A lone Uchiha woke up. The harsh scent of medical-grade alcohol and antiseptics filled his nostrils, he wrinkled his nose in disgust, awakening from his deep slumber, the boy opened his eyes slowly, the light seeped in, burning his eyes terribly as he fluttered his eyes open. He looked down at himself, finding a butterfly needle attached to his hand and a drip bag of lactate solution. The bag was almost emptied out, and by it were laid multiple emptied bags of the solution... He must have been here for a long time... He felt sick. His entire body felt as if it were burning, but it felt too cold...

He wasn't in the mood for this. With a painful groan, he stood up, the pain radiated from his abdomen muscles, as if they were split apart by a knife, why was he like this? Wha- Why had any of this happened? Repeatedly, again and again, he saw it happen, his mother... his father, they died, again and again, returning in an eternal cycle until he couldn't take it anymore, then, his broth- No, not his brother, no Uchiha would betray his family. Itachi... He felt that tears were threatening to spill, and a knot had found itself a place in his throat, he took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but he couldn't. His inner monologue was put to an abrupt stop when the nurse came to check on him. A gasp left the woman's lips, and clumsily, she ran out of the room to tell the Hokage the boy was awake and well.

His eyes dragged to the ceiling, preparing himself for the talk that the Hokage would have given. Within a few minutes, the old man had finally arrived, gently knocking on the door and stepping in — without his permission — he had a slight frown on his lips, and warmth that shined through his eyes, spreading joy to everyone around him, — but none for him at this moment — he gritted his teeth in anger. He couldn't take this anymore-

Two corpses.

Disembowelled by big brot- Itachi.

The pain. Oh, how much it choked him...

Flowers that his mother had kept

They would have been gone too

Nothing would have remained.

Nobody would have cared.

It would have become meaningless to all but him.

"Sasuke-kun?" The voice of the old man ringed in his ear, calling him back to the reality, he looked around, everything looked so absurd- like a painting of some kinds, he could not believe it was real, the lights... they were bright, too bright, synthetic. It smelled synthetic too, but he couldn't make the Hokage suspicious about his mental health or so, he had seen how the mentally ill were treated- His aunt was one of them, they had medic nins shock her brain every night, they gave her pills that seemingly made her into a soulless woman...

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" He muttered, a bit soulless, lacking in passion for sure but that was to be expected of the poor boy, he just had been put through hell. They needed to update him on the things that had happened.

The Hokage gave him a slight smile, and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for the pain that was brought to you, Sasuke-kun... I simply wish we could have protected your clan from Itachi. I promise to you at least, that the village will protect you, you won't feel that you're isolated, if you simply need to talk one day, then you could head to the Hokage residence, make it up to my office, I am sure I could make time for you." He squeezed the boy's shoulder, in an attempt to create the feeling that he truly cared, "Is there anything you'd like to discuss with me? I'm sorry because I have to cut this short, I've got a few things to discuss with the elders."

"Eh... I- I've only got one thing to say and its that I want to stay in the Uchiha compound. Please clean it for me."

Hiruzen was shocked to say the least, but he nodded his head, going along with it, if that was what the boy had wanted then so be it, there wouldn't be a purpose in pushing him further on this topic, but... how would the boy live there? Would it not be terrible to remember those you've hold dear each time you've looked at the walls of your room? Sasuke was a brave boy, and he'd make a great ninja. — At least he hoped that Sasuke would be. — Before leaving the room, he spoke once more. "I won't refuse your demand, but... consider it, I don't know if it'll be too healthy for you Sasuke-kun... Goodbye for now."

The wooden door was closed and he was left alone in the room. Left all alone. Nobody had came for him, except Iruka sensei whom had left a basket of fruits coming in from the rural regions of the Land of Fire, ooh, he had brought him kaki too, which was nice of him... He didn't have a knife to cut it though, with a sigh his eyes flashed around the room to find a ringing bell to call a nurse, to only notice that the solution in the bag was running out, should he have called the nurse by now...? Did he just have to shout? There didn't seem to be any ringing bells in the room...

"NURSE! I need a replacement bag for the lactate solution!"

