Mirai took two steps back, pretending to be flustered by the four Naoris attacking him. He blocked left and dodged right, wildly swinging his wooden kunai to fend off attacks from every direction.
The watching students were tense, and some even covered their eyes.
Naori secretly rejoiced. She controlled her three Shadow Clones to attack Mirai from different angles at once while circling behind him herself, gripping her kunai tightly as she stabbed toward his back—
Just as her kunai was about to touch the corner of Mirai's clothes, he suddenly moved.
He did not turn around. He merely dropped his body sharply and executed a clean, swift Sweep Kick, precisely sweeping the feet of the "sneak attacker" behind him.
"Bang!"
The three Shadow Clones vanished at the same time. Naori's real body lost her balance and pitched forward, crashing heavily onto the ground as her wooden kunai flew from her hand.
The next second, Mirai flipped over and pinned her down. One leg held down her struggling legs, his left hand pressed against her chest to stop her from getting up, and his right hand held a wooden kunai lightly against the side of her neck.
"You lost," he said, looking down at her.
The entire field fell silent.
Izumi Uchiha lay on her back, her face instantly turning Kurenai—from the base of her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.
Mirai had pinned her down in an almost body-to-body position. His hand pressed against her chest, and she could clearly feel the warmth of his palm and his breath. They were so close that she could count every one of Mirai's eyelashes.
"Y-you!" Naori's voice went shrill, trembling with extreme embarrassment and indignation. "Get up! Get up already!"
Only then did Mirai belatedly realize that his hand seemed to be in a rather inappropriate place. He quickly withdrew it, stood up, took a step back, and even pulled Naori to her feet.
But Naori shook off his hand, her eyes already turning Kurenai.
Without waiting for Toriyama Kazunari to announce the result, she turned and ran. The ends of her long black hair drew an arc through the air before vanishing into the bushes by the training field.
"...The winner is Mirai Uzumaki," Toriyama Kazunari announced awkwardly. Then he looked at Mirai, shook his head as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
Mirai Uzumaki stood where he was, scratching his head. "...Did I do something wrong again?"
Kushina rushed over in a single stride and poked a finger into his chest, her little face drawn tight. "Mirai, y-you—you, where were you putting your hand just now?! How could you touch a girl there?!"
"Huh?" Mirai blinked. "Wasn't it...? She's only seven. Is there even a difference between touching her front and her back?"
All the students: "..."
Kushina's face turned Kurenai too. She angrily raised a hand and knocked him on the forehead. "Baka! You can't touch people carelessly no matter how old they are! Go apologize to her!"
"Okay, okay, I'll go..."
After they returned to the classroom, Izumi Uchiha sat at her desk with her head lowered, completely motionless.
Her deskmate tried several times to speak with her, but she avoided every attempt.
Mirai Uzumaki walked up to her desk and gently tapped the tabletop.
"Naori?"
No response.
"Classmate Izumi Uchiha?"
She still did not respond.
Mirai sighed, bent down closer, and lowered his voice. "Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to. I'll be more careful next time."
Naori's shoulders trembled slightly, then she slowly raised her head.
The corners of her eyes really were a little Kurenai, and her eyes were damp, but she had not actually cried.
It was just that her always-cool little face was now filled with complicated emotions—embarrassment, indignation, unwillingness, and something else she could neither name nor understand.
She bit her lip and remained silent for a long while before finally speaking in a muffled voice. "...Go away. I wasn't crying."
"Then why are your eyes Kurenai?"
"Sand got in them!"
"...All right, sand." Mirai did not expose her. He straightened up, preparing to return to his seat.
"Wait." Naori stopped him.
Mirai turned back.
Naori clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and raised her head to meet his eyes. Her voice was quiet, but resolute.
"Next month, I'll challenge you again. Then... I absolutely won't lose again."
Mirai looked at the fire rekindling in her dark eyes and suddenly found this stubborn little girl rather interesting.
"Sure," he said with a smile. "I'll be waiting."
After returning to his seat, Kushina leaned over and whispered, "Did she forgive you?"
"I don't know. She said she wants to fight me again next month."
"...Then are you going to fight her next month?"
"Of course," Mirai said, leaning back in his chair. "She can't beat me anyway."
Kushina looked at him, then suddenly leaned closer and muttered quietly, "Don't tell me you've taken a liking to that Uchiha girl?"
"What?"
"I don't care. You promised me that after school, we'd go learn Sealing Jutsu from Grandma Mito together!"
"What does that have to do with this?"
"Of course it has something to do with it!"
Mirai stared at her in utter confusion, completely unable to understand the logic connecting those two things.
Kushina merely huffed, turned away, and refused to look at him.
Outside the window, the setting sun dyed half the sky Kurenai, while the classroom rang with the chirping noise of children.
Mirai Uzumaki leaned against the back of his chair and looked at the fiery clouds on the horizon. Life was tiring, but it wasn't bad.
Something had been off with Kushina lately.
More specifically, her eyes kept drifting unconsciously in a certain direction.
They drifted during class, while eating, and even when Grandma Mito watched over her as she studied Sealing Jutsu.
She was looking at Mirai Uzumaki.
More precisely, she was looking at whatever was going on between Mirai Uzumaki and Izumi Uchiha.
Ever since that "accident" in the last practical class, Naori still wore the same cold expression, but whenever she ran into Mirai in the hallway, she would pause for a moment before quickly lowering her head and walking past.
As for Mirai, perhaps because he had promised Mikoto that he would "go easy on her," his attitude toward Naori had become noticeably gentler than before.
Kushina saw all of it, and for some reason, her heart felt sour.
"Hmph, what's so special about her..."
Once, when Kushina saw Naori's ears turn slightly Kurenai as she passed Mirai in the hallway, she could not help muttering under her breath, "What's so great about long black hair? Kurenai hair is much rarer..."
But she could not explain why she cared about such things.
She and Mirai had come from the Land of Whirlpools together. They lived under the same roof, went to and from school together every day, ate Grandma Mito's cooking together, and got their heads knocked by Tsunade together...
Clearly, she was the one closest to Mirai.
Yet whenever she saw Mirai smile at Naori, her chest would inexplicably tighten.
I'm not jealous, she told herself. It's just... I just don't like seeing it, that's all.
For the time being, she could not figure it out, so she could only keep it bottled up.
Fortunately, the school soon let out for a short break, and she would not have to face that long-haired black-haired girl who annoyed her.
On the first day of break, Mito summoned the two children to the Sealing Room as usual.
Before you continue