Chương 11

Several nearby children immediately looked uncomfortable seeing Naruto sit there. A few subtly shifted away. Both Naruto and Rei noticed it. By now Naruto was used to it, and Rei never cared, and this was the primary reason why Naruto loved being around Rei. Naruto would have loved to spend more time with him, but unfortunately, Rei hardly ever showed up to play. Now that they were in the same class, it meant Naruto would have someone to talk to.

"…You sound very confident for someone who probably hasn't studied at all," Rei commented dryly while sitting down.

"Hah?! Of course I studied!" Naruto protested immediately.

"…Naruto."

"…Okay maybe a little."

"…You definitely didn't."

"I read ramen menus at Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto declared proudly, after thinking deeply about it. Rei stared at him for several seconds.

"…That is not going to help you in the Academy." Naruto grinned, not bothered at all. And somewhere nearby, Sasuke Uchiha glanced briefly toward the loud blond idiot sitting beside the strangely calm dark-haired boy before quietly looking away again. The Academy year had officially begun.

2 years later. It had been some time since Rei had first stepped inside the Academy for the first time. 2 years had gone by in a flash. Living this life always made Rei feel like it was a dream. He felt nothing around him was real, and then he would see the classroom and convince himself that this was his reality.

Sometimes he wondered if he was in a different time, because he had read the manga and watched the anime, and even dabbled in the light novels about Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Hyuga Clan, so a part of him always felt that not only had he transmigrated but he had also travelled through time because the manga/anime had already happened. Thus him being able to live it meant he had travelled through time. Did an Otsutsuki make changes in time? Eh! Whatever! Who cares. He just needed to survive.

While Rei went through a very minor existential crisis, the last 2 years hadn't been totally uneventful. Last year, finally the fabled massacre happened. When Sasuke Uchiha returned after 2 weeks in the hospital, he wasn't the same guy anymore. Sure, he was broody and carried pride for being one of the Uchiha before, but now he was just broody and had only one goal in his mind. Rei felt bad thinking about him. He had actually wanted to go and fish some contracts, but he didn't dare to even execute 0.

1% of the plan. Because the sheer action of even stepping near any Uchiha during the peak of the "isolation by Konoha" would set alarm bells off for that one-eyed bitch. So he steered away from them. Though he felt sad about missing some contracts with them, he promised himself that he would find ways to get Uchiha constitution for sure in the future. There would be many candidates for his contracts in the future. The broody one. The insane one. The simp one. The delusional one. Many to go.

As Rei daydreamed about all this in class, he saw Naruto Uzumaki enter the classroom. Naruto looked the same as always. Loud, energetic and smiling too much for someone who got glared at by half the village on a daily basis. Honestly sometimes Rei wondered if Naruto was mentally built out of titanium or something. Any normal child should have broken long ago under that kind of isolation. Yet Naruto still came to class loudly announcing his arrival like some kind of orange natural disaster.

"REI!" Naruto shouted immediately after spotting him. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"…Good morning to you too." Rei replied dryly while watching Naruto practically throw himself onto the nearby seat.

"You won't believe what happened yesterday!" Naruto immediately started rambling.

"Old man Teuchi gave me extra ramen because I helped clean the tables and then this cat stole fish from a shop and then..." Rei quietly listened while half the classroom visibly groaned from Naruto's volume. Meanwhile Sasuke Uchiha looked like he wanted to spiritually leave the room. Business as usual. Honestly, over the last two years Rei had gotten used to this strange classroom dynamic. Naruto being loud. Sakura screaming at Naruto.

Sasuke silently existing in the corner while unintentionally causing emotional damage to half the girls in class. And somewhere in between all this chaos sat Rei himself, trying to survive both the Naruto plotline and Academy education simultaneously. The classes themselves passed normally enough. Basic chakra theory. History. Kunai handling. Transformation practice. Rei breezed through the written parts while intentionally keeping his practical performance as balanced as possible.

