Naruto: The Beast Within

Silence.

The once-roaring energy of the students had been completely extinguished, leaving only a thick tension in the air. Iruka stood in the center of the destruction, his grip firm as he held Raimu's arm behind his back.

Takuma lay on the ground, dazed from being thrown into the crowd, his breath still ragged from the fight.

A part of him wanted to get back up—to prove he wasn't completely outmatched—but his body refused. His hands clenched into fists against the dirt. He barely did anything.

They were the same age. The same class. So why did it feel like there was an entire world of difference between them?

Takuma bit his lip, frustration boiling in his chest. He trained. He practiced. He wasn't weak. And yet… he could barely keep up. He had fought with everything he had, but against Raimu and that stone-covered boar, his jutsu had felt useless

The students watching still didn't dare to speak. They wanted to cheer, to react, but no one dared to move with Iruka standing there, his rage radiating like heat.

Raimu, on the other hand, looked… unbothered. His golden eyes were half-lidded, but there was no real fear in them—just a mild annoyance at being restrained like this. He shifted slightly, testing Iruka's grip.

Nothing.

Ugh. He wasn't getting out of this one easily.

Iruka's jaw tightened, his grip on Raimu's wrist tightening ever so slightly. His eyes scanned the cracked earth, the dust still settling, the massive wall of stone Takuma had been blinded by.

He had never—not once—seen children do something like this before.

And that's what infuriated him the most.

"What… the HELL were you two thinking?!" Iruka's voice exploded, sending a sharp jolt through everyone.

Takuma stiffened. Raimu just sighed, his head tilting slightly like a sleepy cat getting scolded.

Iruka wasn't done. His face was red, his hands shaking from how tightly he held both boys. "Do you two have any idea what you've just done?! You created a battlefield—an arena—in the MIDDLE OF SCHOOL!"

Takuma looked down, gritting his teeth. Raimu blinked, tilting his head. Was that… not allowed?

"And you—" Iruka's gaze shot to the crowd, eyes burning with disappointment. "Every single one of you! You just stood there, watching, like this was some kind of spectacle! Like this was normal!!"

The students shrank under his glare. Some of them had been excited watching the fight. They had never seen anyone use jutsu like that before, especially not at their age. But now?

Now, they were terrified.

"All of you will be dealt with, do you understand?!" Iruka barked.

Not a single student dared to respond.

Takuma swallowed hard, sweat forming on his temple. Raimu, still caught in Iruka's grip, glanced at the side of his vision where the other kids were standing. They were scared. Not just of the punishment, but of how far things had escalated.

Iruka turned back to the two responsible. He wasn't done.

Without warning, he grabbed Takuma by the collar, lifting him slightly off the ground. At the same time, he yanked Raimu along by his restrained arm, dragging them both forward.

A few gasps slipped from the crowd, but no one dared to move.

The two boys were hauled towards the school, Iruka stomping forward without so much as a glance back at the silent group. The mood had shifted entirely.

Excitement had turned to dread.

The wooden floor creaked as Iruka plopped them down, shutting the door behind them with a loud thud.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Iruka walked over to his chair, sat down heavily, and put his face in his hands.

Silence.

Neither Raimu nor Takuma spoke. Neither wanted to be the first to break the tension.

Iruka inhaled deeply, his fingers pressing against his temples before finally exhaling.

Then, his voice cut through the air like a blade.

"What the hell happened?"

Still, silence.

Takuma kept his gaze down. Raimu tilted his head lazily, clearly debating whether this was even worth answering.

Iruka's eyebrow twitched.

"Answer me."

No response.

Iruka's patience snapped. "TAKUMA!" he roared.

Takuma flinched so hard it looked like he got hit. "I—I—!!"

His body tensed, words fumbling as he scrambled to find an answer. He had no choice now.

With a deep breath, his fists clenched, and he started explaining everything.

