[Konoha School]
Naruto lay weakly on his desk.
He had dreamt all night yesterday, all of them scenes of him being bullied in the past, so naturally, he hadn't slept well.
Moreover, he felt heavy, completely different from usual.
Originally, he had been really looking forward to today's high-jump competition with Sasuke.
But Sasuke didn't come to class.
Naruto became even more listless.
Listening to Iruka on the podium explaining some geography knowledge, Naruto only felt drowsy.
Slide—
The sound of the door being opened.
"Sasuke!"
"Ah! It's Sasuke!"
Accompanied by the cries of a few girls in class, Naruto suddenly became alert.
It turned out Sasuke had come in.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm here for class."
Iruka glanced at the figure in the hallway and didn't say much, "Mm, go sit."
Sasuke walked over to Naruto's side and plopped down into his seat.
Naruto couldn't help but say eagerly, "Sasuke, where did you go? I thought you weren't coming."
Sasuke looked at Naruto and smiled, "I made a promise with you yesterday. How could I not come?"
Naruto was stunned for a moment, and his heart thumped hard twice.
It was the first time someone really thought about him. The first time… someone cared this much.
Naruto was quite a sentimental person, just that one sentence was enough to make his eyes red.
He quickly turned his head away, "After class, I'll show you what I've got."
"Mm-hmm…", Sasuke unconsciously responded with a couple of hums.
He didn't realize he had moved Naruto, and after saying that, his gaze drifted out the corridor.
Vaguely, he could see Rengoku's silhouette and the people guarding beside him.
———
"Rengoku, why are you here again?"
When Rengoku took Sasuke for a walk near the school, the Anbu had immediately reported it to Jiraiya. Jiraiya had no choice but to come over again himself.
He was originally planning to gather some material, but now being forced to watch over Rengoku, naturally his face looked unhappy.
Rengoku yawned lazily, "Jiraiya, what kind of thing is that to say? Our young clan head is coming to school, so as a bodyguard showing up at school, it's quite reasonable, isn't it?"
"Rather than keeping an eye on me, why don't you hurry up and get rid of Danzo?"
Jiraiya snorted coldly, "Danzo is a Hokage advisor. You can't judge him with just one sentence."
Rengoku looked at Jiraiya with a half-smile, "I actually think Danzo dying sooner would be good for you."
He clearly remembered, Danzo was the main culprit behind Yahiko's death.
This time, with the standoff between Konoha and the Uchiha, there were likely to be quite a few people coming to join the excitement.
Akatsuki might even show up. If Konan made an appearance, now that would be interesting.
Jiraiya naturally didn't know this part, nor did he take it seriously.
But the next two days were critical. The fast ones from outside had probably already approached Konoha.
By tomorrow, even the ninja from the Land of Lightning would probably have arrived.
Jiraiya suspected, Rengoku was planning to forcefully control Naruto right now.
Bringing Sasuke over was just a cover.
He had to keep a close watch on Rengoku. As long as tonight passed, and the Third Hokage's people took action, the situation would truly stabilize.
Rengoku knew Jiraiya was on edge, but he did it on purpose.
After all, if the Uchiha didn't look like they were about to stir things up, that would be the real abnormality.
Although he didn't know when the Third Hokage's people would show up, for the time being, Konoha was a big stage. If you wanted to collect a bounty, come on over.
After all, this bounty was issued by Uchiha Itachi. Though anonymous, everyone who needed to know already knew.
Though nominally the Uchiha still had a police force, altogether there were only a few teams left, and they only watched over their own business districts.
The security force was really gone.
Konoha's external defense had nothing to do with the Uchiha.
They had to defend themselves.
Rengoku stood in the corridor like yesterday.
During the outdoor class in the afternoon, he stood not far from Sasuke.
Not to mention that Sasuke had already awakened his Sharingan. Eeven without it, Naruto still wouldn't match up to Sasuke.
Their high-jump competition naturally ended with Sasuke's victory.
"Today… today I didn't do my best!"
"Next time, next time I'll beat you!"
Naruto was as stubborn as ever, but this time Sasuke didn't argue back.
Instead, he suddenly said, "Next week, I won't be coming to school."
Naruto was taken aback, "Sasuke, do you have something going on?"
Sasuke shook his head, "We probably won't see each other for a long time."
Naruto's expression stiffened a bit. After all, Sasuke had never discriminated against him, and was willing to play with him.
But Naruto quickly adjusted his expression, "It's okay! Then we'll just meet again later!"
Thinking of the responsibility on his shoulders and the fact he had awakened his Sharingan,nSasuke turned his head coolly, "I'm not like you guys anymore."
Naruto saw Sasuke like that and mumbled, "Arrogant Sasuke!"
The ninja school day ended with the usual bickering of a bunch of kids.
Jiraiya had watched Rengoku all afternoon. His eyes were sore, but Rengoku didn't do a single thing, wasting a whole day of Jiraiya's effort.
At the school gate, Rengoku casually lifted Sasuke up and placed him on the back of his neck, letting Sasuke ride him as they left.
Sasuke might be a child of the noble Uchiha clan, but he was still just a seven-year-old kid.
Fugaku had never accompanied him like this. Even Itachi had only carried him on his back once.
Though Rengoku did this to make yesterday's action less abrupt, Sasuke still felt a bit giddy inside.
"Naruto! I'm off!", Sasuke looked a little excited. Today he hadn't even bragged about awakening his Sharingan.
This meant he could trade secrets with Senior Rengoku again.
Of course, Rengoku letting him ride on his neck also made up for a missing part of Sasuke's childhood.
Hearing Sasuke saying goodbye, Naruto waved his arm hard, "Sasuke, goodbye!"
He didn't lower his arm until Sasuke had walked far away.
Naruto's smile faded, and he walked somewhat desolately toward the swing in the corner.
Watching those children with parents being picked up one by one, he had to wait a while longer before he could go back too.
Not far away, seeing that Rengoku hadn't succeeded today, Jiraiya also sighed in relief.
Seeing Naruto still waiting at that swing didn't surprise him either.
Because from Jiraiya's perspective, Naruto had no problems.
Seeing there were Anbu protecting Naruto, he left reassured.
Jiraiya had already heard Sasuke's conversation with Naruto, and knew Sasuke wouldn't come tomorrow.
This probably meant the Uchiha were going to make a move.
He immediately went to find the Third Hokage for a discussion.
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