The morning came with the usual sounds of the village—vendors setting up their stalls, shinobi moving through the streets, birds calling from the trees. Naruto walked toward the Academy, hands stuffed in his pockets, thinking about the previous day. He had won his spar, but somehow, it hadn't felt like a victory. Sasuke had gotten hurt, and everyone had looked at Naruto like he had done something unforgivable. But wasn't that how fights worked? If you hit someone hard enough, they went down. Simple as that.
When he stepped into the classroom, the usual whispers followed. He ignored them, walking to his seat, but then he noticed Sasuke. The other boy sat at his usual place, his arm resting on the desk, wrist wrapped in white bandages. The girls swarmed around him, their voices high with concern. Sasuke barely acknowledged them, staring out the window with that usual blank expression of his.
Naruto sat down, watching. Was he mad? He should be, right? That's how humans worked. You hurt them, they hated you for it.
Mizuki called him to the front of the class. Naruto went, not really caring, until he saw the look in Mizuki's eyes. That fake, forced patience. The kind that said he was about to be scolded under the guise of teaching a lesson.
"Naruto, you need to apologize to Sasuke," Mizuki said, loud enough for the class to hear.
Naruto blinked. Apologize?
"But I won," he said simply.
Some of the students snickered. Others glared. Mizuki's jaw tightened slightly before he gave that same fake smile.
"You hurt a classmate. It's only right that you apologize."
Naruto sighed, looking at Sasuke. The other boy was watching him now, eyes dark and unreadable. He walked over, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Uh… sorry?" he tried, not really knowing what else to say.
Sasuke looked at him for a long moment. Then, to Naruto's surprise, he shrugged.
"It's fine."
Naruto tilted his head. "Really?"
Sasuke nodded once. He didn't look angry. He didn't look anything.
The girls, on the other hand, were furious.
"Wow, Sasuke-kun is so kind!" one of them swooned. "Even after that monster hurt him!"
"Naruto is so mean! He should be punished!"
"How could he do that to Sasuke-kun?!"
Naruto frowned. What was their problem? It wasn't like Sasuke was dead. He just had a bruised wrist. But they still looked at Naruto like he was some sort of villain, while Sasuke got to be the tragic hero. Humans were weird.
As he walked back to his seat, he thought about Mikoto. She had said Sasuke was a good boy. Had said maybe they could be friends. Naruto didn't really know what friendship was supposed to feel like, but maybe he should try.
When class ended, he didn't hesitate. He walked straight to Sasuke, stopping in front of his desk. The other boy looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey," Naruto said. "Wanna be friends?"
A few nearby students gasped like he had just said something insane. Sasuke blinked, clearly caught off guard. Then his expression returned to its usual neutrality.
"No."
Naruto frowned. That was disappointing. He had thought Mikoto knew what she was talking about.
But then, after a moment, Sasuke tilted his head slightly and added, "Not yet."
Naruto stared.
Not yet?
That… wasn't a no.
He nodded . "Okay. Dattebane"
And with that, he walked off, feeling oddly satisfied.
—ToT—
Math had never been Naruto's favorite subject. Or rather, he never really got the chance to learn it properly. Most of the time, he just got tricked. By Mizuki, by the numbers, by the weird rules humans made for everything. But today was different. He had prepared.
He had spent all night working on division. He had stolen some math books from the library—well, borrowed them, since he had every intention of returning them once he was done—and memorized every rule, every trick. He had practiced on the back of old grocery receipts and wooden planks outside his apartment. He had even solved problems in his head as he walked to the Academy.
So, when Mizuki called him to the board, he went up with confidence. The chalk felt smooth between his fingers as he stared at the numbers.
99/3.
Easy.
He wrote: 33.
The classroom was silent for a second.
Mizuki frowned.
That was right, wasn't it? Naruto felt something inside him straighten, like he had finally done something the way it was supposed to be done.
"Good," Mizuki said slowly, as if the word tasted bitter in his mouth. He wasn't pleased. Naruto could tell.
Then Mizuki turned back to the board and wrote another problem.
38.9/2.
Naruto blinked.
Wait. That was new.
