Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay. A certain MMO expansion was released and... well you all know how that goes! Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 15
"Meiko! What are you doing? Hurry up!"
Kiyomi was at my side, practically shouting into my ear. "Sheesh, there you go spacing out again. Come on, we have to go join up with our class!" Taking my hand in hers, Kiyomi began dragging me away from the notice board.
"O-oh right, sorry about that." I apologized, picking up the pace so I could walk alongside her. Mana was waiting for us just a few steps ahead, seeing Kiyomi holding my hand she decided to join in, smiling as she grabbed my remaining free one. Swinging both our arms in wide arcs as we made our way towards the growing groups. I couldn't help but chuckle, at the very least she wasn't cowering behind me anymore.
Iruka's class was the first group we passed. Now separated from the crowd I could finally start picking out familiar faces. Most of the kids in the group I did not recognize, however the sound of loud, repeated crunching drew my attention. The source was a larger boy with spiky brown hair. On his cheeks were red spiral markings. That must have been Choki Akimichi, which would logically make the lethargic boy next to him Shikamaru Nara. Honestly, I had thought I would find it strange to see those two this young. But time had taken its toll, even with my memories being refreshed I was having trouble recalling what they looked like when I read and watched the series. There were some things that still stuck out, Choji's facial markings being an example, but most other things had long faded.
There were three more people I could recognize in the group, Sasuke of course being one of them. He stood off to the side, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, trying to act like the cool kid I assumed. Then there was Ino, if not for the fact she had her hair cut short and straight I might have mistaken her for Kiyomi. The two were practically sisters in appearance. Ino was already talking with a small group of girls, but waved to her cousin as we passed by. Kiyomi gave a quick wave back but was more focused on our own group.
Lastly was Naruto, once again being ostracized from the group. At least now he was looking a bit more excited for things to begin. I could see Iruka giving him a side eye, probably making sure he keeps himself in line. Our eyes happened to meet again for a brief moment. If my hands weren't occupied, I would have at least given him a friendly wave. Instead all I could do was smile as Kiyomi pulled harder.
"Come on you two, hurry up!" She moaned. We passed by the other classes quite quickly, each one a host of colourful characters but none really stood out to me. At least, not until we finally stood before the group of Class D members. There was one student who would not be able to do anything but stand out. The boy stood a good head taller than the others at least and practically twice as wide. I honestly thought he must have been at least ten to twelve years old. Like Choji, he too was munching away at a bag of snacks, three more emptied ones sat abandoned at his feet.
"No way! Shun! Over here!" Kiyomi called out, once again yanking me along behind and Mana following suit. The large boy turned towards us in response to Kiyomi's call. His face instantly brightening up as he quickly wiped the crumbs of potato chips from his lips.
"Oh, Kiyomi!" He called back, his voice practically booming, taking many of the other kids by surprise. "Hey Rei, check it out! Kiyomi's in our class!" By the giant boy's side was a much smaller girl. She swung around to face our group at the large boy's urging. She appeared to be shy at first but seeing us, her face lit up just as the boy's had.
Once again pulling us along, Kiyomi was beaming with happiness. "Hey guys! I can't believe it! You're in Class D too!?"
The large boy nodded, "Yup, I guess I should have checked for your name. Once I found mine and Rei's, we were so excited we just made our way over." He let out a chuckle, his belly visibly vibrating.
"Hello Kiyomi, I'm glad you're in our class." The girl added, her way of speaking was surprisingly formal and her voice on the quieter side. It was difficult to hear her clearly over the background banter. She then turned to me, "May I ask your names?"
Before Mana or I could respond, Kiyomi stepped in between the two groups. "Right! Introductions!" She said and turned to us. "Meiko, Mana, these are my friends Shun Akimichi and Rei Nara." Motioning with her hand to each of them, Shun nodded, pulling his bag of chips out again while Rei bowed respectfully. "Like me, they're from big shinobi clans. The three of us have been friends for as long as I can remember."
"Shun, Rei, this is Meiko Hashimoto and Mana Nakotsumi." This time it was my turn to bow, I attempted to imitate Rei's quite proper bow but even I could tell mine was far clumsier. Meanwhile I could feel Mana sliding in behind me again, hand gripping my sleeve at the shoulder.
I could feel Shun's eyes scanning me up and down as he downed another handful of jerky bits, ""So you're Meiko, Kiyomi talks about you a lot." He mumbled while chewing. "I thought you'd look more like a boy from what she's told me."
"Oh... Really?" I said through a stiff, false smile. "What else did she say?"
"H-hold on a sec!" Kiyomi suddenly cut in, panic evident in her voice. Which, of course, only made me want to hear more of what Shun had to say. "I-I just said what a cool and awesome friend Meiko is! Right Shun!? Riiiight!?"
"U-uhm!" Rei stepped forward, practically straining her voice to be heard over Kiyomi's frantic wailing, "I-I think you look very cute Meiko!"
The word practically reverberated in my ears, causing my entire body to freeze. "Cute." I don't think anyone other than my Mom had ever called me that before. Sure, people saying I looked like a boy bothered me, I could finally admit that, but I never thought the opposite would feel so... Good. "O-oh..." I awkwardly stammered, eyes falling to the ground. "Thanks..." My face was so hot, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and pretend no one could see me.
"Whew" Kiyomi sighed, "Nice one Rei. I'll have to remember that trick." I heard her say but I was in no condition to make any sort of retort. Rei, for her part, did not seem to quite understand what Kiyomi had meant. "Anyway," Kiyomi continued, swiftly changing the subject while grabbing Mana and shoving the girl forward. "Say hi Mana! Don't worry, Shun is big but he doesn't bite."
Still recoiling from Rei's devastating attack, I was unable to try and lend a hand for Mana's introduction. The poor girl simply stood silently while Kiyomi tried to get her to speak up. Thankfully for her, this did not last too long before a familiar voice called for quiet. Iruka's voice rang out so loud it completely drowned out the chatter of about one hundred children and yet he wasn't shouting. I could only assume it was some kind of jutsu.
"May I have your attention please!" Iruka called out, everyone quickly falling silent and many in awe at the feat. "It looks like everyone has found their classes. Your teachers will now take a quick roll call and, once we determine everyone is where they should be, we will begin the tour of the facilities. Please line up in a single file fashion and listen for your name to be called, thank you!"
Once Iruka had finished speaking, the chatter immediately began again, causing the teachers to individually call for silence from their respective classes. "You heard him, quiet down and line up!" Our teacher called out, reminding me just who we had at the head of our class. Mizuki, well, Mizuki-sensei now, tapped at a clipboard while he waited for everyone to comply. It did not take long either, everyone silently began to shuffle into a rough line, a few students leaning off to one side or the other so they could see the front.
Once all five classes were lined up, the teachers began listing off names. Students would respond with a simple here and raise their hand. By leaning out to the side a bit, I too could see to the front. Every time Mizuki-sensei, it felt weird thinking about him that way, called a name and got a response, he would make a quick mark on his clipboard. Things were proceeding smoothly until Mana's name came up.
"Mana Nakotsumi?" Mizuki-sensei called, the dark skinned girl stood before me, silent and still. "Mana Nakotsumi?" He called again, I quickly gave Mana a quick tap on the shoulder.
