Kitagawa didn't stay at Tsunade's house long, but he did succeed in deepening her impression of him—though it probably wasn't a good one.
What Kitagawa didn't know was that the moment he left, Tsunade went out too.
But not to a bar. She headed straight to the Hokage Tower.
In the archives, Tsunade was flipping through files when the door suddenly opened. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stepped inside. "Coming by at this hour—is something urgent?"
Tsunade didn't turn around. "Nothing urgent. Just looking up some information on an annoying guy."
"Is it that Kitagawa boy?"
The Third sighed. "His parents were direct members of my personal guard unit. They both fell in the Great Ninja War."
Tsunade's hands paused. She quickly shoved the file back and turned to leave, her tone irritated. "I see."
Watching Tsunade hurry out, the Third felt helpless, but he was already thinking about how to use Kitagawa to convince Tsunade to stay.
After all, it was rare for Tsunade to take interest in someone.
The next day at noon.
Obito was eating his lunch when Kakashi slapped a test paper down in front of him. "Three wrong. Copy it ten times!"
Obito froze, then shoved his lunch aside. "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Kakashi didn't respond. He just turned and walked away.
Obito grabbed the sheet and saw that Kakashi had already marked the correct answers in red pen.
He looked over them several times. It seemed Kakashi was right.
"Ugh!"
Obito clutched his head in despair.
Ten times!
He wasn't going to be able to play at lunch today!
So after eating, Obito had no choice but to watch everyone else go have fun while he stayed in the classroom copying, his face looking like a bitter melon.
"Obito, what are you doing?"
A clear, cheerful voice suddenly rang out. Obito looked up, and his eyes lit up instantly. "Rin!"
Rin Nohara glanced at his desk, and Obito quickly hid everything, forcing a smile. "N-nothing!"
Rin tilted her head. "Why aren't you coming to play with everyone?"
"I... I have to review for classes!"
Obito emphasized heavily. "I did bad on the written test before, so I need to make it up!"
I'm so clever!
Obito mentally praised himself for the quick thinking.
Rin smiled. "I see. Then good luck, Obito!"
She waved. "Do your best. I'm heading out."
Obito watched Rin run off, reluctantly tearing his eyes away, and looked back at the test sheet, grinding his teeth. "Damn you, Kakashi..."
He muttered while copying.
After afternoon class.
Kitagawa was checking Obito's homework when his brow furrowed.
Obito's heart sank at the sight.
Kitagawa looked up. "Get your original test sheet."
Obito felt dread wash over him and quickly brought it.
Kitagawa scanned it and looked at Obito with exasperation. "Kakashi already wrote the correct answers for you. So why did you copy them wrong?"
"Huh?"
Obito's mind went blank.
He quickly compared them. Sure enough, he'd copied wrong.
"Ah... how did this happen?"
Obito couldn't help but wail.
He thought back—it must've been when Rin showed up. He'd gotten distracted and messed up. Then he'd used his own work as the template for the rest, so it all went wrong.
"Teacher Kitagawa... I won't really have to train with Gai like that, will I?"
Obito looked pathetic, tears almost forming.
Kitagawa smiled and nodded. "Of course you will."
"Your teacher always keeps his word. Let's go!"
Obito's shoulders sagged, and he said weakly, "Yes, sir!"
He packed up his things and followed Kitagawa to the training grounds.
Gai was still running laps. Today, though, Dai wasn't there cheering him on.
"Teacher Kitagawa~!"
Gai waved happily but didn't stop running.
"Let's start!"
Kitagawa patted Obito's shoulder. "500 laps!"
"Y-yes..."
Obito followed Kitagawa in desperation.
After 200 laps, Obito was wiped out, nearly hanging his tongue out like a dog.
By 250 laps, he was crawling like a snail, sweat soaking through his clothes.
And when he heard that Gai had already completed 600 laps, he nearly questioned his entire existence. How is this guy doing this?
Watching Gai zoom past him at lap 600 with a faster pace, Obito gritted his teeth and forced his mud-heavy legs to move a bit faster.
But when he hit lap 300, he couldn't take it anymore. His body gave out and he fell forward.
Kitagawa appeared at just the right moment, caught Obito mid-collapse, and hoisted him onto his back, continuing to run.
"Teacher Kitagawa..."
Obito forced his eyes open with difficulty.
Kitagawa smiled. "You promised 500 laps, so we're finishing. But your teacher will run the last 200 for you."
Obito froze. His heart was flooded with gratitude, and tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. He quickly shut them.
When the 500 laps were done, a resting Gai walked over curiously. "Teacher... who is this? Why are you carrying him?"
"Obito. Your classmate."
Kitagawa looked a bit exasperated.
They'd been in school together for over a month, and Gai still didn't recognize him.
"Huh?"
"My classmate?"
Gai thought hard but couldn't place him. But then he smiled. "Teacher, does he not have ninjutsu or genjutsu talent either?"
"Is he going to train with me from now on too?"
Kitagawa shook his head. "No, this is punishment."
"Anyway, Gai, your teacher needs to take Obito home. Keep going!"
With that, Kitagawa carried Obito and left.
When they got close to the Uchiha clan district, Obito suddenly spoke up. "Teacher Kitagawa... even though Gai doesn't have ninjutsu and genjutsu talent, can he really become a qualified ninja?"
Kitagawa chuckled. "Of course."
"Gai wasn't even on the original enrollment list. But his determination to complete those 500 laps moved the Third Hokage."
"And now he's already able to run 700 laps around the training ground. His current goal is 1,000 laps."
"Do you still think he won't make it?"
Obito was too shocked to speak.
A moment later, he said quietly, "Teacher, my stamina has recovered a bit."
Kitagawa set him down and spoke gently. "It's true that not having ninjutsu and genjutsu talent is Gai's weakness. But he also has his strengths."
"Both your teacher and the Third Hokage can see his strengths."
"Just like you, Obito. Yes, you're always late to class, and your written test scores are terrible. But your teacher can also see your strengths, so I'm willing to help you make up for your weaknesses through other methods."
"Especially since your weakness isn't the same as Gai's. You can fix yours with effort."
Obito's face reddened. Then he said with determination, "I understand. I'll work hard!"
Kitagawa patted his shoulder. "Your teacher believes in you!"
"Of course, if tomorrow is like today, the punishment stays the same."
Obito's face immediately fell.
"By the way..."
Kitagawa pointed at Obito's goggles. "Why do you wear those?"
Obito hesitated for a moment, then laughed embarrassedly while scratching his head. "Um... it's because I need to protect my eyes."
Kitagawa realized. "Because of the Sharingan, right?"
Obito nodded.
Kitagawa smiled and shook his head. "That's way too deliberate."
He looked at Obito seriously. "Obito, if you want to become a true strong ninja, first you need to forget that you're from the Uchiha clan."
Obito stopped walking. "Why is that?"