Chapter 18: Class Change
The time for me to wake up came in the blink of an eye. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and ate a quick protein snack. Then I began working out again. The medic told me that my scar was still sensitive, and that I would need a day or two of rest before beginning to work out again, but when I woke up this morning, the scar felt completely normal. At this point, I already identified that I had a fast recovery rate, so I felt there was nothing strange about this.
I did the workout somewhat in a daze, the questions in my head popping up again. What if I got into another battle today, and I was too tired to fight properly? I knew I was being paranoid, but I couldn't help but think about that. I continued working out like normal however since I knew that working out less is not a solution. I needed to build my body up, not slow it down.
After an hour of working out, I started practicing the three basic jutsu. I needed to gain mastery of them soon, especially when I saw how substitution basically gives you minor teleporting powers. It wasn't exactly teleportation, but substituting yourself with a nearby object, mostly a log, and casting a low optical illusion that made it seem like you were still there, the clone technique. The cloning technique was incorporated into the substitution technique, so there was no need to figure it out on your own. Still, the substitution justu was one of the most utilized in the shinobi world, and I needed to be able to effectively use it in battle.
After another hour of jutsu practice, I finished up with my morning exercises and picked up 2 kunai and placed them in my pocket, as well as 5 shurikens in another pocket, and 2 shurikens attached to my back. Attaching something with the Leaf Concentration method was a pretty efficient way of carrying something if you didn't have a scroll, it cost relatively little chakra since you were only channeling a bit to keep the object attached, not having to project your chakra outwards.
After getting prepared, I ate a light breakfast and started heading toward Naruto's door. I knocked on his room loudly, and repeatedly, before he eventually woke up and opened the door. He was still wearing his sleep cap, rubbing his tired eyes. When he saw me, however, he got a little jolt and screamed
"Aizen! Are you ok? What happened yesterday? Are you in trouble?"
I smiled and recounted what happened to me yesterday,
"Yeah, I'm fine Naruto. I went to the Police Force Headquarters, they questioned me a bit, and then let me go after figuring out that I was telling the truth"
He heaved a sigh and said
"That's good."
He looked like he wanted to say more, but hesitated and eventually didn't say anything. There was a short lull until I said
"Well, you better go get ready Naruto, it's time for school to start."
"Ahhh, yeah that's right how could I forget we have school today"
He started scrambling in his house, looking for his orange tracksuit. Seeing as he left the door open, I went into his house and looked around. It was, as always, messy, dirty, and just plain disgusting. There were noodle packs around the house, unwashed laundry over the floor, his unmade bed, and the list went on and on. While Naruto was getting ready, I started walking around, cleaning his house a bit. By the time he had put on his suit and brushed his teeth, I had made a pile of laundry on the side that all needed washing. This way, he can at least throw his clothes somewhere instead of leaving them all on the floor.
"All right let's get this show on the road!"
We went out and started walking towards the academy. Naruto was beaming with energy next to me, excited about pranking his teachers again. By the time we got to the academy, I could see another batch of students entering their first year of the academy, and it was briefly closed for the Hokage to give his speech.
I never thought that he'd be giving this speech every single year. I looked around me, and the people, including Naruto, seemed just as enamored with him as last year, and probably the year before that. They worshipped and admired their leader so much, that they actually found interest in listening to the same speech over and over again. The level of fervor in the Village was astonishing.
The amount of brainwashing occurring was mind-boggling as well. Even though I still admired Hiruzen, I have to admit that there is a certain level of propaganda in every one of his speeches, likely fueled by the war-filled era the world is currently in.
After the Hokage wrapped it up and the thunderous cheers of the people rang around me, I bid farewell to Naruto and entered my class. Funeno-sensei was already there, and he greeted me as he realized I arrived
"Hi, Aizen. How was your summer vacation?"
His eyes then glazed over my scar, still appearing fresh, and asked
"What happened?"
I didn't want to spread what happened yesterday, and since he didn't know where I got my scar from I assumed he didn't know, so I just reassured him about that matter
"It's nothing sensei. My summer vacation was excellent. I'm very excited about beginning our shinobi teachings this year"
Seeing my attempt to change the subject, Funeno-sensei gave me an admonishing gaze, but went along with it and said
"Yeah, I remember when I first started my ninja training, and now I'm the one teaching it. Heh, isn't that something? Anyway, I do have something to speak to you about Aizen, now that you bring it up. I would like to officially congratulate you for being transferred to class 4 starting from today on."
