Corruption Of Blood: Rebirth
Chapter 2
First Friends, First Fights
By Nexusofpain
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the other literary works I may reference in this story.
Naruto followed Iruka-sensei back into the classroom, all the students were still staring in his general direction, however on look from Iruka and they all shot their gazes back down to their text books almost instantaneously. Naruto slogged back up to his seat at the top row, he could still hear whispers every now and then, mostly pertaining to his outburst. His cheeks colored slightly as he realized he may have overreacted just a little bit.
Another thirty minutes passed, before Iruka-sensei loudly clapped his hands gaining the attention of the entire class. "Alright students, its time for the physical portion of today's class." As Iruka walked towards the exit of the classroom, the entirety of his class got up to follow him to the outside field. When everyone had made it out of the building Iruka told them to pair off and begin their stretches.
Naruto stood in the middle of the field looking on as all the other students broke off into pairs. He would have asked someone to be his partner, however he had quickly learned that he was everyone's last choice. After everyone was finished he walked up to the only other child without a partner.
Miru Takai was a frail and sickly child with white shoulder length scraggly hair and light pink eyes, he had dark circles under his eyes and a very persistent cough. Even so Naruto needed a partner and Miru was the only one left, so walking up to the pale child he introduced himself. "Hey I'm Naruto Uzumaki." he greeted the only child in class who was actually shorter than himself.
Miru nodded in greeting coughing slightly into his fisted hand. Now with their respective partners for the day Miru and Naruto walked to the center of the field doing their daily stretches, followed by copying Iruka in the day's exercises. Afterwords they went through the academy kata together, Naruto was actually surprised how much he enjoyed hanging out with the sickly ninja student.
"You know what Miru? You're really not a bad guy, hanging out with you was pretty cool." Naruto laughed as they walked back into the school, the afternoon exercise finished for the day. "I like hanging out with you to." Miru had said it quietly almost imperceptibly so, even as such he still ended up coughing for the next few minutes.
"Hey 'cough' you wanna be friends... I mean 'cough' if you want to." Naruto's smile grew as he took in his first friends words. "Of course." he laughed slightly happy with how the day had progressed even with the rocky start.
Miru gave a smile himself also chuckling slightly though he wasn't sure why. "Thanks Naruto, I've 'cough' actually never had any friends before."
The two new friends made plans to hang out after school and went to their separate seats. Iruka followed in seconds later. "Okay class I am going to start passing out these sheets" Iruka held up a piece of paper with writing that was to small for Naruto to make out from the distance he was sitting.
"They're permission slips for a overnight training camp, set up for next week" He started walking up the steps passing out stacks of paper to each row. "It is imperative that these be returned with your parent or guardians signature by the day after tomorrow."
Naruto stared at the paper for a moment, before hesitantly raising his hand. "Sensei what about me?"
Iruka turned towards him thinking for a short time. "Well the Hokage is technically your guardian so you should ask him." The way Iruka said the words made it obvious he really wasn't sure how to answer the question.
Shortly after the school bell rang signaling the end of the day's classes, as the students chaotically ran towards the door, Naruto walked over to his new friend. "So 'cough' what should we do?" Naruto mulled the question over for a minute as much as he hated to admit it he had no clue what friends did together, never having any of his own, similar to Miru.
So he asked the one thing he could think of. "Do you like ramen?" Miru nodded slowly and as simply as that the two left heading towards the best and only place Naruto would eat ramen.
"Old man Teuchi, what's up?" Naruto called as he took a seat at the small noodle stand, Miru taking a seat to his right.
"Ah, Naruto, how are you doing today?" The old man came out from the back of his shop, his features slightly wrinkled, a warm smile adorned his face, along with his apron and white chef's hat he certainly looked the part of the expert noodle chef.
"I need two large bowls of miso ramen with roasted pork." Naruto said, then turning towards Miru he continued "Order whatever you like its on me." He pulled out his small frog-like coin-wallet waving it in the air.
"So who's this Naruto a friend of yours?" Teuchi tried to hide the surprise in his tone but wasn't all that sure he was successful, it was no secret that the adults in the village thought ill of the child, and that attitude had passed to their children as well. It sickened Teuchi to think that anyone could treat a child the way that Naruto was treated, demon vessel or not.
