Telling Naruto about the Nine-Tails wasn't exactly hard.
But someone like Kitazawa wasn't supposed to know who the jinchūriki was.
Technically, he could just tell Naruto in private.
The dumb system would probably think he completed the mission anyway and hand over a reward.
But because Naruto was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Hiruzen kept a close eye on him. If Kitazawa slipped even a little, he might get exposed.
After a moment of thinking, Kitazawa realized he'd hit a dead end.
The smart move? Pretend he knew nothing and report the matter to Hiruzen. Let him handle it.
In the original timeline, it was Jiraiya who returned to the village and taught Naruto how to control the Nine-Tails' chakra.
But now, there was someone even more suitable.
Not Kitazawa.
Tsunade.
Her edge? She was hands-down the best medical ninja in the entire shinobi world.
And teaching Naruto to control the Nine-Tails was dangerous.
Jiraiya once said he nearly got killed by a berserk Naruto.
But Tsunade had the Yin Seal and Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred technique—she was basically unkillable.
Maybe only Orochimaru was more annoyingly hard to kill.
"Hey Naruto, honestly… I'm not too sure about this either," Kitazawa said, pretending to think. "Tell you what—after this, come with me to see the Hokage."
"Oh yeah!" Naruto's eyes lit up. "Grandpa Third definitely knows!"
To Naruto, the Hokage was the strongest, most capable ninja ever. Basically a superhero.
"Get back to the group for now." Kitazawa patted him on the shoulder. "They're about to announce the rankings. You're probably first in the practical exam."
"Thanks, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Grinning wide, Naruto ran back to Class 1-A and couldn't help blurting out, "I got first place!"
"Who asked you?" Kiba grumbled, unable to hold back.
"Well… this time, he kinda earned it," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
Naruto's stubbornness had definitely left an impression.
Still… being lazy sounded better.
Sasuke twitched.
Something felt off.
He hadn't activated his Sharingan before and didn't get first. Now he had it—and he still wasn't first?
Was unlocking it pointless?
Wait—this time he didn't even get second. Last time at least he got second!
The realization hit hard, and Sasuke sank even deeper into silent frustration.
…
"Kitazawa-senpai.
Iruka handed over the class roster. "These are the monthly exam rankings."
"Thanks, Iruka."
Kitazawa took the list and walked over to Class 1-A.
The entire class fell silent and looked at him.
"I'll start with the written exam rankings," he said calmly. "First place: Haruno Sakura."
"I—"
Sakura stopped herself mid-cheer.
Sasuke didn't get first this time. If she got too excited, it would just rub salt in the wound.
"Second place: Uchiha Sasuke… Twelfth: Uzumaki Naruto. Thirteenth: Inuzuka Kiba…"
Kitazawa continued reading.
"What the—how'd I end up in 13th?!" Kiba groaned, clutching his head. "And Naruto beat me by one spot?!"
"Remember that ramen you owe me at Ichiraku!" Naruto grinned.
First place in the practical, beat Kiba in theory, and free ramen? Best day ever.
"Damn it!" Kiba clenched his fists. "Once I've got the right ninja dog, you're done for!"
"Now for the practical exam rankings," Kitazawa said, flipping the page.
"Let's go!" Naruto perked up, eyes full of anticipation.
"First place: Uzumaki Naruto," Kitazawa announced with a smile.
"Hahaha!" Naruto held his forehead proudly. "I'm number one again!"
"…?"
Sasuke stared, confused.
Wait… is he copying my pose? That's my move!
"Second place: Kurama Yakumo."
Yakumo was calm as always.
She didn't really care about ranks—just being able to attend class was enough.
Still, Naruto's performance had encouraged her. Her body had recovered—time to put in the work.
"Third place: Hyuga Hinata."
Kitazawa paused. "Fourth place: Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke took an involuntary step back.
Fourth?! What a disgrace…
He used to sneer at second place. Now he wished he had it.
No. I'm an Uchiha. First place is the only goal!
…
"The written and practical rankings are done. Now, for the overall rankings."
Kitazawa scanned the list. He looked a bit surprised, but read it anyway.
"First place overall: Hyuga Hinata."
"Huh?" Hinata, who had been quiet the whole time, looked up in shock.
"Hinata's the final top scorer?" Ino said, stunned.
"She was third in both the written and practical exams," Shikamaru analyzed. "Naruto was first in practical but had a weak written score. Same with Sakura."
"True." Kiba chuckled. "Balance is real strength."
