Uchiha District.
After their meal, Sasuke hesitated for a moment before heading toward the lake.
By the water's edge, Uchiha Itachi sat gasping for breath, sweat drenching his forehead. Hearing footsteps, he tilted his head slightly.
"Brother."
Sasuke approached, pausing briefly before handing him a towel.
Itachi took it, a faint smile surfacing on his usually stoic face. He shifted over, making room on the dock. "I heard your Taijutsu instructor changed?"
"Yeah." Sasuke nodded. He recalled the day's events and said, "His Taijutsu and Body Flicker are much better than the previous teacher's. His Shurikenjutsu is impressive, too."
Itachi's gaze softened. "Does he treat you well?"
"Mn!" Sasuke nodded vigorously, a smile finally breaking through. "He's not as strong as you, Brother, but he teaches seriously. And... he's kind of interesting."
Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair, his expression growing complicated. After a long silence, he spoke. "Then, from now on, make sure you get along well with your teacher and classmates."
"I will!" Sasuke promised. Then, after a beat of hesitation, he asked, "Brother, can you teach me Shuriken manipulation?"
Itachi was about to answer when another set of footsteps interrupted them.
He looked up.
Uchiha Shisui dropped down from the trees. He remained silent for a moment, his eyes dimming slightly, before he reached out and poked Sasuke's forehead with two fingers.
"Forgive me, Sasuke. I have something to take care of tonight. Next time."
"It's always 'next time'!" Sasuke clutched his forehead, grumbling in dissatisfaction.
Itachi offered an apologetic smile before using the Body Flicker technique to vanish alongside Shisui.
________________________________________
Outside Konoha, by the stream.
Naruto sat on the grass, roasting a fish over a campfire. Sarutobi Hiruzen sat opposite him, wearing a gentle, grandfatherly smile.
"Naruto, how was the new teacher today?"
"He's the worst!" Naruto answered angrily. "What a hateful guy. Next time, I'm definitely gonna beat him to a pulp!"
"Oh? How is he hateful?" Hiruzen asked, his eyes crinkling with amusement as he tossed a few twigs into the fire.
"He... he..."
Naruto was struck speechless. He couldn't exactly admit that he'd been caught pulling a prank. Frustrated, he held his tongue for a long while before finally blurring out, "Old Man Third, he looks down on people!"
"Hahaha, why don't you tell me exactly what happened?" Hiruzen chuckled.
Naruto lowered his head and gave a simplified, somewhat biased account of the events. Finishing his story, he exclaimed indignantly, "Everyone treats Sasuke nicely, but they all look down on me! I'm gonna defeat him and make him acknowledge me!"
Hiruzen listened intently, then sighed softly. "Naruto... with many things and many people, you cannot simply look at the surface..."
"Old Man Third, I saw his true colors!" Naruto puffed out his cheeks, angrily gnawing on the fish.
Hiruzen frowned, glancing at the meal. "Naruto, that fish isn't cooked yet!"
"Huh? Then... should I roast it some more?"
"Forget it. I'll roast it. You go continue your training."
________________________________________
The next morning.
Naruto lay sprawled across his bed in his pajamas, letting out soft snores.
Suddenly—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A violent knocking rattled the window. Naruto cracked his eyes open, groggy and annoyed. "Who is it...?"
He sat up and slapped his forehead, checking the clock.
6:00 AM.
Naruto stared at the time, sinking into a brief, existential contemplation.
A second later.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The window rattled again.
Naruto looked up, anger flaring in his eyes. "Hey! Even if it's a prank or you're throwing stuff, smashing my window this early in the morning is going too far!"
He leaped out of bed and stomped to the window.
Swish!
He threw the window open.
Naruto froze for a second, rubbed his eyes, and stared in disbelief. "Masahiko-sensei? You..."
"Look at the time. At your age, with your grades, how can you sleep so soundly?"
Yagyu Masahiko sat languidly on the windowsill.
Naruto's jaw dropped, unable to form a response.
Masahiko stood up, dusting off his pants. "In my class, I do not allow trash to exist! Get up. We're going for a run."
He finished with a brilliant, dazzling smile.
"I only came to wake you up. Am I not good to you?"
"You!" Naruto grit his teeth, fuming. "Just because you're a teacher you think you're special? You think you can just target me?"