"You're up." I whispered, Mana jumping at my touch and a small yip escaping her. It took a conscious effort to not laugh. Mana then quickly rose her hand just before Mizuki could call for a third time.
"Finally, next time answer the first time I call you." He grumbled, marking his board once again. With the roll call completed, the teachers then asked if anyone did not have their names called. We then had to wait an extra few minutes while a few stray students found their proper class groups. Poor kids were glowing red as they quickly darted to their proper groups.
With everything sorted out, the orientation could finally begin. As we made our way towards the building's entrance, anxiety once again started to swell in my chest. Different from earlier when I froze up, this anxiety was from simple excitement. I couldn't help but laugh to myself, I was actually excited to be going to school. My eyes then fell on my new teacher, Mizuki. Sure, this wasn't the optimal outcome, if I had a choice I would have obviously placed myself in Iruka's class. But still, he was a fully approved instructor. I really couldn't remember much about the guy anyway, maybe he would be a good teacher and it was only something later that would cause him to try and steal that scroll. Besides, I had my friends with me, that was more than enough.
Passing through the academy's doors we entered the entrance hall. The space was small and lined with four rows of small lockers. Beyond, it quickly narrowed into a hallway, the walls flanking it having two large boards mounted upon them. The board to the left had a calendar with a few marks and the board on the right just held a few papers.
"Here you'll find your classrooms, you will report to your homeroom at the start of every day." Iruka began as we slowly made our way deeper into the building, his voice echoing throughout the narrow hallway. The classroom doors were left open so we could take a peek inside. They were relatively small, a large blackboard spread the length of one wall with a podium sat before it. Opposite that the desks were assigned in a sort of lecture hall style. Three ascending rows split into two columns. Each classroom was practically a mirror of the last.
"This first floor is for you first years, in your second year you'll move to the second floor and again for the third year. From your fourth year and up, you'll be moved to the neighbouring building and repeat the process." Iruka's explanation continued, "Also remember to check the notice boards everyday, they are located near the entrance and will have any important information updated regularly. We may be teachers here, but we too will occasionally be called out on duty. If that's the case, we will leave your class's instructions on the board."
The tour continued into the next building, this one opening into a large gymnasium. Interestingly enough, the one wall of the gym was wide open to the outside, allowing us a good view of the field. A couple training dummies were already set and ready for use along another wall while our group currently stood on a catwalk above. Iruka informing us there were three other gymnasiums like this and were all free for student use, although as first years we would require teacher supervision.
The last stop was outside to get a quick look at the fields. While small compared to the gymnasium, there were several defined areas that looked to be large enough to support a single class each. A single large shed sitting off in the corner, likely containing various bits of equipment.
With the tour completed, we were led back to our classrooms. "Alright, go take your seats somewhere. It doesn't matter where, just take whatever is open." Mizuki-sensei said as we entered before striding behind the podium, his clipboard smacking down with a loud bang. As we filed in I was hoping to get a seat up at the back but sadly, those were the first to be filled in.
"Come on guys, we gotta go together!" Kiyomi said and started pushing her way in, aiming for the second row at least. Thanks to her more forceful measures, and Shun's sheer size aiding her, Kiyomi got the seat by the window in the second row with Shun and Rei taking the spots beside her. Each desk had space for about four students, I could have taken the final seat but I opted against it. Instead, I took Mana's hand and guided her to the front row, taking our seats in front of Kiyomi and her friends.
"Alright, everyone is finally settled in so we can begin." Mizuki-sensei said, taking a moment to look over the class. "First things first, I have your itinerary here." He then produced a stack of papers, splitting it into two piles and made his way over to the centre aisle. "Pass those around," He commanded before turning back to the podium.
"This will be your class schedule for the coming semester." He explained as I received my copy, passing the stack to Kiyomi behind me. According to the sheet, mornings would be devoted to general education. A growing moan began to echo through the room as more and more people realized that we would be starting off the day with math of all things. I added to the chorus with my own groan.
"That's enough belly-aching." Mizuki commanded, quieting the class somewhat. There were still a few students who were not pleased. Continuing to read, we would have a short recess mid-morning with the time before lunch labelled as Chakra Studies. I went to raise my hand to ask what it would entail but Mizuki was quick to shut that down. "No questions. People are still getting their papers."
After lunch was when the interesting classes would start. Beginning with Basic Taijutsu and Weaponry classes before another recess followed by Jutsu Basics. The last slot however was a bit different. There was instead two different classes. One was labelled as Self Study while the other Kunoichi Studies. I started raising my arm again when a piece of chalk shot past my head, crashing loudly into the desk behind me and shattering, causing me to freeze instantly.
"I said. No. Questions." Mizuki-sensei reiterated, barely hiding his frustration. I quickly and meekly lowered my arm and chose to instead stare into my desk. I could hear Kiyomi snickering behind me.
"Okay, everyone has had a chance to look over their papers? Good, we can move on." Mizuki said as he turned and began to write on the board. I guess there was just going to be no questions period. When he was finished, 'Introductions' was written in large letters. "I assume you call can figure out what's going on. We'll just go left to right, when its your turn, come up and tell the class about yourself." He then pointed to a girl sitting on the far side of the room from me.
"Ehhh." She moaned, "Why do I have to go first?"
"Because I said so." Mizuki replied sternly, I could see the chalk in his hand becoming armed as he glared at the girl. With a loud and intentional sigh, the girl stood before the blackboard and began the class introductions.
"So, what do I say?" She asked once next to the podium.
Mizuki-sensei simply shrugged, "Your name and whatever you think is important about yourself. These are going to be your classmates for the next six years so make it count."
"Ugh, real helpful." The girl groaned, rolling her eyes before turning back to the class. In almost an instant, her entire demeanour changed. Suddenly becoming bright and chipper, "Hello everyone! My name is Mimi, I like cake and cats and I'm going to be a famous kunoichi just like Lady Tsunade! Nice to meet you!" With her introduction done, she gave a curt bow and skipped back to her seat. A girl beside her, likely a friend immediately chatting and giggling among themselves on her return.
With Mimi setting the standard, the other students began their introductions. My turn was quickly coming up but before me was Mana. I had yet to hear her speak a word today so I could tell she was feeling quite nervous. The boy beside her stood to make his introduction, during which time I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Mana, you just need to go up and say your name and something you like. If you feel too nervous, just focus on me. Pretend I'm the only one here, okay?" The girl slowly turned her head to me, wide eyes softening as her lips curled upward slightly. I returned a similar smile and gave her a firm pat on the back as the boy returned to his seat.
"Next." Mizuki said flatly, eyes falling on Mana. She stood, her body stiff as a board as she awkwardly made her way to the front. There, she stood wide eyed like a statue. After a few long, agonizing seconds, the other students started to murmur among themselves. Mizuki was beginning to get impatient as well, rapping his finger against the podium in annoyance while urging her to start.
"Go Mana! You can do it!" Kiyomi cheered from behind me, her sudden outburst attracting a lot of the class's attention. My own eyes locked with Mana's once she looked over and with a comforting smile I mouthed the words 'Just look at me.' I could see her body relax a bit, the two of us nodding between one another. She then took in a very deep breath and with a loud stomp, took a much more powerful pose.
