I think this is the fastest that I've ever updated…it's thanks to all of you who reviewed that got me going…Well, here is the second chapter for your reading leisure…hope you like it…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my own character…
Chapter Two: Assistants
"Tadaima, otou-san!" Naruto called out as he opened the door to his home.
"Okaeri nasai Naruto," Arashi greeted and stuck his head out of the living room doorway. "Oh? Hey boys, welcome. Make yourselves at home." The group of teens did as was suggested and sat around the living room, getting comfortable. Arashi came in with a tray that had numerous glasses of water. He passed them around before settling down himself with a glass. "So how was the first day?"
"It was all right. I'm worried about science though," Kiba said, talking about his day first.
"Why's that?" Arashi questioned.
"Because Hayate-sensei was always coughing. Makes me wonder if he'll start having a fit or something while we're doing a lab," Kiba voiced out his concern lightly. "He's cool though."
"Should be an interesting class," Arashi put in thoughtfully and noticed that there was an extra person in the room than usual. "Ah gomen, but have we met?" he asked directly to the raven haired teen.
"Otou-san, that's Uchiha Sasuke, a new transfer student. Sasuke, my dad Uzumaki Arashi," Naruto introduced the two.
"Nice to meet you Uzumaki-san," Sasuke greeted politely.
"Arashi is fine and same here," Arashi replied with a big sheepish grin.
"Speaking of new, we have a new art and music teacher too," Haku informed the older blonde.
"Oh? Who is it?" Arashi asked curiously.
"Otou-san, you won't believe it! It's Haraguchi Kumiko, the international artist!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, obviously wanting his father to know.
"Honto ni? That's great! You boys are so lucky," Arashi congratulated to the group. "That's amazing. So what's she like?"
"Well, in our basic art class, she was really cool. She said that we would be learning the basic stuff and would be doing a whole bunch of different things," Kiba informed, excitement obvious, which was a surprise since he wasn't much of an art person. "What about the music department, Shino?"
"She knows her stuff. She even played some music she composed herself," Shino said in his usual voice though the group could tell there was a bit of awe in there.
"Maybe I should have signed for music too," Kiba considered thoughtfully before waving it off. "Nah, I don't know the first thing about music besides listening to it. What about the advanced class?"
"Actually she didn't have anything ready for us," Haku said with a sheepish look. "She hadn't decided on any plans for our class."
"Yeah, she asked us what we wanted to do and to write it down on a piece of paper along with information about ourselves. That was it," Naruto continued on after his best friend. "While we did that, she talked about herself a bit."
"What do you think she'll decide for you to do this year?" Arashi inquired.
"Hopefully we'll get to do a lot of things. I don't want to do just drawings and paintings. I want to do everything," Naruto proclaimed with a hopeful expression.
"Well I hope so too. This will be a great experience for all of you. Make the most of it and learn all you can," Arashi advised with a smile. "Maybe one of these days I can meet her and show her some of my works."
"I could ask her. I bet she would want to," Naruto offered to his father.
"Speaking of works, Naruto, you have any extra smocks we could use? Kumiko-sensei said something about bringing one tomorrow," Kiba reminded, looking to the blonde.
"Sure, let's go to the studio. We have plenty," Naruto said and got up to lead the way. All of the boys followed him as they went to the back of the house and entered a rather large room filled with various art supplies and mediums. There were numerous pieces that were complete and displayed for anyone to see. Most were Arashi's work while there were some of Naruto's as well.
"Naruto, you and your father work in this studio?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the various pieces. There were all exquisitely done and it surprised the Uchiha that the blonde's father wasn't as well known as he should be.
"Yeah, we spend most of our free time in here, thinking of new ideas or just paint whatever comes to mind," Naruto replied with a shrug. He grabbed a few smocks from a hook on the wall and held them out to the boys. "Take which ever fits you." The smocks were of numerous different sizes so the boys had to try on different ones.
"Che, how troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he finally got one that fit.
"Sasuke, do you need one?" Naruto asked the rather silent teen. Sasuke had been gazing at all of the pieces within the room ever since they had gotten there.
"Iie, I have my own," Sasuke responded, not really paying attention to the group. "Naruto, why hasn't your father put his works in a gallery yet?"
