One full year had passed since that time
Inside the Hokage's office
Hiruzen carefully set down the paper he had been reviewing and lifted his eyes to stare directly at Sora, his gaze filled with a deep sense of reluctance and concern.
"You are requesting to graduate from the academy early?" He asked with a measured tone.
Sora nodded his head in confirmation of the request. Throughout the entirety of the last year, he had dedicated every available moment to intensive training. He had achieved complete mastery of all three of the basic academy jutsu techniques, and in addition to that, he had also successfully mastered four additional jutsu techniques.
Within his current arsenal of techniques, he possesses the following:
D-Rank techniques:(Fireball jutsu)(Mud wall jutsu)
C-rank techniques:(Great fireball jutsu)(Earth spikes jutsu)
He had dedicated the full extent of this entire year to completely mastering these techniques, and throughout this process he had made absolutely certain not to neglect or forget about his physical conditioning and training either.
His overall chakra pool capacity has also experienced significant growth and increase. Now, with his exceptionally refined and great chakra control abilities, he was capable of performing the fireball jutsu fifteen consecutive times without completely exhausting or depleting his entire chakra pool.
Hiruzen began tapping his finger rhythmically on the surface of the table before him. He was well aware that Sora was already more than capable and qualified for early graduation from the academy, but given his extraordinary genius and potential, Hiruzen found himself deep in contemplation. He absolutely did not want to see Sora meet an early and untimely death on the battlefield.
His personal connection and bond to Naruto is of extreme importance to the village. Losing someone like him would represent a truly devastating and irreplaceable loss.
However, refusing to allow him to graduate early would make me appear unjust and unfair, especially since a considerable number of students had successfully done this very same thing in the past, though admittedly not at the remarkably young age of only six years old.
Sora remained standing there in place, patiently waiting for Hiruzen's final decision on the matter. Eventually, after what felt like an extended period of deliberation, he finally stopped his rhythmic tapping on the table's surface.
"Sigh, very well then, I will approve your request, but I will be personally assigning a highly skilled jonin-level ninja to closely supervise and protect you," he stated clearly.
Sora nodded his head in agreement and acceptance. In his personal opinion and assessment, it was actually a great deal and arrangement. With a powerful and experienced jonin actively protecting and watching over him, he wouldn't have to constantly worry about the possibility of dying prematurely, especially given his current rank and skill level.
He was confident that he wouldn't be facing anything dangerous or challenging that the assigned jonin wouldn't be fully capable of handling with ease.
"Kakashi," the Hokage called out into the seemingly empty office.
In an instant, an ANBU operative materialized and appeared directly next to him.
"Starting from this moment forward, you will be personally supervising and protecting him on his missions," Hiruzen instructed the masked ninja.
Sora turned his attention to look at the masked man standing before him. It was the very same ANBU operative from approximately a year ago. The ANBU member reached up and removed his distinctive animal mask, then offered a casual wave in Sora's direction.
"Hey there, my name is Hatake Kakashi," he introduced himself in a friendly manner.
"Sora," he replied in a flat and emotionless tone. "Then I will be taking my leave now." He stated simply and promptly turned to leave the office.
Kakashi simply scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not entirely certain what to do or say in response to the cold reception. After successfully leaving the Hokage's office building, Sora made his way directly back to his home.
Naruto was already there waiting eagerly for his return. She had been absolutely itching and excited to finally try out the new weapon that he had specially crafted and made for her. It was a combat gauntlet, though he fully intended and wanted to create and design a significantly better and more advanced version in the future, since the current model was admittedly pretty primitive and basic in its construction.
Naruto happened to glance out the window at just the right moment, and upon noticing Sora approaching the house, she immediately ran with quick steps to the front door and swung it open wide before he even had the chance to retrieve his key and plug it into the lock.
"Sora," she said in a cheerful and happy voice.
"Naruto, is something wrong? Did something happen?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
She shook her head from side to side in a negative gesture.
"I'm just really excited. In just a few more days the academy will be starting up again and we'll officially be in our second year of training," she said with obvious enthusiasm.
Sora, hearing this explanation, simply nodded his head in acknowledgment. He stepped through the doorway and entered the house, and after a moment of consideration he spoke up with something on his mind,
"I have something important that I need to tell you," he said seriously.
She tilted her head to the side in a curious gesture and then she skipped over beside him with light steps.
"What is it? What do you need to tell me?" She asked with genuine interest.
"I'm graduating from the academy," he said plainly.
The room suddenly fell completely silent as even Naruto, despite her previously joyous and uptight mood, turned to face him directly. She went completely quiet, the smile fading from her face.
"Your graduation? You're leaving the academy?" She asked, her voice carrying a note of disbelief.
He nodded his head in confirmation.
"There's nothing more that the academy can possibly teach me at this point. I'm going to gain much more valuable experience from going out on actual missions instead of continuing to waste my time sitting in classes," he explained matter-of-factly.