Then he returned to the world of thoughts, ignoring the footsteps of the nurse and the creaking of the door, everything had changed.

When he had been discharged from the hospital, he'd take his revenge. The glory of the clan had to be restored. The memories required meaning, to see them leave no trace would be painful. He wanted answers- Itachi, why...? He felt the emotions overwhelm him, but he kept silent, bottling them. Itachi had grown strong with hatred, why wouldn't he grow to be so as well...? NO. Maybe, he didn't have to be, or he did.

He would see, and he'd learn.

A pale boy found himself in an apartment in the San'ya district. He was escorted there by ANBU, whom harshly carried him into the place. It was a small studio apartment in a social complex. It was newly built, which was nice. He had a futon with a tatami mat on the bottom, a cooking area with a gas oven and wood drawers, it wasn't great- certainly not as good as the place he lived in... the place he lived in with his grandpa. Itachi, that bastard- He, he betrayed them all! How could he?

He already missed his grandparent, he missed being childish- He didn't want to live alone or take care of himself by now, but now, he would have to, wouldn't he? He had one man to blame. It was that man. Itachi. He zoomed around the small apartment of his, thinking and thinking... digging his nails into his hair, they had given him a week off from the academy for him to rest, to rest?! He couldn't rest with that man free... He had survived for his grandpa had sacrificed himself for his sake, but how would he survive if Itachi came back again?

He feared for his life. He wanted to live. He wanted to enjoy even the simplest things in life and not worry. He wanted to be a good person- He wanted to make his grandpa proud, his grandpa had served his time as a ninja, so would he, and he'd be better, because that's what grandpa Gouta would have wanted. Improvements. Improvements to survive, improvements to enjoy life... He simply had to be better. With his clan gone, and the only other survivor being the clan heir, now he truly would be unwanted and lonely... They'd flock over the raven-haired boy and ignore him as a survivor- He was jealous, he was jealous that some people would have been born naturally superior in a way. Tears spilled over from his eyes and silently ran down his cheeks. He wiped it down using the covers of his futon as a piece of cloth.

He couldn't better himself today, but he surely could do it tomorrow, the day after tomorrow... He had free time after all, and the academy would help him better himself. He would make it out of the San'ya district. Now, he did hold the Hokage dear to his heart for this kindness, despite the roughness of the ANBU and the location of the house... This district wasn't all that nice, it was established back in the times of the First Hokage, Hashimara Senju, a district where the lower-caste workers would live, butchers, tanners, leatherworkers, farmers and alike... It had the cheapest housing of all for that reason, and had quite a few problems, they had learned about it all in the history class and now? Now, he'd get to see it face-to-face... just great.

What a lovely time he'd have in here... although, at least he was given housing, a new chance... He wouldn't want to make his grandpa disappointed in him. He didn't know why, but he already could feel that he was being watched- watched by his grandpa, and he did not want such a great man to feel shame so he'd work hard. A sigh left his lips as he evaluated his situation, his rent was paid for- utilities paid for, so at least he was able to keep his honour intact... His grandfather had said it again and again, and what he said was that an Uchiha child should never be forced to work. He felt mature- He didn't know why, but now, with his grandpa gone, how could he just enjoy life as he did? Obviously, he could not.

He'd be returning to the academy in a week. The pale boy got to training. The sweat dripped from his skinny body. The muscles trembled and burnt, but he'd push on. Kattetsu Uchiha wouldn't be forgotten about, neither would he be killed off by the clan-killer, his grandfather had already sacrificed his life for him, so why waste it?

He couldn't understand at all why did the people of his village hate him. He was supposed to be a part of them. A fellow citizen of Konoha, he could feel their hatred towards him when he closed his eyes- He could feel their chakra flow through their bodies, varying in potency, and size which changed constantly with their emotions, but all he could feel from their chakra was that they were disgusted by his existence and they feared him. He could feel how the energy inside of them came to change, it felt harsh. He felt like he was drowning. Drowning in a sea of hatred and alienation, he didn't know why was he born with the capability to feel their energy, and feel their disgust, but it wouldn't stop. Since his birth, he was forced into the world of an empath. Their emotions drowned him, it was too harsh for him...

