The next morning, I woke up before the sun like always.
«Your chakra levels are stable. Pathway expansion continuing at projected rates. Current capacity: approximately 52% above high-Chūnin baseline.»
Cool. Anything else?
«Today you will attempt to befriend the village pariah. I have prepared several conversation starters.»
You prepared conversation starters?
«I am a skill. I prepare everything. Would you like to hear them?»
Not really.
«I will share them anyway. Option one: 'Hey, your jumpsuit is very orange. Do you have trouble hiding from enemies?'»
That's terrible.
«Option two: 'I heard you have a demon inside you. What does it feel like?'»
JARVIS, what the hell?
«Option three:...»
Stop. Just… stop. I'm gonna walk up to him and say hi like a normal person.
«Your definition of 'normal' is concerning.»
I got dressed, ate breakfast with the other kids, and headed out. The Academy was a fifteen-minute walk. I used it to clear my head.
---
The classroom was already filling up when I got there.
I spotted him right away. Blonde hair, orange jumpsuit, sitting in the middle row by himself. He was bouncing his leg, looking around at everyone else like he was waiting for someone to tell him to move.
I walked straight to the seat next to him and dropped my bag.
He looked at me. Blinked. "Uh. You sittin' there?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." He looked around again, like he was checking if this was some kind of prank. "Okay."
I sat down. "I'm Ryū."
"Naruto." He said it fast, like he was used to people walking away before he could finish. "Uzumaki Naruto."
"I know. You yelled it loud enough yesterday."
His face went red. "I was excited, okay! I'm gonna be Hokage someday, so I gotta get people used to hearing my name!"
"Fair enough."
He stared at me for a second. "I saw you at the admission exam, you did the leaf exercise and came 2nd right?"
"Yeah."
"That was awesome! How'd you do that?"
I shrugged. "Practice."
"Can you teach me?"
"Maybe. If you don't fall asleep in class."
"I don't fall asleep!"
"You were drooling yesterday."
"I was not!"
"You were."
He opened his mouth to argue, but the door slid open and a kid with dark hair walked in.
Sasuke Uchiha...
He walked to the front row like he owned the place. A couple of girls whispered. Naruto made a face.
"He thinks he's so cool with his fancy clan and his hair..."
I glanced at Naruto. He didn't know. About the massacre. It hadn't happened yet. Still a year out.
«Timeline: Uchiha massacre is projected to occur in approximately twelve - fourteen months.»
Yeah. I know.
I filed that away for later.
---
Iruka walked in a few minutes later. Scar across his nose, hair in a ponytail, looking like he already needed coffee.
"Alright, settle down. I'm Umino Iruka. I'll be your homeroom instructor." He pointed to the silver-haired guy leaning against the window. "This is Mizuki. He'll be assisting."
Mizuki waved.
"Now," Iruka said, "let's go over the rules..."
The rules were boring. Don't be late, don't skip class, respect your instructors. Standard stuff.
Then came introductions.
Ino stood up first, flipping her hair. "Yamanaka Ino! I'm gonna be the best kunoichi in the Leaf, and I'm gonna catch a certain someone's heart!" She looked at Sasuke. He didn't look back.
Shikamaru went next. "Nara Shikamaru. Don't really got a goal. Seems like a drag." Iruka's eye twitched.
Choji was eating chips when he stood up. "Akimichi Choji. I like food." He sat back down.
Kiba stood up with Akamaru poking out of his jacket. "Inuzuka Kiba! I'm gonna be Hokage!"
Naruto shot up. "Hey! That's my thing!"
"You can't call dibs on Hokage, loser!"
"Can too!"
"Sit down, both of you!" Iruka snapped.
Hinata stood up so quiet I almost missed her. "H-Hyuuga Hinata. I want to… get stronger." She sat down fast, face red.
Shino stood up. "Aburame Shino. I will become a shinobi worthy of my clan." He sat down. No one said anything for a second.
Then it was Naruto's turn.
He jumped up like he'd been waiting his whole life. "Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be Hokage! Believe it! The best Hokage ever, and everyone's gonna have to respect me!"
A couple kids laughed. Iruka's face did something complicated.
"Sit down, Naruto."
"But I'm not done..."
"Sit."
Naruto sat, muttering to himself.
I stood up next. "Ryū. No clan. I wanna get strong enough to protect people I care about."
Short. Sat back down.
Naruto leaned over. "That's it?"
"That's it."
"You should've said something cooler. Like 'I'm gonna master every jutsu!' or 'I'm gonna surpass the Hokage!'"
"Figured you had the loud stuff covered."
He grinned. "Yeah, I guess I do."
---
The rest of the morning was chakra theory.
Iruka drew diagrams on the board. Chakra pathways, tenketsu points, the balance between physical and spiritual energy. Basic stuff I'd known for years.
But I pretended to take notes anyway, scribbling nonsense in a notebook while keeping an eye on Naruto.
He was fighting to stay awake. Chin dropping. Eyes glazing over.
I kicked his chair.
He jerked up. "I'm awake!"
"Are you sure." I remembered Omni man when I said that.
"I was totally listening!"
"What's a tenketsu?"
