It was noon.
After lunch, Naruto Uzumaki sprinted toward the academy's artificial lake.
Bam!
Running at full speed, his head filled with thoughts of new training, Naruto failed to notice Shikamaru Nara coming around the corner.
"Ow!"
Shikamaru, exhausted from his own morning training, was nearly knocked apart by the collision.
"Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"
Naruto blinked in surprise.
"Oh, it's you, Naruto."
Shikamaru stood up, rubbing his lower back and grumbled, "Man, you sure pack a punch."
"Sorry," Naruto said quickly. "I'm headed to the lake. Kitazawa-sensei said he's giving me a new special training."
"Oh?"
Shikamaru's eyes brightened. "Is it water-walking training?"
After all, he knew well: suffering shared is suffering halved.
And with Naruto around, the teacher's attention would definitely be drawn elsewhere.
After all — you always focus your attacks on the taunting hero first.
Shikamaru knew Naruto well.
Strong, yes — but terrible at chakra control.
If they trained together, Naruto would grab all of Kitazawa's attention, letting him slack off a bit.
"I don't know if it's water-walking," Naruto scratched his head. "Sensei didn't say."
"If it's at the lake, it probably is," Shikamaru reasoned.
"That makes sense," Naruto nodded. He always trusted Shikamaru's brains.
"Perfect, I'm doing water-walking too," Shikamaru said, holding out his hand. "We can team up."
"How do we do that?" Naruto asked, shaking his hand.
Shikamaru explained Kitazawa's training style in detail.
"So that's how it works?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "Sounds exciting!"
Are you a masochist or what?
Shikamaru couldn't comprehend it.
That kind of torture — exciting?
"When the time comes, we'll fight side by side, beat Kitazawa-sensei, rise together, and build our legend!" Shikamaru said with mock seriousness, wrapping an arm around Naruto's shoulder.
"You two want to train together?" came Kitazawa's voice from behind.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto quickly greeted.
"We're classmates, so training together sounds fun," Shikamaru added with a grin.
"Alright then," Kitazawa smiled. "Follow me."
"Wait—!"
Shikamaru's sense of dread spiked. "Kitazawa-sensei, I actually have the afternoon off. I'll train with Naruto tomorrow!"
"You already agreed to train with him," Kitazawa replied calmly. "You can't go back on your word."
He turned and led the way.
Since it was lunchtime, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga had already gone back to rest — no one else was at the lake.
"Here's fine," Kitazawa said, stopping in a clearing.
He looked at them — one eager, one miserable. The contrast was perfect.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Shikamaru said, realizing something was off. "We're not doing water-walking?"
They were seven or eight meters away from the lake.
Crap! I've been tricked!
Outsmarted myself!
He had assumed Naruto was doing water-walking, so he'd stayed to "help."
Now he was the clown.
"This is combat training," Kitazawa said with a warm smile. "Both of you — attack me with everything you've got."
"...?"
Shikamaru froze.
Combat training? More like punching-bag training!
"Watch out, Sensei!" Naruto shouted, already charging. "Leaf Whirlwind!"
Kitazawa's brow lifted slightly.
His speed's improved again.
Training with Might Guy was clearly paying off.
Kitazawa clenched his fist and met Naruto's kick head-on.
Naruto's right leg went numb, but he recovered quickly.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
He pushed off the ground, spinning his body and kicking again — but Kitazawa vanished, replaced by a swirl of leaves.
Naruto stumbled, then quickly found Kitazawa's new position and lunged again.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Kitazawa hadn't forgotten his real goal: to train Naruto enough to defeat Sasuke Uchiha.
So, mastering Fire Style was essential.
As for Shikamaru, including him was a last-minute idea — but maybe it'd do him good.
His laziness wasn't just personality; it was lack of pressure.
A few good beatings might teach him the value of strength.
In short — he needed adversity.
Just like how, in the original story, his teacher Asuma's death had awakened him.
"Whoa!"
The air rippled with heat; Naruto jumped back as the ground sizzled beneath him.
The fireball chased after him relentlessly.
"Shikamaru, move!" Naruto rolled aside.
Shikamaru sighed. Seeing no way out, he had no choice but to fight — or get roasted.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
Kitazawa weaved signs, spitting clusters of flame that split midair — one for each boy.
"Eat this!"
Naruto shouted, chakra surging to his legs. "Violent — Leaf Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind!"
Blue chakra wrapped his kicks, shielding him from the heat. He shattered the oncoming flames with one strike.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow.
Naruto already learned the Violent Adamantine-Strength Whirlwind?
That was the fourth form of the Leaf Whirlwind series — extremely powerful.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru was barely dodging.
Even though Kitazawa slowed the flames for him, he still ended up tumbling across the ground several times before escaping.
At that moment, Shikamaru desperately wished he'd already mastered his clan's secret jutsu — at least then he could fight back.
"Naruto, use your Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he called out between gasps.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
Two more Narutos appeared.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
The three Narutos charged forward.
