Uzumaki Kushina

Uchiha Nagi felt like making a snarky comment. Could someone explain what Tsunade had gone through after leaving Konoha to go from a flat-chested nobody to the Hokage with the biggest bust?

At last, the class bell rang.

Teacher Inoue walked up to the podium with a timid red-haired girl.

Uchiha Nagi propped his cheek on his hand and watched. As expected, it was Uzumaki Kushina. But how had this timid little girl become the Blood Red Pepper of the future?

"Class, this is a transfer student who'll be joining our school starting today..."

Before Teacher Inoue could finish, the very nervous Uzumaki Kushina squeezed her eyes shut and shouted as if she'd resigned herself to her fate.

"I'm Uzumaki Kushina!"

"That voice cracked, didn't it?" Uchiha Nagi couldn't help finding it funny. He hadn't thought much of it in the anime, but in person, she really was kind of cute.

Just then, the other students in the classroom burst out laughing.

"Look at her hair! How did she get it so red? Her hair's so weird!"

Naturally, some less-than-friendly comments followed.

Perhaps they were genuinely curious and didn't mean much harm, but it still wasn't nice for a little girl who had just transferred to the village and come to Konoha alone.

"Hey, hey! Quiet down! I said quiet down!"

Teacher Inoue shouted, but couldn't stop the students.

Uzumaki Kushina looked at her future classmates. Her gaze passed over the ones who were mocking her hair, then over Namikaze Minato, who watched her calmly, and Uchiha Nagi, who seemed half-asleep. At last, she couldn't hold back any longer. She snapped.

"I... I'm going to become the first woman in this village to become Hokage!"

Her outburst silenced the classroom.

"She's still a little timid. At a time like this, a crimson demonic aura should rise behind her, and she should give off the vibe of the Blood Red Pepper," Uchiha Nagi remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Haha, Nagi, that's a bit exaggerated," Namikaze Minato said with a laugh.

But just then, the students seemed to recover from their surprise and burst into laughter.

"Haha, you? You want to be Hokage?"

"That's the funniest joke I've heard in my entire life!"

"Tsk!"

Watching the scene, Uchiha Nagi couldn't help shaking his head. Konoha's unruly civilians really lived up to their name. This sort of thing was all too normal.

Still, he was always calling Konoha's civilians unruly, but the other villages were no better.

Take Sunagakure next door, where people knew they could get killed and still risked their lives to bully others;

then there was Kumogakure, where the bullying started in childhood and continued into adulthood, or even longer, before it finally turned around;

Kirigakure was worse still. Under the Blood Mist Policy, the Demon of the Mist killed off everyone in his class...

Iwagakure seemed a little better, but Uchiha Nagi suspected that was only because it had so little screen time.

If Iwagakure got more scenes and a few important characters with flashbacks, they'd probably show the same sort of bullying there, too.

"As expected of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. None of them will yield to the others when it comes to bullying. It's practically a unique cultural tradition."

After snarking to himself, Uchiha Nagi looked at the classmates still laughing and nudged Namikaze Minato with his shoulder.

"Hey, aren't you going to help her?"

Namikaze Minato paused, then nodded. He'd already been planning to stand up and help her out. He hadn't expected Uchiha Nagi to think the same way.

As expected, Nagi really is different from the other members of the Uchiha Clan.

At last, he was completely sure of it.

Then he slapped his desk and stood, drawing everyone's attention before speaking in a gentle voice.

"Um, I want to become a Hokage who has the village's support, too."

After he finished, Namikaze Minato tugged at Uchiha Nagi, hoping he'd lend a hand as well. One person alone might not have much impact.

Uchiha Nagi glanced at Namikaze Minato, more or less understanding what he was thinking. Then he leaned back in his chair.

"Hey! I don't know what you're all laughing at. Didn't I say before that all I want is a peaceful life? Do you really think becoming Hokage is a more ridiculous ambition than that?"

The classroom fell silent.

They'd made fun of Uchiha Nagi, too, but only behind his back. After all, he was a member of the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Enichi looked at Uchiha Nagi with some surprise, then nodded in approval rather than getting angry.

"Now that's how a member of the Uchiha should act! But you still have room to improve."

Uzumaki Kushina was surprised to see the classroom fall quiet. Then she looked at the two boys who had spoken up for her.

First was the blond boy. He didn't seem very reliable, and his voice had sounded a little girly just now.

Then there was the black-haired boy. His voice had been much more assertive, but he seemed a little too cocky. And judging by how the other students treated him, he didn't seem like a particularly nice person, either.

That was Uzumaki Kushina's first impression of Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Nagi.

Seeing that the classroom had finally quieted down, Teacher Inoue gave Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Nagi a grateful look. Then he found a seat for Uzumaki Kushina and began the day's lessons.

Uchiha Nagi set his thoughts aside and started studying in earnest.

He might have seemed a little attention-seeking just now, which went against his strategy of keeping a low profile, but it was no problem at all.

Who was he? He was an Uchiha...

That sort of thing was nothing to an Uchiha. It didn't even count as showing off.

This... was reputation!

And the Uchiha were synonymous with making a scene!

By comparison, Uchiha Nagi's behavior had been as low-key as it could possibly be!

After class.

Uchiha Nagi was lounging in his usual spot, resting, when a different sort of commotion reached his ears.

"Tsk."

Uchiha Nagi reluctantly opened his eyes and looked toward the back of the classroom. As expected, Uzumaki Kushina was cornered there.

The so-called classmates were standing face-to-face with her, taunting her and even giving her the nickname "Tomato."

"Minato, aren't you going to help her? If you do, you'll make a really strong impression on her," Uchiha Nagi said, patting Namikaze Minato on the shoulder.

Namikaze Minato looked at Uchiha Nagi in confusion. "I wasn't thinking that way. Were you, Nagi?"

This time, Uchiha Nagi was the one who fell silent. He looked at Namikaze Minato, then at Uzumaki Kushina behind him.

Indeed, matchmaking them at this point was a little too soon.