The bell rang late, the sound dragging instead of snapping, like it had been arguing with the clock and lost.
Naruto slipped into the classroom before anyone clocked him, shoulders rolled forward, hoodie up, eyes half-lidded like he had not slept enough or maybe slept too much. He moved fast but not rushed, that practiced glide you get when you are used to not being noticed. Back row. Second from the window. Same seat as always.
The homeroom was already loud, but Naruto had internally silenced it until it became nothing more than background noise. Desks scraped and chairs bumped around as the students formed a circle all viewing the same thing.
The fight last night with Invincible and the Mech.
"Yo, that thing flattened half a street," some guy near the front said, leaning back in his chair like he was telling a campfire story. "My cousin was like, two blocks away. He said he swear to God the ground shook like an earthquake."
"No way this is real," another voice cut in immediately. "That has to be military-grade stuff. You don't just find dangerous tech like that lying around."
"Look, look, here. This angle's crazy. Invincible goes in swinging and just gets launched straight through a building!"
A couple of kids leaned over her shoulder and let out a sharp laugh.
Naruto slid into his seat and leaned back, chair creaking softly under his weight. He didn't say anything and he didn't feel like he needed to.
The voices began to blend together, overlapping as they cut each other off..
"Okay, but he didn't go down right away," someone said, defensive. "Dude took like five hits from the killer robot. That's Omni-Man's kid, right? Of course he's built different!"
"Built different my ass," another shot back. "Did you even watch the video? He was getting folded like laundry. If that other guy didn't show up he'd be a smear."
"Don't just disrespect Invincible, man."
"I'm not disrespecting him, I'm just saying! Facts are facts."
"Yeah, I agree. The only reason he didn't die is because that other guy stepped in and saved him."
"He didn't save him! He just helped him." another kid argued.
"Oh my God, do you think hoodie guy works with Invincible?"
Naruto rested his chin in his palm, elbow propped on the desk. His fingers pressed lightly against his cheek. His eyes drifted toward the window and away from the chatter.
The sky outside was chalky and pale, the kind of clear blue that looked almost artificial.
Clouds hung in the sky like moving props and yet the sun was still bright enough to hurt if you stared too long.
"Did he even say anything?" a girl asked.
"Nope."
"Not a word."
"He obviously knows Invincible!"
Naruto exhaled slowly through his nose. "More than you
The glass overhead hummed, faint and constant, warmed by the sun pressing down on it. Somewhere behind him, someone was still looping the clip, over and over, the same few seconds replayed like it might change if they watched it enough times.
He'd rather look up at the sky.
It was peaceful, in that fake way, the glass-dome kind of peace where everything ugly stayed outside and the world got filtered down into something clean and distant, like it was being observed instead of lived in. Thick walls. Reinforced windows. Nothing real got through unless someone let it.
The conversation washed past him without sticking.
Invincible versus Hoodie Guy. Who hit harder. Who saved who. Who looked better doing it.
Half the class sounded like sports commentators yelling at a screen, confident and loud about things they barely understood. The other half leaned harder into the paranoia, voices dropping, weaving theories out of half-glimpsed frames and bad audio.
He thought it was almost funny, these Earth kids getting worked up over their favorite hero getting knocked around on a livestream. That was the crisis. That was the thing that ruined their morning.
Not an extinction event, or an interstellar war.
Not choking on ash while your sky burned blood red and your cities folded in on themselves.
Not screaming in your own head as a solar flare washed over everything you ever loved and left nothing but silence behind.
Nope, just superhero gossip.
Debates about who looked cooler. Who was stronger? Who had the better suit.?
Honestly, it was relaxing in its own dumb way. Like background music in a waiting room.
The door creaked on its hinges, just enough to tug a few glances toward it.
Mark Grayson hurriedly stepped inside with his backpack slung over one shoulder, and jacket zipped up.
He had a couple of Band-Aids on his face. One on his cheekbone, one near his jaw. A faint bruise peeked through a rushed makeup job that looked like someone had tried very hard to cover up a beating.
The chatter dipped for half a second to silently acknowledge his presence then just as quickly dismissing it as the ruckus came roaring back.
Because Mark was just Mark. A regular kid from Chicago with normal parents and a math test next period and there was absolutely zero public confirmation that he had been punched through multiple buildings the night before.
He slid into the empty desk beside Naruto without a word.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Naruto didn't turn and greet him. He didn't acknowledge him at all. He just kept staring out the window, eyes unfocused, like he was counting clouds and deciding which ones were real,
Mark shifted in his seat, the desk giving a faint, tired creak. His knee bounced under the table, fast and restless, until he caught it with his other foot and forced it to stop.
It took more effort than he'd like to admit.
He leaned a little closer, not enough to be obvious, just enough that his voice could slip into the low hum of the classroom and disappear if someone wasn't paying attention.
"…So who are you, exactly?"
Naruto blinked, slow and unhurried, like the question had drifted to him through water. He turned his head just enough to meet Mark's eyes, not fully, not openly, but enough to acknowledge him.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki."
Mark snorted softly and gave a crooked half-smile. "Yeah, okay. I know that part. I mean… what are you?"