"My name is Mana Nakotsumi!" She declared, loud and clear, locking her gaze only on me. The amount of confidence she was suddenly radiating was surprising. If anyone were to walk in the room right now they would never believe that just a second ago the girl was practically petrified with anxiety. "My favourite animal is a rabbit and my favourite snack is carrots! As for what I want to be in the future," Mana crossed her arms across her chest, closing her eyes for a moment, "I want to be a magician!" Ending her introduction by throwing her arms into the air, from her palms a flurry of multi-coloured sparks bursting forth.
The entire class, save for Kiyomi and I, unleashed a gasp of surprise and wonder at this feat. Even Mizuki-sensei was taken aback. Mana took a fanciful bow before looking back up to me with a toothy grin and a look of expectation. Considering how well she had just wowed the crowd, she definitely earned my applause. Kiyomi too began clapping with more people joining in one by one. Mana looked over the class as their applause echoed through the small room, looking quite shocked at such a reaction. Then, pure, unbridled glee spread across her face as she pranced back to her seat beside me.
"Did you see that Meiko! Everyone was clapping!" She said so happily she could barely remain still.
"I sure did," I replied with a wide smile, "You did great. And I think a lot of people are interested in you now." Looking around, everyone's eyes were still on Mana and more than one looked like they wanted to talk with her. In terms of making a good first impression, it was certainly going to be hard to top that. The class was buzzing with chatter and people were even starting to get up from their seats when Mizuki silenced everyone once more.
"Alright, that's enough. We still have more than half the class to get through." He then locked his eyes on me, "You, you're next. Get up here."
Now it was my turn to stand before the class, my heart rate increasing a bit as all eyes were on me. While I was never one to really enjoy standing out, this level of pressure was something I could handle. I took a quick breath to centre myself, arms snapping to my side and straightening my spine. "Hello! I'm Meiko Hashimhph." Pain, embarrassment and silence. I couldn't believe I bit my tongue when saying my own name. I could hear the snickering starting already.
"Don't stop, this isn't unsalvageable." I told myself, quickly forcing myself to start again. "My name is Meiko Hashimoto." I started, speaking properly this time and, thankfully, the snickering subsided somewhat. Perhaps the death glares Kiyomi was shooting around the room helped with that. Something I was certainly thankful for. "I love sweets of basically any kind and... uh..." My mind suddenly went blank. My plan was to mention a hobby or two, basically something I do in my spare time. However, the only thing I could think of was the massive amount of training I had done in the past month. Before I asked Misaki to be my teacher, I really didn't do a whole lot. I'd help Mom out around the house, be dragged around by Kiyomi or just kind of... existed. "... Training I guess?" That got a good bit of laughter from the class, I could feel the heat returning to my cheeks as I faced the floor and quickly returned to my seat. Groaning and dropping my head onto the desk.
"You did good." Mana said, trying to comfort me. I muttered a quick thanks but didn't want to even lift my head right now.
Kiyomi was up next, as she passed the girl gave me a light slap on the back. "Cheer up, I'll show you how its done!" Her voice brimming with confidence as she passed by. Unlike Mana and I, there was not even the slightest hint of hesitation in Kiyomi's manner. Standing before the entire class, she was completely unphased by the multitude of eyes on her.
"Hello!" She started, her voice cheerful but containing such presence that she commanded the attention of the class. "I'm Kiyomi from the Yamanaka clan! I enjoy dancing, calligraphy and winning! My favourite animal is a bat but dogs are a close second." A more devilish grin then spread across her face, "Finally, I'm going to be number one in this academy! So I hope we can all get along and be great friends! If not, stay out of my way! Don't want to run you over!" With a wink and raising two fingers in a peace sign, she happily skipped back to her seat.
The class was silent, utterly dumbfounded at her brazen declaration. "See, you have to lay down the law. That's what Kazuma told me." She giggled while whispering that to me in passing. I could only laugh awkwardly, as even I was stunned from the fact she basically declared war on the entire class. The outcry started soon after, some laughing, others clearly incensed by her words. Behind me, Shun was joining in with the laughter.
"I knew you'd do something like that" He chuckled.
"Did you have to get them all worked up like this?" Rei asked, "My turn is next..." Again, she was so soft-spoken I could barely hear her over the roar of the class.
"Alright that's enough!" Mizuki-sensei finally shouted after several attempts at being more polite. Slamming his fist on the podium for emphasis. "If I need to quiet you all down one more time there will be consequences." The class quickly complied, intimidated by the anger he was radiating. Once everything had settled down and silence hung in the air, he relaxed and returned to a friendly demeanour. "Good. Next please."
Rei made her way to the front, unlike Kiyomi she was certainly a lot more nervous. However when she spoke, her voice was clear and proper. "My name is Rei Nara of the Nara clan, I am honoured to make your acquaintance." Taking a formal bow, the class was awed at her introduction. It was almost like we were being greeted by a princess. "I enjoy green tea and reading. My wish is to one day become a great medical ninja so I can help as many people as possible. I hope you all will take care of me." With an almost regal grace, she glided back to her seat. Taking a deep breath before her mask finally broke.
"Awawawa. I hope that was good enough." She mumbled, trembling as she was aware of the stares still focused on her.
"You did great, that was perfect!" Kiyomi complimented, patting the girl on the back.
"Yeah, you shouldn't worry so much." I added, "At least you didn't bite your tongue." Laughing lightly at the memory of my own blunder. Thanks to just how outrageous the last two introductions had been, my flubbing had likely been all but forgotten. Plus, if you couldn't laugh at yourself, then you'd just get crushed under the weight of tiny mistakes.
"Well, I'm up next." Shun said, punching into his palm as he stood. It looked like we were in for another big one.
"I'm Shun Akimichi!" He shouted, his voice booming to the point it felt like the room was shaking. "I like strength!" His right hand curled into a fist, "I like getting stronger!" As did his left, "I'm ready to take on anyone so come at me if you think you can!" Both fists crashed into each other as he grinned at the class. "And I'm going to be the strongest in the village! Bring it!"
"You sure have some interesting friends Kiyomi." I said with a chuckle as Shun wrapped up his intro.
"Well yeah, you're one of them." She replied with a smirk.
After that, the rest of the class introductions went by relatively quickly. There were a few who tried to replicate Kiyomi and Shun's sheer energy and audacity but the only one who came close was a boy named Ken Miyamoto and that was mostly due to the bokken he was swinging around at the time. Considering how Mizuki-sensei said nothing about it, I could only assume simple props like that were permitted in class.
When the last girl bowed and returned to her seat, Misuki-sensei sighed loudly. "Finally, just in time too." He said and at his words, a bell chimed throughout the building. "That's the lunch bell. As part of the orientation we're hosting a barbecue outside but don't get used to being served lunch here." He said, tapping a few papers together, "So go get something to eat and come back here when you hear the first bell. If you're not back by the second bell you'll be staying late today and I don't want to hang around longer than needed." Pointing his arm towards the door, everyone started getting up and filing out.
"Oh, one more thing." He added just before we could leave, "We're going to have some examinations when you get back so don't eat too much."
