Without a Home

Osamu, the instructor of class 3-C, watched the young boy ascend the rows and sit quietly in the back.

The kid had chin-length, light-blue hair with matching sky-blue eyes. He wore a dark-blue shirt with a mesh undershirt, and black pants and sandals.

'Katsu, no last lame. Out of twenty-six students, he ranks twenty-first. Nothing special as far as being a student goes,' Osamu thought, 'But there's just something weird about him. For as long as I can remember, not once have I heard him speak.'

'And there's always been this lifeless look behind his eyes, like he's not even alive at all. Creepy as all hell, honestly.'

'So it's not much of a surprise that he's made zero friends in his time spent here. The other kid's even came up with a dumb joke revolving around him. They call him a ghost. They say that he's just a lost soul who haunts this classroom day after day, and then disappears once he leaves.'

'Well, I've not once seen him outside of the academy, but it's a ridiculous notion nonetheless.'

Osamu turned his gaze away from Katsu and continued his lecture on the creation and application of explosive tags.

As he spoke, he thought, 'But there's something different about him today. He just doesn't seem so lifeless anymore.'

~~~~~

'War? I'm not prepared for war! I'm just a college student dammit!' Katsu thought with no small amount of panic.

If his assumption was correct, then he was well and truly doomed. He was no fool. He knew that he would die. He would be cannon fodder. That of which he had no doubt.

However, dropping out was not an option. Katsu had already been in the academy for a sizable amount of time given his shinobi knowledge, and with war waging beyond Konoha's borders, the military would surely seek a return on their investment. He would graduate, receive his headband, and die on the front lines alongside his underage compatriots.

'Alright relax. Just relax. Maybe I'm not totally screwed here. I've retained everything Katsu has learned since his enrollment. Let's see… basic academy taijutsu, a fundamental understanding of chakra and hand seals, the bare minimum ability to handle kunai and shuriken, and subpar skill with the clone technique. Fuck.'

Katsu promptly focused his attention on the instructor. At the very least, he would be a model student from now on. Perhaps, if he did well enough with his remaining time in the academy, he'd not die gruesomely on the battlefield.

'We're learning how to make explosive tags? I don't think they taught that to Naruto's class. Thank god for war time education.'

After a few hours, the morning class ended, and Katsu alongside his classmates were taken outside for practical training and body exercises.

Katsu partook in two sparring matches. One of which he barely won (it was against the second to last ranking kid), and the other resulted in perhaps the most embarrassing moment in his life.

'I really just got defeated by a six year old… To be fair to myself, I think most people from my previous world would have as well. The children in this world are monstrously strong.'

After some weapon training and chakra manipulation practice, the class proceeded to lunch. Of course, being an orphan, Katsu did not have lunch, nor the money necessary to purchase some outside of the academy, so he spent his time practicing the clone technique instead.

Following the conclusion of the final class of the day, Katsu exited the class with slow steps. He had no clue where he was supposed to go outside of class.

'Do I live in an orphanage or something? Guess I'll ask around.'

As he followed the stream of children towards the academy exit, he heard his instructor shout from behind, "Remember, final exams will be held in eight months! Don't forget to train in your free time! Make Konoha proud!"

'I don't think I have much of a choice here, sensei,' Katsu thought with exasperation.

After leaving the academy grounds, Katsu watched as the others students dispersed along the different roads of Konoha, talking with one another or simply strolling leisurely back to their homes.

Katsu chose a random dirt road and began walking. As he moved about, he took in the sight that was Konoha — the Hokage faces carved into the mountain, the vast array of shops and street vendors, the ordinary citizens running errands, and the beautiful architecture of it all. For someone from twenty-first century Earth, it all looked so colorfully archaic. Katsu was enamored with it all. For something that was once fiction to become reality was truly surreal.

Tearing his attention away from the place he now lived, Katsu approached an old man hawking used pottery.

"Excuse me," he said to the elderly man.

"Hmm?" The old man's wrinkly face crinkled in confusion before he understood who was speaking to him.

"Oh! Hello there young man, are you looking to buy some pottery?" He asked with a genuine smile.

'What kind of child wants to buy pottery?' Katsu thought while observing the old man.

"Uhh? No, thanks though. Actually, I wanted to know where the orphanage was."

"Ohhh, are you lost then, little one?"

"That's right." Katsu shook his head in the affirmative.

"Well, finding the orphanage is as simple as continuing down this here road." The old man pointed in the direction Katsu was already heading.

"Thanks for the help, mister."

"No problem, kiddo. You be safe now." The old man waved him off and returned to speaking to the passersby about his pristine goods.

Katsu wandered in the direction indicated by the elderly street vendor and eventually came across a sign that said, "Konoha Orphanage."

Entering the building, he found a wooden desk attended by a young women with spectacles and a brown hair bun. The woman glanced up at him, though did not act in anyway that would signify that she knew him.

'Don't tell me…' Katsu thought.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked, tilting her head. She was racking her brain to remember a child of Katsu's appearance having ever walked in before.

"I don't suppose I live here, huh?" Katsu asked, already done with his situation. He knew what the woman would say and was prepared to leave.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize you, little one. Are you lost? Do you need to be returned to your parents?" She asked, perplexed.

"Haah, no, I'm good. Just wandered into the wrong building is all," Katsu said before spinning on his heel and walking out with due haste.

"Ah, wai-" The woman tried to say, but Katsu had already left the building. "What a strange child," she muttered.

'Guess I'm homeless. Works out for me, wasn't much too fond of living in an orphanage anyway.'

After continuing his random exploration of Konoha, he came across Training Ground Seven. It was a massive forest on the south-eastern edge of Konoha with a bit of land cleared for training.

'It's a vagabond's life for me. Sure hope this place has some deer.'