August 31st.
Kitazawa woke up on time as usual.
After getting dressed and eating breakfast, he made his way to the Ninja Academy.
Stopping outside his office, he leaned in and could faintly hear Hinata Hyuga softly humming her "Rice Ball."
He let out a small laugh and pushed the door open.
Hinata instinctively turned her head, and the moment she saw him, her face flushed bright red.
She immediately dropped the oversized stuffed animal she'd been hugging, quickly sat up straight on the couch with her legs tucked in properly—but the way her toes curled gave away how nervous she actually was.
"When did you get here?" Kitazawa asked as he glanced at her and walked over to his desk.
"About… half an hour ago," Hinata mumbled, head down, barely audible.
"Did you eat breakfast?"
"I had some at home," she said. Then, after a short pause, she nervously asked, "Um… Kitazawa-sensei, would it be okay if I started eating here again starting tomorrow?"
"Of course." Kitazawa turned to look at her. "You were eating here last semester anyway."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hinata smiled instinctively, but quickly looked down again when she noticed him watching her.
"Still remember your sparring match with Neji?" Kitazawa casually picked up the class schedule on his desk.
"Mhm." Hinata froze for a moment, then nodded. Her composure returned, and her blush started to fade.
"When do you want to do it?" Kitazawa glanced over the schedule. It wasn't much different from last semester's.
"I… I'm okay with any time," she said after hesitating for two seconds—clearly unsure and leaving the decision to him.
"Then let's do it tomorrow afternoon during practical class," Kitazawa decided. "The longer you wait, the more nervous you'll get."
Hinata blinked, slightly dazed.
Tomorrow afternoon…?
Even though she'd spent the whole summer preparing for this match, now that the day had come, she suddenly felt anxious.
"Hinata," Kitazawa said seriously, "you're stronger than Neji now."
Her cheeks turned pink again—not from embarrassment this time, but out of surprise. Kitazawa's words gave her a much-needed confidence boost.
"I'll give it my all!" she said firmly.
Even if she couldn't fully trust herself yet, she trusted Kitazawa.
"Alright, let's go." Kitazawa set down the schedule. "I'll walk you to class."
Hinata quickly put on her shoes and ran up to him.
Kitazawa gently ruffled her hair.
Hinata's lips curved into a small smile as she followed him to Class 1-A.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto was the first to spot him and shouted excitedly.
Right after him, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru all chimed in, calling out greetings.
"Kitazawa-senpai's really popular, huh?" Iruka commented with a smile. Even though he was the one handling student registration, he was basically being ignored.
"Iruka, go grab the new textbooks. I'll handle the roll call," Kitazawa said as he walked up to the podium and handed Iruka a summoning scroll.
Summoning scrolls were expensive—definitely not something a regular ninja could just afford.
Kitazawa had figured Iruka might not have one, so he brought an extra. After all, moving books for a whole class was too much for one person.
"Got it." Iruka stepped aside, took the scroll, and left the room.
Kitazawa skimmed the student roster. More than half the students were already here.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Yakumo Kurama walked in, followed by her father, Murakumo Kurama.
In the original timeline, Murakumo had died at Yakumo's hands when she lost control.
But now, that tragedy likely wasn't going to repeat itself.
The lively classroom instantly fell silent.
Yakumo hadn't attended many classes last semester, but she'd defeated Neji Hyuga—leaving quite the impression.
Sasuke instinctively crossed his arms.
After awakening his Sharingan, his confidence had skyrocketed—but when it came to Yakumo, he wasn't totally sure of victory. Both of them had genjutsu-based kekkei genkai.
Yakumo's weakness, however, was her frail body. Sasuke figured he had her beat in terms of physical ability.
"Yakumo, are you taking the exams this semester?" Naruto asked excitedly—he was always down for a good fight.
Last semester, Yakumo didn't participate in the practical exams, which Naruto found disappointing.
"This semester, I am," she said with a warm smile. Her demeanor was completely different from her original version—no longer eerie or unsettling.
"Looks like first place in our class might actually be up for grabs this time."
"Eh, I'm still Team Naruto."
"Don't count Sasuke out. He's an Uchiha. If he really activates his Sharingan again, it's game over."
The classroom erupted into chatter.
"Quiet," Kitazawa said, raising his hand to calm them down.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Murakumo stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"Clan Head Murakumo, no need to bow like that," Kitazawa said quickly, helping him back up.
"I just wanted to express my gratitude," Murakumo said seriously. "Yakumo is where she is now because of your help."
"You're too kind." Kitazawa smiled. "Let's get her signed in first."
In truth, helping Yakumo had benefited Kitazawa too—especially in getting connected with Tsunade. It was mutual gain on both sides.
