Chapter Text
Hidemi underlined the list of numbers and tapped her chalk on the board. “Make sure you all reread these pages in your books if you don’t want to fail the test you’ll be receiving after lunch. I’m not any of your mothers, so, if you’re expecting me to coddle you and make the last test before your Graduation Exam easy, then you’re going to be very disappointed. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Hidemi-sensei.” Mumbled the students.
“What was that? You’d like me to assign a two-page essay due tomorrow morning about the socio-politics of the Five Great Nations during the Founding Era?”
“No, Hidemi-sensei!” The students sat straighter and answered with clear enunciation.
“Yeah. I thought so.”
Hidemi put her hand on her hip and laughed under her breath. She looked over the classroom, making eye contact with each of her students but frowned when her gaze fell on the redhead sitting alone in the back row. Her head was down, resting on her arms, and, as Hidemi suspected, she seemed to be sleeping.
Hidemi cleared her throat. “Uzumaki! Natsumi Uzumaki!”
Whispers filled the room and the students turned to look at the girl. A small, wet wad of paper hit her hair and the class erupted with laughter.
“Who did that?!”
The class went silent and Hidemi moved to stand in front of a boy in the first row who stared at his desk.
“You seem to forget how easy it would be for me to have a chat with Lord Third and have you automatically fail the exam for not demonstrating the respectable behavior of a fully-fledged shinobi. Is that what you want?”
The boy gulped and shook his head.
“Good.” Hidemi patted the boy’s head with a smile. “Because if anyone fails the Graduation Exam and is held back, I promise I will make your extra semester in my classroom hell.”
Her frown returned and she marched up the steps to the final row of desks. Her brows furrowed and she nudged the girl’s foot with her own. After the second time, the girl jolted awake.
“H-Hidemi-sensei!” Natsumi’s eyes widened, and she sat up quickly.
“First you show up late this morning, and now you’re sleeping in my class?”
“I’m sorry, Hidemi-sensei.” Natsumi, feeling the stares and glares from her classmates, glanced downward. “It won’t happen again.”
“Uh huh. Isn’t that what you said last week?”
“I’m sorry.” Natsumi mumbled.
“What’s your reason for sleeping through my lessons this time?” Hidemi raised her brow.
“I stayed up late. Studying.” Natsumi shifted in place.
“Studying, huh?” Hidemi snorted softly, turning to walk back to her desk. “Follow me, then.” She waved her hand. “Come on. Don’t keep me waiting.”
Natsumi rose from her seat and slowly descended the steps, remaining quiet as whispers followed her and then stopped when she was in front of Hidemi’s desk.
“If you like studying so much, then study this.” Hidemi retrieved a short stack of books, folders, and loose-leaf papers and placed them on the desk. “Go on. Take them.”
Natsumi hesitantly lifted the stack and stepped back.
“If you’re not going to pay attention, then you might as well study somewhere else.”
“For how long?”
“Until you’ve gone through everything here.” Hidemi chuckled and patted the stack. “Then, you’ll do ten laps around the Academy. Understand?”
“Yes, Hidemi-sensei.”
“Good. Now, get out of my sight.” Hidemi turned away and waved her hand. “You’ve got no business being here anyway.”
Several students chuckled and were quickly silenced with a glance from their teacher. Natsumi nodded and left the room quietly, sighing only once she had stepped outside. She looked around to make sure no one else was looking, then opened the folder on the top to see what was inside.
So, it’s this today? Hidemi-sensei’s in a good mood.
She hurried across the lawn and disappeared into the cluster of trees behind the Academy with a faint smile.
“Naruto! Why would you do such a thing?” Two Konoha Shinobi chased after the Village’s rascal, Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto laughed obstinately as he ran ahead of them, carrying a bucket of paint in his right hand.
“You’re really gonna get it this time!” The other man shouted after the boy, who continued to laugh mockingly.
Naruto leaped into the air, his feet setting down on the side of a building, and he pushed off again, bouncing between buildings to evade the Ninja. They followed him easily, though Naruto doubled back, barely escaping them, and laughed once more.
“I don’t care!” He shouted as he avoided being caught. “You know what your problem is? You can’t do the things I do! Only I can do this! I’m better than all of you! Believe it!”
