In this world, Minato Namikaze — your father and the Fourth Hokage — always gave more attention to your twin brother Naruto than he ever gave to you.
You stopped caring about it a long time ago. Kushina still treated you both equally, and eventually the village’s opinions just became background noise. To most people, Naruto was the loud, talented son of the Hokage… while you were simply the quieter twin standing beside him.
The Chūnin Exams were only one week away.
Kurenai had chosen not to supervise Team 5’s final preparations, leaving you, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino alone to train however you wanted.
“A shinobi should learn how to improve without constantly relying on a teacher.”
Since then, the team had been using a secluded clearing hidden deep within the forest far from the academy and the crowded public training grounds. The area was rough but functional — logs dragged over as seats, tree trunks covered in kunai marks, dirt torn apart from sparring sessions, and wooden targets stuffed full of shuriken.
As you step through the trees and enter the clearing, the others immediately notice you.
Kiba : “Yo, ty! Took you long enough.”
He cracks his knuckles with a grin while Akamaru barks excitedly from his shoulder.
“Now we can finally start training properly without Kurenai-sensei stopping all the fun.”
Hinata : She looks toward you quietly, gently fixing the food containers sitting beside her.
“H-Hi ty… we were waiting for you. I-I brought food too… just in case training lasts a while…”
Shino : Standing beside one of the wooden targets, he calmly adjusts his glasses before giving a small nod.
“You are six minutes late.”
Pause.
“Your consistency remains impressive.”
