The lunch bell rang. The tense silence that had followed Asahi's chakra affinity test shattered like glass, and the classroom returned to its natural state of chaos.
Children shot toward the courtyard, eager to eat and play. Chairs screeched against the floor. Laughter exploded like fireworks. The air filled with the aroma of hot rice and soy sauce.
Asahi moved deliberately. He slipped the chakra paper pieces —cut, soaked— into the inner pocket of his overshirt. They were evidence of his elements.
'Wind and Water,' he thought as he walked toward the exit. 'A powerful combination. Theoretically. In practice, I just ruined a piece of paper.'
He stepped outside and, instinctively, sought his usual corner: the back of the yard, beneath the shade of an old tree, where the wind didn't reach him directly and the noise thinned out. Like at the orphanage. Like in his shed. A place to observe without being seen.
He unpacked the bento Emi-san had prepared. The wrapped cloth still held the warmth of the kitchen. The rice was white, compact, perfectly cooked. The pickled vegetables crunched between his teeth. And in the center, two thick tamagoyaki, golden, gleaming like coins.
'Eat to perform,' he reminded himself, raising his chopsticks.
He was about to take the first bite when a shadow fell over him.
"Asahi! That was CRAZY!"
Kenji, from the orphanage, plopped down beside him without asking, radiating energy like a small nuclear reactor. His uniform was already stained with sauce.
"Eighty-five! EIGHTY! FIVE! Man! You should've seen that Uchiha's face! He looked like he swallowed a lemon!"
Asahi sighed inwardly. 'Great. Now I'm someone's friend. And the center of attention. The opposite of a low profile.'
"They were just push-ups, Kenji."
"'Just push-ups,' he says!" Kenji smacked his own thigh enthusiastically. "Iruka-sensei almost fainted! And the affinities? Two! My paper only wrinkled a little! What do Wind and Water mean? Does it mean you can make rain?"
"It means I have homework," Asahi murmured, putting the egg in his mouth. It tasted like home. Like discipline. Like purpose.
From his position, he observed the rest of the class. It was a microcosm of Konoha.
The clan kids clustered together. Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru had already formed a sort of symbiotic alliance based on food and laziness. Ino and Sakura sat nearby, throwing furtive glances at Sasuke, as if he were a sacred relic.
Sasuke, unsurprisingly, ate alone. His bento was elaborate, with separated compartments and perfectly arranged colors. He ate with the same efficiency he had shown running and doing push-ups. He noticed Asahi watching. Their eyes met for a second. Sasuke didn't smile. He only raised an eyebrow —a silent "And?"
Asahi looked away first.
Then came the Uzumaki group. Arashi, the red blur, had already finished —or inhaled— his food and was now trying to convince a reluctant Shino Aburame to show him his insects.
And away from all of them, under a different tree, sat Naruto.
He ate quietly, one hand holding food, the other a thick book. He was completely absorbed. The noise, the glances, even his brother —none of it seemed to matter.
'He's the real enigma,' thought Asahi, chewing slowly. 'How can someone be that calm in the middle of this circus? Is it the Yin-Kyuubi? Is that why?'
"Hellooo, Asahi," Kenji said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You spaced out again, didn't you? Come on, man, enjoy it! We're ninjas!"
'Not yet,' thought Asahi, finishing his egg. 'Not even close.'
The afternoon was, as Asahi had feared, a disaster.
"All right, tadpoles!" Iruka was back at the front of the class, looking fresh as if he'd just stepped out of a cold bath. "We've seen your physical potential and your affinities. Now let's see if you can use your chakra for more than ruining paper!"
Nervous laughter.
"Today, we'll learn the most basic and essential jutsu in a ninja's arsenal! Henge no Jutsu! The Transformation Technique!"
Iruka formed a sequence of hand seals —Ram, Boar, Tiger— so quickly that Asahi barely kept up.
"Henge!"
There was a puff of smoke, and where Iruka had stood, now stood a perfect copy of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The replica even coughed, stroked its beard, and adopted a "wise old man" pose. The air smelled faintly of sulfur and dust.
The class gasped in awe.
"The Henge isn't just an illusion!" explained Iruka's voice from the Hokage's mouth. "It's a real physical transformation! You're reshaping every cell in your body with chakra! Now, I want everyone to try transforming into me!"
Poof. Iruka was himself again. "The seals are Ram, Boar, Tiger! Focus!"
The room filled with small poofs and a collection of Lovecraftian horrors.
Kids who couldn't control their chakra became melted, lumpy nightmare versions of Iruka. Kenji turned into a two-meter Iruka with his own face. Arashi became an Iruka with red spiky hair.
Asahi took a deep breath. 'Ignore the chaos. Focus.'
He remembered the buzz. Searched for it. There it was. 'Ram. Boar. Tiger.' He formed the seals clumsily. His fingers felt thick and sluggish.
'Push the chakra.'
POOF.
Smoke. Nothing changed. His hands were still his.
He frowned. 'Too little chakra?'
He tried again. 'Ram. Boar. Tiger.' This time, he pushed harder. Felt the buzz vibrate.
POOF.
Nothing.
He heard a snicker. Kiba Inuzuka had turned into an Iruka with fangs and cheek marks. "Hey, look! Flex-boy can't go poof!"
Asahi ignored him. 'It's not about strength. It's control.'
He looked around. Saw Sasuke perform the seals. POOF. A flawless Iruka stood there, arms crossed, faintly smug.
Then he watched Naruto. The blond didn't even seem to care. He yawned, made the seals lazily. POOF.
A perfect Iruka.
The Iruka-Naruto sat down, pulled out his book, and started reading.
Asahi clenched his teeth.
'Damn it.'
The rest of the afternoon was a cycle of failure. While other students at least managed to change their hair color or height, Asahi achieved nothing. His body —so tuned, so obedient— was betraying him from the inside out.
The final bell rang. Asahi packed up, feeling the weight of mental fatigue. Not physical —mental. Like his brain had been used as a hammer to drive nails into stone.
"Homework!" Iruka shouted over the noise of children rushing out. "Practice your Henge! Read the first chapter of your history book! And don't get into trouble!"
Asahi left the academy, blending into the crowd. The afternoon sun was warm, golden, as if trying to comfort him. The air smelled of hot earth and late cherry blossoms.
His mental summary of the day:
'Diagnosis: Physically above average in endurance, below elite in speed. Mentally stable. In chakra... completely useless.'
His eighty-five push-ups felt very far away. What use was a strong body if he couldn't wield the basic tools of a ninja?
'I have a new objective,' he decided, as his feet automatically followed the road back to the orphanage. 'Physical training stays in maintenance mode. Now... how the hell do I train chakra?'
He passed through the Uchiha compound. The streets were clean, the houses large, with black-tiled roofs and polished wooden doors. Ahead, about twenty meters away, he saw Sasuke walking.
Suddenly, Sasuke stopped.
Asahi tensed. The muscles in his legs prepared for anything: attack, confrontation, provocation.
Sasuke turned slightly, just enough to glance over his shoulder. His dark eyes were analytical, cold.
They stood like that for a moment —the push-up phenomenon and the elite prodigy.
Sasuke gave a short, curt nod.
Asahi, caught off guard, returned the gesture.
Sasuke turned away and continued down the road toward his house.
Asahi watched him until he disappeared around the corner.