Behind him the faces of the Village’s Leaders— The Hokages— watched over the village, immortalized in stone. Ordinarily, they were a sight to behold, but today they were covered in paint and vandalized by none other than the Village’s most troublesome boy.
In the Hokage’s office, the quiet environment was disturbed by two out-of-breath ninja bursting inside.
“Lord Hokage!”
“There’s a problem, sir!”
The Hokage turned from his canvas and held the brush in his hand still as he turned to acknowledge the intrusion.
“What is it?” His words were muffled by the pipe in his mouth. His brows furrowed and he immediately guessed what had them so worked up. “Did that Naruto do something again?”
“Yes. He climbed onto the mountain images.” The first ninja began to explain, lifting his hands and moving them as he spoke.
“—And he vandalized and graffitied all over them!” the second man finished, waving his arms in alarm.
Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh and released a slow stream of smoke from his lips. "That boy is always causing mischief..."
Out on the streets, Naruto continued to stay just one step ahead of his pursuers.
“Wait!” One man called, panting. As troublesome as this boy was, it was difficult to chase after him when he had so much energy.
They touched down on the ground, far behind Naruto, and leaped into the air again to search for him, realizing that he’d gotten just out of sight.
Once they had passed, Naruto slowly lowered the blanket he’d been holding up to disguise himself as part of the fence behind him. He grinned at his success and rubbed the back of his head, laughing out loud.
“Why should I?” He asked himself, his pride dulling his senses and he was unable to notice a man approaching from behind.
Iruka Umino rested his fists on his hips, furrowed his brows, and leaned in close to Naruto to shout. “Hey, Naruto!”
Naruto’s eyes widened and he jumped in surprise and fell on his backside. He blinked up at the man, resting his palms on the ground as he looked up.
“How did you suddenly get here, Iruka-sensei?”
Iruka pointed accusingly down at Naruto, beginning his lecture. “The question is what are you doing here when you should be in class now?”
Naruto groaned as Iruka dragged him back to the Academy, tying him up and setting him in front of the class for all to see.
“Now listen, Naruto.” Iruka lectured his student as he stood over him with his arms crossed and hazelnut eyes stern. “You failed the last Graduation test and the one before that. This is no time to be goofing off, you fool!”
Naruto pursed his lips, closing his eyes and turning away from his teacher, ignoring his every word and refusing to reply.
Iruka gritted his teether, furrowing his brow as he watched Naruto continue to ignore him, then turned to the rest of the class and pointed to a spot on the floor nearby.
“We will have a re-test on the Transformation Jutsu! Even those who already passed will take it!”
“Whaaaat?” The students collectively cried out in protest, some glaring at Naruto.
After some time of groaning and mumbling, the students lined up and demonstrated the Jutsu in turn.
A pink-haired girl stepped forward for her turn, adjusting her stance and making the proper hand sign.
“Sakura Haruno.” She announced and took a breath. “Here I go… Transform!”
A puff of smoke surrounded her and when it cleared, a second Iruka stood in her place.
Iruka looked over her transformation, nodding as he checked her name off of the list on his clipboard.
“Okay!” He smiled, and Sakura’s appearance returned to normal.
“I did it!” She beamed, praising herself, and then looked to one boy in line. “Did you see that, Sasuke-kun?”
"Next, Sasuke Uchiha.” Iruka announced and Sakura moved to the back of the line, pouting slightly as the boy didn’t even look her way.
The dark-haired boy named Sasuke stepped forward as Iruka finished jotting down the last notes under Sakura’s name. Without waiting for his teacher to look up, the boy quickly transformed into Iruka’s copy.
Iruka looked up, seeing that this transformation was also adequate. “O-okay.”
Sasuke undid the transformation and reappeared after the smoke cleared with his hands in his pockets, without acknowledging his senior. He moved to the back of the line and Iruka called out the next name.
“Next, Naruto Uzumaki.”
“This is a real pain.” The taller boy with his dark hair tied up in a high ponytail stared at Naruto in apathy.
“And it’s all your fault.” The blonde girl on Naruto’s other side added in agreement.
“Like I care!” Naruto muttered to himself as he stepped forward. He made the hand sign and stood with his feet apart. “Transform!”
A cloud of smoke enveloped him, but when it cleared, a tall, blonde woman stood in his place with long twin ponytails, smooth, pale skin, and a large chest. She was completely naked and winked at Iruka and blew him a kiss.
