The following morning was to be Reito’s first day at the academy. He was nervous about going back there, not to mention a little embarrassed by the prospect of having to, but more than that, he was eager.

With only two weeks left of the academic year, the final-year students who would be Reito’s peers were preparing for graduation. That meant he had a lot of hard work ahead of him in order to regain his Genin status. Not only did he have to pass the graduation test, but he also had the secret final exam ahead of him.

As per academy tradition, the Hokage had ordered him not to share that surprise with other students. At first, he thought that knowing it was coming would be an advantage, but on reflection, it wasn’t going to matter all that much. The exam would be devised and judged solely by the Jonin instructor who delivered it, and he would have two new and unknown teammates hampering him. It was what he didn’t have—Kazuki and Yuji—that would be the real problem. For now, he needed to focus on graduating.

After changing into some ill-fitting clothes that he had taken from the orphanage donation bin—a black cardigan over a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts—Reito left the building. It was a melancholy moment, leaving for school like he used to but without his father waking him, his mother packing his lunch, or Reika walking by his side, and there would be no friends to greet him at the other end of the journey. He really was alone in the world now.

“Morning!” called Sakura from his rear.

Reito’s eyebrows shot up as she approached. “What are you doing here?” he asked more aggressively than he had intended. “I thought we weren’t checking in until the end of the week.”

“I’m on my way to the academy myself,” she answered, ignoring the boy’s tone. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“No,” he said, privately grateful for the company but dubious of her words. Was this another pity gesture? “Why are you going to the academy?”

“I’m teaching today.”

“Teaching? I thought you were a Medical Ninja?”

“That’s right. Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know, sorry,” Sakura said upon seeing the boy’s confused expression. “Medical Ninjutsu is part of the academy curriculum now, thanks to Lady Tsunade. I occasionally teach the classes.”

Reito stopped in his tracks. Medical Ninjutsu? A subject he knew absolutely nothing about was being taught at the academy now? Was this a joke?

“Don’t worry,” Sakura assured the boy. “It’s not something anyone can do, so only those who demonstrate an aptitude for Chakra control continue their studies in the final year. You’ll need to learn basic first aid, though.”

Reito resumed walking, realizing how quickly he had started to panic. For a moment there, he thought his ‘recertification’ had come to an end before it had even begun. “It doesn’t sound like I would have made the cut. I’ve never been good at controlling my Chakra,” he admitted.

“You should come to today’s class, though,” said Sakura, “just to get an idea of what we do, and how important it is. In the exams, you may need to factor in the difference having a medic on the team can make to a mission, but you’ll do fine at that once you’ve done some reading. I’ll give you some materials to catch up on.”

“Thanks,” said Reito, but he couldn’t help asking then, “This isn’t…some kind of trick of the Hokage’s is it, to set me up to fail? I don’t want to waste my time if there’s no way she’s going to let me graduate—”

“There’s no trick, Reito,” Sakura interrupted. “The change in the curriculum was one of the reasons Lady Tsunade thought you would benefit from going back to the academy, but she’s not using it as a way to keep you down.”

“Are you sure?”

“Frankly,” Sakura started, perhaps knowing that Reito was, in her own words, ‘a sharp one’, “it’s been suggested by others for reasons I’m sure you understand, but trust me, it’s not Lady Tsunade’s style. If she didn’t want you to be a ninja, she would just come out and say it. Between you and me, she’s a bit of a gambler, and she likes to bet on an underdog. She’s giving you a chance to prove yourself.”

Reito felt a wave of relief come over him. If Sakura’s words were to be trusted, he still had a chance. Now, he had to make the most of it. Changing the subject, he asked, “Do you know who my teacher will be?”

“Iruka Sensei still teaches the final year,” she said with a smile.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about this. He liked the man, and the familiarity might make things easier, but Iruka Sensei was also the teacher who had nearly failed him. Thinking about the man who had made the case for his graduation, Reito pressed, “What about Mizuki Sensei, is he still around?”

“Mizuki?” Sakura repeated with a look of perplexion. “He hasn’t taught since… Hmm. I’m not sure what the procedure is for this. Well, it’s been a while, so I guess it can’t hurt to tell you, even if you’re not technically a Genin right now.”

Reito narrowed his eyes with interest but waited for the girl to elaborate rather than press her. Had the other teacher passed away during the war or the attack that claimed his family’s lives?

“Mizuki is in prison. He turned traitor while we were at school.”

Reito’s jaw dropped. Mizuki Sensei, his favorite teacher, the mild-mannered man who had helped him become a Genin, was a traitor?

“If I remember correctly, it was during our graduation week. After Naruto failed the exam, Mizuki tricked him into stealing the Scroll of Sealing from the Third Hokage’s offices and then tried to take it from him. Unfortunately for Mizuki, Naruto read the scroll and used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to beat him up good!”

