School Begins (Extra-Long Chapter)

"Naruto, I packed fried meatballs and green peppers in your lunchbox. You have to eat all of it—no picky eating."

"Yes, ma'am. Even if it were Mikoto Mom's water, I'd drink every drop."

"Such a good boy!"

At nine thirty in the morning, Mikoto Uchiha brought Naruto to the Ninja Academy.

The classroom was in complete chaos.

Everyone had heard that Naruto had won Sasuke's mother away from him, but Mikoto Uchiha rarely appeared, and Sasuke had barely come to school since then.

So it had never felt particularly real to them. But now, with Naruto personally dropped off by Mikoto Uchiha and Sasuke present as well, the students' gazes kept darting back and forth among Naruto, Mikoto Uchiha, and Sasuke.

It was not until Mikoto Uchiha left that Sasuke Uchiha's roar suppressed everyone's intense desire for gossip.

"What are you looking at, you idiots? Keep staring and see if I don't beat you up!"

The scarlet Two-Tomoe Sharingan, along with the aura Sasuke erupted with—far beyond that of an ordinary child—was truly intimidating at that moment.

Other than Naruto, most of the students slowly lowered their heads beneath Sasuke's gaze.

Watching Naruto's calm back, Sasuke Uchiha returned to his seat, his eyes unconsciously drifting toward Naruto again and again.

Only one sentence surfaced in his mind: You're finished!

Over this period of time, Sasuke Uchiha had worked harder than anyone could imagine. In order to win his mother back, he had trained almost day and night.

Even his strict father, Fugaku Uchiha, had given him a "Not bad" yesterday.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I've got this in the bag."

Noticing Sasuke Uchiha's expression, Ino Yamanaka raised a hand and poked Naruto Uzumaki, who had sat beside her.

"Dad, Sasuke looks really confident. Are you sure you can still beat him this time?"

Naruto Uzumaki looked at her and sighed. "I lost."

"How is that possible?!"

Ino Yamanaka immediately became dissatisfied, pouting indignantly. "You're so strong. How could you lose? Have some confidence in yourself!"

"Naruto-kun is probably teasing you."

Hinata Hyuga cut in.

When Ino Yamanaka looked back at Naruto, she found his expression relaxed, as though he were smiling at her without quite smiling.

Damn it!

She had been fooled again.

"Bad Dad!"

"Stupid Mom!"

Naruto Responded.

Damn it, he still had the mood to bicker with others. Naruto Uzumaki, you'll pay for this.

Sasuke Uchiha was extremely displeased by Naruto's relaxed demeanor.

He would make Naruto Uzumaki regret it!

Before long, Iruka-sensei arrived in the classroom and handed out exam papers to the whole class. Every school term began with an entrance exam.

It tested whether the students had forgotten what they had learned over the break.

The morning was for the written exam.

The afternoon was for combat.

When the papers were placed before them, most of the class groaned in misery.

Choji Akimichi grabbed the underwear on top of his head with both hands and said sorrowfully, "Damn it, why is there even something like a written exam?"

Kiba Inuzuka pinched the dog perched on his head. "Akamaru, I'm counting on you."

Kiba Inuzuka felt terribly wronged. The entire vacation, he had been subjected to a combined beating from his sister and mother. He had not had any time at all to review theory.

His sister said, "It's all your fault! Leaf Hurricane!"

His mother said, "It's all your fault your sister got hurt! Take this!"

Kiba Inuzuka was speechless. He had no idea what had happened, and neither his sister nor mother would tell him. They simply kept getting red-faced and beating him up.

"Ah, poor Kiba~!"

Watching the gloomy Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara—whose father had told him some of the inside story—decided to keep an even lower profile. From now on, he would become a complete nobody in class.

He absolutely could not let Naruto Uzumaki notice him, and he definitely could not let his mother pick him up or take him to school. If his mother got targeted, that would be troublesome.

His father, Shikaku Nara, had privately told him that he did not want to hear the Third Hokage say those two sentences to their family.

"This is a good thing!"

"Naruto is just too repressed!"

Remembering his father's warning, Shikamaru Nara lowered his head and began answering the paper. He neither got full marks nor let his score become too poor, steadily keeping his accuracy at around seventy percent.

Even with a dog and a fly watching his paper, he completely ignored them.

He had to stay low-key!

After carefully observing the activity around him, Sasuke Uchiha inwardly sneered. What a bunch of idiots.

Most of them actually could not understand a single question, just like him.

So, he decided to activate his Sharingan and observe Naruto Uzumaki directly. In his eyes, Naruto Uzumaki was now his greatest enemy, and since he attended class every day, he definitely understood everything.

And he was writing furiously. Was that bastard trying to get full marks?

