"Begin the match."
Kitazawa took it upon himself to act as referee.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Seeing Hatake Kakashi standing perfectly still, Uchiha Sasuke didn't hesitate. He leaned back and spat out a massive fireball.
Heat rolled off it in waves. The blazing sphere streaked forward like a miniature sun.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall."
Unhurried, Kakashi formed seals. Mid-flight, a stone wall carved with three dog heads surged up from the ground.
Boom.
The fireball smashed into the wall and burst apart.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
When the Great Fireball failed, Sasuke instantly split into two clones.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
The moment the clones appeared, they fanned out left and right and rushed Kakashi.
Recognizing the familiar taijutsu, Kakashi simply lifted his leg and unleashed a rapid chain of kicks, shattering both clones in an instant.
Sasuke's pupils trembled.
One casual combo and both clones were gone?
"Genjutsu: Unknown Fire!"
Sasuke formed more seals. His two-tomoe Sharingan gave a faint shudder as an invisible ripple pulsed outward.
Kakashi acted like he hadn't seen a thing. With a Body Flicker, he appeared right in front of Sasuke and drove a fist straight at him.
Sasuke reflexively crossed his arms to block.
A heartbeat later, an irresistible force crashed through. Numbness swallowed his forearms and his body was hurled backward, completely out of his control.
Kitazawa flashed in behind him, caught him, and set him down safely.
"Want to keep going?" Kakashi asked evenly.
"…"
Still rattled, Sasuke stared at him, at a loss for words.
It had been brief, but it felt like he'd been suppressed at every turn—everything he did was futile. Even his genjutsu hadn't landed. And Kakashi clearly hadn't gone all out; he'd only used Earth Flow Wall and the Body Flicker.
"Kakashi, did Sasuke pass?" Kitazawa asked with a slight smile.
"Halfway," Kakashi said offhandedly. "The other half depends on whether he has a Lightning Release affinity."
"I definitely do!" Sasuke blurted—though the confidence in his voice was noticeably thinner.
"Start training your Lightning-nature transformation," Kakashi said after giving him a look.
"Kakashi, I'll leave Sasuke to you. I've got something to take care of, so I'll head out first," Kitazawa said, patting Sasuke's shoulder with a grin.
He planned to swing back around when Kakashi started teaching Chidori—maybe "borrow" a lesson or two.
At the Academy training grounds, Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuga Hinata had already begun their drills. Kitazawa glanced over and split into two shadow clones—one to stay at the grounds, the other to the artificial lake.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi, who had been waiting, walked up to him.
Kitazawa assigned the two clones: one remained at the training field, the other headed for the man-made lake.
"Let's hit the mission hall," he said, leading his squad to the Hokage Tower.
"Kitazawa-sensei, what rank are we taking this time?" Kabuto adjusted his glasses.
"B or A," Kitazawa said casually, scanning the mission wall.
His squad was strong, but still a ways off from top-tier jōnin. Kabuto and Torune weren't full Jōnin—more like Special Jōnin. As for Izumi, with only a one-tomoe Sharingan, she was elite-genin at best.
In the original timeline, she awakened three tomoe on the night of the massacre. Whether that "night" would even happen now was a big question. Without it, her growth wouldn't spike the way it once did. Still, they were young; becoming jōnin was only a matter of time.
After a while, Kitazawa frowned. As expected, there were no missions involving an isolated jōnin target.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto raised a hand. "What about this one?"
Kitazawa followed his finger. A B-rank mission—eliminate a band of rogue ninja occupying a mine in the Land of Iron. No jōnin, but five chūnin.
A smart pick from Kabuto. Power-wise, perfect as their first high-tier mission. But it didn't meet the system's criteria—namely, it wouldn't raise their squad's profile.
Kitazawa suddenly clicked his tongue.
He'd overlooked someone: Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Shinobi missions came in two types: jobs posted at the mission desk by daimyō, nobles, merchants, etc., and assignments issued directly by Hiruzen—the Hokage.
"Wait for me here," Kitazawa said, turning on his heel toward the Hokage's office.
He'd planned to report in after picking a mission anyway—Tsunade's new jutsu needed to be submitted.
"Perfect timing, Kitazawa," Hiruzen said with a genial smile. "I was just going to have Haru fetch you. Kōsuke has agreed to teach the Advance Class."
