Fallen Grace: A Naruto Fanfiction (Book 2, vol. 1)

Chapter 25: The Past Watches From Afar (2)

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POV: Naruto

We walked through the hallways of Konoha Academy, the heat and coldness coexisting in one place as we walked in utter silence.

I found this silence, while peaceful and comforting, tense and emptying. We walked like some tribe as Yu and Satsuki guided us down the hallways of this academy.

People walked past us, giving us small looks and glances before continuing on with their day. I sighed internally as our bodies continued forward in a unison.

Eventually we arrived at another part of the school.

"These are where the third-years are located. As you know, Combat II is only available to those that have completed 2 years of the course and pass the test needed to advance further." Satsuki explained to us it in an eloquent manner.

So these are the people that I had to attend these classes with. Of course, that will change soon enough since I didn't have any intention of staying in this course for long.

That is if my plan works, of course.

"Say, are you able to get out of these courses early?" Yu and Satsuki nodded at my question.

"Yeah. As long as the school sees that your abilities are better than what is being taught in the class, then they'll move you up without hesitation so your growth doesn't stagnate. Of course, this happens rarely and people usually just go on about the 2-3 years. The last person who had done it was--" Satsuki cut herself off before she said the name of the person.

I stayed quiet as the other 2 grew curious.

"Who was it?" Fukushu asked her. She shook her head.

"It's nothing. It doesn't matter." Satsuki was obviously flustered, even if it was just a tiny bit of fluster, it was evident in the way she talked-- a bit more agitated than before when it was only a stone talking.

From the corner of my eyes I could see Yu grin from ear-to-ear, but he didn't disclose any information about her, respecting her wishes to some extent.

"Understandable. It's best to not pry into it, since the person is obviously close to you." It was Itachi, but he had long since graduated from this academy at a tender young age.

Satsuki made a certain shocked face.

"How--" I shook my head.

"You make it obvious. People are far more transparent than they realize." She clicked her tongue, uncomfortable at the amount of perception that had seen through her flustered self.

Satsuki shook her head, knocking herself out of her daze.

"Let's get moving," she muttered loud enough that we could hear it, "there's not much to explore in this building since the layout is rather similar." Satsuki pointed towards many large buildings to the side of the building that we stood in that was painted across the see-through glass windows.

"That's where we should be. It's the training facilities for the varying division combat classes. And it just so happens that this combat classes belong to the 2nd levels for the third-years." And so we departed from this building, walking towards and inside one of the buildings that had beautiful aesthetic.

"The layout for each facility will vary due to various reasons, but I don't think much of the reasons are too important." We stopped in front of a room.