Iruka: Ninja Chronicles
Chapter 1
"Iruka Umino, I must say I am disappointed", the teacher said solemnly as he set the test papers onto the desk in the academy classroom.
"Your knowledge of shinobi tactics and chakra control is peak amongst your peers, and yet you failed your field exam and jutsu evaluation".
Iruka could only look down at his desktop as a heavy knot of shame settled over him, what are my parents going to think about this?
"I'm afraid", the elder man in front of him continued, "you're going to have to remain here in the academy for now".
"But, sensei!", Iruka spoke startled , "The next exam isn't until next year".
The teacher turned from him and started back to his desk at the front of the room, "I'm sorry, but this is out of my hands now", he sat down and began to shuffle a pile of exam papers when the classroom door slid noisily open.
A tall man, about six foot, walked into the room. His hair was shaded a stunning bright-blonde which hung down just below his shoulders and was rather spiky.
He wore the shinobi garb and vest, however, he also had a long white cloak coat emblazoned with flames draped over his shoulders, Iruka realized who he was then.
"Ah, Lord Fourth Hokage, sir!" his teacher jolted to his feet in the presence of the man.
"Oh, hello there, please just relax", he paused for a moment to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment then began to shoot funny looks around surveying the room.
"So, where is this student that I've been hearing about?" he asked.
"Well sir, he's…" his teacher spoke slowly, surprised at the question, but he was interrupted as Iruka stood up from his desk. "I'm over here, sir".
"Ah, there you are, now let's see what we've got here" The Fourth made his way over to Irukas' desk, flashing a friendly smile towards him.
He stood in front of Iruka and placed his hand on his paper them stopped and looked at him with a mock-serious face, "May I, sir?" he said humbly.
Iruka felt cheered by his antics but withheld his amusement, "O-of course, go ahead sir", he picked up the paper and began scanning it hastily, his eyes sweeping over each line and moving down to the next.
Once again Iruka felt compelled to laugh and relax, but also anxious as to what the Lord Hokage would say next.
"Huh", he said startled and Iruka held his breath, waiting, "Iruka here was top of his class in Tactical Knowledge and Chakra Control and he hasn't passed!?".
Iruka let out an upbeat sigh as his teacher mumbled out, "I know but…".
The Fourth Hokage turned to Iruka and flashing another smile said, " I think we can do something about this, come with me okay?" Iruka nodded and hurried after him.
Iruka walked alongside the Fourth as they moved up the passage toward a door.
"Umm, who are we going to see, sir?", Iruka asked timidly.
"Oh sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you, we're going to the Hokages' Office to talk to an old friend of mine who can help you out", as he finished speaking they arrived at the doorway.
The Forth placed a hand on the doorknob but hesitated and turned to Iruka, with a nervous grin he muttered, "Just…don't tell him I called him 'old', 'kay?".
The Fourth opened the door which revealed an office with an overview of Konoha and an aged man sitting at a table with two stacks of paperwork in front of him.
"Minato, it's about time you got back, half of these documents are assigned to you, you know?", the elder man spoke to the Fourth.
In response the blond man gave himself a nervous head-scratch, "Sorry, hey Iruka take a seat, Sarutobi this is that student I told you about", the Fourth spoke to the other man, who wore the same white cloak as him, Iruka inwardly gasped; it was the Lord Third Hokage, he had been the village leader ever since Iruka was born.
The Third met Irukas' admiring gaze with a stern, inquisitive one as the Fourth spoke once more, "Well I'll just go and take care of these papers" he said as he hefted a stack with one arm, "I'll be back in five minutes for the verdict, you two play nice now!".
"But that's not nearly enough time for you to get all of those d-", but the Third stopped as he noticed his companion had already ducked into the office next door.
The Third gave an amused sigh and chuckled, "That Minato is turning out to be quite a handful, then again,he may have picked up some habits from that teacher of his".
The Third opened his eyes and trained his gaze on Iruka, "Iruka, do you know why you're here?"
Iruka realized that this was his chance to prove his worth as a ninja, to make his parents proud of him and to live up to the expectation set by Lord Fourth Hokage.
He mustered his courage and spoke as strong as he could, "To prove that I deserve to be a ninja, sir!", the Third gave him a stern look in return.
"A great ninja is guided by a keen mind and chakra control makes their body stronger, however, one also requires devout teamwork and the courage to face death to protect that which is important to them!", the Third spoke strongly and held his intense stare.
"Can you do these things, what will be your ninja way!?", Iruka gulped at the powerful statement, but now, he needed to answer the question.
"I…", Iruka faltered thinking as the Fourth hesitantly re-entered the room.
As Iruka saw the strong and friendly man once more he made his decision; "I will sir, I will be there for anyone who needs me, no matter what".
The Third smiled and spoke again, "Very well, then this belongs to you", he handed over the navy headband to Iruka and looked into his bright, hopeful eyes.
"Well, now that you have become a Genin you'll need to be placed into a three-man squad led by a Jonin-sensei" the Third stated as he ruffled through a folder under his desk.
The Fourth gave Iruka a pat on the shoulder and spoke to Sarutobi, "So, are there any Jonin with an open slot on their squad?", he asked.
Sarutobi replied, "We're in luck, there is one left", he passed a file over to Minato.
Iruka looked up at the two of them, he had been so excited in placing the new headband that he had almost ignored their entire conversation.
The Fourth replaced the file, grinning, and agreed to take Iruka to the training field where his sensei was assigned to at this time.
Sarutobi sat in his office facing the window and chuckled to himself.
Minato must have a great opinion of this Iruka Umino, if he actually read something in those academy reports he had to sign.
Meanwhile, Iruka was walking back through the corridor they had passed earlier, the Fourth at his side.
"I'm glad you were able to graduate, that headband suits you ya know?".
"Really", Iruka asked happily. "Yeah", he paused smiling to himself.
Iruka thought he almost looked sad and decided to help get his mind of it' "So Lord Hokage, do you know my new teacher; what is he like?", it worked but he was honestly curious as well.
"Oh, well he can be a bit of a slave-driver when it comes to training" the Fourth started chuckling at himself, "but he has a great heart and would do anything for somebody close to him".
"Then, what's his name!?" Irukas' normal politeness was overcome by his curiosity now.
"Hmph", the Fourth's smile now beamed fully, "Shisui Uchiha".
Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Naruto or its characters who all belong to Masashi Kishimoto. If I did own them Iruka, Lee and Gai would get much more screen time.
Biased, you bet!
A/N (Authors Note): So, this is a prequel fic with this chapter set twelve years before the main series of Naruto begins. Iruka is the title character and this fic follows him through the twelve years leading up to the main timeline. I created this so as to make it believable in the canon of the series which can be defined by the ages, Iruka is 11 turning 12, after Naruto is born and the Kyuubi attacks, while Naruto is born this year giving their ages in the main story as 23 and 12, as they actually are.
Iruka still has his parents at this point and there will also be a romance side-plot unfolding as the story progresses. The story will contain a couple of timeskips but these will be explained by Iruka as they occur and re-confirmed here in the A/N to clarify it for everyone.
This A/N has been over twice the size of the future editions due to my desire to set this all out for everyone, in future it will be akin to the size of this paragraph.
It will usually contain some teaser information for the next chapter as well as a personal thought on the chapter itself so…
My favourite part of this chappie was the scene between Minato and Sarutobi; I hope you have fun reading it because I had fun writing it.
Next time Iruka meets his new sensei, Shisui Uchiha, as well as his two new teamates, a hothead and a stoic, and who could this young friend of sensei be.
Please review, and watch out for a new chapter every week, thanks so much.