Several days had passed since the initial invasion of the Academy. The days blurred by in a monotonous haze, a routine that made Yuji feel like he was on probation. Wake up, eat, get dragged to the academy by an orange hurricane or meet him there, endure lessons, and go home. Repeat.
However, today, a small miracle occurred. When the lunch bell rang, Naruto was immediately pulled away by a few other boys who, for some reason, wanted to play tag with him. Yuji saw his chance and took it without hesitation. He slipped away, climbed a few flights of stairs, and pushed open a heavy metal door.
The school roof. This was his sanctuary.
The air up here felt cleaner, quieter. The hustle and bustle of the schoolyard below sounded like a distant, unimportant hum. Yuji walked to the center of the sun-warmed concrete roof, lay on his back, and placed his hands behind his head. He stared up at the endless blue Konoha sky, where fat white clouds drifted lazily by.
"Ah," he sighed with satisfaction. "Serenity."
This was his first truly alone moment in days. No shouts of "dattebayo." No tugging on his sleeve. No endless questions about ramen. Just him, the sky, and glorious silence.
He thought about his days at the academy so far. To be honest, it was deeply disappointing. In his mind, the Ninja Academy was supposed to be full of danger and intrigue. He had imagined secret training, lessons on poisons, and maybe at least one or two failed assassination attempts in the hallways.
The reality? They were learning to write hiragana.
Yesterday, Iruka-sensei had spent a full hour explaining the differences between the symbols. The shinobi history they had learned so far was a heavily sanitized, kid-friendly version, more like a bedtime story than a bloody war chronicle. And the math... oh, the math. "If Kiba has ten shuriken and gives three to Shino, how many shuriken are left?"
Yuji had almost answered, "Depends, is Shino going to use them to stab Kiba for being too loud? Because that would be an efficient use of resources." Fortunately, he had managed to restrain himself.
This didn't feel like becoming a ninja yet. This felt like regular elementary school, just with a higher potential for future death. It was a strange and unpleasant combination.
He closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the sun wash over his face. Maybe he could take a short nap. Maybe he could pretend for fifteen minutes that he wasn't in this world, that he was back in his smelly apartment, lying on his shabby sofa.
The roof door creaked open, shattering his fantasy.
Yuji's eyes snapped open in annoyance. He didn't turn. He just hoped it was the wind. Or maybe a teacher who would kick him out, which would still be better than the alternative.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
That sound—the sound of potato chips being enthusiastically demolished—crushed all his hopes. It wasn't the wind.
"Hey, Shikamaru, look. This place is pretty nice. Good view."
"Hmm. Too much sun. What a drag. But at least no one's here."
Yuji remained stock-still, hoping that if he didn't move, they wouldn't see him. A strategy he called 'furniture mimicry.'
"Uh, wait," said the first voice, which Yuji recognized as Choji's. "There's someone over there."
Yuji felt two pairs of eyes on him. He let out a deep sigh, the sigh of a man whose favorite parking spot had just been taken. Reluctantly, he sat up and squinted at the intruders.
Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. The duo of slacking and snacking. They stood by the door, Choji with a bag of chips in hand, and Shikamaru with an expression of boredom that seemed permanently etched on his face.
'Incredible,' Yuji thought bitterly. 'This is my spot. I found it. I claimed it in the silence of my own mind. There should be some kind of unwritten property law for places like this. They should find another spot. There are plenty of roofs in this village.'
Shikamaru just raised a slight eyebrow in greeting. Choji gave him a friendly smile before shoving another handful of chips into his mouth. They walked closer and sat down a few feet away from Yuji, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yuji rolled his eyes and lay back down, turning his back to them. Maybe if he ignored them hard enough, they would get the hint and leave.
"That cloud," Shikamaru said after a moment of silence, his voice lazy. "It's shaped like a rabbit. What a drag."
Crunch. Crunch.
Silence settled again. Yuji was just about to drift back into his state of tranquility. Almost.
"Hey, you," Shikamaru said, his voice directed at Yuji.
Yuji didn't move. 'I'm not 'you.' I'm a nameless entity trying to photosynthesize. Go away.'
"You're friends with that loudmouth, right?" Shikamaru continued, undeterred by Yuji's silence.
Yuji finally gave up. He sat up again, giving Shikamaru the most annoyed look a six-year-old face could muster. "Define 'friend'," he said flatly. "Is a 'friend' someone who voluntarily chooses to associate with another person? Or is a 'friend' someone who is socially held hostage by a ball of energy that can't take no for an answer?"
Shikamaru seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "The second one, I guess," he replied. "Where is he? It's weird not seeing him attached to you."
"How should I know?" Yuji retorted, his tone sharpening. "Do I look like his babysitter? Am I wearing a name tag that says 'Guardian of Naruto Uzumaki'? I didn't put a tracking device on him. Maybe he was kidnapped by enemy ninja. Maybe he finally figured out how to turn himself into a bowl of ramen. Frankly, I don't care as long as I get my break."
Choji stopped chewing for a moment. "You sound angry," he said innocently. "Want a chip?" He held out the bag.
Yuji looked at the bag of chips, then at Choji's sincere face. His anger subsided slightly, replaced by a familiar weariness. "No, thanks. I'm on a diet... from everything."
"Diets are a drag," Shikamaru mumbled, now lying down with his hands behind his head, mimicking Yuji's earlier pose. "You have to think about what you eat. I'd rather just eat whatever's in front of me."
"That's a good philosophy," Choji agreed. Crunch.