"Because we haven't found anyone who will put his work in a gallery," Naruto answered, sadness tinting his voice.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there is someone who can recognize true art and put your father's work into a gallery," Haku assured the blonde boy.
"Yeah, and then his work will be known and appreciated nation wide," Kiba went on with a big grin.
"You're right," Naruto said, cheering up by his friends' encouragement and belief in his father's talent. He gave them a bright smile as thanks.
"So, since you three are in the advanced class, you'll help us basic people when we need it, right?" Kiba said with a hopeful look. Everyone laughed at his attempts at lightening the mood, which worked well.
"Rumors are going around saying that some of the teachers have assistants now. Students from the university," Haku passed on to his newly arrived blonde friend. The said blonde was currently locking up his bike in his usual spot.
"Honto? Which teachers?" Naruto asked, interest in the gossip evident on his face.
"Don't know yet. We'll probably find out when we get to the classes that have one. I wonder who they are?" Haku replied thoughtfully.
"Well, we'll find out, won't we?" Naruto said with a slightly mischievous look.
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"Brings a nostalgic feel, doesn't it?" a male asked his companions as they entered the high school grounds.
"Almost makes me wish I was in high school again. Keyword being almost," another male joked.
"So shall we meet with our instructor mentors for the year?" a third suggested. They shrugged and made their way toward the main building where the school's staff was surely gathered.
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"They should be arriving any minute now," Sarutobi finished with his announcement to his teaching staff. Although he was very elderly, he was still healthy enough to keep going as Konoha High's principal. Just as he finished talking, there was a knock on the door before it slid open to reveal four young males.
"Yo Sarutobi ojii-san! It's been a long time," one of the males greeted joyfully with a big grin.
"Still no respect for your elders, eh Shisui-kun?" Sarutobi mumbled sourly. He cleared his throat to get his staff's attention. "These are the new teaching assistants from the university. Uchiha Shisui who will be with Morino Ibiki in the psychology department, Hagane Kotetsu with Shiranui Genma in theatre, Kamizuki Izumo with Gekkou Hayate in science, and Uchiha Itachi with Haraguchi Kumiko in art."
"Whoa, sugoi. I had heard rumors that Haraguchi Kumiko was teaching here but I didn't think they were true," Shisui commented in an awed voice.
"I assure you I am the real one," Kumiko said, amusement coloring her voice.
"Well I'll be damned. And here I told you all about Sanshou obaa-san, Itachi. Looks like you're on your own," Shisui joked, looking toward the other Uchiha.
"All right, classes will begin soon. Everyone dismissed," Sarutobi finished and went to his own office to do some paperwork. All the teachers scattered to prepare for the day, getting their lesson plans and whatnot.
"Well, I guess I'll see you three at break. Ja," Shisui said and left after his own instructor mentor.
"We'll be going as well. Later Itachi," Izumo said as he and Kotetsu went over to their mentors.
Itachi glanced around the room to look for his own and went over to her when he spotted her. She was looking over some papers and didn't seem to notice him. "Haraguchi-san."
"Kumiko is fine. No need to be so formal because of who I am," Kumiko corrected, not at all surprised that he had crept up behind her. She picked up her papers on her desk and turned to him. He was a bit taller than her by a few centimeters, so she had to tilt her head up just a bit to look at him. "More students signed up for music than art so I only have two, basic and advanced, and they are at the end of the day. You can do what you will until then or you can come with me to the music classes as well. Choice is yours."
"I shall accompany you to your music classes as well," Itachi responded blandly.
"That's fine but may be you could lighten up a bit?" Kumiko suggested as they headed out to the first class. "I don't want to go through the entire year with a brick wall, no offense Uchiha-kun."
"Then maybe it'll be a start to have you call me by my given name," Itachi replied, slightly surprising the fine arts teacher.
"Well then Itachi-kun, shall we see how the day will turn out?"
"Hai, Kumiko-san."
"Too bad you guys weren't there for our psychology class. Ibiki-sensei was relentless on exploiting Haruno's fears and using it on her," Haku laughed with his fellow friends. "She was in tears after five minutes of his interrogation."
"The new assistant didn't even say anything either. He was enjoying her torture," Naruto recapped the rather sadistic smirk the university student had. He gave a slight shiver at the look and thanked kami that he didn't volunteer to be the guinea pig for the exercise.
