Published at 27th of April 2020 9:17 am

Graduation (2) – Part 8

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

As soon as I turned my attention back to the blackboard, Iruka started writing down the timeframe for the written test.

“You’ll have 1 hour to finish this. Be patient, carefully read through every question and you’ll be fine. We talked about each of these things during class. Those that studied will certainly pass! “ Iruka said in a stern voice.

Immediately after that, he gave the test papers to the students in the first row, they proceeded to hand them to the students behind them. This continued until every student had their test papers.

“Okay, start!“ Iruka-sensei said.

The class quieted and soon only the sound of pens hitting the tables could be heard.

Upon seeing the questions, I couldn’t help but think: „Wow, this really is as easy as I thought. “

The questions included who the former Hokage were, who the current one is, what they did, how long their time in that office was and some of the jutsu they were known for.

Additionally, there were simple math questions … or question about what you would do in a fight. In general, they were incredibly simplified and easy to answer. However, the questions about fighting could be answered in many ways, probably making grading them a pain in the ass (at least I believe them to be!).

The 1-hour timeframe soon ended, and we were asked to finish up. Iruka-sensei then walked across the room, collecting all the tests from the students.

Upon finishing that and arriving back at his seat again, the door to the room opened to reveal a man in a similar getup as Iruka-sensei. This signified him to probably be another chunin.

He had shoulder-length blue hair and wore his hitai-ate on his forehead.

“Ah, class, greet Mizuki-sensei, he will help me grade your transformation and clone jutsu.” Iruka-sensei said after noticing the questioning stares the students were giving the new arrival.

“Hello everyone, my name is Mizuki Touji!” Mizuki-sensei says while smiling at us.

While taking in his appearance I frowned: “He seems weird, something is off. His smile feels incredibly fake. Though, it isn’t surprising, not everyone likes teaching children or being around them …”

Soon, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei left the classroom, while carrying our test sheets, and went into another room, that I figured would be the jutsu-test room.

Just like I predicted, students were asked to go into that room to demonstrate their jutsu, though there was always a slight delay between each student, even after they had come back.

As it was done in an alphabetical order, we, as Uzumaki, were the tail end of the class.

I laid down on the table, trying to close my eyes for a little bit when I noticed Sasuke looking at me.

I noticed that his ears were covered in a suspicious blush.

I wondered: “Does he like me or something? Though, what could have made him look at me in this way, if he did not like me? Does he just like my looks? I know that I’m cute hehe~, but there are other girls that are cute, though they are already all over him anyway and he never blushes at them.”

Deciding to mess with him for a little, as his reactions were rather cute, I decided to smile at him and wave my hand, while still lying down on the table, my hair loosely lying all over the table.

I probably succeeded in looking cute, judging by the gradually increasing blush covering his cheeks.

A few seconds later, probably to hide his embarrassment, he whipped his head away to hiding his blushing face from my eyes. Though, I could still see the small smile at the corner of his mouth.

I let out a quiet giggle at his reaction: “He really is quite cute though. This side of him is so totally different than his usual brooding self. I like this Sasuke much more than the one that only thinks about revenge~! Strangely, this aspect of him is something I remember clearly. Throughout the entire series, his main goal was to get revenge for his clan that was killed by his older brother, someone that he dearly loved before he killed his clan. After that one day, the kind and happy Sasuke was gone. Though, it had always struck me as weird when I saw him being happy before that day. I kind of regret him having to go through all that, but … could I have even changed anything? At that time, I wasn’t strong enough to do anything about that, we had only seen each other once, and I also didn’t know that it was going to happen at all.”

What we both did not notice, was that a certain pink-haired girl had witnessed this interaction between us. Her brow was furrowed, and she was certainly not happy with what had just happened.

Soon, it was Sasuke’s turn and as he walked towards the testing room, I saw many girls screaming his name and cheering for him.

That, however, did not interest him at all, he just calmly walked towards the examination room.

After a few minutes he came out again, looking pleased with a smirk on his face.

“He definitely succeeded.” I thought.

I looked at him with a small smile on my face and he, probably having noticed my staring, moved his eyes towards me.

This time, however, he did not blush, instead he returned my smile.

After some time, it was finally mine and my brother’s turn to get tested.

I slowly arose from my table and walked towards the examination room after hearing my name being called by Iruka-sensei.

