Chapter 3

Five years old.

Izuna finally started at the academy. It wasn't that he was particularly overjoyed about the school itself. He couldn't care less about that, but still, that held a concrete sense of achievement in the corner of his heart.

He had finally reached a milestone, soon to be crossed.

And today was his first day at the academy.

"Now then, please introduce yourselves and tell us your dream for the future, or what kind of ninja you want to become when you grow up."

The male teacher, standing in front of the class asked with a smile, looking at his students.

It was the first class that the new batch of students attended. Unfamiliar and slightly nervous but some excited faces could be seen, while Izuna quietly watched them chatter.

He couldn't put it up in exact words but it was rather common for them to feel like that and boring for him.

Clap!

"All right, we'll go by student number."

The teacher said, loudly, clapping his hands to gather everyone's attention- perhaps understanding how his new batch of students felt. Or perhaps not.

At any rate, the first student stood up, walking up to the front nervously. Following him, the rest of the classmates did the same.

"Hmm, hm. Very well done."

A classmate was applauded, who sat next to Izuna. Meaning, that it was his turn next.

"All right then, next, Izuna Uchiha."

Thinking that there wasn't much point in self-introduction if the teacher had already said their names, Izuna stood up and walked up to the front of the class.

"Woah!"

The other students, the same age as him, turned interested eyes towards him while some female classmates gaped at him. Even as a kid, with his distinguishing features, he stood at the top amidst everyone else.

"I'm Izuna Uchiha. And my dream is to become the strongest and the greatest ninja ever, strong enough to protect what I hold dear."

Patting the space between his eyebrows, he stated indifferently, a smile couldn't help but form on his face. Akane and Akio Uchiha, his parents smiling faces popped up in his mind.

He heard a laugh in the corner of the classroom. And then immediately after that, came the pre-established harmony of applause.

"Well done."

The older male teacher standing next to him cocked his head towards the younger boy and patted as everyone in the class applauded.

To them, his words sounded more like a delusional dream, ignorant of the outside world. No one believed that it would come true. That's what they all thought, so they laughed and mechanically clapped.

Only one of them- sitting somewhere far away from the classroom- understood just how serious his words were. And it won't be long before his classmates and the teacher learn the same.

_____________

Three figures were lined up in the conference room of the Hokage Residence with a ball made of strange glass placed on the table before them, soft clothing wrapped around it.

At the center, sat a man donned in full-length red kimono with a white sash. Next to him sat a man and a woman, they were Homura and Koharu from the Konoha council.

One of the remaining members, Danzo Shimura, seemed to be absent today.

In any case, the man at the center was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi - hailed as the God of Shinobi. His distinguishing feature was his below-average stature, tanned skin, brown spiked hair, and a matching goatee.

"The kids of this generation seem promising. At first, it was Sakumo's son Kakashi Hatake and now him, Izuna Uchiha. Military Police Force vice-chief's son, huh."

With a kind smile on his wrinkled face, Hiruzen broke the silence, thoughtfully looking at the spherical ball.

"Yes, just as you said, Hiruzen. I would very much like to see what this generation has to offer."

This came from Homura, to his response Hiruzen nodded slightly with a question hidden deep inside of his eyes as he continued to watch the orb.

Apparently, he was reminiscing about the words the young Uchiha had said about his dream. It was just too absurd coming from someone as young as him, a kid ignorant of the world- a delusional dream.

However, it couldn't be refuted as Izuna's eyes reflected the resolve. The young kid had the concise, direct, and air of an adult around him. Holding the title of professor, naturally, Hiruzen understood something.

The corner of his lips curled into a kind smile as he smoked.

_____________

"Wow!"

His classmates standing not far from him, dumbfounded. Even the teacher forgot to call on the next student in his astonishment.

"R-right, next!"

After their basic academics that consisted of normal subjects, fundamental theory on physical arts and jutsu, this class was basically a test to see how many of the twenty human figures set up all over the schoolyard could be hit by a student.

Each student took a turn individually and it eventually came down to Izuna, who naturally did in the least amount of time, earning a perfect score, flawlessly.

Izuna had done it under ten seconds. All of his kunai hit the target precisely in the head, in all twenty of them.

The schoolyard was quite large. From starting point to the end, showing flawless precision and concentration, Izuna managed to complete the task with the most efficiency.

As the teacher gave him the start signal, Izuna dashed forward and launched the eight kunai he held in his hands at the eight targets simultaneously. That didn't even take two seconds.

From there, he started running on a route he pictured in his mind and made a swift tour of the yard.

Ten seconds.

He could've done it even better, he felt it took him too long.

"W-well done, Izuna. All right, next one!"

The instructor said, sweat rolling down his face. Maybe he was doubting himself if he could do something like that. Or maybe not.

Without responding and with a random thought coursing through his mind, Izuna returned to his spot. He stood among the excited classmates, who circled around him at a distance and whispered to each other.

His performance had been so incredible that no one could say anything to him. And unaware of these reactions, Izuna had fallen into his own thoughts.

'If my memory serves right then Kakashi and his classmates would also be present at the academy, right?'

But, he quietly shook his head.

'No. Maybe he would've graduated till now. Oh, well... Hm?'

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he suddenly his teacher's call.

"Izuna Uchiha."

He stood up and proceeded to the front of the class, he was handed down a sheet of paper. A large circle was drawn around the score '100' at the top of the page.

"You're the only one to get a perfect score on the test, well done."

Izuna slightly bowed his head to the teacher, and then returned to his seat by the window, while his classmates gasped in surprise.

All of them had ever-so-timidly spoken to him once, but Izuna's responses were so concise and definite that none of them wanted to try to speak to him again. He always had an aura of a grown-up around him.

'Can I really learn something new or the true nature of being a ninja in a place like this?'

Probably not.

School grades and the actual abilities were not the same things. That's how he felt. Today was his first day and he had obtained full grades. The limit of the grades was one hundred percent - it was impossible to score any more than that.

But he felt like this was unproductive.

With these thoughts coursing through his mind, Izuna decided to focus on training with his parents and just send a Shadow Clone from tomorrow onwards.

He was not going to the academy to make friends and play around, though, so he was fine with that. The dissatisfaction was due to how he felt like it won't be productive coming here.

"Make sure to show this test to your parents."

His teacher reminded, and Izuna carefully folded the page with 100 written on it.

< Chapter 3 > Fin.