Chapter – 18 Another Day at the Academy

'Let's see… The color of Nara Shikamaru's Chakra leans a bit toward the Yin-side of the Spectrum, and Haruno Sakura's Chakra also leans a bit toward the Yin side of the Chakra Spectrum makes sense since she has some talent for Genjutsu even if she never learns any Genjutsu, on the other hand, Akimichi Chōji's chakra seems to lean toward the Yang-side of the spectrum, and same goes with Inuzuka Kiba's Chakra…' thought Sasuke as he sensed the wavelength of different trainees' Chakra while sitting in the Classroom.

It's been a few days since he started to learn Chakra Sensing, and in these few days, he has made a lot of progress. Now he is able to distinguish between different wavelengths and point to their source as long as the sources are within a particular range and there aren't too many people he is trying to sense at the same time.

Simultaneously sensing and distinguishing the Chakra of thirty trainees sitting in a Classroom is possible with his current level, however, he won't be able to do the same for a crowd sitting in the Chunin Exam Stadium, but that's fine, there's some progress and that's what matters.

As Sasuke was going through an inner monologue while sensing other's Chakra, the same familiar voice reached his ears and he felt a tug on his sleeve, "Sasuke-san… it's your turn now…"

Sasuke opened his eyes in confusion, "What?"

The others in the classroom including Iruka standing by the podium were staring at him as if waiting for him to do something, it's just that he wasn't certain that he had to do since he wasn't paying attention to the class which is nothing abnormal as he never really pays attention to the class.

But he did not have to worry about that since Hinata always helps him out in such situations. Sasuke didn't even have to ask, as Hinata quickly explained in a low whisper, "You have to perform the Clone Jutsu…"

"Oh…" nodded Sasuke as he stood up. Then under the expectant gaze of all the trainees and Umino Iruka, he weaved the hand signs, 'Clone Jutsu!' and with a poof of smoke, an identical Uchiha Sasuke appeared beside him.

Immediately everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Whoa, look at that… the clone looks exactly like him!"

"There are no deformations at all!"

"Can he already perform the Clone Jutsu?"

"But Iruka-Sensei just taught this Jutsu to us! Nobody can learn a Jutsu that fast!"

"This can only mean Sasuke-kun has already mastered the Clone Jutsu before Iruka-Sensei taught this to us!"

Even Umino Iruka looked at the young Uchiha with a stunned expression and thought to himself, 'This boy really is a genius compared to the rest of his peers…' then he shook his head and praised Sasuke, "That was splendidly done… but do make sure to pay attention."

Sasuke didn't respond with a 'yes' or a 'no' and sat back. Obviously, he wouldn't be paying attention in class most of the time, so there was no need for him to respond.

Iruka continued the lecture, "Next up is… Uzumaki Naruto," he looked at the resident troublemaker, and spoke, "Perform the Clone Jutsu… let's see how you do."

"My Clone is going to be much better than even Sasuke, and I am going to create like a dozen of them!" Naruto declared as he got up.

Sasuke said, "That's a bold statement… you shouldn't make statements you know you aren't capable of completing, Naruto."

Naruto immediately looked at the young Uchiha with a fierce expression, "Oh, yeah, just watch me do it, Sasuke!"

Before the glaring could go any further, Iruka called out the blondie's name, "Naruto!!" and spoke, "Perform the Jutsu, I don't have an entire day with me."

"Humph!" Naruto snorted, "Just watch and learn how it's actually done." Then he weaved the hand signs, 'Clone Jutsu!' and with a poof of smoke, another figure appeared beside him, the only problem was, that the figure was tiny and shriveled.

Looking at the tiny and shriveled clone that Naruto made, the entire class burst into laughter, "Pffft… Hahaha… and… and he said, 'just watch and learn how it's actually done.'"

Naruto was embarrassed and blushed, "This… uh… this is…"

Sasuke shook his head sigh, "Told him not to make statements he is clearly not capable of completing."

Iruka shook his head, "You need a lot of practice Naruto."

"This… This just isn't my strong suit," Naruto gave an excuse sat back with a dissatisfied expression, and muttered to himself, "If it were Shurikenjutsu, I would have definitely defeated him," since he has been carrying out daily training in Shurikenjutsu, so he believes that now he can defeat Sasuke in Shurikenjutsu.

