Over by the swing, the little figure stirred at the sound of footsteps.
Uzumaki Hayashi walked over and stopped beside the swing.
"Naruto."
Naruto Uzumaki jerked his head up. Once he saw who it was, that goofy grin returned to his face.
"Hey, Hayashi!" Naruto Uzumaki shouted. "I saw everything earlier! Those moves you pulled during the test were so cool!"
As he spoke, he hopped off the swing, held out both hands, and mimicked Linshi's sword swings, one after another.
He put plenty of effort into it, but none of it looked remotely right.
"And, and!" After finishing his demonstration, Naruto Uzumaki spread his arms and traced a huge circle. "That giant whale at the end! It came shooting out of your sword tip-whoosh! Then it got smaller and smaller, and plop! It landed right by Jonin Kakashi's feet!"
He talked and gestured, bouncing with excitement.
Halfway through his demonstration, he cracked himself up.
"A whale that huge, and all it did at the end was go plop!"
"What else did you expect?" Uzumaki Hayashi raised an eyebrow. "That was the school. If I'd actually slammed it down, we'd all be hauling bricks to fix the training ground tomorrow."
Naruto Uzumaki pictured that scene and shrank back a little.
"And when Jonin Kakashi put your forehead protector on you-"
At that, Naruto Uzumaki's voice dropped.
Then it rose again.
"That was so cool!"
Uzumaki Hayashi looked at him and smiled.
This kid was pretty good at putting on an act.
He walked over to Naruto and stood beside him, looking out at the empty space ahead.
"You were the only one who didn't get a forehead protector today." He paused. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Naruto Uzumaki waved a hand with his usual bluster. "I'm definitely going to