Hi! I have been working on this fic for a while now and thought it was a good time to post it. It's a high-school AU, because it's not like we have a billion of those, right? xD For the sake of the story, we're just gonna pretend that the names of the characters aren't Japanese except for a few... because that's the only way this could work.

We're going through a very tough time as the human race, and I hope everyone's safe. Please try not to go outside and take the situation seriously, I'm sure everyone knows what they should be doing by now!

September had crept in after the lengthy Summer break, bringing occasional rain, gloom, and a new semester for students. One of the said students, Naruto, was mindful that he should have been more responsible as this was already his third year as a high-school student, but in contrast, was very likely late for the first period.

His vacation-tuned sleep schedule had not allowed him to go to bed at a decent time. The weather was perfectly clear, the temperature just right to be outside. It was unfortunate that he did not have time to bike. While he rode on the bus, his mind was freshly starting to wake up. He gave a little flinch when his phone chimed in his hand. The notification sound was way too high for this time of the morning. He put it in vibration mode.

Twitter -"new semester, new me! anyone takin' spanish btw? dm me."

Spanish?

They were supposed to be taking Japanese. Not Spanish. Kiba had begged and begged through the entire break.

When he rushed to the school lawn through the front door, nobody was around. The grass was freshly watered, wetting the sole of his sneakers. There were some birds hopping around before the front entrance to the building, and they flew off when he opened the door.

Walking through the quiet corridors, he climbed the stairs to reach the locker room on the second floor. Faint voices were coming from the classrooms. With practiced ease, he opened his designated locker and put his bag in after he pulled out some necessities. His phone buzzed again, on the stalls. It was a text this time, from Kiba, filled with emoticons. " Nards! Where are u? "

He replied. " on my way to Japanese. You in Spanish? I thought we were taking Japanese together ."

As he checked the bulletin board for any new information, another text came in, some apologies and an I'll explain later .

His stomach sank, leaving him dizzy. He was not sure what to think about that. After pestering Naruto all summer about how it was a great opportunity for them, and it would be so great to learn Japanese. Now he was in Spanish, most likely along with his girlfriend, and Naruto was all alone. They had played Guitar Hero together at Kiba's room two days ago, and even then Kiba had kept quiet about the matter. Was there something… fishy going on? Was he left out on purpose? A bad joke? Or was it just Kiba being too preoccupied with others and forgetting about Naruto for the hundredth time?

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment. None of the people in his close circle of friends took Japanese as far as he knew.

Before class, he headed for the men's room, feeling a little irked when he saw his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, and the orange t-shirt he wore did not really lift his moods up. It was all creased and looked funny. His brows were furrowed as he splashed some water on his face.

This year was supposed to be fun, and Naruto was supposed to enjoy every class he took as a junior. That was the promise he had made with himself after the Chemistry disaster the previous year. He knew his limits, his abilities. There were some things he was not good at, and he had come to terms with that long ago. Sulking didn't do him any good, so focusing on his strong points and making them better was his priority. He wasn't sure if language-learning was something he would be good at, but it certainly would have been fun to do it together with Kiba even if he didn't master it. He wouldn't suffer as much.

He had no idea who the teacher for Spanish was, but apparently, neither did Kiba. More importantly, who would be teaching Japanese? The first image that came to Naruto's mind was a short, middle-aged who barely spoke English, and bowed down a lot when he made a mistake with words.

Well, he would find out in a short while. Before he headed back, he tried to fix his hair and put it into decent shape, eyed himself in the mirror and hoped nobody would notice how wiped out he looked.

By the time he looked up the classroom number and found it, he was already ten-something minutes late. In his defense, the classroom they had assigned Japanese for was infamous for its small size, typically used for Advanced Placement classes nobody bothered to take, and its whereabouts was certainly not easy to remember, or to find.

He calmly knocked before opening the door. He was met by dark, impatient eyes on the other side.

"Itachi?" Naruto muttered in confusion, sounding more like he needed validation that he got the man's name correct. Feeling his confidence shrink only made him feel worse. "Sorry, I think I'm in the wrong room."

"No, you're not. Come in."

