The notice was posted before noon.
It was not posted at the ninja academy gates, nor outside the Hokage Tower, where crowds would gather around it. It had been nailed to an old wooden board outside the training yard on the east side of the clan compound. The board's edges were frayed, and the nail holes left by the previous relocation notice were still there. The new sheet covered the old marks, but not the damp smell embedded in the wood.
Kiyo saw it first.
He had only gone to check whether there was any news about lunch being served early. On the way back, he ran so hard his heels nearly flew off. The moment he burst through the door, he shouted, "It's posted! It's posted! Not food—a notice!"
Morita Yu looked up from his book. "That order of priorities says a lot about you."
"Food is important, and notices are important too." Kiyo panted. "It says 'ninja academy transition' on it."
The classroom fell silent at once.
The words ninja academy transition had appeared far too often lately. They were in the records, beside the sink, in the rustling papers behind the Konoha Police Force's side door, and in everyone's unspoken worries. Yet now that they had truly been posted on the old board, turned into a notice anyone could read, it felt strangely hard to adjust to.
Takuya did not take them to see it right away. They finished the final morning round as usual: three wooden chips, a half-step turn, reciting their foot positions. Kiyo tried several times to look out the window, only for Takuya to tap the corner of his desk with a bamboo strip.
"The notice isn't going anywhere," Takuya said.
Kiyo muttered, "The food will get cold."
Morita Yu said, "Did you