"Stop!!"
The moment the teacher saw that a simple student spar had produced a mound of earth that huge, he rushed over and called a halt. Staring up at the pile, which stood even taller than he did, he pressed a tired hand to his forehead.
"I did say you could use basic ninjutsu, but this is a little excessive, Byakuya."
"...It was an accident."
Byakuya answered in a low voice.
This was not the sort of thing he could get away with by sticking out his tongue and saying it had been a mistake. One of the students had been buried underground, and the first priority was obviously getting him out.
The problem was, Byakuya only knew how to use jutsu. He had no idea how to undo a heap of earth once he had piled it up.
"The spar is over. Everyone, come here and help dig Kakashi out."
The teacher calmly directed the students into a rescue effort, and Byakuya, looking deeply awkward, joined them and started digging too.
With everyone working together, they dug for quite a while before they finally reached Kakashi underneath.
He was lying there in a daze, probably pinned down by the sheer weight of the dirt. Covered head to toe in mud, he struggled for a moment before finally managing to sit up.
"...Sigh. Byakuya's actions in this match could very well have caused Kakashi serious injury. Therefore, Byakuya is disqualified. The winner is Kakashi."
Fortunately, Kakashi did not seem badly hurt, and the teacher did not tear into him the way Byakuya had feared.
The real problem was that the looks people were giving him had grown even colder.
Then again... maybe that was better?
Byakuya could not help thinking that.
Kakashi was supported on the way to the infirmary, and the joint class, which had ended with everyone doing nothing but dig for half the lesson, was obviously going to become the talk of the school.
"Sigh!"
Byakuya let out a long breath.
Figures. A peaceful life was never going to be in the cards for him.
---
Kakashi was deep in thought.
He had to admit that before Byakuya used Earth Style, he really had left an opening.
If Byakuya's taijutsu had been better in that moment, he could easily have used that opening to subdue him and win the spar.
The real issue was that the scale of that Earth Style jutsu had been far bigger than anyone expected.
"...If I'd used ninjutsu too, I definitely would've won."
Officially, yesterday's match had been ruled a victory for Kakashi. But no one who had been there, including Kakashi himself, really believed that.
And because of that, the bitter sting of that rare loss sat in Kakashi's chest like a splinter, refusing to go away.
He stayed stuck in those uncomfortable thoughts for so long that, without even realizing it, his feet carried him toward Byakuya's classroom.
"Oh? This is a surprise. What are you doing here?"
The first one to call out to Kakashi was Asuma, who had crossed paths with him a few times before.
Kakashi casually looked around, though it was obvious enough that he was searching for someone. Asuma immediately saw through him and guessed he was there for Byakuya, giving him a smile tinged with regret.
"If you're looking for Byakuya, he's not here."
"...Where did he go?"
"That guy graduated early."
"What?"
Even if Kakashi usually paid little attention to what was going on around him, he had heard the rumors about someone graduating early.
But he had never imagined that person would turn out to be Byakuya, and the surprise showed plainly on his face.
"He went to see the Hokage?" Kakashi asked.
"How should I know?"
Asuma shrugged and told him class was about to start, so he should head back.
Kakashi looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then finally turned and started back toward his own classroom.
---
No matter how reluctant he was, Byakuya had still ended up here in the end.
He lingered outside the Hokage's office for what felt like forever before finally forcing himself to knock.
"I've been waiting for you to come in."
Apparently, the Hokage had sensed his presence the moment he reached the door.
Byakuya felt awkward for some reason. After a brief greeting, he walked straight to the desk and stopped in front of the mountain of paperwork covering it.
"There has been a lot of discussion about where to assign you. Putting you in a normal squad would be difficult, because your case is unusual. But sending you to the ANBU would not do much for you either. There is not much there that could teach you."
Byakuya listened carefully as the Hokage got straight to the point, but then he heard footsteps approaching down the hallway.
"So in the end, we decided to place you on a team after all. Somewhere with a great deal you can observe and learn from."
"Ah... yes, sir." Byakuya nodded.
"And, as it happens, I believe they've arrived."
The Hokage smiled faintly and turned toward the door.
Byakuya followed his gaze just in time to see the owners of those footsteps appear in the doorway.
"Hey there. So you're Byakuya?"
"You look way younger than I expected."
"Yeah, you're tiny."
The three of them came in talking over one another, friendly and noisy, crowding around to pat Byakuya lightly on the shoulders.
By their features alone, Byakuya recognized them at once. They were some of the story's most familiar faces.
"Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Chōza," the Hokage said by way of introduction. "Starting today, they'll be your teammates."
"Looking forward to working with you," all three said together.
Byakuya understood immediately. So that was what the Hokage had meant when he said this would be a place where there was much to learn.
Each of them took immense pride in their clan. There was no chance they would teach an outsider the secret techniques passed down in their families, so what Byakuya was meant to learn here obviously was not ninjutsu.
Put simply, the Hokage wanted him to learn from them what comradeship meant, what teamwork meant.
After all, there was no squad in the village more perfectly synchronized than the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
The problem was that Byakuya had been planning to go somewhere ordinary, blend quietly into the background, and slowly fade from notice. Now that plan had been blown to pieces.
"Looks like our new little teammate doesn't like us very much."
"Big brother's heart is breaking~~"
"At your age, calling yourself big brother is a bit of a stretch."
Since Byakuya had frozen up after greeting them and said nothing else, the three started bickering among themselves almost immediately.
Looking troubled, Byakuya sneaked a glance toward the Hokage, only to find him still sitting there with that gentle smile, even nodding as if he were thoroughly pleased with this team arrangement.
Come on, this can't be right.
Byakuya complained silently to himself.
"First, we should probably test his ability," Inoichi said, the first to sound serious. "Hokage-sama, we'll take our leave now."
"Very well. I'll leave the rest to you."
"Don't worry, we've got it. Come on, let's go!"
Inoichi seemed strangely enthusiastic as he waved for Byakuya to follow.
Give me a break...
Shoulders slumped, Byakuya trailed after the three of them like a dog being dragged to the butcher, unable to stop himself from letting out one long, miserable sigh.
In the back of his mind, one thought kept circling.
Maybe... I should just go back to the Academy and repeat the year...