"I'm supposed to be-"

"This is Japanese. Take a seat, Naruto." The man urged. "You're lucky. We were about to get started without you."

Itachi was the Physics teacher in his freshman year, one of the few teachers in the school that actually cared about teaching. Naruto admitted being captivated by how much of a gentleman Itachi was outside the class (he could get genuinely intimidating if his class was interrupted, but he was generally okay), and he was quite knowledgeable despite his young age. It was true that being late to his class ticked him off, or a few other things. As long as you stuck to the rules, you were safe.

Still, he was not expecting to see him in Japanese. He strolled inside the classroom after shutting the door, and was immediately surprised at how small the room turned out to be. He remembered it to be wider. His bedroom was about the same size – it made no sense.

There were numerous unoccupied seats that stood way too close to each other. He sat at the very back and dropped his things on the desk.

"Now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves first? I'll start," Itachi said. He looked stylish in his posh-looking navy blue shirt, which fitted his frame just right. His hair was in a loose ponytail, and he had the notorious wire-rimmed glasses on that had made a few girls faint in delight according to a rumor. Bingo. No wonder the female population in his classes was always high. Japanese was an exception, it seemed- why was he in Japanese again?

"I think we've all seen each other before, but no harm in continuing an old custom. I'm Itachi. Normally I teach Physics, and sometimes substitute for Math when Kakashi is on leave. Which happens more often than you'd think."

Someone at the left-hand side sneered.

"I'm gonna be teaching this class because no other teacher speaks Japanese in the school. They're outsourcing for a proper teacher, so I'm substituting until they find someone else, really." He grabbed a paper from his desk and looked at it through his glasses. "Hm. There are only fifteen names here. I was told that they anticipated about forty."

"Did they really think people would prefer Japanese over Spanish?"

"Hm. Who knows," Itachi replied, "What do you think, Shikamaru?"

Ah. Shikamaru, one of the elite boys of the school. State chess championship, three years in a row. "I thought they would cancel it and send us all to German. I'm sort of surprised we're still here." He leaned back, crossing his legs.

"Quite frankly, me too. Thanks for the input." He took a look around and started to roll his sleeves up. "Will wonders ever cease?"

Shikamaru raised a brow. "Isn't that exaggerating a little bit?"

"I was talking about Uzumaki. How come you're here alone? Where's your other half?"

Naruto scoffed. He did have the common sense to not challenge Itachi, though. "I've been ditched."

"Ah. That's heartbreaking to hear," he said, half teasing and half sorry. "But maybe you can focus on learning a new language now instead of playing SOS with Inuzuka. Doesn't sound that bad, does it?"

"I guess," he shrugged. "I'm just a little upset."

"I understand." He reassuringly nodded. "Now, if the basics are out of the way, it's your turn to introduce yourselves. Say your names too, so everyone knows each other. Why don't you go first, Naruto?" His eyes roamed around, measuring the students with practiced ease. "I want you all to share with us why you decided to choose Japanese. Maybe if you have any dreams regarding the language. Anything you have to say, really."

He straightened his posture a little, feeling a few more sets of eyes on himself. "Uh. It's just because Kiba said it would be useful in the future, sort of," he muttered, feeling like an idiot, because he had not really thought about it before. Perhaps it was a mistake that he had jumped into this without giving it a proper thought. He was convinced he had learned his lesson this time, comprehensively.

Itachi took off his glasses, nodding. "You have any thoughts about Japan?"

"…I used to watch anime when I was a kid. That's all."

"Wonderful. What about the language?"

"I don't know. The anime was dubbed. But I once watched a scene on YouTube. Not that I understood anything, but I guess Japanese sounded…" he scratched his head, feeling encouraged to speak more when Itachi softly kept nodding. "Like poetry. Or rap."

"Great. That's a good point, Japanese has a unique sound, and a rhythm. Some say it's like a lullaby. It's soft, and the intonation is completely different from English, so it will be like an adventure. Next." He seemed well-informed about the language.

"I'm Shino. I want to learn Japanese and earn a scholarship in Japan."

The reply seemed to have delighted Itachi. "Amazing. What do you want to study?"

"Bugs."

