Chapter 18
Again and again, he fell from the tree. He could feel every fall on his body. His bones arched worse and worse as he would get up and try again. Gnashing his teeth, Naruto ignored the pain and his tiredness.
Slowly, he was getting up there, but the farther he got, the more it hurt to fall. He wasn't afraid; he was Naruto Uzumaki, and he would be the greatest Hokage ever. Such a little pain was nothing for him.
It was just pain. He would shake it off and try again. Over and over again. Until he mastered this super-secret technique and beat Sasuke for the first time. Then, Sakura would start looking at him the same way she looked at Sasuke.
He had everything planned out. He just needed to try a bit harder. Hyping himself up, Naruto rushed up the tree and started running up. One step after another, and just like that, he was only a few more steps away from the top. He had beaten his best record.
And if he fell now, how much would it hurt? And if he took a few more steps, would he be able to survive the fall? What if he broke his leg or something? What if he couldn't attend the academy because of it? Then he would fall behind even further and never be able to beat Sasuke.
'What is he doing?'
'How dare he attend the academy as Sasuke? He will never be a shinobi anyway. Only wasting others' time and effort.'
'I don't understand why the Third even allows him to learn. He is just a monster. What could he possibly learn?'
'That monster shouldn't be around the other kids.'
'Why is that fox even allowed to become a shinobi?'
'Disgrace.'
'Monster.'
'Demon.'
'Fox.'
"Ahh, shut up!"
And Naruto fell to the ground. Groaning on the ground as dust and dirt settled around him. It hurt like hell, so much that he wanted to cry. But he didn't know what hurt more—his back or remembering what others said about him.
They were just stupid idiots. Naruto didn't need to listen to them. But he still remembered what they called him. How they glared at him, full of hate and something more. Naruto could never understand what any of it meant.
Sometimes he just wanted to cry. But he hated it. He hated that he didn't have any friends. He hated that he was always alone. And he hated that he was always so weak and pathetic. Well, he would prove to everyone that even he could be a shinobi and not just any shinobi, but the greatest one in the world.
Then they would respect him and call out his name. His face would be carved into that mountain, and he would look after everyone like the Third. He just needed to try a little bit more. He knew he could do it. He had to.
"Alright! One more time!"
Jumping to his feet, Naruto was prepared to try again, only to fall on his face. He had completely forgotten how much it hurt and how little energy he had left. He was doing it every day, without a break.
He was so close to the top, but in the end, it was still far away. If he could just do it one more time, he was sure he could reach it then. But he was spent. Eating dirt, as he didn't even have the strength to pull himself up.
And he had to attend the academy tomorrow. He completely forgot, as he had been training for the whole weekend without stopping. He felt like he had just missed his best chance at succeeding.
"Wait."
Wasn't there something he was supposed to do for Monday? Oh, he completely forgot to prepare anything about his hero. He didn't want Iruka-sensei to get angry at him. He would then get punished and made to clean the whole academy or something.
But he was a bit sleepy right now. He would think of something after he rested his eyes a bit. He still had a whole night to make something up. Even if Iruka-sensei laughed at him again because he thought the Third was the best shinobi ever.
…
When Naruto saw Iruka walk into the classroom one minute before the class began, he couldn't stop shaking his legs. Naruto had just spent a whole night sleeping in the woods and barely managed to wash up before rushing to the academy.
And looking at how tired and uninterested Iruka-sensei was made it far worse. Naruto needed to think of something; he didn't want to be called an idiot again. Especially not a lazy idiot. Should he just go with the same presentation as he did last week?
"Sakura Haruto."
"Haruno, sensei. My name is Sakura Haruno."
"Same difference. Since you look so confident, why don't we start the presentation with you?"
"Like last week, my greatest hero is still Princess Tsunade. And I don't care what you say, not only is she the First Hokage's daughter, but also the greatest medic-nin that ever existed. She was able to develop an antidote to the most deadly poisons that ever existed, saving countless people during the Second Shinobi World War."
"Where is she now?"
Naruto was so engrossed in Sakura's story that Iruka-sensei's cold tone stunned him. Even Sakura lost her voice as she couldn't answer such a seemingly simple question. Even though Naruto didn't know this Tsunade nor cared to know her, he was sure that Sakura would know where her hero was if she were alive. So, why didn't she answer?
"Your hero left the village at the height of the Third War. Abandoning her duties and the village. Those are the facts. Not an opinion. Neither you nor I might ever know why she left; maybe it was for the greater good. But that doesn't change the fact that she left. So, I have a better question: if someone as great as Princess Tsunade couldn't handle being a shinobi, how do you imagine yourself being one and not abandoning the village?"
Naruto hated how Iruka's cold voice cut so deeply, and he wasn't even on the receiving end. He wanted to punch Iruka-sensei in the face and tell Sakura that she could be a great shinobi. But why would she believe a loser like him?
"Sasuke Uchiha, your turn. Who is your choice this week?"