Takuma swallows hard, his fingers gripping his pants as he sits on the floor of Iruka's office. His heart pounds in his chest, and for a moment, he considers lying. Maybe he could twist the story, make it seem like it wasn't that bad—

But Iruka's glare is like a kunai pressed to his throat. There's no escaping this.

With a deep breath, he starts from the beginning.

"…It started with a bet," Takuma mutters.

Iruka's eyebrow twitches.

Takuma flinches but keeps going.

"I told, Raimu if one of us cleans up the most the other day than we can have the other person to make them do whatever we want, I won and told him i wanted to fight against him, in front of the entire school..."

Iruka sighs heavily, rubbing his temples.

Takuma hesitates, but at this point, he's committed.

"So, I told some people and they told the rest of the school, and created a a match in front of everyone."

Iruka's eyebrow twitches again.

Takuma quickly continues. "And I thought I had a chance at first! I mean, I got him to fight seriously! I made the ground shake, I— I used my best jutsu, but…"

He clenches his fists.

"…It wasn't enough."

His voice drops. It wasn't even close.

Iruka watches him carefully but says nothing yet.

"Then Raimu used his ability… and that's when things got crazy."

Iruka raises an eyebrow. "You mean after things got crazy?"

Takuma tenses. "Uh… yeah. After."

Iruka sighs, but gestures for him to keep talking.

Takuma takes another breath, looking at the floor. "The second he used that boar, I realized I was in trouble. It was faster than I thought something that big should be. And the moment it covered itself in stone, I—I couldn't do anything."

He hates admitting it. Hates how weak it makes him sound.

"I tried to fight back, but my jutsu barely made a dent in that thing. And then it slammed its snout into the ground, making a stone wall. I couldn't see. I was blind. And before I knew it—"

Takuma stops himself.

He remembers the impact. The sheer force of Raimu's punch sending him flying. The way he crashed into the students, like he was nothing.

Iruka's eyebrow twitches again.

"I got hit," Takuma mutters.

"Hit?" Iruka repeats, clearly unimpressed.

Takuma sighs. "I got sent flying. Into the crowd."

The teacher's fingers dig into the desk.

Takuma frowns, looking frustrated. "I wanted to keep going, but before anything else could happen, you stopped it."

Another long silence.

Iruka exhales slowly. He leans back in his chair, rubbing his face with both hands.

Then he lifts his head and stares at the two of them.

"Do you two have any idea how serious this is?" His voice is low now, but dangerous.

Neither of them respond.

Iruka inhales. Then, he drops the bomb.

"You could both be expelled for this."

Takuma's entire body stiffens. His eyes widen in horror. "E-Expelled?! But—!!"

Raimu, however, remains completely silent. Not a single reaction.

Takuma turns to look at him, furious. "Hey, say something! you're not gonna react to that?!"

Raimu lazily shifts his gaze toward Iruka and blinks slowly.

"…It wasn't my fault," he finally says.

Takuma gapes. "What?!"

Raimu shrugs, voice calm and unbothered. "If you weren't so adamant about making me fight every single day, this wouldn't have happened."

Takuma's eye twitches. "What do you mean 'every single day?!' I just want to spar because you're the strongest person here, and you never take anything seriously!"

Raimu stretches his arms behind his head. "Sounds like a you problem."

"what does that even mean?!"

The two immediately start arguing, their voices overlapping as they bicker back and forth.

"Maybe if you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have had to go this far."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?!"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You—!!"

SLAM!

Iruka slams his hands on the desk, silencing both of them instantly.

The entire room goes dead quiet.

Iruka's voice is sharp as a blade. "Shut. Up."

The tension is suffocating.

After a moment, Iruka leans forward, eyes cold.

"You're lucky I'm not expelling you," he mutters.

Takuma exhales in relief.

But then—

Iruka smirks.

A dark, knowing smirk.

"Because the punishment I have in mind is going to be even worse than expulsion."

Takuma's relief vanishes.

Raimu tilts his head, intrigued.

The room falls into silence once more. Dread seeps into the air.