He glanced around without meaning to, a quick sweep of the room, checking for ears even though everyone else was busy talking too loud, laughing, arguing about nothing. Still, habits were habits.
"You're obviously not normal," Mark added. "I've seen what you can do."
Naruto didn't answer right away.
He leaned back in his chair, arms folding across his chest, gaze drifting up toward the ceiling tiles like they might offer guidance if he stared long enough. The lights buzzed faintly overhead. Somewhere, a chair scraped. Someone laughed too loud.
Then he spoke, his voice low, barely there, like he hadn't meant to let the words out at all.
"…I'm just someone who wants to be left alone."
Mark stared at him, trying to catch something. A twitch. A smirk. Anything.
There was nothing.
Just a stillness that didn't belong to a sixteen-year-old kid sitting in a public school classroom.
"…But you saved me," Mark said after a beat, quieter now.
Naruto shrugged, small and casual, like it didn't matter either way.
"Yeah. But I didn't do it for you."
Mark's mouth opened, instinctively ready to push back, to argue, to say something about heroes or responsibility or how that wasn't how it worked. Then it closed again. He didn't know how to argue with that without crossing a line, and he wasn't wired to do that.
"…Still," he said finally, softer, "thanks. For saving me."
Naruto didn't respond.
Mark turned back toward the front just as the door opened and the teacher walked in, coffee in one hand, attendance sheet in the other, already looking tired.
"Alright, everyone, settle down," she said, her voice slicing through the noise like chalk dragged across glass. "Phones away. Let's get ready to start."
A wave of groans rolled through the room.
"Already?" someone complained.
"It's literally first period, let us live," another muttered.
"Can we at least finish the clip?"
"Nope," the teacher said without looking up. "Finish it on your own time."
Chairs scraped. Conversations died halfway through sentences. The room folded in on itself, shrinking back into the dull, steady rhythm of the first period.
Naruto didn't move.
He rested his cheek against his knuckles and went back to staring out the window, watching the pale sky pretend nothing was wrong.
Outside, the clouds drifted by, slow and lazy, like nothing at all had happened.
The rooftop was quiet in that stretched-out, suspended way, like the building itself had decided to hold its breath.
Naruto lay flat on his back near the edge, arms folded behind his head, elbows digging lightly into the concrete. His gaze stayed fixed on the sky above him, unblinking, like it was in the middle of saying something important and he didn't want to miss it. His hoodie was half-zipped, the fabric lifting and settling with the breeze, the hem tugged at now and then like the wind was testing its grip. Beside him sat an unopened sandwich bag, forgotten, the plastic crackling softly every time the air shifted direction.
The sky stretched wide and pale overhead, washed out and endless, clouds drifting without any real urgency. It reminded him of home. Or at least the shape of it. What was left after everything else had been burned away.
Footsteps crossed the concrete behind him, light and uneven, familiar enough that Naruto didn't bother to look.
Mark dropped down beside him and settled cross-legged, a little too stiff, the sound of his breath hitching for half a second like he was working hard not to show how much everything still hurt. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a granola bar that had clearly lost a fight somewhere along the way, the wrapper bent, the bar inside cracked and crumbly. He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it like it might apologize.
"Are you always up here alone?" he asked, casual, like he wasn't stepping into something personal.
Naruto didn't answer.
Mark shrugged and tore off a bite anyway, chewing once before his face twisted. "Ugh. Yeah. Bad choice," he muttered, coughing lightly into his fist. "Should've gone with the peanut butter one."
He glanced over, waiting, but Naruto still hadn't moved.
The wind picked up again, just enough to drag a loose strand of blond hair across Naruto's face. It brushed his cheek, caught near his eye. He didn't bother to move it away. He just kept staring upward, like the clouds were more interesting than gravity, school, or the entire planet underneath them.
Mark hesitated, shifting his weight. He wasn't great with silence, not like this.
"You know," he said finally, voice softer now, "it's kinda weird. Having powers, I mean."
Naruto didn't seem to acknowledge it but Mark pressed on anyway, the words spilling out once he started. "I didn't get mine until a few months ago. I really thought I was gonna be a normal kid. Like, that was it. And how do you even prepare for something like that? One day I'm just some guy in gym class trying not to get hit in the face with a dodgeball, and the next I'm putting holes in the walls by accident and launching BurgerMart trash bags into the atmosphere."
Naruto closed his eyes.
"My dad always said my powers would kick in eventually," Mark continued, quieter now. "Said even Viltrum has late bloomers." He let out a small breath, almost a laugh. "For a while, they thought I might not get powers at all. Guess that worry's behind us now."
He fell silent for a beat, then added, more hesitant, "He's Omni-Man, by the way. But… I'm guessing you already figured that out."
Naruto gave a slight nod. Barely there.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," Mark said quickly. "Not even my best friend knows. But I guess you're… not just anyone."
He exhaled, some tension leaving his shoulders like he'd been holding it there for a long time.
"I've always felt like I'm living in my dad's shadow," he went on. "In every part of our lives."
He stared out toward the horizon now, squinting like he was trying to see past the curve of the world.
