By the time Shin-chan had dragged Ai by the sleeve across two streets, he finally slowed down.
Ai was breathing a little hard, the hem of her kimono lifting slightly in the wind and showing the white tabi underneath.
Her hair had come a little loose, with a few strands stuck to her cheeks, but she didn't stop to fix it.
Back in the capital, her etiquette teachers had repeated ten thousand times that "A princess must mind her bearing." Walk slowly. Take small steps. Keep your back straight. Keep your head level.
She had never run through the streets in a kimono before, and her hair had never come loose like this.
She glanced down at the wrinkled sleeve Shin-chan had tugged and suddenly smiled.
Shin-chan looked back at her. "What are you smiling about?"
"Nothing." Ai smoothed out her sleeve. "Come on."
Shin-chan nodded and kept going.
What they didn't know was that the moment they left the Nohara house, the Anbu had already moved. A black shadow slipped soundlessly away over the rooftops.
By the time the news reached the Hokage Tower, the Third Hokage was drinking tea. He set down the cup, was silent for two seconds, then stood and walked to the window.
"Inform the Anbu to strengthen security around the school."
The Anbu behind him dropped to one knee. "Yes, sir."
"Notify all the teachers that an honored guest is coming today."
"Yes, sir."
When the teachers at the ninja school got the notice, every single one of them had a different expression.
Teacher Ibuki looked at himself in the mirror on the wall. A young teacher with messy hair stared back at him. He took a deep breath and started fixing his appearance.
And when Shin-chan arrived at school, he immediately spotted a long red carpet laid out from the gate all the way inside. On both sides stood people in neat clothes.
One of them was the gatekeeper uncle. He usually looked half-asleep, but today he was standing ramrod straight, eyes wide open.
Shin-chan stopped and stared for two seconds. "Who's getting married?"
Ai, still catching her breath behind him, froze. "What?"
"The red carpet." Shin-chan pointed. "You only lay out red carpets for weddings."
Ai followed his finger, fell silent for a moment, then said, "It's for welcoming an honored guest."
"Who's the honored guest?"
Ai looked at him and didn't answer.
Shin-chan blinked. "You?"
Ai nodded.
"Oh." Shin-chan stepped right onto the carpet.
The gatekeeper uncle opened his mouth, clearly wanting to say something, then shut it again and started giving Shin-chan frantic looks instead.
"Uncle, what's wrong with your eyes?"
The gatekeeper coughed, then simply closed his eyes and pretended not to see anything.
Ai watched Shin-chan swagger down the carpet while Shiro trotted at his heels, tail wagging nonstop, and suddenly the whole thing didn't feel quite so grand anymore.
She stepped onto the carpet after him.
Back in the capital, she had walked on red carpets before. Back then, guards stood on either side, and maids and attendants followed behind her. Every step had to be measured exactly.
She had never felt this relaxed.
Shin-chan stopped at the classroom door and looked back. "We're here."
Ai nodded and followed him inside.
The classroom went quiet for a second.
Then it exploded.
"Who's that?"
"What a pretty kimono."
"She's pretty too."
"She came with Shin-chan?"
Teacher Ibuki taught that class in a clumsy, stumbling haze.
Standing at the front with chalk in hand, he could feel one particular gaze that seemed very different from all the others.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept teaching, but halfway through he suddenly forgot what came next.
He stood there on the platform, chalk suspended in midair.
Shin-chan yawned below.
"Teacher, are you nervous?"
Teacher Ibuki's face reddened slightly. "No."
"Then why do you keep wiping your sweat?"
"Because it's hot."
"But it's nice and cool today."
Teacher Ibuki took a deep breath, decided not to respond, and went on with the lesson, though his eyes still kept drifting toward Ai.
The girl sat beside Shin-chan, hands resting on her knees, back perfectly straight, listening to him with complete attention.
When the bell rang, Teacher Ibuki looked like he'd been saved. He let out a long breath of relief.
He hadn't even made it out of the classroom when hurried footsteps sounded in the hall.
The door slid open.
At the front stood a middle-aged woman in formal kimono, her hair arranged perfectly, her posture even straighter than Ai's.
Behind her stood two younger women carrying things in their hands.
The classroom instantly quieted. Everyone stared at the door.
The middle-aged woman stepped inside, swept her gaze across the room, then quickly walked to Ai and bent at the waist before her.
"Princess, your carriage has arrived."
Ai stood up and glanced at Shin-chan.
"I'm leaving."
Shin-chan blinked. "Oh."
The woman frowned and looked at Shin-chan with faint displeasure, but said nothing.
Ai walked toward the door.
When she reached it, the two younger women came up at once. One fixed her hair, while the other smoothed out the wrinkles in her kimono. Their movements were fast and practiced, like they had done this countless times before.
Ai stood there without moving.
Her hair was neatly done again. The folds of her kimono were smoothed flat. Once again, she was the perfectly poised princess.
She turned and looked once at Shin-chan.
Shin-chan was sprawled over his desk, looking completely uninterested in any of it.
"Shin-chan," she called.
Shin-chan lifted his head. "Yeah?"
"I had a lot of fun today." After saying that, she turned and left.
At some point, a new carpet had been laid in the hallway, stretching from the classroom door all the way to the school gate.
Ai stepped onto it, walking slowly, back straight, looking nothing like the girl from earlier that morning who had been dragged along by her sleeve.
When she reached the carriage, Kuroiso stepped forward, dropped to one knee, and extended his hand.
Ai stepped onto his palm and settled smoothly into the carriage.
The curtain dropped, hiding her face.
On both sides of the street, Konoha villagers watched from a distance, whispering among themselves.
"Who was that? Some noble from the Land of Fire?"
"She came to the ninja school today?"
"What for?"
"How would anyone know?"
The carriage gradually rolled away.
The red carpet remained, empty now, stretching from the school gate all the way out into the street.
At the classroom windows, several heads were crowded together, peering outside.
"She's leaving, she's leaving."
"That carriage is huge."
"And there were guards too."
Shin-chan stayed sprawled over his desk and didn't bother looking. He wasn't interested in carriages, and he wasn't interested in guards.
Before long, a crowd formed around him.
"Shin-chan, did you bring that princess here?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know her?"
"At the dumpling shop yesterday."
"..."
Obito stood outside the crowd and didn't go over.
He glanced at the surrounded Shin-chan, then at Rin, Shizune, and Kurenai nearby, standing together and talking.
Since when had they gotten so close to Shin-chan too?