Chapter 134: Umino Iruka.

The next day Umino Iruka, this year's Naruto and Sasuke's classroom main teacher had the students go through the basics for 3 days straight.

He was more or less able to assess fairly the abilities of all of his students by the end of the 3rd day. An average teacher may have simply read last year's students' report cards and grades in order to decide from there. However, Umino Iruka was not an average teacher.

He personally wanted to assess each of his students.

So that he could more or less be able to tell how well and how far each student was in their individual studies.

To no one's surprise, Sasuke was by far the farthest along in his training.

Leagues beyond most of his classmates.

His overall fighting abilities were good enough for him to contend with a genin, even before graduating.

Truly worth being called a prodigy of the Uchiha clan. In the past few years, only one person managed to outshine him at the academy - unfortunately, it was his elder brother.

Uchiha Itachi.

A rogue ninja hated by the village for having allegedly killed every single Uchiha clan member except for his younger brother.

Worse, he had left the village and joined a criminal organization.

Not that most were privy to that fact or his true reasons, besides him being considered a mass murderer.

In fact, to most, he was just a despicable criminal. The scum of the Earth.

A kin slayer, a traitorous rogue ninja that fled the village.

Someone whose name brought infamy and should never be mentioned, since he represented an embarrassment for the village as a whole and whose crimes would reflect poorly on the entire village as a whole.

Though if most knew of the impossible choice he had to make, a decent number of people would likely see him as a hero or criticize him for being unable to kill his younger brother as well.

After all, ninjas are more or less considered as no different than tools, in the world at large.

As long as they are given a task to accomplish, they are to dedicate their whole being that it is carried out, no matter how sordid it might be.

They are supposed to obey orders without their emotions getting in the way.

Failure to comply with such impossible demands is a sign of disloyalty and cowardice that would leave one ultimately ostracized.

Nonetheless, it was a fact that any ninja village abided by.

Ultimately such a harsh system and mindset gave birth to uncountable tragedies.

Sadly, it is not too unusual that such a tenuous system was the cause of rogue ninjas being created at all times, for a variety of different reasons.

Though, that fact or Sasuke's background and circumstances had very little effect on Iruka's class.

Sasuke's performance was ultimately his own.

None of the baggage attached to the boy's life mattered, though it explained why he worked so poorly in teams but he still made the effort to put in some work.

And obeyed the words of his teachers.

As far as Iruka was concerned he was an excellent student, though he did worry about the boy's wellbeing.

Umino Iruka was a kind-hearted man overall, a trait that could prove fatal on the battlefield.

Not only that but he felt a connection with the young child as someone who became an orphan due to a tragedy in his past. So he could easily empathize with Sasuke's circumstances since he too lost his parents as a child and was powerless to prevent it.

Regardless, besides Sasuke, there were many students that caught Iruka's eyes.

The class he was in charge of had a surprisingly high number of talented individuals.

One of those students, was the mysterious boy that was said to be the nine tails jinchuriki's only friend.

To Iruka, the boy was talented but somewhat of a troublemaker as his friend but in a slightly different sense.

Though he did everything he was asked, overall he was hard to work with, slept in class, was late for class almost every day, and read books or wrote notes that had nothing to do with the lessons he was teaching.

Nonetheless, he had a perfect score in almost everything in his studies, not a single mistake due to carelessness was made in the papers given to him for tests.

Even in Shurikenjutsu, a practice that was among the hardest that all cadets had to endure throughout their time at the academy, he was a cut above the rest.

Better than Sasuke Uchiha, which was not an easy feat.

Although everything seemed perfect, it was not. When it came to ninjutsu, he was not the worst but inconsistent, to say the least.

It became clearer that he was having issues.

His performance in making 3 clones seemed to have been a fluke for the most part.

He didn't perform as well as he did the first time in front of Iruka, so much so that his new teacher wondered if Homura was no longer putting in the effort since he was not being graded and his profile did say the boy was talented but could often refuse to use ninjutsu since he would have difficulties in that area.

