On the last bench of the classroom, gentle rays of sunlight bathed Takuma in its soft warmth.

He had half his tongue sticking out and up of his lips as he scribbled down with a heavy hand on the white page, haphazardly scratching it with the black of the graphite pencil in his grip to form words worse than chicken scratches.

Snap! The exposed nip of the pencil snapped halfway through the page.

"Fuck!"

Kibe turned away from the blackboard and faced the class. He snapped, "Who was that?! Come out on your own!"

Takuma paid no attention to Kibe and glared at the broken tip of his pencil that had left an unwanted mark on the page. No one was going to snitch in the classroom of wannabe shinobis. No one liked a rat, not even potential future spies.

As he reached into one of his storage pouches to take out a kunai to use the blade to carve a new tip on his pencil, Takuma saw a dainty hand push a sky-blue pencil sharpener toward him. He looked up and saw Izumi smiling at him as she motioned toward the pencil sharpener with her big eyes.

Takuma left the kunai in his pouch even though it would've been easier to use the blade and instead used the smaller, thinner blade made from cheap steel attached to the sharpener— he wasn't one to disregard someone's kind help.

"Thank you," Takuma said as he returned the sharpener.

He was about to continue his note-taking from the tactics textbook when Izumi spoke: "So, what happened to you? Kibe-sensei told us you were sick."

Takuma arced his brow at the question. It had been a week since he had returned to the academy, and no one except Kibe had asked him about his health. To be more accurate, he hadn't said a single word in conversation to anyone in the academy since he returned.

He had been out two weeks— the week he was in the coma and the second week of rest prescribed by the doctor. Takuma had wanted to return to the academy during the second week, but Kibe had sent a letter through a carrier bird telling him to rest.

"Chickenpox. Had to stay home to not spread it everywhere," Takuma said. Telling the truth would've been bothersome to explain, and he had a negative desire to share how he had a mental breakdown that put him out of commission for a week.

"What's that like?" Izumi asked curiously. "I never had it."

"Then it's good that I wasn't here. It's highly contagious, with a ninety-percent chance that the people near the infected person will get it. Though if you get it once, you usually don't get it a second time. It wasn't bad— I just had to stay trapped at home and not scratch the itchy parts," said Takuma.

He didn't know if the boy had had chickenpox before, but he had it once in his previous life. It made him wonder if hospitals kept medical records for the children born there.

"Why are you here, though? You sit near the front, don't you?" Takuma asked Izumi.

After five months of attending the academy six times a week, he had a pretty good grasp of his classmates. Uchiha Izumi was a popular girl, well-liked by almost everyone in the class. She got along with the boys because of her boyish aspects, and she seemed genuinely interested in their conversations and activities— it helped that she was pretty. Despite that, Izumi was dominantly feminine in her personality and held similar interests to any other girl her age; her core friend group was all girls. She had a friendly nature and seemed fun to hang around with— and she could wipe the floor with anyone in the class and was in upper rankings in every subject, gaining everyone's respect.

'Your typical star-achiever... literally the complete opposite of me,' Takuma noticed as he thought about it.

"Sitting in the front gets tiring sometimes, you know. Kibe-sensei always asks questions to those who sit in the front," Izumi said with a whine. "I sit in the back and middle, near the sides, when I don't want to pay attention or feel sleepy. I will tell you a secret, the third seat near the window always has a nice breeze, perfect for a nap.

I was thinking of a nap before the spars. Are you going to fight today?" she asked.

He nodded. He hadn't participated in the spars in the week he had been back. Kibe had decided that he should rest more before returning to spars. But Takuma was sure Kibe just didn't see the point in making him spar and had used his recent hospitalization to not let him fight.

"Any plans to win anytime soon," she asked with a grin.

"Against you? No," Takuma said, scoffing good heartedly. "But I do think my first win is just around the corner. Who knows, if the odds are in my favor, I might grab victory today."

"Oh ho, confident, aren't you," she gave an approving nod. "Good for you."

He indeed felt confident. After five months of training under Maruboshi, he felt he could win if he gave it all and was careful enough not to let any carelessness creep into his actions. He had also unlocked his chakra, and while he couldn't use it for zilch, it still instilled in him a sense of self-confidence.

He was brought out from his musings by Kibe, asking everyone to listen to him.

"There's an announcement you all will be very interested in, so listen well." Kibe waited until everyone was paying attention before saying, "Two months from now, all of you will be giving the first attempt of your graduation test..."

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The amount of noise the class made would have easily been registered and charged as noise pollution.

Takuma exhaled a cold one, and even Izumi beside him had a healthy amount of nervousness reflecting in her onyx eyes.

"... I know it's only the first of three attempts, but do not be lax and think you can perform poorly in this attempt. You will regret it if you let even a single chance escape. These tests are very important for your promotion to genins. And you will keep hearing this for two months until the test, so buckle down and get ready— this is the most important time of your lives," Kibe announced to the class.