Sakura pounded her fist into her palm at those last words, looking rather satisfied at the thought of their former teacher being defeated by Naruto of all people.

Naruto again? Reito thought to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. The only person ranked lower than him back then, the boy who couldn’t even make a standard clone, had mastered a high-level Jutsu and used it to overpower a teacher and Chunin-level ninja?

He had a sudden longing to recount his findings to Kazuki and Yuji, and reveal the mystery behind Naruto’s graduation, a secret that had alluded the three of them for…five years now. “And then he went on to save the village,” he mumbled, then turned to Sakura. “Are you certain this isn’t all one big Genjutsu?”

***

Sakura escorted Reito as far as the Ninja Academy administration office, where he was given his classroom assignment by a middle-aged woman with spectacles. When she also handed him a map of the school, he had to bite his tongue to refrain from making a sarcastic comment. He knew his way around for goodness’ sake, he went to this school for years!

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It was as the first bell rang that Reito wanted to kick himself for his foolishness. Despite using a very similar layout, the new school building wasn’t identical to its predecessor, as evidenced by the fact that the classroom door he opened was an office. Reito hurriedly bowed in apology to its occupants and closed the door.

He unfurled the map he had screwed up in his palm and consulted its key, thankful that he hadn’t found a bin to dispose of it yet. He was on the wrong side of the building. Anger welled up inside him as he realized that meant he was going to be late now. Blending in with the crowd was no longer an option, everyone was going to see him arrive.

After catching his breath and sliding open the door to classroom 1-E, Reito mumbled, “Sorry I’m late.” He briefly eyed the tiered seating, looking for an empty seat that he could slip into without calling too much attention to himself, but there only seemed to be one free in the middle of the room. People were going to have to move.

His apology was followed by an uncomfortably long pause, wherein Reito could feel all the eyes of the room on him. Iruka Sensei’s were wide with apparent shock, which he could understand. After his talk with Sakura the day before, not to mention the encounter with Ino, he figured his appearance would garner a mix of reactions from those who remembered him. It had to be disconcerting to see that he hadn’t aged, or that he was alive at all.

A second later, the teacher’s face relaxed and he ushered the boy in with an extended arm, “Ah, Reito, there you are, come on in. I was just explaining to everyone that we had a new student joining us today. Class, this is Reito Tsu. Please make him feel welcome. Haru, move along, please.”

A boy with short strawberry-blonde hair obligingly shuffled across to the space Reito had spotted earlier, and he made his way to the now-vacant seat. The eyes of his new classmates followed him, piercing him from every angle. Some of them looked friendly enough but most eyed him with curiosity if not suspicion, and then there was the boy in the yellow tracksuit with the flaming red pompadour….

Had Iruka Sensei not been the only person behind him, Reito might have spun around to check who the boy was glaring at with such open hostility. Unlike at the orphanage, it seemed as though some of these kids had been made aware of his presence by their parents. There was surely no other explanation for the stranger’s fixed squint, furrowed brows, and pursed lips.

Reito sighed as he took his seat, trying to ignore the boy in his peripheral vision by focusing his attention on Iruka Sensei.

“Okay, this morning we will be reviewing the Clone Jutsu,” the man announced. “We’ll discuss its practical applications, when and where it’s best employed, and of course, how to perform it. I’ll be testing you all tomorrow, so I want you to give it your best effort, especially those of you with the free period this afternoon. Now, who can tell me the fundamentals of the technique?”

It was…surreal for Reito, being back at the academy, watching Iruka Sensei writing on the blackboard like his last few months of memories had never occurred. It was as if he had time-traveled. Then again, in some respects, hadn’t he done exactly that?

As the morning dragged on, Reito was bombarded with flashbacks. Blocking them out took all his concentration, so he didn’t participate in the class. He just wanted to get out of there and get some air, so when the lunch bell rang, he was the first out the door. Without thinking about it, his legs took him to the big maple tree that he, Kazuki, and Yuji often gathered beneath.

With a sigh, Reito perched on the makeshift bench the tree’s roots provided, placing a hand on his beating chest. He wasn’t sure his newfound determination was going to be enough to get him through this. Was he even doing the right thing, pursuing the path of a ninja? It didn’t feel right without his friends. It felt like…a betrayal, just being here. Why him? Why had he survived?

“Hey, new kid,” a voice called, interrupting his thoughts. The boy with the red pompadour was approaching him with two others. “What’s up? I wanted to introduce myself.”

Reito felt his guard go up. This was the boy who was staring him down a couple of hours ago. He very much doubted this was a genuine interaction.

“Akio Hino, of the Hino Clan,” the boy said, extending a hand.

