Naruto

In the Ichiraku Ramen store, Naruto was sitting next to Umino Iruka, happily enjoying the hot ramen, his eyes almost narrowed to a slit.

"In the blink of an eye, that kid who skipped class all day has now become a Jonin that everyone envied." Iruka looked at Naruto's brand new dark green vest, put down the chopsticks in his hand, and sighed with emotion.

said.

"Iruka-sensei, you are obviously still so young, so don't speak in such a grandfatherly tone." Naruto swallowed the half-eaten fish plate and shouted dissatisfied.

"Okay, okay, I won't say it anymore, I won't say it anymore." Iruka smiled and waved his hand, "You said before that you asked me for help with something, what exactly was it about?"

"Actually, it's not a big deal. I just want to get some news from Mr. Iruka." Naruto also put down his chopsticks, folded his hands on his chest, and said in a low voice, "Mother-in-law Tsunade asked me to make Sarutobi Konoha

Maru, Kazamatsu Moehuang, and Ise Udon are the three children who serve as Jonin."

"Being a Jonin? You?" Iruka was surprised, but he quickly regained his composure and gently rubbed his temples with his fingers, "Based on your mission record, no one will gossip...

Do you want to know how they are doing?"

"How are they doing in school?" Naruto felt as if he was reincarnating into the parents who nervously asked the teacher about their children's condition at the parent-teacher meeting in the previous life.

"...I arrive late and leave early all day long, and I often skip classes. I'm just like you back then..." Iruka said helplessly, "But their scores in both the ninjutsu and theory subjects are all among the best, so there's nothing I can do about it."

Complaining."

"'For a ninja, the most important thing is not the way to complete the task, but the successful result.' Isn't this what Iruka-sensei said yourself back then?" Naruto replied with a smile.

"Haha, yes, I didn't expect that you can still remember it word for word. Except for being a little naughty, there are no big problems with the three of them. Don't worry." Iruka patted Naruto on the shoulder.

, a relieved smile appeared on his face, "As a Jonin, all you need to do is guide them on the road to ninja. I believe you will do an outstanding job."

"The road to ninja..." Naruto stared at the empty noodle bowl in front of him and fell into deep thought.

"Dang——! Dang——!"

In Konoha Ninja School, the distant bells came from the top of the ancient clock tower and echoed in every corner of the campus. Konohamaru, Moehuang and Udon sat quietly in the lonely classroom, bored.

Looking out the window at the birds frightened away by the sound of the bell.

"Hey, hey, who do you think our future leader will be?" Udon asked with longing, holding his face with his hands.

"Do you even need to ask? Wasn't Ebisu-sensei Konohamaru's tutor before? Lord Hokage will definitely send him to be our captain." Moe Huang straightened his messy hair and replied firmly.

"No, Ebisu-sensei said that he has been very busy recently and has no time to guide us. His temporary replacement is a jounin who was just promoted a few days ago." Konohamaru pouted and waved his hand angrily.

right fist,

"Hokage-sama actually sent a rookie ninja to send us away. It's really too much."

"You have wronged Grandma Tsunade." A powerful voice suddenly reached the ears of the three of them from outside the classroom.

"This... this is..." The three of them were stunned for a moment when they heard this familiar voice.

"Although I have only been promoted to Jonin not long ago and have little experience or qualifications, I am more than enough to take care of the three of you." A blond ninja wearing a Konoha Jounin uniform and wearing six whiskers pushed open the half-open door.

Entered the classroom.

"Naruto-nii?! You are our Jonin?!" The three of them were not stupid. They thought for a moment and then came to their senses. They ran to the door at a speed that would have frightened Princess Kaguya, and looked at the visitor in surprise.

"You have changed so much in the past two years, Brother Naruto! We almost don't recognize you anymore!"

"Haha, you have grown a lot too." Naruto smiled and touched the heads of the three genin, then withdrew his hand, coughed lightly, and said majestically with a straight face, "From now on,

I am the guiding jonin of you three, and you will call me 'teacher' from now on."

"I don't want it, Brother Naruto!" the three of them replied with playful smiles.

"Haha, let's just be a brother, it's not that important anyway." Naruto touched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "But according to the normal process, you still need to pass a 'survival drill' before you can officially become a

Konoha ninja."

"Survival exercise? What will happen if you fail?" Udon asked worriedly.