Itachi laughed a little, shaking his head. "I should have known. Just keep the lids of your jars closed during the class. Together, we should work hard. You have my full support."

Hugging his black backpack, which was so full that it seemed about to burst at the seams, he nodded, mumbling a thank you under his breath.

"My great-grandmother is Japanese," The red-haired boy spoke up, coming out as someone who was ready to pass his turn to the next student. Much to his dismay, in a class of only fifteen students and a perpetually curious teacher, that was out of the question.

"Can you remind me of your name?"

"It's Gaara."

"Right. You didn't speak much in Physics. I hope we can change that here." He checked the paper again, eyes squinted. "Sabaku? Hmm. I remember your sister. Quite the troublemaker she was. How is she now?"

"Good. She'll graduate college this year." Naruto often noticed how expressionless Gaara's face was. They had taken a couple of classes together, and even partnered together for a lab experiment once. The only time he saw Gaara laugh was when Kakashi had thrown a temper tantrum over a wrong answer. The situation had been pretty awkward for the rest of them, but Gaara had enjoyed it somehow.

"Very good. Do you have any other reasons? Do you have any interest in Japan?"

Gaara blinked. His face was blank. "I like Japanese horror movies."

"A good enough excuse to learn a language," he approved.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese," Gaara mentioned lastly.

Itachi grabbed a red board marker and started writing something completely in Japanese on the whiteboard. When he was done, he turned around and tapped under the writing. "This is how you write Itachi Uchiha in Japanese. Contrary to popular belief, I was born in Japan. My family moved here when I was eight."

Shino hummed to himself in thought, as if trying to come up with something deep. "I thought you were born here," he said in the end.

"It doesn't come as a surprise to me, honestly. One of the common things people assume. The students tend to be very creative when it comes to gossip," Itachi said, as if he was aware of every single rumor around.

"You're actually Japanese?" Naruto cut in, shocked as much as anyone in the classroom. "Like, first-generation?"

"Basically. I'm not hundred percent sure about the terminology, as someone once called me 1.5 generation, but that's the gist of it. Anyway."

The rest of the students explained their reasons: there were a few ones that had Japanese ancestors like Gaara, and some of them claimed they could understand a little bit while the majority were clueless about the language. After the last person to speak finished, silence took over.

Naruto had not noticed, but there was one more person in the front, right next to the window. The color of his hair and sweater did not make much contrast with the dark red curtain, and he had been completely silent until then. However, the figure was easy to recognize with his distinctive style, and Naruto exhaled loudly, ignoring the puzzled reaction coming from Shino's direction. Sasuke, and Itachi, in a class together. That was going to be a hassle, something they had undergone several times before. Sasuke loved to meddle in and cause unresolvable trouble in Itachi's classes in his own wicked way.

Naruto didn't have any personal grudges against Sasuke. From the first week of high school, he had presumed they lived in two different worlds and there had never been a necessity for them to talk to each other anyway. It was hard not to know who he was, though, with him being Itachi's brother and having a characteristic look to him that many found compelling. Apart from that, both had always acted like the other didn't exist.

Cleaning his throat casually, the boy spoke. "Sasuke. I'm expected to have an interest in Japanese, so I'm here." It was a hushed, but resolute voice. The sound reached Naruto's ears with ease, yet, he felt like it was a ghost speaking. Sasuke loved to speak up. Why keep quiet now when all attention was on him?

"Least passionate member of our small community. Why is that, Sasuke?"

"I don't think passion has anything to do with this class."

Itachi pressed his lips together, as if meticulously calculating his next move.

Naruto puffed out some air again. If Sasuke was going to ruin the atmosphere, he should just leave. Take French or Spanish or something. As someone with Japanese parents, and also a brother who spoke the language, wasn't Sasuke supposed to be at least understanding basic Japanese anyway? It appeared that he didn't, though, taking a beginner-level class and all.

"It's part of my duty as a teacher to learn about my students. I'm sure your classmates are also curious about why you're here."

Biting his lower lip, Naruto rolled his eyes, taking out his phone and typing a text to Kiba just like he always did when something noteworthy (or not) happened. " sasuke's ruinin the mood here ." Before pressing the send button, however, he deleted it. There was another text sent to him by Karin. He pushed his phone back in his pocket without reading it.

