Training Ground 3.
The holy land of sweaty push-ups, emotional trauma, and kids getting smacked around by their sensei for growth. Also known as the battlefield where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura once got absolutely humbled by one (1) masked silver-haired man and his two bells.
And today, that man was standing in front of me, holding the same damn bells, like a ghost of shounen past.
"You've got ten minutes," Kakashi said, tossing the bells into the air and catching them with a cha-ching. "Take one, and you win. Fail? And you go home without lunch."
I blinked. "Wait, wait, wait. You're seriously pulling the bell test on me?"
He tilted his head. "You know about it?"
Oh crap. Right. I shouldn't know this.
"I mean… my dad might've mentioned it once?" I said, trying to play it off while internally panicking like a gamer who accidentally clicked "New Game" instead of "Continue."
Kakashi's smile didn't falter. "Interesting. Well, then, you know the rules."
Yup. The rules are: get ready to get wrecked.
I took a deep breath and dropped into a low stance. I didn't have chakra control down yet. No jutsu. No Sharingan. No Summons. Just five-year-old stamina, a stubborn streak, and years of anime plot knowledge rattling in my skull like loose Legos.
Kakashi Hatake, I'm about to pull the biggest anime brain play you've ever seen.
He disappeared.
Instantly.
Like, full-on ninja vanish.
"Oh come ON," I shouted, spinning around.
The dude was chilling on top of a tree branch like a smug forest cryptid, one hand lazily flipping a page in his orange-covered romance novel.
I threw a pebble at him.
It hit nothing.
Log.
"Classic!" I yelled. "You really just substitution jutsu'd me with a freakin' log in 2025!?"
Kakashi's voice floated down from behind me. "I'm nostalgic like that."
I turned around and nearly ate a foot to the face.
Barely ducked.
"Nice reaction," Kakashi said, reappearing mid-air like physics didn't exist. "Your reflexes are sharp."
"Too bad everything else isn't," I muttered, scrambling away.
For the next few minutes, it was basically me getting destroyed: the motion picture. I tried hiding. He found me. I tried faking left. He predicted it. I tried biting his leg once—don't judge me—and he somehow used that to disarm me of my shoe. I still don't know how.
Eventually, I collapsed against a tree, breathing hard.
"So?" Kakashi said, bells jingling in hand. "Giving up?"
I looked up at him, wiped the sweat off my face, and smirked. "Nope."
He blinked. "Still got fight left?"
"Not much," I said. "But enough for a gamble."
I raised a finger.
And pointed.
"Behind you."
He didn't flinch. "Really?"
"No," I said, and threw dirt in his face.
I dove for the bells while he coughed and muttered something about "kids these days", but of course — poof — another damn log.
I faceplanted.
"You're sneaky," Kakashi said, crouching beside me with a smile. "Your dad wasn't nearly this underhanded at your age."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I mumbled into the dirt.
Kakashi sat me up and handed me a water bottle. "You've got guts. And you're smarter than you look."
"Thanks… I think?"
He laughed. "You're not ready to take a bell. Not yet. But you're not hopeless either."
I took the bottle and nodded. "So… you gonna train me for real now?"
Kakashi gave me a look.
One of those half-lazy, half-serious, "you remind me of someone who used to eat ramen in my ear while yelling 'Believe it!'" kind of looks.
"…Alright. I'll teach you. The basics, at least."
My heart did a little victory dance.
"But no shortcuts. You learn the real way."
I nodded. "Deal."
---
Two Hours Later…
I was standing on one leg atop a log, arms outstretched, sweat dripping from every pore, trying to balance a leaf on my forehead while not crying.
"Why is this so hard!?" I groaned.
"Chakra control," Kakashi said from the side, sipping from a juice box like this was preschool. "Your body's still small, so your chakra system isn't fully developed. But you've got a lot of potential."
"Potential doesn't stop gravity, old man."
"Neither does whining."
Fair.
Still, we did basic exercises: chakra sensing, leaf balancing, tree walking — aka Naruto Ninja Bootcamp Level 1. Kakashi even told me a bit about Naruto and Sasuke's early training. Like how Naruto couldn't even make a clone back then. Or how Sasuke accidentally set fire to his own pants learning Fireball Jutsu.
Honestly? Encouraging.
As the sun began to set, Kakashi finally called it a day.
"You did well, Boruto."
"Thanks," I said, wiping my face.
As I started to leave, he added, "You remind me of your dad. But you've also got something he didn't."
I turned. "What's that?"
"Self-awareness."
…Oof. That was both a burn and a compliment.
I grinned. "Guess I'm breaking the mold."
"Maybe you'll even surpass him one day," Kakashi said with a wink. "If you keep throwing dirt in people's faces."
---
As I walked home, I couldn't help but feel… different.
Tired, sore, and sweaty? Sure.
But also… proud.
This world wasn't a show anymore. It was real. And I had a chance to live it right.
To fix what the old Boruto messed up.
To earn the respect he always chased.
And maybe — just maybe — become someone worthy of the name Uzumaki.
---
Was The Chapter Cringe? I'm working really on thin line of being sarcastic and cringe so do let me know....