Blank Slate: Naruto Blank Generation

Episode 04: Disorientation

When Reito, Kazuki, and Yuji arrived at the Ninja Academy on Monday morning, sporting their new headbands, they immediately scanned the classroom designated for the orientation meeting. There, sitting near Sasuke in the second row, was Naruto.

As they took their seats, it quickly became apparent that they weren't the only people wondering why the boy was present. People all around the room were staring in his direction, whispering to each other, and who could blame them? Naruto had failed the Graduation Exam, after all, and just a few days ago, he had committed a serious crime.

"Why do you think he came here today? And to have his picture taken, too?" asked Yuji.

"Maybe he's just shown up as an act of defiance, to try and force Iruka Sensei to make him a Genin?" Reito suggested.

"That doesn't explain why he's not in jail or something," said Kazuki. "Dad said half the village was out looking for him on Friday. Plus... I heard a rumor this morning."

"What rumor?"

"According to Kiba, Choji went out for a midnight snack that same night and saw Mizuki Sensei being carried away on a stretcher!"

Yuji blanched at this. "Mizuki Sensei got hurt?" he asked. "If that's true, it can't be related to Naruto, can it?"

"Wait, listen!" Reito instructed, seeing their apathetic classmate, Shikamaru, pause by Naruto on the way to his seat.

"What the...? Why are you here?" he asked, the question that most of the students were wondering if the considerable drop in chatter at that moment was any indication. "Today's meeting is for graduates only."

"Hey, don't you see this headband," Naruto responded cheerily, turning their way and thumbing at his forehead. "As of today, I'm a ninja too! It suits me, don't cha think?"

There was no mistaking it; Naruto was wearing a Konoha ninja headband, even though one had been denied to him during the previous week's exam.

"I wonder how he got that?" said Yuji. "Do you think Iruka Sensei gave him a second chance on the test?"

"He probably just stole it," shrugged Kazuki.

Just then, Sakura and an obnoxious blonde girl named Ino noisily burst through the classroom's rear door and began bickering about which of them arrived first.

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino yelled as her rival swooned across the classroom in Sasuke's direction, brutally knocking Naruto over in her zeal. When she caught up with the pink-haired girl, they began arguing over which of them would sit next to Sasuke, which got other female classmates riled up.

"Tch!" Kazuki muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Girls..."

Apparently, Kazuki wasn't the only one who was annoyed, or perhaps jealous, of this fawning behavior because, at that moment, Naruto climbed on top of Sasuke's desk, squatted in front of him, so they were face to face, then started staring him down.

Sasuke didn't react to this provocation, but the girls were incensed.

"Naruto! Don't glare at Sasuke!" Sakura barked.

"Oh dear. I don't think picking a fight with the top student will end well for Naruto," Yuji commented.

As Sasuke's fans started cheering for him to beat Naruto up, Kazuki said, "Relax, the teachers will be escorting that failure out of here in a minute, anyway."

Reito wasn't so sure about this, though. The boy's presence was still troubling him. Even if Naruto had gotten his picture taken as some kind of stunt, he wasn't stupid enough to believe a stolen headband could get him through Genin Orientation unnoticed. No, something else must have happened. Perhaps it was, as Yuji suggested, that Iruka Sensei gave him another shot. But after stealing that scroll, possibly resulting in Mizuki Sensei being injured, why would their teacher even entertain the idea of a retest?