When his attention was back on the class, Itachi was still inquiring. "Speaking a foreign language can open so many doors for you."

Sasuke made a sound, a pretty annoying one at that. "Can we move on."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Itachi's expression had hardened a little, but he didn't press it anymore, merely grabbing a board marker again, this time a black one. His back was turned as he wrote something on the board. The letters were familiar this time, but it still looked like gibberish.

Sasuke had gotten on his nerves. And clearly, he wasn't the only one weirded out by the exchange between the brothers. He decided to give it a shot and make a remark. Just to test the waters. "It wouldn't kill you to share more, y'know."

Sasuke turned his head around sharply. He looked standoffish as usual, but not irritated in the slightest. "Nobody asked for your opinion."

Itachi cut in, completely ignoring the little argument. "I didn't prepare any material for today since I found out I'd be teaching this about two hours ago, but I'll email each one of you the things you need to study for next week. Now, just a brief summary so you don't get confused when you open the documents." He pointed at the first word. "Hiragana. This is the Japanese alphabet. You absolutely need to know how to read hiragana in order to read Japanese."

"We're screwed," someone whispered toward Naruto.

"No, it's easy to learn. At least that's what I've heard from other people. I don't have a personal opinion because I learned it in school. In fact they say if you try hard enough, you'll know it by next week. A good opportunity for you to test your limits, if you'd like."

Naruto made a face. "Ha?"

"Let me explain first,' Itachi put a finger up. He moved on to the word under hiragana . "Katakana is also a Japanese alphabet, but it's mainly used for loan words. Modern usage allows original Japanese words to be written in katakana for emphasis, or out of laziness. But that's rare. Take notes if you want, we won't review these next week."

Shikamaru put down his pen, already done with copying the board to his notebook. "Loan words? Like?"

"Hmm. A common example would be konbini ," Itachi explained in thought. "It's short for convenience store, but you don't really hear people say konbiniensu sutoa. A simpler example is tomato . For tomato, obviously." He quickly scribbled the word on the board. "Words are not always borrowed from English, though. Arubaito means part-time job, and it comes from German. Very common word."

It sounded reasonable enough, but Naruto didn't feel like he would be remembering any of them. Maybe tomato.

As if reading his mind, Itachi added, "You don't need to know these now. Just focus on learning these two alphabets."

"I have a question," Naruto raised a hand.

"Yes?"

"It's not exactly a question, but. Your name seems super complicated compared to the other words you wrote."

"That's because I wrote my name in kanji ," he clarified, adding the word under hiragana and katakana. "Now, that's a whole different alphabet, and it's basically a nightmare for a beginner, but don't worry, we'll take it easy."

Shikamaru propped his elbow up on the desk and put his chin in his palm. "You'd think two alphabets would be more than enough."

Itachi smiled. "A popular opinion. I would love to agree, but sadly I can't. It's nothing but trouble to read Japanese without kanji. I imagine it's sort of hard to wrap your head around the concept, but I'll try to simplify why it's wrong." He started drawing some shapes - Naruto guessed those were the hiragana stuff he was talking about, and wrote kokoro under them. "This is the hiragana for kokoro, which means heart." Then, he drew another shape. "And this is the kanji. Borrowed from the Chinese alphabet. They mean the exact same thing, and your brain will immediately acknowledge the kanji once you know it, so you won't have to read the hiragana one by one. Cool, huh?"

"We're really screwed."

"Chouji. Stooop." Shikamaru scolded his friend jokingly, who sat right next to him and looked as terrified as one could be from a class. "So it's entirely out of laziness? I had a different impression of the Japanese people."

"There's a more important justification, actually. Homonymous words will haunt you if you don't know kanji. Hashi could mean bridge, or chopsticks. Ame could mean rain or sweets. There are slight differences in the way you say them - something called pitch accent, but it's an advanced topic. So you're going to have to be dependent mostly on kanji until you get to that level."

Naruto blinked. His head was empty already, the words had gone in from one ear and out the other. He couldn't be the only one puzzled. He imagined strangling Kiba with his bare hands for making him suffer alone, with Hinata watching over from the side. How gratifying would that be?

