[1st POV]
"Are you for real?! You really beat Sasuke?" Naruto asked, standing on his bed in disbelief, wearing a white tank top and covered in bandages.
I rubbed the back of my head, a little shy and not knowing how to react.
"Yes? At least in the match we just had, yes I did beat him," I said.
"No way!!" Naruto said, exaggeratingly holding his head. "And I didn't even get to see it!"
The infirmary of the academy was large, so much larger than you would expect because lots of kids training to be shinobi get injured. It looked like a hospital ward, with rows of beds and multiple medical nurses.
"Will you shut the hell up!! I'm trying to get some rest here!!" Kiba exclaimed while throwing up the blanket he used to cover himself, probably trying to shut out the noise before his outburst.
"You don't get to say anything! You are the reason why I missed it in the first place!!" Naruto said, turning to the bed beside him and pointing at Kiba accusingly.
"My fault? My fault!!" Kiba said with twitching eyes, "You were the one who just wouldn't stand down! Why don't you just give up! You think I don't want to see Sasuke get beaten up too? That little arrogant prick."
"It's your fault you can't keep me down!" Naruto said. Now they were both standing on their beds, pointing at each other and shouting.
Well, at least there was no need to worry about their well-being. They seemed fine, too fine even.
"I am going to become the Hokage! How could I lose to a dog sniffer like you?"
"Hah! The day you become the Hokage, I will adopt a cat," Kiba said with a sneer.
"Quiet down, you two, there are other patients resting here," I said with a weary smile, trying to calm them down. But of course, they didn't listen.
"Not just any Hokage, I will become the greatest of them all, believe it!!" Naruto said.
"Maybe I wasn't clear enough. The day you become Hokage will be the day Akamaru becomes a cat," Kiba rebutted.
"Well... that day will come soon!!" Naruto said, then turned to me, "Can dogs really become cats, Suyou?"
"No dumbass, that's the whole point?!" Kiba said, pulling his hair in absolute frustration. Arguing with Naruto was like arguing with a rock sometimes.
They continued back and forth, throwing insults and swearing at each other. In the end, I had no choice but to speak the language they were more familiar with.
Bonk!
I hit them both on the head, finally giving them a reason to stop.
"Ow!" Naruto fell on the bed, clutching his head.
"That hurts!" Kiba followed suit.
I repeated once more, "Please, be quiet, there are other patients in this room."
Just then, the door opened and Sasuke walked in. A nurse also walked in along with him. He was clutching an ice bag to his face.
We all watched in silence as Sasuke did his best to try and ignore us and head towards the bed furthest away from where we were.
But of course, Naruto had to make a comment about that.
"Wait Sasuke, I think you're going in the wrong direction. You should sleep beside Kiba, that's where the losers stay," Naruto said with a grin.
Sasuke finally turned and gave us all a nasty glare. I raised my hand and pointed toward Naruto, saying it was not me and I was not involved.
He clicked his tongue and headed toward the furthest bed anyway.
"Haha, he's pissed," Kiba said with a laugh.
"I know right! He's going to be even more pissed when I finally beat him," Naruto said.
They both laughed together, united by their shared dislike towards the Uchiha. They acted like friends as quickly as they acted like enemies.
I sighed, "Well, now that I know you're okay, I'm gonna go."
"Already?"
"Yeah, I have some training to do," I said.
"Okay. Good luck!!"
I left the infirmary to head back home. Tomorrow was going to be the ninjutsu and obstacle course test, and I wanted to practice more, even though my mastery over these was virtually perfect.
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(The next day)
It was the final day of the examination. We were having an obstacle test in the morning and a ninjutsu test in the afternoon.
The obstacle course, I absolutely breezed through it. It was so simple it made me almost want to puke. Almost all the academy students could not even walk on walls, much less walk on water.
But since I could expertly do both, I could effortlessly complete the course. Heck, I could complete the course horizontally if I wanted to. This test in particular, was way beneath me in terms of skill.
Suffice it to say, I became first by a wide margin. The second place, Sasuke Uchiha, took almost three times as long as me to complete the course.
After I was done, everyone looked at me in awe. Sasuke being the only one to glare at me. I never received such attention, but ever since beating Sasuke in the Taijutsu match, everyone was keeping an eye on me, expecting more surprises.
It was nerve-wracking actually. But I didn't disappoint.
After the obstacle test was over, we were given an hour for lunch. I tried to invite Naruto for ramen but he was nowhere to be found. He just disappeared when the test was over. I did not think much of it though, knowing how nervous he was for the final test.
Naruto sucked at one of the three basic jutsu, the clone jutsu. He was very good at substitution and transformation jutsu, but he had much trouble with controlling his chakra outward.
It was like he was so used to his chakra and the Nine Tails' chakra inside of him that pushing his chakra outwards and controlling it on its own was difficult for him.
Afterwards, we all returned to the Academy for a briefing before the final test. Naruto was the latest to enter and since I was already sitting in the front row, he came and sat beside me.
"Are you ready for the test?" I asked.
