Iruka looks at Naruto's weird grin and asks
"What are you doing?"
Naruto quickly counters
"I am just happy that the three minutes of the waiting time is over...."
"Itadakimasu!" (together at the same time)
A few bites later...
"Hey, Sensei!"
"Yes?"
"Can I wear that forehead protector that you have"
"This?" Iruka points towards his headband
"Only qualified ninjas can wear that...., you will get yours in 2 months once you graduate"
"Meanie!.... I want another bowl"
"Hah!" Iruka was stupefied witnessing Naruto's appetite
Naruto raises his bowl in the air "Old man can I have some Naruto fish cake In here?"
Old man Teuchi shouts from inside "Coming Right Up!"
Naruto smiles as he thinks, old man does not know how famous this place will become due to me, but I prefer this small shop over the huge restaurant we have back in my place..... After finishing their meal, Naruto and Iruka head out of the shop, Naruto turns towards Iruka and asks "Hey Sensei, have you ever had the chance to interact with the 4th Hokage before?
"The 4th Hokage? Why do you ask that?"
"Just Curious"
Iruka turns towards the mountain faces as he speaks
"Hmmm.... Well I was pretty much a nobody back then, but the Hokage was already admired as the strongest man in the village of that time, though he died young protecting the village"
"Sensei!"
"hm" Iruka looks towards Naruto
"Will you believe that I will surpass all the previous Hokages"
"Your grades do not give me the same impression, Naruto"
"hehe" (Naruto displays a poker face)
"Don't keep painting over the faces Naruto, if you want to surpass them, you must work harder than ever before"
"I will sensei." Naruto takes off as he says this, Iruka also departs after Naruto.
While heading back Naruto walks into a park And sits on a swing as he goes into concentration.
A few minutes later he wakes up in sage mode as he scans around.
("As expected, there has been one man following me since today evening, he makes sure to stay with 300m probably one belonging to Danzou considering that 3rd Hokage believes in me. At this rate I will not be able to do any chakra-related training until the academy is over, I can defeat Sasuke right now considering my experience in real battles I can defeat him 100 times over but that would be very suspicious hence my only options are tai-jutsu and basic physical training.
When considering these things in my mind I can only think of super thick brow sensei's team in mind. Neji and Tenten would find it strange to interact with me at this point whereas Guy sensei would be busy training with them or is somewhere as a jonin which limits my options with Lee.
Lee is simple-minded and completely focused only on training, If I remember correctly he should be near the forests or in the training fields doing his training, Looks like I would have to meet him coincidentally in training to get along with him. Through this encounter, I can become training buddies with him and also strengthen my body at the same time, also once Sasuke starts listening to me I will teach a few things which will help us for the chunin exams. But it's still not enough to deal with Orochimaru. My only hope is the first Hokage scroll will tell me later on hopefully I can learn a lot of techniques from it this time.")
Naruto stares down as he goes deep into his psyche.
"Kurama!, have you been able to analyze anything so far?"
"Naruto, this is the real world, gen-jutsu can't compare to this"
"Another interesting thing is the fact that your seal is back to its sealed position, meaning you don't have access to my chakra for now. However, there is one good thing about it"
"I can meet both my parents again"
"Even though your access to me is sealed off for now, you can still use your sage of six paths ability without depending upon the cloak's power"
"Kurama, you are right, however, my current form limits my battle prowess to a huge extent such that you could call it a liability, hence my top priority right now is to build a strong body that can handle all the burden"
Naruto then gets up from the swing and walks to his old apartment.
Upon reaching his apartment, he reaches into his pocket to remove a frog-like purse, "Ah gamma chan you are too thin, looks like I spent all my money on instant ramen"
Upon opening the door Naruto walks into his messy apartment
"I haven't cleaned up...."
He walks to the center of the room and enters sage mode
"Looks like he went back…."
Alright
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
(poof) (poof) (poof) (poof)
4 shadow clones appear
Outside Naruto's house, strange noises were heard for the next 5 minutes until they died down.
All cleaned-up! The bunshins high-fived each other as they disappeared leaving the original who changed into his pyjamas and went off to bed.
------------------------------
The next day
After the academy finished, Naruto goes to train near the training fields and forests, 4 days later
917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922 . . . . . . . . .
Naruto comes across Lee working on his squats near a tree log, He pretends to go into sprinting as he says another 10 rounds, another 10 rounds
998, 999, 1000
As Lee finishes he summersaults into the air landing beside Naruto as he follows Naruto into a run.
(Fish took the bait!) Naruto screamed in his head as he continued sprinting
Lee talks to Naruto as he runs beside him, "Best time to train is in one's YOUTH"
"Couldn't agree more" Naruto smiled back
"Then you wouldn't mind me joining you for a run?"
"Be my guest" Naruto smiled back.
"How rude to not introduce myself, I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast, Rock Lee"
"Hehe, I am Konoha's No.1 Hokage Candidate, Uzumaki Naruto"
"Hokage Candidate I see, you want to become a Hokage?"
"Not just Hokage" Naruto faces Lee and answers in a Hot Blooded fashion, "I will surpass all Kages"
"What a dream, your ambition is no less than mine, I respect you as a true equal, My dream is to surpass all ninjas by only using taijutsu"
"I see, then we must face each other in spars using taijutsu"
"Naruto-kun, I am very glad to see a person who is very similar to my nature to share a passion for training as much as me, We must run towards the setting sun in the company of each other, what do you say?"
"Are we talking or running?" Naruto asks as they run off till the end of training.
At the bottom of the hill, Lee warms up his body starting with his squats once again, while Naruto is breathless, while still maintaining an indifferent front to Rock Lee. (This guy is a freak).
Naruto then walks up to Lee and says "Lee, I have been thinking about building up my muscles while maintaining a good amount of speed as well, do you know a good training method?"
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I have the perfect regiment for you, in fact, that is the type of training I am doing every day"
"Just say the words, we can train every day, my teacher Guy sensei can also whip up some supplements for you if you want to join the training at no additional cost. Training is our life here"
"You don't say"
"Guy sensei is the best teacher there is....."
"You mean the only teacher to be able to fight Kakshi to a draw?"
"You know my sensei?"
"Your sensei is a famous man" I consider him an idol.
"I knew it Guy- sensei is the best"
"Lee, I have to go catch up with some work, how about we meet up tomorrow"
"Although I am doing a D-rank mission, I should be free by afternoon"
"I have an academy, so I am free in the afternoon"
"Naruto-kun, You are in the academy?"
"Yes"
"Okay tomorrow at 3 pm we will go through full course training, might I suggest that training weights will be super effective, though you must start with lesser weights before you reach my level"
"Oh, and what weight do you suggest?"
"10kg weights in each leg and 10 kg in each hand...….."
"Naruto-kun, your face just twisted now?"
"Must be your imagination" (He wants to kill me within 24 hrs of befriending him, definitely not your first choice for friendship)
"Bye"
"Bye"
.......
Later that evening
That will be 2000 ryo sir,
Please visit us once again
..........
In a street near the park, a boy is seen struggling to lift a bag on his back.
"I Definitely wont be able to reach home in one piece today...."
The following day at the academy
"Naruto why are you running so slow, you haven't even completed the first round yet" Iruka shouts behind Naruto as the rest of the class is sprinting around the track.
Naruto struggles to increase his speed only to fall down at the finish line after a round
"Another 8 more rounds to go"
After the academy in a forest nearby, a heavily panting boy is seen climbing up the mountain as he meets the boy at the top of the hill.
"Naruto-kun?"