"The marks will depend mostly on your class participation, just so you know."

"We're not gonna have a test?"

Itachi dropped the markers and sat down in his designated chair, biting a nail as he thought briefly. When he came up with something, he reached to his glasses for the second time, writing down something in his notebook as he spoke. "I'm considering small quizzes, but I think class participation is more valuable than a test. Until they find another teacher, at least, we'll do it this way. Also, the second half of the class on Thursday will be a reading session. You'll never get better at reading another alphabet if you don't practice."

"I object." It was Sasuke again.

Itachi didn't even bother to look up. "To what?"

"Reading out loud. It's a waste of time."

"Let me know if you have a better idea."

Was Sasuke doing it on purpose? Maybe they'd had a fight earlier. It was childish, and truthfully, beneath him to object to something Itachi found useful for the class.

A few moments were skipped in silence and when Itachi was done with his task, he checked the clock on the wall. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Naruto eyed the others. They all seemed indifferent.

"I'll see you all later."

Grabbing their notebooks and pencils, the pupils in the front row started exiting the classroom. Naruto remained seated until the population inside the room was down to half.

"Hey, Nards."

It was Chouji. His wild, brown hair stuck out from all possible directions, but he still managed to make it cool, and he was hunched forward slightly, most likely due to his weight.

Naruto raised his hand. "Hey. What's up?"

"Didn't expect to see you here. Where's Kiba?"

He bit his tongue and tried not to sound too upset. "He changed to Spanish. It's just me."

Chouji nodded. "Huh."

"Japanese seems intimidating, yeah? But it looks fun." He stood up. At this point, he was making up excuses to feel better, really.

"Hmm. I'm here 'cause Shika is here. I'd rather take German." He took a gulp from the detox water bottle he held. Chouji was on a diet six months of the year, and spent the other six eating. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"Just enjoy the ride, I guess," he laughed lightly, realizing the classroom had been emptied with the exception of the two of them, Shikamaru, and Itachi. Shikamaru looked restless as he continuously tapped the screen of his smartphone, waiting for Chouji to be done with his banter.

"No, I mean right now. We're off to the cafeteria. Wanna tag along?"

"Oh. Maybe next time, I need to get something sorted out," he patted Chouji's shoulder. "See you around."

"'Kay then. Bye," Chouji responded, walking away. Naruto also waved goodbye to Shikamaru, who waved back, hand off the screen only for a mere second.

They left, and Naruto made his way to the teacher's desk. Until Itachi was done with his notes, he waited uncomplainingly, watching the paper from the corner of his eye. Itachi was taking individual notes about everyone.

When he finally looked up, Naruto saw the dark circles under his eyes that weren't visible from a distance. "What can I do for you?"

"Uhh. I just wanted to consult with you about something."

"I'm all ears."

He let out a sigh. Staring at the board, he asked, "It might sound a little weird, but do you really think I can learn how to read these?"

When he looked back at Itachi, the skin between his brows were furrowed. "Why not?"

"I've had a lot of trouble learning how to read in first grade. I just don't wanna be a bother to you here."

"You're not a bother, Naruto," he shook his head, and clamped his hands together in thought. "You can do anything if you try hard enough. Language learning process is more difficult than most people imagine, but it's not impossible. I remember being panicked when I first moved here. I didn't speak a word of English."

Naruto couldn't help but ask more. "No? How did you learn it?"

"It wasn't easy." He took a moment to think. "I couldn't communicate with my peers. I couldn't do my homework. I asked my mother to buy me books in English, watched cartoons fully in English, even though I didn't understand anything. Exposure helps more than you imagine."

Pinching the fabric of his jeans, Naruto slowly shook his head. "Doesn't sound that bad. I thought maybe you'd tell me to find a way to change to another class."

"Hm. You don't get to do that for language classes this year, as far as I know," Itachi made clear. "You're stuck with me until they find someone. This is a beginner's class anyway. Just study and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Itachi," he smiled. Unconsciously, he found himself glancing at the seat Sasuke had been sitting in earlier.

"Something interesting there?"