She pursed her lips together tightly. Deep down inside, she didn't want him to graduate from the academy just yet. He was the only real friend she had in this world, and she absolutely didn't want to be left behind and alone without him.
He turned his body to face her more directly.
"What's wrong? Why do you look upset?" He asked with genuine concern.
She looked down at the floor, her expression becoming unreadable and difficult to interpret.
"I'm gonna be all alone at the academy," she muttered quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
He walked up closer to her, closing the distance between them.
"What are you even talking about? We live together in the same home. I'll still be here," he said, trying to reassure her.
This simple sentence made her freeze in place once again, but then after processing his words, she slowly smiled with growing realization.
"You're right, you're absolutely right. We live together under the same roof," she said, her smile returning to her face.
He just shook his head slowly in exasperation at her reaction. He honestly didn't know what to do with her sometimes and her emotional swings.
"How about I cook you your absolute favorite miso ramen today as a special treat?" He said with a gentle smile forming on his face.
Hearing this wonderful suggestion, her mood brightened even further and more noticeably as she jumped up and down in pure joy and excitement.
"Woohoo, yes! Let's eat delicious miso ramen together!" she shouted out loud in complete joy.
He just smiled warmly in return at her enthusiasm and then entered the kitchen area to begin his cooking preparations. He stretched his arms and body a few times to loosen up, and then he started his careful cooking process.
First, he thoroughly mixed together flour and egg in a large bowl, and then he began to knead the sticky dough carefully, working it until it formed into long, thin strips of perfect consistency. He then proceeded to cut them evenly and uniformly into noodle-sized pieces, and carefully cooked them in a pot of rapidly boiling water.
He grabbed another separate pot and added a generous amount of oil to it. After the oil had heated up sufficiently and reached the right temperature, he added freshly minced garlic and sliced ginger to the hot oil. While that aromatic mixture was sizzling and cooking, he took a heaping spoonful of rich miso paste and some ground pork and carefully mixed both ingredients into the pot, stirring them together.
Then he continued to stir the mixture slowly and deliberately for quite a while until he was completely satisfied with the consistency and aroma, and then he added the prepared chicken broth to the pot. He carefully stored the pot on the stove and allowed it to simmer gently at a low temperature. He made absolutely sure not to let it boil vigorously, since he knew that boiling it too hard could cause some of the delicate flavor to be lost or diminished.
Leaving the broth to continue simmering on its own, he turned his attention back to his freshly cooked noodles. He took them out carefully from the boiling water, rinsing them out thoroughly under cool water to stop the cooking process, and then placing them neatly in a serving bowl.
Putting the bowl of noodles aside temporarily, he went back over to check on the aromatic miso soup. He turned off and closed the fire completely, and then carefully poured the steaming hot soup directly into the bowl of prepared noodles.
"It's ready now. Come and eat," he called out softly but clearly so she could hear him.
Naruto came rushing into the kitchen running at full speed after hearing his welcoming voice. She quickly went over to the sink and thoroughly cleaned and washed her hands, and then sat down eagerly on her usual chair at the table.
"Let's eat! I can't wait!" she said with visible excitement and anticipation.
He carefully placed the steaming bowl of ramen directly in front of her, and as she leaned forward and smelled the wonderful, rich scent rising from the bowl, she smiled widely with pure delight.
She gulped audibly in anticipation and then immediately started eating with enthusiasm, slurping the noodles happily. As she continued to eat her meal with obvious enjoyment, he quietly turned away and headed toward the bathroom. He felt like taking a long, relaxing bath after everything that had happened. It had been quite a long and eventful day.
After he finished his bath and felt refreshed, he came back out into the main living area and immediately noticed that Naruto had already finished eating her entire meal and was now sleeping peacefully on the bed, curled up comfortably.
"Hm, she must have been really tired after all that excitement," he muttered quietly to himself and then went back to the kitchen area.
He poured himself his own bowl of the remaining ramen and sat down at the table, and then started eating at a more leisurely pace. He reflected on the fact that he would be receiving his official headband very soon, and once he had it, he would finally start going out on real missions as a proper ninja.
From what he could clearly remember from his knowledge, every new ninja who graduated had to start out with relatively simple missions that often sounded much more like mundane chores or errands before they could eventually progress to getting assigned something more serious and challenging like an escort mission or even a dangerous assassination mission.
He had already thoroughly prepared himself mentally and physically for everything that was to come, and now all he needed to do was remain patient.
The next day arrived, and Sora made his way to the Hokage's office to officially receive his ninja headband from Hiruzen himself. The weight of the metal plate felt significant in his hands as he tied it securely around his forehead, marking his new status as a graduated shinobi. After obtaining his headband and completing the formal ceremony, he immediately proceeded to the mission assignment board located within the building to select and pick out his very first D-rank mission as an official ninja.
