~Kashin~

The next day at the Academy, my class and I were sitting in art class with the assignment of drawing still life. A bust of one of our great Kage was placed in the middle of the table, and depending on where you sat at the table, that was the view of said bust you had to draw.

I was mindlessly dragging my pencil over my page, drawing lines over lines, scribbling shading, and using my pinkie finger to smudge. I was sat beside Sarada and a boy with brown hair named Höki, both of whom were also completely focused on our task.

"So, any news on Mister stalker?" Shikadai asked in a whisper, breaking the silence.

"How should I know..." ChoCho was the first to answer as she wasn't really focused on her drawing, merely sitting with her pencil in her hand and her eyes closed.

"So class rep," Inojin turned to Sumire, his eyes closed with a smile.

As they spoke I felt my left eye twitch, and I speedily brought my hand up to cover it and rub it. There wasn't anything in the class that should have put me on edge, I pretty much knew none of my classmates were threats, so I ignored the feeling and went back to my sorry excuse for a portrait. A high-pitched scream then rang through our classroom and I flinched, my ears having grown accustom to the silence so the scream was twice as loud as it usually would have been. I turned my narrow eyes toward the female responsible but my gaze softened when I saw a scared-looking Namida shivering as she looked ahead of her.

"Namida? What's wrong?" Wasabi asked, the small brunette now having the whole class's attention.

Namida raised a shaking hand, pointing her finger forward as she squeaked for everyone to look at the blackboard. Furrowing my brows for a second I turned in my chair to face the front of the class and the blackboard before my eyes went wide, an uncomfortable weight settling in my chest. The blackboard read "Sumire, I'm always watching you...". I turned my body once again to face the young girl sitting opposite me. Sumire drew shaky breaths, her body shaking fearfully.

"What's going on here?" Boruto asked in confusion.

"It's that guy," ChoCho answered, narrowing her eyes, her voice gaining an annoyed and harsh tone.

Once class was over, and we were allowed out for lunch, my peers and I walked through the corridors on our way to the main stairs.

"Boruto," Mitsuki called, already there waiting for us.

"Apparently you-know-who wasn't at school today," Mitsuki told us.

"HUH!?" ChoCho questioned.

"No one's seen him all day," Mitsuki finished.

"That can't be! My intuition is never wrong! It had to be him"! ChoCho added strongly.

Suddenly a piece of paper fell from above us, landing on the floor and catching all our attention. Turning our heads up, we all watched as dozens of pages fell from the upper floors, covering the floor like snow. I watched Sumire kneel down and pick up one, reading what was written on it. I swallowed hard when I read what the message said. All the pages had various letters ranging from compliments to full-out love confessions. Sumire sat shaking as she read over them all. I felt bad for her, what the hell is wrong with this guy... doing all of this, scaring our peer just because she doesn't want to date him...

'How childish...' I thought to myself before offering my hand to Sumire, locking eyes with her before she took my hand and stood with my help.

After that, my classmates and I wandered the corridors looking for Maguire. With all the trouble he's causing he needs to be nearby. We were walking in a group, with Boruto, Shikadai, and Mitsuki in the front, I was in the middle walking beside Sumire while ChoCho and Sarada covered the back. While we were walking and discussing what we should do about Maguire, one of the Academy's fire shutters activated and closed off the corridor, cutting myself and the girls off from the guys.

"What the hell~!? Hey Kashin!?" Boruto called banging on the shut shutter.

I narrowed my eyes, stepping back and putting an arm out in front of Sumire.

"This guy is serious," ChoCho commented, both her and Sarada getting into defensive stances like mine.

"Come on, it's not safe to stay here," Sarada told us, turning and beginning to run down the corridor.

ChoCho followed her, Sumire in tow while I covered their backs. We ran toward one of the many Ninja tool equipment rooms, pulling the door open and hiding inside.

"You don't think he followed us here do you?" Sarada asked as we walked further inside.

"We ran pretty far, we should be fine," ChoCho answered.

I took a breath, following after Sumire into the room and closing the door as we walked deeper inside. The hair on my neck suddenly stood straight, a chill running down my spine before one of the shelves toppled over toward me. I gasped, bringing my arms up to cover my head before the shelf weight pinned me to the floor.

"Kashin~!" Sumire cried out before she, Sarada, and ChoCho all ran toward me, kneeling to try and pick up the shelf.

"Grhh~, Leave me, get out of here~" I hissed with clenched teeth, trying to pull my lower body out from under the rubble.

A box of smoke bombs was then pushed to the floor, exploding and sending suffocating smoke everywhere. The girls stepped back, closing their eyes and covering their mouths as they coughed. I shut my eyes as well, coughing furiously as I grabbed my right thigh, pulling at it but it wouldn't budge. I cracked my eyes open, the black fog burning them and restricting my vision.

"I'll open the door!" I heard Sumire call out behind me.

I then heard the door open on its rails, Sumire coughing before she called out to us, leading us to the door before it was shut.

"Sumire?" Sarada called out.

"Sarada! ChoCho!" Sumire banged on the door.

I squinted forward to see if I could see ChoCho or Sarada, taking a strained deep breath before growing my tails, digging two into the floor to pull myself out while the other two lifted the shelf. I crawled along the floor, coughing before hissing at the throbbing pain going through my leg. I panted, grabbing at the aching spot beginning to hyperventilate as the image of a kunai embedded in my leg flashed before my eyes. Blood covered my hands and deep laughter rang in my ears, my throat clenched and I shuffled back on my hands till my back met a wall.

"Kashin~? Kashin where are you?" Sarada's voice rang in my ears.

"I'm~ I'm over... h-here," I reached my hand out and felt around the air before I felt another hand.

"ChoCho I found him!" I felt my body be pulled up and my arms wrapped around shoulders.

The girls helped me walk and we exited the storage room coughing. I cracked my eyes open, looking down at my right leg expecting to see the kunai still there and blood covering the floor but was met with neither. I sighed, dropping my head and closing my eyes just in case as Sarada and ChoCho helped me walk forward.

"Denki!?" I heard Boruto's voice as multiple footsteps approached us.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Are you guys ok?" Shikadai's voice questioned next.

"Yeah, although a shelf fell on Kashin," Sarada answered.

"You ok Kashin?" Shikadai asked, taking my arm and switching out with ChoCho to hold me up.

"Yeah, just a little battered," I replied, hissing when I tried to put pressure and stand on my right leg.

"Where's the class rep?" Boruto asked, causing me to raise my head and look at him.

"Sorry," ChoCho muttered, indicating we'd lost her.

There was then a scream, echoing from the roof, and we knew right then and there Maguire had taken her up there. So we all headed up the steps, bursting through the doors to save our classmate.

"Hey, you! This has gone far enough... now get away from the class rep," Boruto sheathed at Maguire.

"Can you not bother us right now..." Maguire spoke calmly, glaring at our group as he stepped toward us.

I watched Boruto stiffen, before telling Shikadai that he could see the dark chakra around Maguire. Shikadai nodded, turning to Sarada before letting go of me and walking up behind Boruto as they prepared to fight Maguire. They didn't stand much of a chance though, as Maguire activated his disguise jutsu and disappeared from sight, jumping all around while throwing Kunai at my peers.

I watched them struggle, narrowly missing knives and deflecting shots to their heads. ChoCho then took a deep breath from beside me before calling/shouting out to Maguire. Lecturing him about his methods in winning the class rep's heart. How hiding himself away and expecting things to just work out was never gonna work. That he should polish his strengths, work on being a man people will want to look up to and respect.