Thus, Iruka who had only been their class teacher for less than a week, could not properly ascertain Homura's ability or the full scope of his strengths and weaknesses.

Little did he know that Homura, that the first time Homura performed ninjutsu he was performing beyond his normal capabilities. Homura used the trauma from a life-and-death experience to try to boost his chakra to make it much stronger than usual.

As Iruka had mentioned in his first lesson delivered to his new students, Homura tried to use that principle to his advantage and it worked.

It was not an easy thing to pull off but he nonetheless was able to do it, even if he exhausted himself doing it.

However, such a thinly veiled attempt at tricking his mind could not last forever.

The more he used it the less the benefits of such a state of mind became apparent, if it was so easy to artificially enhance one's chakra all the time due to life and death experiences, it would become the norm for all shinobi to attempt something similar to what Homura did. Besides, he was not truly in danger; he may have wanted to use painful memories as a way to get stronger but such a ploy was doomed to fail from the beginning. Otherwise, all shinobi would use the same trick as Homura to boost their chakra in times of need.

All Homura was capable of as of now, was waiting for the integration process that C was in the midst of achieving, Sakura's DNA was harsher to deduce since she did not have a mutation or peculiar gene that stood out from the rest. She was simply born with traits that complimented her ability to control her chakra quite well due to her general constitution, it wasn't due to genetic shenanigans. Nonetheless, Homura was not too worried, he still had some time prior to graduating.

Not every student was meant to be good at everything to graduate.

For example, Shino Aburame was quite opposed to practicing shurikenjutsu or did not care about his grades in that topic too much due to him being an Aburame.

A clan that specializes in utilizing bugs to attack, most of the time by growing them inside their bodies.

Nonetheless, not all had Shino's characteristics or were hailed from a clan with such a strong specificity.

Showing promise at the academy in most subjects was the only manner to have powerful Jonins noticing them and deciding to train them if they did not have talent or useful ability/traits.

To Homura, figuring out, how to be more in tune with his emotions rather than the slightly apathetic person that he had grown to be in recent years was more important as of late.

But that was easier said than done.

Not that Umino Iruka was aware of Homura's personal problems or his barely legal activities.

To him, besides a few other students being rather proficient in several domains, there was not much beyond the ordinary that happened as of late.

The only thing that he was struggling with was his own feelings regarding Naruto Uzumaki.

Thus, after the final test, which was about shurikenjutsu.

Umino Iruka had created his own files for each student, so they resumed normal classes and went back to their assigned classroom.

In class, the atmosphere was relatively calm, the murmurs of students engaged in quiet conversations filling the room. Homura, absorbed in his own thoughts, was startled when a familiar voice broke through the haze of his contemplation.

"Hey, Homura," Naruto called out, catching his attention. Homura turned to face his friend, his expression curious.

"Huh?" he responded, his tone tinged with surprise.

Naruto hesitated for a moment before continuing, his words filled with a mix of uncertainty and hope. "You know about a lot of stuff, right?"

Homura blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question. "I guess," he replied, his response cautious. "If it's about shurikenjutsu, forget it. I've taught you all that I could."

To Homura, Naruto was a lost cause in most regards and more of a late bloomer.

He was someone that would get better as he grew older, currently, his hidden talents were not showing as much as they would in the future.

So if he received proper training from a good teacher, he would shine brighter.

As of now, he would only waste his time helping Naruto,

Homura had a few hours ago seen how badly Naruto botched his test. He threw the shurikens in his hands with so little accuracy that he almost hit their teacher that was standing slightly behind Naruto.

Naruto's voice wavered with a hint of frustration. "What? You didn't teach me anything! You just gave me a bunch of shurikens and told me to shoot straight at the target!"

A small sigh escaped Homura's lips. "Well, that's how it works. It's all in the wrist. Besides, you're too stupid to make calculations while throwing. You need to have a high I.Q."