"Many thanks, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa replied quickly.
"All for Konoha—no thanks needed," Hiruzen waved it off.
"Hokage-sama," Kitazawa produced a scroll, "this is Tsunade-sama's latest development—a psychological medical ninjutsu."
"Oh?" Hiruzen was genuinely surprised. "Why isn't Tsunade here?"
"She's at the casino," Kitazawa said, face unreadable.
He could guess the real reason: Tsunade likely wasn't thrilled with the little "setup" Hiruzen pulled after the student council selection bout.
"Same old Tsunade," Hiruzen chuckled, thinking nothing of it as he opened the scroll.
When he finished reading, he fell into thought. This Emotion Substitute Technique was even more useful than he'd imagined—good for therapy, and good in battle.
"An A-rank jutsu is worth quite a bit," Hiruzen decided after a moment. "I'll authorize two million ryō this time."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said at once.
"Tsunade's share—make sure you pass it on to her," Hiruzen added, rolling the scroll up.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kitazawa paused. "There's one more thing I'd like your help with."
"What is it?" Hiruzen took a draw on his pipe, relaxed.
"My squad has done a lot of D-rank work this past month—we've really bonded with the villagers," Kitazawa said with a wry look. "I want to take on a suitable high-tier mission next, but I couldn't find one."
"'A lot' is underselling it. In under a month you've cleared ninety D-ranks—no other squad comes close," Hiruzen said, pleased. "And you did them well. The villagers are full of praise."
"It's thanks to those three," Kitazawa shook his head.
"You do have the strength for higher-ranked work," Hiruzen said, tapping his pipe. "I've got a number of high-tier assignments here. Any particular requirements?"
If it were any other shinobi, he'd have brushed them off with a random mission. But Kitazawa was Tsunade's student—his grand-student, essentially—and he was straight-laced and dependable. A little favoritism was only natural.
"Best if a jōnin is involved, but nothing overly dangerous. My three aren't full jōnin yet," Kitazawa said after a beat.
"That puts me in a bind," Hiruzen laughed, "but as it happens, there is one."
Seriously? Kitazawa quickly offered his thanks.
"It's a personal matter," Hiruzen's tone turned solemn.
Personal? Kitazawa blinked. His first stray thought was something like catching an affair—but Hiruzen's wife, Biwako, had been killed during the Nine-Tails' attack.
"It's about Asuma," Hiruzen sighed. "He's rebellious, didn't want to stay in Konoha, and went off to serve as a Guardian Ninja for the Land of Fire."
Kitazawa's expression turned a bit… complicated at the mention of Sarutobi Asuma. Did Hiruzen really not know about him and Kurenai? He should have some idea—the two hadn't exactly been hiding it.
"I've gotten intel that there's trouble within the Guardians. They've split into two factions," Hiruzen said gravely. "One led by Asuma, the other by Kazuma. They've already clashed several times."
Kitazawa recalled the "original" storyline. Brief, but real. In short: Kazuma argued the Land of Fire should have only a daimyō, not a Hokage—power should rest with the daimyō.
Naturally, Asuma and others opposed him. The two sides fought; Kazuma's faction was crushed, the Guardians disbanded, and Asuma returned to Konoha to lead Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji.
"You want me to go to the Land of Fire and support Asuma?" Kitazawa asked.
"It involves the daimyō. Sensitive," Hiruzen nodded. "I wasn't going to send anyone—but you're one of the few suitable choices. Your teacher is Tsunade."
Kitazawa understood immediately. The Twelve Guardian Ninja serve the daimyō personally. Kazuma's platform favored the daimyō, so it was quite possible the daimyō secretly backed him.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, wanted Asuma to win—he supported the Hokage system, and Asuma was his son. But it was too sensitive for Konoha to wade in overtly; it would only anger the daimyō.
Kitazawa, however, was Tsunade's student—and Tsunade had a close relationship with the daimyō's family.
"Even so, you can't claim this as my mission," Hiruzen added after thinking it through. "Say you were passing through, remembered Asuma, and decided to visit an old classmate."
Right—aside from being Tsunade's student, Kitazawa was also Asuma's classmate. Even if the daimyō suspected, there'd be no proof. In most matters, Hiruzen really was a wily old fox.
