Before clan class, the Ninja Academy handed out Substitute Logs.
They were short pieces of wood, about half an arm long, their surfaces fairly smooth and a small Ninja Academy seal carved into the side. When Kiyo received his, he stood it upright on the desk and studied it seriously for quite a while.
"It looks more dependable than I am."
Morita Yu said, "It doesn't need to look it."
Kiyo hugged the Substitute Log. "You're all jealous of it."
Iruka stood at the front of the classroom and did not let them keep fooling around. The Substitute Logs were not for them to use the technique today. Most children their age had not yet reached the stage of truly practicing the Substitution Technique. Today was only about identification, carrying, placement, and reacting to commands. But compared to chairs, paper corners, and flower tags, the meaning of a Substitute Log was already plainly laid out on the desks.
Naruto turned his piece of wood over and over in his hands.
"This is what the Substitution Technique uses?"
"You'll use it later," Iruka said.
"Not today?"
"Today, you'll first learn not to throw it."
Sasuke lowered his head to inspect the wood grain as though he had not heard. Seeing that look on his face, Naruto could not help saying, "Do you already know how?"
Sasuke looked up. "What do you think?"
"I think you definitely want to pretend you do."
"Better than using it to hit people."
Caught between them, Kiyo looked at Naruto, then Sasuke, and quietly pulled his own Substitute Log closer to his chest, afraid it would get swept into the battlefield.
Che's Substitute Log was slightly lighter than the others, with a shallow crack along one side. When the older student handing out the wood gave