Yawns of various lengths fogged the air around me. The atmosphere was heavy with broken sleep and disgruntled mutters. The same as yesterday and the day before that, Iruka had gathered us on the track for our morning run before homeroom.

The sun peeking through the cloud cover did little to ward off the chill in the air. Warm tears pooled in my eyes as a small yawn opened my mouth. I stretched my legs and flexed slightly numb toes from within my shoes.

Choji and Shikamaru yawned one after another.

“Man,” Shikamaru sighed. “I’d rather be in bed right now.”

Choji’s shoulders rounded, and his head slumped forward in defeat. “I hate running…”

I shook my head.

“What?” Shikamaru asked.

“You know, for someone so smart, you tend to be pretty short-sighted.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I mean, think about it: your dad’s the Jonin Commander and the head of the Nara clan. The chances of you being allowed to kick back and live an easy life are next to none.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to go looking for trouble like you do,” he replied. “And you can’t tell me that topping almost every class isn’t looking for trouble. I’ll do just enough to pass. In the end, I guess I’ll be teamed up with Ino and Choji, which is fine by me. No reason to try so hard.”

“Isn’t there?”

Choji fidgeted nervously between us. I stared at Shikamaru. A part of me was annoyed by his laziness. The other wanted to laugh at the discomfort written over Choji’s face.

In the end, I ignored both.

“The world’s anything but peaceful. What happens when, one day, you find yourself against someone you can’t beat and wish you had given just a little more effort in your training? Or worse, when you can’t save the people you care about.”

Choji shrunk back. Shikamaru’s frown deepened. He walked towards me, mouth opening to reply when we were covered in a shroud of darkness.

Iruka leered down at us. “What are you three doing? RUN!”

Choji bolted and left Shikamaru and I behind. We stared at his back before jogging after him, running side by side until we reached the cluster of stragglers. I readied myself to overtake when Shikamaru tugged the back of my shirt.

“What?”

“Listen.” He breathed out of his nose. “We’re going to continue that talk later.”

“What happened to not looking for trouble?”

He scoffed.

His dedication to laziness, at least, was something I could admire. I took off, moving to the front of the pack by the end of the first lap. I could’ve done it faster, but it would mean being a lot more sweaty by the end.

I kept up my lead, glancing over my shoulder at Kiba and Sasuke. The gap between us and the class had closed a little over the month or so we’d been doing laps before school.

By the time we finished, everyone was a lot more energised. They mostly complained on the way in, but the run had succeeded in waking them up.

Iruka took a moment to let everyone relax before starting homeroom.

“Now that we’re all warmed up, here are the day’s announcements. With the winter break in two weeks, the Academy will be running an open day during the holiday for interested parents and children. We’re taking volunteers from across the school. Please raise your hand if you want to volunteer so I can jot down names and hand them to the coordinator. Otherwise, feel free to come to me until the end of term.”

Sakura was the first to volunteer, followed by Ino, who turned and stared pointedly at Shikamaru and Choji. The pair stiffened before Choji tentatively raised his hand. Shikamaru slumped forward with an audible sigh.

A few more hands popped up from around the classroom, mostly friend groups who wanted something to do during the break.

“Shikamaru!” Choji whined.

The lazy boy groaned.

“Come on! You can’t leave me alone with Ino.”

His pleading eyes turned to me. “...Naruto?”

I snorted. “No.”

“You don’t even know what I was gonna ask!”

“It’s to help out at the open day, right?” He nodded in reply. “I can’t. I work at Ichiraku’s, and winter’s their busiest.”

“So?”

Choji and I stared at Shikamaru. He sat back with a smirk. I stared at him quizzically as he raised his hand.

Iruka looked up from his notepad, where he was scribbling down the names of the volunteers. His eyebrows twitched upwards. “Shikamaru… is that you volunteering or do you have something to say?”

“Both, sensei. I’ve had an idea. Naruto works at Ichiraku’s and was thinking of chipping in to cater if his boss lets him. I think more people would be willing to attend during winter if we provide them with ramen for the cold.”

“Naruto, is this true?”

Excited whispers buzzed about the room. My heart rate spiked a little as Iruka blinked at me in surprise. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t want to disappoint the first expectations anyone had ever had of me, but I found myself nodding dumbly.

“That’s… quite nice of you,” Iruka spoke slowly, almost like he was convincing himself rather than me. “Well done. I’ll take this up with Mr Teuchi when I’m next at Ichiraku’s. Anyone else?”

With the attention off me, my eyes snapped to Shikamaru.

“That was dirty, you brat.”

“Brat?” he laughed. “We’re the same age.”

“Are we? I couldn’t tell over your pettiness to get back at me for earlier.”

Despite mostly saying it in jest, my heart slowed at his comment. No matter how smart he was compared to his peers, Shikamaru was seven, while I wasn’t. That said, the years of isolation had worn me away.

There was just something nice about having people to talk to as an equal, especially after years of being avoided.

