A New Classroom, New Opportunities

After being suspended for two weeks, I finally returned to the academy but to a different classroom, as Aki-Sensei did not want to deal with me. As for my Will of Fire essay, I just copied and pasted a couple of different books on the Will of Fire. The Hokage did not comment on it, so I guess I am in the clear. Although I am concerned about the Uchiha twins, there is not much I can do, but at least I won't have to listen to a bunch of fangirls anymore.

" Let's see here. Ah, there is my new classroom!"

It took me a minute to find my new classroom, but it was not far from my original class. I entered the class, and the chatter that once filled the room turned silent. It was quiet until one familiar face called out.

" Hey, what are you doing here? This isn't your class!"

It was Kiba Inuzuka. He had yet to get his fang tattoos on his cheeks or Akamaru. I explained myself.

" I got transferred to this class."

The rest of the class broke out in murmurs, and I picked up on a few conversations.

" We're sharing a class with the Yellow Habanero?"

" We better not talk to him, or else we might get attacked out of nowhere."

" This sucks."

Yellow Habanero? What is with that nickname? I was confused by the sudden new nickname as I am usually called the Crazy Demon Kid or simply Demon. Meh, whatever, I don't care, not really, as I just want to get the class done and over with. I examined the classroom and noted a couple of other faces I recognized. Shikimaru, Chouji, Shino, and most interestingly, Hinata, well, hopefully, things will be more tolerable in this class.

The class soon started, and I met my new Chunin Instructor, Tanaka-Sensei, a broad and big-boned man with most of his hair hidden by his headband and dark eyes. He looked at me but did not see me, which gave me a clear idea of his attitude toward me. He then announced.

" Class, today we have a new student, Naruto Uzumaki. He was transferred over to our class due to some circumstances you have probably heard already. Uzumaki, you can sit wherever."

He waved me off, and I found a seat in the back as I started to pay attention to class in boredom. Thankfully, I already read ahead and was given my classwork during my two-week suspension, so I am not behind. Everyone was giving me a wide berth, which was more than fine by me. I enjoyed the lack of screeching fangirls as the day went by. Looks like things are not too bad for me.

________________________________________

Sarada's eye twitched as the volume of noise increased once more since her former seat neighbor got sent to a different classroom.

" KYA, SASUKE-KUN!"

" ISN'T GREAT THAT THE DEMON IS GONE, SASUKE-KUN!"

" GOOD RIDDANCE!"

" NOW HE CAN'T STOP US FROM BEING WITH SASUKE-KUN!"

Sarada felt the urge to sigh as her brother, plus her, were surrounded by screaming. Ultimately, she decided to try harder at tuning them out, as speaking out against them was not worth the effort as they would just be even more annoying. The last female, Uchiha, stared out into space as she tried not to think about that night or anything at all to try and stop feeling the new sense of emptiness that filled both her and her brother.

However, underneath that emptiness was a dark, burning flame that threatened to consume everything. Sarada wanted to kill Itachi Uchiha. She wanted to burn him alive. She wanted to rip him apart one piece at a time. She wanted VENGEANCE. The bloodied remains of her Clan flashed through her mind despite her desires. She closed her eyes to try and deny her rush of emotions and the memories related to them.

Sarada bit her lip to feel physical pain as it was a lighter, easier to deal with- pain than what lay in her heart. She clenched her fists, and her nails dug into her palms as she did as she tried to suppress her rising emotions.

" EXCUSE ME!"

One of the bolder fangirls pushed Sarada aside to sit next to Sasuke, which threw the other fangirls up in arms.

" HEY I WANTED TO SIT NEXT TO SASUKE-KUN!"

" GET OUT THE WAY UGLY I'M SITTING NEXT TO SASUKE-KUN!"

" NO, I AM!"