I looked back to see my brother grinning at me and giving me a thumbs up.

I could almost hear him say: “You can do it! I believe in you!”

I smile back at him.

Just as I was turning around again to continue walking, I noticed Sasuke also looking at me.

He smiled at me and nodded before slowly looking elsewhere and returning to his usual emotionless and slightly prideful look.

I giggle and finally turn around to enter the examination room.

I could sense a small amount of malice directed towards me, but as it was so small and insignificant, I did not even deem it threatening enough to properly look for the source.

“Hah, this amount of hatred … it’s like an ant compared to the hatred of nearly every adult in Konoha!” I smirk while mentally scoffing at the person who had looked at me.

As I enter the examination room, Iruka-sensei’s and Mizuki-sensei’s kind, smiling faces enter my sight, though Mizuki’s still looked quite fake compared to Iruka-sensei’s.

They were sitting behind a table upon which lied several files filled with grading sheets that had student’s pictures on them.

I could see mine at the top of the stack. There were three boxes below my name, age, birth date and the like. They were most likely for the three tests as I could see the word for “pass” in the first box. They had most likely graded my written test already and decided that I had done well enough to earn that “pass”.

Iruka motioned for me to stand in a circle especially prepared for the students. It was a few meters away from the table they were sitting at.

“Naruko-chan please show us your transformation jutsu. You can choose any form you’d like. We just want to see the grade of detail you put into your transformation and how well you can copy their chakra signature, if you choose to copy someone’s form that we all know.” Iruka-sensei said.

“Hmm, I could choose to go with Hiruzen … but it certainly wouldn’t be as detailed as just choosing Iruka that is right in front of me. Even choosing Nii-chan couldn’t be as detailed as someone that I can look at during the process of transforming.” I reasoned.

And with that, I decided to just choose Iruka-sensei.

I studied his form for a bit, thereafter making the hand signs and guiding the chakra towards my hands, quietly I say: “Henge no jutsu.”

Immediately, smoke started rising around me and my chakra traveled across my body, changing the perception others had of me.

After the smoke cleared, others could only see a perfect copy of the still sitting Iruka in the room.

“Well, done Naruko-chan. You perfectly copied even the slight signs of wear on my uniform and my forehead protector. Pass!” Iruka-sensei said while smiling brightly at me.

Soon after, I decided to release the jutsu again.

“Okay, now, for the clone jutsu, please create 3 perfect clones of yourself, okay?” Iruka-sensei asked.

Immediately I got into position and gathered my chakra. Again, it flowed to my hands. I made the hand signs required for the jutsu and mumbled: “Bunshin no Jusu.” Soon three perfect clones appeared beside me. They wore the same clothes as I did and had the same small smile on their face.

“Great! You passed. Please take a hitai-ate of your choice and tie it on some place on your body.” Iruka-sensei said while Mizuki-sensei nodded in agreement.

“Thanks, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei!” I said while giving them a small smile.

I moved towards the table upon which the hitai-ate lied and chose one with a black band connected to it.

“Hmm, where should I tie it?” I thought for a while before deciding to tie it around my neck.

Sure, I couldn’t easily close my jacket anymore now that my hitai-ate was around my neck, but it still fulfilled the same effect that the collar of the jacket had provided! (Letting me nuzzle my nose into it! Cuteness is justice after all! Hehe~)

After tying it around my neck, I slowly left the examination room.

Upon arriving in my classroom, several other students looked at me and upon seeing my hitai-ate most of them slowly looked away again, having seen what they were looking for.

I looked across the room, noticing two people smiling at me.

One giving me a slight nod before looking away again and one giving me a full-blown grin and waving for me to come over.

I walked towards Naruto-nii and upon arriving at our table, he stood up and hugged me tightly.

“Nii-chan I can’t breathe …” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry! I am just so happy that you passed! Don’t worry about me, I’ll make sure to pass too, and I’m sure we’ll be on the same team!” Nii-chan said while letting me go.

Soon, it was Nii’s turn to go into the examination room.

Just before leaving the classroom he turned back to look at me.

I saw a slight trace of sadness in his eyes, but that was soon replaced with a determined gaze.

I smiled at him and moved my lips to say: “Good luck, Nii-chan!”

He seemed to have understood my message, as his expression turned happier almost instantly and he sent me a smile back. Then he turned around and I saw his expression become increasingly serious as he stepped out of the room.