I loved Teuchi and Ayame to bits, but the situation was just… different. I pushed away the swell of emotion at the thought.

Choji leaned over the desk, face dimpling as he glanced worriedly between us. “Guys, don’t fight. We can go together. That’s not so bad. And thanks in advance for the ramen. I’ll take having to follow Ino around if it means I get ramen out of it.”

With the tension diffused, he leaned back with a smile. I blinked in surprise before laughing. “No worries, big guy.”

Iruka waved us all goodbye as he left the classroom. Minutes later, Mizubayashi entered, a thick textbook in tow.

This class wasn’t as interesting as the last, with him returning to bog-standard shinobi history. Given that I’d covered the material in my own time, there was nothing my active mind could grab hold of besides flicking through the textbook for more interesting trivia.

So I drowned out Mizubayashi’s voice and tucked my head into the crook of my arm. When I looked up, Choji’s round face filled my vision.

He craned his neck up from the row ahead and I leaned back to stretch the cricks out of my neck.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Hey, Naruto?” Choji asked.

I yawned. “Yeah?”

“Want to sit with us for lunch?”

“Us? Who’s us?”

He pointed to himself. “Me and—”

Shikamaru poked my shoulder from the seat to my left.

I flinched, wrestling control over my breathing before asking, “Why’d you do that?”

He shrugged and walked down the stairs. Choji fidgeted from the other side of the table. “S-So… are you coming?”

I slung my jacket over my shoulders and followed Shikamaru. “Sure. You’re good company.”

He smiled.

“Not sure about old lazybones, though.”

Shikamaru stopped near the blackboard and levelled an unimpressed stare at me.

“I… don’t know if he likes the nickname,” said Choji.

“Too bad for lazybones, I don't plan on stopping.” I poked my head into the classroom. “Do you guys wanna head to lunch or not? I’ve got my food with me, but I hear the line is killer.”

“I can’t be bothered with this…” Shikamaru complained. “...annoying blondes.”

Despite his words, there wasn’t any heat in his voice. Choji ran after him, and I followed. We travelled down to the dining hall, where masses of students were waiting to be served. I found our year’s section and took a seat at the end of our class’ table.

A blue tray clattered into my vision, sliding halfway across the table. I looked up, expecting Choji, only to find myself staring into a pale face and a pair of turquoise eyes. I finished my sandwich first, washing it down with some water.

“Ino,” I nodded. “What can I do for you?”

She surprised me by sitting back with a smile instead of replying. The silence played out between us, her smile only widening.

“...What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said. “I expected you to be a lot more like Sasuke, is all.”

My brain struggled to comprehend her words for a good few moments. I think she realised because her smile widened into a grin.

“...What gave you that impression?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I don’t ignore people, do I?”

“No, but you like to keep to yourself.” She tilted her head. “You haven’t gone out of your way to hang out with anyone from class until today… and with Shikamaru of all people.”

I felt myself growing strangely defensive. “...What’s wrong with Shikamaru?”

Ino snorted. “I’ve known him since I could walk. He’s not the easiest of people to get along with, but my parents want us to become the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio when we graduate.”

“So?”

She clapped her hands. “So, I’m curious, Naruto Uzumaki. What about a lazy, rude, annoying guy like Shikamaru has made you want to start being… what did Dad call it? Social.”

A breath I didn’t know I was holding left my body. All of that tension and analysis only to build to such a simple question. I laughed a little. It was moments like these that made me realise just how young my classmates are.

There would be brief moments of sudden maturity, and then they’d go and do something to remind me that they’re still only children.

“Oi.”

Two blue trays slid across either side of Ino. Shikamaru slumped onto the low stool, barely acknowledging her presence while Choji snuck into the one beside her as if that would do anything to help him.

“What are you doing here?” Shikamaru asked.

Ino crossed her arms and jutted out her chin. “You don’t control me.”

“I…” He flared his nostrils and sighed.

“This is why we don’t get along,” she frowned. “You just want to… exist. Right, Choji?”

She turned so fast her hair whipped around. Choji shrunk back, looking down at his plate of fried rice.

“Man…” Ino growled and clenched her fists close to her face. “One’s lazy, and the other doesn’t want to say a word. I don’t know why our parents keep putting us together!”

I watched all this unfold with a small smile that vanished once Ino’s eyes found their way to me. Their intensity didn’t diminish in the slightest and only grew the longer she stared.

“I’m looking forward to the ramen,” she finally said and stood up. “But what you see in these two, I don’t know.”

As suddenly as she had arrived, Hurricane Ino was gone, leaving Choji and Shikamaru in no mood for conversation. I chuckled at their discomfort and got started on the second half of the sandwich, my eyes counting down the minutes until Fujino’s class would arrive and, with it, the only thing stopping me from enjoying my evening.

----------------------------------------

After the fiasco that was my last lesson with Fujino, my trust in anything she’d ever taught me went right out of the window. Thankfully, after seeing my recent test, Mr Teuchi asked Ayame to help me out, meaning I didn’t have anything to worry about on the learning front.

