Chapter Text
“Ryuunosuke,” Yumi kneeled down and pulled her child into her arms. “It’s just school, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Ryuunosuke in turn buried their face in Yumi’s sweater. They knew that already, they knew that everything should be fine, and there was nothing to be afraid of. They knew that they’d have no trouble making friends and could keep up with the schoolwork, but it didn’t matter. Their head was swimming and their stomach was sick with a sense of dread not their own. They could feel the Other, squirming and writhing in their mind, trying to pull itself tighter into the ball trying to cut itself off from Ryuu like it always did when it was stressed by something, but while it kept its memories locked up tight, it could never separate it’s emotions from Ryuu’s.
“Everyone’s gonna be older than me.” They muttered, voice muffled by their mother’s thick sweater. It helped. It was something they were nervous about, but there was no real way of knowing what was stressing the Other, kind of a pain considering it was almost always stressed. Yumi stroked their hair, and Ryuu leaned into her hand. It helped, Yumi was warm and affectionate, and the Other quieted. Yumi was something safe, and even when she didn’t understand Ryuu she still accepted them, and both parts of their mind revelled in the affection.
“Sweet pea, look at me.” When they refused to lift their head from her, she placed her hand under their chin and lifted it. “Look at me. Everything will be fine, you’ll do fine. You’ll make some good friends, and you’re smart. And even if this turns out to not be the right path for you, I’ll support you no matter what, alright?” She placed a kiss on Ryuu’s forehead and rose to her feet. “Will it help if I hold your hand on the way to the classroom?” they considered it for a few long seconds before giving a slight, almost imperceptible nod. Yumi smiled, running her hand over Ryuu’s hair once more before taking their small hand in her’s. “It’s going to be alright.”
Yumi was a lovely woman, with long coral colored hair past her waist. She had eyes that always looked like they were laughing and saying “I know something you don’t.” and when she smiled her lips pulled a bit more to one side that on her face always looked rather charming. At six, Ryuu looked like a miniature of their mother, the only noticeable difference being in coloring. Their hair was darker and redder, and they were quite a bit paler than her with eyes the color of brass. Ryuu always thought their features suited their mother better. The Other always felt weird when they looked in the mirror, something just felt wrong to it but it wouldn’t say what.
“You’ll be fine.” She reassured them one more time as they reached the classroom door. “And, there’s a surprise for dinner tonight to celebrate!”
“Ramen.”
Yumi laughed. “Yes okay it’s ramen, but you like ramen! And you’ll be able to see Ayame, won’t that be fun?” She cupped their cheeks and planted a kiss on their forehead. “I’m so proud of you baby, whatever you decide to do.”
Ryuu gave their mother one last quick hug and ran into the classroom. The minute they stepped in they strongly considered running back out. Everyone was a lot taller, a few people were staring at Ryuu, and their incessant chattering was hurting their ears, though the Other seemed much more bothered by it. They hurried to the nearest empty seat as quickly and quietly as they replayed Yumi’s words in their head, more to calm the Other’s growing panic.
As far as Ryuunosuke knew, the Other had always been there. It was normal, just another part of their mind in some ways. In other ways it felt like a very jumpy companion sitting in their brain, it had memories that weren’t Ryuu’s, knew songs that didn’t exist, and sometimes, if it bothered to let Ryuu see, things that hadn’t happened yet.
The moment they sat down they felt someone poke the back of their head, and they jumped nearly out of their chair with a small squeak.
“Hey, you’re the new kid right?” Grinning behind them was a nice looking, if rather forgettable, boy with messy hair pulled into a haphazard ponytail. “I’m Ahiru.”
Ryuu smushed down their rising panic and summoned their nicest smile. “I’m-” Their breath caught in their throat. “I’m Ryuunosuke Uzumaki, it’s nice to meet you.” Ahiru was kinda unremarkable in terms of appearance. Not really the typical brown haired brown eyed Konoha type, but without any bright stand out features either. His hair was brownish orange, and his eyes were grey blue. Overall nice, but would get lost in a crowd. The only striking thing about him was how sincerely warm and good natured that it actually settled Ryuu’s nerves quite a bit.
“Come on, I don’t bite!” He playfully punched Ryuu’s shoulder. “But Tsukimi will, try not to get in a tussle with her outside of taijutsu, she’s half shark or something.”
“Umm?” Ryuu gave a forced laugh, unsure whether the older boy was joking or not
Ahiru laughed. “Oh, she’s the rich white haired girl, can’t miss her. She probably won’t actually bite you, she’s only bitten Okami once, but that’s cause their spars get really intense. Anyways, I’m kinda friends with everyone so if you need any help just ask.” He smiled at Ryuu again, like they were a person he’d known for years instead of someone he’d spoken to for at most a minute. “For the low low price of calling me senpai of course.” He clamped down on his smile and tried to look serious, even though Ryuu could see the corners of his mouth twitching.
Ryuu snorted. “No.”
“Booooo, why not?” He stuck out his tongue.
“We’re in the same class, I don’t actually have to call you senpai.”
“But I’ve been in school longer!” He argued.
“That says more about you than your experience.” This earned a snort from Ryuu’s seatmate, a very tall boy with brown hair in a neat ponytail.
“But I already know everyone and how good they are!” An idea flashed through Ahiru’s mind and he grinned wide. “If you call me senpai you can eat with me at lunch until you settle in, and I can introduce you to everyone!”