[5 minutes later]

Nii-chan entered the classroom again and as I looked at his forehead, I noticed that it was still empty. He had always worn googles before, but he had intentionally not worn them today, to make space for his hitai-ate.

He raised his eyes and I could see a small tear form in the corner of his eye.

He looked at me and gave me a helpless smile.

He looked so hurt, so small, I couldn’t help but jump up from my seat and run towards him.

Upon reaching him, I instantly embraced him in a tight hug, letting his head rest on my shoulder.

“Nii-chan, it’s okay … it’s okay.” I patted his back while gently whispering into his ear.

He needed to know that it was okay, we both already knew that it would be almost impossibly hard for him to pass, but still … it normal that it hurt him.

“I-I’m sorry … it seems like I will really need to repeat this year.” Nii-chan said in a tone that seemed to emit deep sadness.

“It’s fine, I’ll repeat this year with you, it’s okay!” I continued to gently whisper inside his ear.

After some time, I ended our hug and instead pulled him out of the classroom. “We have noting left to do in here.” Was what I thought while I pulled him out of the classroom.

Once outside of the school, I pulled him towards his favorite spot to sit at. It was near the school actually. There was one lonely swing beneath a big tree just outside the academy.

After untying my forehead protector and letting it fall down into the grass, I sat him down onto the soft grass and soon plopped down next to him.

Again, I hugged him and let him rest his head against mine.

After a few seconds, I could hear quiet sobbing exiting his throat.

As we sat there, gradually the students that passed exited the school and their parents congratulated them. Until now, I hadn’t even noticed that their parents had been waiting outside of the academy building. The children were smiling and the adults were laughing with faces full of happiness and pride in their children.

From time to time I could feel the adult’s stares on us … some filled with pity, some with malice and hatred and some even filled with indifference.

“Haha, serves them right those demons should never be allowed to become shinobi!” One said, a bit too loud for me to overhear them.

“True! I heard the girl even passed, but instead chose to leave and repeat a year with her brother! Foolish! Doesn’t that child know that the demon spawn she calls her brother will forever be useless!” Another said.

I could feel anger rising from deep inside of me.

“If they say another word, then they’ll pay for it all later!” I shouted inside of my head.

Right now, however, was not the time to be angry at those civilians. Instead, my Nii-chan should have all of my attention right now. Even if we knew that he would most likely not pass, he was still extremely excited and looked forward to being a Genin! Even if he can’t do a correct clone jutsu, he is still tens of times stronger than other students that passed!

If those people deserved to become Genin, then why could my brother not become one!?

After some time, my brother looked up at me and gave me a small, sad smile: “Naru, let’s go home, okay? I don’t want to be here anymore.” At some point, Naru had become my new nickname, though we couldn’t use the same one for Naruto-nii, as it would have been problematic to know who was meant. Instead I just chose to call him Nii-chan, he was the older twin after all~.

I nodded and used the Shunshin no Jutsu to move us into our home. Shunshin is a technique that allows shinobi to travel at insane speeds for a short range, it often involves concealing techniques that use material in the surroundings to mask a shinobi’s disappearance. This time, however, we did not need any of that. We just reappeared inside of our apartment and Nii squeezed my hand tightly for a bit longer before leaving towards his room.

“I’ll lay down for a bit, after that I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me Naru.” He said with a genuine smile on his face.

I nodded and went into my own room to rest.

Today, I wouldn’t do any training and I wouldn’t go into the forest to play either. I simply didn’t feel like it.

Instead I decided to sleep, it always helped me recover when I was down.

It really wasn’t fair that Nii-chan did not become a Genin today!

I took off my clothes and slipped under my blanket, instantly feeling the warmth of my bed calming me down.

As soon as my head the pillow I couldn’t suppress a content sigh.

“My bed really is heavenly~” I mumbled before closing my eyes and drifting off into a dreamless sleep. A tear inevitably formed at the corner of eye, caused by the sadness and injustice I felt towards my brother not having become a Genin.

…

A/N: Yes, Naruto did not pass in my version of the story either. Some can probably already kind of guess what will happen next, right? 😊

This time, I’ll release this before writing the next chapter, so that I don’t lose my motivation to proofread this for mistakes again, like I had with the last two chapters!

I hope this story can continue to garner everyone’s interest and relieve some of your boredom, even if only for a few minutes! 😊

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