The final week of July.
The temperature in Konoha Village continued to rise, it was already the height of summer.
"Sasuke, time for breakfast!"
Uchiha Mikoto's voice echoed from outside the door.
"I'm coming, Mom!"
Uchiha Sasuke woke up, replying while getting dressed. After changing, he slid the door open and hurried out. But after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
There, sitting at the entryway and changing his footwear, was Uchiha Itachi, already in his Anbu uniform. He was clearly about to head out on a mission.
"Brother, you're not eating breakfast with me again?"
Sasuke walked up, visibly unhappy.
"Sorry, Sasuke," Itachi explained gently. "I just received an urgent mission. I can't stay."
"It's always like this…"
Sasuke huffed lightly.
"I'll come find you as soon as I'm done."
Itachi tapped Sasuke's forehead with a finger, the familiar gesture.
"I promise."
"Then you'll have to come to the training field," Sasuke said.
"I'm doing special training this month with Kitazawa-sensei."
"Special training? A new Fire Release ninjutsu?"
Itachi suggested, "You've already learned three Fire Release techniques. You could start refining your Fire Style chakra nature."
"Nope, you'll never guess."
Sasuke grinned smugly.
"I'm not telling you yet. I'll surprise you later."
What could it be?
Don't tell me it's the Sharingan again?
But Kitazawa isn't an Uchiha, what would he know about the Sharingan?
Itachi smiled. "Then I'll look forward to the surprise."
"Sasuke, breakfast."
Mikoto placed two bowls of ramen on the table.
"Coming!"
Sasuke watched Itachi leave, then hurried back to eat. After he finished, Mikoto brought out two bento boxes.
"Sasuke, here's your lunch."
"Two? I can't eat that much…"
"One is for Kitazawa-sensei," Mikoto explained.
"He's helping you with your training. You should show some appreciation."
"Hm… that makes sense."
Sasuke accepted both bentos.
"I'll give it to him at noon."
"Are you training alone?" Mikoto asked.
"Not sure," Sasuke thought aloud.
"I don't know if Hinata or Naruto will join."
"Tell me after you return," Mikoto said seriously.
"If you're bringing lunch, you can't leave anyone out. Make sure everyone gets one."
"But, "
Sasuke hesitated.
He wanted to say: Hinata definitely can't get full with just one bento. But then he remembered, Kitazawa usually brings extra food anyway.
"Alright, that's settled."
Mikoto patted his head.
Suddenly,
Knock knock.
"That must be Kitazawa-sensei!"
Sasuke sprinted to the door and opened it.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
"Let's go, Sasuke."
Kitazawa nodded politely at Mikoto, by now they'd met several times and needed no long greetings.
As soon as Sasuke stepped outside, he asked urgently:
"Sensei, what's today's special training?"
Kitazawa's tone turned serious.
"Sasuke… to awaken your Sharingan, how far are you willing to go?"
"I'll do anything!"
Sasuke answered without hesitation.
"Good."
Kitazawa nodded.
"The next two days are simple. You'll keep training with Might Guy."
"Eh?"
Sasuke froze.
"What does that have to do with awakening my Sharingan?"
He couldn't imagine Guy's taijutsu physical conditioning helping with eye awakening.
"Don't ask. Just train for two days. You'll understand afterward."
Kitazawa planned to use his "Youth-Based Psychological Shock Method."
But just wearing the green jumpsuit wasn't enough, Sasuke also had to be embarrassed publicly.
"…Alright."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Two days would pass quickly.
Kitazawa soon found Might Guy, Naruto Uzumaki, and Rock Lee, all in the middle of training.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto, wearing a bright green jumpsuit, ran over.
"I knew you'd be here," Kitazawa sighed.
He had checked Naruto's house first, but found no sign of him.
"As soon as I woke up, my body just moved on its own to find Guy-sensei! That's the power of youth!"
Naruto declared with a thumbs-up.
"…."