D-rank: Catch a Cat
A cat named Taro has a habit of regularly getting lost and wandering away from home, and his worried owner desperately wants him to be found and safely returned to her as soon as possible.
After carefully reading through the entire mission description, Sora couldn't help but frown deeply in disappointment. What kind of mission was this supposed to be? It seemed more like a simple errand than actual ninja work. However, he had to admit that it was not entirely out of his expectations, since he knew that new graduates always had to start with these types of basic assignments.
He reached out and grabbed the mission scroll from the board and formally accepted it as his assignment. While he began running around the village systematically searching for the missing cat, Kakashi maintained his distance and silently watched everything unfold from the sidelines, observing Sora's performance and decision-making.
The two of them had developed an ability to communicate quite well with each other. It wasn't through spoken words or verbal exchanges, but rather through the comfortable silence and subtle body language that they had established between them over their brief time together.
As Sora stood on top of a tall building carefully surveying the entire area spread out below him, he methodically looked at all the narrow alleyways, small corners, and any other cramped or tight spaces where a clever cat could potentially be hiding from view.
Then, suddenly from the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of the cat in question. Without hesitation, he quickly jumped down from his elevated position and skillfully parkoured across the various buildings, using his agility to close the distance.
Unfortunately, he could not yet perform the useful surface walking technique since he still does not know exactly how the chakra control method is properly performed, and he had been far too busy dedicating his time to mastering the other various jutsu techniques in his arsenal.
Once he managed to get within just a few feet of the cat, the animal immediately noticed his presence and jolted in surprise. Sora quickly formed the hand signs and summoned a shadow clone to assist him, and together they started actively chasing after the fleeing feline. The cat desperately dodged and weaved through obstacles in its path, but despite its best efforts, it simply couldn't manage to lose Sora and his persistent pursuit.
As they continued running through the streets, Taro suddenly took what turned out to be a wrong turn into a dead-end alley. Sora, recognizing the tactical advantage, immediately knew in that moment that he had won this chase. The cat nervously turned around to face him and took multiple cautious steps backward as it frantically looked around in all directions for any possible way to escape from its predicament.
However, there was one crucial thing that the cat had completely forgotten about in its panic. Sora had previously summoned a clone earlier in the chase, and that clone had been carefully positioning itself. The clone managed to sneak up behind the unsuspecting cat silently and swiftly, and then grabbed the struggling animal securely into its arms before it could react.
Sora walked forward calmly and carefully took hold of the cat from his clone's grasp, making sure to secure it properly before the frightened cat could lash out and scratch the clone with its sharp claws.
After successfully capturing the target, he dispersed the shadow clone in a small puff of smoke and then started making his way back toward the Hokage building to report the successful completion of his first official mission.
After collecting his well-earned reward from the mission desk, he made the conscious decision to depart from the Hokage building. Although not a significant amount of time had actually passed since he had initially started and accepted the mission earlier that day, he now found himself in the fortunate position of having official access to new and more advanced jutsu techniques as a freshly graduated genin.
He began walking leisurely around the village, taking in the familiar sights and sounds of the bustling streets, and eventually he arrived at the entrance of the village library. He pushed open the heavy doors and entered the quiet, book-filled space, and then immediately started his methodical search through the shelves for low-ranking jutsu scrolls that would be suitable for his current skill level.
After spending considerable time carefully reading through and examining almost all of the available scrolls in the collection, reviewing their contents and requirements thoroughly, he eventually made his final decision to choose two specific techniques that caught his attention.
C-rank: Body Flicker
A high-speed movement technique that allows the user to move at incredible speeds over short distances.
D-rank: Body Paralysis
A low-ranked genjutsu technique that temporarily freezes and immobilizes the target in place. The stronger and more experienced the opponent happens to be, the weaker and less effective the technique's overall effect will become. If the target's strength far exceeds the user's capabilities, the technique will have absolutely no effect whatsoever.
And finally, as his last selection, he chose to take the scroll containing detailed instructions for the surface walking exercises. He departed from the library building feeling quite satisfied and accomplished with his selections.
With these newly acquired techniques now in his possession, he knew without a doubt that he would become significantly and noticeably stronger than he currently was. He immediately left the library area and headed directly for the training ground. Training was extremely important and essential to his progress, and he realized that he hadn't actually done any proper training yet today.
With these new and challenging techniques to master and perfect, training had now become absolutely mandatory and non-negotiable in his daily schedule. Upon arriving at the familiar training ground location, he wasted no time and immediately started working on the tree walking exercise first.
As of this current moment in time, the surface walking technique was clearly more immediately useful and practical than the other two jutsu he had selected. Its highly versatile nature and wide range of potential applications in various combat and non-combat situations was exactly what Sora needed and was looking for to expand his capabilities.