10 Chapter 10: Disbelieving Stares

My Life as Naruto Uzumaki - Harem Version

Chapter 10: Disbelieving Stares

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[MC POV]

I walked over to my room and got all of my clones to dispel one at a time while I grabbed all of the new gear and scrolls I uh... tactically acquired from Mizuki and his shack. I put everything on a small scroll Cat had given me as a goodbye present those years back.

I frowned at the change in our relationship, but we were never friends. She was a caretaker who went out of her way for me... maybe she would open up if I was a shinobi instead of just a kid she had to babysit. Regardless, I still smiled fondly when I remembered her teaching me how to read and write. She was the only person I had any relationship with before Hinata and Ino came along.

I shook my head off of the reminiscing and walked back to the living room turned dining room where everyone was sitting with a bowl of ramen and tea of their choice; just being rowdy and noisy as ever. I smiled fondly at this. It took a lot for me to get to this point 

I walked over to the entryway and opened the door just as Sasuke was about to knock. He looked at me with a contemplative look on his face and said,

"You look like shit, Naruto. Did Ino eat the last cinnamon bun again?" He asked me with a straight face and I had to suppress a shiver. 

We all learned that day that nobody eats the last cinnamon bun but Hinata.

"Thankfully, no. I was just taking a trip down memory lane and got the feels. You look peachy as ever, had a tomato feast courtesy of Sakura and Hinata again?" I asked, knowing exactly how the girls got him to show up at all.

"Hmph, I was promised tomato ramen, that's the only reason I'm here." He huffed as he walked in and left his shoes inside the cubby I made a little while back.

"Sure. Sure." I waved him off and sat down at the larger table I made with Shika and Choji so that we could all sit together.

Hinata took a seat to my right, followed by Ayame, Ino, and Sakura. Sasuke sat to my left with Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, and Choji sitting after him. I took a deep breath and thought about what I would be telling them. I had to sanitize parts of it because there was confidential information I couldn't talk about, but the old man gave me an idea of how to go about it.

"So, for everyone who is curious, worried, or annoyed that I disappeared after the Graduation test, you don't have to worry, I'm fine."

I heard a few sighs of relief and Hinata tugged on my shirt. "So, you passed, right?"

"Hm? Oh, no. I failed the test." I grinned at them and the silence was palpable.

"What!?" Choji and Kiba both yelled in surprise

Sasuke was giving me a look that all but demanded an explanation. Hinata had her jaw on the floor, Sakura and Shikamaru mimicking her almost exactly. And Ayame was giving me a confused look since I'd told her otherwise yesterday morning.

"I believe Naruto has more to tell us; let's listen before making any rash decisions." Shino, ever the voice of reason chipped in.

"Thanks for being the voice of reason, Shino. I knew I could count on you" I gave him my megawatt smile and a thumbs up. He nodded but his bugs buzzing gave his true emotions away.

"Alright, just so we're all on the same page, I am a genin candidate just like all of you, however, this was because of a revision made after I'd failed the final test."

I held my hand up to silence questions because otherwise, this would take forever. "From what Iruka Sensei and the old man told me, I was put under a genjutsu sometime before I attempted to perform the required technique to pass. The motives of the individual responsible are unknown as of yet, but they've been captured."

I held up my hand again and continued, "I was so disappointed in my performance that I left the room before Iruka could stop me and sat by myself somewhere on the academy grounds. I was later re-evaluated after the culprit had been apprehended, and the method of interference was confirmed. I just had to redo the previously unsuccessful technique."

Ino then piped up. "But then, why were you so tired? It couldn't have taken that much effort to use the jutsu."

"Well... that's because I was under surveillance all night and into the morning, just in case anything else happened. I did spend most of that time with Iruka Sensei, though. He's the one who gave me this headband *takes it out of his pocket*"

I noticed Shikamaru was analyzing my story and his eyes widened minutely before he sent me a lazy glance. I slightly shook my head and he sighed, already knowing that asking more would be a drag.

"But... who would do such a thing..." Hinata asked, looking down; her anger palpable.

