"SHUT UP!" Iruka had lost his patience, slamming his book against his desk to silence everyone in his class. "If I find out that anyone—anyone at all—picks a fight with Naruto outside of the academy, I'll make sure they're expelled!"
"..."
"..." Naruto couldn't help but look at his sensei in a new light; it was the first time someone had defended him in a long time.
He could count on his fingers the people who had stood up for him and defended him: the small family at the ramen shop, the friendly Uchiha who always came accompanied by Sasuke's older brother, and now Iruka-sensei.
"Very well." Sighing to calm his nerves, Iruka continued with his class, taking the chalk and beginning to write on the board. "Today we will talk about the wars that have taken place in the last 200 years of the shinobi era. There have been three great wars and several smaller conflicts between some countries."
"Have you been to war, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously, raising her hand from her seat.
"No." He was still a child when the Third Shinobi World War was at its climax, and he wasn't a prodigy like Hatake Kakashi or others. Even children like Shisui and Itachi were part of the final moments of the war, which didn't end until the great massacre of the Yellow Flash. "And I hope you won't be part of one either."
"But sensei, the greatest ninjas have shone and emerged from war. This would be our chance to become famous too."
Several children agreed with Kiba; their parents had told them about the great feats of shinobi who performed great deeds in the wars, their names becoming legends in history.
The Three Legendary Sannin.
Hanzo of the Salamander.
The White Fang.
The Green Beast of the Leaf, the genin who killed five of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
Hatake Kakashi, the ninja who copied a thousand techniques.
Uchiha Shisui, the Body Flicker.
The Yondaime, also known as the Yellow Flash.
Uchiha Itachi, the prodigy.
More and more shinobi and kunoichi had left their mark on history.
The children dreamed of being like them, of being so famous and recognized.
Naruto was no exception; he too dreamed of being like them, of becoming a legend, of being recognized… of being loved and appreciated.
"You're wrong..." Iruka trampled on the illusions and dreams of his students, turning around with a serious expression to face them. They seemed confused by their sensei's sudden change in tone. He carefully placed his book on his desk. "War... is not something you want to be a part of."
"..."
"On the battlefield, there is no glory or honor, only death and pain… I sincerely hope that none of you ever have to be in one…"
"..."
The silence in the classroom stretched on until Iruka broke it by walking to the door and opening it. "I want us to watch something. Please come."
The children did not hesitate to do so; little by little, they organized themselves into a line to follow their sensei.
"Where do you think we're going?" Chouji asked aloud, following behind his lifelong friend, who always maintained that bored look in his eyes.
"I don't know. If I had known we had to go for a walk, I would have told Mom my stomach hurt and wouldn't have come."
"I don't think your mother would have believed you, Shikamaru."
"And what do you think, Sasuke-kun?"
"I don't know. I hope it's something interesting." Maybe it was one of those surprise tests his older brother talked about; whatever it was, he was prepared.
"Come on, Shino, you walk slowly."
"Or you walk fast, Kiba."
"Look, we're reaching the woods!"
"Calm down, Ino, you're going to rip my hand off."
"I'm sorry, Sakura."
Naruto watched from a distance the interaction between the circle of friends: Ino, Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Sakura, the main heirs of the village clans, along with Haruno, the smartest in the class.
He wanted to approach them and talk to them.
But he knew it was useless; their parents had surely told them not to go near him, just like the rest of the class.
The Uzumaki didn't even notice a silent Hinata, who slowly wanted to approach him and try to chat like everyone else, but the girl's shyness was much greater than her courage.
In the end, she was pulled away from him by Kiba, who didn't want her to be left behind, without seeing how the rest of the class, mostly children of civilians and clanless ninjas, surrounded the jinchūriki.
Naruto tripped and fell.
"Did you fall, idiot?"
"Dad says to stay away from you. He says you're dangerous. What a lie."
"Yes, my brother says you're a monster. With that face and those whiskers, hahaha, you're horrible."
"Your parents probably didn't want a son like you, and that's why they threw you away."
"And a loser like you wants to be Hokage? What a bad joke."
"Don't think that sensei will always protect you, monster, son of a b-" The older boy couldn't finish his threat, as dog poop, which was the only thing the Uzumaki had within reach, was thrown into his mouth.
Naruto didn't hesitate to run forward and tackle the bully.
"Leave me alone!" Naruto barely managed to land a punch on the boy's face, drawing blood from his nose. He couldn't land a second punch before someone grabbed him by his clothes and threw him to the ground.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the children cheered for the bigger boy as he lunged at the orphan and began punching him repeatedly in the face until his fists were stained with blood.
Naruto couldn't do much to defend himself. Being the smallest and most malnourished in the class, he couldn't do much against a child twice his weight, especially considering that the boy had other children backing him up.
"That's enough!" Iruka turned around to see what all the commotion was about, and he was furious to see the children forming a circle around two boys who were fighting. He easily lifted the larger child and separated him from the blond boy.
"He started it, Iruka-sensei!"
"Yes, he was bothering Towa, and he was just defending himself!"
"He has to be punished!"
"SHUT UP!" Iruka was really getting tired of this. Looking down, he saw the Uzumaki boy slowly get up, blood trickling from his mouth and several bruises covering his face. "Are you alri-"
"What's it to you!"
The blond boy's furious shout surprised the class, since he had never shouted like that before, much less at Iruka, who was one of the few Chunin at the academy who seemed to tolerate him.
"Look at him, he's going to cry."
"How silly of me, I was just asking if he was okay."
"He's a loser, he couldn't even defend himself."
Rage overflowed from the boy's chest, and when he looked up, he made many of the children tense as they saw his piercing gaze, which they could swear had a red glow in his eyes. They all thought he would explode in rage.
But…
"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei!" He stood up, spat out some blood, wiped his face as best he could with an old handkerchief, and gave his sensei a bright smile. "I played a prank on Towa. I thought the dog poop would hit his face, but it hit his mouth. Good aim, huh?"
"You see, sensei! He started it!"
"Punish him!"
"Or better yet, expel him!"
"..." Several veins popped out on Iruka's forehead. He had already reached his limit; however, before he could say anything, he saw Naruto running away. "Naruto, come back here!"
"Suck my foot, Iruka-sensei!"
Laughing, the boy ran away at full speed, leaving the class behind. In the end, he would skip class for the day until Iruka-sensei found and caught him, only to make him clean the academy's hallways again.
When he was far enough away, Naruto stopped smiling and sat down on top of a building he had climbed. Luckily, the crazy snake lady wasn't there; she was very intense and noisy, even more so than him.
Maybe they would get along.
Shaking his head, he knew that wouldn't happen.
With a sigh of resignation, he stared at the faces of the four Kage carved into the mountain.
He would.
One day, his face would be carved into the mountain. He was sure that everyone would respect him when he was strong and powerful, so he wouldn't be hurt again, and he wouldn't be alone either, because as Jiji said, the whole village was his family.
If he was Hokage, then the people of the village would consider him part of their family.
Those were the innocent thoughts of a six-year-old boy, who was unaware of what was outside, how big the world was, and everything he would have to go through to achieve his dream.
"When I grow up... I'll show them. I'll show them how strong Uzumaki Naruto can be," he muttered to himself as he let himself fall back to look at the clouds.
"On the battlefield, there is no glory or honor, only death and pain… I sincerely hope that none of you ever have to be in one…"
Those words passed through his head one last time before he fell asleep.
[ If you want to read advance Chapters then go to Pat reon and support me there.
PAT REON I'D:- Alzero ]