September 1—Registration Day.
Kitazawa stood in the clearing behind the house and formed hand seals.
"Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique!"
A woody tendril shot out and coiled around the tree in front of him.
Calling it a "branch" wasn't quite right—it looked more like a long, flexible vine.
Kitazawa nodded slightly. He'd basically mastered Smothering Binding Technique and could move on to the next Wood Release, the Great Forest Technique. That one extends multiple wooden vines from the forearms to ensnare a target.
Tsunade had given him three Wood Release jutsu. He planned to come clean with her once he learned Great Forest—say he had "synthesized" Wood Release himself.
He turned and headed for the Konoha Orphanage.
Kaguya Kimimaro, Tayuya, Jūgo, and Haku were already waiting. The four of them would be joining the Advanced Class as transfer students.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Haku was the first to greet him. Kimimaro and Jūgo followed suit. Only Tayuya remained openly reluctant.
Kitazawa didn't mind. Once she saw monsters like Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, she'd be questioning her life choices.
For the first monthly exam this term, he planned to use the traditional field test. With the newcomers, they needed to pick eighteen students for mission teams again—handy for clearing his system quest, too.
"Morning, Everyone!"
The moment Naruto bounded into the Advanced Class classroom, he called out with his usual enthusiasm.
"You're late, Naruto," Kiba said. "You're the last one here."
"I figured it's registration day today, and I'd be happy to see you all, so I… uh… ran two extra laps," Naruto scratched his head.
Kiba's face turned into a string of question marks. Are you even human?
"Don't we see each other every day?" Chōji spoke around a mouthful of chips.
Aside from Sasuke and Sakura, most of them had spent the summer at the Academy anyway.
"Summer break and the first day back aren't the same," Naruto said solemnly.
"As expected of Naruto," Shikamaru laced his hands behind his head. "No one can compete with that workout ethic."
"I don't think it's 'workout ethic,'" Ino shook her head, cutting to the truth. "It's his, uh… constitution."
"Agreed," Shino nodded. Of everyone he'd seen—including jōnin—Naruto's physical resilience was number one.
"Sasuke," Naruto turned after sitting down, "how was your summer?"
"Fine," Sasuke said coolly. "Beating you won't be a problem."
Over the summer he'd trained Lightning Release with Kakashi and deliberately made up ground on theory. Last term he'd missed out on first place because of the written rankings.
"As expected—my lifelong rival!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up. "From that one line I can feel youth boiling over!"
Sasuke's mouth twitched. What's boiling? Where's the "youth"?
"What about you, Sakura?" Ino felt Sakura was acting a bit off today—then realized why. After Sasuke spoke, she hadn't chimed in or jinxed him.
"Beating you won't be a problem," Sakura echoed Sasuke's tone.
"You're not Sasuke. If you want to beat me, talk isn't enough," Ino flicked her blonde hair.
"This time's different," Sakura said, brimming with confidence. "My Water Release isn't worse than your genjutsu anymore—and I learned counters to genjutsu."
Ino's eyes narrowed. She felt… threatened.
"Hey, did you all forget something?" Tenten laughed. "You don't need to spar right now—wins and losses come from missions."
Last term had already proven one thing: doing missions didn't automatically mean the strongest fighter got full marks.
"Kitazawa-sensei is here—and four students behind him," Neji reported from the window.
"Any of you know them?" Kiba stood to get a better look.
"Is that… Haku?" Inuzuka Hana blinked, surprised.
"You know him?" Kiba asked, stunned.
"Hinata, Shino, and I took a mission in the Land of Water—the target was that boy, Haku, the one on the far left," Hana explained. "He's from the Land of Water and has the Ice Release kekkei genkai."
"He's a boy?" Sakura gaped. "And Ice Release—how strong is that?"
"If he's got Ice Release, can he make popsicles and ice cream?" Chōji asked, eyes shining.
"I don't know," Hana shook her head. "Kitazawa-sensei only mentioned it in passing."
"What about the other three?" Kiba asked.
"Never seen them," Hana said. "I've only met Haku."
"That white-haired kid has a vibe like Sasuke," Ino noticed. "Cool and aloof."
"No idea how strong they are," Shino adjusted his glasses.
"They're not my match," Sasuke said after a glance. His logic? He didn't recognize them. If they were his level of genius, they'd already be famous.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto yelled as Kitazawa walked in. The others greeted him too. Kimimaro, Jūgo, and the rest studied the class on instinct.
