On their way there, Naruto explained that since Minato was going to live there with his mother from now on, he would have to attend the Academy and study hard to pass his exams.
The boy didn't object to that. He was too upset to have any kind of reaction.
"I'm sure you'll be able to make a lot of friends there," Naruto told him with a smile. "You'll be able to meet my son and my niece there. You'll see, they are really nice. But like most people, they can get in a bad mood easily, you know... But don't worry, I'm sure you guys will get along pretty well."
Minato simply nodded. He would see that by himself.
They soon got to the Academy and made their way toward Minato's new classroom.
Naruto knocked on the door and waited for the Sensei to say 'come in' before he opened the door. He then entered the room, Minato following close behind him.
Everyone in the class stood up when they saw the Hokage, wondering what he could be doing here. Everyone, except his son, Boruto.
"Good afternoon everyone," he greeted them. "Hello Shino, I'm sorry to interrupt your class, but there is someone I'd like to introduce to all of you."
The Sensei's eyes landed on the small boy next to his long-time friend, and he examined him carefully. He had never seen the boy before. Yet he looked strangely familiar with this hair colour and eyes.
"That's okay," he then said to the Hokage.
Naruto nodded at him.
"So I want you to meet Minato. He will be your new comrade from now on, so I hope you will all welcome him warmly."
All eyes were now focused on said boy, curious eyes. Some began whispering things, making Minato feel ill-at-ease. He had never seen so numerous children in the same room. Even at the orphanage, they were not that numerous.
"Minato, this is your new Sensei, Shino, who you will call Shino-Sensei," Naruto said, catching his attention. "And as for the students, I'll leave them to introduce themselves later once the class is over, okay?"
Minato looked back and forth between Naruto and his new Sensei before nodding at the Hokage.
"Alright. I have to go now. I'll leave you in Shino's care. I'll see you later," he said, smiling before thanking the Sensei and leaving the room.
"Welcome here, Minato," Shino said to him. "I hope you will like it here. Please, sit anywhere you want."
Minato scanned the room full of students who had sat back down by now and looked for an empty seat.
"Here, come!" Boruto exclaimed as he waved at him, showing the seat next to him with a move of his head.
The blond boy was sitting in the third row, next to two dark-haired boys, one with glasses, and one with spiky hair.
Minato contemplated him for a few seconds before he made his way toward the blond boy.
"Hey! I'm Boruto! Nice to meet you 'ttebasa!" He greeted him enthusiastically.
"You'll be able to introduce yourself after class, Boruto. For now, let's resume class. I'm going to explain what we were talking about and make a summary so you won't be lost, Minato," Shino spoke up before said boy could reply anything.
"Thank you," Minato said shyly as he bowed his head down as a sign of respect.
He didn't even have any textbooks or anything to write things down. So, this was making him embarrassed.
"Hey, don't worry," a female voice whispered from the row behind him, having seemingly noticed the reason for his discomfort, "I'll lend you my notes after class is over so you can have a look."
Minato turned around as discreetly as possible so he could identify the girl who had just spoken to him.
It was a brown-haired girl with two buns and pearly white eyes who was smiling at him.
Minato didn't dare smile back at her.
"Minato, please. Don't let yourself be distracted by your comrades. Just come and see me at the end of the class if you need any further explanation or if you have any questions."
The Uchiha boy swiftly turned back around in his seat to face his Sensei. He nodded at the man before apologising for his behaviour.
Minato listened carefully to his teacher for the rest of the class. And once the class was over, all of the students went outside. Boruto didn't leave Minato's side as they exited the classroom and building. The spiky-haired boy followed close behind his blond friend, and some other students were now surrounding both Boruto and Minato.
"I'm glad I can make a new friend," Boruto told Minato happily.
The raven-haired boy looked into his cerulean eyes. They were the same colour as Naruto, except that they were a bit bluer. Both the man and the boy also had the same hair colour, he noticed afterward, but Boruto's hair wasn't spiky. Minato also noticed the same whisker marks on each of his cheeks, which he had found strange seeing, except that there were only two of them, and not three. But Boruto's facial features were different.
So he figured out that he was Naruto's son, just like he had figured out that Kei was Kakashi's daughter. But he didn't talk about it to the other boy, not deeming it necessary this time.
Boruto kept smiling at him as Minato was still staring at him.
"It's nice to meet you too," he finally said after being silent for a long while.
"Well, let me introduce you to the others. So this is Shikadai," he said gesturing toward said boy. "The one next to him is Inojin. There, this is Denki and Metal."
Minato nodded at all of them after putting their respective names on their faces.
"It's nice meeting you all."
"Same for us," Shikadai replied.
