"Ugh, morning already?"
Naruto stretched like a lazy cat, a big yawn escaping as the sunlight sneaked through his window.
He zombie-walked to the sink, splashed some cold water on his face – gotta wake up somehow – and checked himself out in the cracked mirror.
"Man, these blue eyes sometimes feel like Gojo's Six Eyes, you know? Too bad I can't do any of that Infinity stuff."
Next stop: the fridge. The blast of cold air was a bit of a shocker. He grabbed his water bottle, poured a glass, and plopped down, his mind already buzzing.
"Today's the academy... Begin."
Seriously though, what was the point? They didn't even teach the cool C or D rank ninjutsu.
He finally hauled himself up for a shower. After getting clean, he emerged, towel-drying his hair like he was in a slow-motion movie.
Drip!
Drip!
Drip!
The sound of water hitting his shoulders was the soundtrack to his morning routine.
White t-shirt, comfy black pants – the uniform of chill.
A glance at the clock: 7:30 am.
"Sweet, still got ages before eight."
Instant ramen time! The familiar smell filled the air as he slurped down his breakfast.
"Yo, System," he thought, "how do I level up faster? At this rate, getting to a million XP for that Tail Beast card is gonna take, like, forever."
[Host has been provided with things that earn him XP's...]
[If host wants to speed things up, he should defeat more enemies to earn quick XP...]
"Ugh," Naruto groaned.
"So, it's all on me, huh? Grind time it is. Training, learning jutsus, and beating up bad guys – got it," he muttered to himself.
Clack!
Apartment door locked, he headed towards the academy.
——
He reached the academy doors and wandered towards the auditorium. Inside, it was a total zoo of nervous newbies, buzzing like a hive of stressed bees.
Mumble... mumble...
Up on stage, old man Hiruzen was chilling with Iruka, Mizuki, the principal dude, and even Ebisu and Kurenai with a bunch of other staff. Talk about a welcoming committee.
The Hokage got up, his robes making a soft rustling sound as he moved to the front of the stage.
Suddenly, it was pin-drop silence. All eyes were on the Hokage. Even the nervous chatter died down.
Creak!
His eyes scanned the crowd, giving everyone a good once-over. Then he spotted Naruto, who had just casually strolled into the auditorium. Smooth entrance, dude.
Naruto's eyes did a quick scan of the VIPs on stage before landing on the crowd. First up: Choji.
Munch... munch...
Choji was in his own world, happily chomping on chips, totally unfazed by the awkward silence.
Next to him stood Ino, her bright blonde hair in a little ponytail, looking all excited.
And on Ino's left? Shikamaru, mid-yawn.
"Soooo boring," his eyes seemed to say, taking in everything with zero enthusiasm.
"Heh."
Naruto chuckled to himself. "Just like the anime."
Hinata was standing a bit away from the others, fiddling with her fingers, head down, but sneaking a shy peek in his direction.
Aww.
Naruto also spotted Kiba, Shino, Sakura, and a bunch of other familiar and not-so-familiar faces.
Then, the Hokage's gaze locked onto a kid with spiky black hair – Sasuke. The kid was practically radiating anger, giving him a death stare. The Hokage looked a bit confused by it all.
'What's Sasuke's problem? Why's he glaring at me like that...?'
Finally, the Hokage's attention swung back to Naruto, who, despite his late arrival, seemed way more interested in the ceiling than the big speech about to happen.
'Sigh... these kids.'
"Ahem... ahem..."
The Sandaime cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again.
Then he started talking, his voice echoing through the auditorium. Minutes stretched into what felt like hours under the weight of his words.
'When is this old windbag gonna finish?' Naruto grumbled internally.
Oblivious to the mental eye-rolls, Hiruzen droned on. He talked about Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, how the village was founded, and the super important thing about putting Konoha first, always.
After what felt like a lifetime, he finally got to his famous lines, reciting the "Will of Fire" poem with all the dramatic flair he could muster.
"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."
'This old guy is talking about the old nurturing the new, but Danzo's out there actively crushing any talent or dragging them into his creepy Root organization,' Naruto thought with a snort.
'And this Hokage knows all about it but just whines about his old buddy embracing the dark side and does nothing to stop him. Fucking hypocrite.'
The Academy Principal then chimed in with a few short words before telling everyone to find their classrooms and meet their new classmates.
As the students flooded towards the exits, Naruto spotted Sasuke in the crowd, his face a carefully controlled mask of pure rage.
'Looks like our little chat left a mark.'
"That Uchiha brat is a walking volcano of anger. It's gotta be eating him alive to keep it all bottled up," Kurama chuckled darkly in Naruto's mindscape.
"Yeah, yeah..."
Naruto nodded. He had a feeling Sasuke's newfound knowledge was going to explode sooner or later.