Start of Another Year

I learned that the first year at the Academy was to separate the kids who were serious about being a Ninja and those who were attending classes for fun, and it only took me a year to find out. Go figure. Now, it was only a matter of time before the Uchiha Massacre happened, but that's above my pay grade, unfortunately. Right now, I am looking at the class schedules to see where I am assigned, and I found out that Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura were in my class this time around.

I also learned the name of Sasuke's twin. It was Sarada. Wasn't that the name of Sasuke's daughter in Boruto? I wondered if, rather than a twin brother, Sasuke had a twin sister instead, but they looked so alike it was not even funny. I will find out later when I start attending the same class as them. I was not looking forward to dealing with two moody Uchiha and fangirls.

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" Hello, class, I am Aki, just Aki. You can call me Aki-Sensei."

The Chunin Instructor of Naruto's homeroom class introduced herself. She was a pretty and petite brunette with bright amber eyes that only started teaching this year. She glanced at Naruto and thought.

" So, that's the infamous little hellion that drove Kuroi-Senpai up the wall and made him beg the Hokage to assign him to another class. From what Senpai said, he is a remorseless little monster with few bottom lines and was willing to do just about anything to get even with anyone who crossed him. I'll just give him a wide berth. I'd rather not find myself covered from head to toe in glitter or feathers one day."

Aki ultimately decided to just let sleeping dogs lie and avoid getting on the blonde mence's shit list. She then looked at the Uchiha twins and thought.

" And there are the Uchihas. Ugh, those from the Uchiha clan are the worst. Arrogant, selfish, and just not trustworthy. Why the Hokage puts up with them, I will never understand. Why did I get the class with these troublemakers? It's my first time teaching, for crying out loud!"

Aki had a brief, bitter smile at her situation and switched to a more neutral expression quickly. She said.

" Alright, everyone, let's start with introductions! While some of you are familiar with one another, others are not. Why don't you start!"

Aki randomly pointed at one of the students nearest her.

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Once more, I tuned out everyone else's introductions but focused on the Uchiha twins. Sasuke started first.

" I am Sasuke Uchiha. I like only a few things, like my brother and sister, and I generally dislike or at least neutral to everything else. My hobby is training my Shuriken Jutsu, and my dream is to bring pride to my clan."

Okay, that was a lot less Edgy than I was expecting now, and Sarada then started her introduction.

" My name is Sarada Uchiha. I like sweets and my brothers, and I hate sour and bitter things. My hobby is cooking. I am learning from my mom, and my dream is to surpass Tsunade Senju as a Kuniochi."

Oh? That's a goal I can respect, but she has a long road ahead of her, as Tsunade did become the fifth Hokage in the Canon. My impression of her is that she is a bit more friendly than her twin brother since she was more open with her introduction. Although, her voice... was only slightly higher pitch than Sasuke's... I briefly wondered if she was going to grow up into a femboy version of Sasuke.

Interestingly enough, Aki-Sensei skipped my introduction, not that I minded, as I really was not interested in making any friends in this class. It would be different if, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, or even Shino were in the class as I would try to be friends with them at least. Well, if she is going to ignore me, I am fine with that, as that means I can relax a little. However, after everyone else gave their introductions, Aki-Sensei announced.

" Now, before we get started on class for your second year, you will be given permission to purchase Kunai knives and Shuriken from shops that cater to Shinobi. Not only that, this year, we will be focusing more on practical skills like Taijutsu, Shuriken Jutsu, and Chakra Control."

I immediately got giddy at the mention of Chakra Control as I am finally going to learn how to manipulate Chakra, which will be my first real step to getting power. I already knew how to advance my Chakra Control to a degree, plus I could start Nature Transformation early. I wanted to learn right away, but I needed patience because if I pushed too far ahead in front of everyone, it would draw some unnecessary attention to myself.

The last thing I need is Danzo getting more interested in me and possibly having an excuse to take me under his wing. Today was mostly uneventful as it was just a refresher course of what I learned last year, however, when lunch rolled around.

" Sasuke-kun, why don't we have lunch together!"

Sakura immediately approached Sasuke to join together for lunch, but Ino was not going to have it.

" Hold it, Billboard Brow, Sasuke has better things to do than be near you! Now, Sasuke, why don't we leave her alone and go to the roof for lunch?"

" Back off, Ino Pig! Sasuke is having lunch with me!"

I watched the two fangirls bicker over who eats with Sasuke, but it did not stop with those two as the majority of the girls also threw their hats in. I wryly smiled as I was not sure whether to envy or pity Sasuke, but it was not my problem in the end. Since it's nice today, I think I'll head to the roof for lunch. I grabbed my bento and left the classroom.

After a few flights of stairs, I reached the door to the roof. I turned the knob but found it was locked. Well, drat, I'll just eat here as I'd rather not run back down the stairs. I sat down and opened my bento to see a sheet of sticky white rice with some seasonings spread across it. As much as I would like more variety for lunch but, the stores are still overcharging me. Even the bag of rice I bought had a 20% markup, and that was the lowest I could get since my foraging was not as sustainable as I would've liked it.

I dug in, and I then heard someone come up the stairs. I looked to see... Sasuke? I guess he gave his Fanclub the slip. I told him politely since he was likely here for the same reason as I was.

" The roof is locked."

He grunted a reply but came up to me and asked.

" Is it true?"

Oh, that voice, it's Sarada, not Sasuke. Hearing the question, I asked back for context.

" Is what true?"

