Hello my friends I hope this day finds you well. As there isn't anything I find prudent to say right now, I'll just give you the next chapter, enjoy.

One Wing's Enough

Chapter 10: Something Worthwhile

Naruto was honestly tired of the academy, he had been attending for ten years now, and he had barely learned anything. The only reason he attended anymore was because of the attendance requirement to graduate, and the sparring sessions that had become a daily training exercise. It was not for a lack of trying either that he had not graduated. He had attempted to take the graduation exam early, but he was denied every time because of the Kyuubi under the excuse of the early exam being for those with extreme talent that couldn't be held back by age. For some reason, his entire class hadn't either, even the clan children, it was odd seeing as they all had what the officials called "talent", but Naruto was glad for the indirect gift so he didn't need to graduate with kids younger than he was.

As he reflected on the decade he had spent, he remembered that Malik had noted his progress and had promoted him to the Apprentice rank. He had been granted a simple European dagger, but it was strong and durable, a reliable weapon if anything. He went over how he had been able to develop his combat skill by learning the basics of muscle reading to allow him to anticipate movement. He wasn't adept by any means, but he could predict the next general action that his opponent would make, barring if they wore clothes that concealed their muscle movements. He had also obtained a basic breastplate made of hardened leather that covered only his upper torso, seeing that he wanted to maintain full flexibility of his body. Overall, he thought that he had made good progress for a late blooming kid, he wished that he had grown taller, because being smaller than most people wouldn't be much of an advantage soon.

He was now fourteen, the new standard age requirement implemented to allow for new shinobi to at least develop their pubescent strength before tossing them at missions. Starting now, students would be tested every year to begin adding new shinobi into the ranks. That meant that the academy no longer had an excuse to stop him from taking the test and graduating anymore. However, he still had to wait for Friday to arrive for that to happen. He finally decided to heed Iruka-sensei and pay attention, mostly because he had asked so politely the last two times and he didn't want to irk one of the few teachers that didn't outright hate him.

Umino Iruka, chūnin of Konohagakure, academy teacher. Naruto knew that he had previously been of a higher rank due to the way the man held himself, too tense for a chūnin who had decided to take the easy path and teach kids. He was also someone he respected because he had somehow developed some weird relationship. He was friendly after classes, but flat out neutral during them, did he mention that he apparently didn't give a shit about Kyuubi? Even though his parents died during the attack too. An actual good man among hateful ones, excluding Dakūhito-sensei.

"Alright class, now that we've finished reviewing the technique theory behind the three basic jutsus, we will begin sparring outside." The statement brought a round of cheers from the students and they all filed out after the teacher. However, Naruto was not one of those people, instead he had decided to jump out of the building via the open window in the room. Normally, one would not have done such a jump, seeing as that would result in several broken bones. But Naruto had learned to use chakra with his peers, including how to strengthen one's body by saturating the desired area with chakra. He landed with a soft thump and promptly dropping into a roll before running off to the sparring ring of the academy, the only trace he had been there was the light imprint of his shoes, swiftly covered by the breeze.

Naruto arrived to an empty yard, releasing a breath, he chose to ascend a tree near the sparring ring and wait while hiding in the swaying leaves. He did not have to wait long, Iruka and the class soon appeared and stood in a circle around the ring. Iruka raised his voice to announce the first match.

"First match! Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Choji! No jutsu are allowed and only blunted weapons and tools are acceptable." The two quickly stepped forward and entered the ring. Kiba had made the decision to have Akamaru stay out of the fight, so the two faced each other without the canine helper. Naruto watched from his perch as he thought over the two's strengths.

Kiba was an Inuzuka, a shinobi accustomed to having a canine helper, and was largely a taijutsu fighter. Choji was also a taijutsu specialist, but he relied on his jutsu rather than a partner to perform techniques with. Both could not use their distinct advantages, Kiba without his dog, and Choji without his enlargement techniques. What would determine the winner would be how well the taijutsu used with their techniques translated to an unenhanced fight. He figured that by a purely objective view, Kiba had the advantage in that regard. The only factor that would definitely change the outcome was the attitude of the fighters.

"Hajime!" Naruto stopped thinking about the outcome of the match at Iruka's signal. Kiba immediately launched himself forward at Choji, hoping to get the drop on him. However, Choji was ready and had dropped into a solid, sturdy stance that used his weight to his advantage. Kiba's lunging maneuver landed him in front of the large boy, which would have allowed him to launch an attack. But he instead opted to dodge Choji's double fist hammer strike coming down towards his head. Rolling to his right, Kiba swiftly recovered and launched a swift kick into the inside of Choji's left knee. The damage was quickly shrugged off and despite his efforts to dodge, Kiba was clipped in the shoulder by Choji's left backhand strike.

Naruto quickly analyzed what had just happened, He had taken to analyzing his classmate's spars to become more familiar with their fighting styles. If he had to describe it, he would say that Kiba was a fierce dog that was attacking a powerful but slower tank. He was faster, but he wasn't as durable, and he definitely did not match his opponent's strength. To win, Kiba would have to keep dodging Choji's strikes while launching his own. He would have to focus more on where he struck and how many times he struck, rather than how much strength he put in his blows. Choji would win he could simply land a couple of solid blows in the right places, but he needed to be faster for his reactionary strikes to make full contact with the more agile Kiba.