Iruka’s mouth gaped in shock at the lewd sight and he stared at the Transformation, unable to look away. His nose began to bleed and he fell backward in surprise.
Naruto’s appearance returned to Normal and he pointed at the teacher and laughed loudly.
“How was it?” He teased the man as he attempted to recover. “I call it the Sexy Jutsu.”
Iruka stood and leaned close to Naruto’s face, furrowing his brows and clenching his fists.
“You fool! Stop making idiotic Jutsu!”
Iruka exhaled and pointed to the end of the line, ordering Naruto to stand there out of sight and to stay out of trouble. He managed to finish the testing without incident and they continued through their regular lessons, with Iruka taking extra care to watch Naruto in the event he tried to leave the room again.
Finally, after the school day seemed to drag on forever, the students were able to return home, though Iruka marched Naruto to Hokage Rock, ignoring his complaints.
“Darn…” Naruto muttered as he scrubbed the stone face of the First Hokage, supported by hanging scaffolding, while Iruka supervised atop the stone head.
“I won’t let you go home until you clean that all up.” Iruka reminded him, arms crossed.
Naruto stopped wiping and looked up. “I don’t care. There’s nobody home anyways.” He returned to his work with a huff and Iruka watched each stroke of the cloth.
“Nobody, huh?”
Naruto glanced up from cleaning to see a familiar figure standing atop the monument.
“Natsumi!” He grinned and held his hand over his eyes to block out the blinding sun.
She crossed her arms and turned her head away. “Sorry, what was that? I thought you said that you had nobody at home.”
“Hey, hey! That’s not fair!” Naruto protested, but his twin laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
“I’m only teasing, Natto.” She smiled as she used the nickname she’d used for him as a toddler when she couldn't yet pronounce his name.
Iruka turned and smiled at the girl. “Hey, Natsumi. Where have you been all day?”
She waved at Iruka and sat beside him, sweeping her vibrant red hair behind her ear. Her dusky violet eyes crinkled as she smiled. “Hidemi-sensei asked me to run a few errands for her and then she let me go early because my scores are so high.”
“No fair!” Naruto called up and his eyes narrowed at her. “How come she gets to ditch class and I can’t?”
“It’s because she’s a good student who earns her days off!” Iruka scolded him. “Unlike you!”
Natsumi giggled and put her hands up to her mouth. “Yeah, you goofball! I told you not to cut class anymore!”
“It’s not my fault that his lessons are so boring.” Naruto muttered and Iruka huffed. Natsumi laughed again.
“Boring or not, you still should be paying attention.” Iruka sighed. “Do you want to remain at the Academy until you’re an old man?”
Naruto mimicked him quietly under his breath, wiping away a glob of paint. Natsumi stood and gently leaped down, landing next to him. He turned to her and noticed large tears in her jacket.
“What happened to you? I thought you were running errands?”
Natsumi looked down at the fabric and shrugged. “Well, I had the day to myself, so I did a lot of training. My jacket got ruined, but it’s no big deal. I have another one just like it.”
She held up a hand sign and reversed the concealment she’d placed on herself, revealing the large stains over the yellow jacket.
Naruto’s eyes widened. “Is that… blood?!”
She shrugged and unzipped the jacket and shrugged it off, balling it up in her hands as she grinned. “Don’t worry, it’s not mine.”
She dipped the jacket into the bucket of water and began to work on wiping away a glob of paint.
“Oh, oka—” He blinked and a chill shot down his spine. “What do you mean it’s not yours? Whose is it?! Why are you covered in blood!? Don’t say something like that so casually! You sound like some kind of serial killer.”
Natsumi broke out into loud, boisterous laughs, bending over. Finally, she wiped her eyes and straightened.
“I’m not a killer, I swear!” She giggled again and wiped her eyes again. “I was just training and some wild animals attacked me, and I won. it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Wild animals?” Naruto crossed his arms, looking her up and down in scrutiny. Eventually, he sighed. “Alright, alright, I believe you. But next time don’t do anything so reckless!”
“If anyone should be worried, it’s me.” She watched him resume cleaning after she’d started again. “You’re the one skipping class and causing trouble. Man, I really am failing as an older sister. I thought I was raising you better than that.”
Naruto glared, his eye twitching. “Older… sister…” He took a breath and leaned close to her face. “You’re not my older sister! We’re twins, I tell you! We’re the same age!”
