When did I become a background character?
Watching his daughter gaze at some redhead with sparkling eyes, Yuhi Shinku couldn't help but fall into thought.
While he was pondering this, Yuki Yuichi and Yuhi Kurenai walked over.
Seeing him lost in thought, Yuki Yuichi cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
"Uncle Shinku, did you come to bring us our lunches?"
Yuki Yuichi's words brought Yuhi Shinku out of his reverie. He glared fiercely at him.
Yuhi Kurenai saw this and, before Yuki Yuichi could react, glared right back at her father adorably.
"Dad, don't be so mean to Yuichi!"
Hearing his daughter, Yuhi Shinku took a deep breath and calmed his complicated feelings.
So much for having a daughter who'd be close to him.
Though he lamented this inwardly, Yuhi Shinku still pulled out two lunch boxes and handed them to Yuki Yuichi. "I forgot to prepare lunches for you two."
"I bought these outside."
Yuhi Shinku shoved both lunch boxes into Yuki Yuichi's hands.
With his daughter here, he couldn't glare at the boy. But the two lunch boxes were a little heavy, so making the kid carry them alone would at least let him get a bit of revenge.
Yuhi Shinku thought this silently, but soon froze.
Since when had he started thinking like this?
That little brat had gotten his whole family wrapped around his finger!
Yuhi Shinku glanced at Yuki Yuichi again, then sighed.
He'd made this mess himself. Who else was going to put up with it?
The kid was a little too energetic, but he was still a... well... probably... more or less a good kid.
A thousand thoughts crossed his mind, but only an instant passed. After handing the lunch boxes to Yuki Yuichi, Yuhi Shinku said goodbye.
As he was leaving, for some reason, he casually asked Yuki Yuichi, "You haven't gotten into trouble, have you?"
"Huh?" Yuki Yuichi, who had just been about to lead Yuhi Kurenai away, immediately took offense.
"What do you mean, 'You haven't gotten into trouble, have you?'"
"I've never gotten into trouble!"
Yuki Yuichi retorted indignantly, "I didn't interrupt the teacher during class today, and I didn't skip class."
"How could I possibly get into trouble?!"
Yuhi Shinku nodded. "That's true."
"What trouble could you get into at the Ninja Academy?"
Just then, Kakashi came walking over.
Might Guy spotted Yuki Yuichi and immediately gave him a thumbs-up, grinning. "Yuichi, I saw everything just now!"
"You were amazing!"
"As expected of my Rival for Life!"
"Everyone's saying you stole the show!"
Yuhi Shinku's expression froze.
"Didn't you say you hadn't caused any trouble?"
"Right," Yuki Yuichi replied, entirely unruffled. "After class just now, Kakashi challenged me to a one-on-one, and I agreed."
"Practicing together during break isn't getting into trouble, is it?"
At this, Yuhi Shinku looked at Kakashi, who was standing beside Might Guy, the one who had just spoken.
Kakashi was covered in dust that wouldn't brush off. There was also a noticeable mark around his chin, partly hidden by his black mask.
On top of that, his left arm swung awkwardly, as if it was injured.
He looked thoroughly battered and pitiful.
Yuki Yuichi looked over too, but when he saw the mark on Kakashi's mask, he paused.
He seemed to have forgotten to pull down Kakashi's mask and see what he looked like.
Damn that white-haired Kakashi! He must've used a genjutsu to make me forget!
Yuki Yuichi grumbled to himself.
Kakashi had also noticed Yuhi Shinku and walked over to explain. "Uncle Shinku, I was the one who asked to spar with him."
"Losing was my own fault."
Yuhi Shinku glanced at Kakashi, sighed, and took a jar of ointment from the pocket behind him.
"This is medicinal ointment for injuries. Take it."
"Next time, make sure this kid ends up looking like you do now."
Kakashi stared at the ointment in his hand, stunned for a moment, then quietly accepted it.
"I will!"
Hearing this, Yuhi Shinku laughed heartily and patted Kakashi on the right shoulder. "Then I'll be waiting for good news!"
"Yeah!"
Watching the two of them play off each other, Yuki Yuichi eyed Yuhi Shinku suspiciously.
He had a feeling the old man was up to no good.
After chatting with them briefly, Yuhi Shinku left.
The afternoon lessons were still taught by Umino Ikkaku.
Just like in the morning, he taught chakra-control techniques. But in the afternoon, he also taught the students who couldn't read how to recognize characters.
This left Yuki Yuichi bored for the entire afternoon.
When he finally made it to dismissal, the instant the bell rang, Yuki Yuichi grabbed Yuhi Kurenai and leaped straight out of the second-floor window, moving faster than the eye could follow.
"Woohoo! School's out!"
At Yuki Yuichi's stunt, the entire classroom fell silent.
Umino Ikkaku, who had been teaching and planned to finish the page in his textbook before dismissing them, turned livid.
The other students in the classroom looked much the same.
A few students sitting by the window leaned out to look. They saw Yuki Yuichi racing toward the school gate like a horse that had broken free of its reins.
Yuhi Kurenai, who had been holding his hand, was now blushing and nestled against his chest as he carried her in his arms.
Umino Ikkaku took a deep breath and walked over to the window, ready to use his lion's roar to call Yuki Yuichi back.
Kakashi, sitting by a window in the front row, had also seen Yuki Yuichi.
After thinking it over briefly, he quietly opened the closed window and leaped out, shooting away like a big black rat.
Yuki Yuichi couldn't stand it, and neither could he.
He'd learned everything Umino Ikkaku was teaching long ago.
He'd managed to look busy daydreaming in the morning, but by the afternoon he really couldn't take it anymore.
He couldn't spend the whole day daydreaming!
And judging by Umino-sensei, the lesson was still going to drag on. He might as well pretend he hadn't noticed and escape just like Yuki Yuichi.
Umino Ikkaku had no idea what Kakashi was thinking. He had his lion's roar ready and was just about to let it loose when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white-haired boy wearing a mask leap out too.
Kakashi's move seemed to light a fuse. Every student in the classroom who had already learned to use chakra, except Uchiha Obito, took off together.
As for why Uchiha Obito didn't run, those who understood, understood. Explaining it to those who didn't wouldn't help.
Like Kakashi, all the students who had learned chakra control were getting fed up with this kind of lesson.
They weren't stupid. If Kakashi could tell that the teacher wanted to keep teaching, so could they.
Under Umino Ikkaku's stunned gaze, in the space of a moment, only a third of the class remained.
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