The ranking sheet was pasted beneath the rain-soaked eaves.
It had rained that morning, and the wall was still damp. The corners of the paper had been pressed down twice with paste before they barely stayed put. Kiyo came running over, his feet slipping on the stone pavement, nearly sending him straight into a puddle beside him. Morita Yu grabbed his backpack strap, the movement so practiced it was as if he had known this would happen.
"Can't you slow down?"
"Is the ranking going to run away?"
"You are going to fall."
Kiyo did not bother retorting. His eyes were already glued to the sheet.
These were not official grades, merely a preliminary assessment record. Footwork, throwing, chakra paper, Substitute Log, transformation observation—the results had been combined and divided into three tiers: upper, middle, and needs stabilization. There were no scores on the sheet, but everyone knew the tiers were more glaring than numbers.
Sasuke was in the upper tier.
No one found that surprising.
Che was in the upper tier too, his name listed beneath Sasuke's, with a child from the Hyuga family between them. When Che saw his own name, his first reaction was not happiness. He looked toward Teacher Mizuno instead. Teacher Mizuno stood on the other side of the eaves without looking at him, as though the sheet had nothing to do with her.
Naruto was in the needs stabilization tier.
His name was near the bottom.
When Kiyo saw it, the words, "Naruto, you're here," nearly came out of his mouth, but he forced them back. Rarely, he was smart enough to turn and look at Naruto instead. Naruto stood outside the crowd, his hair slightly disheveled by the damp air, his expression hard.
Several children had already begun whispering.
"His chakra paper burned