Masaharu exhaled quietly as she rested her cheek against the palm of her hand. It had been a few years since she's enrolled in this schooling system and it had been a grating couple of years. Completely aware of the blessedness of her situation, it was hard to dumb herself down to the level of her peers. She blew through the academic portion of the academy and was like a fish in water for the shinobi portion, using her previous knowledge and fully matured mind to her advantage. She was given the opportunity to graduate early, even offered an apprenticeship from an old mummified councilman. He started coming around within the first year of her schooling, always flanked by this masked bodyguards. He attempted to convince her mother and her boss, three more incidences followed, before his visits completely stopped and she never saw the mummified old man again.
Instead, another old man took his place; a towering, broad figure, very similar to the men of the Southern Water Tribe, and hair as long and as white as parchment, permanent red tear lines streaked his cheeks. He was nice, though a bit of an idiot and he always appeared at the brothel at least once every year.
"Of course, why? Because we have been practicing it multiple times with you."
Shino's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she glanced just as Naruto began to slump, his body continuing to slide down his chair until it was just his head appearing over his desk. "But what if," he mumbled, just audible enough for his two friends to hear. "-what if they ask me to perform the clone jutsu?"
A frown marred her features and Masaharu reached out, running her hand through his spiky blond locks. She looked up, making eye contact and exchanging a knowing look with Shino. Usually, it was her position as the mature one to offer comfort and encouraging words upon situations like this but… Furrowing her eyebrows, the raven-haired girl sent the Aburame a pointed look, shifting her eyes to Naruto's prone figure and back to him.
Shino stared at her, behind dark sunglasses and Masaharu locked gazes with him, shifting her eyes back to the blond again.
Letting out a soft exhale, Shino began, "Then you still won't fail, why?" Naruto glanced up at him, and he continued knowing he had his full attention. "Because you have a contingency plan. Did we not help you master that genjutsu technique for a case such as that?" he paused and couldn't help but sweatdrop at Naruto's gawking. He jaw was dropped so wide, it was almost comical. "Please close your mouth, why?" he ignored the amused grin Masaharu sent him. "-because you will start to catch flies."
Shino jumped when a hand clamped down onto his shoulder. "Shino you… you…" A sniffing sound reached his ears and from his peripheral vision, he saw a waterfall of tears pour out of Naruto's eyes. "-you really do care!" he sobbed. A chill shot through Shino's spine as Naruto continued to cry, clutching his shoulder and wiping a stream of snot from his nose into the sleeve of his jacket.
Looking over Naruto's shoulder, Shino shot a brief 'help me' look to Masaharu, tilting his head ever so slightly towards the crying blond. Instead, she placed her hand against her cheek and she gave him an adoring look. "He really does care, doesn't he?" and she made no move to remove the sobbing blond from his shoulder.
Shino quickly looked away, attempting to hide the rising blush that quickly dusted over his cheeks. He dipped his chin further under the high collar of his jacket, and he was somewhat successful if it weren't for the red tips of his ears. "Enough," he mumbled as he gently pushed Naruto away from him. "You both are unbelievable" he huffed, and his two friends couldn't help but laugh.
They silenced when their two chunnin instructors entered the classroom, calling for attention. "Attention everyone!" Iruka-sensei called and his voice rang through the classroom, silencing all side chatter. "We are going to start the physical portion of your graduation exams so listen carefully for your name and proceed to the next classroom! We shall start with; Aburame, Shino."
Almost instantly both Masaharu and Naruto chimed "Good luck Shino!" in perfect unison. The said boy replied with a curt nod and began walking confidently to the examination room. Just before he stepped in, he heard a faint "Remember to breathe!" followed by an obnoxious "You've got this Shino!" Ahead of him, he saw pony-tailed teacher pinch the bridge of his brow muttered something incoherent on his loud, annoying friend.
Although, no matter how obnoxious, loud and sometimes annoying his friends may be… Shino was thankful for how high his collar was, hiding the faint smile that traced over his lips.
Once the door closed, almost instantly the chatter picked up.
Turning to Naruto, Masaharu took note the slight tremor in his clenched hands. Pursuing her lips, she slung her arm around his shoulders, pulling the Uzumaki into a side embrace. "Hey," she whispered as she rested her cheek against the top of his hair. "-you're going to pass this, you've got it" she murmured as she ran her hand up and down his back comfortingly. She had always been a physically affectionate person in her previous life and it was no different in this one.
Naruto stiffened completely as his body was suddenly pressed up against his female friend's side, his face tinging red as it fell into the crook of her neck. He was close enough to feel her smooth skin, the stray strands of hair from her braid tickled his face and the scent of her peachy shampoo that filled his nostrils. He flushed an even darker shade of scarlet.