To them, Hinata's win seemed a little lucky.
Sakura and Sasuke scored higher in theory. Naruto and Yakumo outperformed her in practice.
"Second place: Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa continued.
More stunned looks.
As usual, Shikamaru offered the explanation: Naruto and Yakumo's weak theory scores pulled their totals down.
"I got… second?" Sasuke blinked, momentarily happy.
But then the realization hit.
Why am I happy? Second place isn't good enough!
His smile froze and quickly disappeared into his usual poker face.
…
"That's it for the rankings. Full grade rankings will be posted tomorrow. Check them out if you're curious," Kitazawa clapped. "Don't forget, tomorrow's Wednesday. You've got class."
"Come get your report cards!"
Iruka called out nearby. "Once you've got it, you're free to go home!"
Students from Class 1-A rushed up—some excited, others nervous.
Kitazawa stayed put.
"Kitazawa-sensei, let's go."
Naruto, waving his report card, grinned. "I wanna show Grandpa Third my grades!"
"I'm sure the Hokage will be pleased," Kitazawa smiled.
Compared to canon Hiruzen, this one was way more relaxed.
That Naruto was a class clown with garbage grades—he even had the guts to graffiti the Hokage Rock.
They arrived at the Hokage's office.
Kitazawa raised a hand to knock, but Naruto just kicked the door open.
Is this something he learned from Tsunade?
"Grandpa Third!"
Naruto ran in, excited. "Check out my report card!"
"Hokage-sama," Kitazawa greeted as he followed in.
Hiruzen gave a small nod and looked at Naruto's scores.
Thirteenth in theory wasn't surprising—but first in practical? That caught him off guard.
He remembered Yakumo was in the same class.
Since the psychological medical ninja unit was in development, Hiruzen had thoroughly investigated its key candidates.
In other words, he knew how strong Yakumo's kekkei genkai was.
Under normal circumstances, Naruto shouldn't have been able to beat her using just taijutsu and Shadow Clones.
"How did you manage to defeat Yakumo?" Hiruzen asked.
"Oh, like this—!" Naruto launched into an animated retelling of the fight.
There was some exaggeration, but overall it was mostly accurate.
Hiruzen was impressed—not by Naruto's power, but by his unshakable will.
Honestly, it was the kind of spirit a Hokage needed.
"There was one weird thing though," Naruto scratched his head. "I only broke out of Yakumo's genjutsu because this orange tail smacked me."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
He knew exactly what that tail was.
"Grandpa Third," Naruto asked, hopeful, "what was that thing?"
"I've got a guess," Hiruzen replied with a smile. "But I'll need to confirm it. Once I do, I'll tell you."
"Okay! I'll be waiting!"
Naruto didn't seem disappointed—he was just excited.
"You can head back now, Naruto," Hiruzen said, glancing at Kitazawa. "Your teacher and I need to talk."
"See ya, Grandpa Third! Later, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto left the office, still holding his report card proudly.
"Kitazawa," Hiruzen asked thoughtfully, "how are things going with Tsunade?"
Kitazawa froze for a second.
Wait, what?
Then it hit him—he meant the mission to get Tsunade to treat her hemophobia.
"There's been some progress," Kitazawa answered after thinking it over.
"Good." Hiruzen smiled. "Looks like assigning the task to you was the right move."
"I'm just doing my best."
"How's your medical ninjutsu coming along?" Hiruzen asked, tapping his pipe.
"With Tsunade-sama's help, it's going smoothly. I'm currently learning Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique Regeneration."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
As a ninjutsu professor, he knew exactly what that meant.
If someone was learning that technique, they'd practically mastered the entire field of medical ninjutsu.
"With your current skill level, you could qualify as a jonin-level medical ninja," Hiruzen said. "Only thing holding you back is the mission count."
"I'll work on that."
"But jonin-level medical ninja is a bit different," Hiruzen added. "You just need enough successful surgeries. Keep a record of everything you do."
Kitazawa paused—surprised, but it made sense.
Sending medical ninja on combat missions was a waste anyway.
Hiruzen clearly intended to bend the rules a bit for Kitazawa's situation.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"Do you know about the Nine-Tails?" Hiruzen asked, his expression turning serious.
By now, he'd guessed Tsunade's intentions—and that Kitazawa would likely become her student.
And if Kitazawa was considered 'one of them,' then it was time he knew the truth.
"I've heard of it," Kitazawa said, heart pounding.