"Apologies," Masahiko replied with a smirk. "But being a teacher really is something special."
Naruto's eyes bulged with rage. Then...
Bang!
With a loud slam, he shut the window.
One minute later, the window flew open again, and Naruto launched himself out with a flying kick.
His intention was a sneak attack, but the moment he cleared the frame, Masahiko effortlessly caught his leg, leaving Naruto dangling upside down in mid-air.
"Perfect timing."
"From now on, every morning, you will run fifty laps along the route I provide. If you refuse, you'll run twenty-five laps on your hands."
Masahiko held the struggling, defiant Naruto, his smile remaining gentle and warm. "If you're unconvinced, you are welcome to file a formal complaint."
With that, he hopped down from the second floor and unceremoniously dropped Naruto onto the ground.
"Keep up."
Masahiko began to jog down the street.
Naruto wailed, "I haven't eaten breakfast yet!"
"Eat? Why would you eat? A piece of trash's time is more valuable than a normal person's. You don't deserve rice; you only deserve Soldier Pills!"
Masahiko didn't look back as he tossed a dark pellet backward. "Eat it."
Naruto caught the Soldier Pill, trembling with a mix of hunger and fury.
Masahiko turned his head, his voice dripping with mockery. "You aren't scared, are you? With that kind of guts, you have the nerve to shout about becoming Hokage? Maybe in your next life!"
"Who says I'm scared?!"
Naruto popped the Soldier Pill into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Immediately, his entire face collapsed.
Disgusting!
It tastes awful!
His face twisted in agony, dry heaving several times before he finally managed to speak. "Why... why does it taste so bad?"
"Good food is for humans," Masahiko remarked ruthlessly.
Naruto's face turned an angry shade of iron-gray. His hand quietly crept toward the kunai in his pouch, but he eventually let go.
________________________________________
The Outskirts.
Once they reached the edge of the village, Naruto took advantage of the moment Masahiko wasn't looking. He quietly snatched up a rock, letting out a cold, mischievous snicker.
It was the transition between winter and spring; at six in the morning, the sky was still dim.
As they ran into the forest, right at the moment light met shadow, Naruto hurled the stone, aiming straight for the center of Masahiko's back.
But.
Just as the stone was about to make contact, Masahiko sidestepped. His palm intercepted the rock, and with a subtle vibration of chakra...
"Argh!"
The stone rebounded violently, striking Naruto in the stomach. He curled up like a shrimp, his face contorted in pain.
Yagyu Masahiko didn't stop running. His voice floated back, freezing cold. "During the lunch break, you'll run another fifty laps. That is the price for your ambush."
"Damn it!"
Naruto roared, sprinting forward to catch up, and launched a kick at Masahiko.
However.
In a split second, Masahiko caught his ankle and casually tossed him forward.
Thud!
Naruto slammed heavily onto the dirt, looking wretched as he scrambled back up, grimacing in pain.
"Another fifty laps this afternoon."
Masahiko looked at Naruto with smiling eyes.
Naruto ground his teeth. He realized then that this teacher was vastly different from the ones before.
The previous teachers had looked at him with the same cold, heartless eyes, but they had mostly chosen to ignore him—to treat him as if he didn't exist.
But this Yagyu Masahiko...
He wasn't acting human, and he certainly wasn't treating Naruto like a human. But when he stated a punishment, he actually cared enough to enforce it.
Naruto finally settled down, obediently running behind him, swearing an oath in his heart: Wait until I get stronger... I'm going to beat Yagyu Masahiko black and blue!
'The screentime in the next episode is going to skyrocket,' Masahiko thought, his internal smile radiant.
As a villain, he couldn't sit around waiting for Naruto to come to him like Iruka did. He had to take the initiative to find trouble with the protagonist.
Fortunately, his status as a teacher gave him a legitimate excuse. And furthermore...
"Masahiko-sensei, behind you..." a passing villager called out tentatively.
"Oh. That's my student," Masahiko replied smoothly. "His Taijutsu grades are poor, so I'm taking him for a morning run to build his stamina."
The neighbor's eyes widened in admiration. "To treat even someone like him so seriously... You really are too kind!"
See? Even the neighbors have to praise me.