"Did I miss a lot of classes?" Minato asked them concerned.
"No, don't worry about that. It's been only two weeks since we started school," Shikadai informed him casually.
"And we'll help you catch up if you wish," Denki offered.
Minato looked at him before giving him a shy but genuine smile.
"Thank you."
He suddenly thought about something. He should go and ask his Sensei to know what basically the syllabus would be. He only hoped he would still be in the classroom.
"I just need to ask the Sensei some things, I..." What should he say? He thought about it for a bit. "...I'll see you... around? I guess...."
"Oh, don't bother with that now! Let's just hang out for now, 'ttebasa!"
Minato wasn't feeling that confident...He wasn't used to having so much attention...With all those eyes staring at him.
"It won't take long. Just five minutes, if you can wait...I'll be right back!" He said before running towards the entrance.
But before he could enter the building again, he collided with someone.....
The shock was so great that he fell on his butt.
"You dumbass! Can't you look where you're going?!"
It was a male voice who spoke those words. He noticed the boy was on his butt too. But he quickly got back on his feet, unlike Minato.
"I'm gonna teach you not to bump into guys like me, you little shit!"
Minato was too scared to even stand up. He was clearly intimidated by the other boy, not only because was he taller than him, but also because of the way he spoke.
Oh no, he had been here for only two hours, and he was already getting in trouble...
He was too scared to even move his butt. This was bad... He squeezed his eyes shut as he couldn't do anything else...
"Hey! Don't touch him 'ttebasa!"
As he opened his eyes, all he could see was a mop of bright blonde hair.
"Yeah, don't you dare touch him!" He then heard a female voice say. And it sounded familiar...
"Just fuck off! And get out of my way!"
"You fuck off, and leave him alone. It was only an accident."
Soon a brown-haired girl was standing next to the Hokage's son. Yes, it was her. The girl with the two buns, and the pearly white eyes. But she didn't sound so nice now...
"You wanna fight, nerdy?"
"No, because if we did, I would kick your ass in less than five minutes!"
The tall boy looked much angrier now...
"I'm gonna beat up the three of you!"
"Shut up your loud mouth!" the girl retorted.
"P-please, stop..." another girl asked them, sounding all shy. He turned his head to look at her.
She had purple hair which was put into a long braid.
"We shouldn't make a first bad impression on Minato-Kun... He's just arrived here and you guys don't need to put up a fight...." She added as if she was scared.
"Sumire. This is not how you should do it," another girl told her. This one had short brown hair. "Be more firm!"
But the purple-haired girl was still looking hesitant.
"As your class rep, I'm asking you to stop this!" She sounded much firmer this time.
"I'm sorry, Sumire, normally I would respect your authority, but if we don't do anything, he won't stop," The girl beside Boruto spoke.
"Hanae. We're all going to get into trouble if you do that!" Another girl interfered, one who had black raven hair like his own, but her eyes were blue, blue like the Seventh Hokage's and Boruto's, and she had the same whisker marks on her cheeks... Three and not two...
"No, only me, don't worry. I'll take the blame."
The tall boy scoffed.
"You're not even gonna put a scratch on me, so stop acting tough! You're just a stupid girl who thinks she can be strong."
"Hey, watch your mouth, you know!//"ttebasa!" Boruto and the black-haired girl shouted in unison.
"Don't you dare insult my cousin!"
"Don't you dare insult girls!"
"You're all words, but instead of chatting, show me what you got!"
"Alright then, come, and you'll see. If you dare."
He grumbled before he started pouncing on them.
But next thing Minato knew, he ended up on the ground again, but not on his butt this time.
"Never do you dare underestimate me again."
The way she spoke those words made his whole body shiver.
He gulped down. Never had he experienced girls being so angry before, so of course, he was could only be impressed, and afraid... (Just like the other Minato was with Kushina at the Academy when she was beating up other boys)
Everyone was dead silent after that. They had never seen their female comrade acting like that before. The girl who was always so sweet and warm with everyone (like Rin^^).
Boruto was freaking out as well.
Damn...she's as dangerous as Hima when angry...
She turned around and came close to Minato, and offered him her hand. He hesitantly took it after staring at it for a little while
After she helped him stand up, she gave him a warm smile.
"I'm sorry for what has just happened. It's not always like that though, fortunately."
Minato looked back at her, speechless.
"My name is Hanae. Hyūga Hanae."
Minato examined the girl carefully from head to toe. He noticed that there were two braids around her two buns (just like her mother).
She was wearing a pale pink kimono-style garment with long sleeves that went down to the middle of her upper thighs with a red sash and she was also wearing black tights as well as black open-toed boots that reached her calves. Even though he couldn't see it, she also had the Hyūga clan crest on the back of her pink garment as well.