"Oh yeah!" Shun shouted once we were in the hallway, his voice once again reverberating throughout the narrow space. "Nothing beats free food! Come on guys, hurry up!" Shun was certainly talented at grabbing people's attention. If it weren't for me being used to my Dad's own bellowing I'd be just as shocked as most of the other students in the hallway. Without hesitation he began marching forward, the crowd parting like the red sea before him.
Kiyomi was quick to follow behind, urging us to follow along. "Come on guys! We got an express ticket to the front of the line!" Mana quickly followed along with Rei and I being slightly hesitant. The two of us a lot more aware of the stares we were all getting.
As soon as we stepped outside the mouthwatering scent of grilling meat filled the air. The teachers had several grills set up as well as a table of side dishes we could choose from. Shun wasted no time getting into the line, leaving us in the dust. For someone of his size, the speed he could move at was quite impressive.
"Hey Kiyomi!" Called a blonde girl as she waved us down. Even though I had met her several times in passing already, it still surprised me how much Kiyomi and her cousin Ino looked alike.
"Ino!" Kiyomi replied happily, waving back. Rei too appeared quite happy to see her while Mana stuck to my side. "So how's your class been so far?" She asked after the two shared a quick hug.
"It's great!" Ino said happily, "You won't believe this, there's this guy in the class and he's amazing! Iruka-sensei had us show off any jutsu we know during our introductions and he can already create a perfect clone!" I already had a good idea who she was talking about, the only person who came to mind that Ino would describe as amazing was Sasuke. That said, knowing the clone jutsu at this age was a bigger deal than I thought. Just how talented was Kiyomi in that case? She too could use the clone jutsu almost perfectly. How was it she never appeared in the series then?
"Oh?" Kiyomi was intrigued, I could already sense her competitive spirit starting to burn.
"Yeah! You should have seen it! Sasuke completely fooled that Naruto kid with it!" Ino was positively brimming with admiration as she recalled what had happened, I myself stifling a giggle. It had only been a few hours and already those two were going at it. Naruto really didn't waste any time.
"Tch." Kiyomi clicked her tongue quite loudly at the mention of Sasuke's name. "Big deal, I can do that too."
"Yeah, but his was like, waaay better!" Ino replied, starting to get a bit heated. "His could even talk! Can yours talk yet?"
Kiyomi flinched at this, "Y-yeah! Of course it can!"
"Really!? That's amazing!" Ino clapped her hands together with her praise, "I just had a great idea!" She then grabbed onto Kiyomi's arm in a manner I was all too familiar with, "Come on! Let's go find Sasuke!"
"Ah hey! Wait!" Kiyomi pleaded as Ino started to drag her away, "Meiko! Do something!"
I simply waved, saying, "Have fun!" While trying not to breakdown in laughter, "Mana and I are going to get something to eat! See you later!"
"You traitor~!" Kiyomi screamed as she was taken around a corner and out of sight. Rei hurriedly following behind, stopping, bowing to us, then continuing.
"Hehe... She's going to get me back for this." I chuckled before turning to Mana. "Come on, let's get something to eat."
There were three lines before us, it didn't really appear to matter which one people picked. They would get in line, grab a tray and once they reached the grill, get their portion of meat before moving to the side table where the side dishes were. Guiding Mana along, we took our spots at the back of the right-most line. Things were moving along at a good pace, the teachers moving swiftly to get everyone their portions.
Mana stood behind me, happily humming away as we waited. Since her successful introduction she had been a bit more comfortable around other people, even if she still wasn't talking. The pleasant mood was ruined though, when someone bumped into my shoulder. Whomever the kid was, he kept on walking as though nothing happened. Joined by two more of his buddies, the three of them were all taller than me and something about them gave me a bad feeling.
Wanting to prove me right, the trio stopped a short distance ahead. The one who bumped me facing someone in the line, "Hey buddy, thanks for saving my spot." He said with one of the most crap-eating grins on his face I'd ever seen. To really drill in how much of a brat he was, he then shoved the kid out of the line. A few people gasped in surprise at the sudden aggressive development. Yet that was about all there was for a reaction. Nobody moved to intervene, not even the teachers.
"OI! What's the big idea!?" The kid yelled, sitting up on the grass and wiping some dirt from his cheek. A cheek bearing strange whisker marks. Of all the people they could have chosen, they settled on Naruto.
"Ah? I was thanking you for holding our spot." The boys laughing as they forced themselves into his spot in line. The apparently leader turning towards the kid whom they cut in front of, "Isn't that right buddy?" With the three glaring the kid down, it was no wonder all they could do was mutter something non-committal while backing down.
I could feel my blood pressure quickly rising, hands curling into very tight fists as I witnessed this unfold. Most people were averting their eyes, pretending that nothing was happening. Considering the target of the bullies, that was hardly surprising but still infuriating. It was the few more mean spirited ones, who joined in the laughter, that really had my rage spiking. Most of all however, the most guilty, were the teachers running the grills. They had a clear view of what was going on, I could see them watching, and yet they just turned up their nose. Ignoring it completely.
At this point, I was seeing red. The rational part of my mind trying desperately to soothe me by saying this is how things are supposed to be. How Naruto would prove them all wrong in time. Yet seeing this happening in front of me, and demanding I do nothing, was far too big of an ask. The voice was drowned out under the tide of anger. My legs were already moving, storming out of line and intent on intervening. The only thing that stopped me was the smallest tug on my sleeve.
Mana had my shirt pinched between her finger and thumb, looking at me with wide, scared eyes. "Meiko, why are they doing that?" She asked, trembling slightly. Seeing her like that was enough to cool my head. I allowed myself to relax, realizing just how tense I was. Honestly I was extremely lucky she was here, had she not done that I probably would have done something stupid.
Gently I patted her head while giving her a soft smile. "Its okay Mana, I'm going to go have a talk with them. Save my spot in like okay?" Pulling myself away I resumed my march.
Naruto was not one to take something like this lying down. In the short time I had been delayed he had already gotten back to his feet and rushed the boys, only to be thrown back down once more. Their laughter echoing in my ears as I approached. At this point the bullies weren't even in line anymore. They were having a lot more fun tormenting Naruto than waiting in line for food.
"What's your problem!?" Naruto shouted, his anger rising. If it wasn't for that large pair of goggles he wore on his forehead I would probably have seen a vein bulging.
"Aww, what's the matter?" The lead bully jeered, "Gonna cry to mommy about it? Oh, wait. You don't have a mommy!" The air fell silent, even the other kids who were joining in on the laughter clammed up at that. The only ones still going were the three bullies, oblivious to the fact all eyes were on them now. I could feel my rage quickly reaching a boiling point. There were just some lines you did not cross and that little turd just took a running leap over it.
"What's that..." Naruto began to tremble as he got back to his feet again. Hands clenched into tight fists and teeth bared. "What does that have to do with anything!?" He shouted, rage burning in his bright blue eyes. Understandably, Naruto lashed out and threw the first punch.
The bullies however, despite being the same age, were a bit taller than him and outnumbered Naruto three to one. The lackeys each grabbing one of Naruto's arms and restraining him while the leader wound up a punch of his own.
