The morning sunlight spilled through the windows of the Nohara house.
Misae, wearing an apron, was busy in the kitchen. She glanced at the clock on the wall.
6:50.
She set down the spatula, wiped her hands, and headed for the bedroom.
The moment she pushed the door open, she was already mentally prepared.
Sure enough.
There was a little lump under the blanket.
Misae walked over and yanked the blanket off in one motion.
"Wake up!"
Cold air rushed in, and Shin-chan instinctively curled up a little.
"Mmm... five more minutes..."
Misae's voice instantly shot up. "Nohara Shinnosuke!"
"Here..."
"Did you forget you're taking Shiro to school today?"
Shin-chan's eyelids twitched.
"Shiro... school..."
"Exactly." Misae put her hands on her hips. "If you don't get up right now, I'll take Shiro myself and leave you behind."
Shin-chan's eyes flew open, and he sprang upright in one motion.
"No way!"
Five minutes later, Shin-chan had pulled on his red shirt and yellow shorts, though his face still wasn't washed properly and there was a patch of soap behind one ear.
Misae sighed and wiped the soap off with a towel.
"Come on. If you keep dawdling, you really will be late."
At the ninja school, Teacher Ibuki was in the office organizing his lesson plans when he heard a knock.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Misae walked in with Shin-chan. In Shin-chan's arms was a little white dog, looking around curiously.
Teacher Ibuki froze for a second.
"Nohara? And... this is...?"
Misae stepped forward, looking a little embarrassed. "Teacher Ibuki, sorry to bother you. This is our Shiro."
"Shiro?"
"Yes." Misae nodded. "We wanted to ask if it would be possible for him to come to school with Shin-chan..."
Teacher Ibuki's eyebrow twitched, and he cut her off. "Come to school? A dog?"
"He's not an ordinary dog." Shin-chan cut in from the side. "Shiro can use chakra."
Teacher Ibuki went silent. He looked at Shin-chan, then at the little white dog.
The dog looked back at him, head tilted, tongue hanging out.
"Nohara," Teacher Ibuki said carefully, "I know you love your dog, but the school has rules."
"It's true." Shin-chan set Shiro down on the floor. "Shiro, show Teacher."
Shiro crouched on the ground, looked at Teacher Ibuki once, then closed his eyes.
A few seconds later, a faint blue glow appeared around all four of his paws.
The office went silent for three full seconds.
Teacher Ibuki's mouth slowly opened.
"This... this..."
Misae spoke up quietly from the side. "He just learned yesterday."
Teacher Ibuki looked at her with a complicated expression.
Yesterday?
Yesterday Shin-chan had been running around asking everyone how to make a dog refine chakra, and today it had already learned?
This dog had managed in a single day what many human ninja needed a very long time to accomplish.
That was not very ninja-like.
Teacher Ibuki rubbed his temples.
"Nohara, you said his name is Shiro?"
"Yes."
"And... has he always been this smart?"
Shin-chan thought about it. "Shiro's really smart. He understands everything you say to him."
Teacher Ibuki sighed. Looking at the little white dog in front of him, then at the bright sparkle in Shin-chan's eyes, he found himself thinking of the bouquet waiting at home.
"It's not impossible to let him come to school."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up even more.
"But!"
Teacher Ibuki raised one finger.
"First, he must not disturb the other students during class."
Shiro: "Woof."
"Second, he must not run around the classroom."
Shiro: "Woof."
"Third, if he disrupts class discipline, he will no longer be allowed to come to school."
Shiro seemed to think for a moment, then nodded very seriously.
Teacher Ibuki froze.
This dog... could really understand?
The bell rang.
The children of Class A sat in their seats, waiting for Teacher Ibuki to come in.
The door opened, and Teacher Ibuki walked to the front.
"Today, our class is getting another new student."
Whispers immediately broke out below.
"Again?"
"Where are all these new students coming from?"
"I wonder if it's a boy or a girl?"
Teacher Ibuki raised a hand for silence.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Shin-chan walked in, with a little white dog following right behind him.
The dog stepped into the classroom, looked around, then sat down neatly beside Shin-chan and lifted its head to look at Teacher Ibuki on the platform.
The classroom went silent for one second.
Then it exploded.
"A dog?"
"The new student is a dog?"
"Shin-chan brought a dog into class!"
Teacher Ibuki tapped the board.
"Quiet!"
The room slowly calmed down, but everyone was still staring at the little white dog.
"This is your new classmate..." Teacher Ibuki paused and looked at Shin-chan. "What was his name again?"
"Shiro," Shin-chan answered.
"Yes, Shiro." Teacher Ibuki's mouth twitched slightly before he continued, "Starting today, he'll be attending class with all of you."
Obito raised his hand.
"Teacher, how does a dog go to class?"
"Shiro is really smart," Shin-chan answered before Teacher Ibuki could. "And he's already learned how to refine chakra too."
Teacher Ibuki clapped his hands.
"Alright, Shiro, find a place to sit... or, well, squat."
Shin-chan went back to his seat, with Shiro following behind him.
Shiro looked at the seat, then at Shin-chan.
Then, with a light hop, he landed on the floor beside Shin-chan's desk and sat down properly.
He raised his head and looked at the front of the room.
His posture was so proper it looked like he'd been trained for it.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
As soon as class ended, Shin-chan's desk was instantly surrounded.
"Shin-chan, can he really use chakra?"
"Show us!"
"Does he bite?"
Shin-chan patted Shiro's head.
"Shiro, show them."
Shiro stood up, walked to an open space, and a faint blue glow appeared around his paws.
"Whoa!"
"It really is chakra."
"So cool!"
"There's something even cooler." Shin-chan looked a little smug. "Shiro, marshmallow."
"Woof." Shiro let out a bark, then tucked in all four paws and buried his head against his belly, curling up into a round little white fluff ball.
"Waaah!!!"
"He turned into a ball!"
Rin's eyes lit up. "That's way too cute!"
A few girls crouched down and poked the fluffy ball with their fingers.
It was soft, warm, and gently wobbly.
Shiro uncurlled, shook out his fur, and looked at them.
"Do another one!" someone shouted.
Shin-chan thought about it. "Shiro, scratch yourself."
Shiro barked once, stood up on his hind legs like a person, and started scratching himself with his front paws, though the place he was scratching was...
Obito, standing off to the side, stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out.
Uchiha Toru stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the little white dog.
Then he turned and looked into the distance.
Kakashi was leaning against the window too, also watching this side.
Their eyes met.
Then Uchiha Toru looked in another direction.
Bo-chan was sitting in the back row with his head lowered, as if he were reading.
But from the edge of the page, his gaze was fixed on that red figure surrounded by everyone.
~~~
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