The weekend ended, and the next morning, Kairi Shinatokawa's shadow clone arrived at the academy as usual, quietly making his way to his seat. In class, he was one of those background students quiet, unnoticed and since he sat next to Naruto Uzumaki, most people tended to leave him alone.
Kairi preferred it that way. Each day, he soaked up everything the academy had to offer, quietly but diligently. There were still parts of the textbook he hadn't finished reading, and once he did, he planned to ask Iruka-sensei for more materials.
As a seasoned ninja instructor, Iruka was bound to know about useful resources even if they weren't part of the formal curriculum.
"Kairi! Good morning!"
Just then, a cheerful voice called out, halting his steps. He turned and saw Ino waving at him with a bright smile.
"Morning, Ino," he replied with a small smile of his own. Even though he preferred to stay under the radar, it still felt nice to be noticed.
Around them, a few students looked surprised. Since when were these two so close? Still, no one made a fuss about it.
Kairi took his seat and glanced at the still-empty one beside him. He sighed softly. Naruto might have greeted him too if he ever arrived on time.
But expecting a notorious latecomer to show up early? That was wishful thinking. More often than not, Kairi and Naruto's arrivals were reversed.
Sure enough, Naruto arrived right on the bell, panting heavily. He'd clearly overslept again.
"Morning," Kairi said, flipping through his book without lifting his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to look up this arrangement just worked better for now.
"Morning!" Naruto replied enthusiastically. Very few people greeted him so casually, so it meant a lot. He wanted to get closer to Kairi, but every time he saw how focused the other boy was always reading, always studying he felt guilty about interrupting.
The day's lessons soon began. Kairi had already gone through most of the material on his own, but he still paid partial attention in class.
Sometimes the teacher's explanations differed from his own understanding, and when he heard a particularly insightful point, he would stop reading and take notes. This, too, was part of growing stronger. Even though he knew the original series, even though he was aware of high-level techniques, all of that meant nothing without a solid foundation.
Right now, Kairi was filling in the gaps laying brick after brick beneath that castle in the sky. When the foundation was complete, everything else would follow.
The morning flew by, and soon it was time for extracurricular training, usually supervised by Iruka. Kairi closed his book and got up from his seat.
Naruto followed him as usual, but this time Kairi was heading in a different direction.
"Where are you going, Kairi? The training grounds are over there," Naruto asked, puzzled.
"Just going to the bathroom. Go on ahead."
Kairi sighed internally. If Naruto kept tailing him, there'd be no way to switch places with his main body. He needed to be somewhere private to dispel the clone safely.
"Oh, okay." Naruto scratched his head and headed off, allowing Kairi to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Once he reached the bathroom and confirmed no one else was around, the clone dispelled with a puff of white smoke.
Not long after, the real Kairi his main body found a concealed spot and slipped quietly back onto the academy grounds. He was in good spirits.
As expected, nothing beats real-world application. His clone had lasted the entire morning with energy to spare. Originally, Kairi had planned to arrive earlier, but after catching a whiff of his sweaty self, he'd gone home to wash up first.
Now, as he walked toward the training field, he absorbed everything his clone had experienced. He recalled seeing Ino and remembered the faint joy from her greeting. Since the clone was essentially him, the feeling naturally echoed in his own heart.
Kairi felt genuinely content. The shadow clone test had been a major success.
As for Ino he didn't have any real thoughts about her. Not in that way, at least. After all, he had the soul of a man in his twenties. To him, six-year-old Ino was just a child. The idea of anything more? Completely off the table.
In his previous life, he'd even been a Blue Archive and Azur Lane player absolutely not the type to be interested in young girls.
Now that his body had completed its morning training, would he still have energy left for physical activity?
Absolutely. Compared to his personal training, academy exercises were a breeze almost like a break.
"Kairi, there you are! What took you so long?" Naruto ran over as soon as he spotted him.
"Stomachache," Kairi said, turning his head away. No way I'm telling the truth. Once I get better at the switch, this'll be much smoother.
"If you're not feeling well, you should rest," a voice chimed in unexpectedly.
Ino had appeared beside them.
"I'm fine," Kairi nodded, composed.
"Good. As long as you know to take care of yourself." Satisfied, Ino gave a brisk nod, then jogged off to rejoin her group of friends who were calling for her.
Naruto stood there, watching, a little envious.
"You don't have to envy me," Kairi said quietly, glancing at the rest of the class. "There are plenty of kids here who don't hate you. You've just never talked to them."
"Really?" Naruto scratched his head and looked around, still doubtful.
Kairi sighed. They may not dislike you, but it's not the same as acceptance either. Most likely, their parents had warned them to keep their distance. The reasons were obvious.
If Kairi hadn't known the story, would he have let his child get close to Naruto?
The answer was clear and entirely understandable.
Still, he spotted a certain figure slouching nearby and pointed it out.
"That guy, for example."
"Him? Isn't he always sleeping in class?" Naruto followed Kairi's gaze. The boy wasn't far away. He'd noticed him before.
"Yeah. Try talking to him," Kairi said with a nod.
Shikamaru Nara was the kind of person who saw through most things with that brilliant mind of his. Because of that, he didn't really hold any prejudice. He just couldn't be bothered to care.
But because of that same laziness, Naruto would need to make the first move.
Kairi vaguely remembered that in the original timeline, Shikamaru was a regular in the punishment group due to his habit of dozing off. He and Naruto got along well it's just that Naruto had never noticed.
Once Naruto befriended Shikamaru, getting close to Choji would be easy too. In fact, Choji might be the easiest of the bunch. Sasuke was tricky. Shino was aloof, but approachable if you put in the effort. Kiba wasn't too bad either.
So as long as Naruto targeted the right people, it was definitely possible.
As for Kairi himself? He had social anxiety. Why would he go making a bunch of friends?
Having given Naruto that little nudge, Kairi returned to his own agenda. Even if this was free time, there were still things he could do. Time was precious he couldn't afford to waste it.
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