Class 4? That was the class with the Clan kids, the most advanced one. I stared at Funeno-sensei for a while, and asked
"Class 4? Why have I transferred sensei?"
"If the higher-ups think that you can keep up with the members from the Clan, then then they will move you so that you are with people with the same strength as you. I don't know what brought this decision, but you must have done something that proved your potential"
As he said that, he glazed over my scar and back to my eyes, probably guessing that it was a battle.
"I would like to say though, Aizen, that I'm glad your efforts and talents have been recognized. I still remember the day you walked into class, wounds all over you, looking like a cyclone hit you, and saying it was from training. I don't know what you do in your own time, but I know that you're a hard worker Aizen. So use this opportunity to rise, understand?"
Though the time I spent getting to know Funeno-sensei was short, he was a man who cared about his students. All the students loved him because he was nice and didn't hesitate to take questions from students and consult with them if need be.
I gave him a bow and thankfully remarked
"I understand, sensei. Thank you for your guidance in my first year, and your patience with me. I will not let you down"
"Hah, I know you won't Aizen. Now, would you like to stay for a bit and say goodbye to your classmates?"
I wasn't exactly close with anyone here, but still, we had spent a year together and saying goodbye was the least I can do. I waited until everyone came into class, at which time Funeno-sensei made the announcement about my transfer. There were some surprised kids, jealous ones, and some who shouted encouraging words. I bid them all farewell and started moving towards the Class 4 room.
When I arrived at the door, I heard the teacher's voice saying,
"All right now, kids we have one more transfer student today, I'll let him introduce himself himself"
One more? I assumed that was my cue though, and so I opened the door and entered the class. The teacher, whom I knew as Iruka, was smiling at me. I smiled back and walked to the middle of the class. I could hear some of the girls whispering,
"Woah, he's so cute"
"I know right, where did he come from?"
"Back off, he's mine"
"That scar is so manly!"
Since I had been training my body this entire while, I was pretty toned. I couldn't build muscle that effectively since I was still 7, but toning myself was no problem. I had sun-kissed skin since I spent most of my time outside, and dark black hair put in a ponytail. My outfit consisted of a fishnet shirt and jacket, along with black pants. With sharp facial features, a well toned body, and an outstanding sense of fashion (if I do say so myself), it was no wonder that I became the center of attention of all the girls in the class. I guess my scar also gave me a bit of a manly and mysterious aspect. But honestly speaking, how handsome could I be? I'm only 7 years old after all. Tuning these conversations out, I introduced myself to the class.
"Hello everyone, my name is Aizen Sosuke. I just transferred from Class 3, but I look forward to spending the rest of my academy years with you all! Please take care of me in the coming years."
Looking up, I could see Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shino, Kiba, and Hinata all in the class looking at me. I was surprised to see Naruto and Sakura, I thought they were still in their respective classes, but thinking back to how Iruka-sensei mentioned that I was "one more" transfer student, I assumed that he was talking about those two.
"All right class quiet down! Aizen, you can choose any seat you want"
"Yes sensei"
The seats next to Shikamaru, Naruto, and Choji were occupied, so I sat next to my other acquaintance in the class, Sasuke. He looked up at me and nodded, and I nodded back.
The girls, however, started going crazy.
"Oh my god, Sasuke just nodded at him."
"The two cutest boys are sitting next to each other!"
"I'm gonna die!!"
All sorts of weird exclamations and remarks, someone even said they're going to die!
I looked over at Sasuke and saw that he had a blank face on, probably already used to this. He looked over at me, and his eyes seemed to scream at me 'look what you've done'.
I gave him a sheepish smile, and whispered
"Sorry"
He gave a slight smirk and went back to his normal expression.
I myself also gave him a smirk and focused my attention back at Iruka-sensei. I didn't know how he felt Naruto right now, but I knew that whatever he had against him would be resolved in the future, so I wouldn't interfere unless it seemed to affect Naruto.
"All right class! It's time to start the lessons"
Cue the groans. After a while, I can't say exactly how long, however, since I lost my sense of being in the endless, infinite Tsukuyomi known to the world as lectures, Iruka-sensei ended the lessons and said
"Today, we're going to be starting our ninja training. All of us will go out to test and practice your shuriken throwing. We'll give you your shurikens so just leave everything behind"
Finally! Our ninja studies would be starting! I've always felt like I was wasting time in the academy, and I've gone so far as to practice the Leaf Concentration method just to make it a little more bearable, but now I wouldn't have to worry so much about it. We would start doing more and more ninja lessons until it occupied the majority of all our time in the academy, which would mean my training time increasing by hours in the future.
