The morning sun painted long golden lines across the dirt field, glinting off headbands and kunai as the students gathered around the academy training grounds. A pulse of excitement ran through the air, a low, buzzing current of anticipation and nerves.
"Alright! First sparring matches of the season," Iruka declared, clipboard in hand. "One-on-one bouts. No ninjutsu. No weapons. Taijutsu only."
A chorus of groans and cheers met the announcement.
"Let's get it over with," Shikamaru muttered, already retreating to a shady tree.
Ino stood near the bench, arms crossed, ponytail flicking with every breeze. Her eyes found Naruto, who was stretching half-heartedly.
"Don't embarrass me out there," she said, though her smirk gave her away.
Naruto grinned. "Too late. I tripped on my sandals earlier."
"You idiot," she muttered, biting back a laugh.
Iruka's voice cut through the chatter. "First match—Shikamaru Nara versus Yuto Takeda."
Shikamaru raised a lazy hand. "Too troublesome. I forfeit."
Yuto blinked. "Do I… win?"
Iruka sighed. "Yuto advances."
"Strategic," Naruto muttered.
"Lazy," Ino countered.
From the tree, Shikamaru's voice drifted down. "Both."
"Next! Kiba Inuzuka versus Makoto Iwaki."
Poor Makoto barely had time to blink before Akamaru tackled him and Kiba followed up with a flying kick that sent him skidding across the dirt.
"Winner: Kiba."
Then, Iruka glanced at his clipboard again, and the atmosphere shifted.
"Naruto Uzumaki… versus Sasuke Uchiha."
All sound drained from the field.
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
Ino raised an eyebrow. "You serious?"
Sasuke stepped forward in practiced silence, the Uchiha crest visible on his back like a brand. The girls squealed. Even a few boys leaned forward, anticipating a clean sweep.
Naruto took a breath, walking to the center slowly. As he stepped into the ring, the sun hit his face, catching on the faint red tips of his hair.
"Begin!" Iruka called.
And something snapped.
Not out loud—but inside Naruto. A breath caught in his throat, and then—
"GUARDS UP!"
The voice wasn't Iruka's. It was old, firm, warm. A memory, sharp as lightning.
His feet moved before he could think. Left foot forward. Elbows tucked. Fists up. Chin down. Weight shifting from heel to toe like—
Like Dad taught me…
A shadow of a man stood in his mind—big, smiling, calloused hands correcting his stance. His dad from another life. The man who made him run ten laps in the rain, punch sandbags until his knuckles bled, and hold his ground no matter how scared he was.
I haven't thought of you in years…
The bell echoed in his skull—no, it was Iruka's voice. The match had started.
And Sasuke was already on him.
Naruto didn't think. He didn't need to.
His body remembered.
The first punch came fast. He slipped it.
A roundhouse? Duck. Close the distance. Jab. Move.
He wasn't fighting like a ninja. He was boxing.
To the class, it looked like he was dancing. Graceful, reactive, always just barely out of reach—until he wasn't.
Pop! A jab snapped Sasuke's head back. Not hard, but sharp.
Kiba's voice rang from the crowd. "Yo! What was that?!"
"He looks like he is dancing!" Choji agreed, his chip bag forgotten.
"Again!" someone yelled. For the first time, some of the boys—not the usual fangirls—were cheering for Naruto.
A few of the girls scowled. "Tch. Sasuke-kun was distracted."
"He'll bounce back."
Sasuke came again—faster, meaner.
But Naruto had entered a different place.
The world around him dimmed. All he could hear was the rhythm in his steps, the rush of air as punches missed his face by inches, and the pounding in his chest that wasn't fear—it was clarity.
Another jab. A cross. Sasuke's block missed by a hair.
A solid left to the jaw—and the Uchiha dropped.
The crowd gasped. Sasuke didn't move.
Iruka rushed over. After a moment, he raised a hand. "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"
The silence shattered.
"WHAT?!"
"No way!"
"He dropped Sasuke!"
"That was awesome!" Kiba shouted, pumping his fists.
Ino ran up, punching his arm excitedly. "What the heck was that?! You looked so cool!"
