On the second day of the entrance assessment, Haruma got up on time and headed for the Ninja Academy.
In truth, with the amount of chakra Haruma currently had, he could easily send a shadow clone to attend school in his place. That shadow clone alone could utterly dominate students from Year 1 through Year 6, including Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga.
But Haruma didn't do that, or rather, he didn't want to do that, just yet.
He wanted to build good relationships with his classmates first. Once he had settled in and got to know them better, then he'd consider letting a clone handle school duties.
Among the "Konoha 12", aside from Hinata, there were several other students with great potential, well worth Haruma's effort to win over.
Unless his devouring ability was exposed and he was forced to go rogue, or unless the benefits were so great that abandoning Konoha made sense, Haruma intended to stay so forming bonds with the Konoha 9 was a no-brainer. All pros, no cons.
If he weren't being watched by the Anbu, Haruma would've tried contacting Naruto already.
After all, inside Naruto resided the chakra of both Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. If Haruma could find a way into Naruto's mind, maybe he could devour their chakra and inherit things like the Flying Thunder God technique and Uzumaki clan sealing arts but to avoid catching the Third Hokage's attention, Haruma had shelved the idea.
For now.
He arrived at the academy and found Class 1 of Year 1. Walking into the classroom,
"Waaah… so cute!"
The girls who'd been staring at the classroom door, waiting to see what the new student looked like, all gasped in admiration.
Among them was a blonde girl sitting behind a dead-fish-eyed boy and a chubby kid.
That girl? None other than Ino Yamanaka of the Konoha 12.
The ones in front of her, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, two-thirds of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Ino's eyes sparkled as she gazed at Haruma walking in. "He looks like a bunny! Totally my type!"
As if hearing her, Haruma looked over at Ino slightly and continued to look towards the front.
"Ahhh! He looked at me! Don't tell me he likes me?!"
Ino practically squealed with excitement, sort of like a chipmunk.
"Keep it together, don't scare him off," Shikamaru yawned lazily, propping up his chin with one hand.
Haruma's eyes soon scanned the room and found Hinata, sitting quietly in the second-to-last row in the corner.
Hiding away to reduce her presence, huh? Classic shy princess move.
Hinata was sneaking glances at Haruma too. But when their eyes met, she quickly looked down, blushing furiously.
Even though he couldn't see her face, Haruma was sure she was beet red.
He took a few steps toward her.
"Hello, I'm Haruma. Nice to meet you all."
As he passed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, he greeted them and introduced himself.
"Hi! I'm Ino Yamanaka. You can just call me Ino."
She patted the seat next to her and invited, "Want to sit here, Haruma-kun?"
"I'm Shikamaru Nara. That's Choji Akimichi. Nice to meet you."
Shikamaru responded politely and Choji, munching on potato chips, even offered one to Haruma.
Ino and Shikamaru were both surprised by the gesture.
"For me? Thanks." Haruma accepted the chip with a smile and ate it, then turned down Ino's invitation.
"Sorry, I have a friend over there." He pointed toward Hinata's direction and nodded apologetically before heading that way.
"Aw, what a shame…" Ino sighed, disappointed.
"Geez… the desk fits three people. Just switch seats now while it's still early," Shikamaru said, standing up and walking toward the empty seat in front of Hinata.
"Oh yeah! Totally forgot about that!" Ino's eyes lit up, and she followed along with Choji, claiming the spot beside Haruma.
"We're seatmates now, Haruma-kun!" she said cheerily.
"Pleased to meet you, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji… and…"
Haruma looked at the trio, then looked over at the blushing, finger-twiddling Hinata.
"…Hinata."
"P-please take care of me… Haruma-kun…" Hinata was shocked and delighted. She hadn't expected Haruma to remember her, let alone recognize her rank and name just from the list.
'Don't tell me… Haruma-kun's into this kind of girl?' Ino's eyes narrowed slightly as she peeked at Hinata.
Among the Konoha 12's "four flowers", Hinata, Ino, Tenten, and Sakura, the popularity ranking basically went like that.
Hinata and Ino were definitely Haruma's top two: one shy, one bubbly, both incredibly charming.
As for Sakura, Haruma did like her, just the doujinshi version.
Knowing Hinata was shy, Haruma didn't try to chat with her too much. Instead, he turned to talk with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Right now, in terms of people he liked most from the Konoha 12, it was Shikamaru and Choji. They were loyal and genuine and even though Haruma was a self-centered person, he wasn't the aloof type.
They already had Sasuke for that cold, distant vibe.
In his past life, Haruma had made it to 25, plenty of time to be shaped by the real world. He knew better than anyone that no matter the world, connections and status mattered.
And in Konoha, the Nara and Akimichi clans held serious weight.
Not only was the Ino-Shika-Cho formation nearly unbeatable below Kage level, but they also monopolized medicine and military rations.
On top of that, the intelligence division was led by the Yamanaka clan.
Why did the Third Hokage assign his own son to train the Ino-Shika-Cho trio instead of having him teach a Hyuga clan heiress?
This was one big reason why.
Kids' conversations are simple, eat and play.
Shikamaru, already mature beyond his years, quickly figured out that Haruma was just like him: mature, and personable.
What he didn't know was that Haruma was deliberately giving off that vibe because no matter how precocious, Shikamaru was still just six, but Haruma? He had mastered the art of acting after 25 years in the adult world.
Whether it was Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, or Choji, Haruma had won them all over with ease.
As the four of them chatted and Hinata listened in, more students started arriving.
Eventually, the classroom filled up.
Among the new arrivals, Haruma spotted the rest of the current Konoha12: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno.
"Sakura, over here!" Ino waved her over to sit in front of her.
Sakura, not yet estranged from Ino, smiled and sat down beside Shikamaru.
Because of her larger than average forehead, Sakura had always been bullied and isolated until Ino reached out to her, lifting her out of that darkness and helping her gain confidence.
So right now, Ino was her best friend. Her "queen bee."
That's exactly why Haruma felt no particular affection for Sakura. Even so, Haruma didn't let that show. He greeted Sakura just like he did the others, and tried to befriend her.
Before long, one of Naruto's most important future teachers walked into the room: Iruka Umino, only a Chuunin in strength.
He introduced himself from the podium and then asked the students to do the same.
After the self-introductions, Iruka led everyone out to the playground to hear the the Third Hokage give a speech. Out in the yard, Haruma stood in a row with Hinata, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and Sakura, listening to the Third's "Will of Fire" speech.
Haruma had to fight the urge to yawn.
Even CEOs in his past life gave better motivational talks.Compared to pyramid schemes back on Earth, this was child's play.