Path Of War

Chapter 17: Teams

Everyone anticipated Iruka's announcement. However, his gaze shifted, locking onto Arthur in the back corner.

Arthur could feel the other students' eyes as Iruka began to walk towards him. The entire class had their heads turned in his direction.

"Arthur," Iruka greeted with a warm smile. "Glad you could make it back safely. We heard you went missing—quite a scare, wasn't it?"

Arthur nodded curtly, his expression unreadable. His fabricated background was hardly any news, but he played along, not wanting to draw suspicion.

"No worries," Iruka chuckled. "Important thing is you're back." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a headband adorned with the village symbol.

"The Hokage requested I personally present you with this," Iruka continued, extending the headband towards him. "Looks like you forgot to pick it up before you disappeared."

Arthur accepted the headband. It was a lot lighter and softer than he expected. He didn't miss the gazes of his classmates, several of whom seemed genuinely confused by his presence. A few whispers reached his ears: "Who is he again?" and "I dunno; I never noticed him honestly."

Arthur ignored them.

"Hey, wear it on your forehead like me," Naruto blurted out, pointing a finger toward his own head.

Snorts of giggles erupted from some of the students, while others simply rolled their eyes at Naruto's usual antics. Before Arthur could respond, Iruka swatted Naruto playfully on the head.

"Easy there, Naruto," Iruka smiled, his tone hinting at exasperation. "Let's move on, shall we?"

Arthur tucked the headband securely inside his robe pocket. There was no rule stating that he had to wear it indoors.

Iruka turned back in front of the class, clearing his throat. He gave an overview of what entailed their next step as Genin, and the other players felt bored listening to the same line.

When he finished, he said, "For our first team, in team ten, we have Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara!"

There was hardly any excitement between the three. Chōji reached into his belongings, pulling out another bag of chips to munch on, while Shikamaru muttered something about being paired up with Ino.

"Next up," Iruka continued. "Team 9! Alice Yamanaka, Alex Hyūga, and Jasper Ōtsutsuki!"

The three students he named met the announcement with a mixture of surprise and excitement. They each gave each other confident smiles that clearly said, "We're no doubt the strongest team."

Iruka continued down the list. Team 8 went to Hinata, Kiba, and Shino Aburame, exactly as Arthur remembered. Things seemed to be flowing in the story's direction. And if that was the case...

"For Team 7," Iruka said, drawing out the suspense, "we have Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha!"

An audible yelp escaped Sakura, excited about the teams. Naruto, however, erupted in protest.

"What?! Sasuke?" he whined, pointing at the Uchiha. "I wanted to be on a team with William!"

Iruka chuckled, shaking his head, and explained, "Naruto, these teams are based on your performance during the academy. You had the lowest scores on the written exams, while Sasuke consistently ranked the highest."

Naruto crossed his arms, forming a pout on his face. Sasuke remained unphased, claiming that Naruto shouldn't get in his way since he was "dead last." Ignoring the bickering duo, Iruka moved on.