The classmate's eyes widened in disbelief. "What!? Y-you"

Naruto, unable to contain himself, interjected. "Naruto, be quiet," the sensei reprimanded.

Just as Naruto was about to retort, their sensei, Iruka, stepped forward, his gaze stern and commanding. "Naruto, enough! Pay attention and show some respect in class!"

Naruto's eyes widened, realizing his mistake. "R-right, sorry sensei," he stammered, chastised by the reprimand.

Not caring much for Naruto's answer, Umino Iruka went on to read the contents of his notes to the class about the values a shinobi should embody.

"Though, he does try to hide it…it seems that Umino Iruka has some disdain for Naruto…"thought Homura as he remembered all the actions Umino Iruka had towards Naruto.

However, before Homura could dig deeper into that matter, the conversation he was having with Naruto resumed as the latter waited until Iruka shifted his focus. "Tch! I am not talking about that!" they exclaimed, his voice laced with urgency. "Is it true that Sasuke is the last Uchiha because all the others are dead?"

Homura's expression turned solemn, a shadow crossing his features. He felt a heaviness settle within him as the memories of that fateful night resurfaced. The images of blood, the weight of guilt on his shoulders, and the haunting realization of his own failures echoed in his mind. How could he ever forget?

A dark cloud seemed to descend upon the classroom as Homura's thoughts lingered on the tragedy that had befallen the Uchiha clan. The room fell into a heavy silence, the air thick with unspoken emotions.

"...Where did you hear that?" Homura finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Homura was concerned since Naruto should have not have known such a crucial detail but at the same time; according to the manga, he was somewhat aware that Sasuke was an orphan as well.

Was it a development that was occuring because of his involvement? How would that impact Naruto's and Sasuke's history?

But Naruto's next actions would not prouve or disprovouve such fears.

Naruto shook his head, their eyes filled with concern. "It doesn't matter. Is it true?" he pressed, his voice revealing a genuine curiosity.

Homura took a moment to compose himself before responding, his voice tinged with sadness. "...Yes," he admitted, his tone heavy with the weight of knowledge.

A mix of emotions played across Naruto's face as he absorbed the gravity of the situation. "Do you know what happened?" he asked, his voice filled with a hint of trepidation.

How could Homura ever forget the events of that night? The smell of blood permeated his senses, the weight of guilt and despair clinging to him like a suffocating shroud. The memory of all the dead bodies he had seen... haunted him to no end... a constant reminder of his own shortcomings and the failure that had unfolded before his very eyes.

"No," Homura replied, his voice a whisper. He couldn't bring himself to relive the painful details, nor could he bear to share the burden of his guilt with anyone else.

"I see..." Naruto muttered to himself, his voice barely audible. A flicker of understanding crossed his face as he reflected on the revelation. "He might not be all bad after all," he whispered, his words barely reaching Homura's ears.

"…" However to Homura, Naruto's whispers did not matter…this reminded him to think that Sasuke was the little to the man that might have killed, the people he had failed to protect.

It was something Homura tried hard to ignore and even told himself that it might have been Uchiha Obito who was the cause of their deaths.

However, Homura did not ultimately know.

So he chose to hate both Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Itachi.

As well as Shimura Danzo, the man who pushed things to head toward such a drastic conclusion.

Whatever the truth might have been, Homura's mood sunk to the pits after being reminded of such events by Naruto.

Talking to Naruto reminded Homura, how truly he was pressed for time and swore to do something about it soon.

"C gather everything you know about the relationship you know of the relationship between Uzumaki Naruto and Umino Iruka." thought Homura inside his head.

"Understood." Stated C in a robotic note.

Files seemed to be gathering around Homura's field of vision as C started to display all the data in chronological order.

From Naruto's pranking Iruka for the first time to Naruto's marriage ceremony.

"I see…" Homura muttered.