Chapter 13

The seven second-year students turned red with rage upon hearing that.

Seriously? Each one of you just dumped the blame so cleanly like you're saints? Don't act like you're totally innocent! Sure, we started it by calling him a fox demon, but it was that damn fatso who threw the first punch!

Iruka's sharp gaze fell on the seven second-years, making them shrink back instinctively.

Kids were naturally scared of their teachers—especially ones who had the power to report them to the Hokage. There was no room for disobedience.

Finally, the ringleader timidly spoke up, "Iruka-sensei, we… we actually lost a sparring match to Hyūga Neji earlier and were still pissed about it. Then we saw the fox—cough, I mean, that blond brat walk by, and we just felt annoyed and yelled at him. Then that fat p—cough, I mean, the student eating chips tried to step in and calm things down. We got mad and cursed him too. We didn't expect him to punch us right away. So they started it!"

Iruka stared at the boy for a good while, confirming that he was telling the truth—or at least part of it—and finally understood the situation.

He rubbed his temples in frustration.

A student brawl wasn't a big deal in itself. Usually, a stern lecture and punishment would take care of it. But Iruka wanted to be a good teacher—someone who guided these kids down the right path.

Especially since this involved Naruto, it wasn't that simple.

He spoke seriously, "I'll report this to the Hokage. What happens next will be up to him. But before that, let me ask—do you all realize what you did wrong?"

The seven second-years nodded quickly. "Yes, Sensei, we were wrong!"

Natsuki, however, met Iruka's eyes directly, his voice unwavering. "Sensei, it's wrong to fight in school, but I won't admit fault. Shikamaru and Chōji are my friends, and they'll be my comrades after we graduate. If they're being bullied, I won't just stand by."

Shino had his hands in his pockets. "Same."

Shikamaru scratched his head. "Tch… such a drag. Iruka-sensei, forget right or wrong for now. You go report to the Hokage."

Chōji, Kiba, and Naruto all had that same "not gonna apologize" look. Especially Chōji—he'd been called a fat pig, and in his mind, punching the guy was more than justified. He'd done nothing wrong.

Iruka's headache only got worse. In the end, he punished all of them with handstands while he hurried off to the Hokage's office.

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was using his crystal ball to monitor the situation at the school's training field. He casually pulled out the student roster from his drawer.

He already knew Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, and Shino well—they were all from major clans.

But this kid, Natsuki, was someone he was seeing for the first time.

Reading through Natsuki's file, Hiruzen didn't see anything unusual. Just an ordinary orphan, with some talent in ninja tools, but otherwise average across the board.

However, the fact that Natsuki could make friends with so many kids from major clans, and now stood up like that… he was either intentionally trying to win favor, or he genuinely had a strong sense of loyalty. Hard to tell. He'd have to ask Iruka. Of course, the boy was only six years old—there wasn't much need to overthink it.

At that moment, Iruka arrived and quickly reported everything.

"Hokage-sama, that's the situation. What do you think we should do about the fight? If possible, I hope we can deal with it seriously so they'll realize what they did wrong."

"Hm. Your intentions are good, Iruka, but we shouldn't be too hasty in assigning blame."

Hiruzen spoke slowly and calmly, clearly in no rush. "Iruka… what do you think of these children? For example, this one called Natsuki—he seems to have a strong sense of camaraderie. If he becomes a ninja one day, I imagine he'll treasure his comrades too."

Iruka immediately recalled his impressions. "Now that you mention it, Natsuki is actually quite well-behaved. He pays close attention in class, actively studies after school, and often goes to the library. During outdoor lessons, he's very engaged and has shown talent in kunai and shuriken throwing. Him fighting today and refusing to apologize was really unexpected."

Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. So far, nothing seemed suspicious about the boy.

Throwing skills weren't anything special. An Uchiha with Sharingan could easily surpass that. So he didn't seem like a prodigy worth special attention. His ability to make friends with so many kids from important clans probably stemmed from his personality.

After some thought, Hiruzen still felt they needed to be punished. If not, it might set a bad precedent for other students.

He made his decision. "Iruka, go back and have them run ten kilometers, and copy the Will of Fire ten times. They must turn it in within five days. If their handwriting is messy, they'll redo it."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Iruka accepted the order and rushed back in a hurry.

Not long after, the office door slammed open. A middle-aged man with his right eye wrapped in bandages and his right arm in a sling stormed in, full of fury.

"Hiruzen! You've heard, haven't you?! The jinchūriki went berserk and got into a fight! Listen to me—hand him over so I can train him! If he loses control, it'll be too late! Give him to me, and I promise I'll turn him into a top-tier war machine!"

"Danzo, that's enough!" Hiruzen's expression turned stern. "Naruto didn't go berserk. He's not out of control!"

Danzo ignored him and pressed on. "Hiruzen, you're still too soft! No jinchūriki ever stays sane! You can't control him! If the Nine-Tails goes wild again, you'll bear the blame!"

"Shut up, Danzo! I'm the Hokage!"

"You…! Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

SLAM! Danzo stormed out, furious.

Natsuki, unaware of the drama playing out in the Hokage's office, was pretending to grit his teeth and do a handstand—while secretly observing the seven second-years.

So they lost a sparring match against Hyūga Neji, got pissed, and happened to see Naruto. That's why they took it out on him. So basically… Naruto got dragged in because of his future brother-in-law.

Hyūga Neji, huh?

Wonder how strong he is right now. Could I beat him?

Among the Konoha Twelve, only Gai's team was a year older—and ironically, they had the worst fate. Neji died, Tenten stayed single forever, and Rock Lee probably plateaued after his injury during the Chūnin Exams.

Meanwhile, Naruto's generation? Every single one of them turned out pretty well. Life really is unfair.

Just then, Naruto spoke up. "Chōji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Natsuki… thank you for stepping in to help me."

Natsuki rolled his eyes. "I was helping Shikamaru and Chōji. Also, you forgot Shino."

Naruto blinked, then noticed Shino standing off to the side muttering to himself, and looked awkward.

That wasn't his fault—Shino's presence was so low, he just hadn't noticed him.

Naruto quickly apologized, "Sorry, Shino. Thanks to you too!"

Shino muttered, "As expected. Naruto didn't even notice me. And I helped quite a bit…"

Naruto didn't know how to respond, but he still looked happy. Even if Natsuki and Shino had come for Shikamaru and Chōji, they'd still helped him. That was enough.

(End of Chapter)

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