“Don’t listen to him Ryuunosuke.” Ryuu’s neighbor interjected. “He’s just trying to get you to be friends with him cause he doesn’t have a friend group.”
“Shut up Yari, I don’t have a friend group because I’m friends with everyone.” He blew a raspberry at Yari. “It would be a crime to confine my greatness to a few people.”
“A blessing more like it.” Yari shot back, a playful smirk growing on his face. “And no way in hell you’re my friend, don’t lie to the newbie.”
“Pffft, I wouldn’t even want to be your friend, you’re boring. Anyways Ryuu, what’cha say?” He leaned over the table and grabbed Ryuu’s face with his hands, squishing it. “Wanna be my sidekick?”
That’s when the door slammed shut, and a tired looking chunin walked through the door with the attendance book. “Everyone be quiet, and wait for me to call your name. And please… please just don’t do anything today.” He said and took a gulp from what Ryuu assumed was either coffee or very strong tea. Ryuu had met with him while enrolling, he was a nice, if exacerbated man named Hoshi.
Ryuu tried to pay attention, they really did, but within thirty minutes their leg was bouncing and they were looking all around the classroom for anything to get their attention. There honestly wasn’t much, not even any windows to look out of. Ahiru was asleep at the table behind them, Yari was diligently taking notes, and Hoshi had been asked more than five questions along the lines of; “Was Madara’s mom proud of him?” “Was he a butt because his mom never loved him?” “Was his mom from space and that’s why she never loved him?” “Was Madara an alien?” and “Are you sure the Bijuu aren’t from space?” Despite the fact this was chakra theory.
Ryuu’s thoughts drifted to Ahiru. They liked him, he smiled a lot and laughed a lot and something about him made the Other feel more comfortable, like there was something familiar about him.
‘It’s a ploy.’ The Other warned them. ‘He’s trying to make you say senpai so he can call you cute and tiny and squishy.’ Ryuu decided to ignore it, instead trying to figure out what they could about their classmates from the backs of their heads. Most everyone had the brown or black hair typical to Konoha, though there were a few exceptions. They were drawn to one person’s hair in particular, long and white, and so shiny each strand might as well have been made of ice. ‘That must be Tsukimi.’ They noted, and began doodling in their notebook, half listening to the lecture.
“And I want you all to practice keeping the leaf stuck!” Hoshi yelled out to the class in vain as they poured out the doors to eat lunch. Ryuu grabbed their bento and ran over to find Ahiru.
“Hey senpai.”
The reaction was just as the Other had predicted, Ahiru grinned and pulled Ryuu into a crushing hug, lifting the younger child off his feet and squishing their face into his chest. “Awwww, you’re so cute!” He squealed as he spun around. Maybe it was just the fact their air supply was cut off, but they could feel something fluttering in their chest. If Ahiru liked cute things they were going to milk it for all it was worth. “So tiny and squishy.” He said, and lifted Ryuu in the air. “Hey, hey Tsukimi?” He shoved Ryuu in the white haired girl’s face as she passed bye. “Isn’t he just the cutest?”
Ryuu’s head spun and they kicked their feet as they realized how high off the ground they were. “Please put me down.”
“Nope! Tsukimi look!” He said, stepping closer as Tsukimi tried to back away with Ryuunosuke raised in front of him like a kitten. Ryuu’s heart jumped with every step, but Ahiru’s grip never loosened and he seemed to have no trouble with Ryuu’s weight. It didn’t stop Ryuu from freaking out though. Tsukimi covered her mouth with the large sleeve of her kimono and smirked.
“Whatever you say Ahiru.” She rolled her eyes.
“Great!” Ahiru ran away, Ryuu still held out in front of him, and he continued this with a few other people until he got bored and remembered they had to eat.
“So,” Yumi asked as she wiped ramen broth off of Naruto’s face. “How did school go?”
Ryuu swished one of the eggs in their tonkotsu ramen around in the bowl before deciding on a response.“It was kinda fun but also really boring.” With that they stuffed the entirety of an egg into their mouth. Teuchi laughed and they immediately realized their mistake.
“Any new friends?” He asked, but Ryuu could not respond.
“Not again.. Ryuu.” Yumi sighed, prying her attention away from Naruto to scold Ryuu, albeit rather halfheartedly. But when her back was turned was when Naruto struck, in his delight laughing at Ryuu’s unintentional impression of a squirrel, he brought his little fists down on the edge of the bowl and sent the thankfully cooled ramen broth inside catapulting all over the toddler. Naruto was silent for a moment before bursting out into another fit of giggles, waving his little hands up and down.
“Ryuu-nii! Ryuu-nii! Look!” He continued to laugh, pushing the bowl up over his eyes. “Kage!”
With some difficulty Ryuu swallowed the half chewed egg and smiled at Naruto. “Yeah, you do look like the Hokage!” They laughed. Yumi hid her face in her hands and Teuchi just gave her a knowing smile.
“Ryuu?” Teuchi said. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you make any new friends?”
“Sorry! And yeah! Well like, one. And he’s really weird, and has a weird name. But he’s also kinda funny so it’s okay. But everyone’s bigger than me and it’s weird like a bad weird.” They huffed at the last part and stabbed another egg with a chopstick. Yumi was too busy trying to mitigate Naruto’s ramen situation to scold them for it. Teuchi dropped another egg into their ramen.
“You’ll catch up to them soon enough.”