The Order of Names Before Enrollment

When the pre-enrollment list for the ninja academy was posted, the water station in the new Uchiha residential district was crowded again.

This time, it was neither a relocation list nor a preliminary assessment notice. The paper listed enrollment batches and temporary groups. The official classes would not be finalized until after school began, but prospective students would enter the academy in groups first to familiarize themselves with the environment.

Kiyo stood at the edge of the crowd, stretching up on his toes as if trying to pull himself taller.

"Can you see it?" he asked.

Che stood beside him without trying to squeeze forward. "Keep standing on your toes, and your feet will apply for independent enrollment at the academy."

"Can they read for me, then?"

"Your feet's handwriting might be even harder to read."

Saori held her doll and stood beside Nao. This time, the bell was not wrapped too tightly. Its sound was soft, but clear. She was not looking at the names at the top of the list, but at the edges of the crowd. After several announcements and registrations, the children all understood that the list itself mattered, but so did the people reading it.

People up ahead were whispering.

"Uchiha children are being grouped with ordinary children?"

"The academy arranged it. They said it was preliminary integration."

"They're mixing them already? Aren't they afraid something will happen?"

"They're all children."

"Children have families behind them too."

The voices were not loud, but they were loud enough for Che to hear. Someone bumped the wooden bucket at the water station, and ripples spread across the surface. Che watched them without immediately getting angry. He had learned something recently: anger was like a fuse, always seeking the easiest path. If he caught someone else's words right away, the fire would crawl through the seam.

Nao heard them too.

She did not turn around. She simply placed a hand on Saori's shoulder, then gently pressed the other against Kiyo's back to keep him from charging forward.

Sosuke stood on the other side of the water station, leaning on his old cane. He cast the speakers a cold look, and their voices immediately dropped.

Old man Sosuke was sometimes more effective than Water Release.

At last, one corner of the list came into view.

Kiyo spotted his name and immediately shouted, "I'm here!"

"The list isn't taking attendance," Nao said. "You don't need to answer."

Kiyo lowered his voice. "I was confirming that I exist."

Che saw Kiyo's name in Group Two, and Saori was in Group Two as well. His own name was a little farther down in the same group. Below that, he saw a familiar name: Morita Yu.

There were no clan crests between the names, no explanations, only lines of ink. Yet those lines would place people in the same classroom, on the same track, beside the same water bowl. The order of names seemed simple, but behind it lay Konoha's arrangements, Uchiha's silence, the worries of parents, and the curiosity children had yet to voice.

Kiyo saw Morita Yu and grinned too. "Short... Morita is here too!"

Che glanced at him. "That correction was very sincere."

Saori asked quietly, "Will he ask about the bell?"

"He didn't last time," Che said. "He might not this time either."

"What if he does?"

Che thought for a moment. "You can tell him it enrolled too."

Saori blinked, as though seriously considering whether that answer would work.

On the other side of the crowd, two older Uchiha children looked unhappy when they saw the mixed-group list. One of them said, "Putting us with them... are they trying to make us a joke?"

The other lowered his voice. "The academy has always been like this. It's just more obvious now."

Che heard them, but did not speak.

He knew that dissatisfaction had not appeared from nowhere. Relocation, patrols, registration, auditing, assessments—each could be explained on its own, but linked together, they became an uncomfortable rope. For adults, that rope had been tightening for a long time. For children, it had only just begun to tie around their wrists.

Kiyo caught part of it too and frowned. "Who are they saying is making a joke?"

"Don't take the bait," Che said.

"Why?"

"The list is busy enough already today."

Kiyo seemed to half understand, but he did not ask again.

That afternoon, Mine had the children in Group Two stay behind to explain the familiarization process before enrollment.

"You'll enter the side courtyard with other Konoha children and first familiarize yourselves with the classrooms, training ground, water troughs, infirmary, and assembly point," she said. "No private sparring, no using clan names to pressure others, and no turning your words into blades just because someone asks a stupid question."

That last sentence was clearly aimed at Che.

Che raised his hand. "Teacher, I'd like to classify 'turning words into blades' as a collective risk."

Mine looked at him. "Your request has been recorded, but you will be the primary focus of attention."