"That's not how teamwork works!"
Shikamaru couldn't stop them in time.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Kitazawa smirked, breathing out another massive fireball.
"Help! HELP!"
The first two Narutos were instantly engulfed and vanished in smoke.
"Haha! Got you now, Sensei!"
The last Naruto appeared behind him and swung a powerful punch — fast enough to make the air whistle.
Are all Uzumakis born with super strength?
Kitazawa thought dryly as he sidestepped.
Then he lifted his leg and kicked Naruto flying.
He felt a presence behind him — turned into leaves again — and Shikamaru's ambush missed completely.
The next second, he too went flying.
Both boys landed flat on the ground, dazed.
"Na–Naruto… got any jutsu to restrain him?" Shikamaru asked weakly.
"Yeah."
Naruto nodded.
"Really?"
Shikamaru was surprised — he'd only asked half-seriously.
"I think your talent's no worse than Sasuke's," he added admiringly.
"Watch this!"
Naruto, flattered, shouted excitedly, "Sexy Jutsu!"
"???"
Kitazawa blinked.
"Nani?"
Shikamaru's brain short-circuited as he stared at the gorgeous blonde female version of Naruto before him.
The plan had been for Naruto to distract Kitazawa — not him too!
I'm tainted…
The light left Shikamaru's eyes.
"No using the Sexy Jutsu during combat training ever again," Kitazawa said flatly, blasting a fireball at him.
Naruto dropped the transformation and sprinted for his life.
Shikamaru, regaining his senses just in time, ran after him.
An hour later, the two sat back-to-back on the ground, drenched in sweat.
Naruto was breathing hard but fine.
Shikamaru looked like he'd just crawled out of a river — limp and lifeless, like a burnt-out rag doll.
"Shikamaru," Kitazawa said after a moment's thought, "you'll join combat training twice a week."
Shikamaru's stamina was nowhere near Naruto's, and Kitazawa didn't want to face an angry Shikaku Nara if something happened.
Twice a week was enough.
Naruto, on the other hand, had the Nine-Tails' chakra and the vitality of the Uzumaki clan — rest one night and he'd be fine.
Just look at Karin and her mother — one bite could heal a ninja!
Hearing this, Shikamaru felt half-alive again.
Every day would have been suicide; twice a week, though painful, was survivable.
"Shikamaru, you can go home after you rest," Kitazawa said. "Naruto, if you're up for it, continue class this afternoon."
"No problem!" Naruto grinned, thumping his chest.
Monster! Shikamaru screamed internally.
Half an hour later, he sluggishly left the academy.
"I'm home," he muttered weakly.
"You look like you got beaten up," Shikaku frowned.
"Forget that," Shikamaru sighed. "Dad, I want to learn Shadow Imitation Jutsu. Show me the scroll."
"…What?"
Shikaku's eyes went wide. "Who are you and what have you done with my son?!"
"Quit joking, Dad," Shikamaru groaned.
"It's true then…" Shikaku blinked, then smiled in awe. "Your teacher Kitazawa must be a genius!"
"…"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
A genius? More like a devil.
That afternoon…
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke Uchiha approached before class began.
"What's wrong? Trouble mastering Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu?" Kitazawa asked.
"No," Sasuke replied, taking out a scroll. "This is for you."
He'd meant to give it that morning but had only seen Kitazawa's clone.
He wanted to hand it over personally.
Kitazawa opened it — and raised an eyebrow.
Two B-rank Fire Style techniques:
Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction, and Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Jutsu.
The former created a sea of fire; the latter released four flaming dragons — an advanced form of the Dragon Flame Jutsu.
"Thank your brother for me," Kitazawa said. "And you too."
"It's just two fire techniques," Sasuke said coolly.
That arrogance… 99 out of 100 points. One off for modesty, Kitazawa thought.
The Uchiha really were generous — tossing around B-rank jutsu like candy.
"I'll go train, Sensei," Sasuke said, moving to an open area to practice.
"Naruto," Kitazawa said, summoning a shadow clone, "go spar with him."
"Yes, Sensei!"
Naruto and the clone moved to a wide clearing — after all, fire training indoors would only lead to headlines like:
"Academy Instructor Kitazawa Accidentally Burns Down Ninja School."
(It's worth noting that newspapers do exist in the ninja world — Minato Namikaze was seen reading one in the original story.)
"Hinata," Kitazawa said, patting her head gently, "let's start your Gentle Fist training."
"Yes!"
Hinata nodded hard.
As she began practicing, Kitazawa corrected her stance and flow.
Honestly, Hinata's progress wasn't fast — not due to lack of talent, but because Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms was extremely difficult.
She had about two months left before her match against Neji Hyuga.
Mastering the full Sixty-Four Palms in that time? Impossible.
So Kitazawa planned to follow her canon path — first teaching her the Thirty-Two Palms, then progressing later.
Even that would be tough in two months, so they'd start smaller — Gentle Fist: Twelve Palms.