"Yeah this is Miru he's in my class." Naruto happily pointed at his new friend, a large smile spread across his small face, stretching the whisker like marks that adorned his cheeks. "Um... I'll have a bowl of Chicken 'cough' ramen."
"That sounds easy enough, I'll have it ready in just a couple minutes." Teuchi walked towards the back of his stand where the cooking appliances were located. "Naruto... About that wallet?" Miru spoke softly, pointing at the green object that was sitting on the counter.
"Huh.. What about it?" Naruto looked at his new friend strangely, unsure what he was getting at. "Doesn't it remind you of 'cough' Gamabunta?" Naruto continued to stare at his friend his eyes scrunched in concentration, trying to remember where he had heard that name before.
"Gamabunta?" Naruto said the name as if testing it. "Never heard of him." He gave up trying to figure out where he had heard the name.
"He's the fourth Hokage's personal summon, we learned about him in class... today." Upon the mention of his idol Naruto's attention shot back to his sickly friend. "Really the fourth Hokage!" The excitement on his face was rather obvious stars practically shining in his eyes. "That's awesome!" He concluded his grin back bigger than ever.
"That settles it then." He picked up the small green frog shaped wallet holding it up in the air slightly above his face. "From this moment on your name is Gama-chan."
"Your going to name 'cough' your wallet?" Miru looked at the scene slightly confused unsure what to think of his new and only friend. "Huh, yeah why not?" Was Naruto's own puzzled response.
"No reason just 'cough' never heard of someone 'cough' naming a wallet." Miru said dismissively waving his hand in front of his face. "Well now you have." Naruto proudly jammed one of his thumbs toward his chest in a pointing gesture.
A moment later and Teuchi had layed two steaming bowls of ramen in front of their respective owners. They ate in relative silence, just the occasional joke from Naruto breaking the peaceful atmosphere. "Hey... Naruto?" Miru spoke up as he finished his bowl.
"Yeah what's up?" Naruto responded in between slurps of ramen, currently on his second bowl. "What made you want to be a ninja?" Naruto had to strain his ears to hear the quiet question, not yet used to his new friends soft-spoken attitude.
"I don't wanna be just a ninja, I'm going to be the best Hokage ever." Naruto's excitement returned now that he was talking about his personal dream. "Oh... really?" Miru voice lost even more volume as he seemed deep in thought, or as deep as a seven year old could get anyway.
"What about you?" Miru seemed caught off guard by the simple turn around of his own question. "I.. uh... well... um.." Naruto watched Miru stumble over his own words not sure what was so hard to say. "You don't have to say, if you don't want to-" Naruto trailed off trying to make his friend more comfortable.
Miru shook his head "Its okay 'cough' its not a secret or anything... I 'cough' don't want to... be a ninja I mean." Naruto's confusion returned at Miru's words but either way he nodded his head as if in understanding.
"If you don't wanna do it why are you?" The question was innocent enough but Naruto regretted it when he saw the look on his friends face. "Never mind, hey Miru I'll see you tomorrow okay I gotta stop by the old man's place." Naruto hurriedly finished the last bit of his ramen before running off in the direction of the Hokage's mansion.
His heart was pounding in his chest as he ran, he wasn't sure why but something about what had just happened had scared him, maybe it was fear that his questions had upset his friend and he didn't want to lose him. Sure they had only become friends earlier that same day, but still he had never had any kind of bond with anyone, and now that he did, no matter how small, he didn't want to lose it. He only stopped running when he reached the large building that was the Hokage's residence.
Struggling to regain his breath Naruto slowly pushed open the large ornate double doors leading into the spacious waiting room for the Hokage's visitors. Walking up to the secretary he rang the bell on the desk in order to get her attention away from the papers she was staring at. Raising her head she narrowed her eyes slightly almost imperceptibly, her thin wire frame glasses and long dark hair held up in a pony-tail only added to the air of seriousness she seemed to exude at all times.
"Hello Uzumaki, how may I help you today?" Even though her words were kind her voice was terse almost hostile in nature.
"I.. uh.. the money for my groceries." Naruto always felt nervous when he had to speak with the Hokage's secretary, something about the stare she gave him was very unsettling.
