...
Sakura is true to her word: she begins to practice calligraphy and spends more time advising Naruto. It's subtle, but Myrddin's careful questions and thought exercises are helping King Arturus take control of the battlefield and his knights.
In response to Sakura's determination, he ups the physical exertion for their playtime. Duels are now mandatory, and everything from swords to clan techniques are allowed. He loses his wooden sword to Neji's palm strike one day, and his mother buys him a more suitable replacement.
("If you were going to give it up, you would of by now," Ma grouses, watching him go through a stack of training swords with narrow eyes.
He goes through a basic form Itachi taught him with a smaller sword. It's got a much better grip, but he sort of misses the length and weight of his old one. Turning away from traditional ninja swords, he eyes the more unique variety. He ends up getting a child's training broadsword.
"Can't believe it, a kenjutsu user," Ma says sourly. "An expensive one at that!"
He doesn't take it to heart. He's already expressed interest in the traditional clan techniques which is the only thing his mother cares about. He won't be the first Inuzuka sword user either. It's going to be fun combining the two fighting styles.)
They let Ino in on their new game plan, and the Yamanaka meets them beautifully. Under the watchful eye of a fellow clansman, Nimue begins lessons on connecting to chakra—something all Knights must know, she insists.
It's not world-breaking, but it's going to give everyone an advantage in the academy. Less so for Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru who already have a good handle on their chakra, but it does wonders for the rest of them.
("This is dumb," Naruto whines, hands clasped together.
"Oh?" Sakura's eyes glint dangerously. "Is the King complaining? What are you going to do when your knights are better at ninjutsu than you?"
"Let him whine," Neji chips in. "The King doesn't need ninjutsu."
"It doesn't matter since I'll be better at it anyways," Sasuke agrees.
"It's okay, King Arturus. You don't need to be the strongest. I'll protect you," Chouji says loyally, hammering in the final nail.
Naruto's face balloons with anger. Akamaru lets out a snickering bark, and he bites part of his fist to hold in his laughter. Connecting to chakra is a lot like meditating; of course an absurdly young Naruto would have a hard time with it, never mind an older one.
"Leave me alone, I'm connecting!" Naruto snaps, closing his eyes with a scowl.
Sakura's waves everyone away with a smirk, and Ino starts the lesson over from the beginning. If there's one benefit this Naruto has, he thinks as he shuts his own eyes, it's friends willing to simultaneously shower and threaten encouragement.)
It's not all work however. He makes sure to have fun while he still can. Helping Naruto learn how to prank those people who whisper "demon" with cold eyes, prodding Shikamaru into finding games that everyone can play, catching bugs with Shino, trying new candies with Chouji—these are the memories he presses deeply into his heart for the rest of his life.
(He leans against the building with his arms crossed. Shino stands stiffly next to him, and they both watch the people streaming by with critical eyes. Technically, they're on patrol. Not that they can do anything if something happens, but King Arturus' orders are absolute unless Myrddin overrules them.
Akamaru shifts and screams start up from the shop across the street. He smirks as the infuriated yelling causes any curious onlookers to hurry away.
"I do believe," Shino pauses, "that this goes against shayari."
Shino's getting better at speaking, but the Aburame still talks with a stilting speech. Still, victory to him for getting Shino to speak on a regular basis. The others still can't pull more than five words out of the kid.
"I'd say this is justice," he says with a grin.
Akamaru lets out an agreeing yip, and Shino gives him an unimpressed look. He soaks in the furious ranting that can be heard faintly and goes back to people watching in earnest.
"Setting off paint bombs. Destroying merchandise for overcharging on accident?" Shino asks, frowning.
It wasn't an accident. Naruto's been overcharged since the idiot started shopping there. Not by much, not enough to make any of Naruto's minders notice and step in, but it burns to know how much the kid's been swindled.
"Sis helped with the bombs. Let me tell you why," he says.
Perhaps he should have explained before dragging Shino into being his partner in crime, but how awesome is it that this kid is willing to plant the paint bombs while he does distraction without knowing anything? True friendship right here.)
A point of change comes when Neji expresses a desire to enter the academy a year later than his age group. Specifically, Neji wants to enter with the rest of the group and share the same class.
"Are they going to let you?" He asks, knowing the Hyuuga prodigy will understand what he means.
"They will when I say it's to protect Lady Hinata," Neji replies back evenly.