"No. Um. I was just wonderin' why Sasuke was so moody," he confessed, not knowing what sort of reaction Itachi would give, but the man stayed silent, so he continued. "Heh. It sucks that we can't drop classes."

"Sasuke wouldn't." No further explanation came, as expected. No matter how good they got along, Itachi was a teacher, and Naruto was a student. Discussing another student with Naruto would be unethical, and unfair.

"Mhm. 'kay. I'll be off, then. Glad you're the teacher, by the way." he stated.

Itachi chuckled whole-heartedly. He seemed pleased with the compliment. "Thank you. See you Thursday."

They were all gathered at a picnic table during the lunch break. Naruto sat with Karin, Kiba and Hinata were squished together across them as usual. Lee was standing up, downing a protein shake, and the remaining seats were occupied by Sakura and Neji.

For the fifth time, Kiba swore. "Fuck. Spanish can suck my balls. Shit."

Hinata was rubbing his arm, not looking so good herself. Lee seemed uninterested in the topic, and Karin was ready to punch Kiba in the face.

"French was pretty decent, but the teacher's old," Neji commented.

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "How old?"

"Maybe sixty? Not sure."

"I think she's older than sixty," Sakura added after swallowing her bite. "She's a nice lady. Her name is Clara."

"What a pretty name!" Karin said cheerfully. Sakura agreed to it.

Kiba stuck out his tongue. "She should bring her friend Heidi along." Only Lee laughed, and they bumped their fists together. "Oi! Who's teaching Japanese, Nards?"

"Itachi," Naruto shortly answered. He felt snappish.

Kiba still hadn't apologized properly. In fact, he looked completely oblivious to Naruto's irritation, and even had the nerve to say something along the lines of "I wish I hadn't changed my mind." He still suspected Kiba had done it out of grudge or something, but the chances were pretty low, because Kiba's personality was not like that. He was straightforward. But, one thing he was, he was purely ignorant – especially since he had started going out with Hinata. How come that had happened, he was not sure. But Sakura often associated Kiba with a new-born puppy, following its mother wherever, and it was alarmingly on point.

"You're joking!" Sakura suddenly cried out. She looked seriously bummed by the information, being one of the grand fans of Itachi – as a teacher, though. Her personal interest was on the younger brother for a long time. "What a clever man. No wonder he speaks Japanese." Suddenly, her eyes enlarged. "I should change to Japanese."

Naruto cracked a knuckle. "I don't think they allow you to drop language classes."

Sakura put down her sandwich in disappointment.

Kiba put an arm around Hinata, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Sorry I said we should go for Spanish. I didn't know so many people were going to be there."

"No, baby. It's just bad luck," Kiba squeezed her. " Ti Amo ." So, it was Hinata who had suggested… He wasn't surprised. He could have used a heads up, though. How difficult would it be to shoot a text? Or say it while they were together? It would take, like, two seconds. So, why?

"It's Te Amo ," Lee interrupted. He was looking at something across the yard, at the very end of the line of picnic tables. "What is Kakashi doing?"

Karin turned around in curiosity. "Where? Where?"

Lee looked suspicious. "With Iruka. There. Something fishy's going on."

Certainly, two men looked peculiar sharing a lunchbox.

"They're roommates. Maybe one of them forgot to cook or something," Neji said, unable to hide his revulsion. "It's natural."

Karin snickered. "Do you believe that yourself? They look super gay to me."

Naruto nudged his cousin. "Iruka has a girlfriend."

"Kakashi doesn't."

"You don't know that!" His index finger was tracing lines along the wooden table.

Something brushed against his ankle all of a sudden, and he jumped in terror, nearly tumbling down in the process. Karin was not so lucky as she was elbowed again, this time, much harder. Karin's cry of pain and Naruto's profanities were mixed together and built a chaotic ambiance.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Jesus!" He yelled, knees drawn to his chest. "What the fuck?!"

It was Shino. He was on his knees, a jar in his hand. He stood up and brushed his knees clean as he spoke. "My bad. I was reaching for the leather jacket under the table."

Karin looked under the table. "There's a leather jacket here? Where? Is it yours?"

"It's a larva," clarified Shino. He had sunglasses on, making it impossible for Naruto to see his expression. "Huh. That's weird."