Kitazawa felt the boy was beyond saving, everything he said was "youth" this, "youth" that.
"Kitazawa! Long time no see!"
Might Guy strode over energetically.
"Guy, do you have spare green jumpsuits?"
Kitazawa asked with a smile.
"I do!"
Guy's eyes sparkled.
"Don't tell me… you want to join the Way of Youth?!"
"Not me. Sasuke."
Sasuke froze in panic.
"Sensei, I'm NOT wearing that!"
"Sasuke," Kitazawa said sternly, "Don't you want to awaken your Sharingan?"
"…But…"
"It's a necessary price."
Kitazawa patted his shoulder.
"Trust me."
After a long struggle, Sasuke finally bowed to reality, for the sake of his Sharingan.
Under everyone's gaze, he pulled the green jumpsuit on over his clothes.
"It looks perfect on you, Sasuke!"
Naruto said seriously.
"The Way of Youth is within that suit!"
"I'm only doing this to awaken my Sharingan," Sasuke muttered coldly.
"Not for youth."
"Sasuke," Kitazawa said, suppressing laughter,
"Stay with Guy for training. Meet us at the academy's artificial lake at noon."
"Okay."
"Let's go, Naruto."
As they walked, Naruto looked around.
"Wait, this road looks familiar… Are we going to Ichiraku Ramen?"
"That's right."
"But I already ate breakfast!" Naruto said quickly.
"We can start the Rasengan right away!"
"Don't rush."
Kitazawa warned.
"Rasengan is an A-rank technique. It's not easy."
"It's fine, with you teaching me, I'll learn it!"
Naruto beamed.
Kitazawa chuckled.
I'm not even that confident…
Truthfully, at Naruto's current level, Rasengan would be hard, but not impossible.
"Ichiraku-Ossan!"
Naruto shouted as they entered Ichiraku.
"What will you have, oh, Kitazawa? You brought Naruto again?"
Teuchi asked.
"We're not here to eat."
Teuchi blinked.
"Then… why are you here?"
"I'm here to discuss a partnership," Kitazawa said.
"I want to sponsor you to host a Competitive Eating Tournament."
"…That actually sounds good."
Teuchi rubbed his chin.
"But what's the sponsorship part?"
"Just naming rights," Kitazawa smiled.
"We'll call it the Kitazawa General Store x Ichiraku Ramen Competitive Eating Tournament."
"So that's it."
Teuchi understood immediately, it was advertising for Kitazawa.
"I can sponsor fifty thousand ryō."
A heavy investment, just to help Sasuke awaken his Sharingan.
But Kitazawa wasn't worried. He could always reclaim the cost by working with the Uchiha later.
"That's fine," Teuchi agreed.
He had nothing to lose, more publicity meant more business.
"And I'm entering!" Naruto said eagerly.
"You barely manage two bowls," Teuchi laughed.
"You won't win."
"The tournament will be in two days," Kitazawa decided.
"That enough time?"
"Plenty."
After finalizing everything, Kitazawa and Naruto left Ichiraku.
Naruto bounced with excitement. He was finally going to learn Rasengan.
When they reached the Academy, "Before the Rasengan, I'm teaching you something else," Kitazawa said at the artificial lake.
"…Huh?"
Naruto deflated.
"This technique is the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. It's also A-rank."
Naruto lit up instantly.
"I want to learn it!"
In the original timeline, Naruto learned it extremely fast, within an hour or two.
Once Naruto mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Kitazawa would have confidence to teach him the Rasengan during the summer.
"I'll let one of my Shadow Clones teach you."
Kitazawa formed hand seals and split off a clone.
"Where are you going, Kitazawa-sensei?"
Naruto asked.
"To the Hyūga Clan. Hinata needs special training too."
"Ohhh."
Naruto turned to the clone with blazing determination.
"Kitazawa-sensei! Let's start!"
Kitazawa smiled and walked toward the Hyūga compound.