Inside, it was even better than Nobu had imagined. Never having been in anywhere as nice as this place, he had no idea what to expect. Inside, it was a long corridor with doors every twenty or so feet with numbers above each of the doors. The floor was wood, polished and ancient. But it was the walls that Nobu's attention.
They were a simple white color, but the walls had a welcoming glow to them. The walls made him think of a place in his memory, of his home before his parents had to turn him onto the streets. Even his uncle's home, which was his favorite place in the world, did not even compare to this building.
As soon as they entered, a strange kid in an orange jumpsuit hopped up and down in excitement exclaiming "cool!" Many of the kids laughed at his strange response and unrestrained excitement. Nobu was silent, too nervous to do anything yet, wishing not to upset his teachers.
Iruka-sensei turned around and smiled "Now, students, calm down please." The new students quickly quieted. "Well, welcome to Konoha Ninja Academy. This will be your school for the next three years, less if you excel" Iruka paused, remembering all of the genius students he had had the honor of teaching.
"Well, we need to get going." Iruka continued, breaking out of his reverie. "We need to get started. We're behind as is." Iruka began to walk, leaving the children to follow him down the hallway.
At the end of the hallway, the academy opened up to a large field. There were posts for shuriken throwing practice, and large stumps for practicing taijutsu strikes.
"This is the academy's Training field number one." Iruka started. "Most of the training fields are on the outskirts of Konoha, but until you can do the basics, virtually all practice will be done here at the academy"
As it is your first day at the academy, we are to do preliminary tests to see how proficient in taijutsu and shuriken throwing you are. And remember, this is basic skill. Since most of you won't know genjutsu or ninjutsu, those are prohibited for this testing"
Some kids brightened or cheered because they were going to have the chance to prove themselves above the rest so early in class. Others were just determinedly quiet, waiting to overcome the challenge that was placed in front of them.
Nobu was one of the quiet like the others. He was worried because, in his state of poverty, his uncle had had little money to buy shuriken for Nobu to practice with. Therefore, his shuriken accuracy suffered greatly, and had never amounted to much of anything.
On the other hand, his uncle spent as much time as he could in one of the Shoten clan styles, Douten fist. Named for the Earth style, Douten Fist was designed to hold against the most furious attacks, then hit back with a devastating blow that would do severe damage to the opponent.
"Well, lets get started with the shuriken throwing test!" Iruka continued enthusiastically. "Now, everyone form a line!"
All the new students shuffled into a moderately organized line. Nobu took a position near the back because he was worried about how well he would do. In front of him was the blond haired boy from earlier, boasting about how well he would do.
"I'm going to beat everyone!" He exclaimed loudly, prancing around. Everyone just avoided and ignored the strangely acting boy. Getting angry, he yelled, "You'll all see! I'm going to be the best! Yeah! I'm going to be the hokage! Believe it!" Unlike before, he wasn't ignored completely. This time, some of the kids decided to laugh at him. Before he could begin another round of boasting, he was at the front of the line.
"Uzumaki Naruto" Iruka called out, not even needing to ask the boy his name "Like the others, you'll have whatever time you need to throw these ten shuriken at the target. Vital spots in the head and chest parts will earn double points - "
"All right!" The boy yelled, jumping at the chance to prove himself rather than have to listen to his sensei's instructions.
He began chucking them at the target, but his aiming was horrible to say the least. Most of the shuriken missed, but one actually hit the target in the arm. The final shuriken was so far off, that it bounced off Iruka-sensei's forehead protector. That made his new teacher furious. As Iruka began to yell at the boy for his rashness, much of the rest of the class began to yell at the boy.
After writing something angrily down on his clipboard he called "Next!" Nobu walked forward.
"Name?" Iruka asked, looking warmly up from his clipboard.
"Shoten Nobu, Iruka-sensei" Nobu replied nervously.
"Ah…" Iruka's smile faded slightly at the mention of his surname, as he knew of the bad reputation the shattered clan had. Looking down the list, his eyes stopped, looking at a point on his clipboard "There you are, Nobu! Well, you heard the rules. Go ahead whenever you're ready."
Nobu gulped nervously, and walked to the throwing line. Picking up the shuriken, he held it in his hand to feel the weight of the small object that was so unfamiliar to him. Preparing to throw, he closed his eyes and summoned all his strength for the throw. And then he threw.
He heard a loud whistling and an even louder thunk. The shuriken had embedded itself deeply in the target's gut critical point.
"Very good, Nobu!" Iruka exclaimed brightly, thankful that the young Shoten was not as much of a troublemaker as many others of his family were "Go on."