Kiba looked at Naruto with a skeptical gaze. He didn't think Naruto could ever defeat Sasuke in Shurikenjutsu. In fact, no one in the world except for an Uchiha is capable of defeating an Uchiha in Shurikenjutsu, this is their thing, their clan's specialty. But he didn't bother telling this to the troublemaker since they would be able to test his 'statement' in the Shurikenjutsu Practice Class.

The rest of the class continued normally, after which it was Shurikenjutsu Practice. 

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Shurikenjutsu Training Field

Because Uzumaki Naruto secretly borrowed all the Target Faces from the Shurikenjutsu Training Field without any instructor's permission and since Naruto has yet to return those target faces to the academy that he borrowed so several new target faces were added to the Training Field. 

Anyway, as the class arrived at the training field, they took their place according to the roll call and started to practice Shurikenjutsu. Iruka observed the trainee's practice, and from time to time, he would correct the mistakes of trainees as well as advise them such that they could improve their accuracy.

Same as all the time, Naruto and Sasuke were standing side by side, and as Sasuke was about to throw Shuriken, Naruto kept staring at him prompting him to stop, and question, "What is it?"

"Nothing…" Naruto withdrew his gaze and drew out a few Shurikens from his Shinobi Bag. Then with a smirk, he threw them at the target's faces, and surprisingly all the Shuriken hit the dead center of the target's face.

"What?"

"Shino are you also seeing what I am seeing, did Naruto just hit all the Shuriken at the dead center of the target's face?" questioned Kiba in shock.

"He did." Nodded Shino.

"You can't be serious! He really did hit the dead center!"

"That's surprising…" mumbled Shikamaru.

"Has Naruto been training?" muttered Iruka in surprise.

"Heh… how do you all like that?!" snorted Naruto with a proud smirk as he listened to everyone's shock. Then he turned to Sasuke to see his shocked expression only to find that the unnecessarily edgy prick wasn't even paying attention, rather Sasuke just happened to be adjusting his Shinobi sandals while he threw the Shuriken. Only after all the Shuriken had hit the wooden target face did Sasuke get up and upon feeling Naruto's gaze upon him once again, he asked, "What is it?"

'He is doing this intentionally; I just know it!' Naruto gritted his teeth and shook his head, "Nothing," then he took out one more Shuriken and thought to himself, 'I will use my best Shuriken Technique… Humph, this throw ought to shock him…'

With his dominant hand, Naruto threw the Shuriken with a slight snap of his wrist. It glided across the air, and while curving along the path, it got nailed at the dead center of the target's face.

Everyone at the Shuriken Training Field was once again shocked, "Isn't that the same Shuriken Technique that Sasuke-kun had used?"

"Just how did Naruto use something like that?"

This time Iruka couldn't help himself and questioned Naruto, "Are you really Naruto?"

But Naruto did not pay any attention to Iruka's question or other's shock, instead, turned to Sasuke to see his reaction, but it just so happened that once again the unnecessarily edgy prick wasn't paying attention, rather he was busy drinking water and couldn't bother to care about unimportant stuff.

"You… you…!" Naruto was irked, and he would have definitely jumped on Sasuke if not for the fact that a pair of hands were restraining him.

At this time, Sasuke stopped drinking water and put the bottle on the ground, then turned to Naruto with an innocent look and asked, "What is it?"

"That's it… Just like always, you are getting on my nerves, Sasuke!" shouted Naruto while gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"What are you even talking about?" muttered Sasuke in confusion as he shook his head with a sigh. Then he took out four Shuriken, two in each hand, and threw the four Shuriken simultaneously.

Of the four shurikens, two were initially angled at nineteen degrees parallel to the ground and maintained that orientation as they traversed a certain distance. The remaining two shurikens began at a twenty-nine-degree angle parallel to the ground's surface. While cutting through the air, they altered their angle with the surface while rotating about their axis. One rotated clockwise, while the other rotated counterclockwise.

After covering a distance, the spinning shurikens' edges collided with the edges of the preceding two shurikens, sharply changing their trajectory at an angle of 78 degrees.

Ding! Ding!

This collision caused the previous two Shuriken to be pinned at the dead center of both the target focus, while the other two were nailed on the ground.

Tuk! Tuk!

"Whoa… did you see that?"

"What kind of technique was that?"

"Can Shuriken even do something like that?"

"Just how did Sasuke-kun control the Shuriken to such a degree?"

Iruka also blinked in his eyes in surprise, "That's Level 2 Shurikenjutsu… has Uchiha Sasuke already mastered it?"