That said, I couldn’t calm down. Hours spent contemplating the best angle of attack, and I wouldn’t be able to do it because I just couldn’t calm down. Throughout the majority of the lesson, my nerves had gotten the better of me.

I didn’t fear Fujino, but what I wanted to do relied solely on her buying that I knew nothing about her actions – which was true, but didn’t help my nerves in the slightest.

Whenever she called out my name, my pencil would slip between my clammy fingers. It was even worse now that we would be in the classroom alone. Once the lesson finished, I had to lounge about in the school library for an hour, and now, I was standing awkwardly in front of the door, eyes darting about in case anyone was around.

I clenched the worn test paper in my hands, its edges worn and crinkled.

The faded green door slid open, revealing Fujino – and from the looks of it, she was ready to head home. I don’t know how I never noticed it before, but now I did: a brief flash of genuine fear behind her red-rimmed lenses.

An easy smile washed over her face. “Naruto! What can I do for you? I’m surprised you haven’t headed home. It’s quite late.”

“U-Um.” It didn’t take much faking to act the part of a nervous schoolboy on my end. “Can I talk to you, sensei?”

She blinked and opened the classroom door for me. “Of course.”

I watched as she buzzed about, laying her bag on the table, pulling a chair and placing it opposite the teacher’s desk, and even breaking out Iruka’s tin of biscuits, pulling out one for each of us.

“Here.”

I took a bite out of it and chewed slowly enough to give me time to think. It wasn’t enough.

Fujino clasped her hands together and leaned forward. Her eyes flickered to the test paper on the table. “So, what’s bothering you?”

I slid it towards her, holding back a smile when the hand closest to it twitched. “I-I don’t want to upset you, but you marked my paper wrong!”

“Wrong?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

“I checked my paper against Taro’s and Yumi's a-and Goto's too! It was 45%... which means,” I paused. With every passing second, my heart felt like it was going to explode. “I didn’t pass.”

My head was now hung low, leaving me unable to see her reaction.

“No…” she said, speaking low and gently. “No, Naruto. You didn’t fail, you did goo—”

I sprung up, making her jump.

“I know why you did it though!” I grinned — both because I made her flinch but also at how quickly the blood drained from her face.

She swallowed thickly. “N-Naruto, I—”

“It’s because you like me, isn’t it?”

“W-What?”

“Don’t you like me?” I tilted my head. “Actually, I think I’m your favourite student too. You wouldn’t bring my grade up without me being your favourite.”

Her face fell, eyes blinking owlishly at me.

My smile turned small and gentle. “It’s okay, sensei. I understand. Sometimes, we do wrong things because we don’t want to hurt the people we care about.”

“N-Naruto…” Her face was still pale, pure shock written over every fold and wrinkle.

“But it’s not fair to give me better marks because you like me,” I said. “You’ve got to treat me the same as everyone else, otherwise you could get in trouble. I don’t want you to lose your job.”

That was a big enough lie that I had to try not to laugh.

I might’ve pushed this further than I’d ever thought of, but at some point, I’d got too into it to stop. The words I spoke hit her with a weight I didn’t know words could have. Like I was slamming her with a cudgel when I opened my mouth.

Did she finally grow enough of a conscience to realise that sabotaging the education of a six-year-old was an all-round shit thing to do?

I couldn’t give a single fuck either way.

Pushing the paper closer to her, I gave her a respectful bow. In any other circumstance, I would rather sit through detention until the end of my school days, but the strained noise coming out of her mouth was hilarious enough for me not to care.

I stepped into the corridor, expecting her to follow me. Then again, she was too stunned to speak, let alone move. “Have a nice evening.”

The door slid shut behind me and didn’t open the entire time I crossed the corridor to reach the stairs. Something told me that Fujino didn’t see this turn of events coming. In all honesty, it wasn’t the first thing on my mind but once the rage and incomprehension died down, I realised two things.

The first was that while Lord Third would instantly resolve the situation, part of me wanted to see if I was up to the challenge of doing it on my own. Fujino wouldn’t be the last person to try and pull something over me in my career. It would be better for me to try and resolve it in a safe environment where I could always fall back on Lord Third if it got out of hand.

The second wasn’t nearly as grand or well-thought-out. There was just a personal pleasure in throwing a wrench in her plot on my own terms. The shock on her face made me snigger while I walked home.

The best thing about it was that there would be nothing to punish me for. As great as it felt to make her squirm, however, I wasn’t under any illusion that this would stop her, but what I did do was warn her. After this, there was no way she didn’t know that I was onto her.

If Fujino had any shred of decency left, she would stop here – but in case she didn’t… well, Lord Third would be around to deliver my stipend in a few weeks.

I’d vented most of my frustration, and she’d had her warning. Whatever happened next would be out of my hands and in that of the Hokage’s.