.
You're not Hyūga—stop teaching her all this other junk like it's your place.
"If her Gentle Fist progress slows down, the training ends. Immediately."
Hiashi couldn't blow up in front of Hinata, so he rephrased it as a condition.
"Got it," Kitazawa said with a nod.
He wasn't worried about offending Hiashi. Honestly, unless he crossed a serious line, a little tension wasn't a big deal. Especially with Hinata vouching for him—and Tsunade and Hiruzen ready to back him up if needed.
"You two may go," Hiashi finally said, eyes fixed on Kitazawa like a guard dog watching a potential intruder.
"Goodbye, Father!"
Hinata waved, then happily trotted off with Kitazawa.
Once they were outside the compound, she suddenly stepped in front of him and blocked his path.
"What's up, Hinata?" Kitazawa asked, confused.
"Kitazawa-sensei," she said seriously, puffing her cheeks a little, "Even if Father doesn't trust you… I do!"
Kitazawa let out a soft laugh and patted her head. "Yeah, I know."
Hinata finally relaxed.
Even though she had grown more confident, her natural sensitivity and attentiveness were still there. She'd clearly noticed her father's suspicion, and that's why she spoke up.
Kitazawa gave her a quick glance.
She was mature for her age—then again, most ninja kids were. This was a world where four-year-olds could be sent to battlefields.
They soon arrived at the academy's artificial lake.
It was summer break, so the place was completely empty. Technically, students weren't allowed in, but Kitazawa had admin privileges as the head of academics.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto was by the lake practicing Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. He waved at them. "Hinata!"
"Focus!"
Kitazawa's shadow clone snapped at him, face stern.
Naruto quickly turned back to training, flustered.
"Alright, Hinata, let's get started."
Kitazawa came to a stop.
"Mm!"
Hinata nodded firmly and got into her Gentle Fist stance, lifting both hands into position.
Under Kitazawa's watchful eyes, she started performing the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Time ticked by.
Before they knew it—it was noon.
"I… I can't… anymore…"
…
Konoha's Forest of Death.
Sasuke collapsed on the ground, legs shaking like jelly.
He'd been training with Might Guy and Rock Lee all morning, and he was completely spent.
"Sasuke! You're a prodigy of the Uchiha clan! Don't let your youth burn out here!"
Lee crouched beside him, clenching his fists dramatically.
"Sasuke, is your youth… already over?" Guy asked, wiping sweat off his forehead.
Sasuke swore he was hallucinating green auras. Two green-suited weirdos surrounding him, chanting about youth… he half-expected to snap out of a genjutsu any second.
"Sasuke, that's it for today!"
Guy waved it off. Seeing Sasuke unresponsive, he didn't push it. He called Lee, and the two jogged off into the forest.
Finally—peace.
Sasuke lay there for a while, then slowly got up and headed back to the academy.
But the moment he entered the village, he noticed people looking at him funny.
Then it hit him.
He was still wearing that ridiculous green jumpsuit.
Panicking, he stripped it off immediately.
"Whew… good thing Dad and Itachi didn't see that," he muttered.
His route rarely crossed paths with them, so the chances were low. During past training sessions with Guy, he hadn't run into anyone familiar. But the spandex… yeah, that changed things.
Eventually, Sasuke arrived at the lake.
Hinata and Naruto had paused their training, and Kitazawa was setting up lunch.
He laid out a giant cloth, followed by small tatami-style picnic tables.
"Sasuke! There you are. Grab a seat."
Kitazawa was already cross-legged, pulling out bento boxes. Naruto copied him, while Hinata knelt beside their teacher.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said, pulling out two bentos. "These are from my mom."
"Thanks."
Kitazawa blinked, slightly surprised, then took one. Couldn't turn down something that thoughtful.
"I didn't know Hinata and Naruto would be training today, so I only brought two bentos," Sasuke explained. "Tomorrow I'll bring four."
"Here, Naruto. Take this one," Kitazawa said, sliding a box to him. "I brought extras."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto popped open the lid. "Whoa! It's beautiful!"
"Of course it is." Sasuke smirked. "My mom's bentos are the best."
"Don't forget to thank Sasuke," Kitazawa reminded him.
"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruto grinned. "I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen next time!"
Sasuke blinked. That caught him off guard.
He wasn't used to people being this friendly.
But Naruto wasn't like Sakura. He'd actually beaten Sasuke once.
And the Uchiha had always respected strength.
"Whoa, this is amazing!" Naruto shouted, taking a huge bite of fried shrimp. "I've never had a bento this good!"
Sasuke knew he wasn't exaggerating.
He'd seen Naruto's homemade lunches before—tragic didn't even begin to describe them.
Then his mind wandered back to something he'd once asked his mother.
Who were Naruto's parents?
But Mom hadn't told him.
Still, one thing was clear—Naruto had lost both of them.
And yet he stayed cheerful, stayed driven.
Sasuke couldn't imagine pulling that off himself.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said, snapping out of it, "Am I still training with Guy-sensei and Lee this afternoon?"
"You're not built for that level of intensity just yet," Kitazawa replied. "This afternoon, focus on chakra nature transformation—fire release."
"Got it."
Sasuke let out a breath of relief.
No more spandex training for today. And fire chakra training? He was already familiar with it. Way easier.
After lunch, Naruto and Hinata went back to their drills.
Kitazawa brought Sasuke to the edge of the lake. He dipped his hand in, then raised it again.
"You already know how fire chakra works, so I'll skip the theory. Just get to practicing."
He let fire chakra flow from his palm—the droplets on his hand evaporated instantly.
"Is there a time limit?"
"The faster, the better. If you can do it in under one second, you're officially in."
"One second just to be considered a beginner?" Sasuke stared.
"That's only scratching the surface," Kitazawa said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Get started. If anything confuses you, ask my shadow clone."
Sasuke nodded and began training.
But he could barely make a dent. Forget one second—he couldn't even evaporate a drop in under a minute.
Kitazawa watched for a while, then left a clone behind to supervise. That was enough.
He had a private lesson with Kurenai later anyway.
But before heading home, he stopped by the Forest of Death.
"Guy, Ichiraku's hosting a big eater contest in a couple days. You interested?"
"Sounds fun," Guy said, scratching his head, "but we've got training."
"Training and eating aren't mutually exclusive," Kitazawa grinned. "Finish the morning workout, then take Lee and Sasuke to the contest."
"Now that sounds like a plan!"
Guy's eyes sparkled. "We'll be there!"
"Make sure Sasuke comes too," Kitazawa added.
This whole thing was set up with Sasuke in mind. If he bailed, it'd be pointless.
~~~
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