Night had fallen over Konoha. Stars sparkled in the sky, and the streets were alive with lights and excitement.
Naruto barely made it home. Exhaustion hit him hard, but the day had been productive. Tree-walking technique? Basically mastered.
Other areas improved too, though only a little. Not worth mentioning. He ran all the way here, pushing himself with sheer will and grit until he finally reached his apartment.
Naruto thought of giving up and falling unconscious would be better then staying up but he pushed forward like a soldier rushing to death!
The next morning, Naruto woke up feeling like his system had rebooted. No sign of exhaustion or soreness at all!! All hail the Uzumaki bloodline!!
Naruto got up from his bed.
He stretched, showered, brushed his teeth, changed into new clothes, washed the previous ones, and set out again.
He tried his best on the run, stopping only twice. Still, he arrived just three minutes earlier than yesterday. He figured two and a half hours was his limit for now. Stamina and speed would improve as he got stronger, but this was only the second day of training.
Naruto felt grounded again as the realisation hit him. It was just the second day. No need to rush. Just push his limits with each achieved mile stones.
Naruto summoned ten shadow clones. They materialized with a puff. Naruto assigned their roles and they followed.
Two went hunting. Two practiced fuinjutsu and calligraphy. Three trained in tree climbing. Three tried water walking.
Naruto remembered the rabbit meat from yesterday. It had been delicious! Marvellous!! Fantastic!!!... ok not that good but still better then expected.
But his mouth still watered just thinking about it! Hunger makes people stupid it seems! Or he just had weird taste buds... he doesn't know. He didn't even know why and what was this line of his thoughts were to begin with!
But he regained his composure and wiped the drool from his face, shook his head, and started warming up before begun running.
Passing his clones, he saw one practicing calligraphy in the sand and another reading fuinjutsu scrolls.
Yesterday's training had shocked him: fuinjutsu didn't require calligraphy in the way he'd assumed!! He felt embarrassed, even angry at himself for being so dumb!! All the fanfic knowledge gone to waste!! But who could even blame him? He was a human after all...
... but what about his wasted time on leaving calligraphy? Wasn't the time practically wasted? Then it hit him like eureka moment: tags still required calligraphy!
He could make and sell them!! Get fucking richhh... but wait.. whats he gonna do with all the money?
Naruto's running pace slowed as his mind started to run in full speed to figure out a way to spent money other then just buying ramen. On that note, the hadn't gone to Ichikura for while... but that's not the point!!
The point is... the point is... he doesn't remember! Naruto shrugged and picked up his pace decided to think later when the situation came and focused on running.
Near the waterfall, two clones practiced standing on water, wobbling dangerously before falling in.
Three more ran along tree trunks as if they were land. Naruto could now ning-ning-ning up a tree like Ninja Hattori and jump trees like Monkey D. Luffy.
... hold up! Wait a minute! Somethin' ain't right!!
Did Luffy even jump trees? He hadn't watched One Piece. It just came out like a rhyme. Naruto stopped and looked around with stiff expression. But face slammed at his own stupidity.
This was shinobi world! Not even close to One Piece and far from Earth as well!! So no angry fan banging at his door at 3 a.m. because he got some details wrong.
Slap!
Naruto slapped both of his cheeks... of course face cheeks!
"Aaaaaaa~~ Damn ittt~~!! I'm getting to distracted with random thoughts!! Need to focus!! How will I get stronger otherwise!? Aaaaaarhhhhghh ruuuunn!! Let's gooo~~!!"
Naruto scolded himself before started running with new focus. He kept telling himself no more distraction!! For sure!!
He ran at full speed like someone was chasing him... his distracting thoughts probably...
Eventually, he grew exhausted and crawled under a tree for shade. He closed his eyes and drifted into his mind space. Inside, he saw a massive red seal and the familiar mountain-like fox.
"Yo, partnerrrr~~ I'm back~~~!"
Naruto said in weak and lengthy tone.
"About time. Brat!! What stories you will tell me this time?"
The fox replied. Naruto caught his breath and began narrating to Kurama about variousthings he had seen in the projectioninsidehis dream. Kurama at first recoiled at his visits but now let him in. He shared the stories with Kurama, who pretended not to care but clearly was interested.
Bro was like a tsundere fox. But at the sixe of a mountain...
A few minutes later, Naruto exited the mind space and returned to training. Two clones brought back rabbits. He dispelled all the clones, absorbing their memories like a freight train.
He watched the two clone hunting the rabbits. They cornered and beat up the poor rabbits like a dough of dumplings! Those rabbits were destroyed!!!
Naruto closed his eyes as he chuckled but the headache was severe. He couldn't even enjoy the moment... bruh.
Fifteen minutes later, he felt fine again.
He summoned another set of clones. Two of them cleaned the rabbits, while the others prepared firewood and lit a campfire near the stream. Naruto sat on a fallen log, waiting eagerly for the meat to cook. When it was ready, he savored it. Crispy, juicy, satisfying. Meanwhile, his clones continued training.
Dusk came again. Naruto ran back to Konoha. Night fell before he reached his apartment, but he wasn't too exhausted this time. He showered, changed into comfortable clothes, and finally lay down, ready to sleep.
The next morning, he summoned a shadow clone while still in bed and sent it to the training ground to prepare more clones. Today, Team 7 would receive their first mission. After the clone left, Naruto brushed his teeth, showered, dressed, and headed to the Hokage's office.
He arrived early. Sasuke and Sakura were already there, standing close together. Naruto's eyes twitched but he didn't comment. Sasuke brooded, arms crossed, emo aura radiating.