"Hell yeah, I am going to ace this, believe it!!" he declared loudly.
I had my doubts, but I reminded myself that this was not the anime and things could go differently. I gave a smile, "I believe you."
Iruka came in shortly after and he gave the briefing. The test was simple enough, it was to perform the three Academic Level ninjutsu.
He did not stress about that much, everyone knew what the final test was going to be. What he stressed about was regarding our behaviour. The most respected person in the whole village, the Hokage, was going to be the one to judge the final test.
Iruka knew what a bunch of troublesome kids we were, so he wanted to make sure we did not do anything irresponsible or show disrespect.
"Are you listening to me, Naruto?" Iruka said, giving him a pointed look.
Naruto waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know."
"The test is going to take place in the next room. You will go there one by one in accordance with your roll number," Iruka said and then he picked up his board, "First, Choji Akimichi."
And so, the test began. The students were called one by one, each taking around ten minutes or so. Sometimes even less. But the whole test lasted for about four hours so we went home before it was too late.
When it was finally my turn, I proceeded like usual. I left the classroom and headed to the other room next door. When I entered, I found that the whole room was empty except for a nice seating arrangement near the blackboard.
There, three people sat, and the Hokage was sitting in the middle, smoking a pipe.
"Good morning."
"Good morning to you too, young Suyou," The Hokage was the first to greet me back with an old smile.
I stood at the centre of the room, carefully observing the Hokage. It was strange really, I was expecting, what to say, something more. I hoped to at least instinctively feel how powerful he was, his killing intent or something like that.
But no matter how hard I tried, I only saw an old, frankly frail old man. It was a testament to his stealth ability. Shinobi were not warriors who flaunt strength after all.
Given the titles The Professor and The God of Shinobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen was perhaps the most perfect embodiment of what a shinobi could achieve. He was not like Hashirama, Tobirama or others who were blessed to be born with talent and exceptional heritage.
Coming from the Sarutobi clan, which was not a major clan, he began as a jack of all trades before becoming a master of all. He was the peak of what a shinobi could achieve without being born gifted or having a once-in-a-million advantage.
And honestly, he had my absolute respect for that. In my view, he was like one of the best players in a game that was more pay-to-win than not, without spending a single penny.
"Suyou Hoshigawa, the second-best student of the class and from what I can tell, about to become the number one ranked in the graduation exam," he said, puffing out smoke while reading my file.
He was about to say something more, perhaps comment on my performance a bit more, but he paused and swallowed his words. His face became hard for just a moment before it softened. Wrinkles that told stories of ages made a gentle face.
"Your parents must be proud," he said, his eyes locking on me. Eyes that have probably seen too much, everything they wanted to see and even those they did not desire.
I was caught completely off guard. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."
"Both your mother and father were excellent shinobi who have given their lives for the village," he said. "I hope you can continue on their footsteps, while living as long as me of course."
"I'll try."
"And that is all I ever ask of you," he said. "Without further ado, let's get to the test. We are running a bit late."
"Right," I said, straightening up.
"Let's start with the transformation jutsu," he said and the test began.
I transformed into the Hokage, which seemed to please him greatly because he gave a smile. It was the perfect transformation. But the difference between us was still stark; it was the atmosphere around us, and the depth in our eyes which no jutsu could make up for.
"Oh my, that is a perfect transformation," he said as I turned around and even took off my cloak to show more details on his attire.
"But tell me, do I really have that many wrinkles?" he said with a kind chuckle, pulling his beard.
"Oh," I blinked, "Sorry, Lord Hokage," I said before transforming into his younger self with a puff of smoke. I knew what he looked like from the anime, and it was not hard to fill in the gaps by taking his current appearance as the base.
His eyes finally widened in surprise when he saw the perfect reflection of his younger self. For the attire, I used the black armour which he used to wear in the First Shinobi War.
"Most exceptional," he commented.
Afterwards, I demonstrated the substitution jutsu with one log they provided. The substitution jutsu was hard, but it was for this reason that just executing it, even roughly, was enough to get the perfect mark.
And finally, it was the most important jutsu.
"Clone Jutsu," I called out after doing the hand signs.
I went all out with this one, hoping to impress him again. I made a dozen clones in total that stood side by side, and we filled the whole room when we stood in line.
The Hokage gave a smile that told me I did well. He jotted down the marks quickly before passing them to the person beside him.
"You can claim the overall result immediately," he said. They worked fast, we only had the obstacle test hours ago but now the final report card was already claimable.
The Hokage stood up from his chair and took one of the six remaining headbands on the table. He approached me with a slow walk, making his steps audible as to look even weaker. Most shinobi walked completely silent and I knew as the Hokage, he could do the same.
He came and wrapped the headband around my neck. He tried to put it on my forehead but my hair got in the way, so he just hung it like a necklace on my neck.
"You did well, Suyou," he praised me.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage."
I claimed my report cards afterwards and left the room in relief. I couldn't help the small pulsing pride on my chest at completing my goal.
At last, in this new life,
I felt like I had achieved something.
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