Edges of the Ninja Academy List

When the Ninja Academy's preliminary registration list was posted, Kiyo was busy wrestling with a rice ball.

Breakfast that day consisted of two small rice balls with a little pickled radish inside. By the time Kiyo reached the second one, he suddenly found it too dry. Every bite required two gulps of water. Che sat beside him and gave a very serious assessment. "It's not a rice ball. It's low-level Earth Release."

Kiyo asked vaguely, "Can you eat Earth Release?"

"Theoretically, I wouldn't recommend it."

Nao set down her bowl. "Less research into ninjutsu while you're eating."

Che nodded. "Understood. Rice Ball Release is suspended."

Saori's bell chimed by the window, as if it agreed as well.

Just then, someone shouted outside, "The preliminary list is up!"

The doors along East Row Two opened almost at once. The children poked their heads out, and the adults set aside their work. To the children of the new district, the words Ninja Academy were like a sudden gust of wind. It did not merely mean classes. It meant moving from temporary clan training into Konoha's public system.

Che held half a bowl of water, his heart sinking slightly.

The Ninja Academy.

In his old memories, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura Haruno, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and many other key figures of the future would converge along that path. But their official enrollment was still far away. The list before them was only for post-disaster supplemental registration and preliminary enrollment.

Even so, it was still the edge of a path.

Nao took the children to the bulletin board. The board in the new district was still new, its wooden planks free of the smoke stains found in the old clan grounds. A sheet of paper was posted in the middle, reading: School-age children, preliminary literacy, basic physical fitness, supplemental Ninja Academy enrollment records.

Kiyo stood on tiptoe to look. "Am I on it?"

Che helped him search for his name.

Uchiha Kiyo, near the bottom of the second column.

Saori's name was in the third column, while Uchiha Che's was tucked into the edge of the first. Beside each name were their age, temporary residence, and guardian group. There were no evaluations, no remarks—at least not on the bulletin board.

Kiyo's expression turned complicated when he saw his name. "Will going to the Ninja Academy make me stronger?"

An older child nearby rushed to answer. "Of course! The Academy teaches the Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, shuriken, and there are exams too. Pass them, and you can become a ninja."

Kiyo immediately grew nervous. "There are exams too?"

Che said, "The rice balls will test you too."

Kiyo looked at him. "Did I fail today?"

"There are plenty of retake opportunities."

Saori asked, "Will the Ninja Academy let Bell come in?"

Che thought about it. "Maybe you can't bring it to class, but you can see it after school."

Saori lowered her head to look at the doll, as if discussing separation arrangements in advance.

Nao listened without interrupting. Only after the children had finished reading the list did she lead them back. On the way, Che noticed two Konoha ninja standing beside the bulletin board. One of them was recording the number of onlookers and the parents' reactions.

Someone was even watching people read the list.

He pushed the thought down.

Sae had said not to remember only danger. So he changed his perspective: Kiyo's face had gone pale at the mention of exams; Saori worried that Bell could not enter the classroom; the older child's eyes had shone when he said the Academy could make people stronger; Nao had not immediately poured cold water on their hopes.

These things needed to be remembered too.

That afternoon, Mine taught the children a preliminary literacy lesson. The material was simple: recognize their own names, recognize house numbers, and recognize the basic characters for fire, water, wood, earth, wind, and lightning. Che had long known how to write them, but he could not appear too proficient. He wrote his characters a little more steadily than before while retaining the crookedness of a child whose wrists lacked strength.

Mine walked up beside him and glanced at his paper. "You're controlling your handwriting again?"

Che looked up. "I'm making it retain a childhood feeling."

"Handwriting does not need a childhood feeling."

"Then what does it need?"

"Honesty."

Those two words made Che's fingers pause.

Mine pushed the paper back to him. "I'm not telling you to put every skill you have onto the page. I'm telling you not to ruin basic strokes just to hide yourself. You'll need to rely on writing to record things in the future."

Che remembered what Jian had said: pretending to be clumsy too much would teach the body bad habits. Now Mine had applied the same principle to handwriting.

Hiding one's abilities could not come at the cost of damaging the basics.

He lowered his head and rewrote the character for fire. This time, it was steadier than before, and he no longer deliberately made the horizontal stroke tremble too much. Mine nodded and walked over to Kiyo.

