"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Sukuna now had a firsthand experience of this to know that this was absolutely true. By the time he went back home, he learned that not only one but both women of his new home had a very impressive set of lungs.
Mrs. Haruno far surpassed her daughter in this regard, in his opinion.
As for why this special treatment for him? Well, there were two reasons.
One, he, on his path of being the next King of Curses, forgot to be back at home by evening, which was already a big no-no in the Haruno estate. But he also forgot to bring the supplies his new mother asked him to buy.
"This world will know my pain one day," he muttered with annoyance.
"What?" Choji, sitting beside him and still munching on his chips, asked, completely nonchalant.
"Nothing, nothing…" He did, however, notice that today the chubby boy had a different flavor of chips.
"Did Konoha really even have that many potato chip flavors?" he couldn't help but wonder, seeing how this was still a pre-modernised era they were living in.
Seeing the boy wasn't interested in talking, he let him enjoy his beloved chips and looked at the next boy beside him—Shikamaru.
"…Never mind." The lazy Nara was napping as always.
"Perhaps I should have chosen a better place than this." With that thought, he looked around, wondering whether he could change his seating without too many people noticing him.
"Sasuke-kun…look, I bought a new hairpin. Does it look good on me?"
"Nope, not there…"
"Hey Ino Pig… what do you think you're doing to my Sasuke-kun?"
"Not there either."
"Yup… my mother told me that I'll have my own nin-dog in a few years…"
"Hmm."
No matter where he looked, there were snot-brats everywhere. Sigh…
The only two places where he got any monochrome of peace in the entire class besides his current position were where both Shino and Hinata were sitting.
But after pondering a little, the entire search was pointless from the start. If he was looking for a peaceful place, what was wrong with his current one anyway?
"Talk about peaceful… the current Naruto is yet to be the full-out loudmouth that he would become in the future." He looked at the blond boy sitting alone in the corner.
He would, from time to time, glance over at the kids chatting away with their friends. Poor Naruto had none.
Neither did he have things going for him for other people to come talk to him, nor was he right now his boisterous self who made enough mischief to get others' attention.
Right now, he was just a lonely kid. He must have tried to make friends before, and it was evident that it didn't work out.
No one was willing to share a seat with him, and none wished to talk with him either. Even clan heirs, who most likely wouldn't have been talked into believing Naruto was some sort of monster by their parents, didn't approach him.
Partly perhaps due to peer pressure and partly because a very different type of talk might have been given to them. One involving avoiding Naruto more for the fact that he was a Jinchuriki over a monster or any sort of similar nonsense.
According to the original story, not many of the Konoha 12 knew what a Jinchuriki even was, but the story doesn't have to be 100% spot on.
Anime was anime, and this was now real life. Real life is not all Ichiraku and ramen; it has its Sakura black balls of death as well. You know, the medical ration pill thingy she made for Naruto during his wind nature training.
Anyways… Sukuna wasn't planning to just put his blind faith in what he saw in the anime. It's even hard to say that he remembered everything, let alone everything going exactly the way he remembered it in the manga or anime.
Seeing Naruto now, it was evident that even if that wasn't the case, even if everything was just like the anime, the anime never showed us everything. Real people have depth to them.
There are emotions and trauma lingering within them. Take this Naruto, for example.
Only according to what Sukuna's very limited knowledge of what he knows about this kid Naruto, he can say that this kid was never beaten, was never starved on purpose, he hardly was called a monster out in the open, perhaps behind his back when others thought that no one was listening.
No… he wasn't scorned like how we see in the anime. Many wouldn't know, but Naruto's life in the manga was much better than what it was shown in the anime. This here looked like a more manga version of Naruto than the anime version.
If anything, the child was just starved for human attention. Everyone seeks attention, even adults do—let alone a small child like him.
He never got any scorn, or pain, or anything that extreme, for that matter of fact. But Naruto never got much human interaction either.
