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After wandering around for a while, as dusk fell, Naruto escorted Hinata back home.
Once he returned to the small grove, Naruto began his training.
Upon arrival, he noticed Sasuke practicing with electric currents on a tree, looking quite serious.
"Feeling the pressure?" Naruto could tell from his expression that Sasuke was in a bad mood.
"..." Sasuke remained silent. The matches he had watched today indeed left him feeling pressured. He felt that if he were to face Rock Lee with the Fifth Gate open, he might lose. Moreover, his next opponent, Gaara, was also incredibly strong.
The main issue was that if he kept winning, he would eventually have to face the blond menace in front of him.
Naruto understood Sasuke well. Unless he cut off his head or pierced a vital organ with a Chidori, any attack against Naruto would be futile—and a waste of chakra.
"Let's go ask Kakashi for advice tomorrow."
"Is Kakashi really that strong?" Sasuke was skeptical. In his eyes, Kakashi was a lazy and carefree person. After all, Kakashi had let Haku escape during their fight and froze up when faced with Orochimaru. He didn't seem like much of a powerhouse.
"How about that bowl-cut guy in the green spandex from today? Was he strong?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke recalled the thick-browed man Kakashi referred to as Guy. Initially, Sasuke thought the man was a comedic character—until he witnessed the speed Guy displayed when saving Rock Lee. That was when Sasuke dropped his disdain. While he could somewhat follow Orochimaru's movements, he couldn't track Guy's at all!
"Very strong," Sasuke admitted honestly. Not being able to see someone's actions meant one thing: you'd get hit without even knowing who attacked you.
Although his Sharingan wasn't fully developed yet, did that mean the guy had already used his maximum speed?
"Kakashi is evenly matched with him." Naruto spoke truthfully. Even if you brought Kaguya into the equation, it'd still be a fifty-fifty split between her and Kakashi.
In the future, Naruto might gain buffs from Sage Mode, Nine-Tails' Golden Body, and Six Paths Mode—but he still wasn't sure he could defeat Kakashi.
Kakashi only needed one buff: Equality Among All Beings.
You think you're flashy? Wait till I match your level of flashiness.
A savior for the weak, a nemesis for the strong.
"Him?!" Sasuke exclaimed incredulously.
"Mm-hmm." Naruto didn't elaborate further; there was no point explaining too much.
Sasuke wasn't the type to make random statements, so Naruto could already guess what Sasuke would say to Kakashi tomorrow.
It'd probably go something like this: Sasuke awkwardly saying, "Kakashi, I've got some questions..."
Why? Figure it out yourself. This guy never properly explained anything—it was enough to drive anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies insane.
Kakashi viewed Sasuke as his personal disciple—what with the Sharingan, Lightning Release affinity, and being one of the last two surviving members of the Uchiha clan alongside Obito. If Sasuke asked, Kakashi would definitely teach him something.
Whether Sasuke grew stronger or not didn't concern Naruto. If Sasuke became powerful enough to single-handedly take down the entire Ōtsutsuki clan, Naruto would be thrilled—he could just stay home playing video games and drawing manga.
Naruto himself wanted to learn something from Kakashi, but their abilities weren't compatible. Throughout the entire series, Kakashi used Earth, Lightning, and Water Releases more times than the Kage of those respective villages combined—but Fire Release? He only used a Great Fireball Technique once during the bell test with canonical Prince Sasuke and Sakura.
As for Wind Release? Never once.
And techniques like the Rasengan, which held special significance, couldn't be taught by him either.
So Naruto could only wait for Jiraiya to teach him the Rasengan. Kakashi wasn't qualified to teach it, but Jiraiya was.
Sasuke pondered deeply while Naruto continued his practice.
By evening, Naruto went home and started studying piano materials. With the Shadow Clone Technique, he assumed learning would be lightning-fast.
But then he opened the book.
"What the heck is all this?!"
He recognized the characters individually, but together they made no sense!
"Hey, Kyuubi, can you—" Naruto was about to consult the Nine-Tails when he remembered that the fox was asleep.
"This feels so weird," Naruto muttered, scratching his head. After years of having a talking fox around, the sudden silence felt strange.
How could he just fall asleep like that? For an entire month? Is he hibernating or digesting food to evolve?
Without the fox to play chess with, Naruto could only stroke its fur while trying to decipher the cryptic textbook.
Eventually, he dozed off while studying…
Early the next morning, at the training grounds assembly:
Naruto looked at Sasuke differently now.
"Sasuke…" Naruto hesitated.
"Hmm?" Sasuke felt uncomfortable under his gaze. What had gotten into this guy?
"Never mind…"
"Oh."
