With that nearly whispered sentence, three identical clones popped out from beside me. They looked sturdy and healthy, not like the useless one OG spouted out in the original. With my clones standing there, I could see the stunned look on Iruka's face. Mizuki looked mildly shocked as well. I guess he wasn't expecting the failure who flopped the exam 3 times before to suddenly be able to use the clone justu just like that.

They both stayed silent for a moment. Iruka slowly stood up, walked around to the front of the table, and gently picked up one of the headbands. He walked over to me, stood directly in front of me, and took a deep breath. He slowly raised the headband and removed my goggles that I even forgot that I had on, then he tied the headband around my head himself.

"Congratulations, Naruto Uzumaki. You have passed." He said while tying the band. Pride was laced on his face as he stepped back and looked at me. Mizuki began to clap, with Iruka soon joining in. I made a bashful expression and scurried off, pretending like I couldn't hear Iruka call me. My clones followed me soon after, also escaping Iruka. I made my way outside the school where some parents had already arrived to congratulate their children. Either they solemnly decided to or their brains just did it out of habit, they completely ignored my existence.

Maybe they were just focused on their children at the time because as soon as my ass landed on the swing, the whispering started. It's just the stuff you'd expect, like how could they make a 'cursed' child like me a ninja or whatever, I wasn't paying attention. Of course, I wasn't the only one alone, kids whose parents hadn't arrived yet. I was expecting to see Sasuke here as well, but I guess since he has no one to wait for, he just left.

'Hell, it's the same for me.' I realized. Thinking about this, I stood up and left the gossiping single moms to their children. I mindlessly wandered around for a while, hoping instinct would take over again and lead me to OG's home. Instead, before I could even realize it, I had walked into Ichiraku Ramen and was sitting down.

Once I had thought about it, this is probably one of the things that all Naruto fans yearn for. To be sitting in the real, honest to god Ichiraku Ramen, not the one they made in real life based on it. Though the lights were on, no one was around, despite a pot still being on the stove. But soon someone came, the big boss himself, Teuchi.

"Naruto-Kun, how are you?"