16 Fast-forward 2

It was the start of Shigeo's final year at the academy, he was wearing the same outfit he wore from when he went to the Yamanaka Flower shop.

"Oi, Shigi. Over here!" Shigeo heard as he entered the classroom.

He looked over and found Choji and Naruto waving at him. He only sighed as he looked around to see that t was them that were the loudest. Everyone else were relatively quiet and murmured to themselves.

"Hmm, you guys are so loud and its still so early in the morning" Shigeo said as he walked towards them.

"Tell me about it" Shikamaru grumbled as he had his head down to the desk.

"And what's this? You are actually early for once Naruto?" Shigeo said as he faked his surprised expression.

"Of course! This is the year that I will finally pass and become a ninja, it's one step closer to becoming the Hokage!" Naruto yelled causing the other students to berate him.

"Hey imbecile! Be quiet!"

"Shut Up!!

"Eh, hehehe, sorry!" Naruto said embarrassed.

"You are hopeless" Shigeo said as he sat beside Shikamaru who looked towards him.

"What?" Shigeo asked.

"So what's it going to be this year? You going to showoff or are you going to give Sasuke the rookie of the year title like last year?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hmmm, I guess I'll be laid back this year as well. Just do enough to be in the top 3 but make sure not to be number 1" Shigeo said as he also closed his eyes.

"That sounds about right" Shikamaru nodded, he had expected this from Shigeo. After he got lazy and started not to try as hard, making Sasuke overtake him as number one, his number of fangirls decreased.

The other boys would probably mad if that happened to them but to Shigeo, it was heaven. From then on he started to just show above average results. But Shikamaru knew if they paid attention there would be a pattern. Shigeo always won taijutsu spars but when shuriken or kunai throwing, he would get 7/8 on Mondays, 6/8 on Tuesdays, and 5/8 on Fridays.

At first Shikamaru thought it was just a coincidence but after it happened everyday for a month he was sure Shigeo did it purposely. It just goes to show how skilled he was, though the teachers and other students probably not have noticed due to always focusing on the ones with the perfect scores.

---

"Alright for the end of the day, we will do our weekly taijutsu spar" Iruka said.

"The first one up is... Shigeo Murakami vs Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka said as he called out the names.

"Heh! Make sure you don't get beaten up fast Naruto" Kiba said with a grin.

"How unlucky for you Naruto, Shigeo always wins" Choji said as he nodded while Shikamaru didn't care.

"You guys! You'll see this is the day I beat Shigi!" Naruto said before he went to face Shigeo.

Looking at Naruto who arrived in front of him Shigeo only gave him as smile as he asked "So Naruto, ready to lose? Though I won't beat you too fast so as to see your progress"

"GRRR, yeah yeah Keep talking Shigi. Just watch, when I beat you just don't cry okay?!" Naruto said

"Sure thing" Shigeo said as he laughed lightly.

"Alright are you two ready?" Iruka said as both boys nodded. "Alright then do the seal the confrontation... and begin!"

Just as Iruka said that, Naruto went dashing forward. Blindly throwing out punches and kicks while Shigeo only shook his head as he dodged every one with minimal efforts, not even using his observation haki.

"Don't just always keep rushing forward Naruto" Shigeo said as he caught Naruto's punch and sent a kick toward the blonde's stomach making him fly a little bit before he stabilized.

"When you are against an opponent that you know is faster and stronger than you, use your head a little, think about possible weaknesses to be exploited and come up with tactics" Shigeo explained as Naruto got up. Iruka who listened to what Shigeo said nodded lightly, showing his approval to what was said.

"I don't need all that, I just need to beat my opponent up!" Naruto said as he once again dashed to Shigeo only earning a deadpanned look from his opponent and sensei.

"I think you should just finish this Shigeo-kun" Iruka said as he sighed as Shigeo nodded.

Shigeo dashed forward, adding chakra to his soles on his feet to make him faster. Appearing in front of Naruto he tripped him before he flipped the blonde and pinned him on the ground by locking his arm to his back.

"Ow, Ow Ow!, that hurts!" Naruto said.

"Winner, Shigeo Murakami!" Iruka said as Shigeo let Naruto go before they did the seal of reconciliation.

"You really aren't improving Naruto" Shigeo said as the blonde snorted.

---

The year went by fast and just as planned Shigeo was in either 2nd or 3rd place most of the time. Though he would always win in spars, no matter who it was with even Sasuke Uchiha.

Now the class was outside as they discussed about nature transformations and manipulations.

"Alright, does anyone here know how to do an elemental jutsu?" Iruka asked as he looked at his students. For a while no one came forward, after all, an learning an elemental jutsu should only be when one is a genin or above.

Besides, almost half of the students were from civilian clans and only got in to the class due to being considered as talented. Even those clan kids hadn't really learned elemental ninjutsu.

After a long wait someone finally came forward. As expected it was Sasuke Uchiha, after all the Uchiha clan was a clan that mainly used ninjutsu. Shigeo learned an Uchiha cannot wear their crest if they are unable to perform their clan's signature technique, the fireball jutsu.

"Sasuke-kun, you want to perform one to show an example for the other students?" Iruka asked to which the boy just 'Hn'd'.

After doing some hand seals, the raven haired boy took a deep breath before he spew out a large fireball twice his size.

"Good! That was perfect Sasuke" Iruka said. "Now class, that was the elemental jutsu called the Fireball jutsu. It is a perfect example of our topic, Nature Transformation. You may go back now Sasuke-kun"

The raven haired boy just nodded but not before he sent a smirk towards Shigeo, who looked back at him.

"Tch, what a showoff" Naruto said

"He probably thinks you don't know any jutsu's due to your civilian background" Shikamaru said as he looked at the retreating figure of Sasuke.

During the past few years, Sasuke had become competitive with Shigeo. The raven haired boy had also known that Shigeo was never serious when sparring. But even if Shigeo wasn't serious, he still managed to beat Sasuke every time, which of course infuriated the Uchiha.

The look he sent him was that which said 'So what if you are good at taijutsu? I still have ninjutsu'. Of course Shigeo ignored Sasuke's attempt of a taunt.

--

a/n:

Appreciate all of you helping point out mistakes or correcting me. Please continue to do so since my knowledge of Naruto is pretty rusty.