Kiyo's character for wind looked as though it had been scattered by the wind.

Che took one look and could not help murmuring, "This character really respects the theme."

Kiyo asked quietly, "What does that mean?"

"It really looks like there's wind in it."

Mine turned around. "Uchiha Che."

"I was encouraging my classmate."

"After encouraging him, help him see the third stroke clearly."

Che had no choice but to lean over and seriously teach Kiyo how to write wind. Kiyo learned slowly, but he worked hard. Saori's handwriting was small and neat, and her character for water was especially steady.

That evening, Che wrote in his notes:

"Preliminary Ninja Academy list. My name is at the edge of the first column."

"Konoha ninja observed the onlookers' reactions."

After writing that, he paused and added:

"Kiyo is afraid of exams, Saori worries about Bell, and Mine said handwriting needs honesty."

Looking at those three lines, he felt Sae's scrap paper was beginning to serve its purpose. Danger was still there, but so was life.

At the edge of the Ninja Academy list, there was not only the future.

There were also several children learning how to write their own names steadily.

The next day, another notice was posted beside the preliminary list.

The notice was written very neatly: Children on the list had to complete literacy, basic physical fitness, and supplemental family information within three months; those who had not reached the official enrollment age would first be jointly recorded by their clans and the Ninja Academy; post-disaster orphans could submit their documents collectively through temporary guardian groups.

The moment Kiyo saw the words "documents," he asked, "Are we documents?"

Che looked at the notice and answered seriously, "No. We're the people who need to submit documents."

"Then what are documents?"

"Papers that prove you aren't a rice ball."

Kiyo got tangled up by that. "Why do I have to prove that?"

Saori said softly, "Because you almost lost to a rice ball this morning."

Kiyo looked at her, shocked as if he had been stabbed in the back by a companion.

Nao stood beside them, the corners of her mouth twitching as she held back a laugh.

Other children stood before the bulletin board as well. One older Uchiha boy was deeply dissatisfied with the Ninja Academy, saying clan children should be taught by their clan. Another child argued that the Academy taught material covered by the village's standardized exams, and not going would only cause trouble. Neither spoke loudly, but both carried traces of things they had heard from adults.

Che did not join in.

He remembered Jian's words: do not take someone else's anger as your own too early. The Ninja Academy was the same. It carried risks, surveillance, and the scent of institutions, but it was also indeed the doorway to meeting peers in the future, learning basic techniques, and entering Konoha's public track.

He could not use his knowledge of the future to declare every path dead in advance.

After they returned, Mine had them practice introducing themselves.

"Your name, house number, temporary guardian, and something you like," Mine said. "Don't make it too long."

Kiyo went first. "My name is Uchiha Kiyo, East Row Two... next to Number Seven, and I like rice balls."

Che reminded him softly, "You said they tasted bad yesterday."

Kiyo immediately added, "Some rice balls."

Saori said, "My name is Uchiha Saori, East Row Two, Number Six. I like Bell."

Bell chimed softly, as if confirming it for her.

When it was Che's turn, he stood. "My name is Uchiha Che, East Row Two, Number Seven. I'm looked after by Nao's group. I like... mornings when I've had enough sleep."

Mine looked at him. "That's very specific."

"Because they've been rather rare lately."

The children laughed. Mine did not punish him. She only had him say it again, slower and with a steadier voice. Che did as she said, but he made a note of it inwardly: the Ninja Academy was not only about techniques. It also included how to introduce oneself to Konoha.

Introducing oneself was also a kind of trace left behind.

After class, Kiyo wrote his name three times.

The first time, he missed a stroke. The second time, he wrote the character for Kiyo far too large. The third time, it was finally legible. Che did not laugh at him. He simply pushed over his own paper and let Kiyo look at the deliberately retained crooked strokes.

"You can't write well either?" Kiyo asked.

"I'm seriously writing a slightly better version of bad," Che said.

Kiyo got tangled up in that statement, then ultimately decided not to pursue it.

Saori, however, glanced at Che. She had probably noticed him controlling himself again. Che made a tiny shushing gesture at her. Saori did not expose him. She only lowered her head and continued writing her name. Beside it, Bell chimed softly, as if keeping a small secret for them.