He didn't know division with decimal points. He had only practiced with whole numbers. The books he read had barely touched on this. He stared at the numbers, trying to break them apart in his head.
38 divided by 2? That was easy. 19. But the .9? What was he supposed to do with that?
The room was quiet. Everyone was watching.
Mizuki's lips twitched.
Naruto glanced at Iruka. The man had his arms crossed, a frown on his face, but he wasn't saying anything.
This was a trick, wasn't it?
He could feel it, even if he didn't understand it.
"Naruto, answer?" Mizuki prompted.
Naruto hesitated.
Mizuki gave him a long look, then sighed dramatically. "Go outside the class and stand in the hall."
Naruto's hands clenched into fists.
He had been tricked. Again.
The classroom erupted into laughter as he walked out, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against the wooden frame, staring at the floor.
He had been prepared. He had done everything right. And still, it wasn't enough.
The hall was quiet. He could hear the muffled voices inside, the class moving on without him. He hated this. Not just because it was unfair, but because he didn't understand why it kept happening.
Was it because he was stupid?
No. No, that wasn't it. He knew he wasn't dumb. He understood things—things other people didn't. He could remember a hundred different ways to hunt, how to move through trees without making a sound, how to smell rain before it came. He knew how to snap a man's spine like a chimpanzee, how to run like a cheetah, how to see in the dark like an owl. He knew so many things.
But the rules humans made were different. They were strange. And sometimes, no matter how much he learned, it felt like they just changed the rules whenever they wanted.
He glanced down at his hands. They were small. Human.
A million lives, and he had never struggled like this before.
The door opened suddenly, and Iruka stepped out. Naruto straightened.
Iruka didn't look angry. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know, you could've asked for help."
Naruto shrugged. "Wouldn't have mattered."
Iruka frowned. "What do you mean?"
Naruto stared at the ground. He didn't have the words to explain.
Iruka sighed again, crouching slightly so they were at eye level. "Listen, Naruto. Mizuki… isn't always fair."
Naruto snorted. That was an understatement.
"But," Iruka continued, "you're not wrong for struggling with a new problem. That wasn't a basic question. It was meant to be difficult."
Naruto squinted at him. "Then why did he give it to me?"
Iruka hesitated.
Naruto knew why. But he wanted to hear Iruka say it.
"Because he wanted you to fail," Iruka finally admitted. "He wanted to make you look bad in front of everyone."
Naruto felt something tighten in his chest. He looked away.
"But that doesn't mean you actually failed," Iruka added. "It just means you were put in an unfair position."
That… didn't make him feel any better.
"You still did well on the first problem," Iruka pointed out. "You got it right. And next time, you'll know how to do the harder ones, won't you?"
Naruto nodded slowly.
"Good," Iruka said. "Now, come back inside. You shouldn't be standing out here just because Mizuki wants to humiliate you."
Naruto hesitated for a moment before following Iruka back in. The laughter died down as they entered, Mizuki's face twitching slightly.
Naruto didn't sit down. Instead, he walked right up to the board and picked up the chalk.
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Finishing the problem," Naruto said.
A few students snickered.
Naruto ignored them, staring at the numbers. He didn't know how to solve it properly, but he could figure it out. He broke it down in his head. 38 divided by 2 was 19. That part was easy.
But the .9…
He frowned, thinking hard.
He knew from last night's reading that decimal points meant fractions. Something about tenths? If he divided 9 by 2, that was… 4.5, right?
He took a breath and wrote: 19.4.5.
Mizuki's eye twitched.
Naruto looked at Iruka. The man blinked at the board, then at Naruto, then back at the board.
A slow smile tugged at his lips.
"Almost," Iruka said. "You're very close."
Naruto tilted his head. "What's the real answer?"
Iruka took the chalk and wrote: 19.45
Naruto stared.
He had been right.
Well, almost. But that was still better than nothing.
Mizuki was scowling. The students were watching, some of them confused, some of them surprised. Even Sasuke looked vaguely impressed.
Naruto nodded.
Maybe humans had stupid rules. Maybe they changed them whenever they wanted.
But Naruto was learning them.
And next time, Mizuki wouldn't be able to trick him at all.
TBC