"Oh, I greeted Ryo-nii, so everything's fine!" Kushina laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her head.
"Your friend?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, let me introduce you — Mikoto Uchiha, we're in different classes, but we quickly became friends," Kushina said.
"Pleased to meet you," the girl bowed.
Black hair, dark eyes, and the Uchiha fan on her clothes immediately gave away her affiliation with the clan of the wielders of one of Konoha's dojutsu. It's interesting how they became friends — the girl looks about ten or eleven years old, which means she's only a class behind me or even parallel. But that's unlikely — all clan members are placed in Class A.
"And this is Ryo Nara," Uzumaki now introduced me. "But he's only half Nara, and his dad is Uzumaki, so we're distant relatives."
"Pleased to meet you too," I returned the bow.
Hmm, so this is what the future mother of Itachi and Sasuke looks like in childhood. I must admit, the short haircut suits her just as well as long hair, slightly resembling a little Itachi.
"The fact that you've started making friends is good," I smiled, then squinted cunningly, "but what about friends?"
Kushina instantly lowered her head and began to fervently pick at the floor with her toe, while Mikoto chuckled quietly into her hand, avoiding looking at me.
"Oh, really, do you like someone in the class?" I realized, to my horror, that I sounded a lot like Mito.
Damn.
"Who could it be?" the little Uchiha said thoughtfully, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "Maybe a cute blond boy, the only one you haven't beaten up among all the boys? Especially since he never insulted you?"
"Miko-chan!" Kushina exclaimed, embarrassed and indignant, and I felt it becoming harder to keep a smile on my face.
Damn again! Is this fate? Okay, childhood attachment doesn't mean much, especially since Minato is probably fully focused on studying and probably doesn't even think about having a girlfriend. He's not at that age yet. I hope.
"All right, girls, I have to go, and you too, so study hard, and you can think about romantic interests after becoming genin," I chuckled, then tousled both their heads and put the mask back on. "Bye, see you later."
Already out of sight of the two girls and heading up to the next floor, I heard the beginning of their conversation.
"And is your Ryo-nii going to teach at the academy now?"
"No, he's entering the last year!"
"He's only eleven!?"
"Well, yes, can't you tell? He's only four years older than me."
"But he's so... huge! Could it be..."
I didn't hear anything else, but as I ascended to the fourth floor, I couldn't stop grinning. It wasn't for nothing that I strained so much during training — physical development led to a spurt in growth, which only slowed down a bit in the last year.
Finding the classroom I needed, 4-A, I entered just as the bell rang to signal the start of the first lesson. Excellent punctuality! Ignoring the interested and curious looks of the children sitting at their desks, I walked straight to the blond, attractive woman in ordinary civilian clothes and a chunin vest, who was standing at the teacher's desk, and presented her with my papers.
After reading the enrollment forms confirming that I would indeed be studying in this class, she raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking me up and down. Considering the fact that I was half a head taller and one and a half times wider than her, it did look strange.
"Eleven? Nara?" I nodded.
"And where do they feed such big ones?" Senju muttered to herself, not paying attention to my chuckle, then turned to the class. "Attention, everyone, it seems we have one more person joining you, so welcome your new classmate."
"Ryo Nara, nice to meet you, and I hope for fruitful cooperation," I slightly bowed.
"Great, you'll get to know your new classmates better later, but for now, take a seat in the available one, and I'll start the lesson," the chunin urged.
The only available seat from the first three rows was next to a shaggy, skinny boy with the Inuzuka clan markings and a small puppy on his lap behind the third desk. That's where I headed. Nodding to my new neighbor and settling into the creaking bench, I focused all my attention on the teacher.
"So, first I'll introduce myself, since someone here doesn't know me, and the rest might have forgotten. Kanade Senju. You can call me Kanade-sensei or just sensei. And first of all, I want to congratulate everyone on moving on to the next year of education. This year will be the last for all of you, and it will determine whether you pass or not."
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