Out of the other nine, he made five, but none hit vital spots like the first. Iruka congratulated him for his hard work, and wrote something down on his clipboard. As Iruka called for the next student, Nobu walked away from the throwing area very conflicted. He was very grateful he hadn't been a complete failure and actually did decently on the test, but he was upset that he didn't do better. If he was going to bring back honor to the Shoten clan, he would need more than adequacy in his tests.
Soon after, the line was finally completed, and they were paired up for taijutsu. Nobu was put with a sulky boy who had black hair tied back. Then he and the boy were paired up, the other boy took one quick look at Nobu and said "How troublesome."
Wanting to remember something about his partner, he thought back to the shuriken practice. The boy's name was Nara Shikamaru. He had had nearly perfect aiming at the shuriken throw, and didn't miss a single one.
"Hi, I'm Shoten Nobu" Nobu said warmly "You're Nara Shikamaru, right? You did great on the shuriken throw!"
Shikamaru gave him a grin "Yeah. That's me. And I guess I did okay on the shuriken throw. Shuriken throw's more my thing. Taijutsu is really tough. I can tell you're good at that, though."
"Yeah" Nobu said, surprised that the boy had been able to recognize his taijutsu talent just by looking at him. "My uncle didn't have a lot of money for shuriken, so I never got to practice. He couldn't afford Academy prep either. He had to train me himself. But he's a brilliant taijutsu master, and teaches me some moves. He's trying to rebuild the old techniques of the Shoten clan."
"Shoten?" Shikamaru asked "You mean all the people on the street?"
Nobu frowned at the negative connection his clan was getting "We used to be the biggest in Konoha. But then my ancestors embezzled the funds." Nobu sighed "Now even the clan townhouse is gone and none of us have any money. I'm just lucky my uncle saved me from the fate of the other orphans."
"It's their fault for living on the streets." Shikamaru said "There are people who try to help them."
"But the clan is too proud." Nobu replied "Taking charity is something my family does not like. But I'm going to change that. When I return the clan to it's honor, no one will look down on us and try to help us out."
Before Shikamaru could even say anything, or reply at all, it was their turn to spar.
"Nara Shikamaru and Shoten Nobu! It's your turn. Please, step out onto the training fields, and acknowledge your opponent." Iruka called out.
Both Shikamaru and Nobu advanced onto the field, turning to face each other at the center. A few feet to their right, Iruka stood, ready to commence the match.
"Okay, Shikamaru and Nobu, you've already heard the rules. No genjutsu or ninjutsu, and it'll last five minutes. Remember, this fight is to show how you have progressed in taijutsu. Try not to hurt each other. If someone is knocked out, the match will end. Got it?" Iruka asked
Both Shikamaru and Nobu nodded their heads, replying with the affirmative.
"Well then," Iruka said with a smile "Begin!" He exclaimed while quickly jumping back.
Shikamaru dropped into a basic stance at the academy prep school, a luxury that Nobu had never had.
Nobu, however had trained with his uncle instead. Leveling his feet, and crouching slightly, he brought his forearms parallel to the ground, with his hands curled into his fists, settling into the one stance of Douten Fist.
Shikamaru and Nobu stood. They waited for the other to crack, and attack the other. Shikamaru was extremely patient for a kid his age, and against most other ninja. But all of Nobu's training was based on waiting for the first attack to come.
Without warning, Shikamaru came in with a sweeping kick. He realized that the stance was designed to hold from one position, and forcing Nobu to move would defeat the stance.
But Nobu didn't dodge the attack. Instead, he rose his left leg, and shifted some weight out of his right leg. He brought his foot down onto Shikamaru's knee, knocking the boy flat on his back. It was merely an interruption move, which was designed to stop an attack, so it did not hurt the other boy.
Without leaving an opening for Nobu, Shikamaru rolled back away and out of his range. Getting up out of his roll, he circled the other boy, looking for any opening. Seeing none, he charged in, preparing to strike out with his arm.
As soon as Shikamaru was within grappling distance, Nobu grabbed the other boy's arm and elbow with both his arms. Pivoting 180 degrees on the spot, and bending his right knee, he threw Shikamaru over him.
Like a cat, Shikamaru twisted and turned until he had righted himself in the air and landed on the ground. Chuckling, he said "You're pretty good."
Nobu grinned back friendly "I told you my Uncle's a great teacher." Nobu rose from his pivot, but otherwise didn't move from the spot.
Seeing that there was no way of tricking this ultimate defense, Shikamaru decided to put everything into this final attack as a last ditch effort to beat the boy.
Charging, Shikamaru prepared to unload a rapid flurry or kicks and punches to Nobu, going through everything he had learned in his taijutsu classes. He was beginning to regret the fact that he thought they were useless, and slept through most of them.