Naruto refocused on the fight to see Kiba trying to find an opening to land a powerful blow on Choji rather than whittle him down. He would approach, dodge, and try to land that heavy attack or combo, but he would be interrupted by Choji's counter strikes. Despite Naruto's thoughts, he did notice that the one kick Kiba had landed earlier did seem to be weighing down on Choji. Yes, he turned slower on his left leg than on his right, the speed of the turns was too different to blame on which was his dominant side, he had put too much into that initial hammer blow, leaving himself open for that kick, that one, crippling kick it seemed.

Kiba had noticed too, and had decided to capitalize. He lunged forward towards Choji, stepping into his range. Dodging the boy's sweeping fist, Kiba lunged again to Choji's left before quickly stepping completely behind him. Choji tried to follow Kiba, turning on his left, and used his left hand for a wide backhand as he turned. Kiba ducked low, under the attack, and launched his own right hook towards Choji's face. He felt the impact and grinned at his victory, until he felt the force of a very strong right from Choji land in his stomach and sent him flying. The boys were separated, one landing roughly from his short-lived flight, the other stumbling back, his vision shaking. After a few seconds, Choji steadied his body, and Iruka nodded when Kiba did not rise.

"Shousha, Choji!" There was a round of applause to the boy's victory and the numerous cheers assured him that they had made a good showing. A short ways away, Kiba stirred from the ground. Noticing his waking classmate, Chouji approached and gave the boy a smile while offering a hand.

"That was a tough fight! You almost had me there!" A grin found its way across the face of the Inuzuka. Taking his hand, he pulled himself onto his feet.

"You better watch out next time, 'cause I'm gonna get my win back!"

"Save it for later! Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura! You're up!" Iruka's call had two girls grinning maliciously and glaring at each other as they stepped into the ring. "Hajime!" Honestly, the two were not very adept at much, Sakura was almost purely theoretical and Ino was subpar in just about everything, the fact that she knew one of her clan's technique did not help her much. The spar, if they could call the slap-contest that, was not worth anything. In the end, Sakura lost because she had even worse stamina than Ino.

'That, was pathetic.' Naruto lamented the fact that the two had plenty of potential, but they were too busy trying to court the Uchiha to do anything for themselves. He let out a breath as he palmed his face, hoping that when he graduated, he wouldn't be put on the same team as either of them. He shifted his attention when he heard Iruka call for the next match.

"Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru!"

"I forfeit Sensei, I just want to watch the clouds." Having nearly fallen off the branch he was perched on, Naruto steadied himself and quietly laughed. What a typical Nara! If it wasn't important, don't expect anything of them! Iruka only sighed and called the next match between Hinata and a kunoichi-wannabe. The fight was an odd sort of disappointing, Hinata had all the odds stacked in her favor, but because she didn't want to hurt the other student she held back so much that she almost lost. Naruto hoped that what he said to her that night would reach her soon, she was still too kind in the wrong situations.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto!" Hearing his name called, Naruto grinned and waited for Sasuke to enter the ring as his muscles coiled.

"Hmph, the dobe probably ran away. He's a disgrace of a shinobi with one arm anyway." smirking the Uchiha turned to walk out of the ring. Deciding now was the moment, Naruto leaped from his branch and landed without a sound. Rolling with his momentum, Naruto ended up right behind Sasuke.

"Hey, don't get too far ahead of yourself, I'm right here." His sudden appearance startled the Uchiha, seeing him jump and turn with wide eyes, Naruto could only laugh. "Don't tell me that you're the one who's scared. I only got one arm right?"

"Naruto, where were you hiding?" Turning, Naruto addressed the frowning teacher.

"I was up in a tree. Now let's get started." He turned and moved to the end of the ring opposite Sasuke and took a stance. He stood with his legs slightly bent, left leg forward, and had his right arm set in the back with his armless shoulder facing Sasuke. Sasuke took his own stance as he glared at Naruto.

"Hajime!" At the teacher's mark, Naruto moved to the center of the ring as Sasuke rushed forward at him. As he stepped into range, Sasuke lifted his right leg and swung a roundhouse kick at Naruto's face. Ducking under the flying leg, Naruto returned the favor in the form of turning right and using his right leg for a hook kick. Jumping back, Sasuke evaded the heel of Naruto's foot. Deciding to take the initiative, Naruto stepped forward and jumped off his right leg as he shot his left forward in a thrust kick targeting his opponent's chest.

Sasuke sidestepped to the right as he slapped the attack with the back of his left hand. Stepping forward on his left foot, Sasuke threw a right cross, aiming for Naruto's nose. Using the momentum of his redirected kick, Naruto spun clockwise as he let the fist fly by his face. Completing his turn, Naruto struck at the back of Sasuke's head as he passed with his elbow. Feeling a harsh impact, he knew his strike landed.

His sudden disorientation took Sasuke by surprise, he was certain that he would hit him, he had all the advantages and the timing seemed perfect. So what happened? A false opening, a feint, whatever it was, he had fallen for it. Unfortunately, in his confusion, Sasuke didn't see the knockout strike.

'That, went much better than I thought it would. If he had the sharingan that wouldn't have worked.' Naruto had capitalized on Sasuke's confusion, Swiftly moving in front of his opponent's stumbling form, he had lifted his leg and brought a crushing axe kick down on Sasuke's head.

"Shousha, Naruto!" Iruka's announcement was the trigger for the wave of protests from the Uchiha's fans. Shouts accusing him of cheating and fighting dirty were heard, and there were even some death threats among them too. "SHUT UP!" The seemingly enlarged head of their sensei quickly quelled their voices and had them cowering. Naruto could only release a slow breath as he left the ring to stand among his peers.

"Honestly, the only thing here worth doing anymore is sparring, and even then there's a problem." He could only hope graduation would go smoothly.