CHAPTER V: THE OTHER SIDE

Uzumaki Naruto scribbled in his notebook, absently listening to Bastard-sensei drone on and on about long division — the sound of chalk scraping against the blackboard echoing in his ear like a particularly annoying fly. To say Naruto hated maths was an understatement, especially when it was the first class of the day.

Then, as if the gods themselves wanted to make the day worse, something sharp stabbed into his back. Again.

He whipped around, hand groping his back, half-wondering if he'd find a burr stuck to his shirt. Instead, there was nothing. Nothing on his chair, nothing on his shirt. Nothing but his classmate, Ichirū, sitting at the desk behind him, sharpening his pencil.

"What?" asked Ichirū with a sneer.

Naruto frowned then turned away. And, after a moment, he returned to his scribbling, a little more hesitant than before.

Another stab, and another.

Naruto snapped back around, catching the half-smothered grin across Ichirū's face.

"Stop that!" he hissed.

Ichirū grinned. "Stop what?"

"Uzumaki!" barked a voice. Bastard-sensei.

"What?" Naruto replied, snapping around to glare at him. "He was — "

"I don't care!" Bastard-sensei's voice cracked like a whip.

Rough and hard were too good words to describe him, with a bald head lined with scars and a stringy black beard. Like the rest of his teachers, he was dressed in his chūnin uniform, though his hitai-ate hung loose around his neck. He would've been intimidating, if Naruto cared.

"Shut up and try to pay attention."

"But — "

"No 'but's!" Laughter rippled across the classroom, but Bastard-sensei's eyes didn't leave Naruto, black as coal and hard as diamond. "Unless you'd like to stay behind after school?"

"No, sir," Naruto replied, quietly, though his expression didn't change: twisted in a burning, humiliated hate. If only there was a technique that could kill with a look.

Nodding resolute, as if the problem had been solved, Bastard-sensei returned to the lesson. Then Ichirū stabbed Naruto once again, whispering under his breath, mocking: "Try to pay attention, rat-boy."

The scramble out of maths was a stampede, relief mixing with excitement at the prospect of ninjutsu training. Naruto's own mood, however, was still sour. He shuffled along with the rest of his classmates, eyes staring resolutely at the hard-wood floor before him.

Stupid Bastard-sensei, he thought, not for the first time. I didn't do anything wrong! Even a terrible ninja could've seen that, but no — ! If something's wrong, it's gotta be my fault. Bastard.

A moment later, something struck against his shin, hard and unyielding.

He tripped — fell.

Only the instinctual scramble saved him from crashing face first into the hard-wood floors of the academy halls.

Laughter followed after, and Naruto snapped his head around, finding Ryū and his friends, all cut from the same cloth as Ichirū.

Naruto scowled. "What was that for?"

"Try to pay attention, Uzumaki," Ryū replied, voice thick with cruelty. He walked away, his friends following shortly after. "Gods, he's such a retard."

"Who are you calling 'retard'?" Naruto snapped, fire surging through his gut. "You're talking to the next Hokage, believe it!"

They just laughed and laughed. "I'm gonna be the next Hokage!" taunted one, flapping an arm against his chest. Others in the hall — other students — all laughed along, as if it were the greatest joke in the world, and not the eleventy-hundredth time they'd done it. "What an idiot."

Heat washed across his body, anger and humiliation bubbling beneath his skin. Yet, he didn't say anything. Not this time. He just glared at their backs, biting his tongue, hands balled into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms.

Then, he followed after them.

What else could he do?

He followed after, and, predictably, was the last one to arrive. Iruka-sensei was sitting at his desk, waiting patiently for everyone to arrive. Naruto took his seat, beside the miserable looking bushy-brows Lī Ōishi. Only then did Iruka-sensei stand and address the class.

"Good morning," he said, loud and clear.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," everyone replied in kind, though for Naruto and Ōishi, it was half-hearted and long-suffering.

"Today, we'll be revising our False-Transformation Jutsu!" continued Iruka-sensei, smiling brightly, "but afterwards we'll be moving on to something a little bit different."

After ninjutsu class, it was physical education. They went through their stretches, their laps around the Academy grounds, and then it was time for the obstacle course.

Why Katsuki-sensei wanted them to run a glorified jungle-gym while all tired, sweaty, and achy was beyond Naruto, but he didn't complain — beside ninjutsu, physical education was the only fun he had at the academy.

Split into four teams of six (and one of seven), Katsuki-sensei sent students off in waves, each marked with the shrill screech of his whistle.

Naruto was stuck in the last group, watching the rest of his class stumble across the obstacles, tripping across uneven ground, vaulting over low barriers, and scrambling beneath a tangled field of wire. He watched, and he couldn't help but think: I could do better.