He opened his mouth. Closed it. "It's… a chakra thing?"
"Pay attention, idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!"
"what's 9 + 10?"
"21"
"you Stupid."
Iruka's voice cut through. "Naruto. Ryū. Problem?"
"No, sensei," we said together.
Iruka gave us a look, then went back to the board.
Naruto leaned over again. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"Wakin' me up. I was definitely fallin' asleep."
"I know. You were snoring."
"I don't snore!"
"You do."
"I do not!"
I grinned. He glared at me. Then he grinned back.
---
Lunch came.
Kids pulled out lunchboxes, formed groups, spread out across the classroom and courtyard. Naruto stayed at his desk, watching everyone.
No lunchbox. No food.
I waited until most people cleared out, then walked over and sat across from him.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"Eating."
"Why here?"
I pulled out my lunchbox. Nonō had packed it, rice balls, pickled plum, some fish. I took out four rice balls, pushed two toward him.
He stared at them. "What's that for?"
"Lunch. You don't got any."
"I was gonna get something later..."
"It's two rice balls, Naruto. Just eat 'em."
He looked at me. Looked at the rice balls. Grabbed one and shoved the whole thing in his mouth.
"Mmfs mmph," he said.
"You're welcome."
He chewed, swallowed. "These are good. Your mom make 'em?"
"She's dead..."
He stopped chewing. "Oh. Uh. Sorry."
"It's fine. Lady who runs the orphanage made 'em."
"Orphanage?" He tilted his head. "You don't got parents neither?"
"Nope."
He processed that for a second. Then nodded slowly. "Me neither."
"I know."
"How come you know everything?"
"I don't. I just pay attention."
"Huh." He grabbed the second rice ball. "Hey, Ryū?"
"Yeah?"
"You really wanna protect people?"
"That's what I said."
He nodded, mouth full. "Me too. That's why I'm gonna be Hokage. The Hokage protects everyone. The whole village."
"That's a good goal."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. It's a good goal."
He beamed. Like I'd just said something way bigger than I actually said.
«Social credit increased.»
JARVIS.
«What? It's true.»
---
The rest of the week went by fast.
Same routine. Walk to the Academy. Sit next to Naruto. Pretend to take notes. Listen to Iruka explain the same stuff over and over.
By day three, I was dying.
«Your boredom is becoming visible.»
I can't help it. This is the third time he's explained what chakra is.
«Perhaps you could ask a question. Appear engaged.»
That's just gonna make me look like a teacher's pet.
«It will make you look like a dedicated student. There is a difference.»
I raised my hand. Iruka paused. "Yes, Ryū?"
"Can emotions affect chakra flow? Like, does being angry change how it moves?"
Iruka blinked. "That's… actually a good question. Yes, emotions can influence chakra. Experienced shinobi learn to control their emotional state to maintain consistent output. It's something you'll practice in later years."
Naruto looked at me. "How'd you know to ask that?"
"I read a book."
"You read books?"
"Yeah, Naruto. Most people do."
"Huh." He scratched his head. "You think you could teach me? The reading thing?"
I stared at him. "You can't read?"
He shrugged. "Never learned."
Right. Neglect. No one taught him.
"Yeah, I can teach you."
"Really?" His face lit up.
"It's not that hard."
"You're awesome, Ryū!"
"Don't get weird about it."
"I'm not gettin' weird!"
---
By day five, I'd stopped pretending to pay attention.
Iruka was talking about the Will of Fire. The duty of every Leaf shinobi. Protecting the village. Sacrifice. All that.
I stared out the window, watching clouds.
«You are not listening.»
I've heard it before. It's propaganda.
«It is effective propaganda.»
Yeah, well. I'm not dying for a village that leaves kids to starve.
«Noted. I will add 'reluctance to die for nationalist ideology' to your psychological profile.»
You have a psychological profile on me?
«I have twenty-three. Would you like to see them?»
Hell nah.
I glanced at Naruto. He was actually paying attention for once, eyes fixed on Iruka. Eating it up. The idea that the village was a family.
He believed it.
«You are projecting again.»
Maybe. I'm not wrong though.
---
On day seven, Iruka stood at the front of the class with a clipboard.
"Today we're doing sparring matches. Basic taijutsu. Nothing serious, just want to see where everyone's at."
The class buzzed. Kids whispering, elbowing each other.
Iruka started calling names. "Ino vs. Sakura. Shikamaru vs. Choji. Kiba vs. Naruto."
Naruto shot up. "I'm gonna crush you, Kiba!"
"In your dreams, loser!"
"Settle down," Iruka said. He looked at his list. "And… Ryū vs. Sasuke."
Sasuke looked up for the first time all week. Dark eyes, blank face. He was watching me now.
Naruto grabbed my arm. "Dude. You got Sasuke."
"I noticed."
"He's supposed to be really good."
"I'll be fine."
"really?"
I stood up, stretched. "Naruto. I been training since I was a baby."
He blinked. "Wait, What?"
"Maybe. Let's find out."
I walked to the front of the class. Sasuke was already there, waiting.
Iruka raised his hand. "Ready?"
I nodded. Sasuke didn't say anything.
"Begin."
---
END CHAPTER 6