Matsumoto Mie looked up and happened to see Qiushui walk in carrying a huge stack of test papers. The thick pile nearly reached his chin, and she couldn't help widening her eyes in surprise. "Teacher Qiushui, why did you bring so many test papers?"
Qiushui walked over to his desk and carefully set the papers down. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Smiling, he explained, "I can look through them whenever I have some free time and build up my experience. We have monthly exams at the end of every month, don't we? I figured I'd prepare as much as I could and do my best to keep Class 1 of the 4th Grade's results from slipping."
Matsumoto Mie listened, her eyes full of approval. She praised him without hesitation. "Teacher Qiushui, you're so responsible. Class 1 of the 4th Grade is lucky to have you as their homeroom teacher."
Qiushui felt a little embarrassed by her sincere praise.
He waved his hands and modestly replied, "You're exaggerating, Teacher Mie. I'm a new teacher, so I don't have much experience. It's only right that I study more. Besides, this is all part of my job."
The other two teachers in the office, Fujino Okuma and Murata Koji, were also drawn in by their conversation.
Murata Koji casually flipped through the test papers on Qiushui's desk and praised him with a smile. "Teacher Qiushui, you're really serious about this. You even found the exam papers from the past three years."
Fujino Okuma nodded too. "That's right. You don't see many young teachers putting in this much effort these days."
With the two of them taking turns praising him, Qiushui was at a loss. He hurriedly waved his hands. "Please don't say that. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. It's nothing special."
Matsumoto Mie watched him with a smile. "It's good to be modest, but too much modesty is just pride, you know."
Laughter filled the office, and the atmosphere was warm and relaxed.
Mizuki sat at his desk, gripping a pen. His eyes were fixed on the lesson plan in front of him, but his ears were pricked up. The more he listened, the more jealous he became.
Although Kitagawa Akimizu had only been there for two days, he had already earned the other teachers' approval.
Mizuki remembered when he had first started at the school. He hadn't received this kind of treatment.
What made this newcomer, Kitagawa Akimizu, so special?
"Qiushui, want to get lunch together?" Iruka usually ate alone. The other teachers either brought their own lunches or already had regular lunch companions. He remembered that he and Qiushui went back a ways, and they hadn't had much chance to talk since Qiushui arrived. As his senior, Iruka felt he should treat him to a meal.
"Sure." Qiushui stopped writing. He'd been busy all morning, and now that Iruka mentioned it, he realized he was a little hungry.
The afternoon sun lazily bathed the streets of Konoha.
With Iruka leading the way, Qiushui entered a small tonkatsu restaurant.
"Two deluxe tonkatsu rice bowls, please!" Iruka called out familiarly. Then he turned and smiled at Qiushui. "I've been eating here for years. The food's authentic, no question."
The food arrived quickly. Qiushui took a bite and found it pretty good.
They ate and chatted, talking about everything from classroom management to ninjutsu. Iruka also shared plenty of teaching tips. Neither of them brought up Naruto, as if by tacit agreement.
When it was time to pay, Qiushui had just reached into his pocket when Iruka stopped him by the arm. "No, no, this one's on me."
"Teacher Iruka, you really don't have to."
Iruka pulled out his wallet. "What are you being so polite for? It's our first time eating out together, so of course I should treat you. I'm your senior, after all."
Qiushui didn't argue with him further. It hadn't cost that much, and he could always treat Iruka next time. "Then thanks, Iruka-senpai."
Iruka waved a hand. "No need to be so formal. Just call me Iruka."
Qiushui nodded. Iruka was completely different from Mizuki. He was a kind, honest man and someone worth getting to know.
After parting ways with Iruka, Qiushui headed to the school's equipment room.
A teacher's work at the school might seem easy, but in reality, there were plenty of tedious chores to handle.
When they didn't have classes, they had to organize and maintain the kunai, shuriken, and other training equipment, check each item for wear and tear, and record anything that had been damaged or lost to make sure all the teaching equipment was in working order.
They also had to inspect and repair facilities like wooden posts and target ranges that students had damaged.
And if large numbers of wild animals attacked near the village while the other ninja were away on missions and the village was short-handed, the school's teachers had to fill in and go deal with the trouble.
That afternoon, Iruka headed to Class 1 of the 4th Grade to teach the students history.
He paused slightly at the classroom door, took a deep breath, then pushed it open.
Since giving up his position as homeroom teacher, this was his first time returning to the class.
He hadn't told the students in advance that he was stepping down. He didn't know how to bring it up or how they would react.
In fact, the matter had weighed on his mind for the past few days, like a small but persistent stone.
He'd thought the students would have lots of questions.
Why had he suddenly stopped being their homeroom teacher?
Had they done something wrong?
What was going on with their new teacher, Qiushui?
Or maybe they would say, "Teacher Iruka, come back and be our homeroom teacher again."
He'd even quietly prepared a few answers in his mind.
But when he entered the classroom and stood at the lectern, he realized he'd been overthinking it. Nothing happened at all.
The students sat quietly. Some leafed through their books, some daydreamed, and some whispered to each other. One student glanced up at him, showing no particular reaction, then lowered their head again.
No questions, no commotion. Not even a word about what had happened.
It was as if Iruka stepping down as their homeroom teacher had never happened at all.
Iruka was stunned.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't have to face any difficult questions.
But at the same time, he felt a strange sense of disappointment.
Iruka took out his textbook and began teaching them about the history of the various ninja villages.
After class, as he walked out of the classroom, he felt faintly surprised.
Iruka stood in the hallway and glanced back. The students were packing up to leave, chatting and laughing, playing around. There was nothing to distinguish them from any other ordinary class.
But that very ordinariness struck him as unusual. Although no one spoke to Naruto, it seemed that no one went out of their way to mock him either.
What surprised Iruka even more was Naruto's behavior during class.
As far as Iruka knew, Naruto was a wild, mischievous child who loved playing pranks.
Iruka had already prepared himself to keep order during class. He had even thought about how to handle it if Naruto caused trouble.
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