Kakashi walked over with an orange book in one hand and a mission scroll in the other.
"What's the mission?"
The three were curious. Naruto snatched the mission scroll and took a look. It said they had to clean up the river.
Their interest immediately vanished, and Naruto casually tossed the scroll to Sasuke.
Sasuke caught it and glanced at the scroll. A wave of dejection washed over him.
When would he ever catch up to that man if he kept doing missions like this? He knew that after graduating, Itachi Uchiha had joined the Anbu and been assigned nothing but high-difficulty missions.
"Come on, let's go!" Kakashi checked the time. It was almost noon, so he urged the three of them along.
They followed him and soon reached a creek that fed into Konoha's sewers. Garbage floated all over the surface.
"Okay, Sasuke, just treat this as training. Keep it up." Naruto glanced at Sasuke's mood and patted him on the shoulder.
The three of them picked up their tools: clamps made by splitting bamboo, which made it easier to grab the garbage.
Naruto and the others stepped onto the water, standing firmly on its surface.
"Oh, they've already mastered this technique. Not bad. I wonder who taught them." Kakashi glanced at them. Normally, the Jonin leading a team taught this technique.
Since they already knew how, Kakashi said nothing. He walked over to a tree, leaned against it, and continued reading Icha Icha Paradise.
After picking up garbage for a while, Naruto got bored. He made two Shadow Clones and started practicing ninjutsu.
Kakashi glanced at him and frowned.
"What kind of jutsu is that? Why can't I sense any chakra?" He couldn't figure it out. He couldn't sense chakra from Naruto's Shadow Clones, either. They looked just like ordinary people.
The two Shadow Clones used chakra threads to pick up garbage from the water.
The other two glanced over but didn't imitate them. Their chakra reserves weren't suited to this kind of training.
With help from the two Shadow Clones, and since all three could walk on water, they finished the mission quickly.
When they collected their payment, they split it four ways. Kakashi, as their Jonin leader, took an extra share, and the three had no objections.
"All right, you're dismissed. Same time tomorrow." Kakashi yawned, then disappeared.
"That guy's so lazy. I knew he'd do that," Naruto complained.
"Works for me. It gives us more time to train. I don't want to waste time on boring things like that." After his first taste of a ninja mission, Sasuke had no expectations of life as a Genin.
"Go find him. You can ask him how to use the Sharingan." Naruto thought it over and decided to send Sasuke off.
"Sounds good." Sasuke considered it. The only way he could quickly catch up to his two teammates was to develop his Sharingan.
Sasuke turned and left. As a Jonin, Kakashi was well known in Konoha. Sasuke could find out where he lived by asking anyone.
"Come on, let's get something to eat." Naruto glanced at Hinata and smiled.
The two headed for the Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
Uncle Ichiraku was delighted to see Naruto back. He secretly piled plenty of extra toppings into Naruto's bowl.
Naruto could naturally tell by now.
After eating and paying, the two went somewhere else to train.
Just as they were about to start, a cloud of smoke came rushing toward them. Naruto frowned and quietly stepped forward, moving in front of Hinata.
"Naruto-kun, I knew you'd be here! Let's have a youthful showdown!" A young man with a bowl cut, thick eyebrows, and a skintight outfit came running out in front of the smoke. He stopped a short distance from Naruto and gave him a thumbs-up.
His neat, pearly-white teeth flashed with a dazzling gleam, making Naruto squint.
"Rock Lee, what are you doing here?" Naruto felt a headache coming on at the sight of him.
"Neji told me you were here." Rock Lee immediately gave Neji away.
Naruto's temple twitched. He knew it was that jerk.
It was a hassle to have Rock Lee clinging to him, but Naruto enjoyed practicing Taijutsu, so he didn't turn him down outright.
"Sure," Naruto said after a moment's thought.
The two took their stances. Hinata stepped back and activated her Byakugan. They were both Taijutsu experts, and watching them fight would benefit Hinata, who was training in Taijutsu herself.
Naruto vanished in an instant and launched an attack on Rock Lee.
Rock Lee reacted quickly and blocked Naruto's attack, but he couldn't help taking several steps back.
"Just as I'd expect from Naruto! Your fists are as youthful as ever." Rock Lee shook out his hand, growing even more excited.
"Hey, shouldn't you take off your weights?" Naruto stopped attacking.
He'd felt something was off as soon as their hands had connected.
"But Teacher Guy says I should never take them off, no matter what." Rock Lee quickly halted and scratched his head.
"If you don't take them off, you'll never keep up with my speed." Before he had access to ninjutsu, the only thing Naruto could train in was the Three Basic Jutsu. Of them, he liked the Body Flicker Technique best. It was practical and simple, and after gradually refining it through trial and error, he'd reached his current speed.
Over short distances, it could rival Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God. It wasn't as versatile, of course, but for Naruto, whose Taijutsu attacks were powerful, getting close to him was already dangerous.
Rock Lee looked troubled.
"Go ahead, Lee! I'll allow you to take off your weights!" Just as the standoff began to drag on, an impassioned voice rang out from behind them.
Naruto turned and saw Teacher Guy, his future brother-in-law, and Tenten approaching.
"Hello, Teacher Guy." Naruto greeted him. Konoha wasn't very big, and there weren't many people who specialized in Taijutsu. Since Naruto enjoyed it too, he inevitably ran into Might Guy and the others while training. They weren't close, but they'd crossed paths a few times.
"Naruto, Kakashi told me about you. Your Taijutsu is excellent!" Might Guy gave Naruto a thumbs-up, his shining teeth flashing.
"Of course! The body never lies." Naruto grinned proudly.
Hinata's temple twitched at the sight, and she couldn't help wondering, Naruto might end up like that, too, won't he?
The thought of Naruto in a green skintight outfit and a bowl cut, giving her a thumbs-up, made little Hinata shudder. I absolutely can't let Naruto become like that.
While Naruto was talking with Teacher Guy, Rock Lee had already taken off his weights. Two loud crashes rang out as they hit the ground.
Naruto's eyelid twitched at the sight. He'd seen it in the anime, but it was truly absurd to witness in person.
Naruto had considered training with weights himself, but the equipment was too expensive for an orphan like him to afford. Later, when he came up with the Gravity Training Ground, he gave up on the idea.