"Oh, big sister, what am I going to do with you!"
Hanabi sighed. She had always looked up to her big sister as a role model, hoping to grow up to be as gentle and strong as her.
But if being gentle meant being bullied, she didn't want it!
Hinata fell silent. She really didn't want to strike out at anyone; she didn't want to hurt others.
Suddenly, Hanabi's eyes lit up, and she had an idea.
"How about we learn taijutsu from Kiyotaki-kun, Big Sister!"
"Hmm?"
Hinata and Naruto both stared at Hanabi, puzzled.
Hanabi put one hand on her hip and pinched her chin with the other, speaking like a little adult.
Having spent time with Kiyotaki recently, she had a deep appreciation for his strength!
"Kiyotaki-kun's taijutsu is incredible, and he can also improve his control over his strength. He can definitely hit people without hurting them!"
On this point, Hanabi was even more confident than Kiyotaki.
Kiyotaki:...He really wanted to retort, 'My taijutsu is known for high damage, don't you know that!'?
"Is that really possible?"
Hinata looked at Kiyotaki cautiously.
"Hmm?"
Naruto squinted, "Kiyotaki, you're definitely willing to teach her, right? Right!"
By the end, Naruto's tone even had a hint of "please."
"Hahaha! Of course, you can all train with me if you want to learn."
Kiyotaki naturally wouldn't refuse; one more person training was still training.
"However, becoming strong is not easy!"
Kiyotaki said sternly.
"Have you ever seen Konoha at 3 AM?"
"No!"
"No!"
"No!"
The three children said in unison.
The guards behind Hanabi felt they should join in, and one of them weakly raised his hand.
"I have!"
Kiyotaki:...Even I haven't seen Konoha at 3 AM!
Alright, let's ignore him!
Kiyotaki pretended not to notice.
"You'd better be prepared; training taijutsu with me is very hard work!"
"I'm not afraid!"
Hanabi jumped up and declared firmly.
"Mhm! I can do it too!"
Although Hinata appeared introverted and gentle on the surface, she was a very determined person at heart.
"That's good."
Kiyotaki nodded.
"Then come to my house tomorrow morning before dawn."
Kiyotaki suddenly turned around as he was leaving.
"Oh, right! Practicing martial arts consumes a lot of energy, so you need to be mentally prepared, especially Hinata. Absolutely do not control your food intake."
The next day, before dawn.
Hanabi arrived with Hinata, followed by several Hyuga guards, and next to them was a groggy Naruto whose eyes were still closed.
"Come in!"
Kiyotaki welcomed them into his home.
Naruto rubbed his eyes, walking in like a sleepwalker.
"I practiced Kunai too late last night and didn't get enough sleep. Let me sleep a little more."
With that, he walked to Kiyotaki's bed, collapsed onto it, and fell asleep face down... Everyone was speechless.
"Big Sister, I told you we shouldn't have woken Naruto-kun if he hadn't slept enough."
Hanabi sighed, looking at Naruto, who was sleeping like a log.
"Is Naruto alright?"
Hinata asked worriedly.
Kiyotaki took a look. Naruto indeed hadn't slept enough; that guy must have stayed up late training again last night.
"He's fine! Just let him sleep."
Kiyotaki pointed to a turtle shell hanging on the wall.
"These are the tools I used for training."
He picked up the smallest one, adjusted it to the lowest weight, and handed it to Hinata to wear on her back.
Hinata stumbled, realizing how heavy it was!
Hanabi clamored, "I want one too! I want one too!"
"Hmm~"
Kiyotaki looked at her, thought for a moment, then found a set of weighted wristbands from a box and also adjusted the weight to low.
"Here, wear these on your ankles."
Hanabi glanced at them, stunned, and then extended her small feet.
Uh~
Kiyotaki was taken aback for a moment, then knelt down, took off Hanabi's shoes, and put them on her.
"Ah~, it's so heavy!"
Hanabi moved her feet in surprise.
"Heavy is good!"
Kiyotaki clapped his hands.
"Let's go! Time to train!"
As they walked out the door, a faint glimmer of light appeared in the east.
In the dim light of Konoha, the group began their training.
---As the sun rose, sunlight streamed through the window onto the bed.