Kiyo smirked. "Primary focus of attention!"

"You too," Mine said. "You are not allowed to charge in just because you hear someone say Uchiha."

Kiyo immediately sat up straight. "I just stand up quickly."

"Standing up quickly counts too."

Saori asked, "What if someone asks about the bell?"

Mine's voice softened slightly. "You can answer, or you can say you don't want to. Not every question at the ninja academy has to be answered."

Che remembered that sentence.

Not every question has to be answered.

It mattered to him too. He always wanted to control the situation with answers, dissolve awkwardness with jokes, and prevent misunderstandings with precise explanations. But sometimes, not answering was a boundary too.

That night, Nao had them each prepare what they would bring before enrollment.

Kiyo took out the pen that never wrote very smoothly and solemnly sharpened it. Saori resewed the cloth around her bell, making its sound softer without muffling it. Che chose the "ordinary pen" and left the wooden booklet at home. He only tore out a clean sheet of paper and wrote down the few items that needed to be publicly recorded.

When Nao saw that he was not taking the wooden booklet, she nodded.

"Can you bear to leave it behind?" she asked.

"It's not about bearing it," Che said. "It shouldn't go."

"Knowing what not to bring counts as preparation too."

Che folded the paper and slipped it into his sleeve.

That night, he wrote in his private record:

"Group Two: Che, Kiyo, Saori, and Morita Yu are in the same group. There is dissatisfaction within the clan over the mixed grouping. Mine reminded us not to spar privately, not to use clan names to pressure others, and not to turn words into blades. Addition: not every question has to be answered."

After writing that, he paused for a while, then added:

"The order of names puts people together, but how they get along still depends on every step they take."

Outside, the wind passed over the fence and lightly nudged the window paper.

The ninja academy was no longer merely a distant entrance.

It had begun arranging their names together, waiting for them to walk in.

The next day, Mine called the children of Group Two back to the training ground.

She did not teach ninjutsu. Instead, she drew four lines on the ground. The first represented the classroom, the second the training ground, the third the water troughs, and the fourth the infirmary. The children had to move according to the place she called out. They could not race, shove, or push someone just because they were slow.

The moment Kiyo heard that racing was forbidden, his face immediately took on an expression that said, "These rules are aimed at me."

Mine said, "On the day you familiarize yourselves with the academy, you'll be walking with Morita Yu and the others. If anyone rushes one step ahead, they might knock over the person beside them."

Kiyo raised his hand. "What if the person beside me bumps into me first?"

"Steady yourself first, then speak," Mine said.

Che stood outside the lines and looked at the four marks on the ground. They were another shape of the enrollment list: names became routes, routes became distance, and friction hid within that distance. If Morita Yu walked slowly, would Kiyo hurry him? If someone asked Saori about her bell, would she stop? If older clan children watched from nearby, would he turn an ordinary remark into a probe again?

Mine called, "Water troughs."

The children moved. Kiyo nearly rushed to the front, then remembered the rules and forcibly slowed by half a step. Kohei passed him from the side instead. Kiyo's eyes widened. "That works?"

"I didn't race," Kohei said. "I just walked accurately."

Kiyo looked at Che. "Does that count as a sneak attack?"

Che held back a laugh. "It counts as route management."

Saori walked slowly, but she did not block anyone's way. When she reached the water-trough line, her bell chimed softly. Mine had everyone stop. "Did you hear that? Someone moving slowly does not mean she is wrong. You need to learn to leave half a step for the people beside you."

Half a step.

That phrase had come back again. Half a step in the Substitution Technique meant not revealing your direction in advance. Half a step in an enrollment line meant leaving room for someone else. Che suddenly felt that basic training always circled back into life.

After training, Kiyo asked quietly, "If you leave half a step for someone else, won't you end up slower yourself?"

Che looked at the lines on the ground. "Sometimes, slowing down by half a step keeps the line from falling apart."

Kiyo thought about it. "Then I'll try to slow down with dignity."

Saori said softly, "You can start by not bumping into people."

Kiyo thought the goal was overly plain, but he did not argue.

Che wrote this in his record:

"After the order of names comes the order of routes. Before enrollment, learn to leave half a step for others."