Scene Two
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Friends
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Naruto's Point of View
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It had been a while since I last saw Sasuke and Sakura after middle school. Every time I tried to contact them, they never responded.
To my surprise, a week ago Sakura asked me to go for a walk. I immediately agreed and accompanied her.
At first, she acted as if nothing was wrong—normal, at least for someone who couldn't see the sorrow she was trying to hide.
Sakura told me everything, word for word.
Her brother, Sasori, had been sent on an undercover mission to spy on the Uchiha clan. The method didn't matter—as long as the mission succeeded.
But he encountered a formidable enemy in the middle of the operation, and all contact with him was lost from that point on.
It was as if Sasori had vanished completely off the face of the earth.
Later, a burnt, charred body was discovered. Dental records confirmed that it belonged to Haruno Sasori.
He had been shot three times in the heart, then set on fire and discarded to erase all evidence.
Sakura's tears poured uncontrollably as she stared down in pain. Who could've imagined his end would be so cruel?
At that moment, I saw a side of Sakura I had never seen before—gentle, peace-loving Sakura...
A desire for vengeance!!
I couldn't let her be consumed by revenge and lose herself, so I promised I would be the one to find that enemy and bring them to justice. I told her not to let revenge take hold of her heart.
Thankfully, Sakura still trusted me—she could rely on me. Slowly but surely, she began to regain her vitality.
Today, as we were walking to school, we saw Sasuke with Karin, and behind them was Ino, who appeared cloaked in an aura of sadness.
It was my first time seeing her. Why did she seem so… broken?
I made sure not to show my emotions as we stood across from each other in front of the school gate.
Unbelievable—Neji and Tenten are here too!!
But where's Hinata? Is she younger than us, like in the other world?
We passed through the gate and parted ways with Tera, then I approached Sasuke and Karin, still in shock, and began asking about her.
I couldn't believe she was his sister! Did his father have some kind of connection to my clan?
Honestly, I'd expected Karin to appear in our clan years ago. But after all this time with no trace of her, I thought she never would. It was truly shocking.
We slowly made our way toward our classroom, receiving stares filled with admiration along the way.
Once inside, we found some students chatting among themselves.
At the very back, there was someone sleeping, clearly uninterested in class, and beside him was a chubby guy munching on potato chips.
Oh crap—just thinking he was chubby made him shoot me a terrifying glare. Is he a mind reader??
I looked to the side awkwardly and smiled stupidly. Yep, that's Shikamaru and Chōji! What a coincidence to run into them here!
"I'm sitting here," said Sakura, taking the last seat by the window.
Sasuke and I looked at each other for a moment before both of us reached for the seat next to her at the same time.
"I'm sitting here."
We spoke in unison.
"Hey, move! I reached for it before you!!" I snapped, eyes sparkling with annoyance.
"What? We reached at the same time! Don't lie!"
"This seat is mine—it literally has my name on it!!"
"There's no such thing!!"
While we were bickering, Karin calmly placed her bag down and took the seat.
We stared at her as she turned her gaze aside, clearly uninterested.
"Ugh, whatever," I sighed, then took the seat in front of her. Sasuke sat in front of Karin.
"Look, they're fighting over her," someone whispered.
"Shhh, they'll hear you!"
The other students whispered to each other, but I didn't really care.
"All right, that's enough. Everyone, take your seats now," a slow voice called from outside the room, instantly silencing us as we turned to see who it was.
"So handsome...!" the girls whispered as the teacher entered.
With his silver-white hair, one drowsy eye, and the rest of his face hidden behind a black mask—it was Kakashi-sensei!!
Kakashi walked to his desk, set his book down gently, and smiled faintly from behind his mask.
"Well, students, I'll be your literature teacher. My name is Hatake Kakashi. Pleased to meet you."
Then he sat down slowly and added, "As it's your first day, we won't start with any lessons. Let's take this time to get to know each other. You're free to talk, but don't be too noisy."
"Got it," I said, standing up and walking toward him slowly, drawing surprised looks from the other students.
I reached his desk and beamed. "Man, it's been a long time, Kakashi-sensei! I thought I wouldn't see you anytime soon. Who would've guessed you're teaching here?"
The students' jaws dropped. I was acting like Kakashi-sensei was some old friend—well, he was.
"Yes, but speak with respect. I'm your teacher here," Kakashi replied in a slightly cold tone.
"Oh, don't be like that, Kakashi-sensei! I haven't seen you in so long—I just wanted to know how you're doing."
Kakashi gave me a sarcastic look, then raised his book and bonked me on the head. "Back to your seat."
"Ow—okay, okay!!" I rubbed my head as the class laughed, and returned to my seat, slightly embarrassed.
"Why did you act so rudely, Naruto?" Sasuke whispered to me.
"What do you mean? I was just trying to ask him how he's been, and he kicked me away!"
I responded, mildly annoyed. How was it my fault for trying to catch up with Kakashi?
Meanwhile, Kakashi didn't seem to care what we were doing. He was lost in his thoughts.
(Just as I suspected… that boy Naruto is here. And by coincidence, his two old friends from that year have arrived with him too. I can't wait to see how Rin will react to this.)
"Ugh, this noise is giving me a headache. When will school end..." Shikamaru Nara groaned, eyes half-open as he looked around wearily.
"What? This is still the first period!" Chōji replied, still munching, not realizing Shikamaru wasn't really talking to him.
"Huh? Seriously?" Shikamaru blinked, annoyed, then laid his head on the desk, wrapping his arms around it.