Natsumi swung her wet jacket and it made contact with the side of his face. He teetered at the strike and wiped his head with his sleeve to sop up the water.
“Hey!” He complained.
“I’m three minutes older, which makes me your older sister! So, it’s my job to look after you!”
“We’re the same age, I say! We’re twins!” He gripped the collar of her shirt and gritted his teeth. “You’re not any older than I am! Why do you always say that?”
“Hey, you two, knock it off!” Iruka barked. “You’re rocking the lift around and you’re going to fall off or damage Lord First’s face!”
“Sorry!” Natsumi called up, raising her hand in apology. “Come on, Naruto. The faster we get this done the sooner we can go home. I’m starving.”
“Hmph.” Naruto scrubbed a new area begrudgingly. “You don’t have to help me. You’re not the one who made the mess.”
“What kind of sister would I be if I made you do things by yourself?” Natsumi nudged his side with her elbow. “Besides, this jacket is ruined anyway and it needs to be put to good use before I throw it out.”
“Hehe…” He nudged her back, whispering. “You should have been there… it was a real blast.”
Natsumi giggled and whispered back. “I thought the snot trails on Lord Third’s face were really funny, but if it were me, I would have made him look like he was wearing makeup.”
Naruto doubled over in laughter with one hand pressed against the stone to support himself and the other covering his mouth as he attempted to muffle his laughter.
“Oh, man, why didn’t I think of that?” He snorted and Natsumi joined in laughing.
“I tell you, girls have the best ideas.” She crossed her arms and nodded.
Naruto stood and rested his arm on her shoulder, lowering his voice again. “Hey, maybe next time we can try that. Just think of the look on the Old Man’s face when he wakes up and sees that.”
“They’d know who it was, and then I’d get in trouble, too.” She shook her head and dipped her jacket in the water again.
“Man, you never do pranks with me anymore.” Naruto pouted and wetted his cleaning rag again.
“Hey, that’s not true!” Natsumi stuck out her tongue. “I pull pranks all the time, but you never see them.”
“Hmph. What’s the point of pranks if no one even sees it?” He wiped his area clean and moved to a smudge of paint below it.
“My motto is ‘Confuse, don’t abuse.’ Instead of doing something big like graffiti and getting in trouble, it’s more fun to do something simple and sneaky. Like…” She paused, then smirked. “Sneaking into the Hokage’s office and moving everything two centimeters to the left. It’s not harmful, plus it’s funny to think about how confused he’ll be and won’t even know what’s wrong.”
Naruto narrowed his eyes at his twin. “Wait… did you do that?”
Natsumi winked. “I guess you’ll never find out unless you hurry up and clean faster.”
Naruto let out a long sigh. “I’m tired of cleaning. I just want to take a nap or something.”
Iruka quietly sighed as he listened to their exchange, and then had an idea.
“Hey, Naruto.”
“Huh?” He looked up at his teacher, eyes narrowed skeptically. “What is it this time?”
“What I meant was…” Iruka’s eyes wandered for a moment and he scratched his cheek. “If you clean up all this mess… I’ll buy you guys ramen tonight.”
Iruka looked down and his eyes widened slightly as he saw Naruto’s bright expression looking back at him, his mouth practically drooling at the thought of his favorite food.
Naruto stared in disbelief, and then he clenched his fist, pumping it into the air. “Yes! I-I’ll finish it in no time! Just watch me!”
Iruka chuckled and watched as Naruto quickly set to work, cleaning nearly nonstop until the sun began to set.
“Ah, finally done!” Naruto stretched and tossed the cloth into the bucket, looking over the monument at his work. His stomach growled and he rubbed it, looking at Iruka eagerly. “Can we eat now?”
Iruka looked over the monument and nodded. “You’ve done a fine job. Let’s go.”
“Alright!” Naruto cheered and crossed his arms behind his head as he headed off. “Are you coming, Natsumi?”
“Huh?” She looked away from the monument and at her brother, smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.
”She hurried after him, and Iruka followed a few steps behind. As they walked, the sun sunk further down the horizon until its light barely illuminated the streets and was replaced by street lights and bright signs of shops and restaurants.
Soon they arrived at Ichiraku and sat in their usual spots. Teuchi, the shop owner, greeted them, took their orders, and started on their meals.
