Two months later, at the Ninja Academy.
In the classroom, Nara Shikamaru listlessly propped his chin in his hand, glancing around at the growing number of students. He casually asked Akimichi Choji, who sat beside him, engrossed in eating potato chips, "Hey, Choji, do you think Sasuke will still come to school after... you know, what happened?"
"Huh? What happened?" Choji blinked, pondering for a moment, yet his chip-munching continued with astonishing rhythm.
"Oh yeah, Sasuke missed the final exams last semester. Shikamaru, do you know what happened?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes in exasperation and fell silent. He couldn't believe his friend could be so clueless.
Although the village deeply tabooed the incident and many adults avoided discussing it in front of children, two months had passed, and Choji still hadn't noticed anything amiss.
'If even Choji hasn't picked up on it, then that other guy probably hasn't either.'
Shikamaru, his expression unchanging, glanced sideways at the blond boy in the distance with his deadpan eyes.
The boy was propping his chin on his hand, his face etched with impatience and annoyance, occasionally glancing toward the doorway as if awaiting someone's arrival.
As time ticked by, the classroom gradually filled until only one seat remained empty.
The blond boy's impatience began to morph into anxiety.
'Creak!'
The front door of the classroom swung open, drawing all eyes to the entrance.
Sasuke walked in calmly, wearing a blue mandarin-collared short-sleeved shirt and white shorts.
At the sight of Sasuke, the previously chattering young ninja fell silent.
Though they were still young and the adults never openly discussed the Uchiha clan in their presence, the students weren't fools.
'Uchiha Sasuke was absent during the final exams.'
'Members of the Uchiha Police Force, once a common sight on the streets, had vanished without a trace.'
'The adults' veiled remarks, the conspicuous absence of Uchiha students from other classes and grades...'
Given the early maturity of minds in this world, most students—aside from a few thick-headed classmates—had already vaguely guessed what had happened to Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke completely ignored the curious, worried, sympathetic, and pitying glances that swept over him. These kinds of looks were nothing new.
For the past two months, whenever he appeared in Konoha, all sorts of people had been casting such glances at him—some well-intentioned, others malicious.
Whether well-intentioned or malicious, they usually waited until he was far away before whispering among themselves.
Some were worried about causing him further harm, others simply felt uneasy, and some just thought Sasuke was cursed with bad luck.
Sasuke had no interest in any of them, nor did he care what they thought.
"SASUKE!!!"
A thunderous shout reverberated through the classroom. Sasuke felt a burning, resentful gaze lock onto him as soon as he entered the room. Unlike the other stares, this one carried an undercurrent of fierce rivalry and raw enthusiasm.
Without turning around, Sasuke already knew who it was. Before entering the classroom, he had imagined many scenarios, and this was one of them.
He turned to see a figure with short golden hair, azure eyes, and six whisker-like markings on his face.
'Just as expected. You never disappoint.'
'Uzumaki Naruto!'
"Heh."
Sasuke chuckled softly, ignoring Naruto completely.
After scanning the classroom, he slowly walked toward an empty seat, his backpack slung over his shoulder.
"Hey, you jerk! Ignoring me? What's with that smirk?"
Seeing Sasuke ignore him only fueled Naruto's irritation. "You ran away last semester at the last minute—were you afraid I'd beat you? If that's the case—"
'Bang!'
Before he could finish, Haruno Sakura, standing nearby, smacked him upside the head with a sharp crack. "Naruto, you idiot! Shut up!" she roared.
Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but the burning, predatory glare in Sakura's eyes silenced him into sullen submission.
Sakura sighed in relief as Naruto finally quieted down.
"Sasuke-kun..."
From a distance, Sakura watched Sasuke with concern. She sensed he had changed.
The Sasuke she remembered had been proud, cool, and handsome.
Now, only a quiet stillness remained. A girl's intuition told her that beneath that calm lay a profound loneliness, a solitude that set him apart from everyone else.
Sakura bit her lip, a pang of sympathy rising within her.
Seated at his desk, Sasuke placed his textbook on the table and closed his eyes, seemingly shutting out the world around him.
His acutely sensitive perception had picked up not only Sakura's emotional gaze but also Naruto's.
Sakura's feelings were obvious—infatuated with the original Sasuke's looks and harboring romantic feelings for him. Now, after recent events, she seemed to have developed a girlish sympathy and a maternal protectiveness unique to women.
As for Naruto?
His impulsive behavior and carefree nature might suggest a lack of depth, but his inner emotions were remarkably perceptive.
Though his simple mind couldn't grasp the full extent of what had happened to Sasuke, his instincts seemed to sense something amiss.
Naruto's earlier provocation, delivered with his usual carefree demeanor, was simply his unique way of offering comfort or diverting attention—much like his pranks designed to grab the villagers' notice.
'These precocious little brats... Hah...'
'Creak.'
The classroom door swung open again, and Iruka entered with his textbooks and lesson plans. His gaze swept over the room, lingering noticeably longer on Sasuke before he subtly withdrew his gaze without a word.
Iruka was well aware of the Uchiha clan's overnight annihilation. Though he worried deeply about the boy and longed to help, he knew now wasn't the right time.
Any intervention now would likely backfire.
"Ahem."
Stepping up to the podium, Iruka cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Welcome, students, to a new semester! Let's begin with roll call."
'Academy life, huh?'
'Doesn't seem so bad after all?'
Sasuke mused inwardly as he watched Iruka passionately lecturing at the podium.
Though he now possessed three advanced cultivation manuals, some of their content was too advanced for his current knowledge, making them difficult to understand.
It was like trying to learn calculus when his original body's math skills barely covered junior high level.
There was still much he could learn at the academy.
Mastering the fundamentals first would naturally resolve the difficulties that currently plagued him.