"Ugh... this is a pain."
"Look at that lazy guy! He's sleeping already, and it's the first day of school!"
"Leave him. He'll regret it later."
"How did someone like him even get into this elite school?"
"I have no idea..."
The students around Shikamaru whispered, but he was too lazy to respond or even care. He just continued lying there in irritated silence.
"I'M LATE!!"
A sudden scream from outside startled everyone in the class. Heavy, rushed footsteps rapidly approached.
The door burst open as a boy with strangely styled black hair entered, panting heavily.
He looked around quickly, eyes locking on Kakashi, who was calmly reading a book. The rest of the class stared in awe, fear, or surprise.
He quickly stood upright and bowed respectfully.
"Apologies for being late, my fellow classmates and teacher! My name is Rock Lee!! I'm honored to study here with you!"
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Silence filled the room for a few moments before Kakashi slowly responded:
"Uh… right. You're late—don't let it happen again. Go find a seat."
"Yes, sir!!" Rock Lee replied energetically and immediately took the empty seat near Karin.
On Lee's other side sat a boy with glasses that concealed his eyes, a hat on his head, and a long coat—Shino. His presence was so subtle that I didn't notice him until now.
To the left of Shino were Shikamaru and Chōji, in that order.
Beside Sasuke, who sat in front of Rock Lee, were Tenten, then Neji, and finally Ino.
All my friends from the previous world were sitting in the back row. And yet now… we didn't know each other at all.
I placed a hand over my heart and smiled.
What is this strange feeling swelling inside me?
For a moment—I felt like I truly belonged here.
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Scene Two
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Friends (End)
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The first period passed quickly.
The second was taught by Iruka-sensei—Social Studies. Third was Math with Asuma-sensei, and the fourth, Chemistry with Kurenai-sensei.
By the end of the day, we were called to the auditorium for a welcoming speech celebrating our enrollment.
And guess who the principal of this prestigious academy was?
The former Third Hokage himself—Old Man Sarutobi. I was genuinely shocked.
Aside from that, I didn't run into anyone else I knew. The speech dragged on before it finally ended.
Just like that, our first day had passed.
Now, I was walking home with Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, and Karin.
"That was such a long day," I said, raising my arms and staring ahead.
"It's only the first day, and you already look like you've given up," Sasuke sighed, eyes focused forward.
"Studying is just boring. I'm sure everything they'll teach here is stuff I learned as a kid. It's just review."
"Even if that's true, it doesn't mean you should slack off."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
I closed my eyes, exasperated, not wanting to drag the conversation out with Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Kiba looked at both of us dumbly, thinking to himself:
(Man, I can't understand a word these geniuses say.)
"Well, it's nice that we're all in the same school. That means we can spend more time together," Sakura said softly, cheeks slightly red with embarrassment. She looked like she had a lot on her mind.
"You're right, Sakura-chan. I'm glad we're together," I replied with a bright smile.
"Yeah… I won't deny that," Sasuke added, sounding slightly indifferent. But if you looked closely, you'd notice the faint smile on his face—it meant he agreed with her.
We kept smiling and walking together, Kiba and Karin strolling off to the side.
After walking Sakura home—she lived closest to the school—we went our separate ways. Kiba went with me, and Sasuke walked off with Karin.
As Kiba and I walked together, he suddenly said with excitement:
"Dude! Immoral Scarlet just dropped a new song. It hasn't even been a full day, and she's already got over a million views—a million, man!!"
He shoved his phone in my face, blasting Scarlet's new song. If only he knew I was the first one to hear it.
I glared at him, annoyed by the loud volume.
"Yeah, I get it, idiot—don't bust my eardrums."
"I really wanna meet her someday… That'd be the luckiest day of my life!!"
"Oh? You wanna meet her that badly?" I smiled at Kiba mischievously.
"What? Don't tell me you know where she lives—that's impossible, even for an Uzumaki!!"
My grin widened as I replied slyly, "What, don't you want to? Huh? Huh??"
"You won't fool me, bastard!" Kiba turned his head, pretending to act serious with his eyes closed—though he was clearly dying of curiosity.
Should I lie…? Or tell him the truth?
Well, he can't tell either way since I'm laughing like this—heh heh heh.
"Agh, fine! Just tell me!! I'll play along!!"
I pointed ahead, toward a path behind Kiba.
"She just went in there."
"Huh? Where?" Kiba turned to look and saw a small, normal-looking café.
"Let's go," I said calmly, heading toward it.
"Wait—are you serious??"
"If you don't believe me, don't come."
"Shut up, bastard! I'm coming!!"
Inside the café, the crimson-haired girl known by her stage name Immoral Scarlet sat restlessly, waiting for her order.
It arrived in seconds—a cup of coffee.
She took a sip, set it on the table, and leaned her cheek on her hand.
"Ugh… I'm bored."
"I can't believe a hyperactive girl like you actually gets bored. That's rare," I said teasingly from behind her.
She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Well, you know… the days after releasing a song are always the worst. I get dragged everywhere to sign autographs and meet fans—it's exhausting."
"Not sure you should say something so harsh in front of a fan."
Scarlet blinked, surprised, and turned to me.
"Huh? Since when were you a fan?"
I pointed to Kiba, frozen behind me.
"I never said I was."
Scarlet was taken aback for a moment, then smiled softly.
"Alright, you win… Naruto-kun."
"It's been a while, Scarlet."
I smiled warmly as I greeted her.
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To Be Continued...