Author: Kiel Hyre
Description: Naruto has always been reckless; a brawler. But what if he had common sense to go with that? Find out.
Pairings: None until post time-skip.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, Sam I Am, I will not anger lawyers from Japan!
Naruto didn't want to be smart; he never tried to be. He was going to be a Ninja and fight for the Hokage, and some day take over as Hokage himself. These were the facts, so where was problem?
The problem was yelling at him.
"Dammit Naruto, you can't expect to become a ninja if you can't pass these tests! Even common knowledge continues to evade you! I guarantee the Hokage knows all of this like the back of his hand; how can you ever expect to take his place if you can't say the same?" Iruka stared hard at him, anticipating the boy's next move.
Naruto delivered in his usual defiant tone, "Teacher, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it! When I become a Ninja I'll be a soldier! If not that, I'll be an assassin, interrogator or some other profession, all of which save interrogation give me a chance at becoming Hokage!"
Iruka blinked as the boy continued his rant,
"If when I become Hokage, I need to know that the Shodaime's granddaughter is the sannin Tsunade or that he kicked Uchiha Madara's ass, I'll learn it!"
Out of breath, the boy sat back down in his seat, and continued reading the history book he had been given as if their confrontation had never happened. Iruka knew the boy couldn't stay angry at him long; he didn't have it in him. This had been proven every time he was kept after class for supplementary lessons.
Iruka sat back down as well, having stood at his desk to help get a point across. He knew that Naruto learned everything he taught him, it was obvious. The little prankster just didn't apply it. He knew this because ever since he taught him how to read, Naruto had read almost anything he could even if he didn't understand it.
Naruto knew Iruka was aware of this, but simply had no desire to use any knowledge he got for anything but pummeling something. Later, he would use it for administration. There was a large and fine line between the two; he was bound to forget this stuff while in active service anyway! Well, some of it anyway, battle technician he was not, but he knew when something was useful.
Since he spent most of his time out of school with Iruka anyway, he would catch up on his work while his 'older brother' graded the work from today's lessons. He didn't often go off on a tangent like he did today, but he usually made sense when he did. Iruka had rarely corrected him on any of them, instead nodding, shrugging, and continuing to work. He took that as a good sign.
"Naruto," Iruka stated off-handedly, "It's nearly five, use the training grounds if you like. I'll pick you up at six for dinner before I head home. You still need to get the clone technique down."
The boy nodded and closed his book before putting taking it over to the shelf and setting it down. He gave a small wave before he left the room, heading for the school's training grounds. Behind him, Iruka was trying to make sense of Shikamaru's test sheet.
"Who the hell writes their answers in base four? I'm not taking the time to solve this."
The telltale sound of Iruka stamping an 'illegible' on another of the lazy boy's homework sheets was the last thing Naruto heard as he stepped out of hearing distance.
--
Naruto took his blunt kunai and shuriken, sold to him at 'premium' prices, and placed them on a post. His last attempt at the clone technique got him a nasty cut. Neither he nor Iruka understood how, and didn't bother to figure it out; all he needed to do was take them off and the problem was solved.
Focusing his chakra into the handseal he had made, Naruto evenly said his technique and was rewarded with two poofs next to him.
Cough! Hack!
The result was subpar yet again. Iruka said he was putting too much chakra into the technique, so Naruto was practicing hard to limit how much chakra he used. Lately, he would create the standard two clones to start with, and then create upwards of thirty and work his way down. The clones were no longer on the ground writhing in pain, but instead appeared terminally ill.
It was a huge step up. It could have been bigger but Iruka told him straight out that regular clones were needed, rather than water, or earth ones. Not that Iruka knew either, he had gone straight from rookie genin to chunin instructor.
Naruto had been amazed at how Iruka had managed to become chunin, even making second place in the final exam by spamming the replacement technique and simply tripping his opponents. Most of his opponents had been so humiliated they had forfeit. At one point he had even replaced himself with the examiner!
To do such a thing to a jounin, or even using it nonstop without fainting took so much chakra control that even imagining being able to do it made his head spin. But then, Iruka had told him when someone was relaxed, switching with them was easier than using it normally. Naruto took his word on that, the smaller the object the harder it was to switch after all. It was the same with the transformation technique for that matter.
He continued creating, and failing to create clones until Iruka came for him. The scarred chunin led him out of the school grounds, locking the building behind him. They walked towards a nearby restaurant in comfortable silence.
It wasn't until they were seated that Iruka spoke,
"Thought we'd have something different today," he said, "This Akamichi restaurant has been calling out to me for a while. Mizuki said it was good."
Naruto shrugged. He preferred ramen but would generally eat anything that was cooked; and some things that weren't.
Ordering their respective dinners, single rib with salad for Iruka, and exactly fifteen dollars in appetizers, including tax, for Naruto, the two settled down for what they hoped was a good meal. It was naturally inexpensive, since it was an Akamichi restaurant, but tastes differ.
"Any luck with the clones today?" Iruka asked, idly rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Some, I can now make fifteen 'healthy' clones, but any less than that and they start getting sick." He blushed slightly at this.
"A four clone improvement. Hopefully you'll make a miracle by the day after tomorrow. You've already failed twice." He sighed at this, "I'd teach you more, but I can't play favorites any more than I am or I'd lose my job."
Their meal arrived on that note, and they both thanked the waiter before digging into their respective meals; Iruka occasionally sneaking something off of one of Naruto's four plates. The boy really did eat too much in spite of the energy he burned, or at least Iruka thought so. But then he thought better of it because of the boy's 'condition', if anything, he would need to eat more.
They ate and paid for their meals with minimal interaction. Naruto only ever suckered him into paying at Ichiraku's, so it was a nice change of pace to not have an empty wallet. He only really 'ate' when he was at the ramen stand anyway, tonight was rather tame in spite of the amount of food he inhaled.
They parted outside the restaurant without saying anything to one another. After all, Naruto would be hyper again the next day, and Iruka would be his crabby self as usual. They enjoyed each other's company without exception, so they didn't need to say goodbye.
Hello would always come after.
End Chapter 1
A/N: A bit of a calm before the storm, so to speak.