Something finally snapped within Sarada. She did not cry out nor say anything as she simply stared at the group of fangirls with cold, empty eyes as they fought to sit next to Sasuke. Sarada grabbed the hair of the girl nearest her and slammed the girl's head against the desk. This stunned the rest, but the last female, Uchiha, did not stop there as she repeatedly slammed the girl's head onto the desk even while she cried and apologized.

" I'm sor-."

The girl did not get to finish the sentence as she was slammed against the desk. The girl at Sarada's mercy soon turned silent as she was unconscious from the female Uchiha's violence. Sarada turned to look at her brother, who stared at her with an expressionless face but concerned eyes. No words were needed between them, and Sasuke's eyes then narrowed as he gave a slight nod in agreement. Enough was enough.

Sasuke got out of his seat, which his fan club noticed, and said excitedly.

" Sasuke-kun, are you going to stop your sister for us!?"

" Yeah, Sasuke-kun, stop her. She's turning out like that demon!"

" Sasuke-kun, protect us!"

Sasuke clenched his fist and drew back his right, then... punched the nearest fangirl. She was knocked out from the sudden attack, and the rest were scared and silent as they began to hear their heartbeat hammer away, and they started to realize something. Sasuke was angry along with his sister, and the target of their combined wrath was them. It then things began to drastically change in that classroom.

________________________________________

I felt complicated with how my new classroom was turning out. On one hand, it was a LOT more quiet, not a high bar, admittedly, but still, however, my new reputation is making everyone avoid or walk eggshells around me, including those I wanted to make friends with, mainly Shikamaru and Choji. While Hinata has been carefully avoiding eye contact with me, I learned she might not become obsessed with me like with the original Naruto, as she was not blushing, stuttering, or fainting when I tried talking to her.

Well, crap, what now? On the one hand, I am fine with being on my own since I was a loner, even in my previous life. However, on the other hand, I do need friends for both practical and emotional reasons. I do at least one person that I like in this backward village training child soldiers that I can chat with at minimum. I sighed as I tried to pay attention to class.

Chakra Theory is a dry but necessary subject, although I have studied ahead of everyone else as I wanted to know about Chakra as much as I could. After all, it is the source of strength in this world. I looked out the window, feeling bored, and wondered if I should skip class to train.

" Oi, pay attention!"

I turned to Tanaka-Sensei to find he was not talking to me but Shikamaru, who was probably napping in the middle of class. He did not even glance my way. I guess he was going to pretend I didn't exist, which was honestly fine with me. I went back, looking out the window, feeling bored for the rest of the class.

The bell rang to signal the end of classes, hearing that I stretched from sitting around for so long. As I got out of my seat, I heard.

" Hey, Yellow Habanero, why does Tanaka-Sensei ignore you when you don't pay attention but get on my case when I do?"

I turned to see Kiba looking at me with a mix of grievance and curiosity. I lied as explaining the truth was not worth it.

" I'm bribing him with pervy magazines. Just offer them to him before class starts, and he will let you slack off."

" Really?"

Kiba asked with a skeptical look, and I asked back.

" Why else would he ignore me?"

The dog lover looked thoughtful and then nodded before thanking me.

" Thanks, Yellow Habanero, I am looking forward to relaxing in class."

I stopped myself from laughing out loud as I wished I could see the look on the Chunin Instructor's face when Kiba tried to bribe him. I wonder if he can even get pervy magazines? I then heard someone else ask.

" Hey, is what you said true? About bribing Tanaka-Sensei?"

I looked to see if it was Shikamaru asking this time, and I told a half-truth.

" Nope, I was just messing with Kiba, and Tanaka-Sensei just hates me like the rest of the village for whatever reason."

I shrugged as I had grown numb to the treatment I received, but I will not forget and certainly not forgive. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes but did not pursue the matter further, at least not from me. Choji then called out to his best friend.

" Hey, Shika, we need to go. Dad is treating us to barbecue!"

" Yeah, I'm coming, Choji."