"You were like, woosh!" Kiba mimicked his dodges. "Then—bam!"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "It's called… boxing."
Iruka blinked. "Boxing? I've never heard of that."
Before Naruto could reply, a new voice broke through.
"You won't."
Every head turned.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had arrived silently, hands behind his back.
He smiled faintly. "That wasn't a style Naruto learned, Iruka. It's one he created."
Gasps rippled.
"Created?!"
"No way…"
Naruto tilted his head. "Old man… were you peeping from your balls again?"
A collective gasp.
Ino's mouth fell open. "You absolute moron!"
Iruka snorted, trying not to laugh. "Naruto, maybe… rephrase."
Hiruzen's eye twitched. "Naruto. The way you say that is… profoundly disturbing."
Kiba dropped to his knees, laughing. "Hahahaha! From your balls?! HA!"
"IDIOT!" Ino slapped Naruto on the head. "He's the Hokage!"
"Okay, okay!" Naruto winced. "Sorry!"
Hiruzen exhaled. "Thank you, Ino. At least someone here has manners."
Turning to Naruto, Hiruzen's tone softened. "You were incredible. Every step, every strike—it was precise. Real."
Naruto looked down at his hands. The sensation was already slipping, like a half-remembered dream. His fingers curled slightly, as if still trying to hold onto the feeling.
"I didn't… mean to do it," he muttered. "It just…"
His voice drifted off. He couldn't say anything. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh, you know, my father in my past life was a boxer and taught me how to fight.' No one would believe him—and if they did, he'd be put through an interrogation.
He hadn't said much. But for Hiruzen.
The old Hokage studied him carefully. Not just his stance or his new fighting style—but him. The way Naruto held himself now. The sharpness in his eyes. The flicker of control and confidence that hadn't been there just weeks ago.
And for a moment—just a moment—he saw Kushina.
Not just in the red-tipped hair or the fiery spirit, though those were unmistakable.
It was in the stubborn tilt of his jaw. The spark that refused to dim. The raw emotional honesty that came through even when Naruto wasn't trying.
But there was more.
That quiet, instinctive control in the fight… the way he moved only when he needed to. The way he made it look easy. That wasn't her.
That was him.
Hiruzen's chest tightened, the edges of memory cutting gently. Kushina's fire. Minato's precision. Their son.
Naruto, of course, didn't know. Couldn't know. The truth had been kept from him, locked behind names he'd never heard and legacies he hadn't been allowed to claim.
He couldn't say Minato. Couldn't say Kushina.
But looking at him now, Hiruzen felt both of them standing there in the sunlight—through him.
He cleared his throat before the emotion could catch in it. "So… what's it called, this style of yours?"
Naruto blinked, brought back to the moment. "Boxing."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "That's surprisingly plain. I thought you'd call it something like 'Superstyle Punch-Dancing Roundhouse Hurricane Fist'."
Ino, Iruka, Choji ,Kiba , Shikamaru and even Hinata nodded like this was a reasonable expectation.
Naruto groaned. "I'm not that much of an idiot!"
"Sure you're not," Hiruzen muttered with a smirk, the warmth in his eyes returning.
He couldn't help the chuckle that rose in his throat. 'Not that much of an idiot,' huh… Hiruzen's thoughts drifted, just for a moment, to another blond troublemaker who once stood in the same field years ago. Minato, he thought fondly, you'd be proud… and also a little embarrassed.
He vividly remembered the day Minato proudly introduced his new jutsu with a gleam in his eye and zero hesitation.
"Halo Frozen Dessert Hair Whorl Jiraiya Twin Formula Sphere!"
Jiraiya had choked on his tea. The name had been so long and ridiculous that even the toads had refused to use it.
They settled, eventually, on Rasengan—short, elegant, clean. Kushina would've smacked Minato upside the head for the first name, no doubt.
And now, here was Naruto, standing tall in the sunlight, grinning like a fool—more like Kushina in spirit than appearance, but the composure… the quiet pride in the aftermath… that was all Minato.
A perfect mix of the two.
Even if Naruto didn't know it yet.
Chapter 5 end...