"I would have skipped class if I had known. I heard that Morino Ibiki was an interrogation specialist for the police force. He knows the human psyche a bit too well," Kiba recalled thoughtfully, then brought out a full blown grin. "Man, I wanted to see him in action on Haruno. Maybe he'll do it again in our class to that Yamanaka girl."
"Closet sadist," Naruto whispered over to Haku who kept in a laugh.
"I heard that!" Kiba growled and threw this empty can at the grinning blonde. "Anyway, Hayate-sensei has an assistant too. I think his name was Kamizuki Izumo. Cool dude."
"Oh yeah, Ibiki-sensei's was Shisui. Uchiha Shisui. Any relation, Sasuke-kun?" Haku asked the silent teen.
"Shisui?" Sasuke perked up from his lunch at that name. He seemed to have a slightly surprised expression on his face. "He's a cousin of mine. He went to this school and goes to the university. I haven't see him in years."
"Well, if you are taking Morino's psych class then you'll meet him again," Kiba said with a shrug.
"There is another assistant here," Shino put in quietly. Everyone turned their attention to the usually silent teen. "In the theatre class for Genma-sensei. His name was Hagane Kotetsu, if I remember correctly."
"So we won't get to meet him since none of the rest of us signed up for theatre," Naruto said with a slightly disappointed tone.
"There is the school play, if you audition," Haku suggested with a shrug.
"So what do you think we'll do in art?" Kiba asked, changing the subject. Since there were only two art classes, they weren't able to get the heads up on what the lesson for the day could be about. It also didn't help that the two classes used separate rooms.
"Hopefully something interesting," Naruto replied his opinion. "She still hasn't told us what we were gonna cover for the year."
"She'll probably start off simple and easy and then get tougher for our class," Haku said thoughtfully. "We'll just have to see won't we?"
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"You guys should have been there. She had tears coming down her face in five minutes," Shisui recounted the exercise earlier that morning. He along with his fellow university peers was sitting in a secluded area, away from the high school students. "I believe I have found my calling."
"I knew you were a closet sadist," Izumo mumbled but had a definite grin on his face.
"What about you Itachi? How's having Haraguchi Kumiko as your instructor mentor?" Kotetsu asked the always silent teen.
"I have been attending her music classes so far. She only has two art classes and those are at the end of the day," Itachi answered blandly.
"So you haven't seen the international artist in action yet, huh? I bet she'll be awesome. You're one lucky guy," Shisui praised, polishing off his lunch.
"I bet all the other students are regretting not signing up to come here," Izumo commented.
"Konoha High may be a small school, but it has the best damn teachers in any district," Shisui declared rather proudly of his old high school.
"Gomen if the classes so far have been uneventful. It is the start of the year though. Things are gonna get more interesting," Kumiko apologized to the silent university student.
"This is the advanced class is it not?" Itachi questioned as they made their way to the last class of the day.
"Hai, I have an interesting variety in this one. Some need work while others look very promising. Hopefully I can broaden their outlook on things," Kumiko commented. She was about to open the classroom door when she heard shouts going on within the room. She gave Itachi a confused look, in which Itachi responded with an indifferent shrug. Preparing herself, Kumiko opened the door to her advanced art class.
Kumiko raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted her. Sakura and Ino were arguing with Haku and Sasuke with Naruto being guarded by the two rather protective looking boys. She glanced at her new student assistant and saw that he was watching on with interest. She rolled her eyes at the young man, knowing he wasn't going to interfere.
"It seems you were right, Kumiko-san. Things have become interesting," Itachi mused lightly at the situation. Kumiko elbowed him lightly and then assessed the situation at hand. She glanced around the classroom and noticed that everything was as she placed it. The other students were looking on with interest, not bothering to cut in or stop the arguing. She gave an exasperated sigh.
"My second day and already conflicts," Kumiko mumbled, shaking her head. Itachi stood back as Kumiko prepared to stop the students from tearing each other apart. "Oi! What in seven hells is going on here?"
All yelling stopped at their sensei's yell and looked toward said teacher. Her silver gray eyes were narrowed in a piercing gaze as she pointedly looked at the four arguing teens. "Mind explaining what all this arguing is about? Or would you prefer I take all of you to Sarutobi-san's office and have you sort it out with him?" At that they all began talking at once, not wanting to be reported to the principal's office so soon in the new semester. "Damatte!" Talking ceased once more. "One at a time. Haku, you start."