"You saw that right, he tried to hit me!" The leader shouted, making sure everybody heard him. He then turned back to Naruto, squirming in the arms of his friends, "So this is just self defence." He then wound up a punch of his own and aimed it straight for Naruto's face.
A sharp slap punctuated the hit, not into Naruto's face, but my palm. Somehow I had made it just in time, although I wished I had been a bit faster so it wouldn't have escalated this far. The lead bully's face was a humorous mask of bewilderment that anyone would step in like this.
"Oi, what are you doing?" He sneered, trying to retract his fist. In response, I tightened my grip just enough to hold it firm.
"I think that's far enough." I replied, somehow keeping my rage contained if only just.
The boy however, wasn't backing town. Bewilderment slowly turning to anger as he started pulling again on his arm to free himself. "This is none of your business! Let me go!" Struggle as he might, his hand was locked into place. I could only assume this kid was unable to currently use Chakra Reinforcement, otherwise I couldn't imagine him having such difficulty, he stood about half a head taller than me after all.
"Hey guys, forget Naruto and help me with this guy!" He commanded to his buddies. I turned my head just enough so I could see one of them out of the corner of my eye. They looked to the other one before tossing Naruto to the ground again and began closing in on me.
"Oi oi, three on one? Is this seriously how it's going to go down?" I thought to myself, my chakra flaring silently under my skin. Ready to move at a moment's notice if it actually came to violence. If it did, I feared I might seriously end up harming these kids. Not that they didn't deserve a bit of punishment, but if I was forced into a fight my anger would surly boil over and I feared doing something I would regret later.
To hopefully try and prevent this, I tightened my grip on the leader's fist. Feeling his bones creak under the pressure, "Ow ow ow ow!" He called out in pain, "Stop it! Get her off me already!"
I turned my head to face the boys, allowing the anger boiling under the surface to show on my face. It was enough to temporarily halt them in their tracks so I turned back to the leader. "I said this has gone far enough. Take your friends and go to the back of the line before someone gets hurt." I warned, squeezing just a bit tighter and pushing my hand forward so his wrist began to curl.
"What are you waiting for!? Do something!" He demanded and the boys started moving once more. It really appeared as though there was no way out of this until the large hand of an adult snapped around my wrist and pulled my arm back, freeing the boy.
"That's enough out of all of you." The teacher said. I recognized him as the one grilling the food for our line. He threw my arm down, not hard but with enough force to put emphasis on his authority. "The four of you, back of the line and wait your turn." I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief, he had been slow to react but at least he was finally doing his job. To avoid any further trouble I could just change lines and wait a bit longer. The teacher then turned to face Naruto, "You, go stand in the entrance hall and think about what you've done."
The bullies once again started laughing at this clearly biased treatment. "What!? Why!? They started it!" Naruto protested with righteous anger, looking as though he was moments away from lashing out once more. I couldn't blame him either, this was utterly unbelievable.
"I don't care I'm ending it." The teacher said bluntly, grabbing Naruto by the wrist. "I saw you throwing a punch so you won't be getting lunch today."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Naruto protested, trying futilely to free himself. Not saying anything, the teacher just started to drag him away while the bullies continued to laugh. My teeth creaked under the pressure from being clenched so hard and I stepped in their way.
"Sensei." I said, barely containing my anger at this point. My words were sharp and blatantly betrayed my lack of patience with all this, "Why is he getting punished? Those three were the ones who instigated this." Pointing to the group of bullies, they clammed up fast at the accusation. The teacher however, merely sighed in annoyance.
"What I saw was Naruto throwing a punch. Now get in line." He tried to go around me but I wasn't letting this slide. This was too much, if I just sat on the sidelines and let Naruto take the heat for this, I knew I would regret it for a long time.
"I watched you, you saw everything and chose to ignore it!" With my patience at its end, I cared not who heard my shouting. In fact, I wanted everyone to hear it. "They specifically singled out Naruto because they knew no one would stand up for him! And apparently they were right! Not even you, the Instructors here at the academy, chose to raise a finger until I stepped in! What if I hadn't!? Were you just going to let them beat on Naruto in their so-called 'self-defence'!? IS THIS HOW THINGS ARE HANDLED IN THIS ACADEMY!? GO AHEAD AND PICK ON THE KID NO ONE LIKES AND EVERYTHING IS FINE! IF HE DEFENDS HIMSELF, WE'LL MAKE SURE HE SUFFERS FOR IT!?"
My face was burning and my breathing heavy by the time I finished venting my indignation. Once more, silence hung heavy in the air as all eyes were on me. Even the teacher stood in shock, his grip on Naruto's arm relaxing and allowing him to slip out of his grasp. Although Naruto didn't run, his arm simply fell limply at his side as he too simply stood there staring at me. It was probably the first time anyone had stood up for him like this so it was understandable he was having some difficulty processing it.
Then the gossip started, a few hushed whispers at first but quickly grew in intensity. I couldn't care less what they were saying and just continued to glare at the man before me. His face turning red once he realized what was going on, he once more grabbed hold of Naruto's arm as well as mine. "You don't understand a damn thing." He said, anger and frustration clear in his voice. For a brief moment, he shot a glare of pure malice down at Naruto, so strong it caused the young boy to flinch under it. "But since you're so determined to find out, you can join Naruto. No lunch for you either."
"Are you kidding!?" I shouted in protest.
"What!? Why him too!?" Naruto added in, finding his voice and once more trying to free himself.
"Shut it, both of you. Anymore back talk and I'll be keeping you after class to write up an essay on what you did wrong." I backed down at that threat, even as my anger continued to boil. My free hand clenching tight into a fist, I really, really wanted to strike this arrogant man. Truly, I could not believe what was happening. How deep the bias against Naruto was that it would threaten to drag in anyone who got near him. It truly was a miracle he didn't go off the deep end in the series and just lash out against the world.
"This is crazy! We didn't do anything! Why are we being punished!?" Naruto continued to shout and struggle. At this point however, further resistance would only result in making things worse.
"Naruto!" I said firmly, "That's enough." Not wanting to make things any harder on him than it already was, we had no choice but to accept the lighter punishment. His anger deflated, replaced instead by confusion and, painful to see, disappointment. Seeing this attempt at deescalation, the teacher chose to release my arm but kept his grip on Naruto's.
"Why...?" He began to ask when a familiar, grating laugh cut him off.
"Serves the both of you right!" The leader of the bullies laughed, "You should have just done what we said in the first place! Maybe now you'll learn some manners!"
God, I wanted to punch him so hard. It took me biting the inside of my lip to keep my anger under control. Naruto on the other hand, being one who wore his emotions on his sleeve, immediately got riled up once more. "Why you! I'm gonna-"
I stepped in front of Naruto, blocking his view of the brat. "Naruto, stop." I once again spoke firmly, taking his glare of rage head on. "It's not worth it." I said, sparing a momentary glance for the little bugger grinning smugly behind me. "Not for an idiot like that." I then quickly took Naruto's free hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. "Trust me, a guy like that is beneath you."
"O-oh..." Was all Naruto could reply with, once more surprised and confused but at least he appeared to calm down.
