One of the two Shinobi guarding the entrance of the Academy created an Earth Release bridge to let the academy students walk into the enormous building. Jiraiya said they would be teaching the students how to walk on water at a later time. For now, the academy students would be shown to their rooms.
As Naruto entered the academy, he gasped in awe as he looked around the massive central hall of the academy. It was cuboidal in shape. Each dimension was around a hundred meters above the floor. The ceiling had an ornate depiction of the Leaf Village's symbol carved into it and was supported by imposing ivory pillars. Entrancing drawings of various hand seals were carved into each pillar.
His eyes wandering back down to the ground, Naruto noticed in shock that the ground beneath them was made of glass. Beneath was the ecosystem of the water body the building rested upon. Naruto shivered instinctively when he noticed fish of all kinds swimming furiously away from something he couldn't see. Whatever they were swimming away from, he didn't want to have to encounter any time soon.
"Welcome to the central hall of the Leaf's Academy!" Jiraiya announced, turning around to face the 15 wide-eyed students. "There's no furniture in this hall, but that's for a reason. This is where you'll be taking the graduation test." Many of the kids nodded in understanding, but Naruto was unaware of the test. He would have to find out about it later.
Jiraiya continued. "There are four doors leading out of this hall, as you can see," he said, pointing to the ten-meter tall doors that were decorated with azure and lavender coloration. "You came into here from the main entrance of the Academy. The door on the opposite wall leads to the classrooms. The door to your left leads to the indoor training grounds in addition to some of the special facilities we have. The door to your right leads to the student dorms. That's where we'll be heading. Follow me."
Jiraiya walked at a meaningful pace to the door that led to the dorms, the new students following behind.
'Quite the impressive building here.' Kurama commented.
Naruto was surprised to hear Kurama speak without being prompted to. Being sure to respond quickly, Naruto thought to Kurama, 'Danzo made the right decision by funding the academy. Growing the next generation of ninjas will no doubt be beneficial for this village's future.'
Kurama grunted in affirmative.
Jiraiya opened the large door with ease, revealing a long corridor that lay beyond. There were three doors on the left wall of the corridor. "The farthest door is where you first-years will be staying," Jiraiya said, opening the door he spoke of and motioning for the kids to go through.
As Naruto walked through, he noticed there were another five doors, all side-by-side. They were labeled with the names of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. "We've already changed the capacity to hold only fifteen students. You'll be grouped into units of three, each unit taking up residence in one of these five rooms. You guys decide who goes where."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how come boys and girls aren't split? Isn't that how it usually is?" Naruto remembered how all of Orochimaru's prisons separated their prisoners by gender. He never knew why, though. It just became normal to him.
Jiraiya gave a hearty laugh. "Ah, you kids are too young for any of that to be necessary. Anyways, I'll send someone to check on you guys in around an hour. Until then, get settled." With that, Jiraiya disappeared into smoke.
Naruto shrugged at Jiraiya's response, then turned his attention to the other students. Sasuke was the first to choose a room; gamma. He wordlessly entered the Gamma Residence. Quick to react, Naruto entered the Alpha Residence. After all, he considered himself an Alpha of his cohort. He looked around the pristine suite, composed of spacious rooms to perform all sorts of daily activities. He smiled and settled in.
Saraba Yuno, the girl with bright green hair, fiddled her thumbs as she saw Naruto enter the Alpha Residence. She distinctly remembered Naruto offering to be her friend, and she distinctively remembered refusing him. She debated in her mind whether it was the right choice or not. One on hand, no one had ever wanted to be her friend before, despite her desire to have one. On the other hand, no one else seemed to like him.
"Whoever else has to go into the Alpha Residence is gonna be screwed. Well, I don't want to be one of those two people. I'll go to the room that's the furthest away from that Naruto scoundrel," Kiba snarled, entering the Epsilon Residence.
Sokudo nodded. "I'll do the same," he announced to no one in particular, beginning to walk towards the Epsilon door. However, Shino's bugs flew off of his body and towards Sokudo, giving Shino time to enter the Epsilon Residence. Before Sokudo could regain his bearings, the students were quickly taking up whatever spots were left, in an attempt to get one as far away from the Alpha Residence as possible.
It wasn't long before only a few remaining at the end of the frenzy; Saraba, Hinata, and Tsukasa. Surprisingly, one of the remaining spots was in the Delta Residence. Its possible people were avoiding that one as well as the Alpha Residence, considering how the two occupants were the Otsaimu twins. They were known throughout the village for their constant vandalism of Hidden Leaf property.
That left one spot to be with vandals, and two spots to be with a complete weirdo. Saraba couldn't decide, so she looked at the other two to see where they were going to go. Hinata was glancing at the Gamma Residence with longing. Saraba wondered why, shrugging. She then looked at Tsukasa, who was leaning against one of the white-colored walls, his eyes closed. Huh.
