It was another afternoon of physical training, with Class A and Class B having class together.
The training ground was lively and noisy, with students from both classes all mixed together, chattering nonstop.
Teacher Ibuki stood at the front, attendance book in hand.
"First, five laps to warm up."
A chorus of groans rose immediately.
"Ahh, running again?"
"Five laps is so many!"
"Teacher, can't we do one less?"
Teacher Ibuki kept a straight face, unmoved.
"Enough talking. Line up."
The line slowly formed.
Shin-chan stood in the middle of it, unusually quiet.
Ahead of him, in Class B's line, stood a familiar figure.
Light brown hair tied in a high ponytail, a pale pink training outfit, her head lowered as she talked to the student beside her.
Yuunagi Asagi.
Shin-chan's eyes passed over her.
He said nothing.
Did nothing.
Behind him, Uchiha Toru's eyes widened slightly.
"Start running!"
At Teacher Ibuki's command, the lines began to move.
After two steps, Uchiha Toru glanced at him.
"Shin-chan."
"Yeah?"
"Are you... really okay today?"
"I'm fine."
Uchiha Toru fell silent for two seconds.
"Then why are you..."
He didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious.
Shin-chan didn't answer and just kept running.
As they ran, Teacher Asagi passed by on the side, leading Class B's line.
She nodded at Teacher Ibuki and smiled at the students.
A small stir immediately ran through Class A's line.
"Teacher Asagi smiled!"
"She's so pretty!"
"Look, look!"
A few boys whispered excitedly to each other.
Shin-chan didn't even lift his head. He kept his rhythm, looked straight ahead, and maintained a steady pace.
Uchiha Toru saw it clearly. His mouth opened, then closed, and he silently sped up and ran to the front instead.
He needed a moment to process this.
When the five laps were over—
"Alright, ten minutes of free training." Teacher Ibuki clapped his hands. "Do some exercises on your own. Don't slack off."
The moment he finished speaking, most of the students sat down where they were. If they could lie down, they did. If they could sit, they wouldn't stand.
But for once, Shin-chan started doing push-ups.
Guy came over beside him. "Shin-chan, what are you doing?"
"Training."
Guy watched him do push-ups one after another and instantly got fired up too. "Youth! This is the power of youth!"
He dropped down too and started doing push-ups.
Obito lay nearby, watching the two of them with a twitching mouth.
"That guy... did he take the wrong medicine today?"
He rolled over and decided to keep pretending he was dead.
Uchiha Toru stood nearby, watching Shin-chan finish his push-ups and then move on to squats.
He couldn't help walking over.
"Shin-chan... aren't you tired?"
"I am," Shin-chan answered while doing squats.
"Then why are you still..."
"Training is supposed to make you tired." Shin-chan's tone was calm. "You only get stronger if you get tired."
Uchiha Toru fell silent, looking at Shin-chan's serious face, and suddenly felt like he didn't know this person at all.
Off to the side, Kakashi leaned against a tree, his gaze fixed on Shin-chan the whole time.
In the distance, Teacher Asagi was talking with Teacher Ibuki.
As they talked, her eyes drifted this way for a moment.
They landed on the little red figure.
"Teacher Ibuki."
"Mm?"
"That child..." She pointed lightly at Shin-chan. "He seems very quiet today."
Teacher Ibuki followed her gaze, his expression turning complicated.
"He's been like this all day."
"All day?"
"Yeah." Teacher Ibuki nodded. "He wasn't late this morning, picked up the Clone Technique really fast, and took the running seriously just now. He even..."
He paused.
"He didn't come over to flirt with you when he saw you."
Teacher Asagi froze for a second.
Then she looked at Shin-chan again, and something changed in her gaze.
"That child..." she said softly.
Teacher Ibuki sighed.
"I don't know what's going on either. I asked him, and he said he was fine."
Teacher Asagi was silent for a while.
"Maybe he's growing up."
Teacher Ibuki shook his head.
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"Because that's Nohara Shinnosuke."
Teacher Asagi thought about it, then nodded.
"Fair point."
When class was nearly over, Teacher Ibuki called everyone to line up again.
Shin-chan stood, dusted the dirt off his pants, and walked back into line.
He stood there properly, straight and still.
Teacher Ibuki looked at him, seeming like he wanted to say something.
In the end, he did.
"Shin-chan."
"Here."
"Don't you have anything you want to say today?"
Shin-chan thought about it.
"Teacher, thank you for your hard work."
Teacher Ibuki froze.
A wave of sharp intakes of breath rose around them.
Shin-chan stood in line, expression calm, under everyone's gaze.
Then, at last, the dismissal bell rang.
Shin-chan slowly made his way toward the school gate.
"Shin-chan."
A familiar voice came from ahead.
Shin-chan looked up.
At the gate stood two people.
Hiroshi and Misae.
Shin-chan froze for a second.
At this hour, Dad was usually still working at the Hokage Tower, and Mom was usually at home making dinner, so why were they...
He quickly walked over.
"Dad, Mom." Shin-chan stood properly. "Why are you here?"
Hiroshi looked down at him, his expression a little complicated.
Misae spoke from beside him. "Come on. We're going somewhere."
"Where?"
"The hospital."
Shin-chan's heart dropped instantly.
The hospital.
So it really was the hospital.
He lowered his head and followed his parents forward.
He didn't say a word the whole way.
The sunlight shone on him, but all he felt was cold.
Mom was going to see a doctor.
What if...
He didn't dare think any further.
Konoha Hospital.
Shin-chan followed behind Misae with his head lowered, looking sad.
There were people coming and going through the hallways—ninja wrapped in bandages, mothers carrying children.
Misae walked up to a reception window and said a few words to the nurse inside.
The nurse nodded and pointed toward the waiting area.
"Please wait a moment. The doctor will be right with you."
The three of them sat down on a bench.
Shin-chan sat obediently beside Misae, both hands on his knees, not moving at all.
Hiroshi looked at him, as if he wanted to say something, but swallowed it back down.
After a while, a woman in a white coat walked over. She looked to be in her twenties, wearing a mask, but the eyes and brows visible above it looked gentle.
When she saw Misae, she froze for a second.
"Mrs. Nohara?" She pulled off her mask, revealing a young, pretty face. "Weren't you just here this afternoon?"
Misae nodded, smiling a little awkwardly.
"Yeah. We came back again."
The medical ninja smiled, and her eyes dropped to Misae's stomach.
"Pregnant women need to get proper rest. Don't overwork yourself."
Shin-chan's head snapped up.
Pregnant?
What pregnant woman?
He looked at Misae's stomach.
Then at the pretty medical ninja.
Then at Hiroshi.
Misae noticed his stare and looked down at him.
"This child has been acting a little strange lately, so we brought him in to get checked."
The medical ninja looked down at Shin-chan and smiled gently.
"Little one, does anything hurt?"
Shin-chan didn't answer.
He looked at Misae, and his lips moved.
"Mom..."
"Yeah?"
"What does 'pregnant' mean?"
Misae froze for a second.
Hiroshi scratched his head beside them.
"Well, Shin-chan..." He crouched down and looked into Shin-chan's eyes. "It means you're going to have a little brother or sister soon."
Shin-chan blinked.
A little brother?
A little sister?
He looked at Misae's stomach again.
Something in his head clicked.
And also didn't fully click.
He thought for three seconds, then looked up.
"Mom, didn't you throw up blood?"
Misae froze.
"What do you mean, throw up blood?"
"Yesterday." Shin-chan's face was dead serious. "It was red. On your clothes. You coughed it out."
Misae couldn't help laughing. "That was special tomato juice."