Ignoring the infuriating clan name drop, Reito returned the handshake, bracing himself for a trick. Maybe the boy was going to squeeze his hand or put him in an arm lock. Nothing happened when their hands met, though. “Reito Tsu,” he said. That was when he felt it. A searing pain in his palm. When he tried to yank his arm free, the boy’s grip tightened.

Reito dropped to his knees, crying out. Had it not been for the pain, he might have recalled his Taijutsu training and twisted himself free or kicked the boy away. Instead, with a wave of rage coming over him, he pushed out uselessly with his trapped hand. As it turned out, this wasn’t such a useless gesture.

Akio Hino relinquished his grip and stumbled backward a few steps before falling onto his behind. “What the…?” he said as his two friends helped him to his feet. His scowl from that morning had returned. “What did you…?”

“What’s your problem?” Reito snapped, nursing his hand, which was now red raw and blistered. He’d been burned, but Akio didn’t show any signs of damage. He didn’t know what sort of Jutsu the boy had used, but he needed to get cold water on his hand right away, so he made for the building.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going, killer?” asked Akio accusatorily. “I’m not done with you yet!”

Reito stopped dead in spite of the agonizing pain in his hand, the chill that passed through him overriding his senses. “Killer?” he repeated, his eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Akio spat. “We know all about the Town Hall meeting. Everyone knows you killed your teacher and your teammates! Why don’t you just admit it and give their families some peace?”

The boy’s words cut him like a knife. Was that what the villagers thought? They thought he murdered his closest friends, murdered Amaya Sensei? How could anyone be so hateful, so absurdly stupid as to suggest such a thing? Positively incensed, Reito turned, and stalked toward the idiotic boy, raring to fight, burned hand and all.

“Reito?” a voice called out behind him as Akio and his friends raised their fists in response. “Iruka Sensei wants to see you in the office.”

Suddenly aware of himself, Reito turned to see Haru, the orange-haired boy he had been sitting next to in class. After giving his accuser a final look of disdain, he walked away in silence.

“Yeah, that’s right, walk away, freak!” Akio called after him.

Reito had never been so angry. His cheeks felt as red hot as his injured hand. “What does Iruka Sensei want?” he huffed.

“Oh, nothing,” the boy replied, much to his confusion. “I just thought I should say something to stop you guys. You don’t want to get in trouble for fighting on your first day.”

Reito blinked in confusion.

Haru was smiling deviously. He was a skinny guy, wearing a rather shabby-looking green sweater. “I’d have warned you about Akio, but you left the classroom so quickly, and I wasn’t sure where you went,” he said. “He likes to show off his Bloodline Limit.”

“His…what?”

“Akio’s from the Hino Clan,” Haru explained. “They run Konoha’s volunteer fire brigade because of their inherited ability. Their bodies are fireproof.”

“That’s crazy!” Reito exclaimed. “I mean, I’ve heard of them, but I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, and Akio knows a Jutsu that lets him raise his body temperature. Because of his Bloodline Limit, it doesn’t affect him, but anyone who touches him gets burned. He’s always looking for an excuse to use it on someone, so you’ll probably want to steer clear of him. He’s annoyingly strong and a bit of a bully.”

Reito shook his head at the thought of another clan kid lording their abilities over everybody else. “Well, thanks for intervening. I’m not sure what I was about to do, but it sounds like I would have got my butt kicked.”

Haru chuckled. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “What was that Jutsu you used?”

“What Jutsu?” Reito asked with a quizzical expression.

“The one that got him off you.”

“Huh? That wasn’t a Jutsu. I just pushed him, and he tripped.”

Haru seemed dubious of this answer for some reason but didn’t press the issue. “Here’s the bathroom,” he pointed out. “Let’s get your hand cooled off a bit, and I’ll try healing it.”

“Healing it? You can do that?”

Haru shrugged, “Kinda. I’m in the Medical Ninjutsu class, but I’m not very good at using the Mystical Palm. I can probably help a little, but if you come along to this afternoon’s lesson, I’m sure Sakura Sensei or one of the better students will be able to heal it properly.”

After running his hand under cold water for a few minutes, Reito rested his arm on the windowsill and let Haru try out his medical technique.

Beads of sweat dripped down the boy’s forehead as he screwed up his brown eyes in concentration, willing his Jutsu to work. A faint green glow emanated from his hand, which he held over Reito’s. It flickered now and then like a candle in the wind. “See, I told you I’m not very good,” Haru said.

“Don’t sell yourself short, it’s helping already,” Reito said truthfully.

“It’s about the only useful Jutsu I can do.”

“That’s still one better than me,” Reito joked. “I can barely pull off the basics. It was by luck that I graduated the first time around.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Haru laughed.

“No, really!” Reito insisted. “Iruka Sensei would have failed me had it not been for Mizuki Sensei’s intervention!”

“Who’s Mizuki Sensei?”

Thinking back to his conversation with Sakura on the way to school, Reito said, “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”