The cafeteria buzzed with the usual noise—trays clattering, students shouting, the faint smell of miso soup mixing with grilled meat. Lines formed, meals exchanged, money dropped on counters. Choji stacked his tray with the largest portion of grilled meat available, humming happily as he waddled toward an empty table.
Everyone was there. Except two. Sasuke and Naruto's seats remained empty.
Kiba stared at them, brow furrowed hard enough to break. "Uhh… Shikamaru, can you explain this to a dumbass like me? I get why Naruto doesn't wanna join us—he's acting all weird today—but why the hell is Sasuke still in the classroom with him?"
Shikamaru chewed slowly, eyes half-lidded with annoyance. "Troublesome question. Troublesome situation."
Neji cut in before Shikamaru could continue. "Sasuke isn't accompanying Naruto. He's analyzing him. Every detail. You're right—Naruto is… different. Completely."
Kiba blinked. "Different how? Like… new haircut different? Or creepy-blueflame-eyepatch different?"
Shikamaru side-eyed him. "The second one."
Choji tore off another large piece of meat and spoke with his mouth full. "Maybe Naruto's just hungry? Food makes everyone happy. Eating meat makes me happy."
Kiba groaned. "Choji, we're not talking about your religion—"
Neji ignored both of them and turned toward Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, I require insight. You clearly possess a stronger mind than the Yamanaka clan."
Ino froze mid-bite. She side-eyed Neji with a slow burn of irritation, silently stabbing her food with her chopsticks.
Shikamaru didn't even look up from his tray. "Ino's just a troublesome girl poisoned by ramen."
Ino slammed her hands on the table. "EXCUSE ME—WHAT did you just say, Shikamaru!?"
Before anyone could stop her, she hurled her bowl of ramen straight at his face. It flew across the table.
Shikamaru leaned one inch to the left, completely unfazed, letting the bowl whistle past and splatter harmlessly against the window. "You missed, Ino."
Ino shouted, "WHYYY YOU SHIKAMARU—!"
Before she could unleash round two, Choji wrapped both arms around her from behind, lifting her slightly off the floor like a soft, angry cat.
"Guys, this is the cafeteria," Choji said in a dramatic whisper. "We need to enjoy more food."
Ino flailed in Choji's grip. "LET ME GO—HE INSULTED ME—!"
Shikamaru didn't bother looking at her. He turned instead toward Neji, lowering his voice just enough to cut through the cafeteria noise. "Neji. There's something bugging me. You reacted the same way I did when Naruto's sclera turned blue. I have my theory… but I want to hear yours first."
Neji set his chopsticks down with quiet precision. "My Byakugan is still young compared to my father's. But I did not mistake what I saw ."
He leaned closer to Shikamaru so only he could hear. "When Naruto crushed that kunai… he didn't use chakra ."
Ino stopped struggling instantly. "Wait—wait—hold up." She stared at Neji, wide-eyed. "What do you mean he didn't use chakra? Crushing metal is ninjutsu—right?"
Neji shook his head. "I don't know what it was. But I know this: Naruto is strong with or without ninjutsu."
Choji blinked mid-chew. "So… he's like… naturally scary?"
Kiba scratched the back of his head. "Or cursed scary."
Ino leaned forward. "Or stupid scary."
Neji ignored them and focused on Shikamaru. "Now here's my question. If all of us—every student in the Academy—fought Naruto at once… could we win?"
Shikamaru exhaled slowly, leaning back. "Do you want the truth," he said, "or do you want something nice right now?"
Tenten, who had been quietly eating in the corner, shot him a flat look. "The truth, of course, dumbass. Are you turning into Ino? Did ramen poison your brain?"
Ino stiffened, suddenly very calm after being dragged earlier. "Oh. Wow. I see how it is. Everyone's a comedian today."
Sakura smirked. Serves her right for trying to seduce my Sasuke-kun.
Shikamaru drummed his fingers on the table. "I can't say for sure since I don't know everything Naruto has. But… worst-case estimate? Naruto could probably beat a veteran jōnin."
Sakura blinked hard. "That has to be a lie. Sasuke-kun is very strong. He excels in everything we can't do. Right?"
Shikamaru looked at her with the most exhausted stare possible. "In studies and training, yeah. But real combat? No. Not yet."
He pointed lazily toward the classroom hallway. "Naruto's confidence felt like this: even if everyone here was my enemy, I'd still be winning."
Before anyone could respond, footsteps echoed down the hall.
Every student in the cafeteria tensed at once. Chairs stopped moving. Kiba swallowed hard. Ino froze mid-breath. Even Neji straightened slightly.
It might be Naruto. But the figure who appeared wasn't Naruto .
It was Sasuke. A collective wave of relief washed through the room.
Sakura immediately perked up, flipping her hair with practiced elegance. "Sasuke-kun! Over here! Sit next to me!" She practically radiated sparkles.
Sasuke ignored the seat and Sakura's entire existence. His expression was flat, mildly disappointed—like he'd been waiting for something that never came.
Shikamaru sat up a little straighter. "Sasuke. What did you learn from Naruto?"
Sasuke didn't speak. He placed an object on the table. A metallic fidget spinner.
Kiba blinked. "What the hell is that?"
Sakura leaned forward. "Is it a weapon?"
Choji whispered, "Is it edible?"
Neji studied it in silence.
Sasuke crossed his arms. "I don't know why Naruto gave me this useless thing. He used broken parts from his apartment to make it."
Ino's eyes widened. "Apartment parts? You mean Naruto—"
Sasuke cut her off. "Yeah. Naruto broke half the junk in his place just to build useless things like this in the classroom."
Before anyone could add a word, a voice drifted from the cafeteria counter.