"Well then, I won't take up more of your time. If you ever have a free evening, come over for dinner."
Murakumo was tactful and didn't push the conversation further.
His respectful attitude toward Kitazawa wasn't just because of Yakumo—it was also because of Tsunade.
Thanks to Yakumo, he already knew Kitazawa was learning medical ninjutsu under her. Frankly, Kitazawa's future looked brighter than his own.
Building that relationship early only made sense.
And besides, Yakumo and Kitazawa also had a teacher-student bond—even if it was just through the Academy.
After Murakumo left, Yakumo quickly completed registration.
As soon as she returned to her seat, a bunch of students swarmed around to chat with her.
Strong people always attracted attention.
Not that Sasuke was thrilled about that.
He glanced toward the group of girls—Sakura leading the pack—and looked visibly annoyed. His face grew colder by the second.
Naruto, on the other hand, was already laughing it up with Kiba, Chōji, and Shikamaru.
In a way, both Naruto and Sasuke had their own type of charm.
Kitazawa chuckled softly to himself.
By 10 AM, all of Class 1-A had arrived.
"Kitazawa-senpai." Iruka returned with the scroll. "Here are the textbooks for this semester."
"Pass them out."
Kitazawa opened the summoning scroll and dumped out stacks of books, creating literal mountains on the floor.
Iruka got to work, handing them out according to the syllabus.
Ten minutes later, every student had their full set of books.
"Registration's done. You're all free to go. No class this afternoon," Kitazawa said, standing up. "Feel free to flip through your new books if you're curious."
With that, he turned and walked off without missing a beat.
"Senpai—wait up!" Iruka hurried after him.
"Something else?" Kitazawa stopped and looked at him.
"I ran into Principal while grabbing the books. He asked me to remind you—there's a quick meeting tomorrow at 8:30 AM in the conference room."
"Got it. Thanks."
Kitazawa then suddenly smirked and asked, "So… what's the deal with you and Tsubaki?"
"There's no deal!" Iruka immediately panicked. "Senpai, don't start rumors—we're totally clean, okay?"
"Strike while the iron's hot." Kitazawa gave his shoulder a pat and walked off.
"What does that even mean?" Iruka muttered, scratching his head. Curse his lack of literary knowledge.
Kitazawa didn't head home. Instead, he went straight to Konoha Hospital.
He had a lot of tasks on his plate, but not many that could be completed quickly.
Right now, he was focusing on two things: learning medical ninjutsu and wind-style techniques.
Everything else could wait.
"Nono-senpai." With Shizune out, Kitazawa sought out Yakushi Nono.
"Perfect timing," she said with a kind smile. "Your office is ready—I'll show you."
"My own office?" Kitazawa blinked in surprise.
"You think just anyone gets appointed as a medical ninja at Konoha Hospital?" she teased. "Only jonin-level medics get the offer."
Technically, Kitazawa was just a special-jonin, so he wasn't supposed to qualify.
But being Tsunade's semi-student and having solid skills gave him an edge. His only weakness was experience, and that could be fixed with more surgeries.
So, Nono decided to promote him early.
"Thanks," Kitazawa said, instantly understanding this had Tsunade's fingerprints all over it.
"Here we are."
She led him to a nearby office—pretty standard, almost identical to hers except with one less bookshelf.
"You can rest here whenever you're free. Every morning a nurse will bring you your surgery schedule," she explained. "And if there's an emergency operation, someone will come get you."
"Got it," Kitazawa nodded.
"Oh, and one more thing," she added after a pause. "I've got a mission next week. If you need help, look for Kaori."
Kaori was a jonin-ranked medic, second only to Nono and Tsunade.
"Far away?"
"Yeah. I have to head to the Land of Earth. I won't be back anytime soon."
Land of Earth?
Could this be the mission that, in the original timeline, led to Nono's death?
Back then, Kabuto had been discovered while spying in Iwagakure. During his escape, he ran into Nono—who, thanks to Danzo's brainwashing, didn't remember him. It ended in tragedy.
But this timeline seemed ahead of schedule.
Kitazawa had a feeling he knew why.
It likely had to do with him—and, more specifically, his connection to Tsunade.
Because of his involvement, Nono had grown closer to Tsunade's circle, and Danzo definitely wouldn't be happy about that.
Nono knew too many of Root's secrets. If she ever leaked anything to Tsunade, it would cause serious trouble.
Even if she didn't, the fact that they were getting close could be dangerous—Danzo would never allow Root operatives to flip loyalties.
So the safest move, in his eyes, would be to eliminate her completely.
"You're a medic—why are you being sent on a mission?" Kitazawa asked.
