Karin tilted her head back a little, taking another peek at the ceiling from the corner of her eye. Naruto brought a finger to his grinning mouth, and she looked away, pressing her lips together to fight back the ever-growing smile.
Her cheeks ached, but laughing right now would ruin it.
Her eyes dropped, sweeping the classroom, and a short puff of air slipped out of her nose. She wiggled in her seat, pushing her glasses back up with one knuckle.
They still hadn't noticed. This was gonna be so funny.
"Karin?" A soft voice came from her right. "Did something happen?"
Hinata tilted her head, pale eyes searching Karin's face as she sat there like a porcelain doll.
"No." Karin shook her head, the smile still nudging at the corners of her mouth. "Not yet."
Hinata blinked. Her brows came together the tiniest bit, a cute little crease forming above her nose. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, you'll see. Just give it another minute or—"
A loud voice rolled in from across the room, and Karin paused mid-sentence.
"—and where's Naruto anyway?"
Smile widening, Karin jerked her chin toward the group of boys in the middle row. "Watch this."
Hinata followed her line of sight, that cute frown deepening.
"Being late, duh," said one of the civilian boys with the rust-colored shirt—Tarō-something?
Any time now—
"Nuh-uh." Naruto's voice rang through the classroom, all casual. "Been here all along. Like a real ninja, y'know."
The boys paused, heads turning around.
"…huh?"
Half of them swiveled in their seats. The boy in the red shirt actually bent down and checked under his desk, hands braced on his knees, head tilted like he expected to find Naruto folded up between someone's shoes.
Karin pressed her teeth into her lip, biting back a laugh.
Beside her, Hinata let out a small breath. "Oh… that's what you meant…"
"Yup," she said, voice dropping to a whisper. "He snuck in through the window at the back."
She wouldn't have even noticed him if not for her constant practice with her mind's eye.
"What the hell?" Tarō-something exclaimed.
"Where's he hiding?"
Shikamaru lifted one finger above his head without bothering to pick his cheek off his arm.
"Troublesome…"
The boys paused mid-search. A dozen heads tipped up almost in sync, and the class went so quiet Karin could hear Chōji munch on his chips two rows down.
Naruto grinned down at them from the ceiling, hands on his hips. "Didn't expect this, didja?"
The boys went bug-eyed, mouths hanging open, and Karin clapped a hand over her own. A laugh escaped through her nose with a short, sharp puff of air.
Pffft. The looks on their faces.
"He's up there!"
"No way! Is he standing on the ceiling?!"
"Woah! How's he doing that?"
"Chakra, duh."
"I saw a chūnin do it once."
"A chūnin?!"
"My dad said we all get to learn this when we're genin."
Karin wrinkled her nose. Genin? Did people really wait that long to learn something so simple?
She stole a quick glance at Hinata from the corner of her eye.
Probably not.
Maybe only if they sucked at chakra control.
"Then how can he do it now?" A boy with dark hair pointed up. Daisuke? Daiki?
Naruto's grin stretched even wider. "Cuz I'm that awesome, ya know!"
Karin rolled her eyes.
Maybe she should've showed off a bit too. This doofus was letting it get to his head something fierce. He was gonna be insufferable for, like, a week.
"Oi!" Kiba's hands smacked onto his hips as he glared at the ceiling. "Since when can you do that?"
"Since a while ago," Naruto said. "Why? You jealous?"
Kiba gave a sharp huff. "As if. I'll get it down in no time." He jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "Just watch me."
"Oh yeah? Bet'cha can't do it in a month."
"Oh you're so on."
"Hey, um…" The pink-haired girl—Sakura—spoke up, her hands twisting in her lap. "Where did you learn this?"
Naruto's head swiveled towards her like an owl, and his smile turned cheeky. "From someone who's even more awesome than I—"
"Alright, class."
A familiar voice carried above the others, and every head in the room snapped towards the door.
Mr. Iruka walked inside with a stack of scrolls under one arm. "Settle down and go back to—"
He paused as his eyes found the ceiling.
His mouth stayed open, and he blinked. Once. Twice. He kept staring, a look on his face like he wasn't sure if he'd walked into the right classroom.
Karin bit her lip, a laugh climbing up her chest in waves that made her shoulders shake.
"Naruto…" Mr. Iruka's voice finally caught up to the rest of him. "You can walk on walls already?"
Naruto grinned, hands on his hips. "Pshh. I can walk on water."
And only sink half the time.
The class swung back as one body, a dozen necks craning up at once.
Utter silence.
They kept staring.
Someone broke it with a small click of their tongue.
Sasuke leaned forward in his seat and propped his chin on his hand, dark hair half-way covering his eyes. "Show-off."
A snort burst out of Karin's nose before she could catch it. Her whole body shook with a half-choked laughter and she hid her grin behind a hand.
Pffft. Someone's salty.