Loneliness for a child his age in a village this large full of people—that's not only heartbreaking, but it could break a child from the inside.
His mentality and his psyche.
"Perhaps." Sukuna couldn't help but think. He'd be attracting attention to himself if he interacted with Naruto, though that would be minor at best seeing how they both were classmates.
"…Let's talk with him the next time I get a chance to. Just normal human interaction, children talking. At least I can do that much. If that's enough to make him happy, then I guess why not."
The class kept going from there on. These early semester classes were a pain for Sukuna.
He was somewhat in a strange situation. Basic things taught in the academy he knew, like math and other simple subjects.
However, that was only on the surface… Turns out that this world had its own formulas and customs and rules which sometimes were just inefficient or downright too annoying for him to even bother learning, half afraid that they might just become his norm.
And then there were things which he didn't know, period. Like the history of the Warring States period or what comes after that. For someone who knows what really happened through the anime, this heavenly edited text of Konoha's Will of Fire taking the elemental nation by storm, or Sarutobi Hiruzen being on a completely different plane of existence than us mortals, was… amusing, to say the least.
Though amusing only for a few minutes of small internal laughs and smirks. However, knowing that this stuff is going to be on the test paper just leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
And thus he was in a strange situation. He wouldn't outright ignore a subject since there could be things different than how he knows. And many which he just outright has no idea of. Meaning he really has to go to school. No napping in class hours like a certain very enviable Nara he knew. Or even worse, skipping the classes—if he wished to score good marks on the tests, that is.
Which would be very much necessary in his case, seeing that he can't do anything in terms of Ninjutsu. Forget about passing the academy, even keeping his place here for another half a decade, he at least has to show something for himself.
That something would be his Taijutsu, imitating Rock Lee and trying to get some, "you passed him, why not me" points—and of course, the theory tests.
Meaning Sakura, his dear "little" sister, won't be making the top this time around. Not on his watch.
After the academy was over, he was finally ready to go back to his grind. Recently, he had started working out. He wasn't sure how much is too much for his body before it negatively affects him, so for the time being, he was following Saitama Sensei's routine.
A must-follow for every aspiring future strongest.
And he was blitzing through it. Shy of just a few years out of his toddler stage, Sukuna was strong for his age, and he knew why.
His body structure is much like Yuji from JJK. Very strong—from stamina to durability, he is beyond any of the kids in the Naruto world currently.
Of course, this doesn't apply to the two sons of destiny, but again, those are the protagonists of this world. He wasn't here to compete with both Naruto and Sasuke anyway.
"Yup… I will, because I'll beat them all." A roguish smile appeared on his face for just a fraction of a second. This was a little odd even for him. He usually isn't like this.
At least not this competitive. But again, he wasn't entirely himself anymore. There was a bit of Sukuna, a bit of Yuji, and a bit of Haruno in him too now.
Anyways, just under a few days, he had realized that normal exercise wasn't cutting it for him anymore. He needed to push himself to see the limit of this body and needed some better advice.
Someone from Guy, if possible, if Taijutsu and body development are concerned. However, that blue beast is out of a normal academy student's reach, at least for now. So, Iruka would have to do.
Just as he was musing to himself, making plans and commenting on his own progress in this small bit of time he had started training—
He heard a voice from behind.
"Hmm hey."
Blinking and slightly confused at who would call him—besides his annoying little sister (yes, a whole 1 minute and 20 seconds younger), or a few of his friends who lacked both motivation and reason to stop his escape from his prison called Academy—
Turning around, he noticed that this was none other than the boy he was thinking about in class himself.
"Naruto." He blinked, confused why the boy approached him.
"Hmm…" He looked flustered. And yeah, he was not as extroverted right now as he once would be. But still, this wasn't how he usually behaved. He still had no problem putting his mind out when he had to. This was more of a Hinata thing.
So, Sukuna waited, giving the boy time until the blond finally let it out. "You're Sakura-chan's brother, right? Hmm… do you know what she likes…"
"OH boy…"