Everyone else shared my excitement too, because all their faces beamed up and excitedly exclaimed,
"Yes!! Finally, dattebayo! I'm going to show everyone how amazing I am"
"Hehe, now everyone will see the true might of the Inuzuka Clan, won't they Akamaru?"
"Woof!"
"What a draggg"
Well, almost everyone.
Iruka-sensei chuckled and led us all out to the training grounds.
There were 6 old targets laid out, they looked like archery targets except there was only one circle in the middle that was black. The goal was to get as many in the black circle, and the minimum for something to count was to hit the black circle in the middle.
Iruka-sensei handed out some shuriken to all of us, and told us for the assessment we'd only use one of the targets.
He called up names and the person would have to do his best, retrieve the shuriken, and come back to the line.
He started with Naruto Uzumaki.
"Yeah! Dattebayo now everyone will see how awesome I am. Watch this Sakura"
He walked up to the line full of confidence and started throwing them. The first one barely made the target, and he only made 2 in the black in total
Iruka-sensei looked at this with a blank face and announced his score was 2/10, and the whole class laughed at him.
It wasn't so much that anyone was making fun of his performance, but rather that he was talking such a big game beforehand and could only do this much.
Naruto started turning beet red, and shouted
"Unfair! Give me another try I could do better I promise!"
Iruka-sensei didn't pay this any mind and told him to get back in line. Naruto reluctantly went back and said that he could have easily done better.
"Sasuke!"
It turns out it was Sasuke's turn. Fate was truly a funny thing, first Naruto went and scored abysmally, and now Sasuke was going and I'm sure he's going to do great. Perhaps it was Iruka-sensei's arrangement, but I'd like to think it was more of the world's.
Sasuke walked up with his hands in his pocket, and took the shurikens out all at once.
"Hmph, why is he trying to act cool. Watch I bet he's going to do even worse than me!"
He did not. He shot three shurikens at once, and shot the last one right in the middle. He made 9/10 of all the shuriken in the black, and the last very close to the black. He had a stellar score even while performing a harder technique.
The fangirls started going crazy, while Sasuke walked up with his hands in his pocket and a smirk.
"Hmph, showoff"
The kids kept getting called. Shikamaru got 6/10, Choji got 4/10, Hinata surprisingly got 7/10, Kiba got a 5/10, and Shino got the same as Hinata. As for Ino and Sakura… both got 3/10, almost as bad as Naruto.
Finally, Iruka-sensei called another name.
"Aizen!"
I walked up to the target and took three out at once, like Sasuke. I wasn't as good as Sasuke, but I wasn't much worse. While throwing three at once, I got an 7/10. The three that weren't in the black barely hit the target at all, but still it was the second best in the class.
I walked back and saw Sasuke staring at me. I smirked at him, and he just clicked his tongue. A tiny smirk adorned his face though, and I could tell he was having fun. I enjoyed competing with Sasuke, and it looked like he enjoyed it as well.
Naruto started shouting from the back though,
"Woahh! Aizen I didn't know you were that good! Hah! See that Sasuke you're not that special!"
Sasuke glanced at him and proceeded to ignore him, which made Naruto even more frustrated.
Ignoring the squabble between the two, as well as the shrieks from the fangirls in the background, the rest of the class proceeded to do the assessment. There were some normal civilian kids in the class, apparently filtered in because they were the children of jonin level ninjas. It seemed that Class 3 wasn't just for civilians, just for civilians without a background. Another part of the kids in the class were part of a Clan's branch family, or had a diluted bloodline due to having one civilian parent and one with a bloodline.
Even among Clan members, the purity of someone's bloodline differed, and so did their abilities. Some had more affinity with their Clan's techniques, and their potential would be inevitably higher than someone with a lower affinity. That was how the Shinobi world worked, though, bloodline and genetics mattered. Clan kids had more chakra than civilian kids, more resources, more education, more everything. Honestly, except for the lack of some freedoms and choices, being born in a clan was the number one advantage a person could have in this world.
Throwing these thoughts out of my mind, I watched as the class finished their tests. Most didn't care about these scores, treating it as fun rather than training. Iruka-sensei concluded the assessment and told us all to start training. He targeted Sasuke and I however, and asked us if we wanted to move to the next stage of projectile training, with senbon. Both of us rejected.
Sasuke was enamored with Itachi, and since Itachi practiced with shurikens then he would as well. As for me, I didn't want to move on to the next level of projectile training since I wanted my shuriken skills to be the best. I would mainly use them in the future after all.