The Uzumaki suddenly felt a feeling of dread and a shiver ran down his spine. Straightening up, he looked around wondering where this malicious feeling was coming from. Turning his head, a perfect 180, he locked eyes with the weird Hinata girl; her eyes narrowed, and the white irises made her look much more frightening. Hinata was usually always plastered with a red face whenever she was around his friends and sometimes, he would spot her hiding conspicuously whenever the trio hung out after school. This instance seemed to be an exception, instead of her usual shy smile, she was glowering in his direct. He could practically see her jealous ire take shape, a dark malevolent aura took form, growing as it swirled over her head.
Sensing that if he held onto Masaharu any longer, so would inevitably lead to his impending doom; he quickly separated himself, lowering his head and drawing his knees to his chest in an almost protective fetal position.
With both eyebrows shooting upward, Masaharu gazed over her shoulder curious to what made her blond friend so nervous. Right behind the duo, she spotted Hinata watching him rather intensely and she wondered if the girl was just as anxious.
Raising her hand to catch her attention; the dark-haired girl waved to the Hyūga, mouthing a silent "good luck" accompanied with a playful wink. As she turned her attention back to the front, she missed the instant change in Hinata's face. The crease and intensity in her face disappeared and it was replaced with a dark crimson shade that erupted from her neck and slowly made its way up to her cheeks, to the tips of her ears and to the tips of her forehead. Steam began to rise from her head and slowly, the Hyūga began to sway back and forth before falling behind the desk with a loud thud.
Eyes flying wide, Naruto, who had witnessed the whole exchange, hesitantly stood up and peeked over the edge. He found her lying in a supine position; the pigment of her face completely scarlet, a content smile spread across her lips, eyes closed, and a trickle of blood fell from her right nostril.
The Uzumaki turned away deliberately as he returned to his seat. He kept his face forward, emotion devoid of his face, pretending he hadn't just seen his best friend kill their classmate with a wink.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Masaharu stared at the half-eaten taiyaki sullenly, losing her appetite as she allowed the cooked red beans already starting to spill out onto the table. She fell sideways as if her energy was sapped away from her, and the brunet beside her allowed her body to press up against him for comfort.
Shino hummed, his colony beginning to buzz at the additional body heat on his right side, a frown marring his usually impassive face. "Naruto should have been allowed to pass the first time, why?" he turned his head slightly to meet his friend's crestfallen gaze. "Despite his defective clone jutsu, he should have at least passed with the genjutsu one. If he performed the illusion correctly, then it would demonstrate that he obviously has his skills polished enough to make at least the genin rank."
Nodding slowly, the dark-haired girl straightened. "Yeah…" she paused, thinking for a few moments. "Lee has trouble using his chakra, doesn't he?" she questioned, recalling their recent addition to their little friend group. "He told us that something was wrong with his chakra coils?"
Thinking back, Shino did recall Lee mentioning something like that. That was the Sunday where they met Rock Lee, an older boy wearing a faded mint green tangzhuang jacket and white trousers. Their upperclassman wanted to focus on his hand to hand combat and taijutsu, wanting to prove to everyone he can become a competent shinobi despite his disability.
"Lee-san was able to become a genin, why?" Shino turned, and his dark spectacles shined brightly against the light of the setting sun. "-because he was given a different physical portion of the exam to fulfill his…" he paused for a moment, thinking of an appropriate word. "-abnormality."
"Which is completely unfair to Naruto!" the ravenette exclaimed rather hotly, jolting up from her slump position. "Naruto is at the same standing as Lee-" Shino nodded in agreement, knowing both boys were clanless orphans. "-and he worked just as hard despite his shortcomings! Why didn't Iruka-sensei or Mizuki-sensei give him this exception?!" she slammed her fist against the bench top, her anger and frustration getting the better of her.
In the tea house behind her, several civilians yelped in surprise as water burst out violently, multiple porcelain teacups shattering to pieces. Immediately taking note of his friend's agitation Shino reached over and placed his hand over hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Masaharu took in a deep breath calming down her nerves, though her lower lip jutted out as she clenched her jaw tightly. "We shall bring this up to the Hokage, why?" Shino tilted his head, his dark sunglasses glinting in the sunlight. "He seems unusually favorable to Naruto. He might be able to give him an exception and influence Naruto's retake."
Furrowing her eyebrows, the dark-haired girl thought back to the old man with the funny hat, who apparently was the most powerful person in this village. She did not like how the government system was set up. It was somewhat set up like a monarchy, no republic of elected leaders, most of the governmental power goes under the elder council consisting of only elder shinobi and not elder civilians, the significant level difference between shinobi clans and those who aren't, along with the lack of care this place seems to have the parentless children. The orphanage isn't even located in the village! She also thought it was rather unusual that each Hokage was somewhat related to another; the Nidaime was the brother of the Shodai, the Sandaime was the student of the Nidaime and the Yondaime was the student of a previous member of Sandaime's genin team. This was too much to be a coincidence [1].
