Growth

"Hiruzen, that evil Uchiha brat is definitely setting his sights on our Nine-Tails jinchūriki!"

Danzō said sternly.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, tapped the desk.

"And what do you intend to do? Kill him?"

A cold glint flashed in Danzō's eyes as he explained,

"I want to bring him to Root and have him steeped in the Will of Fire."

Danzō explained.

"No! I will never allow you to do that. Besides, I promised him I would take good care of his brother."

Hiruzen shook his head and slowly raised his pipe for a puff.

Danzō glared coldly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"He is a descendant of the Uchiha. In the future, he will undoubtedly become a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village. I will not allow such a hidden danger to remain in the village."

This time, Danzō was the one displeased.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi rapped the desk.

"Danzō, don't forget who the Hokage is!!!"

Danzō froze where he stood and warned,

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!!!!!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained unmoved.

With that, Danzō rose and left the Hokage's office.

Bang! The door slammed shut.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated in his chair, watched his departing back and let out a sigh.

...(Three years later... Okay, mainly because I really didn't know what to write, so I skipped ahead to the main plot. The protagonist was twelve now, and so were the Hidden Leaf rookies.)

Hidden Leaf Village Ninja Training Ground

"Third Gate, open!"

A faint green glow emanated from Josuke as he charged toward Rock Lee. Rock Lee refused to be outdone and responded by opening the Third Gate as well.

Three years had passed since he became Might Guy's disciple. In those three years, he had opened the Third Gate, while Rock Lee, just like in the original story, had reached the Fourth Gate.

Josuke had now barely reached the level of a chūnin. Calling him a genius would not be an exaggeration.

It would soon be time to divide into teams. He just wondered which team he would be assigned to. Josuke still hoped to join Team 7; after all, Kakashi's reputation was legendary.

Of course, it depended on how the teams were assigned.

No sooner said than done.

Rock Lee's flying kick was already hurtling toward Josuke.

Josuke dodged aside and countered with a kick of his own. Rock Lee leaped straight into the air from where he stood, easily evading the attack.

The two were evenly matched as they faced each other.

Then another round of attacks began. Josuke moved first, using the Clone Jutsu to create a duplicate identical to himself.

He and his clone charged Rock Lee together. Rock Lee, however, showed no panic whatsoever, easily neutralizing Josuke's attack with a Front Lotus.

"Stop."

Guy spoke up to halt the two of them.

He smiled at them. "You two did very well. This is youth!!!"

When Guy had been their age, he had not possessed strength like theirs. It was his father... who had helped him grow and achieve what he had today.

After thinking for a moment, Guy added,

"Training ends here for today. Josuke and Rock Lee, you both did very well. In a few days, you'll be genin. Get some proper rest these next few days."

Josuke and Rock Lee nodded, bade Guy farewell, and left.

When he returned home,

Josuke unexpectedly found Sasuke in the living room. That was truly rare. Josuke walked over to Sasuke, who said coldly, "Come spar with me."

Tch.

What was this stupid otōto thinking now? Had something gone wrong with his brain again? Even if Sasuke wanted to, Josuke didn't. Training with Guy was fun, but it was genuinely exhausting too.

Josuke shook his head.

"I'm already tired today. Another day."

After saying that, he left the living room and returned to his room, leaving behind only an annoyed Sasuke.

"Hmph, coward."

Sasuke glared in the direction Josuke had left, fuming.

Meanwhile, something major had happened these past few days: their young prince Naruto had stolen the Scroll of Seals. Though calling it theft would be less accurate than saying the Third Hokage had deliberately let Naruto take it himself.

Otherwise, how could a trash ninja like Mizuki possibly have succeeded with his scheme?

He just wondered whether the Scroll of Seals contained things like the Flying Thunder God or Majestic Destroyer Flame.

He wanted to learn the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu too, hehe...

But with his current amount of chakra, he would probably suffer backlash and croak after practicing it a few times.

The young prince truly was the young prince, able to learn something like that so easily, unlike him...

After taking a bath, Josuke lay on his bed and carefully thought over everything that had happened in recent years before gradually drifting off to sleep.

The next thing was the day of team assignments.

Josuke had thought he would be assigned to some random no-name teacher, but he had actually been placed in Team 7. With him included, Team 7 had four people.

That was certainly very Hidden Leaf Village.

And Team 7's squad leader was, without surprise, Hatake Fifty-Fifty—pfft, Kakashi Hatake.

Nothing else much happened. The four soon arrived at the place Kakashi had told them to wait.

It was morning.

The brothers Josuke and Sasuke arrived first, and Sasuke still wore that arrogant expression.

Sakura arrived next, carrying three rice balls in her hands.

The moment she saw Sasuke, hearts practically spilled from her eyes.

Sakura walked over to Josuke and Sasuke.

She took out two rice balls.

"Sasuke, Josuke, neither of you had breakfast, right? These two rice balls are for you."

With that, Sakura handed them over.

Sasuke merely glanced at them without saying anything. Josuke, on the other hand, secretly laughed. My future sister-in-law is so thoughtful. Congratulations to the happy couple. Just watch out for Lightning Cutter, kunai, and the Rinnegan later.

Josuke did not stand on ceremony with Sakura and generously accepted the rice balls.

"Thanks, Sakura. I'll hold Sasuke's share for him too."

With that, Josuke unceremoniously took both rice balls from Sakura and began eating.

Not bad, not bad. As expected of my future sister-in-law's rice balls—they were delicious, hehe.

Before Josuke could finish even one rice ball, Naruto arrived.

The first thing he did was eagerly try to cozy up to Sakura.

After receiving a round of scolding from Sakura, he awkwardly moved away and then noticed the rice ball in Josuke's hand.

He snatched it away and said happily,

"Josuke, I knew this rice ball was for me, right? Thanks so much! I'll dig in first."

Naruto happily picked up the rice ball and began wolfing it down.

"Not bad, it's delicious! Thanks, Josuke!"

Josuke had not even reacted before Naruto had already started eating...

Naruto was finished. That was the first thought that came to Josuke's mind.

"Idiot Naruto, how dare you steal my rice ball!!!!"

Sakura came storming toward Naruto. In a rage, she slammed a heavy punch into his head.

That damn Naruto had actually eaten the rice ball she had prepared for Sasuke!!!!!! Ahhh!!!!!

A huge bump instantly rose on Naruto's head.

Fortunately, Naruto finished the rice ball in two or three bites, so none of it went to waste.

"What was that for, Sakura~"

Naruto clutched his head and looked at Sakura with a wronged expression.