Anticipation bubbled within his gut, longing to run, to climb, to show everyone what he could do. Sure, he might not be the fastest, or the best with a sword, but Naruto had stamina. He could run, climb, crawl, and swim a lot longer than anyone else in his class. The others were still bent over from their laps around the academy, hands braced against their knees, steadying their breathing, but Naruto was up, and raring to go.

Then, it was time.

With a final shriek of Katsuki-sensei's whistle, it was time, Naruto startled, nearly jumping out of his skin, and stumbling forward on instinct — breaking into a sprint once his mind caught up with him. Around him, the rest of his group followed, a veritable stampede as they threw themselves head-first into the obstacle course.

It was madness. A familiar madness as almost a dozen eight-year-olds scrambled across a crater-pocked field, trying desperately not to trip over or sprain their ankles.

Some slowed, cautious, even if just by a little bit.

Naruto didn't.

Blood pumping in his heart, Naruto sprinted across the field, almost leaping across the craters in a frenzied excitement and single-minded focus.

By the time he slammed into the first of the waist-high barriers, Naruto was soundly in the lead — a wide grin splitting his face as he vaulted over barrier after barrier, leaving everyone in the dust.

Then, he reached the wire field.

Naruto hated the wire field.

The barbs snagged on his clothes, abrasive against his skin. It felt tight, almost suffocatingly so, as he struggled through the wire, even as the bark-chips slipped beneath his clothes, leaving him writhing uncomfortably.

Behind him, Naruto could hear someone curse under their breath: Ryū, slipping through the wires just behind him, far quicker than Naruto.

"Get out of the way, rat-boy!" Ryū snapped, pulling at Naruto's legs.

Naruto kicked back, scrambling forward as fast as he could. "Get off!"

He was the first to escape the web of wire, wasting no time throwing himself at the climbing wall after. He was barely half way up before he felt something yank hard on his shirt.

His grip faltered,, and he fell, slamming onto the bark-chips on the ground.

"I told you to get out of my way!" Ryū snapped.

Naruto threw himself to his feet, and pushed Ryū back. "And I told you to leave me — "

Naruto's face exploded in pain, and he was thrown back onto the ground.

Holding his cheek, he stared at Ryū, heat bubbling beneath his skin. "You hit me!"

Ryū was ignoring him, already throwing himself at the climbing wall.

Naruto saw red and, before he knew it, he was standing over the boy, Ryū writhing on the ground, holding his nose as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You bastard!"

"What's going on here?" thundered Katsuki-sensei.

Naruto froze, staring up at Katsuki-sensei with wide eyes. "I — he — !"

"You first," Katsuki-sensei snapped, looking at Ryū.

"He hit me!" Ryū said, pointing at Naruto, glaring furiously. "I was just climbing the rope when the spaz — "

"He's lying — !" Naruto roared, all instinct demanding that he shut the boy up with another punch, but then Katsuki-sensei's hand gripped his shoulder, as unyielding as stone, tight enough it almost hurt.

"Enough!" he spat. "No interruptions!"

"So Naruto threw me off and started attacking me! He was doing it in the wire field, too, kicking me as I tried crawling through!" Ryū continued, all the while he tested his nose. "I — I think he broke my nose."

"Let me see," Katsuki-sensei began, checking Ryū's nose. It didn't look that bad. There was only a little bit of blood. No less than he deserves, that lying bastard. Katsuki-sensei rolled his eyes. "You're fine. Walk it off." Then, he turned to Naruto. "Well, Uzumaki. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"He lied," Naruto spat. "He was bullying me in the wire field, and then when I got to the wall first — because I'm the fastest — he threw me off! And I was only kicking him because he kept on pulling my leg and calling me names."

It was then Katsuki-sensei asked a simple question: "Did you punch him?"

"I — " Naruto didn't know what to say. Yes, because he did punch him, but he deserved it! Yet, he knew — could see it in Katsuki-sensei's eye — that it didn't matter. Katsuki-sensei had made up his mind. Naruto was guilty. Hanging his head, Naruto answered in the only way Katsuki-sensei would accept. "Yes. I hit the bastard."

Katsuki-sensei scowled. "Uzumaki, you're disqualified. Take a seat. We'll be talking about this later."

Naruto seethed, watching classmates train with shuriken — sharpened stars of metal slamming into wooden posts with a dull thud! It was one lesson among many this past semester that put their previous training to the test — speed and accuracy.

Konohako Tenten was demolishing everyone, of course. She always did when it came to weapon's training. A lot of people didn't like Tenten, but Naruto didn't know why.