Natsumi rested her head on her arms while she waited, listening to Naruto chatting excitedly with Iruka. Once their food was finished, he placed the large bowls in front of them and Naruto quickly dug in.
Natsumi sat up and took a large breath of the aroma, closing her eyes as she did. Then, she opened her eyes and slurped up a large bite of noodles, then sighed.
“Ah, that hits the spot.” She smiled and turned to the teacher. “Thanks again for treating us, Iruka-sensei. You’re always so nice to us.”
Naruto took a breath in between large slurps. “Man, I wish I could eat here all the time.”
Natsumi giggled and looked at him sideways. “You’d get so fat, you know. I’d have to push you around like a ball.”
Naruto laughed. “Maybe if I got that fat, I could just sit on you every time you called me your baby brother. That’d teach you.”
“Naruto.” Iruka watched Naruto slurp another bite thoughtfully.
“Hm?” Naruto asked with a mouthful of ramen.
“Why did you vandalize those faces?” Iruka asked after a moment of consideration. “Don’t you know who the Hokage leaders are?”
“Of course I do!” Naruto swallowed and met his eyes, then tilted the bowl up to drink the broth, setting the bowl down when he was finished and let out a breath.
“I know they earned the title Lord Hokage because they were the best of their time, right?” He looked up, recalling one of Iruka’s history lessons. “Especially the Fourth Hokage. He was the hero who saved the Village from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.”
Natsumi looked up from her bowl at his words and watched him carefully. Of course they’d heard about the great Fourth Hokage, who was a legendary shinobi of great speed and power.
Naruto’s expression was almost unreadable as he parroted the information, looking down at his bowl.
“Then why did you do that?” Iruka questioned gently.
“Because I’ll become a Hokage myself.” Naruto answered simply. “And,” He met Iruka’s eyes. “I’ll be the greatest Hokage of all time!” He winked, pointing his chopsticks at his sensei with a determined grin. “And then everyone will finally learn to accept me!” Naruto finished and then lowered his arm.
Iruka paused with his mouth full and a noodle dangling from his lips. He sucked it into his mouth and swallowed.
“By the way, sensei, I have a favor to ask.”
Natsumi rolled her eyes. “Naruto, don’t ask for too much. Iruka-sensei let you off really easy, only making you clean up your mess, and now he’s buying us dinner.”
“It’s alright, Natsumi.” He looked at Naruto. “Do you want another bowl?” Iruka asked, guessing as to what he meant.
“Hmmm… no.” Naruto answered and gestured to his forehead. “Can I borrow that Leaf headband for a while?” He put his hands together politely.
“This?” Iruka reached up and gripped his headband. “No, no.” He smiled. “This is worn only by those who have graduated from the Ninja Academy. Tomorrow you will-”
“You’re so mean!” Naruto protested, crossing his arms.
Iruka laughed. “So that’s why you took off your goggles…”
“Hmph.” Naruto pouted. “One more bowl then, please!”
Natsumi giggled and rolled her eyes, gulping down the last of the broth and setting the bowl down in front of her.
“Oh, fine, fine.” Iruka relented, ordering him one more bowl.
“You don’t have to let him push you around, ya know.” Natsumi smiled at the teacher. “It’s okay to let him sulk sometimes.”
“You make it sound like I’m a little kid.” Naruto watched her from the corner of his eyes.
“Well, sometimes you do act like one, a little bit.” She winked and set her chopsticks down, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip.
“Hmph. Why did I have to have a sister? A brother would have been more fun.”
“Ha-ha. Jerk.” Natsumi took another sip but misjudged the distance and the cup missed her lips and water poured down the front of her shirt.
“Ah!” She pulled her hand back and set the cup down, sighing as she pinched her wet shirt and pulled it out ever-so-slightly to examine it. “Aw man. I must be really tired. I’m never clumsy.”
“Yeah, right.” Naruto chuckled and eyed the second bowl of Ramen as it was placed in front of him. “Yes!”
He picked up his chopsticks and shoveled some noodles into his mouth.
Natsumi sighed deeper this time, releasing her shirt and grabbing a napkin. She patted her shirt gently to soak up the water.
Naruto glanced over to tease her again but froze in place as he blushed and spat out some broth, pointing at her wet torso and the shirt that clung to her skin tightly now.