" That you stabbed someone with a broken bottle."

I nodded as it was close enough to the truth. She eyed me with a neutral look and asked.

" Why? Why do that?"

" To make a point to not cross me as I take shit from no one."

I answered with narrowed eyes and venom in my tone as I was angry with all the idiots who saw me as the monster that destroyed the village instead of its jailer. I sighed and let my anger go, as it was not going to help me in the long run. As much as I love nothing more than to watch this village burn, I am stuck here because I am the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. At least for now, while I am still weak.

I spent a year in this village, and I already hate it with a passion. Sarada, surprisingly, sat next to me, and I looked at her with an arched eyebrow as I asked her warily.

" Can I help you?"

" No."

She curtly answered me and opened her bento, then started eating. I decided to just ignore her as I had no clue why she would do this, as I am not narcissistic enough to think she likes me. We ate in silence until lunch was over, but now it was over, I had a thought.

" Did Sarada leave her brother high and dry alone with his fangirls?"

I my lips twitched into a smile as I found the thought funny. Although I could understand her as the fangirls would get annoying pretty quickly, and as we entered the classroom, I still saw the Sasuke Fan Club arguing about who was going to eat with him. I asked Sarada out of curiosity.

" Why doesn't your brother tell them to piss off and leave him alone?"

The female Uchiha answered with a sigh.

" Hah. He did during our first year, but they gushed over the fact that he talked to them, and they got even more annoying. The only way to deal with them is to ignore them."

" Wow, I think I pity him now."

Sarada snorted at my comment but did not add anything to it. I really did pity Sasuke now as even I would find dealing with those fangirls annoying, as right now, their nothing but kids to me. However, if they were their older versions from Shippuden, that's another matter entirely. The rest of the day at the Academy was uneventful except for one last announcement from Aki-Sensei.

" One last thing before you leave, everybody. All of you are now allowed in the Shinobi Library, but only the first floor, as the rest are for when you rise through the ranks. There are lots of reference materials on the first floor that you can use if you don't understand anything in class."

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes, and I knew where I was going to next.

________________________________________

I found myself at the Shinobi Library and walked through the front door past the Chunin guards and saw rows and rows of scrolls and books. Why do they bother with the Scrolls when the book form is better? I shrugged as it did not really matter and went straight to business. I started browsing through the first floor of the library.

" Advance Chakra Theory."

" The Intricacies of Lockpicking."

"Poisonous Plants and Fungai of the World."

" The Effects of Chakra Over the Ages."

" Shinobi Clan Archive."

These were just a few titles that drew my eye, but I was looking for something specific, very specific. As I explored the library I finally found what I was looking for, or at least I hope so.

" The Beginning of Sealing, Explosions, and Storage Through Calligraphy."

I grabbed the Scroll immediately and sat at a nearby table to start reading.

[ Greetings and Salutations, before we get started, it must be made clear that the Sealing Arts requires patience and precision. The slightest mistake and you will die horribly, and you will have no one to blame but yourself. The Sealing Arts is the hardest discipline to truly master for Shinobi. The beginning stages are not as flashy Ninjutsu or as reliable as Taijutsu. So you have been warned, and if you wish to continue, apply your thumb mark with your blood.]

I gulped from equal parts excitement and nervousness, as this could be my start to power. I looked at my thumb and bit down on it until I drew blood. After doing this for the first time, I knew I either had to file my teeth to make them sharper or find a better solution to draw blood, as the Summoning Jutsu is on my to-do of things to master. I press my thumb against the mark at the end of a sentence.

More words appeared, and they said.

[ Buy a Calligraphy set and practice.]

My eye twitched furiously, but I did not throw a tantrum as I sighed as I figured I needed to start with this before anything else. I put up the Scroll and browsed a few other books before leaving and calling it a day. Now where was I supposed to buy a Calligraphy set in this thrice-damned village? Oh yeah, before I forget, I need a set of Shuriken and Kunai for class tomorrow.

________________________________________

Sarada Uchiha was with her mother, Mikoto Uchiha, in the kitchen to help prepare dinner. Sarada peeled some potatoes, and Mikoto asked her daughter as she sliced some tomatoes.

" How was your day, Sarada?"

The younger Uchiha gave a typical Uchiha grunt, which made the older Uchiha smile wryly and shake her head—but then she said something that surprised her mother.

" I ate lunch with that Crazy Demon Kid."

Hearing her daughter, Mikoto felt guilty at not helping her Best Friend's child, but that would have wrapped him up with the issues the Uchiha Clan were dealing with as of late, and she could never Kushina Uzumaki again if she did that. The older Uchiha stopped slicing the tomatoes and asked her daughter.

" What do you think of him?"

" He's less annoying than my other classmates."

Mikoto briefly smiled at that and told her daughter.

" Take the rumors you hear about him with a grain of salt, Sarada, as people love to gossip despite not knowing anything."

Sarada gave her mother a confused look but nodded anyway. Mikoto hoped that her children would at least be friends with Kushina's son, if nothing else. Her mind wandered back to one of the last few conversations she had with her Best Friend.

" You know, Mikoto, since our kids will be classmates in the future, I hope they can become friends like us."

" Me too, Kushina, but I worry that your child will inherit your temper."

" Hey, what's that supposed to mean!? Your kids will definitely be like a lot of your Clan, being all snooty and aggroant. Believe It!"

Mikoto took a moment to wipe away her tears at the loss of her dear friend, then went back to making dinner.