"Medics are still ninja," she replied, looking away. "Anyway, take some time to get familiar with the office. I'll check if there's any surgery today you can help with."
With that, she left.
Kitazawa rubbed his forehead, deep in thought.
Nono hadn't told the full truth, but he understood why.
Danzo was holding two things over her: the orphanage, and Kabuto.
Trying to help Nono would be complicated.
Danzo would probably go after the orphanage or Kabuto the second she slipped out of his control.
Especially Kabuto.
He'd been planted as a spy in another village years ago—only Root knew exactly where.
One week. Not urgent yet. I'll talk to Tsunade first, Kitazawa thought, stroking his chin.
In terms of value, Kabuto was way more important than Nono.
If he could keep Kabuto in the village and train him properly, he'd essentially have a second Orochimaru—just with a leash.
Now that Tsunade's cured her fear of blood, I wonder if she's planning to become Hokage.
If she did, it would be a huge win for Kitazawa.
Hiruzen liked him, sure, but not enough to bring him into Konoha's inner circle.
To get there, he'd have to be the one standing behind Tsunade.
Back at his desk, Kitazawa pulled out the Wind-Style scroll Uchiha Mikoto had given him.
There were six jutsu written on it. He'd already learned two. Four to go.
He glanced over the options and chose to start with Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken.
It looked like the easiest one.
But "easy" was relative—it was a B-rank technique.
Its effect reminded him of Naruto's Rasenshuriken, though this one used real shuriken, not chakra-formed ones.
Basically, Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken infused chakra into the shuriken, causing it to spin at high speed and increasing its slicing power.
Kitazawa sat down and studied the scroll.
Since his office wasn't the place to practice ninjutsu, he focused on the theory first.
Before long, Nono came back—this time with Shizune.
Kitazawa stood up and followed them into the operating room.
While performing surgeries, he began learning the Mystical Palm technique.
…
September 1st – First Day of the New Term
It was a new day—and the start of a new month.
September 1st marked the official beginning of the new school term.
As Kitazawa walked through the halls of the Ninja Academy, he could immediately feel the energy—it was way livelier than usual.
That first-day excitement was infectious. Give it a few days, though, and all that hype would probably turn into post-summer nostalgia.
Thinking that Naruto and Hinata might already be training, Kitazawa made a quick detour to check the artificial lake.
But nope—they weren't there.
When he got back to his office, he realized why: they were already waiting for him.
Sitting there were Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara.
"Well, well… Shikamaru, you being early and motivated? That's rare." Kitazawa smirked.
"..." Shikamaru's mouth twitched.
It wasn't like he wanted to be here, but his parents—Shikaku and Yoshino—had basically issued a no-nonsense ultimatum. Since there was no escaping it, he figured he might as well show up on his own terms and avoid a bigger headache.
"After first period, head to the school's training field," Kitazawa told them. "I'll assign you your new training schedule then. I've got a faculty meeting right after this."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," they all replied in sync.
"Hinata, hang back a minute," he said as the others started to leave. "Did you eat breakfast?"
"No…" she admitted, eyes downcast.
"Then what were you planning to do? Starve?" Kitazawa knocked her lightly on the forehead, half teasing.
"I-I was going to eat something on my own," she muttered. "Aren't you heading to a meeting soon?"
"It doesn't start for another thirty minutes," he said with a small laugh. "Plenty of time to eat."
"Okay!" Hinata's face lit up.
"Eat up. You'll need the energy to crush Neji this afternoon," he said, patting her head before pulling out the breakfast he'd picked up for her.
"You're right, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hinata balled her tiny fists in determination.
"Alright, let's dig in," he chuckled.
Since Hinata's change in personality, she'd honestly become pretty adorable. Not like she'd done a full 180—but just enough to bring out her own charm. Honestly, if she ever turned into one of those aggressive delinquent "queen bee" types, it wouldn't have been half as interesting.
After breakfast, Kitazawa made his way to the conference room.
"Over here, Kitazawa-senpai," Iruka waved him over.
Kitazawa walked up and sat next to him.
At 8:30 sharp, Principal Hisao walked in, and the first staff meeting of the semester began.
The first twenty minutes were a slog—just the usual "goals for the future" fluff that nearly put Kitazawa to sleep.
But then finally, in the last ten minutes, they got to the good part.
"After careful discussion," Principal Hiruzen announced, "this year's Outstanding Teacher Award goes once again to Kitazawa."
Iruka turned to him, eyes full of admiration. "Congratulations, Kitazawa-senpai."
"Thanks," Kitazawa replied with a nod, then stood and walked up to accept his certificate—and a nice little 300,000-ryō bonus.
Not a bad way to start the semester.
~~~
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