"They don't look like much," Tayuya muttered, lips curled. She kept it quiet to avoid another Kitazawa flick to the forehead—but a man like him could hear a whisper.
"Byakugan," Kimimaro said suddenly.
Tayuya and Jūgo's eyes went to Neji and Hinata. The Hyūga name carried weight; those two might be the class's strongest.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Naruto couldn't help asking, "are they new students?"
"That's right," Kitazawa nodded. "Starting today, the four of them are joining the Advanced Class."
"They really are new classmates?!" Naruto's surprise turned to excitement. "If they can join our class right away, they must be super strong, right?"
"Beating you won't be a problem," Tayuya snorted.
"That sounds familiar," Kiba blinked. "Didn't Sasuke and Sakura say that earlier?"
"Confidence, huh—saying you can beat Naruto," Tenten smiled. She didn't believe there was anyone more freakishly gifted than Naruto among their peers.
Kimimaro, Jūgo, and Haku were quiet by nature. Tayuya's first words being that rude immediately drew attention. In their minds, only someone with real strength would talk like that—and since Kitazawa brought them, a few misconceptions were born.
"If there's a chance, let's have a youth-filled spar!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up; his teeth literally sparkled.
"…Huh?" Tayuya was briefly stunned. Why emphasize "youth"? And why are your teeth so shiny? What's with that pose—and your clothes?
"You four, introduce yourselves," Kitazawa said, stepping aside. "Tell us your hobbies and dreams and such."
Kimimaro and the others stayed put; in the end, Haku stepped forward.
"Hello, my name is Haku," he said with a polite smile. "I don't really have any hobbies yet. My dream is to become an excellent Anbu operative."
"Dreaming of Anbu?" Shikamaru sounded puzzled. "That's a… different dream."
"Yeah, most people say 'Hokage.' Jumping straight to Anbu is unusual," Kiba nodded.
Sasuke glanced at Haku. He felt the kid was carrying something heavy. His own brother had been Anbu, and the ones Sasuke had seen were all cloaked in mystery.
"What's Anbu?" Naruto scratched his head.
"You haven't seen them? You should have," Shikamaru said. "They're the masked shinobi directly under the Hokage."
"Oh!" Naruto brightened. "Right, I've seen them!"
"Haku, sit next to Kiba," Kitazawa said after a look around.
"I'm Kiba Inuzuka!" Kiba raised his hand. Haku nodded and took the seat beside him.
"I'm Jūgo. I like small animals. As for a dream… I hope I can be an ordinary person," Jūgo said in a deep voice.
Kitazawa mused. In the original story, Jūgo could understand animals, which explained why he liked being around birds and such. "Ordinary person" probably meant he didn't want to go berserk because of his constitution and turn into a killer again.
"An ordinary person?" Ino and Chōji both glanced at Shikamaru.
"Why are you looking at me?" Shikamaru drawled. "Dreams can be whatever."
Truthfully, he was surprised—someone with a dream close to his. But after the last brush with death, he knew he couldn't be "ordinary." He'd have to keep being a shinobi.
"Jūgo, sit by Shino," Kitazawa said. Their temperaments matched—both quiet types. Shino raised a hand; Jūgo went over.
"I'm Tayuya," she said at the front. "No hobbies. As for things I hate… nothing much."
She'd meant to say she hated Kitazawa, but one glare made her switch lanes.
"Sit next to Naruto," Kitazawa decided after a beat. Naruto was the only one who wouldn't care about her sharp tongue—and she could get a taste of that terrifying power called "youth." Hopefully she wouldn't get infected and show up one day in a green jumpsuit.
"Tayuya, over here!" Naruto waved enthusiastically.
"…" Tayuya squinted. In Sound, everyone was cold. Simple reason: constant killing—friends and even family included. She'd grown used to that chill. The Advanced Class felt… completely different. She felt out of place, like she didn't belong.
"My name is Kaguya Kimimaro," Kimimaro was last and said the least—just his name.
"Kaguya?" Neji and Hinata exchanged surprised looks. The Kaguya clan had a bit of history with the Hyūga. After the Kaguya were wiped out, contact was lost.
In the original—more precisely, in the anime—it's even said that Hyūga Hanabi once visited Kaguya relatives in the Land of Water. Either anime and manga disagree, or the Kaguya still had survivors. Kitazawa felt the former was more likely.