"I understand, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said, voice steady. "We'll take the assignment."
Dangerous? Sure—but acceptable. Of the Twelve, only Kazuma, Asuma, and Chiriku fought at roughly jōnin level. And in the original outcome, Kazuma's side lost. Kitazawa's squad could go "make an appearance."
Of course, to satisfy the system's requirement to raise their renown, they could look for a chance to take down Kazuma and company. The Guardians had name recognition.
"We'll classify it as S-rank. Reward: one million ryō," Hiruzen decided. With tokubetsu jōnin and jōnin involved—and the daimyō—S-rank was fair.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said. "We'll depart after the jōnin meeting?"
"That's fine," Hiruzen smiled. "Don't worry too much. As far as I know, Asuma's faction has the upper hand right now."
If it were truly perilous, he wouldn't send Kitazawa's squad. If anything happened, Tsunade would tear down the Hokage Tower.
With that settled, Kitazawa left the office. Watching him go, Hiruzen took another pull on his pipe. He knew Kitazawa and Kurenai were close. He also knew Asuma had been pursuing Kurenai. But young people in love—let them compete fairly. And with Tsunade in the picture, he wasn't about to step in on Asuma's behalf. That would be beneath him.
Back at the mission hall, Kitazawa mulled it over. Supporting Asuma felt a little awkward, but it was also an opportunity. Asuma was a decent guy. Kitazawa didn't want to butt heads over Kurenai. Getting Asuma to back off wasn't hard—this was a world that respected strength. If Kitazawa stood far above, then no matter how unwilling Asuma felt, he'd have to concede.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto and the others hurried over.
"Let's head back," Kitazawa smiled. "I accepted an S-rank mission from the Hokage."
All three looked stunned. They were capable, but S-rank? That felt early.
"What exactly is it?" Kabuto's intel instincts kicked in.
If Hiruzen had given it to them, it meant he believed they could do it. The difficulty probably wasn't as insane as "S-rank" sounded.
"I'll fill you in when we reach the capital of the Land of Fire," Kitazawa said. "You'll be the ones gathering intel."
"Understood."
Kabuto arched a brow; he got it. Kitazawa was testing them. And an S-rank in the capital… connected to the daimyō, perhaps?
"Go prep. We leave next Monday," Kitazawa reminded them. "This one will likely keep us busy for a while—plan for two weeks at least."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!" the three answered in unison.
"See you Monday." They split up at the Hokage Tower entrance.
"Kitazawa?" Hearing the door, Kurenai glanced over her shoulder. When she saw it was actually him, surprise flickered across her face. "Back this early?"
She was in the middle of practicing the Four Limbs Weighting Seal. Even on break, their winter training meant Kitazawa usually didn't get home until five or six in the afternoon. It wasn't even ten.
"I just accepted an S-rank mission from Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said, walking over and admiring the graceful lines of her body. She was wearing a silk slip at home—thin, and very flattering.
"S-rank?" Kurenai's eyes sharpened. "What is it?"
"Support for Asuma," he said, laying out the details.
"That's too dangerous. I'm coming with you," Kurenai said without a second's hesitation.
"Mm." Kitazawa paused, then shared the plan he'd had in mind.
"I'm with you," Kurenai nodded, understanding. Show strength, make him back off—best outcome. She didn't want to become enemies with Asuma either. They had been classmates, after all.
"We leave next Monday," Kitazawa said, slipping an arm around her waist.
"Next Monday? Perfect timing," Kurenai's lips curved. "We can celebrate your birthday first."
"I almost forgot Sunday's the 21st," Kitazawa said, kissing her on the delicate curve of her cheek. "Thanks."
He'd never cared much about birthdays—he'd always been on his own. But this year, with Kurenai, it would be a lot livelier.
"What do you want for a present?" Kurenai asked, returning the kiss.
"Who asks it that directly?" he teased, giving her a playful swat. "Trying to slack off?"
"I just don't want to waste it," Kurenai shot him a look. "Forget it—fine, I'll take the hit and give you the gift you want most."
"The gift I want most?" Kitazawa blinked. "What is it? Even I don't know."
To be fair, he didn't lack for anything these days—at least, nothing Kurenai hadn't already given him.
"Secret," Kurenai said, touching her tongue to her lip with a smile. "You'll know when the time comes."
~~~
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