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The weekend had acted as a forge for Uchiha Sasuke. He strode into the Academy radiating a new, jagged intensity; his Sharingan had evolved, and he had tasted the destructive power of a B-rank jutsu. He didn't head for his own seat. Instead, he marched to the back of the room and planted himself directly behind Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice low and thick with a thirst for vindication. "I'm challenging you again. Right after school this afternoon."
Naruto turned in his seat, his expression a mask of calm, clinical observation. He didn't hesitate. "Sure." Then, he added a pragmatic condition: "But you'll have to arrange the venue. Somewhere private."
"Fine. Follow me when classes end." Satisfied with the quick agreement, Sasuke spun on his heel and returned to the front row. He closed his eyes, already visualizing the trajectory of his flames and the movements of his refined eyes.
Inuzuka Kiba immediately leaned over, whispering urgently. "Hey, Naruto! You're just going to take that? The guy looks like he's out for blood this time!"
"It's just a spar," Naruto shrugged, his tone matter-of-fact. "Besides, it's not like you're offering much competition lately." He began ticking names off on his fingers. "Shino is willing, but he won't use his strongest bugs—says he's afraid of losing control. And I keep accidentally crushing the ones he spent months breeding; it's becoming a logistical pain."
He continued his count. "Shikamaru... well, you know. Moving is too much trouble for him. Choji is game, but until he masters his clan's calorie-control techniques, it's like fighting a boulder. Why would I say no to an Uchiha who is actually willing to go all-out?"
"Akamaru is still too small to fight! Of course I'm not going hard on you!" Kiba huffed, cradling the sleeping white pup. He slid toward Shino with an exaggerated gesture of "I'm-not-with-you."
As the group shifted, a soft, tentative voice drifted from the aisle. "Um... excuse me... may I sit here?"
Hyuga Hinata stood there, her fingers nervously laced and her cheeks a light shade of pink. She looked at the empty seat beside Naruto with a hopefulness that was uncharacteristically bold.
"No," Kiba blurted out, territorial by nature.
"Of course you can, Hinata—please," Naruto interrupted warmly, his voice a sharp contrast to Kiba's bluntness.
Kiba deflated with a long, dramatic sigh. "Well... if Naruto says so." He turned to Shino, who was already sitting on the bench. "Hey, Shino, scoot out; we're cramped."
He then noticed that Aburame Shino had already noiselessly relocated to the very edge of the seat, having seemingly calculated the space requirement before Kiba even spoke. Shino regarded him through his dark lenses, a silent sentinel of efficiency.
Up front, Shikamaru's ears perked up. He and Choji—who was noisily dispatching a bag of chips—glanced back. Watching a high-level duel beats doing homework, Shikamaru mused.
Ino Yamanaka had also sensed the shift. Her sharp gaze flicked between Naruto and Hinata, her nostrils flaring at the hint of a "rival" entering the fray. Naruto and the Hyuga heiress... they look a bit too familiar, she thought, her inner "face-judger" and tactician working in tandem.
"Naruto-kun."
Sakura Haruno, sitting beside Ino, gathered her courage. Her voice was trembling slightly as every head in the back row turned to her. Cheeks pink, she pressed on: "I... Ino and I would like to watch your match this afternoon... would that be all right?"
Naruto gave an easy, nonchalant shrug. "I don't mind," he said evenly. "But Sasuke initiated this and he's picking the site. His call matters; I'll respect his choice on witnesses."
He deftly passed the social burden to the challenger. Sakura glanced at Ino with a look of pure dread. Naruto was easy to talk to; Sasuke was a wall of ice.
Ino sighed, standing up to support her friend. They threaded through the desks to where Sasuke sat. Sakura drew a steadying breath and asked as gently as she could, "Sasuke-kun... would it be okay if we watched the match?"
Sasuke didn't even open his eyes. He turned his head away as if the very sight of them was an interruption to his meditation. In a flat, icy tone, he tossed out a single word:
"Whatever."
It wasn't a "yes," but it wasn't a "no." In Sasuke's mind, he wanted witnesses to his victory, but his confidence was a measured sixty or seventy percent. Evolving his Sharingan to two Double Tomoe eyes had improved his vision, but it lacked the qualitative, world-shaking leap he had felt at the first activation.
He was stronger, yes—but he knew Naruto was a shadow that wouldn't be easily dispelled.
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