"Weren't the Kaguya wiped out? So he's a survivor?" The question floated through Shikamaru's head, but he didn't ask. Poking a fresh wound out loud would be rude.
"Kimimaro, sit with Neji," Kitazawa said after thinking it over.
"Next up is registration. Once you're registered, pick up your textbooks for the term and you're free to go," he reminded them. "Classes start tomorrow—don't be late."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!" everyone answered in unison.
Kitazawa finished the registrations and left the classroom. Handing out books was Iruka Umino's job. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake hadn't come.
"Want some chips?" Chōji offered to the newcomers.
"I'll pass, thanks," Haku shook his head.
Tayuya caught the aroma and swallowed without thinking. There were no such things as potato chips in Sound—she'd never even seen them.
"I've got more snacks," Ino noticed her look and smiled, pulling out a big handful from her bag.
Tayuya stared, stunned.
"Don't be shy—we're classmates," Ino said, popping a piece of chocolate into Tayuya's hand.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Tayuya unwrapped it. One bite—and her eyes flew wide.
"Ino, why are you carrying so many snacks?" Sakura asked, already grabbing a lollipop.
"Kitazawa-sensei gave them to me last time. I didn't finish them," Ino beamed. "He said I'd improved a lot, so he gave me a big bag!"
"What's there to brag about?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Everyone's gotten snacks from Kitazawa-sensei."
Tayuya stiffened at the name "Kitazawa," but the taste in her mouth was too good; she couldn't spit it out.
"I've even eaten ramen cooked by Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto said, buzzing.
"What?!" Ino gaped. "How come I never got any?"
"I… I've had one of Kitazawa-sensei's bentō," Hinata said, mustering her courage.
Tayuya was baffled. How could that annoying Kitazawa be this popular? And this class—so relaxed. Nothing like the brutality of Sound. She snorted softly. What kind of powerhouse geniuses could possibly grow up in an environment like this?
"You three have some too," Ino handed Haku, Kimimaro, and Jūgo each a fistful of snacks.
"Bribing future teammates ahead of time?" Shikamaru teased.
"Bribe? Please," Ino shot him a look. "They don't even know about team selection. And if I were bribing anyone, I'd bribe Kitazawa-sensei."
"What team selection?" Haku asked, curious.
"Here's the deal," Ino explained the field-exam groupings and how it all worked.
"I see," Haku said, worried. "I don't know if I can make the top eighteen."
"Top eighteen is easy," Tayuya said between bites of chocolate. "I'll definitely be top three."
"Do you have a kekkei genkai?" Shikamaru asked, intrigued.
"No," Tayuya lifted her chin proudly. "But I can use the Summoning Technique and genjutsu."
"…Huh." Shikamaru was taken aback. So where does that confidence come from?
Ino, Tenten, Neji, Shino, and others felt the same.
"Surprised?" Tayuya sniffed. "At our age, I bet most of you can't use any real ninjutsu."
In theory, sure—normally six- or seven-year-olds wouldn't even have the Three Basic Techniques down. But with Kitazawa around, forget the basics—some of them had already learned two A-rank jutsu.
"What rank is your genjutsu?" Shikamaru asked.
"B-rank," Tayuya said, chin higher, clearly pleased.
Ino blinked. She was learning a B-rank genjutsu too.
"What about your summons?" Tenten asked.
"Are you trying to dig up intel on me?" Tayuya tensed.
"Getting to know each other helps when you're teammates," Shikamaru smiled. "You can ask about us too."
"No need. You won't beat me anyway," Tayuya said airily. "My summons are three Ogres—Doki—that synergize with my genjutsu."
She gave a rough explanation.
"That sounds so cool!" Naruto blurted. "I want summons like that too!"
Sasuke, Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru all slipped into analysis mode. No question—Tayuya was a real prodigy among their age group. B-rank genjutsu could catch you off guard if you weren't careful. And those summons didn't sound ordinary at all—more like Yin Release constructs, demons straight out of hell.
Kimimaro's eyes flickered. He'd noticed the class stayed pretty calm until "summons" came up—which meant they were already proficient in a bunch of jutsu. Tayuya was too naive. Come the monthly exam, she'd probably lose—and badly.
Haku, unlike Tayuya, had been saved by Kitazawa and trusted him. He certainly wouldn't look down on Kitazawa's students.
~~~
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