Winter gave way to spring, and Konoha Village was cloaked in a soft layer of fresh green. As the cherry blossom season came to an end, the tender leaves on the branches grew ever lusher, and the days warmed little by little.
Today was a rare weekend, with no training missions and no classes scheduled. Iruka walked down the street toward the village stationery shop, intending to buy some practice ninja tools and teaching materials.
As a teacher at the Ninja Academy, he had now spent a year with that bunch of little rascals in his class. They were the first class he had ever taught. To be honest, spending this year with them had been even more enjoyable than he had imagined.
First, there were the more troublesome students in the class. Choji would sneak snacks into his mouth whenever the teacher was not looking. Whenever Iruka called on him, he would always see him swallowing his food in a panic.
And in taijutsu class, Choji displayed a surprisingly "cowardly" side. Whenever sparring practice began, he always came up with all kinds of excuses to get out of it.
At first, Iruka had thought the child was timid by nature and afraid of fighting. But as they spent more time together, he gradually realized that was not the case. The chubby boy was simply too kind—so kind that he was unwilling to hurt any of his classmates, even during training.
Another student who gave Iruka headaches was Shikamaru. This fellow, who was always sprawled lazily across his desk, seemed unable to muster enthusiasm for anything.
During class, he was always finding comfortable positions to doze off in. During exams, he had even set a jaw-dropping record of "zero points." Every time Iruka saw the blank test paper Shikamaru handed