Even if he didn't close his eyes, and didn't choose to feel the raw emotion that their energy carried, he still could hear the whispers, their mocking glares, the roughness that their faces took as they saw him. They could easily single him out, even if he were to be hiding between crowds, they looked over all the time to make sure they could find him, and then, they would avoid him like a plague... Even the shop owners did not want his money, they thought that it would have cursed them. He used to have friends in the playground, before he went to the academy, but the horrible stories created about him, and the way the parents ushered their children away from him and gave them material to mock him with...

Naruto was lonely in this crowded world.

They could see him, gently swinging on a wooden swing on the edges of the playground, other kids laughed and played. He observed them as they played ninja. Their friends would hide and ambush them, wooden kunai and shuriken would be thrown at each other freely... As if there was something that was blocking him from their vision, nobody had dared to even get close to him, they did not acknowledge his existence, they did not even look at him and mutter amongst each other on how much of a bad person the boy was. They simply didn't care. He ignored the whispers of the parents, carried by the winds, he was busy reading a book the old man had gave him.

It made his heart feel warm.

The old man was only one who didn't hold any hatred for him, even when he closed his eyes, and when he focused on the chakra of the old man, he could feel no hatred, but only warmth towards him, only compassion that nobody ever had for him, he felt secure with the old man, his energy was enormous, and it sheltered him from the hatred of those around him. He had gave the boy a book on gardening, a few vegetable seeds — like tomatoes and green peppers — and a small kit for him to start gardening, including the fertiliser and the soil. He had told Naruto to be patient and take care of them well, and that he would be rewarded for what he had sown, and he already had became proud of what he was accomplishing when he saw the tiny green sprouts spring out of the soil of the red and yellow pots. Soon enough, he could even feel the energy that they had. It was called... ah, natural energy! He remembered from the lessons on chakra at least... Their natural energy felt soothing, it felt lively, and almost like a shield, they soothed him when he would try to sleep, as he tried to ignore the people around him. They didn't like him at all. Naruto simply could just focus on the natural energy of his home-grown vegetables, oh and he'd get to eat them too, that'd be a treat!

But he couldn't help but notice, on the playground, on those days where he indulged himself in the book of gardening that was gifted by him, there was a pink haired girl of his age, dressed in a pink dress with puffy sleeves, yellow flower designs sprinkled all around it. It was Sakura from their class, and he admired her, the way she took everyone's attention, twirling and spinning around in her dress, bringing joy to both the children and the adults around her, except one blonde-haired girl — Her name was Ino. — she did not like the attention the pink haired girl seemed to be pulling, and Naruto himself knew of their rivalry in the academy... They fought over this bastard with a duckbutt hair that hadn't been going to school for a day or two, and everybody just constantly talked about him! It was so annoying for him. What had that bastard even done to deserve so much love from everyone?! He was so so snobby! He had one of those pens that you knew costed atleast a few thousand ryo.

He was jealous of people like them. People who could spread joy around to those around him just by their looks. Sasuke certainly wasn't one of them though- He had his fame as the son of the Uchiha clan head. Sakura though, she could simply spread joy by being herself, wearing her dresses carelessly, spinning in circles, it looked gorgeous. He couldn't help but compare himself to her. Why did she get the attention of others? Her unique pink hair or emerald green eyes? No, that couldn't be it. He had a bright and lovely shade of yellow too as his hair colour, so that couldn't be it.

Suddenly, Naruto's heart beat faster in excitement and his cheeks burned down, turning rose pink. He had realised one thing and it was that he simply had to dress as nicely as she had to get the attention of the village and try to be as cute as her.

There was one problem though. Naruto did not own a dress, neither did he have a skirt. He couldn't afford it either as he had spent all of the monthly allowance given to him by the old man buying overly priced groceries. He'd have to spend 75 ryo on a pack of twelve eggs. The price tags said 20 ryo, but the owners of the grocery stores claimed that there was a sales tax and forced him to pay, and he had to accept it and move on... He sighed. Another plan of his had failed even before he could start it.