Nobu blocked any hits that were aimed at vital organs, but there were so many attacks that he found it easier to let some of them in. Every now and then, he would feel sharp pains whenever his opponent's fists and feet connected with his body. He knew that this was a lot of what Shikamaru had left. A finishing move after the barrage would be a good way to end the test.
After a few seconds, Shikamaru's onslaught began to tire and slow down. The attacks had less frequency, and even when he let them connect, they hurt much less than before. Closing his fists, and pulling them back, Nobu prepared to use his finishing move. Shikamaru predicted what the other boy was about to do, and thankfully he had quick reflexes that allowed him to jump away.
But even his speed could not save him from Nobu's devastating attack. Right before Shikamaru was out of Nobu's range, he slammed his fists into Shikamaru's gut with the strength of many years of training and practice.
Thrown through the air like a ragdoll from the combined forces of his jump and Nobu's punch, Shikamaru rolled head over heels. When he finally stopped a good fifteen yards away, he was out cold.
For a moment, time stopped for the mortified Nobu. He didn't mean to hurt Shikamaru. Whenever he hit his uncle with the attack, it would barely faze him. But more importantly, he liked the boy, strange as he was. His powerful insight and quick thinking put respect for him in Nobu's eyes. He had even hoped to be friends. But how could he do something so cold and heartless to someone he wanted to be a friend to?
As quickly as they could, both Nobu and Iruka rushed to help the unconscious Shikamaru. As Iruka picked up the limp boy in his arms, Nobu began to cry and apologize profusely.
"I'm so sorry, Iruka-sensei" Nobu choked through the tears "I had no idea I'd hurt him!"
Iruka took one look at the kid to see if he was really telling the truth, and satisfied, he said "Don't worry, Nobu I saw it was an accident. I'm just surprised that you could hit him so hard. You're pretty strong for your age."
Continuing on to carry Shikamaru inside to the academy, he said. "Shikamaru will be fine, Nobu. Don't worry! The med nins will just take him to the hospital to make sure that he's fine." Before heading inside, he yelled to the rest of the class "Class dismissed You can all go home. We'll all finish the testing tomorrow!" The kids cried out in joy for their slightly early freedom from class.
"Can I go visit Shikamaru in the hospital?" Nobu asked "I want to apologize to him."
Iruka smiled warmly down at the worried boy "Of course you can Nobu. Why don't you have your uncle take you?"
Nobu nodded, and headed out of the academy, trudging dejectedly. His uncle was waiting for him outside. Uncle Nobu's glowingly warm smile began to fade when he saw how upset his beloved nephew was.
"What's wrong, little Nobu?" his uncle asked, using his favorite nickname. He only used his favorite nickname when he was worried. "Are you okay."
"Why didn't you tell me Douton Fist was so dangerous?" Nobu asked, the tears springing anew from his anguish.
"What?" His uncle asked, completely confused. When his nephew was able to choke out the whole story of what happened during the day, realization dawned on the man's face.
"Well, let me explain, Nobu," His uncle said in a soothing voice "But you'll need to stop crying, okay?" Nobu sniffed and nodded. After a few seconds, the crying was gone but for the red face and the hiccups.
"Douton Fist is an actual combat style, Nobu. It's meant to hold out until you can hit your opponent. When you connect, you're meant to hit them hard and hurt them. You're only 10 now. Think how much damage you would have done if you were my age." While that sunk in to the younger Nobu's mind, he continued, "the finishing moves are meant to knock out or kill your opponent. Don't use them on people unless you fully expect them to be hurt by it, okay?" Nobu nodded in agreement.
"Good. Now shall we go home now, Nobu?" He asked kindly.
"Actually, uncle, I was wondering if you could take me to the hospital." Nobu said quietly.
"You want to see your friend?" Uncle Nobu asked. Younger Nobu nodded "Very well then. Let's go." Ant they headed off down the street, headed to the hospital.
A/N: Well, considering there has been a lack of support in this fic, I was thinking of ending it with just the first chapter, but I feel something good about this. I want to get to at least chapter 10 on this one. This is a surprisingly long chapter to me, but I like the way it played out. Instead of having short, choppy scenes, I have a long scene that would probably last somewhere near an episode.
Preview for chapter 3: Nobu goes to the hospital to apologize to Shikamaru, and to become friends.
After that, I'll probably skip 3 years to after the academy training, to the day after he gets his headband. Otherwise, I could start up a short arc bringing up Ino, but I like the genin stuff more. Please leave a review if you want it one way or another. Please don't e-mail suggestions to me, because I habitually avoid it, and it could take months to actually read it.