The bully on the other hand, was clearly incised by the truth, "The heck!? How dare you-" He started to shout but the teacher, finally doing his job properly, raised a hand to silence him.
"No more." He said simply and sternly, thankfully shutting the brat up, although it didn't stop his stare of hatred now aimed at me. I just tried to ignore him and keep my focus on Naruto.
"Sensei, I'll take Naruto so you can get back to cooking. I can smell the meat burning." I offered, hoping to just put an end to this before something else could happen and cause my barely contained rage to explode once more.
The teacher took a moment to consider my offer, sighed and released Naruto. "Fine. Go stand in the entrance hall and I'll come check on you. If you leave, you know what happens." I nodded and pulled Naruto gently, indicating for him to follow along. Surprisingly, he quietly decided to do so.
With Naruto in tow, I began the march back towards the academy entrance. Ignoring the stares and whispers from the peanut gallery as we passed. Behind us, the teacher turned his attention to the three bullies and was commanding them to get back in line and to behave. "Still letting them off light I see." I thought bitterly. Ahead, I could see Mana peeking out of the line, her face still twisted with worry. I did my best to put on a gentle smile and calm down enough so as to not increase her anxiety over this whole event.
"Don't worry about me." I said softly as we passed, "It's all over now so make sure you get yourself something to eat." Giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, we continued on our path. Mana quietly muttering my name was all I could hear from her in response. It hurt to leave her like that, but it was the only option for me at the moment.
Once inside the entrance hall, I found a 'comfortable' spot to lean against the wall. Then, sighed quite loudly and let myself slink down to the floor. "Ugh... I can't believe this." I moaned, "My first day and I'm already in trouble. What the heck was their problem anyway!? Who just goes out of their way to pick on people like that!? And that stupid teacher! I'm so glad I'm not in that idiot's class!" It felt nice to be able to vent like this and I was very thankful the only person around to hear my griping was Naruto.
"Hey..." He said sheepishly, "What's your deal anyway?" It was a good question, now that things had calmed down I was asking myself the same thing. Wasn't I always telling myself to try not get involved as much as possible? And yet here I was, squatting in the entrance hall as punishment for sticking my neck out. Although in all honesty, I did not regret it one bit. If I could go back, there was little I would do differently. It was funny though, I never thought I had such a strong sense of justice. In my last life, I would have been one of the bystanders, simply waiting for someone else to step in.
"I wonder what changed?"
"Honestly," I began, crossing my arms over my knees and resting my chin on them, "Seeing those kids picking on you just pissed me off." Chuckling, I turned my head to the ceiling. "I just, couldn't stop myself. If it wasn't for my friend, I probably would have come in swinging and things would have been a whole lot worse." I finished by simply flashing Naruto a large, toothy grin.
"Oh..." Naruto replied, he then took a moment to pace around uncomfortably before asking another question. "But... Why for me?" My smile quickly faded as I closed my eyes in thought.
"Hmm..." I hummed, reflecting on my actions, "I mean, I'd like to think I'd do it for anyone. Should I not have?"
"N-no." He stammered, "Um, thanks for that. It's just, no one ever sticks up for me you know? I thought that you must have had some reason to do it." I could see a touch of pink highlight his whiskered cheeks as he looked away. It was kinda cute.
"Well, I'm glad I could help." I replied, smiling once more. Although that smile quickly inverted itself when my stomach decided to chime in with a loud, long groan. "Nonono are you kidding me!?" I frantically started punching my stomach to try and shut it up in a panic before turning to Naruto, my face quickly heating up. "You. Heard. Nothing."
"Bwahahahaha!" Naruto nearly doubled over laughing at my, admittedly, over the top reaction. I bit my lip and puffed my cheeks as I struggled to keep myself from shouting him down. After a few moments he was able to compose himself, "You're a funny guy, you know that?" He wheezed, getting a couple more laughs in.
A very loud, very annoyed moan echoed throughout the entrance hall, "I'm a girl!" I stated harshly, jumping to my feet. "I mean look! I even got my hair done up nice today and everything and people still think I'm a guy!" It was so frustrating! What more did I have to do for people to see the truth!? Mom spent so much time this morning fixing my hair and even then it wasn't completely effective. "Sorry Mom..."
Naruto stood there, silently staring at me for a moment before finally comprehending what I had said. "EH!?" He suddenly screamed, jumping back in surprise. This, of course, only added to my frustrations. "Seriously!? But you don't act anything like a girl!"
Gritting my teeth I was about to start shouting at him but my words caught in my throat, leaving me standing there angrily slack jawed. He... had a good point there. Slowly, I deflated. Unable to refute the claim, I just slouched back against the wall, defeated. Certainly, there was little, no nothing, feminine at all about my personality. Which, in retrospect, made the fact that I was constantly being mistaken for a boy bug me so much all the weirder. Did I actually see myself that way? Outside of incidents like this I really never thought about it. I found myself staring into my palm, flexing my fingers a couple times. "I wonder... Who am I now, really?"
"Hey!" Naruto shouted, suddenly in my face. With a yelp, I tried to jump back but thanks to the wall I only ended up bumping my head. "You okay? You spaced out there." He asked, there was a slight hint of concern in his voice but it was mostly just curiosity.
"Y-yeah" I stammered, rubbing the back of my head. Thanks to the boost from my chakra it didn't hurt all that much at least, "I can get lost in my own head sometimes, don't worry about it." I waved my hand limply in the air to brush it off.
"Hmm, weird." Naruto replied, "By the way," He then motioned with his thumb towards the open entrance, "Speaking of weird, that girl has been standing there for a while looking at you." There, peeking in from the side of the doorway was Mana. Clearly I had her worried over what happened.
"Oh, yeah. She's a friend of mine." I said to Naruto before waving Mana to come in. She quickly skittered in and to my side silently. "Hey, sorry if I worried you." I apologized before turning to Naruto. "This is my friend Mana," I said with a simple motion, Mana giving a very short bow. "Actually, I haven't introduced myself either. My name's Meiko, the both of us are in Class D."
"O-Oh!" Naruto stammered before thrusting out his chest. "Right! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm going to be the next Hokage!" He spoke with such pride and conviction, he truly believed in himself and his goal. Perhaps it was because I knew he would one day achieve that goal, but his words to me in that moment felt so powerful. I never really encountered anyone in my life so devoted to a goal like he was, especially at this age.
"What? You're not gonna laugh?" He asked after a few moments of silence passed between us.
"Why? It wasn't a joke, was it?" I replied plainly. Judging from his reaction, that certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting.
"No, of course not! I'm completely serious! I'm going to become Hokage one day! Believe it!" Naruto defiantly shouted. The three of us stood in silence for a moment as he awaited some response that never came. "You're... Really not going to laugh?" He asked tentatively.
"Of course not." I replied, a gentle smile on my face. "It's your dream right? We're not going to laugh at that." The look of shock on Naruto's face was almost heart wrenching to see. To be affected that much by simply not having people laugh at his dream was that big of a deal for him.
"You... really are weird." He eventually said, looking at me as though I was some bizarre creature, but one he was grateful towards. "When I said that during my introduction, everyone in my class laughed at me." While trying to hide it, I could detect the slight hint of pain in Naruto's voice.