Another day had passed by, after leaving the academy, he returned to his wooden swing, placing his bag by the tree that the swing was hung on, continuing to read the book in his hands, a high-pitched giggle interrupted his session of reading, and his eyes dragged onto Sakura. She was giggling at something her parents had said. He watched as she held her father's hand without hesitation, and her father responded with a kiss on the cheek. Naruto felt his heart throb all of a sudden... He never had someone to hold his hand.

Naruto had enough of this sullen mood, he didn't want to see this any longer, so he walked down towards his apartment, ignoring those around him, whom whispered insults about him, laughed and mocked him. He was about to enter is apartment when he heard the rustling of the trash inside of the metal bin, and the bin being noisily closed, in his curiousity, he peeked at the metal bin, and a civilian girl walking away from it. He quickly stepped away and hid, waiting for the civilian girl to pass by.

A piece of baby blue cloth hanged out from the black cloth bag that was ripped open by the metal edges of the bin. He sized up the street, making sure that nobody was paying attention to him, and when he had confirmed it, timidly, he walked towards the bin, stepping on his toes to not make sound. He opened the metal lid. It wouldn't be the first time for him to rummage though a bin, and it probably wouldn't have been the last. He let out an excited squeal when he found out that there was a baby blue dress inside of the cloth bag, and many old pieces of clothing stacked on top of eachother! He couldn't believe his luck, he just could NOT! He tied the ripped ends of the cloth bag together and ran into his apartment, his heart still beating rapidly as he locked the door.

Naruto was living in an apartment given to him by the old man, it was in the Shinjo district. It wasn't too shabby, and it was close to the central district. It was quite small though, and the red wallpaper had been fading away and paling, creating a pale shade of pink. Water noisily dripped out from the piping of the tap onto the ceramic flooring. A short, small brown table was situated in the middle of his narrow kitchen, passing by it, he had a room where he had a futon laid out, a lamp to do reading with, a floor mirror and a small wardrobe, a library too had founds its place in his room, where he laid down the books and scrolls they used in the academy. The door on the opposite side of his bed was a small bathroom, he hadn't had any warm water in a few weeks, he had told the landowner multiple times about the issue, but nothing was being done.

Naruto abruptly emptied the bag on the floor, old women's clothes pooled and piled on his floor. A grin appeared on his face. Quickly stripping down until all he was left in his boxers, he picked out the baby blue dress dress and tried wearing it, he had managed to even if he was a bit clumsy with it and almost ripped the bodice of the dress, then he straightened out the crinkles of the dress, stepping towards the floor mirror he had. The dress was a bit uncomfortable to wear, the cloth had a texture he was not used at all in his clothing, but he could easily ignore it. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, then he opened his eyes slowly, ready for the reveal.

The skirt of the dress went all the way down to just past his knees, and it was sleeveless, he was glad that he had always wore his jacket even on the hottest of days, he didn't have a tan line on his arms! He looked... rather cute. His cheeks burned up even further with the thought, and he awkwardly tried to imitate how Sakura would twirl around in her skirt, the dress elevated as he spun around, revealing his knees, he tried to play with his hair, to only realise that the spikiness of it made it quite too rough, a frown appeared on his face, and he ran into the bathroom, splashing his hair with the cold water, opening a lone cabinet. It was the time that he'd finally get to use that hairbrush he stole from the hairdresser, it was thoroughly used as evident by the chipped away edges of the teeth of the brush, but they'd work. He forcefully pulled on the hair with the brush, forcing it down to straighten it. His spiky hair was not easy to straighten with its wild nature, but he had finally accomplished what he had wanted, so he walked out of the bathroom and towards the floor mirror.

"Yes! Yes! Hell yeah!" The boy giggled childishly before jumping onto the pair of clothes, swimming around in them and laying down, now they wouldn't hate him anymore, the students at the academy couldn't ignore him either, nobody else would ignore him too. He had become as cute as he could! Would he have to practice with his voice too? Maybe they were happy to be around Sakura for her voice as well... Hm, he'd have to study that, but for now, this was good enough. His name! That had to be changed too. It was a bit too masculine... "I'll go on by Naru. Heh, now, they will SEE how cool I am!"