"Hai, Kumiko-sensei. We were all awaiting your arrival here and were just making small talk. Naruto and I pulled out our smocks because you had stated to bring something of the like," Haku paused to glance at the blonde behind him. He continued when Kumiko bad him to go on. "Haruno saw what we had brought and started to say something along the lines of the two of us not paying attention to you directions. Naruto countered back saying that it wouldn't have mattered as long as it was something to cover our selves with. Then Yamanaka joined in saying that Naruto was too poor to even afford a t-shirt to bring for class that he had to bring a rag he had probably found in the garbage. It was then Sasuke came in and he had heard what was going on. Both of us came at his defense and one thing led to another."
"You lie! He was the one that started it!" Sakura pointed an accusatory finger at the blonde.
"How is that Haruno-san?" Kumiko questioned the pink haired female, directing her glance at her.
"Haraguchi-sensei, I heard him talking to Hyourin about how I was dumb even though I'm in this advanced class and brought an apron when you told us to," Sakura defended herself in a pitiful voice. She began to fidget under the scrutinizing eyes of her teacher and nervously glanced any where but her.
"That's right! What Sakura said is true, Haraguchi-sensei," Ino defended her best friend. She shrank back a bit when the silver gray piercing eyes landed on her. She eased up a bit when the silver gray gaze moved on to someone else.
"Sasuke, do you have any thing to say before I make my judgment on the situation?" Kumiko questioned the silent teen who stared right back at her without flinching.
"Iie, Haku said it all," Sasuke responded calmly.
"All right then. Naruto-kun, come here please," Kumiko gestured toward the blonde with a gentle voice. Naruto consented and walked to his teacher with his head bowed down. She comfortingly placed her arm around the shorter blonde's shoulders and led him outside of the classroom. There by the door stood Itachi, waiting for the conflict to be solved. "Naruto-kun, tell me the truth. Did Haruno start all of this or did you?" There was a pause before the teen answered.
"She did, Kumiko-sensei," Naruto said in a melancholic mumble. The pink haired and bleach blonde females' comments hit the blonde hard that much was obvious. Kumiko began to rub soothing circles on the young blonde's back to calm him down.
"That's all I needed to know," Kumiko said gently. She turned toward the silent Uchiha who raised an eyebrow at her. "Stay with him while I settle this, please." Itachi just nodded and Kumiko went back into the room and closed the door behind her.
Awkward silence settled upon the two outside of the art classroom. Naruto was leaning against the wall right by the door, his head bowed down to hide his face with his bright sun-kissed hair. Itachi was standing next to him with an indifferent expression on his face. The university student was at a lost at what to do in these types of situations, not the comforting and reassuring type of person. However, for reasons unknown to him, he felt that he should at least try to cheer the blonde up.
"They were out of line," Itachi said quietly, but it was loud enough for the teen to hear.
"You heard everything?" Naruto asked, still not looking up to the older student.
"How could I not when those two girls were screeching loudly to defend themselves," Itachi replied with a straight face. However, when he saw Naruto's lips twitch in no doubt amusement, the corner of his own curved slightly upward. "Pay no heed to what others say in offense to you. They are just trying to gain attention toward themselves, not knowing they are making themselves look more foolish than they already are."
Naruto processed what the older male had said and agreed with him whole heartedly. He lifted up his face with a soft smile adorning his features. "You know, I get the feeling that you don't usually talk a lot, much less give out advice."
Itachi raised an eyebrow at the blonde's comment. "Savor it because it will probably be the last you'll ever receive." At that, he received a small pout that even he had to admit to himself it was rather cute. He took this time to study the teen in front of him. The blonde was rather effeminate with his slim figure and slightly short stature for his age. His blonde hair looked silky and would probably flow through his finger if he touched it. He had large sapphire blue eyes that easily displayed his emotions. Itachi was snapped out of his thoughts when the blonde began to speak.
"You know, you look familiar. Almost like—" Naruto was cut off when the door to the classroom opened once more and Kumiko poked her head out.
