Chapter 4: Who's Dead Last?
The practical combat class everyone had been looking forward to finally arrived on the Academy training grounds.
Unlike chakra molding exercises or shuriken throwing drills, this one was a two-person sparring format.
Students who had been dreaming of the ninja life since before enrollment threw themselves into the role of audience with full commitment, crowding the edges of the grounds and shouting at the top of their lungs:
"Go, Osamu! Show Kakashi what you've got!"
"Put him in his place, Osamu, remind him what a real genius looks like!"
"Kakashi, come on!"
"..."
The girls at the front cheered for Hatake Kakashi as usual. The silver-haired boy's cool detachment and refusal to mix with the group somehow only made him more interesting to them.
The noise grated on Uchiha Obito, standing somewhere near the back of the crowd. Especially when he caught Nohara Rin cupping her hands around her mouth and cheering for Kakashi with obvious enthusiasm. A flicker of irritation crossed his face.
"Seriously. All he does is show off..."
The boys nearby who caught Obito's muttering immediately launched into their routine:
"Dead last complaining from the sidelines as usual!"
"All talk and no results."
"Hey, you guys are really something else!"
"..."
Homeroom teacher Kimura Ryosuke noticed the argument flaring up between Obito and the others but said nothing, simply signaling the two combatants to get ready.
Furukawa Osamu and Kakashi stood facing each other. At the signal they both formed the cross-shaped seal.
Trading the top spot back and forth had clearly lit a fire in Kakashi. Even his usual dead-fish stare was gone, his eyes sharp and fixed on his opponent as he spoke:
"First place in practical combat is mine. I'm not giving it up."
"You said the exact same thing before the last assessment."
As he called out, Kakashi began gathering chakra in his legs. Furukawa Osamu noticed, but played along with the performance anyway, letting just the right amount of competitive hunger show on his face.
Homeroom teacher Kimura Ryosuke, who had been deliberately stoking the rivalry between the two, watched the scene with deep satisfaction.
"Begin!"
Pebbles scattered underfoot as Kakashi exploded forward in a straight-line sprint, closing the gap in an instant, going for the early advantage.
Thud.
Kakashi's right fist was deflected. A rapid series of small impacts rang out between the two of them as punch met block in quick succession, drawing gasps from the watching students.
An elbow strike that grazed Kakashi's cheek made him drop his center of gravity. He dodged a sweeping low kick and immediately drove forward again.
He launched himself into the air, spinning into a flurry of kicks aimed at Osamu. The moment his attacks were defended, Kakashi used the momentum to push off and fall back.
"Not good."
Landing and steadying himself, Kakashi's eyes sharpened and his gut dropped. He threw up his left arm to block just in time.
Furukawa Osamu's counter came fast. When his right fist was deflected he immediately twisted his body into a follow-up combination.
Kakashi, forced onto the defensive, was trying to find an opening to strike back when Osamu suddenly whipped a high roundhouse kick at him. Kakashi's body instinctively arched backward.
"Ah!"
A few of the girls cried out as Furukawa Osamu seized the opening, spinning sharply and driving a right side kick into Kakashi that sent him flying. The stomping follow-up that came after had Nohara Rin clenching her fists with anxiety.
The Kakashi who'd hit the ground parried one more time and then burst into a log with a puff of smoke. The Substitution Technique didn't catch Furukawa Osamu off guard. He heard the rush of air at his side and turned with it, deflecting and grabbing in one motion.
Clang.
A practice kunai fell to the ground. Kakashi hit the dirt after a shoulder throw, and found Osamu's hand extended slowly toward him as he got back to his feet. Kakashi let out a low growl:
"Damn it."
"You got careless, Kakashi. A ninja can't afford to relax, not even for a second."
Furukawa Osamu pulled him up with an easy smile. He had to throw Kakashi a bone sometimes anyway, given that Might Guy would inevitably come calling for a challenge. Kakashi made a very convenient shield.
"That was incredible!"
"Nice work, Osamu! Kakashi can forget about being top of the class..."