Then I'll copy him.

The result was...

After staring for several minutes and copying much of Naruto's handwriting, Sasuke Uchiha lowered his head with a smile to look at his own exam paper—and went blank.

What the hell was this?!

(Ino Mom, Hinata Mom, can you come to my house tonight?)

(I want my moms to coax me to sleep, waaah. I haven't seen my moms in over ten days. Without my moms' affection, I can't go on living.)

(I'm begging you!)

(I've already thought of excuses for you. Ino Mom can say she's going to Hinata Mom's house to play, and Hinata Mom can say she's going to Ino Mom's house to play.)

(If you don't agree, I'll lie on the floor and throw a tantrum!)

Disgusting!

Pervert!

Ptooey!

He already had Aunt Mikoto, yet he still called other women Mom. He did not deserve to be Aunt Mikoto's son at all!

Looking at the writing he had copied down, Sasuke Uchiha instantly felt it was not worth it for Mikoto Uchiha. He immediately stood up furiously and reported Naruto to Iruka-sensei.

"Iruka-sensei, I want to report Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hm?" Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Report him for what?"

With a crooked smile, Sasuke Uchiha lifted his exam paper and snorted. "Look at the kind of stuff Naruto Uzumaki wrote."

???

Iruka looked at Sasuke Uchiha, seated in the first seat of the first row, then looked at Naruto Uzumaki, seated in the last row.

He could not help laughing. "Sasuke-kun, are you saying Naruto wrote on your paper from that far away? Even if you want to frame someone, you should come up with a better excuse."

Huh?

Sasuke Uchiha froze, then hurriedly changed his wording. "I mean, he was scribbling nonsense on his own paper!"

Yet the instant his words fell, he saw Naruto Uzumaki burn a small note to ashes with a tiny flame, then rise directly to his feet.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm handing in my paper!"

With that, he quickly ran over and placed his test on the teacher's desk.

Iruka casually glanced at it, found no problem, nodded, and let Naruto leave. Then he walked over to Sasuke Uchiha and, before Sasuke could recover from his shock, took the exam paper from his hand.

Then...

Iruka felt his eyebrow twitch.

"You brat, what the hell did you write?!"

Huh?

Only then did Sasuke Uchiha realize that Iruka had assumed the words on the paper were his. His face instantly turned red.

"Iruka-sensei, no, I copied—"

"There aren't any of your ridiculous words on Naruto's paper."

"He burned it!"

"Heh. You don't need to explain anymore." Iruka sighed. "Sasuke, I know you and Naruto don't get along, but if you want to falsely accuse someone, at least use your brain."

"I'm confiscating your paper. Your written exam score is zero this time. I hope you learn from this!"

This time, Iruka desperately hoped Sasuke had been trying to frame Naruto. Otherwise, a boy writing during an exam about fantasizing over calling two girls his age Mom...

And fantasizing about acting cute by throwing a tantrum...

It was simply too awful to look at.

At least Naruto did it openly...

Noticing Iruka's meaningful gaze, Sasuke Uchiha's face grew redder and redder.

Damn it!!!

He clenched his fists, lions hidden in his eyes.

Damn Naruto Uzumaki, he got me again.

I'll definitely teach you a lesson.

Seeing this, Hinata Hyuga let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, she had kept her Byakugan activated to help Naruto copy Sakura Haruno's and Shikamaru Nara's papers. Naruto had been chatting with them by note, or this would have been awkward.

That afternoon.

Sasuke Uchiha, who had received a zero on the written exam, finally recovered the pride he had lost all day on the training field.

The combat exam was, without question, a series of student battles. Watching the others fight, he felt as though he were watching chickens and dogs brawl.

Sakura Haruno slowly walked over to Sasuke Uchiha and asked, "Sasuke-kun, are you confident you can beat Naruto today?"

"Of course." Sasuke Uchiha shoved his hands into his pockets without a trace of modesty.

He had worked far too long for today's duel with Naruto.

His arrogance and confidence delighted Sakura Haruno. She said excitedly, "I'll cheer for you, Sasuke-kun!"

"What does that have to do with me?" Sasuke Uchiha could not be bothered to talk to her. He stepped forward, and at that moment, Naruto was the only one in his eyes.

The only woman he cared about was the mother Naruto Uzumaki had stolen away.

"Next match: Sasuke Uchiha versus Naruto Uzumaki." As Iruka happened to call out those two names, Sasuke Uchiha's lips curled upward.

It seemed...

There was no need for another private fight.

As he stepped out with confidence, Sakura Haruno grew even more excited, thinking that someone could finally teach Naruto a lesson.

You kicked me so many times. Once Sasuke-kun beats you, I'll definitely laugh at you until you cry.