"Right, I have it here." She smiled, handing him a small envelope, Naruto could tell the smile was fake, it was obvious even to a child like him.
"Also uh... Can I see the old man?" The secretary's smile dropped slightly. "What ever for?" She continued her eyes narrowing a bit more. Naruto produced the folded slip of paper from his pocket handing it to the women. She looked over it briefly before picking up a pen and signing it quickly, giving it back to Naruto the strange fake smile back in place.
"The Hokage's busy today, but that should do, now off you go." She shooed him away. "Little monster" she whispered that last part so Naruto couldn't hear. Done with everything he needed to do for the day Naruto headed back towards his apartment.
Naruto awoke the next morning excited for the day ahead, not only did he have his first friend but also it was their classes first sparring practice. He ate breakfast in a hurry and rushed out the door, almost forgetting to lock it in the process. Making it to the academy in record time he sat in the same seat he had the day before. Waiting impatiently for Miru to arrive he observed as his classmates started filtering into the room.
A cute pink-haired girl was one of the first to enter her blonde-haired friend next to her, after that was the same pony-tailed boy he had talked to the day before with his chubby friend. A strange dark-haired girl who never seemed to look people in the eye, a boy that wore sunglasses at all times followed by Sasuke, and a boy that smelled similar to a dog kennel. Naruto had almost given up hope by the time Miru entered the room. The sickly boy made a b-line for Naruto taking a seat beside him, the two engaging in small talk for the remainder of the time before Iruka entered the room.
Naruto payed little attention to excited for the sparring sessions later that day and before he knew it the lunch bell had rung. Miru and Naruto made their way towards the academy cafeteria, Naruto grabbing a pastry as he had done the day before, while Miru had brought his lunch from home. Neither one was sure what to say and they ended up eating in silence.
After lunch the entire class marched out to the field, after doing their stretches the class stood in a single file line waiting for Iruka's instructions. "Okay class, today will be the first sparring competition of the year, the rules are simple, matches are done when I say they are, and use of jutsu of any kind is strictly forbidden." Iruka walked back and forth in front of the line of students as though he were some kind of drill instructer. "Of course use of deadly force is also forbidden, three downs equals an out, so in other words you get knocked to the ground three times you lose, starting today once a month we will hold this competition in order to gauge your physical abilities, so as to keep it fair pairs will be chosen at random, so when I call your name please enter the circle." Iruka motioned towards the patch of grass that they had drawn a circular chalk line around.
Iruka gave the whole class small slips of paper, instructing them to write their names on them and then hand them back, after everyone had done so Iruka placed all the slips into a small bucket. Closing his eyes he pulled two slips at random. "Okay first match Ami Murasakiiro versus Shino Aburame." As Iruka called out the participants, the female students started to voice their disagreement.
"Sensei, Shino's a boy its not fair for Ami to have to fight him!" Iruka recognized the girl as one of Ami's friends, Kasumi Shitsumei, Iruka sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose, he had expected something like this.
"Kasumi I understand your complaint, however when you become a ninja you won't be able to say you don't want to fight someone just because their boys and your girls" Kasumi still seemed upset but she let the subject drop. "Good, okay you two step into the circle." the children did as they were told walking to opposite sides of the 'ring' and getting into their personal stances, Shino's knees bent slightly one arm held out in front of him as if to block incoming attacks, the other stuck in the pocket of his tan hooded jacket. Meanwhile Ami had positioned herself in a basic academy stance.
"Okay first you must make the Seal of Confrontation." Iruka explained showing the two by raising his hand in front of his face, his pointer and middle finger lifted up while the others where folded down, the two children doing as instructed.
"Alright... Begin!" Iruka yelled giving them a start motion with his hand. Ami rushed up to Shino recklessly throwing punches that the sun-glasses clad boy had little trouble dodging, after the sixth missed strike Shino spun around to Ami's side catching her off guard and throwing an elbow that smashed directly into the young purple haired girl's face. Sending her to the floor, almost immediately the child began crying clutching at her face, blood seeping through her small hands as it poured from her possibly broken nose.
Iruka winced as the girls head roughly bounced off the cold ground, he had seen the attack coming from a mile away. However Ami had not, unfortunately her one week of academy basic training had done little to prepare her for a fight with one of the clan children. Who had more than likely already been training with his family for years.
