The time had passed, and it had been over two weeks since Kaito started training with his mother. In his initial spars, he was consistently under pressure, always returning home with his body sore all over.
His mother simply wouldn't give him any chances to counter-attack, always pushing him to his limits. Thanks to this, Kaito was gaining a lot of experience fighting against stronger and faster foes.
Haruki would sometimes watch some of the fights, smiling at the suffering on her son's face, trying by all means to defend against Hana's ninjutsu.
Today, his mother had granted him a day off so he could go out a little, or perhaps Kaito's mind couldn't bear the torture he was enduring.
Kaito got ready and soon left home, intending to take a stroll through Konoha before heading to Ichiraku.
Walking down the streets of Konoha, he could see several civilians and ninjas strolling about, a sense of calm before the storm. Kaito sighed.
'It won't be long before the 'peace' of the ninja world is disrupted. I hope I have enough strength to protect my family and friends.' Kaito could feel his strength, but he knew that what was to come, his strength would be of no use.
Right at that moment, he spotted a boy with yellow hair walking further ahead from where he was.
' Naruto, I thought he was training with Jiraiya. I looked for him to train with me, but he had disappeared.' Kaito thought. In the first few days of his training, he sought Naruto, wanting him to go through the same torture he was enduring. After all, what are friends for?
But even after searching in his apartment, he wasn't there. So Kaito had thought he was training with Jiraiya, but today, he finally found him. So Kaito promised in his heart that today he would drag Naruto into suffering alongside him.
"Naruto, hey Naruto," Kaito shouted twice, startling the people nearby who looked at him but soon ignored him. Upon hearing someone call his name, Naruto turned and saw Kaito.
"Hey Kaito, good to see you. I was heading to Ichiraku. Do you want to come along?" Naruto spoke as he approached Kaito.
"Haha, sure, Naruto. But tell me, where were you? I looked for you several times, and you weren't in the apartment."
"Haha, I'm training with the old man. Can you believe he's teaching me how to use the staff? That old man is quite skilled. In our first battle, he left my body full of bruises, but I caught him off guard with my Sexy Jutsu. You should have seen the old man's face, ahahaha," Naruto said, laughing as he recalled the Hokage's expressions.
Upon hearing this, Kaito was shocked. He didn't expect the Hokage himself to be the one teaching Naruto. He thought it would be Jiraiya, but it turned out to be the Hokage.
'This is a change I didn't expect, but well, some things never change. I thought Naruto had given up the Sexy Jutsu, but apparently, he's still honing it.' Kaito thought. After thinking for a while, Kaito agreed with Naruto about how perverted the Hokage was for falling for his jutsu.
"And you, Kaito, what were you doing?" Naruto asked as the two began to walk towards Ichiraku Ramen.
"I'm training with my mother, Naruto. If you have some time, you can join as well," Kaito told some lies to make the training with his mother attractive to Naruto, who, upon hearing this, had a gleam in his eyes.
'Haha, it seems like he's going to fall for it.' Kaito thought as he continued to talk about how he was growing stronger, which got Naruto more excited.
"When I have time, I'll show up. The old man is teaching me every day, and sometimes even into the night, without giving me any chance to relax. If it weren't for the Hokage's duties, I believe I wouldn't even be able to get away from him," Naruto complained.
"That's good, Naruto. Remember that this will make you stronger for the Chunin exams. It's only two weeks away now," Kaito said, reminding Naruto, who agreed. He didn't mind the Hokage teaching him; he just wanted to complain a bit.
Midway, they spotted Sasuke, who, upon seeing the two, started walking towards them.
"Darn, here comes that grumpy Sasuke. Maybe he hasn't accepted his defeat from the last time we fought," Naruto whispered for Kaito to hear.
Kaito wasn't surprised that Naruto had defeated Sasuke. After the training and the fights he had with Naruto, he knew the strength Naruto possessed. Even Sasuke with his activated Sharingan would lose, of course, with the Curse Mark activated, maybe he would have a chance, but that's if Naruto didn't have Kurama's chakra.