Naruto rolled over, the sunlight hitting his face. He stretched and got out of bed.
He rubbed his blurry eyes.
"Huh! This is Kiyotaki's house."
Suddenly, he remembered.
"Ah! I forgot I promised to train with them today. Ah~~~"
"Naruto-kun, you're awake!"
The door opened, and Hinata came in with breakfast, still carrying the turtle shell on her back.
Her face was flushed, partly from the heat of training and partly from embarrassment at carrying a turtle shell in front of people.
Running with a turtle shell on her back amidst the villagers' strange looks and whispers, it was quite embarrassing for a girl~!
Ah, Kiyotaki just wanted her to be embarrassed, to train boldly.
"Naruto, get up and eat breakfast, we need to get to the Ninja Academy!"
Kiyotaki called out. If he waited for Hinata, who was shy around Naruto, to tell him to eat breakfast, it would take forever, so it was better to say it himself.
Hinata shyly and awkwardly handed the breakfast in her hands to Naruto.
"Ah! Thank you, everyone!"
Naruto clapped his hands together with his chopsticks.
"I'm going to eat!"
After breakfast, the group walked to school.
Naruto was still apologizing shamefully for oversleeping that morning.
"Ah~! We said we'd train together."
"And I actually broke my promise, I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay, Naruto-kun just trained too hard last night."
Hinata said softly, comforting the self-reproaching Naruto.
"That's right, it's okay, Naruto."
Kiyotaki comforted him, then stated his opinion.
"Everyone has their own way of training, but I don't really approve of you training at night."
"You're still growing, staying up late isn't good!"
"Ah! Is that so?"
Naruto squinted, scratching his head in confusion.
In truth, he liked to cause a ruckus during the day, enjoying the noisy atmosphere.
But when night fell, loneliness enveloped him, coupled with the anxiety of being a dead last, which prevented him from sleeping peacefully. He preferred to numb himself with training.
However, long-term malnutrition combined with staying up late would lead to Naruto becoming the shortest child in the class.
They had already reached the gates of the Ninja Academy.
Kiyotaki stopped and told everyone.
"Alright, we're at school. I have something to discuss with a teacher, and I also have news for you all: I'm skipping a grade!"
With that, he bid farewell to the group and walked towards Gekkō Hayate's office.
"Ohayo! Gekkō Hayate."
Gekkō Hayate turned and saw Kiyotaki, smiling as he said.
"Good morning! Kiyotaki."
"Your grade skipping has been arranged. Come with me!"
"Alright, Gekkō Hayate."
Gekkō Hayate led Kiyotaki to Iruka's desk.
"Iruka-san, look who I brought you, the most outstanding student in our class!"
"Ah! Oh! Gekkō Hayate-san, this must be Kiyotaki-kun!"
"Ah, hello, Iruka!"
Kiyotaki also seriously observed Konoha's most excellent teacher. At this time, Iruka still seemed a bit young, but his serious attitude as a teacher was already evident.
He just hadn't expected to be assigned to Iruka class.
"Let's go, Kiyotaki, I'll take you to the class."
At this moment, Iruka class was bustling with noise.
"Did you hear? We're getting a transfer student!"
"Really? Is it a boy or a girl? Are they pretty?"
"It's a boy!"
"Oh~~"
The boys instantly lost interest.
But the girls discussed even more animatedly.
"Is the new transfer boy handsome?"
"He must be a hottie!"
Ino Yamanaka exclaimed excitedly.
"Tch! Shallow." Sakura Haruno said with a look of disdain.
"No matter how handsome he is, he's not as handsome as my Sasuke!"
Saying that, she turned to look at Sasuke, her face full of infatuation!
Naruto, seeing Sakura Haruno again captivated by Sasuke, narrowed his foxy eyes in displeasure, jumped up, and roared, wanting to cause trouble.
"I think we should give the newcomer a rude awakening!"
Sakura Haruno glared at him in annoyance, disliking that he interrupted her quiet observation of Sasuke.
Naruto, seeing Sakura Haruno look at him, jumped and roared even more enthusiastically.
On the other side, Hinata looked worriedly at Naruto, who wanted to cause trouble and pick a fight.
"Naruto~."