Mirai retreated two steps and pretended to panic as four Naoris surrounded him.
He dodged left and right, wildly swinging his wooden kunai as he blocked attacks coming from every direction.
The watching students grew tense.
Some even covered their eyes.
Naori secretly rejoiced.
She controlled the three clones and attacked Mirai from different angles while circling behind him herself.
Gripping her wooden kunai tightly, she thrust toward his back.
Just before the weapon touched his clothes, Mirai suddenly moved.
Without even turning around, he dropped his center of gravity and swept one leg cleanly behind him, striking the feet of the hidden attacker with perfect accuracy.
Poof!
The three clones vanished at the same time.
Naori lost her balance and pitched forward, crashing to the ground as her wooden kunai flew from her hand.
A moment later, Mirai pinned her down.
One leg stopped her from kicking free, his left hand held her in place, and the wooden kunai in his right rested lightly beside her neck.
“You lost,” he said.
The entire field fell silent.
Naori lay flat on her back, her face turning bright red all the way to the tips of her ears.
Mirai had restrained her from extremely close range, and only now did he realize that his hand had landed in a rather awkward place.
“Y-You!” Naori’s voice shook with embarrassment and anger.
“Get off!
Hurry up and get off!”
Mirai finally registered the problem.
He quickly pulled his hand away, stood, and stepped back.
He even offered to pull her to her feet.
Naori slapped his hand away.
Her eyes had already gone red.
Before Toriyama could even announce the result, she turned and ran.
Her long black hair swept through the wind as she disappeared beyond the trees at the edge of the field.
“…Winner, Mirai Uzumaki,” Toriyama announced awkwardly.
He looked at Mirai, seemed about to say something, and finally only shook his head.
Mirai scratched his head.
“…Did I do something wrong again?”
Kushina charged over and jabbed one finger into his chest, her little face pulled tight.
“Mirai!
Where exactly did you put your hand just now?!
You can’t touch girls there!”
“Huh?
But she’s seven.
At that age, is there even much difference between the front and the back?”
The entire class went silent.
Kushina’s face turned red too.
She smacked him on the forehead.
“Idiot!
It doesn’t matter how old she is!
You can’t just touch people wherever you want!
Go apologize!”
“All right, all right.
I’m going.”
When they returned to the classroom, Naori sat at her desk with her head lowered, not moving.
Her deskmate tried several times to talk to her, but she avoided the conversation every time.
Mirai walked over and lightly tapped her desk.
“Naori?”
No response.
“Naori Uchiha?”
Still nothing.
Mirai sighed, bent slightly closer, and lowered his voice.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier.
I really didn’t do it on purpose.
I’ll pay more attention next time.”
Naori’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Slowly, she raised her head.
The corners of her eyes really were red and slightly wet, though she hadn’t actually cried.
Her usually cold expression was filled with complicated emotions – embarrassment, frustration, and something even she probably couldn’t explain.
She bit her lip and remained silent for a long moment before finally muttering, “…Go away.
I wasn’t crying.”
“Then why are your eyes red?”
“Dust got in them!”
“…Right.
Dust.”
Mirai didn’t expose her excuse.
He straightened up and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Naori stopped him.
Mirai looked back.
She clenched her fist, took a deep breath, and looked directly into his eyes.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was firm.
“Next month, I’ll challenge you again.
And next time…
I absolutely won’t lose.”
Mirai looked at the renewed fire in her dark eyes and suddenly found the stubborn little girl rather interesting.
“Sure.” He smiled.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Back at his seat, Kushina leaned closer and whispered, “Did she forgive you?”
“No idea.
She said she’s going to fight me again next month.”
“…And you’re still going to fight her?”
“Why not?” Mirai leaned back in his chair.
“It’s not like she can beat me.”
Kushina stared at him, then leaned even closer.
“You don’t…
like that Uchiha girl, do you?”
“What?”
“I don’t care!
You promised me we’d go study sealing techniques with Grandma Mito after school!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it!”
Mirai stared at her in complete confusion.
He couldn’t follow the logic connecting those two things at all.
Kushina huffed and turned away, refusing to look at him.
Outside the window, the setting sun painted half the sky red.
The classroom buzzed with the chatter of children.
Mirai leaned back and watched the burning clouds in the distance.
His days were exhausting, but they weren’t bad at all.
…
Kushina had been acting a little strange lately.
More specifically, her eyes kept drifting toward a certain direction without her noticing.
During class.
During meals.
Even while Grandma Mito was staring directly at her and making her study sealing techniques.
She was always watching Mirai.
Or, more accurately, she was watching what was happening between Mirai and Naori Uchiha.
Ever since that “accident” during practical combat class, Naori still wore her usual cold expression, but whenever she ran into Mirai in the hallway, her footsteps would pause for a moment before she quickly lowered her head and walked away.
Mirai, meanwhile, had clearly become gentler with Naori.
Perhaps because he had promised Mikoto-senpai to “go a little easier” on her.
Kushina noticed every bit of it, and for some reason, it left a sour feeling in her chest.
“Hmph.
What’s so special about her…?”
Once, after seeing Naori’s ears turn slightly red as she passed Mirai in the corridor, Kushina couldn’t help muttering to herself.
“Long black hair isn’t that impressive.
Red hair is way rarer…”
She couldn’t explain why she cared so much.
She and Mirai had come from the Land of Whirlpools together.
They lived under the same roof, went to school together every day, ate Grandma Mito’s cooking together, and even got smacked on the head by Big Sis Tsunade together.
She was obviously the person closest to him.
Yet whenever she saw Mirai smile at Naori, her chest still felt strangely tight.
‘I’m not jealous,’ Kushina told herself.
‘I just…
don’t like seeing it.
That’s all.’
She couldn’t figure the feeling out for now, so she simply kept it buried.
Fortunately, the Academy soon began a short break, which meant she no longer had to face that irritating black-haired girl every day.
On the first day of vacation, Mito once again summoned both children to the sealing chamber.