The wind grew stronger!

Dark clouds covered the sky overhead.

Perhaps Sasuke's aura was simply too powerful, because even the weather seemed to cooperate. The instant his Two-Tomoe Sharingan opened and the pressure reached its peak, every student temporarily held their breath.

"So strong!" Shino Aburame felt unprecedented pressure.

"Sasuke has improved this much already?" Kiba could clearly feel Akamaru trembling atop his head.

Naruto was in danger!

After Sasuke Uchiha released an overwhelming kingly aura, this was everyone's unanimous assessment.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke Uchiha shouted, "Naruto!"

Naruto, who had been standing across from him with a relaxed expression, instinctively shouted back, "What's gay?!"

Hearing that cry, Sasuke Uchiha smiled in satisfaction.

"I can already hear your seriousness. But this time, no matter how serious you are, it won't matter!"

So cool!

At that moment, many girls who cared about looks had hearts in their eyes.

Sakura Haruno was among them. Only a man this handsome was worthy of her.

Yet as she muttered to herself inwardly, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward Naruto, who had kicked her several times.

Even though he treated her badly, she inexplicably felt that Naruto was not so bad either.

Hmph!

How could she think like that? Naruto was supposed to be the sort of character who came when called and left when dismissed. Only someone blind would think he was any good.

Sasuke-kun, make sure you beat him up badly!

"Sasuke-kun, go—"

Before she could finish saying "go," Sasuke's body became an afterimage as he lunged fiercely at Naruto.

So fast!

"Naruto, despair! Despair that you aren't a member of the Uchiha Clan! Without the Sharingan, your eyes can't keep up with my speed. From now on, you won't be able to harm even a single hair on me!"

Itachi had told him that the greatest gap between him and Naruto was not ninjutsu, but taijutsu. So during this time, he had trained taijutsu diligently.

He was no longer remotely the same as before.

"Naruto, die!"

Seeing Sasuke so confident, Naruto could not help feeling a little expectant.

Could it be that, under my pressure, Sasuke has already been pushed to a level stronger than in the original story?

If that's the case, I can use about thirty percent of my strength and have some fun.

But...

Sasuke was obviously so slow. Why did he say I could not keep up with his speed?

Could this be a trap?

Naruto immediately spun, leaped, closed his eyes...

Then he used Leaf Strong Whirlwind and waited in full readiness.

The next second, Sasuke rushed in front of Naruto. He planned to hit Naruto with a combo first, then finish the fight with Fire Release.

But suddenly...

Naruto's abrupt leap was too fast for his eyes to follow.

What was going on?

Hadn't they agreed that the Sharingan could see through everything?

By the time Sasuke's vision caught up, a huge foot was already charging straight at his face. There was no way to dodge!

Even at this point,

Naruto was still puzzled. Sasuke had talked himself up so much, so why wasn't he dodging even now?

Could it be a Shadow Clone, or a Substitution Technique?

"Bang!"

Thick dust billowed up as Sasuke's body skimmed across the ground, only stopping after crashing into the wall.

Hm?

Why hadn't this Shadow Clone dispersed yet? It was a little too sturdy, wasn't it?

Naruto continued carefully watching his surroundings, wary of Sasuke suddenly springing out from somewhere.

Only when Iruka blew his whistle and announced, "Naruto Uzumaki wins. Sasuke Uchiha has passed out. Someone, hurry and take him to the infirmary," did he stop.

Huh?!

Everyone fell silent, including Naruto.

Damn...

He'd acted all high and mighty for so long, only to get kicked to sleep in one blow.

Naruto recalled Sasuke's nickname, Show-Off Sasuke, and thought that nicknames really could not be more fitting.

"How could this happen..."

Watching Sasuke Uchiha suffer another lightning-fast defeat, Sakura Haruno felt an inexplicable anger rise within her. If you couldn't win, then you couldn't win. Why did you have to boast for so long?

You made me cheer for you and embarrass myself too.

At that moment, Sakura Haruno completely gave up on Sasuke. Her gaze turned to Naruto, and her heartbeat began to race.

If she had still been doubting and questioning it before, then at this moment, Sakura Haruno was certain that she really did have feelings for Naruto.

Naruto used to like me so much...

If I took the initiative to get close to him, I should be able to win him over quickly, right?

Remembering how Naruto had once stubbornly clung to her, Sakura Haruno's heart heated up as she stepped toward him.

"Hey!" Ino noticed this and hurriedly called out, "Sakura, what are you doing?"

That idiot, was she going to provoke Naruto Daddy for Sasuke again?

However, while Ino was worrying about Sakura Haruno, Sakura Haruno merely gave her a cold snort.

