Chapter 5: Didn't Your Parents Teach You?
After leaving Naruto's apartment, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand on the empty street.
A cat-masked Anbu instantly appeared in front of him and knelt on one knee, awaiting orders.
"Pass this down: No villager is allowed to refuse selling goods to Naruto. No one is permitted to insult or curse him to his face. Violators will be severely punished!"
"Yes!"
The Anbu accepted the order and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
One month later — Academy Enrollment Day.
Naruto arrived at the Ninja Academy at a leisurely pace, without carrying the ugly green schoolbag the Third Hokage had given him.
At the school gate, most new students were accompanied by their parents.
Among the crowd, Naruto spotted many familiar faces: Shikamaru with his pineapple-shaped hair, the pink-haired Sakura, the blonde Ino, the chubby Choji… and right nearby, Shino, whom he almost missed.
His gaze swept over them one by one.
When he saw a young Sasuke, the other boy was also staring straight at him.
Sasuke's parents were absent. The one who had brought him to school was his older brother — Uchiha Itachi (the one who beats seven at once).
The moment their eyes met, Sasuke's large, cute eyes trembled slightly.
"This guy…"
For some unknown reason, the instant he saw Naruto, a complicated emotion surged in Sasuke's heart — a strange mix of wanting to get closer to him… and wanting to pin him down and beat him.
Many civilian parents also noticed Naruto and quickly lowered their voices to warn their children.
"Remember that blond kid over there. Don't play with him. Stay far away, understand?"
Their voices were quiet, but Naruto heard every word clearly.
Because right now, he was maintaining the Wind Breathing state. His physique and five senses were greatly enhanced.
During this past month, in order to reach the [Constant] stage as quickly as possible, Naruto had kept his breathing in the Wind Breathing rhythm almost all the time except when sleeping.
At first, he had worried that maintaining the breathing technique for such long periods might damage his body.
But after persisting, the Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body once again proved its worth. The side effects of the breathing method were negligible to this body.
After a good night's sleep, he could almost fully recover.
Naruto even suspected that if he unlocked the [Demon Slayer Mark] — which drastically shortened one's lifespan in that world — it probably wouldn't affect his lifespan much either. Just like how Yoriichi Tsugikuni was born with the mark and still lived a full life.
He entered the academy, walked into the classroom, and chose a seat in the back row by the window — good air, plenty of sunlight.
As more students filled the room, everyone began looking around curiously.
Among them, Sasuke and Naruto quickly became the center of attention. Sasuke because he was handsome. Naruto because he was even more handsome — plus the added heat from the demon fox rumors.
Sasuke deliberately kept a cold expression, trying to imitate his cool older brother Itachi.
But when he noticed more people whispering about Naruto, an inexplicable sense of competitiveness rose in his chest. He puffed his cheeks in displeasure.
Sakura nudged Ino's shoulder. "That Uchiha over there is so handsome! He's totally my type! Ino, don't fight me for him, okay? We're best friends!"
She expected Ino, who also liked good-looking boys, to argue with her. Instead, Ino's gaze was fixed on a blond figure by the window. She waved her hand casually without turning her head. "Sure, sure. He's all yours."
Sakura followed Ino's line of sight and saw Naruto's face.
Under the sunlight, his golden hair and deep blue eyes made Sakura's eyes brighten.
With a suspicious look, she asked, "Ino… don't tell me you've fallen for that demon fox!"
At the word "demon fox," Ino finally turned to Sakura with an annoyed expression.
"Demon what? Since when does a demon fox look that handsome? Sakura, stop saying such annoying things from now on!"
Sakura's face twisted into an expression of disbelief.
Behind them sat Shikamaru, resting his cheek on one hand and looking sleepy, while Choji kept stuffing potato chips into his mouth.
Watching the two girls excitedly discussing handsome boys, Shikamaru yawned. "Women… really are troublesome creatures."
The usually quiet Hinata had also heard Sakura's comment about Naruto.
The gentle girl rarely felt this way, but right now she found Sakura quite unpleasant.
However, due to her shy personality, she could only tightly grip the hem of her clothes and silently retort in her heart:
[Naruto-kun is not a demon fox at all… He's clearly so amazing and so gentle. Why does everyone say that about him…]
At that moment, a young male teacher walked into the classroom.
He wore standard Konoha ninja attire and had an ordinary face, but the most noticeable feature was the long scar across his nose.
As soon as he entered, he clapped his hands, and the noisy classroom fell silent.
"Everyone! My name is Iruka Umino, and I'll be your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you all!"
Iruka stepped onto the platform and scanned the class.
His gaze eventually landed on Naruto.
In that instant, Iruka's eyes trembled. He recalled that night — the mountain-like Nine-Tails swinging its nine fiery tails and rampaging through Konoha.
Iruka was probably one of the people who remembered Naruto's birthday most clearly. Because that was also the day his own parents died.
For a brief moment, a trace of hatred flashed in Iruka's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
Naruto caught that flash of hatred, but didn't really care.
In the original story, Iruka was one of the few people who genuinely cared for him — even willing to take a windmill shuriken for him. Many fans even said that if Naruto never went dark, the villagers of Konoha owed Iruka a big thanks.
But at this first meeting, Naruto had no intention of deliberately building that bond.
Iruka withdrew his gaze and smiled brightly.
"Alright, everyone. Let's do some self-introductions so we can get to know each other! I'll go first. My name is Iruka. My favorite food is ramen, and my dream is to become a teacher that everyone can acknowledge. You can introduce yourselves the same way. Let's start from the student on the far left."
The boys' dreams were simple — mostly about becoming strong ninjas.
Naruto listened for a while but quickly lost interest.
Until it was Sakura's turn.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. My favorite food is red bean pudding. My dream is to become — or even surpass — a medical ninja like Lady Tsunade!"
Hearing her confident tone, an image of two people and one dog popped into Naruto's mind. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
His laughter immediately drew everyone's attention.
Being laughed at for her dream, Sakura's face turned angry. She pointed at him and shouted:
"What are you laughing at?! Didn't your parents teach you that it's extremely rude to laugh at others?!"
The moment those words left her mouth, Naruto's smile instantly vanished.