Naruto was considering whether to pluck out Sasuke's eyes temporarily to copy the moves of a few piano masters before returning them. After all, the Sharingan was plug-and-play.
At the same time, he wondered if he should form a band with Sasuke and debut.
He'd often heard stories where people decided to become idols to save the world.
If he and Sasuke ended up saving the world anyway, why not debut as musicians? It seemed reasonable.
Of course, Naruto knew that the worlds were different, along with their musical styles, and the public probably wouldn't accept it.
But who listens to songs these days anyway? It's all about appearances. With Sasuke's looks, all he'd need to do is stand there with a guitar, and concerts would sell out instantly.
Then again, what if he wore a mask during performances? Would the audience speculate that he was even handsomer than Sasuke?
Should they invite Itachi to be the lead singer?
Naruto slapped his forehead, snapping himself out of these wild fantasies.
With national and familial grudges weighing heavily on both brothers, they certainly couldn't afford to goof around with him.
Thus, at the training grounds, the three sat on the ground while Sasuke and Sakura watched Naruto play with his facial expressions.
Sasuke didn't understand, nor did he ask. Ever since getting to know Naruto better, such scenes had become common. Clearly, Naruto was lost in another bizarre train of thought.
Meanwhile, Sakura thought to herself:
[Could this be transmitting intelligence about Sasuke back to his home planet? Or is he feeling guilty for betraying his teammates?]
While the trio was lost in their own thoughts, Kakashi finally arrived—late as usual.
"Yo, everyone's here! Good morning," said Lazy Kakashi.
"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei."
"Due to the Chunin Exams, we won't have missions this month. Everyone should focus on individual training." Kakashi flipped through his book as he spoke. "Any plans?"
Sakura raised her hand first. "Kakashi-sensei, do you have connections at the hospital?"
"Yeah."
Thanks to his unique buff (frequent hospital stays), Kakashi indeed knew plenty of people at the hospital.
"Can you take us there later? I want to learn medical ninjutsu and visit Iruka-sensei."
Kakashi turned a page. "Are you two going too?"
"Mm-hmm," Naruto nodded. He was the one who threw the ball.
"Mm-hmm," Sasuke nodded. He was the one who kicked Iruka into the hospital.
"You want to learn medical ninjutsu?"
"Mm-hmm," Sakura affirmed.
"Great." Kakashi smiled proudly. After one round of the Chunin Exams, all three of his students had grown. Even Sakura had found her path.
[Great my ass, go die a thousand deaths], Naruto thought bitterly. He still remembered those famous lines.
"Then let's go."
Kakashi led the way, and the three followed.
Their first stop: Yamanaka Flower Shop. You can't visit patients empty-handed.
At the entrance, seeing no one inside, Naruto removed his mask.
Unless he was with Hinata, Naruto always wore his mask in crowded places. Since the shop was empty, he took it off.
Kakashi felt Naruto might have social anxiety—but that theory didn't hold water because Naruto never wore the mask when Hinata was around, even in large crowds. So what was the reason?
Mental illness?
"Ah, Sasuke, you're here!" Ino leapt onto Sasuke's back and immediately locked gazes with Sakura in mutual hostility.
"Why are you minding the shop?!" Sakura complained. She assumed Ino would be training today, which was why they came to her family's flower shop.
"I passed the preliminaries, so Dad's happy. He went out drinking with Choza, leaving me in charge."
[More like bragging about his daughter's success], Naruto thought. He remembered Ino's dad being overly proud of her achievements.
"Ino, pick some flowers already!" Sakura couldn't take it anymore. How long did she plan to hang on Sasuke's back? And why wasn't Sasuke resisting?!
"Oh, you're visiting Iruka-sensei, right?" Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Ino finally detached herself from Sasuke and began picking flowers.
Soon, each of them held several bouquets.
"How much?" Naruto asked, patting the four coins in his pocket.
"On the house!" Ino chirped happily.
"Seriously?!" Naruto was shocked. Had Sasuke's charm reached the point where people paid him to take flowers?
"Well, your sword helped me a lot. Consider it a thank-you gift."
Naruto nearly spat blood. That cursed sword! He'd hidden it under the bridge in the Land of Waves to avoid trouble. Could it still affect his life like this?
Lately, Orochimaru had been causing chaos in Konoha, so Naruto hid the sword beneath the bridge to prevent it from being stolen. Let Orochimaru exhaust himself searching everywhere else.
Ino closed the shop and joined them to visit Iruka, who remained popular among students.
Only after leaving the shop did Naruto remember that Lee was also hospitalized. But since the shop was already closed, he couldn't ask for another bouquet.
[Oh well, I'll give him some apples instead.]