"It's nice to meet you, Hanae," Minato said somehow hesitantly.
The girl kept smiling at him.
"Let me introduce you to the other girls now. The one with black hair and bright blue eyes is Nami Uchiha."
"Uchiha?" Minato repeated, surprised.
Said girl gave him a suspicious look.
But Hanae shrugged it off.
"Then, you have Wasabi Izuno," she said gesturing at said girl, "Namida Suzumeno, Chōchō Akimichi, Hako Kuroi, Enko Onikuma, Tsuru Itoi, and finally our rep, Sumire Kakei."
Minato was still somehow uncomfortable and just nodded at them.
"Wait, you know the Uchiha, don't you?" The black-haired girl asked him, not sounding so nice...
Oh Kami....
"Yes...I mean...."
Well, she couldn't know he was an Uchiha if they had never met before. But...should he tell her that he was one too...?
"Come on, Nami, be nice to him, he almost got attacked by that older guy!"
"I just want to know."
"Hey! He has black raven hair just like you, Nami!" Chōchō exclaimed. "You don't have onyx eyes like him, but you got your blue eyes from your mother, and your father has eyes like him, too, right?"
There was a moment of silence.
"I've never seen him, so how am I supposed to know what he looks like?"
Her words were filled with bitterness which made his stomach ache.
Right after she said that she started walking away, without another word or looking back at anyone.
"Nami!" Chōchō called but she ignored her. "Wait! I didn't mean to upset you!" She ran after her as everyone else was staying still.
"Sorry about that too... It's not that nice for a first day..." Hanae told him. "You guys should go. I'm going to take care of the guy I knocked out."
But Boruto's whole attention was on Nami.
"Nami..."
Minato saw the way he curled his fist into a tight ball.
"Fathers can be so lame," there was bitterness in his voice too. And the aching feeling in Minato's stomach only became worse.
He didn't know what to do now. Should he try to comfort him? Should he just leave him alone? Should he run after Nami instead? Should he just stay there pretending nothing had just happened?
"Your father's not lame, Boruto," Hanae said.
"Yes, he is!"
"Abandoning one's family is lame, but dedicating your time and energy for people you consider as a family is not."
"But we're his family! Mum, Hima, me, your father, you! And he's never there!"
"Being the Hokage requires sacrifices! You can't always do what you want in life. And it's difficult to reconcile family life and duties."
"Just stop defending him, "ttebasa!"
"He's your father, and you should respect him!"
"He's no father to me! He doesn't behave like one!"
Minato didn't like where this argument was leading. He had the feeling that there was no way out anyway, that they would never agree. He had to do something.
"Please, the guy who almost hit me needs to be taken care of," there was some kind of hesitancy in his voice, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"I swear, take him away before I hit him too," Hanae's look and voice became threatening again as veins were throbbing under her white eyes.
Both him and Boruto freaked out, even Shikadai.
"Come on, Minato, let's go!"
He grabbed his arm and dragged him with him as he started running away. Once they were far away enough from the Academy, Boruto stopped and let go of Minato's arm. He put his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"One piece of advice...you need to take. Never get my cousin or my little sister angry. Or else they'll kill you..."
Minato's blood ran cold as a sweatdrop pearled on his temple. Then his words found their way to his brain.
"Hanae...She's your cousin...?"
"Yeah..."
Hadn't he been told, he would have never guessed it.
"But...How come you are related...? I mean... You don't look alike at all."
"Oh yes, that's right. That's because we're related on my mother's side. My mother has a male cousin who she considers as her brother, and he's Hanae's father. And they all have the same eyes, that's why we don't look alike at all."
Minato nodded silently.
"What about you? Do you have any siblings or cousins?" Boruto then asked Minato.
"No... At least I don't think I do..."
"What do you mean 'you don't think you do'?" Boruto asked him somehow puzzled as he had a slight frown on his face.
If his mother had been alive during all this time she could have had other children and a family of her own... A family without him...
"I grew up alone, but I'd rather not talk about it now if you don't mind."
Boruto looked intrigued, but he shook it off with a warm smile, one like that of the Hokage.
"No, of course not. Sorry, I didn't mean to be prying, 'ttebasa."
So Minato didn't question it any further.
"That's fine. What are we going to do now?"
"Ah, that's a good question," Boruto said as he thought about it. "Hmm...We could just hang around for a while. What d'you think?"
Minato hesitated for a bit. He wasn't used to doing that kind of thing.
"Erm. Yeah, sure... Why not."
"Cool! Come on then 'ttebasa!"