Iruka had to call the match once it became obvious that Ami had no intention of trying to continue the fight, walking over he helped the crying child to her feet, gently he tried to peel the girls small hands away from her face. It quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be easy, but even so he eventually managed to coax the girl into letting him look at her wounded nose. He sighed slightly in relieve as he saw that it was in fact not broken, the bruise that would no doubt appear was a different story altogether.
After Iruka had walked Ami to the nurses station the matches resumed, Naruto lost interest rather quickly more exited for his own match than he was in watching the other kids. What felt like a lifetime to Naruto passed before his Name was called. "Naruto Uzumaki versus Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto grinned as the words left his sensei's lips, he couldn't wait to show mister perfect that he wasn't so great.
"Walking into the ring Naruto stood opposite his opponent, both children making the sign of confrontation, while he knew no actual fighting style he took a stance that to him felt comfortable. Sasuke got into his own family's fighting stance, one arm stretched out towards naruto, with the other clenched down near his knee. "Ready... Fight!" Iruka yelled for the fifteenth time that day and as with all the others the two children quickly ran towards each other.
Before Naruto could comprehend what had gone wrong he found himself on his back staring up at the sky. Sasuke positioned over top of him, one of his fists poised to strike the young blonde in the throat. "Point Sasuke!" Iruka hollered out raising an arm into the air.
Naruto was seething by the time he had returned to his starting point, 'I can't, I won't accept that he's that much better than me.' was the thought racing through his head. On Iruka's call Naruto rushed forward again, managing to dodge Sasuke's opening attack this time, however the results were still the same with Naruto on the ground staring up at the clear blue sky, a scene that would bring peace to most only filled Naruto with anger, so much he was about at his limit.
Naruto angrily struck the ground his tiny knuckles starting to bleed from the force he had exerted. Standing to his feet he returned to his starting point once again, a small headache forming as he waited for Iruka to begin the match again. "Fight!"
Naruto rushed in again, Sasuke opening with the same attack he had previously, Naruto was able to dodge it, the pain in the back of his mind increasing with every step he took. Dodging the second strike Naruto launched his own attack, which Sasuke easily avoided. 'right' the thought popped into his mind and without hesitating he moved to the right barely avoiding a strike to his jugular. Another random though ran through Naruto's mind as Sasuke's fist brushed past his neck, he could feel the knuckles scrap against his skin, and at the same time Naruto brought his knee forward feeling it make contact.
Sasuke gasped for air bent over holding his gut, the force of the blow seemed to have knocked the air out of him. Before Naruto could capitalize on the opening a sudden influx of pain caused him to clench his head, a migraine similar to the day before assualting his senses. Voices flooding his mind, overflowing his brain with information.
"How dare that loser hit Sasuke!"
"Talk about a low blow man."
"Jeez, whats wrong with him?"
"Hows he expect to be a ninja if he can't take advantage of openings."
"Just finish it already!"
Recovering before Naruto, Sasuke spun performing a sweeping move that sent Naruto to the ground, Iruka calling the point. Naruto lay on the ground the pain barely starting to subside, he wasn't sure what was happening but he knew it wasn't normal.
"I knew the loser couldn't do it."
"Talk about dropping the ball, man"
"Thats what that annoying freak gets, hurting Sasuke like that!"
As the pain slowly faded so to did the voices allowing Naruto to regain his balance and stand. He was angry not particularly at Sasuke more at himself, the sudden pain had not only cost him the only chance he had at getting a point on Sasuke, but also made him look like a complete loser in front of the whole class. He clenched his fists, walking towards the center of the circle as Iruka instructed him.
"Okay now you two perform the Seal of Reconciliation." Sasuke extended the two fingers used to form the Seal of Confrontation, holding his hand out to Naruto. Naruto grit his teeth, so hard he could almost feel them cracking under the pressure. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, anger causing his whole body to shake. "Naruto now!" Iruka raised his voice slightly, as he saw Naruto unwilling to perform the traditional rite.
"Screw you both!" Naruto took off running, tears of frustration staining his face, he wouldn't stop till he reached his front door, and even then it would take hours before he would be able to calm himself down.
End
A/N I'm going to try and update every Sunday if I can, please read and review.