He vaguely remembered her from Mother Yakushi's orphanage and, though they weren't friends — not then, not now — it wasn't like she was mean or annoying. Not like the perpetually grumpy Hyūga Neji, second best when it came to shuriken training, who glared at the scarred posts like they had just insulted his precious Hyūga hair.

Now he was a piece of work, with a tongue sharper than his kunai and a mean-streak to match.

But it was always so cool watching Tenten perform. She had so much grace and flair, eyes never leaving the posts as she unleashed shuriken after shuriken, striking the post dead centre every time until they were bouncing off one another.

Yet, Naruto found he couldn't enjoy the sight. No. He was stuck, sitting on the other side of the training field, alone, ignored, fuming with indignant rage. He started it! he thought, glaring at the back of Katsuki-sensei as if the spiral on his uniform was some kind of target. I didn't even do anything!

Suffice to say, Naruto's day was ruined.

After physical education, he'd get a lecture, and then he'd be shipped off for two more boring classes — geography and philosophy — before finally being freed just in time for detention with Iruka-sensei. All the while Ryū got off scot-free, got to throw shuriken, got to skip the lecture, and the detention, and then got to hang out with friends. Bastard.

That wasn't even the worst of it. The whole day was rotten. Rotten to its puss-oozing, worm-riddled core. It started off rotten, and he knew it'd stay rotten. Who knew? Maybe someone would put tacks on his chair, or steal his stuff — again. Maybe they'd get him into more trouble, and he'd have to get even more detention. Maybe he might be expelled.

Anger turned to bitterness then to hurt. Naruto felt his legs tremble, bouncing furiously, jaw clenching and shoulders aching from how tightly wound his muscles were. I hate this. I hate everything! Why can't they all just leave me alone?

Naruto sighed a shuddering sigh, throat hurting in a sob he refused to let out, and stared off at the outer wall of the Academy. I just wanna go home.

He was done for the day, and he had zero hope for the coming classes.

Why bother sticking around?

A moment later, Naruto realised he didn't have a good answer.

I'm already in trouble, he thought, sniffling, already justifying it in his mind. What else are they going to do?

He glanced back at the class, wondering if he was actually going to just skip the rest of the day. It wouldn't be the first time, but it wasn't something he did often. For a moment, he hesitated, considering. What if I got caught? he wondered. What would they do?

Then he spotted Ryū stepping up for his turn throwing shuriken, and scowled.

Screw it.

It didn't take long after that to figure out a plan and execute it.

He got up, and walked toward Katsuki-sensei, trying to look properly chastised. "Excuse me, Katsuki-sensei."

"What is it, Uzumaki." It almost surprised Naruto how people could speak his name like it was a Bad Word.

"I need to go toilet, sensei," Naruto answered.

Katsuki-sensei rolled his eyes. "Fine." He pulled a slip from a pocket on his vest and handed it to Naruto. It was a crumpled slip of pale blue paper, the words "toilet pass" written across it in thick calligraphy, and signed by Katsuki-sensei himself. "You got five minutes."

Naruto bowed, politely, and immediately sprinted off.

To be fair, Naruto did need to go toilet — and did so. Only, when he left, he stuck the toilet pass in the crack of the door, leaving for whoever would come next. Maybe it'd be Katsuki-sensei, or whoever he sent searching for Naruto. It didn't matter who. Naruto had only spent a second making sure the pass was wedged safely before he left, making his way to one of the few side gates of the Academy.

For a moment, he thought today's shitty luck would strike again. Lie after lie came to mind. It wasn't like everyone knew Naruto was in time out, and even then…? Katsuki-sensei wanted me to get something. That would work well enough. Maybe a classmate had vomited and Katsuki-sensei wanted Naruto to get the cleaning products?

'You're not causing trouble, are you, Uzumaki?' he thought in his best mental impression of Bastard-sensei. Of course not! They're doing shuriken training, today. Do you think I'd want to miss that?

All he'd have to do was hope the lie was bought, and he'd be home free.

None of that happened, though.

Naruto made it to the side-gate and slipped out without issue.

It was easy.

Too easy.

He half expected someone to bellow his name, raise an alarm, and hunt him down just to send him to an early detention proper. Maybe they'd just suspend him outright?

Yet, nothing happened.

Naruto just left.

The fresh air brought a faint smile to his lips. He felt lighter, now. Freer. Dark thoughts still plagued the corners of his mind, but he felt he could put all that behind him.

His apartment was two districts away from the academy. Over a thirty-minute walk.

Naruto huffed, still feeling the ache from Phys-Ed., and began the long journey back.

By the time he finally arrived at his apartment, his legs were burning with an indignant fury. He ignored it, though. Pushing himself to scale the stairs, he made his way to his apartment, throwing himself inside and slamming the door shut behind him.

Then, he collapsed onto his bed.