"Hey! You've left me behind, you cowards," they turned around as Shikadai was walking towards them, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, Shikadai..." Boruto uttered, looking utterly embarrassed as he rubbed his nape with his hand. "Sorry, 'ttebasa. In the heat of the moment, we kind of forgot about everything else, you know..."
Minato felt his cheeks burn as he didn't dare say anything, not even mouthing an apology.
"We were about to hang out for a bit with Minato. Since he's new here, we could show him around the village."
"Well, the Lord Hokage has already shown me around before he introduced me at the Academy."
His facial expression turned sour as his father was mentioned, and he wondered what could have created such animosity about the man who was supposed to love him the most on this planet.
"Yeah, but the tour we're gonna take is gonna be much cooler. You must've got bored to no end with that old man, c'mon!"
Boruto was pretty much excited as he showed him around while Shikadai seemed to be so done with his behaviour. For a long while, it unsettled him as such was his nature, but it ended up amusing him, although he hid it well.
"Well, I suggest we should hang around another time. I shouldn't go back home too late, otherwise, my mother's gonna skin me alive," Shikadai said as they were near a food shop.
"Yes, you're right, 'ttebasa! Mine is gonna kill me too."
"Let's go take the train then."
"Yes, sure!"
"You take the train?" Minato asked them, his brow raised, as he had never taken one in his life.
"Yes, of course! Why should we bother to walk when we can take the train?" Boruto said.
Minato just looked at him wordlessly.
"So, are you coming or not?" Boruto asked him.
"Yes, I am," he finally said after a few seconds of silence.
They all went to take the train, and jumped on one wagon. Minato was surprised but he did as they did nonetheless. He thought they would actually get on the train, but not literally on it... Boruto and Shikadai sat down and Minato imitated them. The air was hitting their faces and blowing their hair, but the two boys didn't seem to mind. If anything, they seemed to be enjoying this.
"You have never taken the train, have you?" Boruto asked Minato at some point.
"No, I haven't."
"Are you from the village? I don't remember having ever seen you around before," the blond male pointed out.
"I guess you can say that."
"What is it with your evasive answers?" Boruto asked him as he knitted his eyebrows slightly.
"Just leave him alone," Shikadai chimed in. "You're the one bothering him now with your questions."
But Boruto didn't mean to bother him. He was more concerned than anything else.
"You know, you can trust us. I know we've only known each other for a few hours, but... we are your friends now, and we will always be there for you no matter what, 'dattebasa," Boruto assured him.
Minato's eyes widened slightly. He never really had any real friends before.
This day was definitely full of surprises and stirring. But it wasn't that bad, after all, he told himself.
"Well, here's my stop," Shikadai said, breaking the silence, "I'll see you tomorrow, guys."
"Yes, see you!" Boruto said before Shikadai jumped off the wagon.
There was silence between the two boys afterward. Minato just contemplated the view they were given. The village looked even more impressive from here.
"Here's my stop," Boruto told him after a while, "let's get off here."
Minato nodded and quickly afterward, they both stood up and jumped off the train.
"Well, I'm going this way to go home. What about you?" Boruto asked the Uchiha boy once they were on the ground again.
The boy looked ill-at-ease.
"Well, to be honest with you, I don't really have a home..." Minato said sadly, looking down at his feet.
"Huh? How come?"
"You were right earlier. I'm not from the village. In fact, I've just discovered it today. I never knew there was such a village that existed before," Minato admitted in a low tone.
He knew he had a mother now, but he didn't really feel like seeing her again for now. This was all too much for him already in one day only. Besides, he didn't even know where she lived. And neither herself nor the Hokage had come at the Academy to go and fetch him...
Of course, Boruto was moved and somewhat upset by his words, and didn't like seeing his new friend sad and the idea of him being all alone and homeless.
"Well, since you don't have one, come at mine!"
Minato was taken aback by his offer.
"No thanks, I'll be okay..." he politely declined.
"What are you saying? You're not going to spend the night outside without having anything to eat? Do you have any money at least?" Boruto asked him as he knitted his eyebrows slightly once again.
Minato knew he had a point. But he could still go back to the orphanage for the night and come back to the village tomorrow to attend the Academy. After all, the orphanage wasn't that far from the village.
Minato shook his head no. He didn't have any money, didn't need any since he had a room and full board at the orphanage...
"So come with me!"
But Minato was still hesitating.
"But... I don't want to intrude..."
"'Intrude', you? But you won't intrude!"
Minato still thought about it.
"Are you sure your family won't mind?"
"Yes, don't worry about that! They will be happy to meet you, 'dattebasa!"
Minato thought again for a little bit.
"Alright," he finally gave in.
"Great! Let's go then!"
Minato swallowed the knot forming in his throat. Was he really ready for that?