Shikamaru said back with a lazy tone as he followed his excited, pleasantly plump friend. I guess I will head to my usual spot to train before calling it a day. I exited the academy and went to the woods behind Hokage Rock. It's a bit of a walk, but at the very least, I generally seldom run into people up here. I took out my Konoha Taijutsu Manual and reviewed the basic Katas before I started attacking the tree after stretching.

I suppressed the urge to wince at the familiar pain I felt from my fist striking the tree—100 normal punches, 100 backhand strikes, then 100 palm strikes, and, lastly, 100 chops. I looked down at my hands, battered with bruises, scrapes, and cuts. I also wanted to do spearhands and finger strikes, but I held off until I could get proper guidance in that regard because I could potentially ruin my hands for good if I did.

After finishing my fist and hand-focused exercises, I went for elbow strikes, then knee strikes, and lastly, kicks-100 front kicks, 100 low kicks, 100 mid kicks, 100 axe kicks, and lastly, 100 high kicks to wrap up my Taijutsu training. After that, I did footwork training with jump rope ( that I had to make myself) and balancing on some rocks and wooden blocks. I then mediated to rest and reflect on my day.

Time flew by until near sunset, and I went to a local bathhouse to clean up before heading back to my apartment. My hands sting from washing them with soap, along with everything else that got scraped. I sighed in relief as I started to soak in the large tub. Although I could do without being stared at by all the other guys, what could I do? My apartment does not have a built-in bath.

I heard the water move near me as someone approached, and I got ready to deliver a low blow if needed. I was not above crotch shots in a bath if someone wanted to start something.

" Uzumaki-San?"

I turned to see... someone I had no clue who he was.

" Um, yes, do I know you?"

I asked in confusion, as I did not recognize the guy, period. He was my age with dark brown hair and dark eyes. He calmly replied.

" It is unfortunate you do not recognize your classmates, Uzumaki-san."

I was even more confused now as I really had no idea who this guy was.

" Are you messing with me? I recall most of my classmates, both from my current class and previous one, but I do not recognize you."

I was getting suspicious that this guy was messing with me for some reason. He cooly said.

" I sit in front of you."

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion and tried to remember who sat in... front of me. I tried to recall, but I was drawing a blank as the row in front of me in class was empty. I narrowed my eyes and said with rising anger at the guy who was messing with me.

" No one sits in front of me, and unless you mean one of the other rows, I would have recognized you regardless. If you are causing me trouble for just the sake of it, piss off."

He looked... surprised by my reaction, then quickly became downcast for some reason. He just quietly walked away without saying another word. Who the heck was that guy?

I got out of the bath and dried myself before getting dressed. As I headed out I saw a familiar face and called out.

" Aburame-san?"

Shino looked up at me and coldly replied.

" Now you recognize me, Uzumaki-san?"

At his reaction and hearing his voice, I had a light bulb moment, then exclaimed.

" That was you back there!?"

" Yes."

Shino said with a gloomy aura hanging around him and I defended myself.

" Of course, I did not recognize you because you always wear sunglasses and have your hair sticking up instead of down."

" It's fine, I'm used to it..."

The Aburame said, gloomy and with exasperation. I apologized sincerely, as I do feel bad for not recognizing him.

" I am sorry, Aburame-san, but people usually give me a wide berth, and I never expected to run into you at my usual bathhouse."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly as Shino was one of my favorite male characters in Naruto. He is a fairly chill guy who becomes a Chunin Instructor at the Academy in Boruto and does his best for his students. I extended my hand to shake his, and he just stared at my extended hand. He then looked at me and said.

" Most people try to avoid touching me because of my Clan's hidden jutsu."

" And? It's not like you're going to swarm me with your bugs right suddenly. You don't seem the type to pull that sort of stunt as a joke."

He took my hand and shook it, then said.

" It was a pleasant surprise to see you, Uzumaki-san."

" Same here, Aburame-san."

We went our separate ways after exiting the bathhouse. Another day done.