" You're weird, Shino," Naruto protested. He had already given up on wishing that the events of the day would take a turn for the better, for today apparently had been cursed from the beginning.

"No, your face. Sasuke had the exact same face on when you told him to shut up."

"I didn't tell him to-"

"Sorry again. Bye."

Shino had already walked away, though, and Naruto was greeted by questioning eyes when he turned back around.

"Why would you tell Sasuke to shut up?" Sakura asked away before Karin could start complaining about her arm.

Naruto licked his lips. "I didn't. He made that up."

"Really?"

"You're not his attorney, Sakura. Chill," Neji said. "Why do you care what Naruto told Sasuke?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Sakura. Drop it," Kiba groaned. "It's the first day of school. I wanna talk about somethin' fun."

Hinata put a hand on Sakura's as support.

Before someone else said anything, Naruto abruptly spoke up. "Actually, I forgot my notebook in the classroom. I better get it before it gets thieved." It was unmistakably a lie.

"There's still twenty-five minutes until next period," Karin retorted. Naruto was already on his feet, though.

"It's fine. The janitor probably locked the class anyway, I need to find him first."

"If you say so."

"Bye then," he said, apologetically touching Karin on the shoulder before walking off with hands in his pockets, clenched into fists.

It was only when his phone buzzed Naruto realized that he had been dozing off. It was almost impossible not to, not when Kakashi had given everyone boring assignments that would be over within ten minutes at most. He had put on some calming music to drown out the whisperings of others, and that had somehow functioned as a lullaby. He pulled out his earphones and drowsily looked around: Tenten was gingerly writing the correct answers on the board while everyone else - including Kakashi - was doing something else. Shikamaru was soundly sleeping, Gaara was watching out the window, Sakura and Hinata were reading a fashion magazine together. He remembered to check his phone when it gave another buzz. He had two new emails titled "Japanese Class."

"Very good, Tenten," Kakashi said every once in a while through his surgical mask, not bothering to look up from his comic book. He claimed that it was to protect himself from the new Coronavirus, but the majority of the class doubted that since Kakashi always had an aura that suggested he craved death.

The door opened quietly, and the P.E. teacher stuck his head inside. "Kakashi, my good friend! Can I borrow Lee for a while? It's about the basketball team."

"Yes, yes, of course. Off you go, Lee," Kakashi waved the enthusiastic boy off. "Anyone else in the basketball team?"

"I was thinking of joining," Chouji said. "Can I?"

"Not at the moment. Sorry," Gai grinned, his single gold-plated tooth beaming as the sunlight reflected.

"Go join them," Kakashi gestured to Chouji to leave the classroom. "Gai likes to be begged." He looked up at the ceiling. "Wait. That sounded inappropriate."

"Are we gonna do actual work today?" Shikamaru spoke up after Chouji left.

"I don't know. Are we? Nobody seems interested. I was thinking we could start tomorrow."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. "He wants us to suffer before the tests."

"I don't want anyone to suffer. And that includes me. So we won't have math tests this year."

Karin shrieked. "Really?"

"No."

Naruto almost doubled over in laughter when he saw his cousin turning a bright red, insulted and disappointed.

"You can sit down, Tenten, thank you," he announced, standing up and studying the neatly written answers on the board. "If you couldn't solve the problems on the papers I've given you, forget about college."

Someone in one of the back seats cleared their throat.

"If you were excited like Karin about not having tests, forget about college."

Karin rolled her eyes dramatically.

"But I have reasons to believe each one of you has enough IQ points, so I'll actually make an effort to teach you. I want you all to score high when the time comes, so on top of the regular tests," he winked at Karin, "We'll also have mock tests. So, on average, you'll have a test every two weeks."

A roar started to flow across the class. Displeased teenagers were hard to deal with, and knowing that, Kakashi grabbed his comic book, and with the corner of his eyes wrinkled by what Naruto imagined to be a smile, waved goodbye. "I need to look for some seniors to mark your tests. I'm sure it will be good practice for them to find all the stupid mistakes you'll make." In an instant, he vanished into thin air, leaving the door open.

-TBC-