"The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. It was said that he was the deadliest shinobi in the Third War and could fight a thousand men alone. Other villages ordered their shinobi to flee at the sight of him. That's how powerful and terrifying he was. And he was an orphan without any clan backing him, reaching such a level on his merit.
"He died at age twenty-four," Iruka-sensei's voice cut down on Sasuke. "He was such a great shinobi indeed. If even he died at such a young age, do you think any of you will survive longer? I think you know the answer."
Twenty-four—that was like fifteen years older than Naruto was right now. Naruto also admired the Fourth Hokage. His face was the coolest-looking, and he was a hero, too. But even he died. It was quite scary to think about it.
"What about you, Naruto?" Then suddenly, Iruka-sensei turned to him.
Naruto stayed silent as he didn't know what to say. Even if he had prepared anything, he didn't think he would be able to say it. It looked like there was no right answer, and this wasn't even an exam.
"I don't have anyone," Naruto replied. "I don't need to look up to any hero, for I will be the best shinobi that ever existed. Someone far stronger than any Hokage. I won't run away, nor will I ever die. No matter what, I will never give up."
"Just say you didn't do any research," Kiba was the first to laugh at Naruto. "A loser like you wants to be better than any Hokage?"
"And why can't Naruto be better than them, Kiba Inuzuka?" Before anyone could join in mocking Naruto, Iruka's words cut through them. "As arrogant and stupid as Naruto's answer was, it was far better than any of you provided. Do you even understand what I am trying to teach you?"
That surprised Naruto more than anyone else. Naruto was sure Iruka-sensei would berate him for not doing his homework or even laugh at his absurd words. But instead, he took Naruto seriously.
"Your greatest heroes, the best shinobi in history, all of them are or were just humans. Just kids like you all. Dreaming of greatness and thinking they could do anything. I told you all to dig them up, not to throw some dirt on their history, but for all of you to realize that they are not any different from you. They failed, they got hurt, and they died. That is the reality of being a shinobi. That is the world you will enter one day. So, learn from them. Not how to do the things they did, but how not to make the same mistakes they did. Do not be your heroes; be better."
This was different. For the first time, Naruto felt that Iruka-sensei cared about them. Even him. Aside from the Third, Naruto never had someone who cared about him. And even though it wasn't directed at him, he felt quite good about it.
"And you, Kiba and the rest, I guess. Have you ever even thought that you could be better than anyone else? I think you all are afraid. You all are afraid to fail. To fall. To get hurt. To disappoint. All of your eyes reflect only fear. Those will always be blind to what is most important. If there is anything you will remember from the Academy, let it be this: when you enter the world of shinobi, leave your fear behind. Fight, kill, or run—do it not out of fear, but out of resolve to succeed."
It felt that those words were directed at him. As Naruto could now understand it. Understand why he had failed in this secret training. Not because he wasn't capable of reaching the top, but because he was afraid of how much it would hurt if he fell.
He never thought about succeeding but rather of failing. For all his resolve, Naruto was a coward. And now he knew it, and even if he failed again, he wouldn't be afraid of it. From now on, he would only look to succeed.
"Oh, and Naruto—detention for the rest of the week for not finishing your assignment."
"What?"
Naruto only deflated under Iruka-sensei's cold and dark gaze that told him he knew Naruto didn't do his homework and was only making it all up on the spot. And he hoped he could try to finish his training today.
…
Naruto hated Mizuki-sensei. He was the worst. Boring as hell, and acted all high and mighty because he was a chunin or something. Naruto could bet every cup of ramen he had that Iruka-sensei could kick his ass.
Naruto couldn't even get some sleep in this class, as Mizuki always picked on him when he did. And all of this ninjutsu nonsense didn't make any sense at all. All Naruto ever needed was to kick some ass; he didn't care about anything else.
And those eyes of his were the same as everyone else's. Looking at him with hate and resentment. And only at him. Like Naruto was his worst enemy or something. Naruto wished he could punch him a thousand times so he would stop looking at him like that.
It would be wonderful if he could go out and train rather than sit here and listen to this nonsense he had no interest in. But he had to, and couldn't skip it. If only he could still be here and out there training at the same time. That would be awesome.
"Naruto Uzumaki, pay attention." Again, Mizuki berated Naruto like he was the only one who didn't listen to him.
"Bah!" Naruto only showed him his tongue and dared him to say anything else.
Even Sakura was reading from her book rather than listening to this loser. As pretty as Sakura looked, so absorbed in her book, Naruto couldn't help but hate her for being able to do as she wanted while he couldn't.
And he couldn't even look at Sakura for long before this annoying teacher would berate him. It was so annoying. He hated how boring and ugly Mizuki was. He hated spending even one more minute here.
So, Naruto decided. If he had to suffer, so would Mizuki. He was already scheming what kind of prank to pull off on Iruka-sensei. But he would have to wait; first, Naruto would deal with this idiot and make him regret looking at Naruto like that.
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to 7 more chapters and 28 chapters in total with all my other stories, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.