The more she thought about this place, the more bitterness she felt. She was thankful that, even though she was an orphan like Naruto and Lee, she still had people she could call family. She knew they were not perfect, they weren't a typical nuclear family and some might say prostitutes were not usually considered great influences, but she loved her mother and the rest of the Petal courtesans of the Red-Light District with all her heart and she wouldn't trade them for anything.
Breaking out of her thoughts, she shook her head. "Okay, Shino-" grabbing his hand, she proceeded to drag the Aburame boy towards the Hokage Tower, not leaving room for a protest. "-let's go bust out the big lettuce."
Naruto exhaled softly as he stood in the middle of gramps' office, tugging on the lobe of his right ear absentmindedly. He didn't pay mind to the heated discussion between Iruka-sensei and the old man, his teacher both commending and berating his "irresponsible actions". Naruto rolled his eyes, fueling Iruka-sensei's frustration and his ranting got louder.
It wasn't even his fault, he muttered silently to himself. It was all Mizuki-sensei—not sensei, he quickly corrected himself, his body filling with bitterness and anger of the man who betrayed and tricked him. Anyway, so what if he stole a super-secret scroll? At least he got a really cool secret jutsu out of it and finally passed his genin exams. He couldn't wait to show it off to his friends, especially Haru. She would be so proud of him, he could already feel giddy with excitement.
"H-Hey you can't go in there!"
Iruka-sensei stopped yelling, the three silently straining their ears to hear a loud commotion down the hall. They could hear several people screaming and shouting and his head perked up when he heard a familiar female voice over the ruckus.
The heavy doors burst open and his two friends flew into the room brazenly, stances puffed up with confidence. "Excuse us for the intrusion Lord Hokage," the Aburame heir began. "-but we have a very important matter to discuss with you-"
"We think you should let Naruto become a genin!" the tall girl burst out, wanting to get straight to the point. "We think Naruto was assessed unfairly and there should be an exception and-!" she halted when Shino elbowed her side. "Shino" she hissed, rubbing her arm. "I'm in the middle of-" she paused again, looking in the direction he was nodding. Her doe-gray eyes met azure ones and she took in his scuffed, battered form before trailing up to the new shiny addition that adorned his forehead.
She gasped loudly, before bodily throwing herself at the blond, her arms finding its way around his neck. "Naruto you passed!" she squealed, already hopping up and down in her excited enthusiasm.
Shino displayed a rare smile, sauntering over to the duo and he clapped his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Congratulations", he barely made out before huffing sharply as the air knocked out of his lungs when two different arms reached out to pull him into a tight embrace. Heat began to rise from his neck to his cheeks and his two friends grinned at him cheekily. He quickly ducked half his face into his coat collar to hide his embarrassment, but he accepted the group hug anyway.
Amidst all the joy, Iruka and Sarutobi watching the heartwarming scene with happy smiles of their own, Naruto suddenly recalled a classified secret Mizuki had shared with him during their battle. He was unable to keep the frown from his features as negative thoughts began to swirl in his head.
As if sensing inner distress, Masaharu's hand suddenly appeared inches from his and she lightly tapping her index finger on the tip of his nose. "Stop thinking so hard" she stated before a dazzling grin appeared on her face. "-you might bust your brain or something" chuckling, she withdrew her finger and tapped her own nose with a wink.
"That would be impossible, why?" Shino quickly interjected from beside her and even though half of his face was obscured by his tall coat collar, Naruto knew him long enough to sense the Aburame was smirking. "-because this is Naruto, we will never have to worry about that ever happening."
Instantly the blond protested an indigent "hey!" causing the remaining residents of the room to chuckle. A small smile appeared at the sight of his laughing friends. He couldn't believe that they broke into the Hokage Tower to convince the old man to make him a genin, just for him. That scum Mizuki was wrong, he did have people in his life that really cared for about him.
But… his train of thought trailed off as he suddenly clutched the fabric over his stomach. If they knew the secret inside him… would they still be friends with him? If he told them and she—they cut ties with him, he could feel his insides twisting painfully at the thought and he could practically taste the sourness that filled his mouth.
Naruto allowed his dark-haired friend to tug him along, declaring to treat him to dango as a congratulatory present and Shino followed closely behind, rattling directions to the best dumpling stand.
The blond beamed broadly, touched by their actions. He thought back to the monster that lay within the pit of his stomach, one thought echoed through his brain as the trio left the office and nagged continued to nag for the rest of the night.
Do I really deserve this?
[1] … and later the Godaime, who is the daughter of Shodai and the student of Sandaime. The Rokudaime, the only surviving student of the Yondaime and the Nanadaime, who is both the son of the Yondaime and student of the Rokudaime.