A week passed by quickly, the mutters, the discussions of the housewives and the pain had all been smothered by the liveliness of each day, all men had their own problems to handle, they couldn't hold onto one issue for so so long, so it was decided that they would not care any longer. To have many things to care for had a heaviness of its own, too many choices... so in the end, each man would care for his own, and now, only the academy students had whispered amongst eachother, waiting for Sasuke Uchiha to finally return for his education after a one week break. Kattetsu had already arrived at the classroom, he sat down with the civilians — He didn't like to sit down with the class heirs, he felt closer to the civilians than them. — and the people around him gave him weird looks. Even Choji did! Usually Choji would have been happy all the time, especially when he had snacks at hand. — It wasn't that strange, it was understandable and it made him rather happy, that they at least cared enough to empathise with him in a way, even if they did not try to soothe him...

Kattetsu laid his arms against the table and rested his head, trying to relax for a bit until their teacher had arrived. Iruka sensei would wake him up when he did start the class anyways. He always had, there was this one troublemaker at their classroom... Naruto! Iruka would always berate him for being so late and trying to prank him or his fellow classmates all the time. He didn't really care for the boy, but he didn't hate him either, he surely had heard the rumours about the boy, but how could such a goofy person be the devil they claimed him to be? It was impossible! He heard heavy footsteps close to him, and he opened his eye, peeking in between of his arms.

It was Choji. The chubby boy hesitantly poked him on the arm. "Um... would you like chestnuts? You seem like you're feeling bad- so, so I decided that I could share my roasted chestnuts with you... My mom roasted them." He muttered, his voice cracking sharply as he talked then he extended his arm towards Kattetsu, pushing the cloth bag of chestnuts towards his face. Kattetsu couldn't hide his surprise, and with a childish grin, he whispered a thank you and took a handful of the chestnuts.

Satisfied that he could put a smile on the face of the pale boy, Choji returned his grin and went back to his seat, he sat down next to the Nara clan heir, Shikamaru. They were very close friends, mostly because Shikamaru was the laziest person in the class and Choji wouldn't push him to do anything that required a lot of work. Sometimes, Choji would even try to play shogi with him, although his visualisation of the shogi board geometry was terrible, he still made the effort to play and Shikamaru was really happy that he did. As soon as Choji had sat down, they had returned to chitchatting until Shikamaru couldn't hold the conversation any longer, leading to him napping.

Kattetsu laid down the chestnuts onto the table and peeled them off their roasted shells, he ate them one by one, as slowly as he could, trying to enjoy the flavour of them. It had a delicate, sweet flavour, it was earthy, nutty... a bit buttery, the Akimichi really knew how to pick the chestnuts quite well. It was fresh as it could be, now, he was a bit jealous of Choji too, knowing that he'd get to eat such lovely snacks each day... He was a jealous boy and he'd admit to that, but it was quite hard not to be jealous. It was an issue that he had to fix. Jealousy was the trait of a rotten soul as one of the elders of the clan had once told him... It was Jun, Elder Jun. He was a good man. His grandpa Gouta was friends with the man. They would have sip on their tea and talk together in the tea garden of the compound.

He didn't have too many memories of those times, but he'd like to hold tightly onto them, wasting memories wasn't something that he wanted to do. There would be nobody else that would remember them after all. Ugh, why was he focusing on these things? He had to focus on what was in front of him. His education. The class would have started soon, his eyes swept through the room, trying to find if Sasuke had arrived yet. He hadn't. Why hadn't he? He was released from the hospital from what he had heard, and hell, Sasuke Uchiha wasn't the kind of guy to be late to the academy...

BANG!

All of the eyes were directed at the loudly opened door, and mouths were left agape. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Naruto was wearing a high-collar creamy white coloured blouse and orange bike shorts. There was a shuriken holster bound to his right thigh. He did a peace sign as his pose, a stupid grin grew on his face.

