-Tring!! -Tring!! -Tring!!!
The most annoying song that mankind has gifted to the world entered my ears.
I frailed my arms around to destroy the source of this farkakte noise.
"Whoa!"
-Thud
"Owww!!!"
I fell off the bed.
-Bang!
"Ohh Why?!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The alarm clock fell on my head.
Now that I was fully awake and had completed my morning routine, I decided to actually get up and get moving.
After all, today was an important day.
"Finally!!" I exclaimed while pumping my hands in the air.
After six long years, I am finally starting my first day in the academy.
I have been waiting for this day for so long that I can't even convey my joy in words.
I was reincarnated into this world six years ago, and after being a baby again, I am happy to move onto the next chapter of my new life.
"Onii-chan, must you do this every day?" A small, pink-coloured potato entered my room.
This was my little sister, Natsu Nakamura. She, like me, also has pink-coloured hair from our mother's side.
"Natsu!!" I ran and held her up in the air and started spinning; she hates this. Not only this, she hates all kinds of physical touch, though not with others. I am the only one on the receiving end of this treatment.
"Today is the first day of the academy!!" I said.
"Yeah, and you are going to be late if you continue this nonsense," she said with disdain clearly visible on her face.
"What?! What's the time?!" I rushed to look at the fallen alarm clock, and it showed 7:15.
The academy starts at 7:30.
"Why didn't anyone wake me up?!?" I screamed and rushed out of the room, down to the washroom, to brush my teeth and freshen up.
I ran back upstairs, tripping on the faulty step on the stairs.
"Someone, for the love of God, fix this step!!" I screamed
"We'll hire you to fix it once you become a genin!" Dad shouted from downstairs, making Mom and Natsu laugh.
Ignoring Dad's comment, I quickly changed my clothes, grabbed the toast on my plate, and ran out of the house.
"See you later!!" I yelled from the distance.
One good thing about the academy is that you can go even without a backpack.
You will end up wasting your time over there by not learning anything theoretical, but who cares about being good at theory anyway? Not me.
***
Meanwhile, at the ninja academy,
"Good morning, everyone. I am Kiyoshi Nohara. I will be your instructor for as long as you stay in the academy."
"Alright, let's start with the roll calls."
"Dai Kifiku?"
-"Present"
"Might Duy?"
-"Present"
.
.
.
"Kushina Uzumaki?"
-"Present"
"And finally, Tatsumi Nakamura?"
-"..."
Kiyoshi looked up from the sheet in his hands. "Is Tatsumi not here?"
Kiyoshi asked in hopes that any friends of 'Tatsumi' could give him an answer, not knowing that the person named 'Tatsumi' had no friends.
'Seriously? Absent on the first day?' Kiyoshi thought.
He had been assigned as an instructor at the academy even after being a Jonin, under the promise that this time there were many talented kids. So, finding that there was a troublemaker or a slacker in his class was deeply upsetting.
"I am here!"
The door to the class slid open, revealing a boy with hot pink hair and deep, crystal-blue eyes. Huffing, panting, and sweating profusely.
"I am here!"
He said it again as he bent over and supported himself by placing his hands on his knees.
"You are Tatsumi?" Kiyoshi asked
"Yes Sir!!" Tatsumi replied enthusiastically.
"You are 2 minutes late." Kiyoshi said it with a stern look on his face. "Usually I would have made you run 20 laps around the academy, but since it's the first day, I will overlook this. But remember that there will be no second chance. Now take your seat!"
Tatsumi thanked him and quickly took his seat in the furthest row in the back, close to the window, establishing his reputation as a slacker inside Kiyoshi's mind.
Kiyoshi sighed deeply and decided to start today's first class.
"Alright. Since it's the first day, let's just start with some basic introduction. Tatsumi, you begin."
"Oh? Uh...okay." Tatsumi stood up from his seat. "My name is Tatsumi Nakamura. I like barbecue and trying different foods. I don't like waiting in line, though. My dream is to become a great and powerful ninja. What else..Oh, I finished second in the entrance test for the academy." Tatsumi said that and sat down.
Kiyoshi had ignored everything he said, but his ears perked up when he heard the last line.
He knew that the best prospect was a boy named Minato, and he didn't know the rest of the rankings. But the fact that Tatsumi was second in a class filled with many clan kids increased his reputation from a goof to a goofy genius.
This was a surprise to many kids in the class as well. Although Tatsumi doesn't have friends, there are still a few kids who know him.
They had tried to become friends with him, but Tatsumi had always rejected playing with them as if they were beneath him, which made Tatsumi a social piranha among the kids his age.
However, even then, they had no idea that Tatsumi actually had any talent at all.
One of the kids who had the worst reaction to hearing this was a kid named Fugaku Uchiha, who was clenching his fists in anger and embarrassment.
