No Shortcuts

According to the rules of the Hidden Leaf Village, students who graduated from the Ninja Academy were registered as Genin.

Naruto had actually gotten up on time today. After finishing his morning exercises, he headed to the Hokage Building.

"Time really flies. It feels like only yesterday you were barely up to my waist."

The Third Hokage sighed as he stamped Naruto's personal information form. "And now, in the blink of an eye, you've become a ninja."

Naruto was about to join in with a few words of reminiscence when the office door suddenly swung open. A little boy who looked six or seven came rushing in, shouting, "Grandpa, let's settle this once and for all!"

Then, because he was going too fast to stop, the boy fell over and slammed his forehead straight into the floor.

"Damn it, was it a trap?!"

The boy clutched his forehead and got back up. The first person he saw was Naruto, and he noticed that Naruto was looking at him rather strangely. As if he'd realized something, he strode over to Naruto. "I knew it! You did something here, didn't you?!"

"Young master, are you all right?"

A ninja wearing sunglasses hurried in from outside the door, flustered but still managing to sound composed. "By the way, there aren't any traps here."

"Are you Grandpa Third's grandson?"

Naruto looked at the boy in front of him and smiled. "You can even trip over your own feet. Don't you eat properly?"

"Y-you're the one who doesn't eat properly!"

The boy protested loudly. "I eat two big bowls at every meal!"

Naruto couldn't help thinking back to when he'd first met his master. Smiling with a touch of nostalgia, he said, "If you do eat properly, then you must not be training properly."

"I don't need to!"

The boy turned to the Third Hokage. "If I beat Grandpa, I can become Hokage right away, and everyone in the village will accept me!"

"Becoming Hokage isn't that simple!"

Naruto's expression suddenly turned serious. "And you've got one thing wrong."

The boy was startled by Naruto's sudden change in expression and shrank back a little. He asked cautiously, "W-what did I get wrong?"

Naruto said, "It's not becoming Hokage that makes everyone accept you. Only after everyone accepts you might you have a chance to become Hokage."

"Hmm... I don't get it."

After thinking for half a minute, the boy gave up. "I'm Konohamaru. Who are you?"

"Remember this. My name is Uzumaki Naruto,"

Naruto said with a smile as he introduced himself. "I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"

Konohamaru was startled. "You want to become Hokage too?!"

"That's right!"

Naruto clenched his right fist and lightly tapped it against his left chest. "I spent six years at the Ninja Academy earning the respect of my teachers and classmates. Right now, I'm closer to becoming Hokage than you are!"

"I-I'm already in third grade!"

Konohamaru looked anxious. "Damn it, I absolutely won't lose to you!"

Naruto's expression turned a little serious again. "Then you must already be prepared, right?"

Konohamaru froze. "Prepared?"

"There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage."

Naruto met Konohamaru's gaze. "Are you prepared to give it your all, Konohamaru?"

"Of course!"

Konohamaru looked full of enthusiasm. "Just watch. I'll get stronger right away, then surpass you!"

"Just saying it won't do any good."

Naruto smiled. "I'm already a ninja, and I won't slack off while you're working hard. Don't think I'll just stand still and wait for you!"

"Don't look down on me! I don't need you to wait!"

Konohamaru grabbed the hand of the ninja wearing sunglasses. "Sensei, let's start training right now!"

The ninja wearing sunglasses was delighted to see Konohamaru asking to train of his own accord for the first time. "All right, you—Young Master Konohamaru!"

After watching the two of them leave the office, the Third Hokage smiled in relief. "Thank you, Naruto."

"It was nothing."

Naruto also sounded a little impatient. "Is there anything else? If not, I need to make the most of my time and train too!"

"Hahaha... That's all. Go on."

"They're announcing the class assignments today."

Naruto got up early as usual. While eating breakfast, he asked in his heart, Master, Dad said there's a good chance Sasuke and I will be assigned to the same team. What do you think?

[From a lying-down position.]

Naruto: Master, don't joke around.

[I'm not joking. I told you a long time ago that there's some powerful "fate" between you and that Sasuke. Unless something unexpected happens, the two of you won't be able to get away from each other for the rest of your lives.]

Naruto: I don't dislike him, but why does it sound so strange when you say it, Master?

[You're imagining things.]

Without pursuing the topic, Naruto finished breakfast and headed out. He arrived at the classroom earlier than usual, feeling a little anticipation.

Just as expected, Sasuke was still the first one there.

Thinking that the two of them would probably be working together soon, Naruto took the initiative and greeted him. "Morning, Sasuke."

Naruto's greeting caught Uchiha Sasuke a little off guard, but he managed to respond. "Morning."

"You seem to be the first one here every day."

Naruto started a conversation. "Doesn't that leave you short on sleep?"

"...It does."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, then said, "But when I fall asleep, I have nightmares and wake up."

"That could count as an illness."

Naruto asked with concern, "Have you ever gone to the hospital to get it checked out?"

"There's no need."

Sasuke hadn't been shown this kind of concern in a while, and an unfamiliar warmth suddenly stirred in his heart. His reply came out stiffly. "The nightmares... push me to get stronger."

"True."

Naruto nodded, then reminded him, "But be careful. If your body and mind stay tense for too long, it could slow down how quickly you get stronger."

Getting stronger was what Sasuke cared about most right now. Hearing that his progress might slow, he furrowed his brows and immediately asked, "Why?"

"Because rest is part of training, and a very important part."

Recalling his master's teachings, Naruto spoke earnestly. "As long as we use the right training methods and put in the effort, we're bound to improve. But that improvement doesn't show up right away; it takes time. If we keep training during that time, we'll still improve, but not as much as we would with enough rest."

Sasuke thought for a few seconds, then asked, "Is that the secret to how you've kept getting stronger for the past five years?"

"Me?"

Naruto didn't know why Sasuke had suddenly asked, but he answered seriously. "I don't know if you can call it a secret, but after every training session, I try to get as much rest as possible before the next one."

"Getting enough rest..."

Sasuke pondered for a moment, then asked, "Do you have any special training methods? If you don't want to tell me, or can't, you don't have to answer."

"It's fine. My master said that if anyone wants to learn, I can teach them."

Naruto said, "But the training methods my master taught me are a little complicated, so it'd be best if I could explain them while demonstrating. Also, can you use the Shadow Clone Technique?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Do I need to learn the Shadow Clone Technique first to use your training methods?"

"No. The training methods my master taught me have no prerequisites. Ordinary people can use them."

Naruto explained, "But if you can master the Shadow Clone Technique, you can learn much faster and accumulate experience much more quickly."

Sasuke was very interested. "The Shadow Clone Technique can do that too?"

"That's because when a shadow clone is dispelled, its chakra, the information it gathered, and everything else gets transferred to the original..."

Naruto carefully explained the proper use of the Shadow Clone Technique to Sasuke.