Hinata, Stop Pretending

Iruka's expression did not change. He merely said calmly, "Naruto, come with me after class."

Upon hearing that, Naruto hurriedly replied, "Oh, okay, Teacher Iruka."

Iruka then stopped looking at Naruto and said instead, "All right, everyone, let's continue with the lesson."

"Please turn to page forty-nine. Next, I'll continue explaining the fundamental laws of the ninja world."

At the Ninja Academy, mornings were generally spent learning foundational knowledge, while afternoons were devoted to so-called practical classes.

The morning lessons were truly rather tedious for Hinata. It was not that Iruka lacked teaching ability. For example, there was a question about how to successfully strike a target hidden behind an obstruction with a Kunai or Shuriken.

Hinata could barely be bothered to think about that sort of question. It was probably something along those lines, and such problems generally involved applying parabolic trajectories. Back in her previous life—

They would definitely have been problems only high school students encountered. Yet in this world, most seven- and eight-year-old brats could understand them.

Compared to her previous life, that gap was absolutely enough to make one ashamed, though it did not do any good.

So she was much more eager for the afternoon practical class. Though the memories were already exceedingly familiar to her, she had never truly experienced them herself, so everything now filled Hinata with curiosity.

The morning had felt like a nightmare to Hinata, but in order to maintain the impression of being a well-behaved girl and all that, she still listened attentively throughout the morning.

Though her heart was bored and her body tired, she could still take in what Iruka taught. That was entirely thanks to the memories of the former Hinata.

As the saying went, a solid foundation made for a solid house. So she could go wild as much as she wanted, as long as she did not squander away that foundation.

Of course, there were also plenty of deadweights merely making up the numbers. Especially the class's famously dead-last student, Uzumaki Naruto, who was currently sprawled across his desk.

This time, he was not sleeping. Instead, his huge eyes were wide open as he stared stiffly at the chalk writing covering the blackboard, his gaze plainly saying: Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Perhaps because of where he was seated, genius student Uchiha Sasuke only needed to turn his head slightly for his gaze to fall upon Naruto. Whenever he saw Naruto looking like life was no longer worth living—

He would let out an arrogant snort through his nose. Iruka probably knew Naruto's situation as well, so he merely checked on him a few more times and did not say anything.

During breaks, the usual routine was for the girls to circle around Sasuke, Sasuke to treat them with disdain, the girls to continue acting foolishly, and the leaders Sakura and Ino to start tearing into each other.

Without counting the assorted Passerby As, Bs, Cs, and Ds, Shino Aburame was the number-one invisible person, Hinata was number two, and Naruto was number three. The other rookies got screen time, so they could barely be considered cannon fodder.

Thus, the pleasant morning passed with Sasuke as the center of attention, Sakura and Ino's bickering, Shikamaru Nara's "What a drag," Choji Akimichi's crunching, Kiba Inuzuka playing with Akamaru, and several invisible people.

At noon, during the lunch break, after the final lesson ended, Naruto reluctantly followed Iruka out of the classroom under Iruka's stern gaze, his whole body slumped in dejection.

Then Sasuke stood up and silently left the classroom with an indifferent expression. No one knew where he had gone.

The female students, meanwhile, immediately started swooning and shrieking again.

Hinata weakly walked past them, her eyes full of helplessness. This is so annoying. They're just a bunch of little brats. I really want to beat them up.

How old are you to be acting like this? Do your families even know? In the environment of my previous life, your parents and teachers would have dragged you back for a serious talk long ago.

When she watched anime in her previous life, Hinata had thought these little girls were quite cute. When she first saw them that morning, they had also seemed rather fresh and novel. But the entire morning had turned that novelty into helplessness—and fear.

No wonder Sasuke did not think much of them. Anyone would probably be annoyed to death.

Though those emotions filled her eyes, no one could notice them. Her eyes were Byakugan, a blank expanse of white, so as long as she did not show anything on her face, she could act however she pleased.

At noon, the students generally took out the lunchboxes they had prepared beforehand and handled lunch on their own, so there was basically no need to leave the classroom.

After Sakura snapped out of her lovestruck daze, she happened to see Hinata's retreating figure leaving the classroom, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.