Uchiha Mikoto's Envy

After the class ended, Nawaki ran over to where Uzumaki Shin was sitting.

"Shin, I didn't expect you guys to end up in our class."

"Yeah, I'll be counting on you to look out for us from now on," Uzumaki Shin said with a smile as he looked at Nawaki.

"No problem! In this class, I'm the one in charge."

Nawaki held up his thumb, implying that he was the boss.

"Hello, let's get to know each other. My name is Nara Shikaku, and these are Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza." Nara Shikaku walked over with Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza in tow.

Uzumaki Shin's expression turned somewhat strange. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, actually in the same class as him?

Well, Uzumaki Shin decided not to dwell on it for now; because of his butterfly effect, who knew what the timeline of the Naruto World had become.

However, Uzumaki Shin felt that the major events shouldn't change—for instance, the Second Shinobi World War would definitely still break out, though with him around, perhaps things would play out differently.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Uzumaki Shin, you can just call me Shin. I'm from Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools."

Nara Shikaku's eyes flickered. After chatting with Uzumaki Shin for a while, he took his leave.

Uzumaki Shin scanned the classroom. Since he had already spotted so many "acquaintances," there were bound to be more.

In the seat to his front-left, Uzumaki Shin saw two pairs of Byakugan looking his way. They looked quite similar; could they be the brothers Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga?

His gaze continued to sweep the room, eventually resting on a boy with golden hair and a sunny smile sitting in front of Uzumaki Akiko and Uzumaki Kai.

No need to guess—it had to be Namikaze Minato, the future Fourth Hokage.

However, Namikaze Minato looked quite feminine right now; with his slightly long hair and delicate features, someone who didn't know better might mistake him for a spirited young girl.

"So, are you happy now?"

Uzumaki Shin asked Kushina.

Kushina nodded. She had been a bit nervous at first, but now she felt pretty good about it.

Perhaps because there were four of them, plus the red-haired Akimichi Choza in the class, there hadn't been any nasty incidents involving mockery of Kushina's hair color.

With no bad experiences, Kushina felt quite positive about the school—well, it would be even better if she weren't sitting next to Uchiha Mikoto.

"Shin, tell me, do you think she's prettier, or am I?"

Kushina leaned into Uzumaki Shin's ear, glanced at Uchiha Mikoto, and asked him.

"Prettier? There's no such thing as 'prettier.' You're both quite cute."

They were only five-year-old children; "cute" was the only appropriate descriptor.

"You big dummy, Shin! I'm not talking to you anymore." Kushina turned her head away, pouting.

Nearby, Uchiha Mikoto carefully poked Uzumaki Shin with her hand and asked, "Did you two have a falling out?"

"Yeah, you know how it is—kids just have their moments of temper," Uzumaki Shin chuckled.

"Ahhh! Shin, have you been treating me like a little kid this whole time?"

"Isn't that what you are? You're a child, after all." Uzumaki Shin shrugged as he looked at the fuming Kushina.

"Awoo~!"

Kushina bit down on Uzumaki Shin's arm and refused to let go.

"Kushina, you're actually biting me? Let go right now, or don't blame me for being impolite. One Flick Finger Technique and you'll be crying while holding your head."

Uzumaki Shin threatened her.

Under his threat, Kushina finally let go, but a faint set of teeth marks remained on Uzumaki Shin's arm.

"Look, you're about to make me bleed." Uzumaki Shin pointed at his "wound"—well, in truth, there was nothing there but the marks.

Kushina didn't know that, though. Feeling guilty, she quickly reached out to rub his arm, looking at him with a pleading expression.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, Shin. Don't be mad, okay? Please talk to me?" Kushina looked at him, clearly afraid that he would ignore her.

"I'm not mad at all." Uzumaki Shin raised his hand and ruffled Kushina's hair.

Seeing that he truly wasn't angry, Kushina giggled, leaned her little head against him, and nuzzled him like a spoiled kitten.

Uchiha Mikoto watched this scene, feeling a twinge of envy.

She thought of herself and felt a sense of desolation; she had no family, no friends, and her relationship with her clan was strained. She had always been all alone.

Uzumaki Shin sensed Uchiha Mikoto's gaze and looked over. Their eyes met, and Uchiha Mikoto hurriedly lowered her head in a panic.

What do I do? I got caught staring at someone! What now? Uchiha Mikoto's heart was racing with nervousness.

"I feel like I'm just extra standing here," Nawaki said gloomily.

"Ah~!"

Kushina, who had been lying comfortably in Uzumaki Shin's arms, suddenly sat up. She looked at Nawaki, who was standing right beside them, and said with some annoyance, "Why are you still standing there?"

"I just wanted to chat with Shin, but you both ignored me," Nawaki said, feeling depressed.

Just then, the bell for class rang, and Nawaki returned to his seat with a sullen expression.

Tanaka entered the room, and as soon as he did, the chaotic noise in the classroom vanished. It seemed Tanaka commanded a great deal of respect.

"Students, today we will continue our discussion on chakra."

Tanaka began to explain the most basic aspects of chakra, though Uzumaki Shin already understood all of this—in fact, he knew even more than Tanaka did.

"Is this all they teach at the Ninja Academy regarding chakra refinement?" Kushina couldn't help but whisper to Uzumaki Shin.

If this was all there was to it, it would be quite boring. She had already mastered chakra refinement long ago and currently possessed a significant amount of it.

Kushina had originally expected to learn powerful ninjutsu at the Ninja Academy.

Perhaps every student who enters the Ninja Academy thinks the same, but in reality, the academy only teaches basic knowledge.

It wouldn't be fair to say this knowledge was useless; the techniques learned at the Ninja Academy were quite practical, but learning powerful ninjutsu there was impossible.

At most, one might learn E-rank ninjutsu like the Three Basic Techniques, as well as how to set traps and throw Kunai and Shuriken.

As for learning other ninjutsu, unless you had a family background and could obtain them from home, you would have to wait until you became a full-fledged ninja and find other ways to acquire them.

At this moment, Uchiha Mikoto suddenly handed a notebook to Uzumaki Shin.

Uzumaki Shin took it and looked at Uchiha Mikoto.

"I took these notes during the lecture; perhaps they will be of help to you," Uchiha Mikoto said softly.

"Then thank you, classmate Mikoto." Uzumaki Shin thanked Uchiha Mikoto and opened the notebook.

The handwriting was elegant and graceful, far superior to his own; just looking at the script was a pleasure.

Beside him, Uchiha Mikoto kept her head down, her cheeks slightly flushed. Because Uzumaki Shin had just called her "classmate Mikoto," she knew that only close friends would drop the surname and address each other by their given names.

"Classmate Uzumaki, are we friends now?" Uchiha Mikoto asked Uzumaki Shin with anticipation.

Uzumaki Shin was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "Yes. But Mikoto, you should just call me Shin; I'm not quite used to being called classmate Uzumaki."

"Thank you, Uzumaki... classmate Shin."

Uchiha Mikoto felt very happy inside; she finally had a friend.