Now he understood why Hiruzen had been asking so many roundabout questions earlier.
They were to confirm whether Kitazawa was in the 'club'—part of the Hokage group.
"There are nine powerful Tailed Beasts in the ninja world," Hiruzen explained. "Their origins are unknown, but probably tied to the Sage of Six Paths. The strongest, the Nine-Tails, is sealed here in Konoha."
"So that orange tail Naruto saw… was the Nine-Tails?"
"To control the power of the Tailed Beasts, we created jinchūriki—people who have the beasts sealed inside them."
Hiruzen paused for a moment. "Naruto is the current jinchūriki."
"No wonder so many people hate him and call him a monster," Kitazawa said, pretending to be shocked.
"His identity was supposed to be top secret," Hiruzen sighed. "But Danzo and I disagreed. He leaked it."
"I punished him, but the damage was done. A lot of villagers and shinobi misunderstood."
"I see." Kitazawa nodded.
Whether it was true or not didn't matter—he had to play along.
That said, Danzo absolutely seemed like the type to do something like that.
"I'm telling you this because I want you to keep an eye on Naruto," Hiruzen said seriously. "If there's ever any sign of Nine-Tails chakra leaking, let me know immediately. It's a matter of village safety."
"Understood," Kitazawa replied, just as seriously.
"And don't tell Naruto about the Nine-Tails. Not yet."
Hiruzen thought for a second. "Wait until Tsunade is done treating her phobia."
Called it, Kitazawa thought.
With Tsunade in the village, Hiruzen clearly wanted her to be the one to teach Naruto to control the Nine-Tails.
And when it came to understanding its chakra, Tsunade was no less qualified than Jiraiya.
After all, she had close ties to both Mito and Kushina—two former jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa nodded.
The only downside was that this mission couldn't be completed quickly.
But that was just part of the challenge.
"Oh, and feel free to tell Tsunade about all this," Hiruzen added.
"She probably already knows," Kitazawa replied. "I invited her to watch the exam."
"What was her reaction?"
"She left early."
Kitazawa felt something strange—like he and Hiruzen were both maneuvering Tsunade into place.
"You've done well. You're dismissed."
Hiruzen smiled and waved him off.
"Yes, sir."
Kitazawa turned and left the Hokage's office.
…
It was already October. Summer was officially over—even at noon, the air was cool.
He found Tsunade in a private booth at a local izakaya.
"You… how'd you know I was here?" Tsunade asked, flushed from drinking.
"I guessed." Kitazawa shrugged.
In reality, Shizune told him.
"Well… good. Since you're here, drink with me," she said, pushing a cup toward him.
He glanced at it. Lipstick marks on the rim.
"What… what's with the hesitation?"
Seeing him hesitate, Tsunade stood up, shoved the cup to his lips, and poured the drink down his throat.
"…"
He barely even processed it—just reflexively swallowed.
"So? How was it?"
Tsunade plopped back into her seat, her top loose, collar low, skin flushed.
She'd ditched her usual outer jacket, now wearing only a sleeveless shirt. With the booze, she looked even more uninhibited than usual.
"Not bad."
Kitazawa sipped the flavor again and sat across from her.
But man, that auto-aim of hers was dangerous.
"Just drinking's boring," Kitazawa said after a moment. "Wanna make it a drinking game?"
"Deal!"
Tsunade suddenly straightened up—then, drunk as she was, flopped forward again.
Her chest landed squarely on the table.
"Let's mix it up," Kitazawa said with a grin. "Loser has to answer a question. If they can't, they drink."
"You talk too much—just start already!"
Tsunade put down her cup and raised her hands.
"You lost. Time for a question," Kitazawa declared without even checking results.
"Damn it…" she bit her finger, annoyed. "Ask."
"What do you think of Naruto?"
"Eh… what do you expect?" she downed another drink. "They're all idiots."
"What about Nawaki?"
"…"
Tsunade instantly regretted ever telling him about Nawaki.
In a way, Nawaki and Naruto were practically the same.
"No—wait!" Tsunade shook her head violently and glared. "You tricked me!"
"Tricked you? You agreed to the game."
"You—you're up to something!"
Annoyed, she got up, hugged Kitazawa, and then downed two more drinks.
When he started coughing, she laughed happily.
"You're such a lightweight!"
Then she collapsed right on top of him.
Her scent and the alcohol hit him all at once.
Kitazawa, now pinned under her, felt dizzy.
He gently pushed her off—only to realize…
She had already passed out.
~~~
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