"Even his public identity is famous. Nolan Grayson. He writes fantasy books, memoirs, all that stuff. But really?" Mark shrugged. "He's been Earth's protector since before I was born."
The wind moved slowly.
"He's told me a lot about where he's from," Mark said. "The great planet Viltrum. Says it's this incredible place thats super advanced and super strong. According to him, they're a peace coalition. Traveling to other worlds to help them grow. To protect and guide them."
Naruto glanced at Mark, just a quick look, curiosity flickering across his face before he turned his eyes back to the sky. What was he even supposed to say to that?
He couldn't relate to Mark at all. He was born with these abilities. It felt more like a curse than anything.
Those thouhts sparked something sharp and unwanted, of an image flashing through his mind without permission, bright and violent and gone just as fast, leaving heat behind his eyes. He pushed it down and kept his face still.
Mark chuckled softly, breaking the quiet like he was trying to keep things from getting awkward.
"But I guess I got lucky," he said. "Growing up with a dad like that. And my mom, Debbie, she's… yeah, she's something else. Really grounded and sharp." He smiled a little, "She always made sure I didn't get a big head about the whole superhero thing, even before I got my powers. It kinda kept me normal I guess."
Naruto's voice came out low and steady when he finally spoke.
"…Sounds like she's the truly strong one."
Mark blinked at him, then his smile widened, softer this time. "Yeah," he said. "I guess she is."
He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back on his arms, still chewing on whatever crumbs were left of his granola bar.
His eyes drifted off toward the skyline, unfocused, like he'd slipped back into thoughts of his dad, of expectations and legacies and all that hero stuff people loved to pile on.
Naruto hadn't moved in minutes.
He lay there with his hoodie drawn up around his shoulders, eyes open now, tracking the slow crawl of clouds overhead. There was a kind of tension in how still he wa.
Mark glanced over, studying him.
"So…" Mark said, his voice breaking the quiet again. "What about you?"
Nothing.
He waited, counting a few seconds in his head, then tried again, softer and more careful. "I mean, you've gotta be from somewhere, right?"
Naruto's eyes followed a single cloud drifting lazily across the sky. For a long moment, Mark thought he wasn't going to answer at all.
Then he spoke.
"Centauria."
Mark frowned slightly. "Is that like… a country?"
Naruto let out a breath through his nose. Not quite a sigh. Not quite a laugh.
"No."
He finally sat up, elbows resting on his knees, his gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the skyline. Far beyond Earth.
"It was a planet," he said. "A small planet."
Mark's eyebrows shot up. "You're serious?"
Naruto didn't look at him. His voice stayed calm, distant, like he was reciting something he'd memorized a long time ago.
"There were no metal towers like here on Earth. No machinery in the clouds. Just forests and rivers. Mountains that went on for miles, covered in silver-leaf trees that glowed when the wind moved through them."
Mark opened his mouth, then shut it again, unsure where to interrupt without ruining something.
"I was born to a woman named Kushina," Naruto continued. "She was a princess on my home world."
Mark blinked. "So… you were, like… royalty?"
Naruto didn't move. Just blinked slowly.
"I guess."
"You guess?"
Naruto shrugged. "I didn't care about the titles."
Mark tilted his head. "What was she like?"
Naruto went quiet. The wind brushed past them again, gentle, patient.
"She was… very loud," he said at last. "And very beautiful."
Mark laughed under his breath. "Loud?"
Naruto almost smiled. Almost.
"Stubborn and smar."
He closed his eyes, the memory settling heavy in his chest.
"I used to think she was crazy," he added. "Now I think she was right all along."
Mark smiled softly. "Sounds like a lot."
"She was," Naruto said. "But she loved our world. All of it. Every tree. Every storm." His voice dipped.
"Where I'm from, the planet isn't just rocks and dirt. It's alive. It remembers every living thing. We believed the soul of the planet carried the memories of our ancestors. That the rivers could speak to you, if you listened."
Mark looked at him sideways, quiet, something unreadable crossing his face.
"That's… beautiful," he said after a moment. Then, more cautiously, "Does she know you're here?"
Naruto didn't answer.
When he finally spoke again, his voice was calm, almost empty.
"Nope."
Mark's expression fell. "Oh."
Naruto gave a faint nod.
They sat in silence for a bit, the space between them filled with things neither of them said.
"So why'd you leave?" Mark asked quietly.
Naruto didn't respond right away.
"Because staying there felt unbearable.."
Mark swallowed.
He didn't know exactly what to say to that.
Naruto turned his head slightly, looking at him through the haze of light.
"But I didn't come to Earth to be a hero," he said. "I didn't come to fight either. I just wanted to be somewhere else."
Mark nodded slowly.
"…Do you miss it? Your home?"
Naruto blinked up at the sky again.
"Of course."
The wind moved gently across the rooftop, rustling his hoodie.
"I miss the silence," he said. "Earth is loud. Even when it's quiet."
Mark looked down at his hands.
"I always thought I was alone in this. The powers, the secrecy, the weight of it all."
"The world's a lot bigger than you think, Mark Grayson."
And for a while, they said nothing else.
Just two kids, carrying entire worlds on their backs.
___________
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