The crowd went wild, immediately siding with Furukawa Osamu. Watching the smug Kakashi get knocked down was deeply satisfying for everyone.
"Osamu, Kakashi, excellent work from both of you!"
"Reconciliation seal."
Kimura Ryosuke couldn't keep the grin off his face. He cheered them both loudly and watched the two walk off the floor with growing pride. Teaching ninja this talented, a sizable bonus was already waving at him from down the road.
"Even geniuses put in the work. All of you need to train harder!"
"Yes, sir!"
The class responded with enthusiasm. Might Guy's bowl-cut head was the loudest of all. He was already itching to prove himself.
In Class A, the kids who kept to themselves got frozen out. The ones with bad grades or unfortunate looks got laughed at. Even a prestigious clan name didn't protect you once people got comfortable enough to pile on.
"Unbelievable! An Uchiha lost to Guy, the dead last!"
"Asuma's pretty impressive too, actually..."
"The Third Hokage's son should be even stronger than that."
"..."
Obito lay on the ground in a sulk after being knocked down by Guy. The bushy-browed kid was nowhere near dead last, and Obito knew it. His ninjutsu grades were at the bottom, sure, but his overall scores put him ahead of plenty of people in the class.
Some of them had perfectly mediocre results themselves and still had the nerve to slap the dead last label on him. The more he thought about it, the more it stung, until the voice he'd been hoping to hear cut through everything:
"Are you all right, Obito? It's only the first practical class."
Nohara Rin, done with her own sparring, came over and crouched down beside him. They had known each other for a while by now. She knew Obito had a good heart. The way he helped elderly ladies cross the street every single day was something most people simply wouldn't bother with.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, Rin!"
"I'm going to be Hokage someday. I'll surpass Kakashi sooner or later..."
The moment he saw her gentle smile, Uchiha Obito straightened up and couldn't help trying to impress her. Nohara Rin tilted her head at the declaration and asked:
"Hm? Not Osamu? He might actually be the best in our year."
Obito scratched the back of his head. Thinking about Furukawa Osamu gave him a strange feeling he couldn't quite put into words, and he answered without really thinking:
"That guy just feels completely different from the rest of us somehow."
"Honestly I'd rather beat Kakashi anyway. Even if he's always showing off and trying to get the girls to notice him..."
His voice trailed off as he realized Nohara Rin had been watching him with that same quiet smile the whole time. Flustered, Obito turned away.
"The Uchiha in the other class actually seem like elites. You really do look like the Uchiha family's dead last."
Kakashi had been passing by without a word, but he'd clearly caught everything. He delivered the line without breaking stride and without bothering to check Obito's reaction, drifting off at his usual unhurried pace.
"What did you just say! Kakashi, get back here!"
* * *
That night, in the forest behind the Academy, the training ground rang with the familiar sound of metal on metal.
Shuriken came flying down from above, and Furukawa Osamu stood his ground, swatting each one out of the air with rapid sweeps of his kunai. The sparks that flew on impact made clear these weren't the blunted practice tools from class.
Might Guy, completely spent and flat on his back, stared up at the pile of ninja tools scattered at Furukawa Osamu's feet, and breathed out in genuine awe:
"That's incredible..."
Furukawa Osamu exhaled slowly, wrapping up his daily training. His dynamic visual acuity was well above normal, and his motor reflexes matched. Whether that was a side effect of Gathering he still couldn't say for certain.
He turned toward Might Guy, about to say something encouraging, when Might Duy appeared out of nowhere, threw his arms around his son, and announced at full volume:
"Even geniuses work this hard, Guy! You need to push twice as hard to catch up. Let your youth shine!"
"Yes, sir! Tomorrow I'll do five hundred handstand push-ups, then challenge Kakashi, beat him, and then challenge Osamu!"
Might Guy's reply thundered across the forest. Furukawa Osamu watched the father and son embrace and cry, his eye twitching slightly, and let out a quiet, weary sigh to himself:
I'd really love to land a successful pep talk just once in my life.