'Right, I didn't tell him anything about Kurama's chakra. I was afraid he'd come to rely on it too much after learning. Despite being very strong in the anime alongside Kurama, he needs to be able to be just as strong without relying on it.' Kaito thought. He simply didn't want Naruto to always depend on Kurama.
While Kaito was thinking, Sasuke arrived in front of them.
"I looked for you all over Konoha. Did you research that seal you told me about?" Sasuke asked directly.
"I did, and it's something complex. I can keep it sealed for you, but I won't be able to remove it quickly," Kaito replied slowly.
"I'll need to bring the seal I placed on you and research it more thoroughly, but I can put a restriction on the seal where you can use your power for a few periods of time, but the pain will be great. However, there won't be a risk of losing control as long as you don't exceed the set time," Kaito said as he approached Sasuke with a scroll.
Sasuke reluctantly agreed with Kaito but still stood there waiting for Kaito to finish what he was doing.
Kaito performed some hand seals and then placed a new seal over the Curse Mark, creating a new mark. He then delicately grabbed the old mark he had left and dragged it directly onto the scroll.
The whole process took a few minutes, but there was no pain or discomfort.
"There, you can use the mark to gain power for 5 minutes. Beyond that, the mark will rush through your mind and body, making you weaker and debilitated," Kaito said, then he put the scroll away, and Sasuke placed his hand where the seal was. In his mind, he felt there was some kind of switch where he could turn the mark on and off at any time.
Naruto was looking at Kaito and the seal mark. He had started learning Fuinjutsu, but he hadn't gone beyond the basics, so he didn't understand the seals Kaito had formed.
After that, Sasuke stepped away, and Kaito and Naruto continued with their plans to go to Ichiraku. They didn't take long and arrived, and they sat down to eat.
"Hey boss, the usual," Kaito ordered, smiling.
Ichiraku started preparing the dishes while Naruto and Kaito chatted.
"Did you know there's a pervert spying on women while they're bathing, Kaito?" Naruto said and narrated the scene where he spotted a man climbing the bathhouse wall to peep on the women.
"Really? What did you do?" Kaito asked curiously.
"I used a wind-style jutsu, but the bastard was too fast. The moment he sensed my jutsu, he dodged and even tried to catch me, saying I was ruining his fun. Luckily, the Hokage's clone who was with me talked to him," Naruto said, smiling.
"Haha, too bad the jutsu didn't hit him. It would have been funny if he fell into the bathhouse," Kaito smiled at the thought of Jiraiya getting smacked by the bathhouse women.
At that moment, Teuchi arrived with the ramen bowls and handed them to the two.
"Two girls were here early this morning, they seemed to be looking for both of you," Teuchi said as he handed over the plates.
This surprised Kaito and Naruto.
"That blonde girl and the other short one with short hair, actually, she comes here often, sometimes together, and sometimes alone," Ichiraku continued.
"Hahaha, thanks boss. You see, Naruto, Hinata really likes you. She even comes here looking for you," Kaito said, making Naruto blush a little.
"You bastard, trying to embarrass me. Ino likes you too, why don't you go for her?" Naruto questioned, pointing his finger at him and shouting in his usual Naruto manner.
"It's a different case, Naruto. I'm training to become strong, but when I'm a little older, I'll give her my attention as long as she still likes me," Kaito said calmly, while thinking, 'Of course, I'll give her my attention. My goal will be to restore the Yuki clan, so I'll have many children, unlike that emo Uchiha.' Of course, he would have many children with one person, not a harem.
"Aah, so you also like Ino, hahaha, who would've thought?" Naruto smiled as he reached his conclusion and went back to eating his ramen.
Not far from that spot was a girl with blonde hair walking towards Ichiraku. As she got closer, she overheard Naruto shouting and quickly hid because she wanted to hear the subject of that question without being discovered.
While listening to the conversation, her face became sad, but soon a gleam took over her gaze, and she felt relieved and happy.
"So he likes me. It doesn't matter if we won't be together now. I just need to wait a bit, and I'll be able to be by his side," she thought. Her face blushed, and her heart beat faster. Afraid of being discovered, Ino left the place stealthily and quickly.