"One kilo of candy, please. Chocolate. Anything sweet."
Every head snapped forward at once.
Naruto stood there—cloak shifting lightly, cane resting against the counter, eyepatch catching the fluorescent light like a slow pulse.
The cashier stared at him as if he'd asked to buy the entire store. "One… kilo? Are you feeling alright, young man?"
The cafeteria froze. Chopsticks halted mid-air. Kiba coughed on nothing. Ino's jaw dropped. Even Tenten blinked twice.
A silent collective thought rippled through the room. When did he get here?
Sasuke stood a little straighter, eyes narrowed. "Naruto. You were in the classroom. I saw you. Even if you ran fast, I would've seen you pass me. There's only one exit."
Naruto tapped the counter casually with his cane. "I jumped from the second floor. Gotta go fast sometimes."
Half the cafeteria paled. A few whispered like they'd just witnessed a ghost.
Choji froze mid-bite, staring at Naruto with the meat still in his mouth.
Naruto ignored all of them and pointed back at the cashier. "I want to make some McFlurry because I'm bored. Not to eat it. Alright?"
The cashier blinked slowly, completely lost. "What… is a McFlurry?"
Naruto smiled with the calm confidence of someone who'd ridiculed physics before breakfast. "A dessert that does not exist here. Yet."
Fifteen minutes passed, and by the time the cafeteria truly understood what was happening, it was already too late.
Three entire lunch tables—long, wooden, and meant for thirty students each—were now completely covered in rows of McFlurry cups. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Swirls of cream and chocolate. Mint. Oreo. Random flavors Naruto invented on the spot. A blizzard of sweets no academy had ever seen.
The students crowded together, staring in disbelief.
Ino pointed dramatically. "How many of these… McFlurry things are you planning to make!? Are you trying to ruin our lunch in peace!?"
Naruto kept casually spinning the old-fashioned hand-crank ice-cream maker he built out of junk metal and instincts. When he finally stopped and looked around, he blinked in mild surprise. "Oooh. It's that much, huh?"
Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba spoke in perfect unison, voices loud enough to echo. "YOU JUST NOTICE NOW!?"
Choji stood at the edge of the tables, eyes glazed like he'd entered a holy realm. His stomach growled so loud even Akamaru tilted his head.
Tenten crossed her arms. "Careful. It might be poisoned. This is Naruto we're talking about."
Hinata shook her head quickly, her voice soft but steady. "U-Umm… I think Naruto-kun is kind enough to make all this. Right? I-I mean… he's still Naruto-kun that we know…"
Shino was already standing beside the table, one hand lifted as a few kikaichū crawled along the rim of a cup. He tasted a small spoonful without changing expression. "Not bad," he said.
Kiba blinked. "Not bad means it's not poisoned."
Shino adjusted his glasses. "It may be too sweet for most of you. But my bugs like it."
Choji didn't wait. He scooped a massive portion into his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, he froze, eyes wide—then collapsed straight onto the cafeteria floor.
Shikamaru panicked instantly. "CHOJI! Stay with me! Stay with me, man—don't you die on me!"
Kiba and Neji both dropped into fighting stances, ready to jump Naruto in the next heartbeat.
Then Choji suddenly grinned up at the ceiling. "I might die in satisfaction tasting this McFlurry…"
The entire cafeteria facepalmed at once.
Shikamaru fell onto his back. "I swear I'm going to lose years off my life because of you."
Naruto watched them all with a calm, flat stare. "So anticlimactic," he said. "I was ready to fight all of you."
The students ignored the threat instantly and began devouring the McFlurries. Naruto leaned on the table, eyes closed, one hand propping up his head like he was settling in for a nap he didn't even need.
Kiba took a huge spoonful and whistled. "Damn—this is amazing. I thought you turned into some scary monster, Naruto, but you're still the guy we know. Just… cooler. Way cooler."
Ino sniffed dramatically. "Hmph. It still tastes bad."
Hinata blinked. "B-But we ate three cups already… If it's bad, then… w-what counts as good?"
Ino crossed her arms stubbornly. "It's bad because Naruto made it."
Then she grabbed another cup and shoveled a spoonful into her mouth like a traitor to her own sentence.
Sasuke ate only one cup. That was enough for him. But he'd been watching the entire time—Naruto's behavior, his posture, the strange balance between arrogance and boredom. Patterns. Intentions. Reactions.
He took a gamble. He nudged the one nerve he suspected Naruto actually had. "You made all of this because you want to make friends. Right?"
. Everyone expected Naruto to flinch. Instead, Naruto opened his eye. The sclera shifted instantly—deep blue, sharp, unnatural. A small vertical mark glowed in its center. Blue flame flickered across the iris like a living symbol.
Just like Bill Cipher when something interesting happened.
Naruto stared straight at Sasuke with that eldritch glow.
"Hm?" he said quietly.
Sasuke didn't look away. Naruto shifts with emotion…. That eye reacts depending on what he feels.
He leaned in slightly. "Days ago you were still a kid who wanted attention. You're the same now—just using a different method."
The line hit harder than Sasuke expected.
Something tightened under Naruto's calm surface. He didn't like being tied to that version of himself—the lonely child, the ignored outcast, the one who waited for scraps of acknowledgment. That part of him was gone, buried so deep he'd almost forgotten it existed.
Sasuke had touched the one thing Naruto didn't want touched.
Naruto still smiled. Calm. Controlled. Unimpressed. "Other places taught me this—whether it's days or years, there's always an adversary. Seems this story wants to raise the difficulty today."
Sasuke felt the shift. Interest. Annoyance. A quiet edge behind that eye. He returned the smile, silent but uneasy. He knew Naruto was strong—he just didn't know how far that strength reached.