"You damn pervert!" Sakura shrieked, she couldn't believe her eyes, how could a boy dress like this- especially a boy like Naruto?! "Naruto, you absolute idiot!" She rushed towards him with an overhand punch.

Naruto gulped as he avoided the punch by stepping backwards. Why had they reacted this badly? "Heeeyy- Sakura-chan, calm down, I'll be dressing like this from now on, y'know! I'm no pervert!" He shouted in excitement as his blood was pumped with adrenaline, making a fist towards her face with a pout. The rest of the class was simply too busy laughing at Naruto for humiliating himself this badly, especially Kiba was, he was on the floor as he held onto his stomach, laughing until he heaved. Sakura gulped. Was he being serious? What an idiot! With a sigh that left her lips, she gave up. It would still be the same dumb Naruto, just that he was dressing... weirdly now, like a girl would, but he wasn't one... What a weirdo.

Naruto made his way to his desk- He wouldn't try to sit next to Sakura any longer, he didn't have to! The looks they gave him though, they were rather insulting... With a sheepish look on his face, and his hand on the backside of his head, he sat down, his grin slowly turning to a frown. The civilian he sat down next to quickly got up and went to sit with his friends. Nobody had liked how he dressed. Before Kiba could approach him to mock, Iruka sensei had already entered the classroom and the classroom quickly went silent, except for the footsteps of their sensei. With a knock on the door, Sasuke slipped into the classroom as well.

Iruka raised his eyebrow in a surprised manner. "Sasuke, you're late... I've only entered the classroom myself though, so go and take a seat." The Uchiha boy nodded and quickly made his way to one of the front seats that were left empty. He placed his bag underneath the table and pulled out a brush-tipped pen. It was self-filling with a small vial of of black ink inside of its polished wood exterior. Whispers were kindled, it was hard to pick it up but Sasuke was sure they were talking about him, he kept his silence, looking at Iruka sensei as if he were begging for him to stop them. Iruka met his stare and then he slammed his fist on the desk, silencing them.

"Students, please keep silent! Today, we will be learning about image training and how to approach clients, now we will first begin with dressing the part..."

A long and boring introduction to the topic ensued. On how to be sensible with your articles of clothing, how to make usage of the personal file given to you about the client to adjust your clothing suitably, paying attention to your accessories, learning how to chit-chat with the client, having the mission paperwork well-organised, keeping your life as a shinobi and your personal life separated and not discussing it in any manner, use mirroring and rephrasing as needed to make the client believe that you fully put your attention towards them, it was one of the most boring classes to ever exist.

This lesson continued for an hour or two and Naruto had already lost his focus on the topic by the first fifteen minutes, his notepad completely void of any notes, whilst Sasuke and Kattetsu were heavily involved with the class, taking notes, asking questions on the subject at the moment, overall, this lesson was absolutely horrible. Shikamaru had been shouted at several times during the classroom for sleeping, Naruto had quite a few points taken off as a punishment for not listening even the smallest bit. Sakura, the smartest girl of the class, had studied for this topic beforehand in the 2nd grade, when they had a preliminary class on the theoretical lessons that would be given. The rest were doing well for theirselves except Kiba and a few civilians that couldn't bother to listen to Iruka.

"...And, that is why when your client is a wealthy client, it is better to be adaptable to their needs. You don't want to only push through with strength, you have to prove that you're somebody, both on the physical and mental realm. You both have to train the body and the mind. We will be getting a grasp on the literature of every country one by one, now, I can see that some of you are about to protest! But don't worry, you'll only be memorising names and a few memorable lines. You will be given the scrolls on the topic if you request them from the library... The class is dismissed for now, when the bell rings, please enter the gymnasium area. Today, we will go through the usage of kunai in close-quarters combat for once. We've been training in hand-to-hand combat for two years, now it is time that the students learn how to effectively use their weaponry. Dismissed!"