As a proud member of the Uchiha clan, it was already humiliating for him to be ranked lower than two kids with a civilian background, but to find that the person who bested him was such an idiot was like a slap in the face.
Fugaku vowed in his heart to challenge Tatsumi as well as Minato as soon as he got the chance and reclaim his honour as a member of the great Uchiha clan.
Fugaku wasn't the only one. Many other kids had similar reactions and thoughts as he did.
They refused to believe that someone like him could be better than them.
The entrance test isn't exactly tough; it judges you on the basics such as physical fitness, logical and reasoning ability, and chakra control.
'I will fight him.'
'I will show him his place.'
'I can't accept this.'
These thoughts were going through the student's heads as they glared at Tatsumi.
Tatsumi, however, was oblivious to the atmosphere of the class and everyone's reactions.
'This is going great!' thought Tatsumi, and he started smiling, which only aggravated everyone else.
***
After the introductions, classes proceeded accordingly, and now everyone was outside on the ground for their sparring matches.
The sparring matches are held on the first day of the academy so that the instructors can familiarise themselves with the students's level.
This is also why rankings are set for the entrance exams; making a high-ranking student fight against a low-ranking student will not be of any benefit at all.
Kiyoshi had decided to let the spar be between ranks 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and so on.
"Alright. Minato Namikaze and Tatsumi Nakamura, come forward." Kiyoshi said
Both Minato and Tatsumi stood in front of each other in the centre of the circle.
"Use everything you know in order to defeat your opponent. If one of you steps out of the circle, then they will lose, and the fight will end. Aside from that, you can give up if you feel that you can't win or if you are not in a state to fight anymore. Is that clear?"
"Yes!" Both Minato and Tatsumi replied at the same time.
"Then, now that you are ready," Kiyoshi raised his arm in the air, and during that time, Minato and Tatsumi both got into a fighting stance. "Begin!" Kiyoshi said, and he brought his arm down, signalling the start of the fight.
Both Minato and Tatsumi rushed at each other at the same time.
But Minato, being taller than him, was a little bit faster. He got into the attacking range sooner and threw a straight jab at Tatsumi, forcing him to stop in his tracks and dodge to the side.
Tatsumi released a counter after successfully dodging Minato's punch, but it was easily avoided.
And just like that, the two of them engaged in intense close-range hand-to-hand combat.
Kiyoshi looked at their fight with an indifferent look on his face. Watching a fight between two 6-year-olds wasn't very exciting for a ninja of his caliber anyway.
But right now, he was looking at it with an objective mindset. The two of them were engaged in a pure Taijutsu battle, but that was to be expected from 6-year-old kids, as none of them were ever taught ninjutsu since they came from civilian backgrounds.
Both of them were very good in Taijutsu, and their fundamentals were very good as well. Their skills were almost equal. Almost.
As he kept watching their fight, Minato's dominance grew more and more. It wasn't only an advantage of reach; all of his attacks, whether they were punches or kicks, were very fast. Not giving Tatsumi anytime to adjust to the speed and momentum of the fight.
After 5 more minutes, a clear winner was decided as Tatsumi stepped outside the circle while trying to dodge Minato's attack.
"Stop. Tatsumi stepped outside the encirclement. The winner is Minato." Kiyoshi said, "Now make the unison sign."
Tatsumi and Minato walked closer and made the unison sign with their fingers.
Every kid aside from the clan-kids cheered for Minato, especially the girls, aside from one red-haired habanero who was looking away from Minato while pouting and murmuring, "He is pretty good."
"You sure have a lot of fans." Tatsumi said to Minato with a smile on his face after looking at the class's reaction. Their classmates were actually praising Minato while disrespecting him.
"Uh..yeah." Minato was a little taken aback when Tatsumi started talking to him, as he had a reputation for not associating himself with anyone. "Don't mind them. You are pretty good as well."
"I don't," Tatsumi replied. In this life and the previous one, Tatsumi was never the kind of person to be affected by other's opinions . The only opinions that mattered to him were his family members's and people he was close to.
"Let's fight again sometime." Tatsumi said that and walked away from Minato, who simply nodded at his words.
Tatsumi isn't the kind of person to approach others. He wouldn't even speak to someone if he didn't have a reason to. He believed that if he was meant to become friends with someone, he would eventually become friends with them, regardless of their past.
But this time, he made an effort to speak to Minato because he knew that he would become a very important figure in the future.
Tatsumi has no plans to become a central figure in this world. He isn't even pressed for time to gain power quickly because he was born decades before the canon starts.
This is why he decided to live his life on his own terms without thinking about the future. He will do what he thinks is right and will try to enjoy his new life in this world filled with assassins, treachery, and violence.