The one most shocked was obviously Naruto. His eyes focused on the two different target faces at which the Shuriken had nailed, then they turned to Sasuke who had just withdrawn his arm with a shocked expression. Once again feeling Naruto's gaze upon him, Sasuke questioned, "What is it?"

But Naruto only shook his head, "Nothing," and turned his head away. What else could he say? He had planned to humble Sasuke and impress him with his skills, then talk with him… but Sasuke clearly bested him which left him with no way to move forward.

Naruto clenched his fist as he thought to himself, 'Level 2, huh?'

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As the break bell rang, the instructor at the podium collected the books and left the classroom. 

'There's still some time before they all rush at me…' thought Sasuke as he quickly packed up his stuff and prepared to leave the classroom for the break. He wanted to immediately rush away because if he didn't, then those group of girls with hearts in their eyes would rush to his seat and surround him from all sides.

Just as Sasuke got up and was about to leave, suddenly, Hinata spoke to him out of nowhere, "A… ano… Sasuke-san… can I… umm… can I j-join you today?"

Aside from the few times Sasuke had personally invited her when she was feeling down, Hinata hadn't really spent her breaks with him all that much.

Sasuke stopped and turned around to look at the introverted girl, and after a moment of contemplation, he nodded, "Very well… meet me at the same storeroom," and then quickly went out of the classroom.

Hinata exhaled a relieved sigh as a small smile crept on her face, and she quickly followed Sasuke.

Few people in the classroom noticed Hinata chasing after Sasuke, her presence in the classroom is so low that not many people even notice that she exists. However, among the few people who noticed, a girl in particular clenched her fist in anger, "That's it… I am so done with her…!"

On the other side, unaware of the anger that her little action caused to that particular girl, Hinata went to the same storeroom where they had spent a few breaks together.

Sasuke was already waiting in the storeroom, and as the young Hyuga turned around after closing the door, he questioned her with a doubtful expression, "Is there something you wanted my help with?"

It was a little confusing to him why the timid and shy Hinata would suddenly want to spend her break with him. If it was the other way around and he had invited her, that would have made sense since she has a rather submissive personality and doesn't reject others 'kindness,' but going out of her own way? That's something new and unexpected. Don't take it the wrong way, the unexpected is good… it is better… but there must be a premise for the unexpected too, right?

'Or is it just me who thinks that way?' thought Sasuke to himself as he waited for the girl's response.

Hinata fiddled with her fingers while looking down as a light blush crept up her cheeks, and she spoke in a stammered voice, "I… just wanted to express my gratitude for those days… so… so…" Then she put her hand in her Kunoichi bag and took out a scroll from it. She spread the scroll on the ground and then after weaving the hand signs, she pressed her hands on the scroll as with a poof of smoke two plates of rice bowls appeared on top of the scroll.

"Onigiri?" mumbled Sasuke as he looked at the two plates, and he could see slight imperfections in the shapes of Onigiri something you wouldn't expect if they were prepared by experienced cooks, which can only mean, "Did you make them yourself?"

Hinata didn't say anything in response, just nodded lightly as she picked up one of the plates and nervously offered it to Sasuke, "Please…"

Since he doesn't yet have the resistance to poisons and venoms as he did in the canon post-time-skip, normally, he wouldn't eat the food given to him by just about anyone, but given that Hinata prepared the Onigiri, and considering she shouldn't have any legitimate reason to harm him as far as he thinks, so he decided to accept it. "Thanks…" said Sasuke as he picked up an Onigiri from the plate and took a bite.

Hinata looked at Sasuke eating the Onigiri with anticipation in her eyes.

After a moment of chewing on the rice ball, Sasuke couldn't help but question, "Hinata, is this… is this your first time cooking?"

Hinata nodded lightly, "Yes…"

Sasuke sighed, "Makes sense…"

"Are they no good?" asked Hinata with a downcasted expression.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that they are bad…" Sasuke shook his head, and added, "Rather from the perspective of someone cooking for the first time, it's very good, in fact…"

Immediately a smile blossomed on Hinata's face, as she thought to herself, 'Yokatta!' (Thank goodness)

"Well, you should have it as well…" suggested Sasuke, and he recalled something as he took a storage scroll from his shinobi bag and unsealed two bowls of miso soup along with some pickled vegetables, "These should go well with Onigiri…"

Hinata nodded, "Hmm…" and the two children sat side by side enjoying their food together.

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