Naruto really felt like punching this guy who acted like he was the only one suffered!
Sakura fidgeted, unsure whether to speak. Naruto greeted them casually, walked inside the mission hall, then found a seat and watched the mission area bustle with activity. Sasuke and Sakura waited outside. They can wait all they want.
Naruto felt it was a perfect weather to slack off.
Drowsiness hit him fast, the morning dragging on. He almost dozed off when someone screamed beside him. Groggily, he opened his eyes to see Sakura leaning forward, irritated.
Naruto ignored her as he stood up stretching and scratching his back. Sakura huffed in frustration but stayed silent.
Finally, Kakashi finished taking missions. All four of them went outside. Kakashi explained the details in his usual calm voice, watching everyone's reactions. Nobody spoke. Once satisfied, he nodded.
"All right, let's go. The faster we finish, the sooner we can get back,"
He said. Team 7 followed, stepping forward toward the mission area, ready to move.
=====
Team 7 arrived at a farmland with overgrown grass. Kakashi knocked on the door, and a man answered.
"We're here to complete the mission you posted,"
Kakashi said, holding out the receipt he'd received from the receptionist.
The old man nodded but his gaze drifted to Naruto. He shook his head, then pointed to the field.
"I want you to pull all that grass. That's it."
With that, he went back inside.
The atmosphere felt odd, but nobody commented. Kakashi turned to the team.
"Well, you heard it. Your job is to clean the field."
He flickered up to a tree branch, slumping lazily on a bench. Hands behind his head, he pulled out his book, reading with the same intensity as the first time he'd ever opened it.
Naruto watched him for a few seconds but didn't say anything. What could he even say? Work with us? Like he'll Kakashi or any other Jonin-sensei would do that!
He turned to Sakura, whose expression was determined, and Sasuke, who looked like he was just going through the motions. Same as canon—but Naruto wasn't his canon self. He had goals, priorities, no time to waste.
He reached into his ninja pouch, pulled out two kunai, and said,
"Hey, you guys, I have a plan. I'll use these kunai to loosen the ground. You remove the patches of grass. Then we level the ground with our feet."
Without waiting for arguments, he started moving fast, loosening the mud.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. Sakura stared, utterly confused, before exhaling in irritation. With Naruto already working, there was no point in arguing—they got to work.
Hours passed. The sun was setting. If Kakashi hadn't been late as always, they could have finished earlier.
Though Naruto didn't notice because he was dozing off but Sasuke and Sakura had felt even second of it. And Sakura tried to give an earful to Kakashi but he just brushed her off at the time.
The field was almost done.
Naruto's hands burned, his arms trembling, lungs and heart felt like they were playing boxing inside his chest. It hurt that much but!!
But he didn't stop. His orange tracksuit was tied at his waist, sweat soaking him. Precision in every movement. All the repeated movements helped him find the perfect rhythm!
Sasuke and Sakura followed his instructions, removing the grass patches. Naruto's stamina was relentless. Sakurawas specially shocked because she never expected the annoying Naruto be this strong, she felt silent awe without even realising it.
She and Sasuke-kun had rested few times but Naruto hadn't rested even once. He went on like possessed!
Seeing that, Sasuke-kun got up before they properly rested and how could she stay and rest so she reluctantly joined as well. She couldn't help but felt resentful and annoyed towards Naruto. Couldn't he just res little? Sakura felt... or couldn't feel are arms anymore. They just went on, on autopilot now.
Their hard work paid of as the the file was clear of grass!
Once the patches were removed, Naruto stood at the edge of the field. Catching his breath. Sweat soaked his clothes and face. He put the kunais back into his ninja pouch.
He then started to stomped on the ground, leveling it. Sasuke followed, gritting his teeth as pride stung, while Sakura couldn't help but admire his stamina and resent him for it. He really had too much stamina!
Naruto could have used shadow clones, but this was a team mission. Kakashi probably wouldn't approve anyway. All the while, Kakashi remained on his branch, reading calmly, eyes never leaving the page.
Finally, the entire field was grass-free and level. Sasuke and Sakura wobbled to stand. Naruto, breathing heavily, sweat dripping, moved toward Kakashi.
"Mission complete...huff... Kakashi-sensei!!"
Naruto said between breaths.
Kakashi looked down at him with the same gaze he'd given Naruto from day one, then at the leveled field. He jumped down from the tree, waiting for Sasuke and Sakura to steady themselves.
Once they did, Kakashi clapped once and smiled. His visible eye curved like a crescent moon.
"Excellent job, everyone. Fantastic teamwork. No nitpicks. Alright, let's report this mission and collect our rewards."
Naruto shook his head.
"Kakashi-sensei, can I not go home? I'm very tired."
Kakashi regarded him with that unfocused gaze, thought for a second, then nodded.
"Alright, you can."
Naruto nodded turned on his heels before turning to look at Kakashi again and asked one last question.
"What's the next mission by the way Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi paused. Thinking. Then said-
"I'll let you know."
Naruto nodded and didn't wait. He sprinted toward home, leaving Sakura's mouth hanging open in disbelief. Sasuke clenched his fists, frowning heavily. Kakashi watched Naruto's fleeting back but said nothing.
Sakura was once again astonished as the ridiculous stamina of Naruto. She could barely feel her body but her was the dead last of their year, who did all the hard work yet still looked most fine one all of them!
Sasuke felt his pride sting again. This can't go on! How could a dead last be better then him? An Uchiha? Unacceptable! Sasuke them snorted. Thinking that Naruto still can't beat him if they fought. He felt light again...