Chapter Fourteen: Called Out

When Houka and Uchiha Obito returned to the classroom from Shin Kiyono's office, they were greeted with a hero's welcome and thunderous applause!

Without warning or hesitation, a whole roomful of familiar yet childish faces appeared before Houka.

Asuma Sarutobi, Ibiki, Tobitake Tonbo, Kurenai Yuhi, and of course, Uchiha Obito's dream girl, Rin Nohara!

Wait!

In the original story, Kurenai Yuhi had a heroic air about her, with a bearing that could rival any man. But when she was little, wasn't she a bit too cute?!

Kurenai was only six at the time, right in the middle of her kawaii phase. Her long black hair fell to her shoulders, and her chubby cheeks framed a pair of big, innocent red eyes with a hint of adorable cluelessness. They blinked like a little fairy's. She was unbelievably cute!

Even a veteran like Houka wanted to give her a good... cheek-squishing. Her face was so round and adorable.

By contrast, Houka thought the face paint on either side of Rin, Uchiha Obito's goddess, detracted somewhat from her beauty. Still, plenty of ninja in the Naruto world wore face paint, like the Inuzuka Clan, so Houka didn't feel qualified to comment.

Following his memories, Houka took his seat and glanced around. He realized he couldn't remember the names of either of the two kids sitting beside him!

They hadn't appeared in the original story, either. They were probably either nobodies or bit players. Still, he didn't look down on them. He was about to greet them properly and enjoy some long-lost desk-mate camaraderie, but they beat him to the punch.

"Hmph, Uchiha Clan members are so rude. It's the first day of school, and they're already late!"

"Such an arrogant clan. Hmph!"

Houka stared at them, baffled. All right, you can stay bit players, then. I won't bother you.

"Obito, honestly! You're late every single time!" In the row ahead, Rin Nohara had somehow made her way over to Uchiha Obito. Hands on her hips, she scolded him fiercely.

Uchiha Obito raised both hands and awkwardly tried to explain himself, but clearly, he hadn't managed to make Rin happy.

Nearby, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, and the others all watched Uchiha Obito.

Since Uchiha Obito often helped old ladies cross the street, he'd earned himself a lifetime achievement award for helping others. Even though his grades were terrible, he was much more popular with the class than Houka.

After all, the old Houka had been incredibly arrogant and treated everyone like they were beneath him. The fact that he hadn't even bothered to learn the names of his two desk mates said it all. Add his poor grades to that, and he had practically no friends in class.

Houka smiled wryly and shook his head, only to catch sight of a face in the corner, tinged with envy.

Envy?

A six-year-old kid was jealous?

Had he been precocious from the womb, just like Uchiha Obito?

Following the kid's gaze, Houka realized the person he envied was Asuma Sarutobi!

Uh, now this was awkward.

If he liked Rin and was jealous of Uchiha Obito, that would make sense. But why was he jealous of Asuma Sarutobi?

So what if the guy had been born into a good family, was the Third Hokage's son, and had become Konoha's biggest "Fire Second Generation"? So what if he walked around with two dogs, harassing respectable women? What was so great about that?

Was there really any need to be jealous?

The more Houka thought about it, the more jealous he got. He almost couldn't help shooting Asuma Sarutobi an envious look himself.

But that face did look familiar. And the white hair... Kakashi? No, Kakashi had already graduated.

Houka narrowed his eyes. He was sure he'd seen the guy in the original story, but he couldn't remember where. One thing was certain: the guy was definitely a bit player, and not one who'd last more than three episodes.

"Hey, I have a question." Houka couldn't help asking the desk mate on his right.

"What?" His desk mate glared at him and snapped.

"What's that guy's name?" Houka indicated with his chin.

After all, his desk mate was only six. He looked over and answered without thinking, "That's Mizuki, idiot."

Mizuki?

Mizuki Nenghua?

Then it suddenly clicked for Houka.

"So that's who he is."

"We've been classmates for a whole year, and you still don't know his name? The Uchiha Clan is way too arrogant!" His desk mate glared at Houka in outrage.

"Aw, I'm so sorry about that. Um, what was your name again?" Houka wore an awkward, sheepish grin.

"..." His desk mate's eye twitched. He was probably about to lose it. "You don't need to know my name, idiot!"

Houka shrugged and turned around. Fine, keep it to yourself. I'm a transmigrator. If you won't flatter me, how do you expect to get anywhere? Keep dreaming!

But Mizuki?

Heh, this was interesting.

In the original story, Mizuki had been a Missing-nin with a serious jealousy problem. At the very beginning, he'd lured little Naruto into doing something naughty. In the end, an enraged Naruto had pinned him to the ground and beaten him up badly. They said his butt had swollen up, and he was eventually locked away in Konoha Prison.

Houka just hadn't expected Mizuki to show this ugly side of himself at the age of six.

Amid the chatter, Shin Kiyono walked into the classroom. His steady gaze swept over the room, and the classroom fell into an eerie silence.

"Good. Today is the first day of school, everyone..."

Standing at the lectern, Shin Kiyono had the air of a successful businessman. It was as if Jack Ma had possessed him. He waved his arms, discussing the state of the world and waxing lyrical, as if all the lords of old were beneath his notice!

Finally, Shin Kiyono went over the Will of Fire one more time before stopping, still reluctant to finish.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

It wasn't Mizuki, unable to stand it any longer, rushing up to slap Shin Kiyono in the face. It was the kids, moved to tears and unable to contain their excitement, applauding with all their might.

Shin Kiyono was pleased that his speech had received such an enthusiastic response. He gave a couple of light coughs, then continued, "Just two months ago, Kakashi passed the Graduation Exam, breaking the record for the youngest graduate since the Ninja Academy was founded!"

Clap, clap, clap!

Rin Nohara, one of Kakashi's little fangirls, couldn't help applauding.

Uchiha Obito looked over, his face full of misery, the green of a whole meadow sprouting over his head.

It reminded Houka of a song.

"I fell in love with a wild horse, and now there's a whole grassland on my head."

Shin Kiyono praised Kakashi's achievements, then urged all the students present to take Kakashi as their role model, study hard, and strive to develop in every way—morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and through labor—so they could make their due contributions to Konoha's three modernizations...

All morning, the entire class sat there listening to Shin Kiyono talk about Kakashi's accomplishments. Kakashi's halo of genius had completely enveloped everyone in the classroom.

Houka was especially affected. Every so often, he caught the other students giving him bafflingly scornful looks.

They must still vividly remember his glorious achievement from last term, when he'd challenged Kakashi and been kicked unconscious.

I can't even sit here without catching strays.

Houka sighed.

"There's one more student I have to call out and criticize: Uchiha Houka!"

At the lectern, Shin Kiyono's gaze suddenly fell on Houka.

The other students immediately turned to look at him as well.(To be continued)