"Then it depends on your specific performance. At best, you can go back to school for another year, or at worst..." Naruto bent down, with a cold expression on his face, "...permanently lose the opportunity to become a Konoha ninja.

qualifications."

The three of them were swept away by his cold gaze, and they felt as if they were being stared at by a wild beast that chose people to eat. They were stiff and did not dare to move. Seeing that they were almost frightened, Naruto straightened up and smiled slightly.

, the cold expression on his face melted away like ice and snow: "How about it, are you confident that you can pass this little test?"

The three of them calmed down, silently encouraged their companions with their eyes, and replied in unison: "Yes!"

Naruto noticed the eye contact between them, raised the corner of his mouth with a small arc, and said loudly: "Okay! Then tomorrow morning at seven o'clock*, we will see you at the 16th training ground."

Spider-web-like cracks were centered on Naruto's chest and spread to all parts of his body. Then, his body was broken into countless pieces in a crisp and sweet "crackling" sound like a glass mirror hit by a heavy object.

Small transparent ice crystals are scattered on the ground.

"This... what kind of ninjutsu is this?" Menghuang stared blankly at the crystal clear fragments on the ground and asked in a low voice.

"I guess this is the ice escape ninjutsu created by Brother Naruto!" Udon made an uncertain guess, "Legend has it that in order to eliminate the virus that was ravaging Kirigakure Village, he froze the entire village."

"He is indeed the man whom I, Konohamaru, admire. Now that we have this opportunity to officially become his subordinates, we must not miss it! Moehuang! Udon!" Konohamaru called to his companions.

's name.

"exist!"

"Everyone, let's work hard together!"

"Come on!" The three young genin overlapped their right hands and shouted enthusiastically.

But what they didn't know was that Naruto didn't meet them in his true form, not because he wanted to show off his original ice clone technique, but because his true form met an old friend he hadn't seen for two years.

"Naruto-kun, congratulations on your successful promotion to Jonin." The white-eyed girl with beautiful black hair waved her hands gently and said to Naruto softly. The shyness on her face had long since disappeared, replaced by

It is a quiet and gentle smile.

"Hina... Hinata, it's been... long time no see!" Naruto's usual calmness seemed to have been thrown into the vast desert of the far west, and he replied in a panic.

In another timeline, the combination of Naruto and Hinata, and Sasuke and Sakura were not significantly different from his increasingly blurred past life memories. When he first accepted Sakura's confession, there was always a feeling of embarrassment in his heart.

The guilt of not going away.

For Hinata, I failed to live up to the long and loving waiting and longing for each other; for Boruto and Himawari, my choice made it impossible for the other person to be born in this timeline; and for the original owner of this body, I failed

Stealing the other person's life, but unable to even take care of the other person's family.

"Naruto-kun, you don't have to be like this. Everyone has the freedom to make their own choices." Hinata, who has studied with Neci for two years, is no longer the unsophisticated girl she was before, and she can easily see that Naruto

inner thoughts.

Naruto lowered his head, with a deep apology in his tone: "I'm sorry."

"You protected me, encouraged me, awakened me, and gave Brother Neji hope. Naruto-kun, if you want to say I owe you something, it should be me who owes you." Hinata said more.

With a sense of responsibility and rationality that was rare in the past, "Naruto-kun, if you are willing, I hope to be your friend like Xiang Rin and Kiba."

Naruto saw the coexistence of gentleness and confidence on Hinata's face, and the guilt in his heart faded a little, and he said with a naive smile: "Of course."

The two walked side by side on the path by the river, chatting. It wasn't until the moonlight filled the earth that they said goodbye to each other.

"Don't blame yourself for those things anymore, Naruto-kun. I'm satisfied that you and Sakura can be safe and happy together." Hinata raised her head, her fair face in the moonlight was as translucent as the first snow, and like condensed fat.

It was so smooth that Naruto, who was used to the rough skin of ninjas, was stunned.

"Okay, Naruto-kun, you have to get up early tomorrow. Go to bed early today and don't send me off again." Hinata noticed the other person's expression and smiled softly.

"...Then I'll go back first, and you should take care of yourself." Naruto's face turned red, he waved to the girl, and after a few jumps, he disappeared from her sight.

"Take care..." Hinata looked at the sparkling river water under the moonlight and sighed deeply.

(*Both stem and branch timing and Arabic numeral timing are used in the world of Naruto)