“W-w-what are those?” His hand trembled as his blush deepened.
Natsumi looked down at her chest, blushing as she crossed her arms to cover herself. “They’re called boobs! Stop looking at them!”
He covered his eyes and turned away, still spluttering. “I-I know that! I know what they are! But why do you have them?”
Iruka chuckled awkwardly and put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “You know, you both are at the age of adolescence. It’s normal for kids your age to…uh… change…”
“I know that!” Naruto uncovered his face and recovered it after meeting his sister’s eyes. “B-b-but why are they so big? You’re just a kid.”
Natsumi frowned and hugged her arms closer. “Pervert.”
“I-I’m not!” He turned his back to her, pressing his lips together in frustration. “W-when did you get those?”
“We live together and you never even noticed?” Natsumi huffed and turned her face away, refusing to look at him. “They appeared around the same time you started saying that I was 'crying for no reason and grumpy.’”
Naruto’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “B-b-but… you look so much older than I do.”
“I am older than you.” She rolled her eyes.
“Only by a few minutes!” He clenched his fists and stared at her. “It’s not enough to count.”
“Well, it must because I hit puberty first.” Natsumi smirked and continued to dry her shirt, muttering quietly now. “Pervert.”
“I am not!” Naruto looked at his sensei. “Tell her that I’m not.”
Iruka scratched his cheek, averting his gaze from the twins. “H-hey now, this really isn’t a conversation to have in public.”
Naruto sighed and slowly finished his second bowl of ramen.
“Tomorrow’s the day of the graduation test.” Iruka reminded them, changing the subject. “So, you should study a little tonight, but don’t overdo it, alright? You’ve got to get plenty of sleep so that you can do your best.”
“Don’t worry about me, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto nodded confidently. “I’m going to blow everyone away and become a fully-fledged ninja! Believe it!”
“Says the one whose voice still cracks when he’s upset.” Natsumi chuckled and muttered as she took another drink.
“Why, you!” Naruto glared and tipped her glass up, drenching her shirt again.
“Waah!” Natsumi shoved him, quickly reaching for another napkin to dry herself with. “Naruto! I’m going to get you for that!”
“Hee hee.” He stuck out his tongue. “You’ll have to catch me, first.”
Natsumi reached over and grabbed his ear, tugging on it. “That’s it! You get to do the laundry this time! I’m tired of you treating me like your maid.”
“Ow ow ow ow ow!” She released his ear and he rubbed it. “Sorry, sorry! I hate laundry. Please don’t make me do it.”
“You should really appreciate your sister more.” Iruka glanced at Naruto, who looked between the two and pouted. “It’s getting pretty late now; you should head home. Do you want me to walk you?”
Natsumi and Naruto shook their heads simultaneously.
“No thanks.” Natsumi smiled. “We can manage.”
“If you’re sure.” Iruka slid off the stool and ruffled Naruto’s hair. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow bright and early. I have a good feeling that you’ll pass this time. Just do your best. I have faith in you.”
He turned to Natsumi and rubbed her head as well. “You too, Natsumi. You’re a good student, so you’ll be fine.”
He put money on the counter to cover their meals and then stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Well, see you tomorrow! Don’t cause any mischief on your way home.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Naruto mumbled and yawned. “See you tomorrow, Iruka-sensei.”
“Thanks again for dinner!” Natsumi added, giving him a wave as she hopped off the stool.
Naruto followed suit and yawned again. “Man, I’m beat. I can’t wait to go to bed.”
“Don’t forget to study a little tonight.” She reminded. “We can study together since we both have to take the test.”
“Do we really have to?” He slouched as he walked and she linked her arm with his.
“Just for a few minutes, then. I’m pretty tired, too. But I definitely want us both to pass this time. No Uzumaki left behind.”
He smiled and nodded in agreement. “Okay, just for a little bit, then. If I’m going to be Hokage someday, I’m going to have to know all this stuff.”
“That’s the spirit!” Natsumi poked his cheek. “Hey, Naruto?”
“Hm?”
“You wanna race home?”
They shared a grin, unlocked their arms, and took a ready stance.
“Prepare to eat my dust!” He sneered.
“In your dreams, slowpoke!” She prodded his shoulder. “I always win.”
“Not this time you won’t!”
“Alright, alright.” She took a breath, holding up her fingers. “One, two, three… go!”