Naruto lay boredly on his desk, looking at the excited people in the classroom.
At the same time, he thought of something: the first time around, he had failed the exam and ended up stealing the Scroll of Sealing, which had kick-started his cheat.
Now Naruto was wondering whether he should deliberately fail the exam.
It didn't seem necessary. He had inherited his cheap old man's legacy, and there were plenty of ninjutsu in those memories. Besides, even if he stole the Scroll of Sealing, he wouldn't have much time to study it.
After thinking it over, he decided not to play along with their little act.
Graduating from the Ninja Academy was simple. The exam focused on the Three Basic Jutsu. Anyone who could properly perform the Substitution Technique, Clone Technique, and Transformation Technique could graduate from the academy.
It might have sounded simple, and that was because it was. For a ninja, these three techniques were the most basic of basics.
The rest would be taught gradually through practical training. For now, all they needed to do was demonstrate their basic skills.
Three teachers from the Ninja Academy were in charge of the exam. They sat at the edge of the raised platform, and the students went up one by one.
Each student demonstrated the execution of the three basic techniques. Without exception, everyone who went up passed the exam.
Naruto went up around the middle. Everyone still thought of him as the dead-last.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Exam technique: Clone Technique." Iruka drew a slip and called out to Naruto.
Naruto strolled up lazily. Sure enough, just like in the original, nothing had changed. But this time, Naruto would definitely pass.
He raised two fingers on his left hand in front of his chest and formed a seal.
"Clone Technique." A Naruto appeared beside him.
He hadn't used this basic jutsu in so long that he'd nearly given himself away. He was used to using the Shadow Clone Technique, which created physical clones. If he'd used it here, people would definitely have noticed. The Clone Technique, on the other hand, created an illusion, and no matter how convincing it looked, it wasn't real.
"Uzumaki Naruto, pass. Nicely done, Naruto." Iruka smiled and handed him the forehead protector that marked him as a Genin.
Naruto happily accepted it.
Everything went smoothly.
By the end, everyone in the class had graduated, and school was dismissed. They all happily went to share the good news with their parents. Outside the Ninja Academy, many parents waited anxiously, watching for their children to come out.
Naruto had gotten used to turning and vanishing with the Body Flicker Technique. No one noticed him.
When he got back to his door, he saw an unfamiliar figure with their back to him, wearing a strange hat.
The visitor turned around when he sensed Naruto's return.
"Grandpa Third, what are you doing here?" Naruto quickly schooled his expression.
"I came to congratulate you on graduating, little Naruto."
As Naruto spoke, he opened the door and the Third Hokage followed him inside. This wasn't his first time visiting; he sat down on the sofa with practiced ease.
The Third Hokage personally delivered Naruto's allowance every time.
Naruto naturally understood why he'd come.
They chatted for a while, and then the Third Hokage handed him a ninjutsu scroll.
After the Third Hokage left, Naruto opened the scroll.
[Multi-Shadow Clone Technique]
Seeing the name, he knew it. As expected.
Some things had changed, while others hadn't.
The next day, Naruto got up at his leisure. He didn't need to rise early today; there were no classes. All he had to do was wait for the team assignments.
He ate breakfast lazily. Since he'd known the results from the start, he couldn't muster much interest. After washing up, he deliberately changed into something different: a gray casual shirt bearing the Uzumaki Clan's emblem, a white T-shirt underneath, and black joggers. He still wore his usual sandals.
After dressing up a bit, he looked quite different from before.
At least he looked much more handsome, and a lot more relaxed.
After all, today was graduation and team assignment day. It was the last day of his Ninja Academy life, so he might as well look sharp.
He had plenty of time in the morning. It was only the team assignments, after all; there was no need to hurry.
He'd had a good night's rest, and he'd gotten up fairly early. He spent the extra time tidying up his room.
But he could clearly sense someone watching him from a tree not far outside his home.
There wasn't much to clean in his room, just some tidying up and taking out the trash.
Without rushing, he headed to school and went to the last row, where he sat and looked at the others. Unlike Naruto, they were all bursting with excitement, already chatting and guessing who they'd be assigned to.
Hinata had arrived too. She sat there, still looking a little down.
Naruto knew why she was unhappy. There wasn't much he could do; he scratched his head and sat there. Comforting girls wasn't something he knew how to do.
Soon, Iruka-sensei came in. First he gave a long-winded speech, then he got to the point: today's team assignments.
"Team 1..."
"Team 2..." Naruto listened to the assignments, which were the same as in the original, and yawned listlessly.
"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki." At the sound of his name, Naruto merely raised his eyelids. Sakura Haruno was next.
"Hinata Hyuga, Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto blinked, thinking he must have heard wrong.
"Naruto-kun, we're on the same team." Hinata was the first to react. She turned around, her wide Byakugan eyes looking adorably at Naruto, who still hadn't caught on. Her little face flushed with excitement.
"Ah, yeah." Naruto still hadn't quite processed it. He was also a little shocked. What was going on? How could this happen?
He looked calm on the outside, but inside, he was a little flustered. All these years, Naruto had tried to follow the original storyline as much as possible, afraid of losing his biggest advantage.
The other girls in the class immediately drooped. They were all disappointed that they hadn't been assigned to the same team as Uchiha Sasuke, especially Sakura Haruno and Ino.
"Then I hope we get along, Naruto." Her big eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.
"I hope we get along too." Naruto had finally come around and was happy as well. He hadn't expected the Third Hokage to do something that suited him for once.
At the Hyuga Clan's compound, Hyuga Hiashi sighed.
Sasuke was also quite happy. He didn't know many people at school, and Naruto was one of them. They'd trained together, and Sasuke had come to respect Naruto's strength. Naturally, he was delighted to become Naruto's teammate.