It was as if Naruto, who should have been such a good-looking kid, ended up having his entire childhood spoiled just by that orange jumpsuit.
But Shiki glanced toward Naruto. It was precisely this version of Naruto that felt familiar.
Chapter 8: School Life
Choji Akimichi, sitting at the back and quite chubby, quietly whispered to Shikamaru beside him, "Damn it, that new guy seems really popular. I'm so jealous."
Shikamaru, drowsy-eyed, lifted his head slightly, looked at Shiki, then muttered, "How troublesome," before continuing his nap.
Seeing the little girls' reactions, Iruka wasn't surprised.
After all, they were still just children. When they got older, perhaps they would be able to see a person more fully.
Iruka looked at Shiki again, hoping the boy wouldn't grow up to be conceited. He'd need to steer him in the right direction from now on.
But Iruka didn't know that in reality, Shiki was far more mature than he imagined—in some ways, even more mature than himself.
Raising his hands for silence, Iruka said, "Looks like everyone welcomes our new classmate. How about Shiki introduces himself to everyone?"
Shiki naturally had no objection. He stepped forward and said, "My name is Shiki Uzumaki. My favorite thing is sleeping. Please don't disturb me when I'm napping. Also, I'm currently living at Naruto Uzumaki's house."
That was all Shiki said.
The little girls looked clearly disappointed—was that really his introduction? Neither cool nor cute enough.
A boy who loves sleeping? Kind of depressing.
Thinking of the perpetually sleepy Shikamaru, many girls gave up on trying to flirt with him anyway.
They figured Sasuke was better—handsome and talented too.
Iruka hadn't expected Shiki to introduce himself like that. Originally thinking Shiki was an obedient child, unexpectedly he turned out to be a problematic student too.
Thus he said, "Shiki, pick a seat and sit down. We're going to review chakra extraction soon. This time I'll explain it carefully—you must listen carefully."
Shiki nodded. No matter what happened afterward, he needed to learn how to extract chakra.
Despite feeling extremely sleepy, Shiki still intended to pay serious attention during this class.
Otherwise, if Naruto ended up teaching him chakra extraction, things might go seriously off course.
Shiki absolutely couldn't afford to gamble with his future path as a ninja. After all, even the basic Three Body Techniques were butchered under Naruto's training.
As he walked toward the back, Shiki noticed Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke sitting together—Sakura sat between them at the same table.
Spotting Shiki approaching, Sakura pointed at Naruto's seat and called out, "Hey! Shiki, why don't you sit here?"
Naruto quickly protested, "Why should he take my seat? That smug guy should be the one to move!"
Shiki didn't even have to think—it was obviously Sasuke Naruto was calling the stink bomb.
Sasuke gave a cold snort. "Dead last."
Watching this familiar scene unfold, Shiki felt less like he was living in the Naruto world and more like he was rewatching the old anime.
He gave a slight shake of his head and muttered, "You two just stay here and play your roles. I'll go grab a seat in the back."
According to Shiki's experience, naturally he'd aim for the prime spot right at the back. Even if he didn't plan on sleeping through this class, he'd definitely save some time for a nap later.
So, Shiki naturally plopped down next to Shikamaru. This time, Shikamaru didn't even lift his head, continuing to snooze away as usual.
When Iruka saw Shiki had already taken a seat, he began teaching: "Today, since we have a new student joining us, let's go over carefully how to extract chakra once again. As ninja, the most important thing is chakra. Even those who only use taijutsu still rely greatly upon internal reserves of chakra."
Throughout the entire lesson, Shiki listened attentively. He feared missing even a single word from Iruka's lecture—this was the most seriously he'd ever taken a class—even compared to his previous life.
Of course, he didn't mind this small amount of effort. To become stronger, anything was worth doing.
However, once Iruka finished explaining how to refine chakra, Shiki could no longer resist overwhelming sleepiness and drifted off.
In his dream, he seemed to see his mother again—searching desperately while fleeing in all directions.
Seeing Shiki had indeed fallen asleep exactly as he himself had predicted, Iruka couldn't help feeling somewhat angry. But when remembering how tired the boy looked upon arrival, he decided to let him sleep a little longer today.
Iruka continued lecturing. Time passed quickly when you weren't doing anything, and before Shiki could fully regain energy from his nap, someone was already shaking him awake.
"What's going on?" Shiki asked confusedly.
"It's already noon now—it's lunchtime," Naruto replied irritably, thinking that Shiki had already slept long enough yet still seemed drowsy, almost as bad as Shikamaru.
After having lunch together with Naruto, Shiki resumed his endless cycle of sleeping. Actually, Shiki wasn't that sleepy anymore, but he still wanted to conserve energy for nighttime.
Even among these six- and seven-year-olds at the Ninja Academy, a lot of fundamental lessons were still being taught. However, for Shiki, all of it seemed completely meaningless.
"What a shame—Shiki's been asleep the whole time! We haven't gotten a single word out of him."
"Yeah, I wonder why Shiki seems so tired?"
"And why is Shiki-kun friends with someone like Naruto anyway?"
Girl talk always revolved around topics like this, yet causing deep frustration among many boys in the classroom. Previously they had merely dealt with Sasuke alone—after all, he was Uchiha Clan's prodigy.
But now, another redheaded punk had also drawn similar attention, which finally made them unable to suppress their growing resentment.
Yet Shiki remained constantly asleep, giving them no opportunity to provoke him.
Finally, the afternoon school session ended, and Shiki awoke once again from his dream.
Even Shikamaru had become curious about Shiki—he had never seen anyone who could sleep longer than him.
Shikamaru knew he himself slept so much because he found the lessons boring, but why was it for Shiki?
As he watched Shiki head outside bathed in the golden sunset glow, Shikamaru realized he'd somehow developed a slight interest.
Still cracking jokes and chatting with Naruto, Shiki suddenly found his way blocked by a few guys.
"So you're Shiki Uzumaki? Indeed, you really are full of yourself, huh?" The guy didn't even wait for Shiki to reply before labeling him like that.
"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Shiki asked, already knowing they were just looking for trouble, yet still inquiring politely.
"We just heard you aren't some kind of genius like Sasuke, yet you still act all high and mighty. We're just here to show you your place."
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