THE HONORED ONE | naruto x oc

iii.

chapter three

ciela was nervous, standing in front of the classroom ino unconsciously led her to. she lied to the blonde about needing some air before class, still feeling a bit sick, and so ino left her out there, in the hallway. ciela breathed deeply, confused about her own anxiety. out of instinct, her hand went to her pockets to fish out her cellphone and call for her older brother for support; she found nothing and reminded herself that she was dead and satoru was alive.

with a dry gulp, she thought about what he would do if he was here. it was not that ciela was socially-anxious, but because of her past conditions, she never had much interaction with people her age, not to mention a school. she spent most of her life in the same bedroom, homeschooled and weak, only interacting with her brother and the people he presented her whenever they went —sneaked— out.

it was her first time inside a school, even if it wasn't a real one. she was afraid, but that brought a small smile to her lips. normal children felt nervous on their first day of class, too. maybe -certainly- she wanted Satoru's comforting presence, but if he was there, she knew his words would be something to boost her ego and make her confident enough to enter there by herself. that whole situation might've been an illusion her mind created after dying, but that didn't mean ciela couldn't get the most out of it.

so, raising a hand, she reached out for the door.

"sakura? what are you doing out of class?"

a man with an unmistakable scar across his nose and a brown ponytail that reminded the girl of a pineapple. he had an eyebrow raised, showing his confusion at the situation. meanwhile, under one of his arms all tied up, a blond boy who looked awestruck at the sight of the pinkette.

umino iruka, academy teacher, and uzumaki Naruto, the main character.

ciela stared at the piss-blond boy, something shining inside her green eyes. Naruto held an important place in her heart, being a special comfort character for the girl in her alive days. his determination through all bad situations brought a certain warmth to her heart, which made her more inspired to train with her brother, even with the conditions she was in. he blushed at the attention, smiling like an idiot at being noticed by the one he believed to be his crush.

"sakura? are you okay? i asked you something." iruka broke the girl's daydream, in which she was reminded of all the times she felt bad and Satoru and her watched Naruto together.

"oh, sorry, sensei..." it felt funny to address him as that, but ciela did not have many options. so, she offered a small smile to the man. "i am not at my best today, so i ended up a bit late."

"sakura-chan! do you need help? are you sure you are okay?" Naruto worriedly asked, wiggling in his teacher's arms.

in any other circumstance, or if she fell for this illusion and believed in it for a moment, the girl would laugh at him.

"i'm okay, thank you, Naruto-kun." her eyes stayed on him for a second more. "hum... do you need help?"

the boy blushed and ciela wondered why: was it because the girl he liked showed concern or for embarrassment? iruka shook his head before the blond could reply.

"Naruto here got into another mess! let's enter the classroom so he can get his punishment."

holding back a wince, the girl nodded and slid the door open. she looked up to the classroom and noticed that most seats were occupied, counting the one next to sasuke, and it was surprising that it wasn't ino there. one of the open chairs was next to a bluenette who kept her eyes —pale lilac— on the desk the entire time, almost like she was afraid to make eye contact with anyone.