"Ino, I've fallen for Naruto too. From now on, we're rivals in love."

Huh?

A huge question mark popped up in Ino's little head.

Then, right in front of Ino, she walked toward Naruto.

"Naruto..."

"Hm?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, about to say that Sakura Haruno's Will of Domination was truly admirable, always looking to get kicked.

But the next second, the system notification appeared.

[Sakura Haruno, eighteen years old, disciple of Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin. She is extremely strong, but her figure is her weak point. She is short-tempered toward outsiders but gentle toward the one she loves, and has a fangirl trait.]

[However, through the host's unremitting efforts, Sakura Haruno's fangirl trait has shifted from Sasuke Uchiha to the host.]

[System assessment: Sakura Haruno has advanced into a suitable A-rank candidate.]

As Naruto listened to the system, he looked at the girl now standing before him and could not help freezing slightly.

"I've decided not to like Sasuke anymore. From now on, I like you, Naruto."

Sakura Haruno gently brushed back her long hair and said shyly in front of Naruto,

"You like me too, don't you? Then let's just get together. Even if, like they say, you enjoy playing house and looking for moms, I can play along with you."

[Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno has already taken the initiative. As long as you agree now, you can immediately obtain two layers of Mother's Protection.]

The girl's confession was extremely straightforward.

Two layers of Mother's Protection were also an extremely weighty offer.

It was equivalent to gaining two extra lives outright.

A fierce wind howled past.

Seeing Naruto fall silent, Ino Yamanaka's expression gradually turned ugly. She felt that her relationship with Naruto was already quite good—they even called each other Daddy and Mommy.

But Naruto's past obsession with Sakura Haruno was also a fact.

Could it be...

Hinata Hyuga gently tugged at her hand and comforted her softly. "It's okay."

Meanwhile, seeing Naruto remain silent, Sakura Haruno said with slight dissatisfaction,

"You don't believe me, Naruto? I'm serious. I really don't like Sasuke anymore."

"Look, didn't he lose Mommy to you?"

"And he keeps coming after you without knowing his own limits."

"If I were that shameless..."

"I'd be ashamed of myself."

Tsk—!

"You're so annoying!"

The instant Sakura Haruno finished speaking, she suddenly felt a violent pain erupt from her abdomen.

Then she was sent flying backward.

"Naruto, you can't bully your classmates when there isn't a match!" Iruka hurried over to stop him.

Naruto merely snorted disdainfully, then said to Sakura Haruno, "At least Sasuke is working toward his own goal. What about you? What right do you have to talk about him?"

System...

I don't want those two layers of Mother's Protection.

I really have no interest in calling her Mom.

"Lastly, let me tell you this: stop talking about moms in front of me. I have many moms, but every single one of them is important."

"Not just any stray cat or dog can become one."

With that said,

Naruto left the Ninja Academy without looking back.

Hinata hurried after him. Ino looked at Sakura Haruno's stunned face, then at Naruto's retreating back. This time, she did not say a single word for Sakura Haruno. Gritting her teeth, she chased after Naruto as well.

[Ding!]

[An unexpected situation has occurred!]

[The original life trajectory of A-rank Mom "Mikoto Uchiha" has changed. Naruto Uzumaki's importance in her heart has increased once again.]

[Received an additional 10 Mom Coins!]

Naruto's gaze turned toward a certain place.

Although he had known beforehand that Mikoto Uchiha had not left, and had even received extra Mom Coins, he had not said those words for Mikoto Uchiha to hear.

He was simply upset.

Noticing Ino and Hinata chasing after him, Naruto formed hand seals with both hands.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Dozens of Shadow Clones immediately scattered in every direction. Only one remained behind to deal with Ino and Hinata, while the original body went to find Izumi Uchiha.

Elsewhere.

Mikoto Uchiha left the Ninja Academy and sighed. Although Sasuke had lost again, Naruto's words had deeply resonated with her.

If possible, she wanted to take care of Naruto for a while longer.

Unfortunately, that was probably impossible.

Today, her husband, Fugaku Uchiha, had sent someone to deliver a letter, asking her to return because he had something to discuss.

Once she left, would she be able to come back again?

Mikoto Uchiha sighed. Yet after taking only a few steps forward, she encountered Naruto waiting there with a cheerful grin.

"Mom Mikoto, why are you here? Where are you going?"

Following Naruto was Uzuki Yugao of the ANBU, who had lived with him for quite some time.

A corner of Konoha...

Root...

Itachi Uchiha knelt before Shimura Danzō, his breathing heavy. In the end, he rose resolutely and headed toward the Uchiha Clan compound.

PS: Dear handsome, dashing, suave, and charming readers, this little author kneels and begs for votes~!

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