It was noon, the Ninja Academy's lunch break.
As the homeroom teacher for the new class of students, Shizuko sat at the teacher's desk, watching over them in case anything unexpected happened.
Hmm, judging by the time, Iruka should be back soon. Still, Naruto and the others were so impressive, taking the Chunin Ninja Exams already.
Shizuko had been looking after Iruka's class all morning. Fortunately, the village had increased its investment in education over the past few years. The academy now had more than enough teachers, so classes could proceed as usual.
The midday sunlight shone through the window onto Shizuko's fair, delicate face. To be honest, she was almost twenty this year, which already counted as being on the older side in the Shinobi World.
But she had landed a teaching position early, after all. Her everyday workload was not particularly heavy, and with her usual care for her appearance, she was still exceptionally good-looking despite being nearly twenty.
She looked up at the chattering students below and smiled helplessly.
It was good for students to be lively. As long as nothing unexpected happened, there generally would not be any problems.
The Hyuga and the Uchiha sitting in the middle were a little difficult to handle, but after a long period of loving discipline, the two could finally shake hands and make peace.
That was thanks to their upperclassmen Sasuke and Hinata, who occasionally came back, as well as the extraordinarily gifted Naruto.
Oh, right, there was also their little tagalong, Karin.
Karin: "What do you mean, tagalong!!! I'm a core member! Without me, who's going to handle sensing? Who's going to heal everyone? Hmm... leaving those first two aside, who else is going to provide the snark!!!"
"Teacher, I think Iruka-sensei's outside."
A girl pointed at the