9 Chips

"Boruto-nii is such a troublemaker!"

Isui was surprised at Sarada's ability to rant on while she simultaneously was gasping for air. Her cheeks were flushed red as she stood in the doorway with the door shut behind her, leaning forward with her arms supported by her legs. His sister was cute, but sometimes she could get so hung up on one matter that she lost the capability to stay rational, especially when Boruto was involved.

"Nee-san, this is the third time this morning."

Isui saw a scowl forming on his sister's face before him. He sat on the edge of the wooden flooring, legs outstretched, at the entrance to their home. The boy was panting, too. His chest visibly rose and fell as he let his head dip backward, closing his eyes, enjoying the calm before the storm.

"Isui? On whose side are you?"

"On no one, particular."

"Boruto-nii destroyed Nanadaime's stone face with a train! Do you know how much damage he could have caused if the train had been slower when it crashed into the rock?"

Isui signed, his calm graze peering back at his sister's hot glare. His bare feet slid over the smooth surface of the stone flooring as he angled them at ninety degrees, resulting in him sitting up straight. He put his hands on his lap, swiping the sweat onto his trousers.

"You have seen the news, have you? Be rational, sister. There was more behind his stunt than Boruto-nii's desire for attention. Even if he played it down, the defective train could have derailed and flown over the edge of the Hokages mountain to crash into another part of the village. There is a reason why the Kaminarimon Company took the blow. Besides, Boruto-nii called yesterday evening to tell me about being suspended from the academy for the next two weeks. His mom put him under house arrest." Isui put on a challenging smirk. "You should stop nagging and remove your shoes, or I will go under the shower first." He teased his twin. The last time he did it, he had spent half an hour inside the bath to annoy his dear sister after she commented about him needing longer than her because of his new hair length. Isui drew out the tie to let his strands fall over his black eyes, which glowed brazenly. They were almost as long as his sister's, but instead of his sister's straight bob, Isui currently resembled a lion's mane rugged with spikes.

Sarada opened her mouth again, but Isui instantly ripped her sails before she could surge them up with new wind.

"You know, if you still have so much energy to complain, we should further deepen the intensity of our morning exercises."

Sarada huffed in annoyance but said nothing as she sloppily kicked off her shoes. It was an act of defiance. Then she strode, head held high, down the hall. Isui smiled at her childish antics and bent over to pick up her red sandals to gently palace them next to his pair of black ones, noting that his mothers were missing. She must have left to work while they were gone.

When the Uchiha twins stepped into the classroom, Isui felt the shift in the air. He was used to commanding attention in the social circles of shinobi. It was unwanted, and most of the time, he felt the load placed upon his shoulders when the adults and his peers stared at him in anticipation. It was like now. Every set of eyes in the room looked him and his sister up and down, judging them.

He strained a small smile, wanting to look friendly as he looked around. He did not like big groups of people, preferring the closeness of his few friends. Shikadai and Inojin were still missing, as well as Cho Cho.

They were all new. Isui reminded himself. They do not know him any more than he knew them. Nobody said anything. Soon the other children turned tier attention elsewhere. It seemed as if he had overreacted. Well, paranoia was nothing new for a shinobi, he excused himself.

Sarada stayed close to him as they searched for empty places amongst the rows of tables. Most of the kids had seated themselves near the windows. The last rows also were sold out.

Sarada suddenly pressed herself before him before diving onto the only still-empty bench. She slit to the middle and placed her bag on her left side, blocking the seat. He assumed it was for Cho Cho. She looked at him.

Isui's strained smile replaced itself with an amused smirk at the silent command she was sending him. It was clear to him that she did not want to be alone. He had planned to sit with Shikadai and Boruto, but he recognized a lost battle when he saw one. The raven-haired boy placed his bag on the table and slit next to his sister, who had already started setting her table.

The door to the classroom slit open, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio stepped in. In contrast to him, Cho Cho did not seem to have any inhibitions. She walked in as if she owned the place.

"Man, I can not understand why our parents forced us to walk to school together," she shouted to the two boys. "Now that the whole school saw me with you two idiots, they will weld us to each other."

"Why would I want to be seen with you, Cho Cho?" Inojin said.

"You should be grateful, Inojin. My illustrious star power will shine onto your plainness."

"What a drag. Can not the two of you shut up? The whole class is staring at us." Shikadai whispered as he deadpanned with his hand on his forehead. The Nara's words fell on dead ears as Cho Cho located Sarada and Isui.

"Hey, bestie!"

The tanned girl was up the stairs in a second, smiling widely at the twins.

"Good morning Cho Cho-chan," Sarada said happily. She lifted her bag from the seat she had reserved earlier.

"Good morning Cho Cho-san," Isui greeted politely.

A blush spread over Cho Cho's face as she looked at Isui.

"Morning, Isui-kun," she replied. A sudden shyness had infected her otherwise powerful voice.

"I hope you are well prepared." Isui continued making conversation politely.

"Of course I am." Cho Cho coughed, her voice steadying again.

The tanned girl put her big bag down and zipped it open. Then she started to pull out all sorts of flavored bags of chips.

"I have some for every lesson until lunch. There are the normal salty ones, the ones with the chili flavor, the paprika flavor, the mochi flavor, the teriyaki flavor, and the extra special barbecue ones." She was getting louder with each announcement.

Isui and Sarada sweatdropped at the pile of chips bags on their table.

Cho Cho grabbed one of the bags and ripped it open.

"Let's share some celebration chips, shall we." She bent over the table and held the bag arm outstretched directly under Isui's nose. The smell of tomato and salt wafted out of it.

Isui pulled her arm down carefully and took out one chip. He closed his eyes while he popped it into his mouth and enjoyed the flavor.

"Thank you, Cho Cho-chan," he heard Sarada say as he opened his eyes again.

"Ah, thank you." He said to the reddened girl.

"Isui."

Isui turned his attention to Shikadai, who had settled down a row below him and was now leaning back.

"Shikadai, you are punctual," he greeted back, eyes wide, pretending to see his friend for the first time today.

"My mother snatched me by my ankle and dragged me to the breakfast table."

Isui raised an eyebrow.

"Before or after you ignored your alarm clock."

Shikadai did not take the bait and answered in a no-joke tone:

"Before."

"I am happy that we all got into the same class."

"Me too. It would have been such a drag otherwise.

The boys fist-bumped.

The door opened again to reveal a black-haired, green-clad man. The most notable thing was the visor around his head. The class went quiet, and everyone started to shuffle at the sight of their teacher, preparing for the start of the first lesson.

The man walked behind the teacher's podium and put a notebook down.

"Good morning, class. I am your teacher Shino-sensei. Welcome to the course for ninjutsu. I hope we all work well together."