"It doesn't matter, Hina. They've been caught and we won't have to worry about them again. Besides. I got to poach some cool scrolls off of the ninja I was with. One is a chakra control scroll, and the other is a scroll for shuriken techniques." I replied with a smile and poked Hinata's cheek until she pouted and forgot her anger.

"So, you're still the highest-rated rookie, then?" Sasuke asked.

"Hm... likely not. I did fail the test, so that would place me at the bottom, regardless of my scores. Even if the genjutsu was not part of the test, a ninja should always be wary of their surroundings and I failed to do that." I lied at the end. Though I wasn't too sure about the class ranking, maybe I was still the top student. It didn't matter, though, my skills were up to snuff for the most part, and that would matter much more.

"No. I refuse to beat you like this. I demand we settle this in a spar. If I can beat you then I'll accept the title, if not then I'll deny it." Sasuke got up, incensed.

Everyone else just sighed. Sasuke and I have been doing these challenges every other day for months and while I never purposefully lost, I always made Sasuke work for his wins. It's not much of a rivalry if all I do is beat him down and humiliate him. I wanted to actually get along and be friends with my Sasuke, and if that required me getting him up to snuff with a game of moving goalpost, then so be it.

It also happens that the more effort you put into a battle/spar, the more you level up. I've noticed that I only gain levels as rewards for missions, or for harder-than-usual fights and spars. Nothing else seems to increase my level. Training increases my stats, though, and the better and harder I train the more they go up.

"Sure, but let's eat our ramen first, it's about to go cold." I nodded both for my plan and the challenge, then grabbed my bowl to start eating.

"Naruto, we already ate ours," Sakura said with a giggle.

I checked everyone else's bowls and it was true. They must've eaten it while I spoke.

"What?! I almost let my ramen go cold for you guys!" I inhaled the bowl in one fell swoop.

"Can I get seconds, Ayame?" I asked my ramen angel.

"Sure thing." She replied with a gentle smile.

Ayame brought me another three bowls and I continued inhaling one after the other. This must be some kind of superpower or something, I still don't know how I do it.

"Naruto, slow down, you're going to hurt yourself." Hinata scolded, worried.

"Hm? It's fine. I can take it" I replied off-handedly and continued to drink the bowls whole.

I heard her grunt and she pinched my ear. "Slow. Down. Naruto-kun." 

Ah shit, she's annoyed. Fine, I guess I can't tease her like I used to. If nothing else a shy girl with a backbone is great progress in her character arc. 

*sigh* "Fine, fine. But you have to feed me, then." I grinned at her and she became a sputtering mess. Ah, yes. It feels good to have the last laugh.

"F-fine..."

"Hey! I want to feed you too!" Ino shouted over the table.

"If anyone is going to feed Naruto, it's me," Ayame interjected and took the chopsticks out of Hinata's hands. She glared back.

"Uh, why don't you just take turns?" Sakura commented.

"Finally! One of you gets it. Oi, Naruto. Why do you let them make idiots of themselves like that?" Kiba shouted in agitation and frustration.

"Uh... I don't know. It looks like they're enjoying themselves." I shrugged off my answer and continued to eat while the other three would-be-feeders continued to argue.

I ate my tenth bowl and leaned back against the chair, my stomach had ballooned from all the ramen. Worth it.

"Are you done?" Sasuke asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"Hm... sure." I grinned and got up.

"Good." He grinned back and followed me out the door.

"You guys are so troublesome. Naruto building a harem, Sasuke being a challenge-nut, Kiba smelling like dog, and Sakura pretending she doesn't want to take part in the other three's antics." Shikamaru groaned out.

Sakura turned into a car with a bad ignition trying to deny it, Kiba began to sniff himself, Sasuke huffed, and the girls all looked at each other confused.

"What do you mean a harem? Naruto's my boyfriend, Shika." Hinata and Ino both replied at the same time.

"Oh my..." I heard Ayame breathe out and I chose to ignore the situation entirely.

I knew lightning sparks were coming from their eyes as they stared each other down, but I wanted nothing to do with this particular subject for the moment; I had a spar to get to.