Everyone began training, throwing shurikens one after another. Of course, this was all regulated by Iruka-sensei, making sure we were all safely practicing, and it continued this way for a while. Eventually, Iruka-sensei dismissed us and we proceeded out of the Academy. I was with Shikamaru, Choji, and Naruto. Shikamaru and Choji also asked me about what happened yesterday, and I gave them the same answer I gave Naruto.
I told them not to worry, and quickly changed the subject.
"So, what do you guys want to do today?"
"Sigh, how about we cloud watch?"
"No! That's getting too old, let's do something else!"
"Yeah, omnomnom, I agree with Naruto. Cloud watching is getting boring, we should do something else"
We started brainstorming about possible ideas, and eventually just decided on going to the playground. On the way, everyone was still giving Naruto the same dirty look, and I could tell Shikamaru was contemplating on this matter more. We quickly got to the playground, and I noticed that Kiba and a couple of kids from class were there as well. We joined with their group and started playing tag and ninja.
Apparently some of them had wooden shurikens, so we would throw those around as well. It was actually pretty good target practice since the target could actually move and react. The fact that it was also fun helped. We played until sunset, when the parents started coming.
Shikaku also arrived, ready to pick up Shikamaru and Choji. He looked at Naruto and I as well, and offered
"Sosuke, Naruto. Would you guys like to join us on our way home as well?"
Remembering yesterday's events... well Naruto and I quickly agreed.
We were dropped off first, right at the the apartment building, and we bade farewell to them. Naruto asked to come over, but I denied and said that I needed a bit of rest. He sulked a bit but nodded and went home.
As for me, I did need a bit of rest. Although I went about my day, I was still somewhat haunted by the actions I committed yesterday. That feeling was accentuated when I saw something in front of my door. It was a basket, holding some shuriken and one blood-dyed kunai. Apparently, since the investigation was all but settled, the Police Force would return all weapons found on the scene of the crime back to their owners.
Weapons were essentially a ninja's life after all. I just couldn't believe that they wouldn't clean it. The blood on the kunai was dried, and I could only go inside and sit on the couch, holding the kunai in my hands.
Time seemed to slow down to a zenith, and I seemed to be staring at the kunai for an eternity. By the time I gazed outside, the sun was already gone and it was all but dark. I got up and proceeded to get ready for bed, not even doing my daily meditations. The kunai had struck something deep in me, and just remembering how it entered that woman's head made me dazed. I didn't fundamentally have a problem with killing someone, that was just the world I was brought into, but personally doing it was something else.
The memory of the kunai entering her head and the blood pooling around her was forever ingrained in my mind. It was almost like I had a Sharingan activated, engraving every image in my brain directly. The feeling of taking a fellow human's life was disturbing, especially considering how frequently it was done here in the Shinobi World.
I let myself sink into the mattress, and eventually headed to sleep. My mind was especially active that night, however, and the thoughts circulating around my head would not stop anytime soon...
----------------------
Earlier that evening,
Shikamaru and his dad had just dropped off Choji at his house.
They started heading to the Nara estate, taking their sweet time while doing so. Yoshino had instilled the fear of god into both of them, and stalling before they went back home was a given to them at this point.
Shikamaru was contemplating on the matter of Naruto, when he heard his dad say
"What's got you thinking about anything, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru glanced up at his dad and let his eyes drift back onto the sky.
"Well, I have a question, if you wouldn't mind answering for me dad"
"Go ahead"
"Why does everyone glare at Naruto?"
Taking a side glance at his son, Shikaku also returned to looking at the clouds.
"Why do you think that?"
"Every time I go out with Naruto I can feel that everyone has their eyes on us. Like they're staring at Naruto to make sure nothing happens. It doesn't help that everybody avoids him like the plague either. I just don't understand, did he do something wrong?"
"Well, it's not about something that he exactly did. I have a question for you instead, Shikamaru. Do the stares and the avoidance bother you?"
"Not exactly, I was just wondering why everyone seems to know something about Naruto"
"Well, how do you feel about him?"
"Mmm, he's kind of stupid, but he's pretty funny. I don't mind having him around, I guess"
"Well then, that's all you need to know about the boy isn't it. You should do what you want about the matter, you have my full support either way"
"Yeah, I guess you're right"
"Thanks dad"
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Bob_Kizmet_5542 Chapter updates will be erratic until the 19th, but after that I will return to publishing multiple chapters a week!
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