Saraba waited a minute... then two... but neither Hinata nor Tsukasa moved. Deciding to just go to the Alpha Residence, since there was going to only be one bad person in it, Saraba took a step forward. Then she realized something. An idea to make a friend. An actual friend!
Saraba looked at Hinata. She took a few moments to gather the courage to speak. "uh... Hinata? Do you want to go to the Gamma Residence?" Saraba asked.
Hinata looked at Saraba, a furious blush evident on her face. Hinata waved her arms frantically in front of her, shaking her head. "Wha! No... I..."
Saraba raised an eyebrow. Hinata's blush deepened. "Well... yes... I guess..." Hinata muttered.
Saraba nodded. She internally grinned to herself for having thought of such a great plan. She walked into the Gamma Residence.
It was a marvel to look at; the interior was just like a five-star suite, complete with anything someone could need - and more. There was even a pool in the central room. Saraba marched over to the first person she saw. Sakura Haruno.
"H-Hey Sakura, there's an open spot in the Delta Residence. Want to move there? It's further away from Naruto!" Saraba said, fake enthusiasm coloring her voice.
Sakura's eyes lit up momentarily, but then they went back to normal. "Actually... I'd rather stay," Sakura said.
Saraba sighed. Her plan had failed.
"I'll go there!" A voice shouted from behind her. Saraba turned around to see Sokudo packing his things. Saraba smiled. "Thank you so much!" She exclaimed.
Sokudo gave her a toothy grin and a thumbs-up before scurrying out of the room. Saraba followed behind, locating Hinata, who looked at her with a confused expression.
"There's an open spot now! Sokudo moved out!" Saraba told Hinata.
Hinata gasped. "Wha... oh thank you!" She exclaimed. It took a few moments for Hinata to enter the Gamma Residence.
Saraba smiled as she watched Hinata disappear behind a door. Even if she would have to live with a weirdo, at least she now had a friend. That was something the Mist Village never gave her. Maybe the Leaf truly was much better.
Naruto finished packing up his things and sat expectantly atop the glass breakfast table to see who would come in through the exit and become his new roommates.
'Even I know sitting on tables is weird. Shouldn't you give up that habit?' Kurama grumbled.
Naruto chuckled. 'I am who I am. Sitting on tables just seems... right. Chairs are so small, tables have so much more room. Y'know?'
'Yeah, of course I know. Since you have tables and chairs inside you for me to enjoy.'
Naruto sighed as the clock ticked by. Growing bored, he started playing with a Rasengan, bouncing it from one hand to the next. Although it would look easy to an outsider, maintaining it required considerable chakra control.
Finally, after an excruciatingly long wait, two people walked into the Alpha Residence together. Naruto snapped to attention, raising an eyebrow as he saw Tsukasa and Saraba.
"I certainly wasn't expecting you two," Naruto said, eyeing his new roommates. Saraba blushed under his gaze.
Tsukasa closed the door behind them and leaning against it, closing his eyes. It was identical to his posture from before. Saraba shrugged and went inside of the bedrooms to place her things there. Tsukasa then went to the last remaining bedroom and settled down there.
For the next few minutes, the three didn't speak to each other. They simply sat in their respective bedrooms of the Alpha Residence. Naruto broke the silence by saying, "Hey guys! I found a cool board game in my room! Want to play?"
Saraba walked out of her room and nodded. Naruto smirked and set down 'The Game of Ninja Life' on the central table of the suite. "Hey Tsukasa! You coming?" Naruto yelled.
No response.
"It's fine, maybe he's tired..." Saraba said.
Naruto shrugged. He was about to open the cover of the board game when their front door opened. Standing there was Iruka Umino, an instructor of the Academy. "Hey kids! Come with me, I'm gonna give you a tour around campus!"
AN: A chapter heavy on description, I hope that doesn't detract from the reading experience. Let me know if there's anything I can improve on in terms of setting description. If it's too bad I'll rewrite the chapter ;)
Also, a word on Isobu, the three-tails. If you look at the Naruto Wikia, you'll see that the canon doesn't say what happens to him after the Third Shinobi World War. I'll be filling in what happened to Isobu myself.
At the bottom of each chapter in the rest of the Academy Arc, I'll include a list of each character in the academy that has been revealed, just to make sure things don't get too confusing.
First-years
Alpha
Naruto Uzumaki
Saraba Yuno
Tsukasa Genji
Beta
Choji Akimichi
Ino Yamanaka
Shikamaru Nara
Gamma
Sasuke Uchiha
Sakura Haruno
Hinata Hyuga
Delta
Satsuki Otsaimu
Katsuri Otsaimu
Sokudo Ranna
Epsilon
Kiba Inuzuka
Shino Aburame
Ishoni Tomoda
Administrative Staff
Jiraiya (Principal)
Instructors
Iruka Umino (Chakra Theory)