Year 41 of Konoha, the first day of the Ninja Academy term.
The classroom for Class 1-A was a noisy mess, with little kids clustered together, chattering away.
A spiky-haired boy with goggles on his head.
He was huddled in a corner seat, his eyes occasionally darting diagonally ahead.
He was Obito Uchiha, who would one day affect the entire Shinobi World.
The person he was looking at was Rin Nohara.
"What are you looking at, Obito?"
A voice suddenly came from beside him.
Obito jumped and turned to find three boys from his clan surrounding him. He had no idea when they had come over.
Their leader was Aoki Uchiha, who had bullied him plenty back in the clan compound.
"N-nothing..." Obito shrank back.
"Nothing?"
Aoki sneered and poked Obito's shoulder.
"Say, how did you end up in our class? Shouldn't a dead-last be in a class for dead-lasts?"
His two lackeys immediately chimed in:
"Exactly! I heard you can't even throw a basic shuriken properly!"
"Don't embarrass us Uchiha!"
The classroom gradually quieted down.
Quite a few students looked their way.
Their classmate Might Guy craned his neck, Kurenai Yuhi frowned, and Asuma Sarutobi propped his chin on his hand, looking rather interested.
Obito's face flushed bright red, and his fists clenched.
He had meant to put up with it.
Really.
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught Rin turning around, looking their way with concern.
At that moment, the thread called "patience" in Obito's mind snapped.
"You-"
"Hey."
Just as Obito was about to say something, a voice cut in, neither loud nor soft, but just enough for the whole class to hear.
Everyone turned in unison.
A black-haired boy stood leaning against the wall by the classroom's back door. He looked about six, wore ordinary Uchiha clan clothing, and had both hands in his pockets.
What stood out most was his expression. He looked nothing like a child, and more like an adult who had grown bored of watching the show.
Uchiha Makoto.
"Aoki," Makoto said, walking over at a leisurely pace, "this is school, not the clan compound."
Aoki froze for a moment, then snapped, "What's it got to do with you? We're teaching this dead-last a lesson!"
"That's why I said it's embarrassing." Makoto cut him off and glanced at the other students around them. "Is letting outsiders watch the Uchiha fight among themselves something to be proud of?"
Aoki's expression shifted at those words.
Makoto stepped between them, neatly separating Aoki from Obito.
He lowered his voice, but with the classroom quiet, everyone could still hear:
"If you want to fight, do it at the training ground after school. Right now, get back to your seats."
Aoki opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then saw Makoto's unnervingly calm eyes.
He also noticed the children from the Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Yuhi clans watching.
In the end, he snorted and slunk away with his lackeys.
Makoto inwardly rolled his eyes.
The Naruto world really was a bullying specialist. You ran into it everywhere.
Bullying within clans, bullying within villages, bullying across borders... was this the Shinobi World's fucking traditional pastime?
He turned to look at Obito.
The spiky-haired boy was still frozen in place, his eyes wide behind his goggles.
"Th-thank you..." Obito stammered.
"No problem."
Makoto waved a hand and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Obito suddenly called out to him, sprang from his seat, and caught up with Makoto in a few strides.
"Um, I remember your name's Uchiha Makoto, right? Let's be friends!"
Makoto stopped.
Obito scratched his head, his smile a little goofy.
"I feel like you're different from the other Uchiha!"
Makoto turned around and stared at Obito for two seconds.
"How am I different?" he suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"You said I'm different from the other Uchiha."
Makoto leaned closer. "How, exactly? Am I rich? Strong? Or especially handsome?"
The barrage of questions left Obito bewildered, and even his goggles slipped crooked:
"No... I meant you, you have the Will of Fire! You care about your comrades!"
Silence.
Three seconds later, Makoto gave him a massive eye roll, then turned and walked away.
"Hey! Makoto! Don't go!"
Obito hurried after him, sticking to Makoto like a tail.
"I mean it! Look, we're both Uchiha, and we're both orphans."
"Stop right there." Makoto spun around, and Obito nearly crashed into his back.
"We can talk about being friends later." Makoto folded his arms. "Tell me, do you want to train together tonight?"
Obito's eyes instantly lit up.
"Train? With you?"
"Who else? Aoki?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Obito nodded like a woodpecker, his whole body brimming with excitement.
"I've wanted to get stronger for ages! Really! You see, Rin... ahem, I mean, as a ninja, of course I have to train hard!"
Watching his simpleminded reaction, Makoto felt a little like laughing.
Yep, that was the hot-blooded idiot from the original story, all right.
"Then meet me at the Third Training Ground after school." With that, Makoto tried to leave again.
"Wait!"
Obito called him back once more, this time rubbing his hands together sheepishly.
"Um... Makoto, how strong are you? I'm not doubting you! I'm just curious! I mean, you even dared to talk to Aoki like that..."
Makoto stopped.
There it was.
That was exactly the question he'd been waiting for.
The classroom had returned to its usual bustle, but the students at the nearby desks were actually listening closely.
Guy, Asuma, Kurenai, and Rin, who had turned back around but was clearly eavesdropping.
Makoto took a deep breath, then-
He spoke clearly, loud enough for the entire class to hear:
"I only need one hand to beat those three."
The moment the words landed, half the classroom fell silent.
Obito's mouth dropped open.
Nearby, Aoki shot to his feet, his face livid. "Uchiha Makoto! You-"
[Ding! Target "Obito Uchiha" confidence assessment for the lie "I can defeat those three with one hand": 50%] [Manifesting the lie "I only need one hand to beat those three." 25%] [Manifestation commencing... The degree of manifestation is affected by both character weight and confidence...] [Manifestation complete. Host has received a strength boost.] [Notice: Today's usage limit for the "Lie-Into-Reality" ability has been reached (1/1).]
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