"Are you sure?" I asked, the words escaping my lips before I could even process them in my mind. "Did everyone laugh? Or just a few?" Perhaps I was just feeling too sentimental, but in this moment I just really wanted Naruto to realize there were those who would be on his side.
"Yeah I'm sure, everyone was-" Naruto cut off his own sentence, his face scrunching up as he fell deep into thought. I had to stifle a chuckle because he looked like he was in a whole lot of pain. I could swear steam would start puffing out his ears if he tried any harder. "Okay, maybe there was one or two, I think..." Naruto then turned back to me, a bright smile crossing his face. "Yeah, thanks Meiko."
"You're welcome." I replied.
"So, I told you guys my dream, what about yours?" Naruto asked, grin shining wide as he placed his arms behind his head.
Mana was, to my surprise, quick to jump on this question. "Oh oh!" She sounded, hopping on the spot with an arm raised like she was trying to get the teacher's attention, "I know! I'm going to be a magician and put on the best shows the village has ever seen!" The fact that she took the initiative on her own here was impressive. Even if it did leave Naruto looking confused.
"Magician? Like, one of those street performers?" He questioned, "But this is an academy for ninja. Why come here?"
Mana fell silent once more, her sudden spunk vanishing just as quickly. While it was short lived, that was still a huge step for her. While I didn't know the whole story, I had a bit of an idea why Mana was enrolled so I went to answer for her but, once again, Mana surprised me.
"My..." She started, her voice quiet as a mouse but quickly grew in strength. "My mom and dad said it would be good for me." Raising her head, she faced Naruto with bright, sparkling eyes, "I don't really want to become a ninja, but I also don't want to be separated from my friends." She then turned to me, a smile growing ever wider on her face. "I don't know if I'll be any good at it, but I don't want to be alone again. So I'm gonna try my best."
Today really was a day of firsts. Never would I have expected Mana to be so upfront like this in the presence of a stranger, much less to speak with such conviction. I had no choice but to admit I underestimated her and her determination. Wiping the dumb expression from my face, I smiled proudly at my friend. "Glad to hear it. Things wouldn't be the same without you around."
"So," Naruto cut in, "How about you Meiko? What's your dream?"
"Well," I began, fully ready to answer but when I thought on it, my mind came up blank. "Oh..." A heavy realization dawned on me, I... I had no dream, no true goal to strive for. I became a ninja to protect my family and those dear to me from the dangers the future held, but that wasn't a dream. A dream was what Naruto and Mana had, a plan, an aspiration of the future. Something to look forward to. Me? I simply feared the future.
"I..." I stammered, feeling quite shaken, "I don't know..." I remembered to the class introductions earlier in the morning, pretty much everyone there had some kind of aspiration, even if it was as simple as 'I want to be a great shinobi'. I didn't even have that. Having seen talent like Mana and Kiyomi's up close, and knowing the heights others would reach in just a few brief years, I knew I had come to accept I would never reach those levels. As such, I felt content to simply be competent enough to keep my family safe. I was already conditioning myself to accept failure.
"Stupid!" I admonished myself, feeling frustrated at all this.
"I don't really... have a dream." I admitted after taking a heavy breath. A painful smile on my face.
"I thought you said you wanted to protect people?" Mana asked, innocently worried.
"Yeah, I do." I replied, "But, that's not really a dream. You want to be a magician, Naruto wants to be Hokage. You two have something you're working towards, something you want to be." I took a moment to collect myself before continuing, "I don't have anything like that."
"So what?" Naruto suddenly said, staring at me with a raised eyebrow. "If you don't have a dream yet, just find one. Moping around like that isn't going to do anything."
"That..." I started to say, partially dumbfounded. His answer was so simple but it was also correct. All too often I get lost in my own mind and wind up overthinking things. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the right one. "That's true." I chuckled, "Thanks Naruto. I'm not sure where to even start, but I'll keep it in mind."
Naruto's cheeks flushed a bright red, "Y-yeah. No problem." He stammered before suddenly, three simultaneous growls emerged. One from each of us. Both my and Mana's faces began to radiate a similar colour to Naruto's before the three of us all broke out in laughter. Naruto was the first to stop, a loud sigh replacing his laughing. "Haaah, I'm so hungry." He groaned.
"Same." I replied as my stomach, not wanting to lose out to the others apparently, growled again. I then looked to Mana, "I heard your stomach growl too, did you not get any lunch?" Mana shook her head no and I sighed. "I told you to get something to eat."
"I was worried..." She said meekly before rustling through one of her pockets. Producing a small, familiar bag, she held it out to me. "Want some?" Mana asked, pulling out a baby carrot and immediately began to nibble away.
With a light laugh, I nodded. "Sure, thanks." Taking a couple in my hand. Mana then made her way over to Naruto, offering him some too.
Naruto's face scrunched up, "No thanks. I don't like vegetables." He said, only to be betrayed by his growling stomach.
"Come on Naruto, it's better than nothing." I said through another chuckle, "Unless, of course, you can ignore that face." I pointed towards Mana standing before him. Even with her back towards me I knew she was hitting him with the biggest puppy dog eyes he would ever see. It was yet another one of her many talents, boosted significantly by the ethereal feeling those silvery-blue eyes gave off. Indeed, even Naruto wasn't immune to her charms.
"Ergh," He grumbled strangely before giving in and taking a single baby carrot. "Alright, I'll try one..." It was absolutely hilarious watching Naruto glare at the small vegetable as though its very existence was offensive to him. Taking a few tentative sniffs before finally, and very hesitantly, taking the smallest possible bite. "Mrgh..." He grumbled, slowly chewing.
Then, his eyes suddenly went wide, "Oh... it's kinda sweet." He said in surprise. Although a moment later his face started scrunching up again. I couldn't contain myself any further and started laughing once again.
"It sounds like you're having a lot of fun here." Came a deep voice that caused my laughter to instantly cease. I wasn't facing the entrance so I hadn't seen who had come in but it was most certainly a teacher. Considering how unreasonable the last one had been, seeing us laughing like this was probably just going to make things worse. And now Mana would probably get caught up in it too. Naruto too, stiffened up for a moment, but quickly relaxed.
"Oh, Iruka-sensei!" He said with cautious optimism. I turned to face Naruto's teacher while Mana quickly retreated to my side, her shyness returning with a vengeance.
"Naruto." Iruka said flatly, he clearly wasn't happy. "So I heard you started a fight?"
"No I didn't!" Naruto shouted back, quite angry at the accusation. I couldn't blame him, wondering if it was the brats themselves who told Iruka this or if it came from the other teacher. Once more I found myself clenching my fists in frustration before Mana took my hand.
"I was just waiting in line when those three came and pushed me out! They kept trying to get me to fight them and I would have too, if Meiko hadn't stepped in!" Naruto continued, getting angrier as time passed. Iruka, in response, raised his hand to quiet Naruto before turning his attention to me.
"Ah, you must be Meiko Hashimoto, right?" He said sternly. "And you," Turning his attention to Mana, who tried to hide herself behind me. "Are Mana Nakotsumi right? Why are you here?"
"Ah? Y-Yeah." I stammered, surprised he knew not only my name but Mana's too. "Mana was worried about me and followed us here."