Yuji sighed and leaned back on his elbows. It was clear they weren't leaving. Maybe he should leave. But he was already comfortable here. It was a deeply annoying dilemma.
"So, why are you friends with him if he annoys you so much?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes still on the clouds.
"I told you, I'm not his friend," Yuji grumbled. "I'm a... victim of circumstance. Collateral damage in his explosion of enthusiasm."
"But you let him sit next to you," Shikamaru pointed out. "And you have lunch with him. I saw you yesterday. He was trying to show you how to balance chopsticks on his nose."
"That was not by choice!" Yuji protested. "Believe me, if I had a choice, I'd be sitting in a different room. Maybe even a different academy. One in the Land of Tea, perhaps. I hear it's quiet there."
"Then why?" Shikamaru pressed with a lazy curiosity. "Why don't you just tell him to go away? You seem pretty good at that."
Yuji fell silent. Why? It was the same question he asked himself every day. Why did he tolerate Naruto? Why did he take him home for lunch? Why couldn't he just ignore the kid like everyone else did?
Because of his stupid, traitorous heart. Because of the guilt from his past life. Because seeing a kid so utterly alone felt... wrong.
But he couldn't say that. It was too complicated, too sentimental. He needed an answer that fit his cynical persona better.
"It's a social experiment," Yuji said finally, the words just coming out. "I'm studying the effects of constant exposure to illogical optimism on a cynical psyche. It's for... research. Yes. Research."
Choji looked at him, confused. Shikamaru let out a sound that might have been a small, lazy laugh. "Research, huh? What are your preliminary findings?"
"My preliminary findings are that I need more naps and an infinite supply of aspirin," Yuji replied. "And that optimism might be contagious, like the flu. I have to build up my mental immunity."
"That sounds like a major drag," Shikamaru said. He closed his eyes. "I'd rather just avoid troublesome people in the first place. It's a much more efficient strategy."
"I agree," Yuji said bitterly. "But unfortunately, the most troublesome people are also the most persistent."
"Naruto's not so bad," Choji said suddenly, after swallowing his food. "He shared his lunch with me once because I forgot mine. It was just plain bread, but still."
Yuji and Shikamaru both looked at Choji.
"He... did that?" Yuji asked, a little surprised.
Choji nodded. "Yeah. He's loud, but he's nice."
A different kind of silence settled over them. Yuji contemplated the new information. Naruto, who had next to nothing, shared his meager food. That was... so typically Naruto. Stupid, impulsive, and fundamentally kind.
"Kindness is subjective," Yuji muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do for someone is to leave them alone."
"Maybe," Shikamaru said, his eyes still closed. "Or maybe the most troublesome thing is also the right thing to do. Who knows? It's too complicated to think about."
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Yuji found himself, surprisingly, not so annoyed anymore. Shikamaru and Choji's presence was different from Naruto's. They were calm. They were undemanding. They just... existed. It was a type of companionship that didn't drain his energy.
"So," Shikamaru said, changing the subject abruptly. "You. Yamashita. Why are you here?"
"You mean on this roof? Because I was seeking peace and quiet before it was destroyed by you and your munching friend."
"No. I mean in the academy," Shikamaru clarified. "You don't seem like the type who wants to be a ninja. You sound like you'd rather be a retiree."
Yuji looked at him sharply. This slacker was surprisingly observant. "I already answered that during introductions. I want to open a mask shop."
"That's the answer you gave the teacher," Shikamaru said, opening one eye to look at Yuji. "It's the safe answer. But it's not the real answer, is it? You don't need to be a ninja to open a shop."
Yuji felt a slight chill. Being looked at by Shikamaru felt different. It felt like being analyzed, dissected by a mind far sharper than it appeared.
"You think too much," Yuji said, trying to deflect.
"It's what I do," Shikamaru retorted. "So? Why?"
Yuji sighed. He couldn't lie to this kid. At least, not with a stupid lie. He needed a partial truth.
"Because being a mask maker won't stop a kunai from ending up in your throat," Yuji said quietly, his tone turning dark. "Because being a civilian in this world is the equivalent of being a sheep hoping the wolves aren't hungry. I don't like being a sheep."
Choji stopped eating, looking at Yuji with wide eyes. Shikamaru closed his eyes again, but Yuji knew he was listening intently.
"I don't want to be Hokage," Yuji continued. "I don't want to be a hero. I just want to have a fighting chance. I want to be able to say 'no' to the wolves and have the power to back it up. Becoming a ninja... it's the most direct, albeit most annoying, way to achieve that. It's not about glory. It's about survival."
The rooftop fell completely silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Yuji felt he had revealed too much, shown a part of himself that was too serious, too adult.
"Survival, huh?" Shikamaru whispered. "That's... the least troublesome reason of all."
The bell rang below, signaling the end of lunch. Its shrill sound felt like an unwelcome intrusion.
Choji quickly finished the rest of his chips and stood up. Shikamaru groaned and sat up reluctantly. "Time to go back to boring class. What a drag."
They started walking towards the door. Yuji remained seated, not moving.
Just before they went through the door, Shikamaru stopped and looked back. "Hey, Yamashita."
"What?"
"Tomorrow... the clouds might be better. See you here."
And then they were gone, leaving Yuji alone once more.
He looked over to where they had been sitting. His spot didn't feel like just his anymore. It felt... a little bigger. He was still annoyed that his peace had been disturbed. But he also felt... something else. Something he couldn't quite name.
"What a drag," he muttered to himself, mimicking Shikamaru's words. And for the first time, a small smile touched his lips.