Being the theory topper for two straight years already attracted enough eyes toward him. Thankfully, because his practical abilities were merely "good" instead of monstrous, most instructors simply categorized him as one of those academically gifted children. Which was fine. Naruto meanwhile continued his eternal war against academic education itself.

At one point during class, Iruka asked a basic question regarding chakra circulation and Naruto confidently answered with something so catastrophically wrong that even Rei had to physically stop himself from laughing.

"That's not even remotely correct, Naruto," Iruka Umino sighed tiredly.

"Hah?! It sounded right in my head!"

"That is the problem." Rei muttered beside him. Naruto gasped dramatically.

"Traitor!" Still… despite all the chaos, Naruto never really looked unhappy around the classroom anymore. Not entirely though as the loneliness was still there, Rei could tell. Especially during lunch breaks when most children naturally grouped together while Naruto still floated awkwardly around the edges of social circles. But it wasn't as bad as before. Because now Naruto always had at least one place to sit. One person to talk to. One person who treated him normally. That tiny change alone visibly affected him.

By the time classes ended, the classroom immediately exploded into noise as children rushed out toward freedom. Naruto stretched dramatically beside Rei while yawning loudly.

"I'm starving…"

"You are always starving."

"That's because growing boys need food!" Naruto defended himself proudly.

"Believe it!"

"…I'm fairly certain ramen isn't supposed to make up eighty percent of a growing child's diet."

"Nah, it's fine."

"… Future medical disaster." Naruto laughed loudly at that before starting to gather his things. Rei watched and decided that it was time to execute his plan. The contract had been on his mind for months now. With the contract he might not be able to get anything from Kurama, but getting half of the Uzumaki chakra and the constitution of theirs was enough for Rei to drool all over.

He didn't know how much chakra Naruto held at the moment as the majority of it went to suppressing Kurama, but sure as hell knew that getting the raw amount of Naruto's chakra store would be huge. The only reason he had delayed getting the contract from Naruto was because the last 2 years, he didn't give up on practice. He had finally learnt how to climb trees, walk over water and polished his basic jutsus to single sign.

All of this was done so that, when he would receive the signature from Naruto, his body wouldn't just collapse or have an adverse reaction to a huge amount of chakra being inserted in his body. All in preparation. In his previous life, he always loved to be prepared much ahead of exams, and that habit had stayed with him in this life too. Of course… Rei also knew how morally questionable this entire thing sounded from an outside perspective. Still, unlike the full contract, the half contract was mutual. Safe.

No control involved. Naruto would lose nothing. And honestly… Naruto would probably agree. Hopefully.

"…Naruto."

"Hm?" Naruto looked up immediately.

"I need to tell you something." The tone alone made Naruto blink. Then immediately his expression shifted into excitement.

"Oho?!" Naruto leaned forward dramatically.

"A secret?!"

"…Why do you sound so excited?"

"Because secrets are cool!" Naruto whispered loudly.

"Wait… are you secretly part of ANBU?!"

"…I'm eight."

"That's not a no." Rei sighed deeply. Sometimes talking to Naruto genuinely felt like trying to negotiate with chaos itself.

"Come outside first." Naruto immediately followed him without hesitation. The two eventually stopped behind one of the quieter sections of the Academy building where most students rarely came after classes. Naruto looked unusually curious now while Rei stayed silent for a few moments organizing his thoughts. Then finally a contract page materialized into existence above his palm. Naruto's eyes widened instantly.

"…WOAH!"

"…Keep your voice down."

"That paper just appeared out of nowhere!" Naruto whisper-yelled while staring at it like it was the greatest thing he had ever seen.

"THAT IS SO COOL!" Rei honestly wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or concerned that Naruto's first reaction to supernatural magical paperwork was pure excitement.

"This is my ability," Rei explained calmly.

"Or kekkei genkai probably."

"What is a kekkei genkai?" Naruto asked, very much confused. Rei put his palm on his forehead. Why did he bother using the term kekkei genkai?