"I see. Is what Naruto said correct?" Iruka asked, his face a blank mask as he turned his attention back to me.
"Yeah, mostly." I replied, "I don't know their names but there were three boys who were antagonizing Naruto. Once he lost his patience, two of them grabbed and held him while their leader was going to hit him and claim self defence. I stepped in at that point and ended up the target of their anger before a teacher finally stepped in." My face scrunched up in frustration remembering that and, for a moment, I debated if I should call out the teacher too. The answer was yes.
"The teacher then blamed Naruto for causing the fight and I... lost my temper. So I was added in with the punishment while those three were let off with barely a warning." I huffed to try and keep my emotions in check.
"I see." Iruka said flatly, letting it hang in the air for a moment before relaxing and breaking his emotionless mask with a smile. "That checks out."
The three of us exchanged similar confused looks, "What do you mean Sensei?" Naruto asked.
"After I heard about what happened, I spoke with those three and got their story. They obviously painted you two as the aggressors." Iruka then sighed, "Since I'm your homeroom teacher I was then sent to hand out further discipline."
"But," He added with a wide smile, "There was one other person who spoke up for you and she told me the same story you and Meiko told me." That was surprising, considering everyone who witnessed the event was either reluctant to even acknowledge what was happening, or found it entertaining. Naruto was even more surprised than I was.
"Really? Who?" He tried to ask but his question was immediately cut off by another loud growling of hungry stomachs.
"Ahahahaha." Iruka laughed loudly, "Looks like you all are hungry. There's not a lot of time left and all of us will get in trouble if you go out now so," It was only at this point I noticed he had been hiding his left arm behind his back, which quickly swung around to reveal four skewers held in his hand. "Eat these quick. I swiped some of the leftovers so they're a little cold but you'll need your strength for the afternoon fitness tests."
Passing us two skewers each, I looked upon Iruka-sensei with such reverence that he appeared to be a hero to me. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei!" I thanked him happily before, almost on instinct, moving to take a bite. Freezing mere inches away from a bite as I remembered there was a third person with us. I then extended one of the skewers to the girl behind me. "Here Mana, you can have this one."
Taking the skewer, Mana thanked me and began nibbling away like a small animal. Naruto was quickly chomping away at his first one, already having wolfed down half of it. I took a bite of mine, the meat was cold but I had to admit it was well seasoned. Sadly I couldn't take the time to savour it as we had to be quick so no one would catch us.
Naruto was the first to finish, dropping the wooden skewers onto the floor without a care. "That hit the spot, thanks again Sensei." This, of course, got him quite a nasty glare from Iruka.
"Naruto, clean up after yourself." He commanded, pointing towards a trashcan by the entrance. A quick apology and some grumbling later, Naruto picked up his trash and went to toss it out. Meanwhile Iruka turned his attention back to the two of us. "Meiko, I want to thank you. I know Naruto can be a handful sometimes and a lot of people misunderstand him, so I just want you to know that what you did probably meant a lot to him." He turned his head to watch Naruto angrily throw the sticks into the bin, a warm look in his eyes.
"Oh um..." I stammered, suddenly embarrassed over the surprised compliment. "Yeah, no problem." Naruto quickly returning to Iruka's side a moment later.
"What are you guys talking about?" He asked.
"Nothing much." Iruka replied, "You three should return to your classrooms now, lunch hour will be ending shortly and I need to go finish my preparations for the afternoon. Don't worry about any further punishments, I'll smoothing things over with the other instructors somehow." With a grin, he tapped Naruto on his back, pushing him towards Mana and I. "Just try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the day okay? Especially you Naruto."
"Hey! Why are you singling me out!?" He shouted back, but Iruka only laughed as he turned his back and began to walk out.
"You're pretty lucky Naruto," I said, a hint of envy on my tongue, "Iruka-sensei seems to be a really nice guy."
"Hah!?" Naruto turned to me with quite the indignant look, "Nice guy? What do you mean? He's always on my case, yelling at me for this or that!" Folding his arms behind his head, Naruto spun around so he wasn't facing us anymore and instead faced the open entrance. "But..." He fell silent for a moment, head tilting towards the ceiling. "I guess he can be cool sometimes. Especially when he takes me to Ichiraku's."
A bell loudly rang through the air, indicating the end of the lunch hour. "Ah, Mana! Hurry up and finish that!" I said, motioning to her skewer as I quickly stuffed the rest of mine in my gullet before running over and tossing the spear in the trash. Following my command, Mana tried to mimic my more gluttonous method of eating, only to wind up choking. A few good pats on the back thankfully cleared that up.
"Sorry Meiko." She said sadly.
"It's alright, just take it with you to the classroom and try to finish before everyone gets back. Shun was basically eating the whole time anyway and no one made a fuss so it should be fine." I replied, trying to reassure her before turning to Naruto. "Well, it was nice meeting you." I held out a hand, "See you around."
Naruto stared at my welcoming palm, once again quite surprised. He then took in a deep snort before grabbing my hand with a loud slap. "Yeah!" He said with a toothy grin, "Nice to meet you too Meiko, and thanks again for earlier." Mana then stepped in, placing her hand on ours.
"Nice to meet you too." She said, still somewhat sheepishly. Once again I was amazed at how open she was being with Naruto. Perhaps seeing him being bullied was making her want to put in the extra effort? Regardless, I was quite proud of her for this.
Naruto grinned as we all shook hands. I could swear by how bright that smile was that we just made his day. Sadly, we had to get going and get back to our class and Naruto to his. "Okay Mana, let's get going." I said, glancing towards the entrance where students were beginning to converge on the doors. "See you around Naruto!"
"Bye bye Naruto!" Mana said, waving as we made our way into the hall.
"Um!" Naruto suddenly called out after we had gotten a few paces away, causing us to stop and turn back. The boy's face was turning red again, lower lip sucked in and gripping the hem of his shirt hard. "Do..." He stammered, trying hard to get out words that seemed to resist him. "Do you guys... want to be friends?"
I was honestly stunned into silence. I don't think I ever really had someone ask me that directly before. Naruto was trembling on the spot, it had obviously taken a lot of courage for him to ask that question. I couldn't even imagine what he had gone through to this point in his life, alone with everyone around you scoffing at your very existence. My family flashed into my mind momentarily and I wondered to myself what I would have done in his shoes. Honestly, I probably would not have been able to take it.
"Of course!" Mana replied, almost shouting and snapping me out of my stupor with a jump.
Releasing a quick breath to help settle the sudden spike in my heart rate, I placed a hand on Mana's head and rubbed it cheekily, "You heard the lady." I said, grinning at Naruto. "We'd be glad to."
Slowly, Naruto raised his head, eyes going wide and glossy as tears began to well up in them his mouth quivering as it grew into a giant, dopey grin. He then snorted loudly once more, rubbing his eyes into his arm before returning to his cocksure self. "ALRIGHT!" He shouted, leaping into the air with a fist bump just as students began to funnel inside.
"Time to go!" I called to Naruto, waving for him to get a move on, "See you after class!" Then, taking Mana's hand I pulled her along as we made our way back to our room and took our seats. My chest fluttering a bit the entire time.