The Academic Affairs Register paused at the door for a while.
The student delivering the register was an upperclassman, half a head taller than the children of Class One, with a thick stack of paper volumes in his arms. He stood at the door and knocked on the frame. Teacher Iruka went over to take them. When the pages opened, they made a heavier sound than ordinary exercise paper.
Kiyo immediately craned his neck.
"Will that have our names in it too?"
Morita Yu pressed his head back down. "You're not part of the Class One Academic Affairs Register."
"I'm just concerned about my friends."
"You look more like you're trying to peek."
The moment Naruto heard "Academic Affairs Register," he sat up straight. Che saw him pull his hands back from the edge of the desk and place them in his lap. Sasuke also looked up, but only for a moment before lowering his head again.
Teacher Iruka placed the register on the podium and did not let the children crowd around it. He merely checked the seating assignments and cleaning duties against the pages. Each person answered when their name was called. When Naruto's name came up, the classroom grew a little quieter.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Here."
Naruto's voice was softer than usual. Once the sound left him, he seemed unaccustomed to it himself, as though it had not come from his own mouth. He looked up at Teacher Iruka, but Teacher Iruka had already tapped the register once.
It was not a heavy tap.
But Naruto watched that movement for a long time.
From the back row, Kiyo quietly asked Che, "Does one tap mean it got written in?"
Che lowered his voice. "It means you were here today."
"Then what about cleaning duty?"
"See whether the register