"Eh?! Lost again!"
In the Ninja Academy classroom, Ino slammed the desk in frustration as she watched the points she'd just earned vanish in an instant. She buried her face in her arms, heart aching.
Being an Apprentice meant you couldn't drop a whole rank, but that didn't mean you didn't lose points for losing. Win one, lose one — it all balanced out to nothing.
After several rounds of that, Ino was still stuck at Apprentice I.
She turned her head toward the window, where Sasuke was playing the Ninja Mobile Game with an intensely focused expression. The sunlight caught his fair, handsome face, making it seem to shine.
A face like that... truly divine! Just like what everyone reading this might imagine!
Maybe… she should go ask Sasuke for advice?
The thought made Ino secretly grin. She could approach Sasuke for a perfectly reasonable reason — and improve her skills at the same time.
Sasuke's talent was undeniable. Yesterday he'd only practiced for ten minutes and already played that well. Who knows what rank he'd reached by now?
"Sasuke-kun... ah—!" Ino had just walked up when someone suddenly yanked her backward.
Caught off guard by the force, she stumbled and nearly fell over — if not for her flexible waist, she would've landed flat.
Who else could it be but her so-called best friend?
"Ino! Don't just go up to Sasuke like that!" Sakura glared at her, eyes full of suspicion.
"Huh? Don't say it like Sasuke-kun belongs to you! What's wrong with asking for tips about the Ninja Mobile Game? Or is your forehead so wide you think it blocks my path?" Ino sneered.
"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Ino-pig. I won't let you get close to him!"
"Heh, aren't you the one whose seat isn't even over here? You're sneaking close to Sasuke yourself, aren't you?"
"Forget that! You want to improve your skills? Then why not ask me instead?"
"You? Ahahaha— eh?"
Ino's laugh froze midair as she looked at Sakura's phone screen, which was shoved right in front of her face. The words "Apprentice II" flashed back at her like a slap.
Sakura smirked proudly.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're still at Apprentice I, right? Sasuke-kun wouldn't have an easy time teaching someone who hasn't ranked up since the game launched!"
"Ugh!" Ino gritted her teeth in frustration.
Sure, Sasuke always topped the ninja performance rankings — but that was the overall score. In academics, Sakura had been the undisputed number one.
Ino knew that. But she hadn't expected this girl to be even more familiar with the Ninja Mobile Game than she was.
Could it be that a wide forehead really does boost brainpower?
"Huh? Iruka-sensei?" Ino suddenly looked toward the classroom door and spoke.
"Hm? Iruka-sensei's back? Then where's Naruto?" Sakura instinctively turned her head.
But the doorway was empty. And when she looked back — Ino was gone.
Sakura quickly spun around, and the sight that met her eyes made a vein pop on her forehead.
"Sasuke-kun~ teach me how to play, pretty please? I'm so clumsy, I can't figure it out, ehe~"
Ino was practically glued to Sasuke's side, her voice soft and sweet, acting all cutesy.
"Ino-pig!" Sakura exploded in rage and charged forward to pull her away. Ino, of course, resisted.
As the two of them struggled, neither noticed the expression on Sasuke's face.
Sasuke was speechless. What the hell was this?
Were they really doing this next to him? How was he supposed to rank up? Women really were nothing but trouble.
Though, maybe it was because of what happened last night — when his mother had asked if there was any girl he liked, Sasuke had stammered and couldn't answer.
After all, his mind was consumed with hatred; he didn't have time for things like that. As for girls… he simply didn't care.
It wasn't tsundere behavior. It was genuine indifference.
Sasuke had a vague idea of what all the girls in class were thinking, but honestly — he just didn't care.
At the time, Mikoto hadn't said much. She had only patted his shoulder and told him that if he ever did find someone he was interested in, he mustn't forget his duty to revive the Uchiha clan.
Thinking about that now gave Sasuke a headache.
"Hey, you two—"
"SASUKEEEE!!!"
A sudden shout from the doorway interrupted him.
Everyone turned toward the source — Naruto was waving his hand, and Kakashi, their squad leader, stood beside him.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how those two had gotten so familiar, but Naruto's intentions were obvious.
"Ino-pig, we of Team 7 have something to discuss. You want to eavesdrop?" Sakura seized the opportunity.
"You little—!" Ino was seething.
At that moment, Sasuke stood up, brushed past Ino blocking his way, and walked out of the classroom without looking back.
"Sasuke-kun, wait for me!" Sakura hurried after him, but not before shooting Ino a triumphant look over her shoulder.
Watching the four figures disappear down the hall, Ino opened her mouth, then sighed helplessly.
"Why did it have to be you, Wide Forehead? Why couldn't I have been in Sasuke-kun's team? The teachers have no sense at all!"
"We're still here, you know!" Shikamaru, who had been watching the whole thing, couldn't help but comment.
"What's it matter? We're all classmates anyway!" Choji said with a friendly smile.
Ino shot the two of them a glance, feeling even worse.
One was lazy and listless like a seventy-year-old retiree, and the other was so chubby he fit the "pig" title better than she did.
Why did the Ino–Shika–Cho trio have no handsome guys at all?!
Turning frustration into determination, Ino plopped down in a random seat and prepared to continue her climb up the ranks.
But she had no idea that while their Team 10 didn't have a "pretty boy," it did have a "tech god."
That's right — it was him!
"Eh?! Shikamaru, when did you rank up to Genin?!" Kiba suddenly shouted in surprise.
"First, explain when you came over to my side," Shikamaru replied with a deadpan stare.
Especially now that the entire class's attention was on him — eyes filled with shock, doubt, even envy.
At this moment, Shikamaru just wanted to do what Team 7 had done: get up and leave.
"Genin?!" Ino practically bounced off her seat, leaping onto Shikamaru's desk like a madwoman.
She snatched his phone, and there it was — a shining Genin rank with 904 points.
She tapped open his match history: all clean wins.
"How... how did you do this?" Ino asked in disbelief, eyes wide.
"When you play, think a little more. Your opponent's substitution cooldown, skill cooldown, Secret Scroll cooldown, summoning cooldown... memorize them all. That's it," Shikamaru said calmly.
Ino: ...
The whole class: ...
Choji: "Hahaha~ That's our Shikamaru!"
"That's true," another voice chimed in, calm and unhurried. A student wrapped up with dark glasses had suddenly started to speak. "But just knowing that isn't enough to reach higher ranks. The real trick..."
He adjusted his sunglasses slightly.
"...is to learn your opponent's fighting habits through constant back-and-forth. That's the key to victory."
Eh? That actually makes sense!
Everyone nodded in realization. That sounded a lot more practical than memorizing every single cooldown.
"See? Our class does have a few geniuses after all," one student chuckled. "Shikamaru, and... uh... and... uh..."
His voice trailed off until it was barely a whisper.
Seeing that, the rest of the class facepalmed in unison.
Hey, hey — you can't even remember the names of your classmates after all these years? You're the real genius here!
What? You're asking if we know his name?
Uh... well...
As the mood awkwardly froze, Shino adjusted his sunglasses again, his expression unreadable behind the lenses.
As expected — it always ends up like this.