"Naruto-kun, feeling better?" Kumiko asked in an almost maternal tone. When the teen nodded she smiled. "That's good. You can come back in now. Everything's settled." She moved out of the doorway to allow the blonde through. Naruto immediately took his seat in between Haku and Sasuke who both had rather satisfies looks on their faces.
"What happened?" Naruto whispered to the two of them.
"Later," Haku replied back before bringing his attention to Kumiko.
"All right, before we start, I'll introduce you to a new assistant that you'll no doubt already had a few in your other classes," Kumiko started off and gestured for the person to come in. Itachi strode in calmly with an indifferent look on his face.
"Aniki!" Sasuke exclaimed with shock and confusion in his voice at seeing the older male.
"Sasuke, it's been some time," Itachi greeted with a smirk making it's way through.
"You know I thought you two looked similar. And I guess the surname was a give away too," Kumiko remarked thoughtfully. "Well, you two can have your reunion after class. We've wasted enough time already. Everybody this is Uchiha Itachi from the university. He'll be stuck with us for the rest of the year, just like the rest of you unless I see fit that there needs to be a change.
"Anyway, since we don't have time to let you all begin your assignment like I had planned, you'll just have to start on it tomorrow. For now I'll just have to tell you what I have planned for this year," Kumiko began and passed out papers. "We'll be doing things that the basic class will be doing just more into the specifics. That's thanks to some of your fellow classmates who had creative minds in what they wanted to do and learn this year. If not for them, well let's just say it would be a boring, repetitive year."
"I wonder who would want to do boring stuff in an art class?" Haku asked his friends quietly in a sarcastic voice. Naruto and Sasuke held back their snickers and tried to pay attention.
"We'll be doing things from paintings to sculptures, using various different mediums. We'll do glass etching and even do some jewelry making with silver. Of course, an art class wouldn't be the same without ceramics and plain old sketching," Kumiko informed to the attentive class. "On this sheet is a list of things I expect you to have available to you for next week. Everything else shall be provided for you here. All of your assignments will be done in class and never taken home unless I allow it. Absolutely no late work either. If you need more time to complete an assignment, tell me so you can stay after class to finish. Questions so far?"
"If we have our own paints and things, are we allowed to use them?" Haku asked when he raised his hand.
"Good question. If you do have them then I encourage you to use them. However, there will be some out of class assignments so you probably would want to save them for those. But if you have enough of it then by all means," Kumiko encouraged to her students. "Later on in the year, the art classes will be taking a field trip in which details I will explain later on when the time comes. For now, let that be an incentive for you to do well in the class.
"Lastly, I don't expect you all to make perfect masterpieces in this class, but I do expect you to do a much better job than the basic art class. This is an advanced class and I will treat it as such, but never hesitate to ask for help. That's what I'm here for is to help broaden your views on things and help you with whatever you need help with. I'll only show you the way. It's up to you on how far you want to go," Kumiko advised to the students. Before anything more could be said, the final bell for the day rang, signaling the school day's end. "I'll see you all tomorrow then."
"Sasuke, are you gonna talk with your brother?" Naruto asked the raven haired teen. He glanced up to the front and noticed that said older brother was looking their way.
"Ah, if he'll even say anything. He's more silent than I am most of the time," Sasuke said and the trio made their way to exit the classroom.
"Good luck then Sasuke-kun. We'll see you tomorrow," Haku bade the teen good bye with a nod.
"Ah, ja ne," Sasuke said with a wave to the two and went to his brother.
"Later Sasuke," Naruto called out with a more energetic wave than the dark haired teen. Before he and Haku left the classroom, someone called out to the blonde.
"Naruto-kun."
Naruto turned and saw that it was Itachi that called out to him. "Nani?"
"I'll be looking forward to this year, Naruto-kun," Itachi remarked with his bland expression. However, there was something in his eyes that made Naruto smile brightly at the older Uchiha. Naruto didn't say anything back and just left with Haku who had a slightly confused look on his face. 'I definitely will be looking forward to this year,' Itachi thought to himself, a slight curve of the corner of his lips showing.
Well, how was it? Itachi has made his appearance just like you all wanted…even had a little scene with Naruto…wonder how this will go on? I'm not sure how soon I'll have the next chapter because I posted up another fic but I'll definitely get it to you guys…Leave a review if you want!
Another time, another place
Kurai hoshi