The class bell rang as Iruka pulled on a string, then he left the classroom, heading upwards through the stairs on the hallway to his office until the class bell would ring once more. Now, to evaluate who he'd be matching up to spar... Hinata was a gentle one, she needed someone that could push her for her to finally stop being so gentle in her sparring. Maybe one of the bullies? There were some mean civilian girls that would treat her quite harshly during the spar after all... Koku-on'na would make a good sparring partner for her. Naruto! Ah, he'd been acting a little weird today, wearing girls clothes- another prank of his, obviously, maybe he'd have to talk some sense into the boy... Hm, Kiba could be a good match as he liked to act masculine, maybe it could show him that it was a stupid prank, or maybe... he'd make him spar with the Uchiha boy, Sasuke. A good — and healthy — rivalry could work well for Naruto. Sasuke was a calm boy unlike Kiba, and Naruto was brash and his blood boiled easily, his stamina was easily a match for Sasuke. Sasuke could find a challenge in him. Sasuke would make a great rival for him.

He took in a long, deep breath and harshly released it. It was going to take a long time to arrange match-ups for everyone. Hopefully, the 20 minutes would be enough or else he'd have to send Mizuki to tend to the gymnasium at least. Now, it wasn't as if he hated Mizuki, but he found that he would favour certain students and hate on a certain few, and he simply was against that, each student had to be treated equally. So, he worked as fast as he could, giving the civilians just random match-ups. He knew that it was a bad thing to do so, but he wanted to make sure that he was there for his students with each step, Mizuki could always handle the class logs for the day while he observed and studied his students to think on what advice he should give them.

And soon enough, the bell rang, satisfied with his work, he tucked the folder by his arm alongside with his fountain pen. Iruka made his way to the gymnasium.

Students were lined up by the limits they had drawn up for the gymnasium with blue paint. There were ten circles of white pain painted and lined perfectly on the centre of the gymnasium, they were the sparring areas for the students, and next to it was a large parkour, it had rope swings, jumping bars, balancing sticks, log rolls, a running field, a flat field and many other things. It was one of the greatest investments that had been done for the academy, and it was open to civilians in the week-ends and holidays, having a special area just for weight-training for the civilians that desired to look muscular.

They were talking amongst each other, discussing what would happen, who would spar with whom, Kiba was quite excited, pumping his fists, the Hyuga seemed to be nervous as her fellow female classmates sized her up, Sakura was the same, nervous, she was one of the weakest students in the class. She hoped that using the kunai wouldn't be too hard. Iruka sensei had finally arrived with a bag of wooden kunai in his right hand, and the class folders tucked underneath his left armpit. He put the bag on the floor. "Alright, listen up! Everyone, please grab a kunai and I'll be explaining the rules." He said, pointing with his hand for them to go and grab onto their kunai. One by one, Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru... they all grabbed their kunai and now, Iruka could start his explanation.

"Now, the first rule of close-quarters combat with a kunai or a similar weapon is that you have to keep a leg's distance away from your opponent unless you're sure that you will be able to outspeed the enemy. If not, then go on a defensive guard, and wait for them to attack, try to push the enemy's kunai away by pressing down on their lower arm, raise your armed hand and finish the job with a quick cut to the wrist, the rest is up to you, you can go many ways from there, a kick to the chest, a side kick, a jumping knee... you could go and cross your arm and make a cut to the neck... If the enemy goes for an overhand, take a full crouch position by lowering your back, side-step and stab the brachialis muscle, if you've studied the anatomy scrolls given, you'll know that it is in the elbow pit. You want to twist or cut diagonally towards the upper arm. If the enemy has approached with a lower strike, then again, try to go for the same muscle, this time, it'll be quite a bit harder, so you might want to step around to get a better look, or just make a slice through the forearm to try to cut the flexor muscle there. This is all. Don't overthink it, those are only a few recommendations, each student will figure out their own way of fighting by sparring with one other."

Everyone had been silenced by the long and detailed explanation given by their sensei. Some thought of applying those recommendations — such as Kattetsu, Sasuke and Shino — whilst others couldn't care about it and were too excited to even fight, like Naruto was. Iruka's eyes scanned his list of students, noticing that most hadn't understood much by it, a sigh was released by his lips as he called out for the names of the first sparring partners.

"Sasuke! Naruto! The two of you are up, take your stances at the sparring ring!"