Hiashi will most likely not deny this request despite what the elders may say; Neji's and Hinata's quiet friendship seems to strike a nostalgic chord with the Hyuuga head. It had been strange seeing so much emotion on the man's face at Hinata's birthday celebration.
"You're going to thrash me and Sasuke," he says with humor. "The teacher will have to sit on him during class to keep him from taking revenge."
It takes both Sasuke and him teaming up to have an even fight with Neji. He can only imagine how in-class sparring will go. Neji's a genius for a reason; it's actually a bit concerning that the Hyuuga won't have anyone to challenge him during class.
("Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Ino says, placing four cards down. "Got any twos?"
Sakura lets out a curse and hands over a playing card. He taps his thigh with a pout. Between Sakura and Ino, he barely gets a turn. Akamaru yawns from his lap.
"What is?" He asks.
"Just go get his rival," Ino replies before holding out a hand towards him. "Twos?"
He gives her the card with a sigh. He wonders what possessed him to agree to this game. He's just glad it isn't poker. He can only imagine what that would be like.
"Lamorak?" Sakura suggests before turning to Ino with bared teeth. "Go fish, hah!"
He lets out a noncommittal hum. Lamorak had quite the temper and physical ability which could work, but it doesn't quite match up with what he has in mind.)
Finding Rock Lee is harder than he'd thought it would be. He has no doubt he'll recognize the boy, not with such a unique face, but Konoha is huge. With the exception of Shino, everything until now has been pure chance, and Lee doesn't belong to any clan to make hunting him down easier.
Shino helps him track the unknown boy with only a vague description and without question. He's not sure why wanting a boy with a weird-looking face to join the group because he felt like it works, but together, they manage to find Lee under the guise of screening through potential recruits.
"He's over there. You simply can't miss those eyebrows. I'm sure he'll be happy to make some friends for once," the woman smiles at them condescendingly before walking off.
Akamaru lets out a sniff from the top of his head, and he watches the lady disappear with disgust. She had all but cooed over him as if he was a brainless kid with a puppy. Sometimes he forgets how young he is.
"Doesn't something seem off with wanting a stranger cause of their face?" He asks in disbelief.
"It isn't a lie," Shino points out.
He gives up the argument before it even begins. It's not like he can explain the need for Lee to keep their resident genius from leaving for crazy town.
They find the boy doing chin-ups with a broken fence. Sweat dribbles down into bizarrely round eyes, and a long braid of black hair swings back and forth with each movement. He knows without a doubt that this is Rock Lee.
He reaches up to give Akamaru a scratch and takes a breath. He hates giving speeches, but this is for Neji.
"Hey, got a minute?" He calls out, causing the boy to pause.
The recruitment speech doesn't go well, and Shino disappears halfway through. He tries to convince a hard-headed Lee that joining has benefits to no avail.
"Thank you, but I cannot! I must work hard if I am to get into the academy!" Lee declares, pumping both fists.
He frowns, unsure of how to proceed from here. It's not like he didn't know there was a chance to be rejected, but he doesn't quite have the patience to wear down Lee's resolve either.
"Nothing I say can change your mind?" He asks.
Lee's head shakes, and he knows there is nothing he can do. The boy turns away from him, going back to the fence. He's got Lee's scent, so maybe he can track the kid down another day, preferably with Naruto.
Shino suddenly appears next to him, arms laden down with—
"Is that rope?" He asks incredulously.
"Let us take him to Naruto," Shino says, sunglasses glinting.
(Lee doesn't see them coming. Perhaps it's a coward's way to strike from behind, but Shino and he are training to be ninja. They're simply…fulfilling the mission objective)
He grabs a hogtied Lee's arms, and Shino grabs Lee's legs. They find the weight heavy but manageable. The boy watches them with even wider eyes, making no effort to speak around the gag.
"Sorry about this, but you'll understand when you meet him," he offers to Lee.
"I am not sorry. I went through effort to find you," Shino says flatly.
Akamaru lets out quiet laughter, and he tries not to cackle. He stands by his previous statement: Shino is his favorite.
"What's his name?" Shino asks as if they aren't carrying a tied up Lee down the very public street.
"Brunor," he answers.
("Brunor?" Sakura repeats with eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know that one."
"He got rejected from the Knights of the Round Table because of his looks. He was always made fun of, but he was a great guy. His awesome rescues proved his worth in the end," he tells her.
"Yeah, that's Lee alright," Sakura smiles.)