Graduation test, Takuma licked his lips. He didn't know what all would be tested in the graduation test, but he knew that the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) was asked in the manga, and he who couldn't use chakra at all had a way to go before he could execute even the most basic of jutsu.

'I... I can learn it in two months,' Takuma told himself— he just needed to work harder.

The sun had climbed to its apex in the sky and rained down its fury on the mortal plane. And thus, the day arrived at Kibe's chosen time to conduct the sparring sessions for his class. The academy instructor believed that sparring in the height of heat helped build endurance and allowed the students to experience one of many harsh conditions they would face in the field.

Takuma absolutely hated it. He had originally lived in a country with a disgusting amount of hotness in the summers, but he seldom had to experience the inferno-like outsides because air-conditioners existed, and like any sane person, he stayed inside if he could. Sparring right after lunch, when the temperatures were at their daily peaks, was nothing else but sadistic.

The Leaf village's geographical location did the residents no favor. The peak temperatures in summer ranked high on the heat scale. The only place possibly with worse summers was the desert around the Village Hidden in the Sands.

"Takuma, you're fighting today, next up," said Kibe, who stood near Takuma as a spar happened inside the circle.

Takuma groaned. He had been enthusiastic about sparring before, but sitting under the sun without shade did wonders for melting any sort of motivation. He looked around, scouting who could be his opponent. There was only one spar per person, so those who had fought could be eliminated.

'I won't be fighting Izumi... Ugh, don't want to fight with Hideaki,' the Akimichi hit like a cannonball. 'Maybe one of those studious types will be better— I could overwhelm one of them,' thought Takuma as he eyed suitable sparring partners.

"Takuma and Hiji."

Takuma stood up when Kibe called his name, and so did another boy from another part of the circle perimeter.

He immediately made a face when he heard his chosen sparring opponent and the expression worsened when he saw the smirking face of Inuzuka Hiji.

The Inuzuka clan of Leaf village was a shinobi clan known for their use of Ninken (Shinobi Dogs) as fighting companions. The members are given their own canine partner when they reach a certain age. Thereafter, the clan member and their dog were practically inseparable.

"Yo, Takuma~," said Hiji with a growing smirk that showed his teeth and stretched the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheek. The pup with black fur atop Hiji's head yipped and ruffled Hiji's already messy hair.

Takuma didn't return the greeting. His reputation was of someone who didn't talk much, and no one expected him to say anything back. On the other hand, Hiji's reputation was also the reason why Takuma didn't even want to return a simple greeting.

Hiji was what one would classify as a typical school bully. He defied authority every chance he got— arguing and not listening to Kibe every chance he got— had problems following rules and the code of conduct. And like any bully, he bullied anyone who happened to catch his eye and would allow Hiji to bully them, seemingly deriving pleasure from violence and the suffering of his victims.

"Kibe-sensei..."

Everyone looked and saw another academy instructor in the distance.

"Wait here; I will be back," Kibe said. He narrowed his eyes towards Hiji: "Make any trouble, and I promise pain and stayback after school."

Hiji stuck out his tongue when Kibe turned his back to walk away. He then looked at Takuma and grinned, "I didn't know you were back, Takuma. I hear you kicked the bucket in the hospital, but you look fine... I guess I shouldn't accept rumors so readily, but it sounded so real and possible, so it wasn't my fault. What do you say?"

Takuma showed no reaction. He made his face look as bored and uninterested as possible, like he couldn't care at all about anything Hiji was saying or even paying attention to whatever was being said.

Hiji clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, and his black ninken growled.

Takuma, on the other hand, was satisfied. This was how Takuma had kept Hiji from making him a target of his bullying. By acting completely unaffected and unbothered by Hiji's actions. Takuma had acted like Hiji didn't exist— and after some petty attempts, Hiji got bored from the lack of reaction and left Takuma alone, pretending he didn't exist.

But those petty attempts had sealed the deal in Takuma's mind. He would never ever get along or be polite with Hiji. His financial condition was dire, with every month being a battle against spending, with thrice thinking before spending even a single ryo (currency).

So when one day Takuma found his books missing from his desk, he felt his heart bleed. He had gotten them back the same day, soaked in water, several pages torn and ruined because of the water. The blatant laughing from Hiji and his posse had given away the culprit.

It was fortunate Takuma was mentally older and was able to reign in the acid-hot rage he had felt seeing his books in such a bad condition. He had shown no reaction, keeping a bored expression the entire time. And had not reported it to drive the uncaring image. However, since that day, he only bought things he absolutely needed and kept his things on him all the time.

"Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time we fought," Hiji said. "It was last year, I think..."

Takuma hadn't sparred against Hiji in his five months of existence as Takuma.

Hiji cracked his knuckles. "It's a rare event; let's enjoy it a lot, eh, Ta-ku-ma~," his grin turned wilder and crueler.

Takuma caught sight of Kibe walking back towards him.

Takuma's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists. The grin on Hiji's face brought up memories of how he felt when he couldn't find his books.

He decided—

Today, he was going to get his first win.