Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.
Red Leg that crops up in this chapter is from One Piece, but I've borrowed it 'cause it was so perfect for this story.
Chapter Summary: In which Rio gets a new babysitter and Naruto traumatizes the academy chunin
Chapter 5: Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail
The next couple of weeks for the three students were the busiest time of their lives so far; on top of the usual daily academy, their time was split between the training grounds and the library.
Although he could help his friends with their chakra training, while using rocks to train his own, Naruto was forced to sit back and watch as Hana tested her clan style against Kazuya's standard academy taijutsu, tapping his cast impatiently and occasionally answering the questions mixed in with his brother's usual chatter as they sat to the side, keeping the Haimaru brothers company.
The hospital appointment had been exactly what Naruto had been dreading; his arm now immobile and useless until the two weeks were up. He had had plenty of experience with the cast, since he spent almost a year permanently stuck in one, with a renewal each month. He hadn't had one since before the academy, but Yakushi-sensei had told him that he had disrupted the not-quite-healed pathways with his taijutsu classes and had to give them a chance to settle down again.
He was broken out of his musing by the close sounds of heavy breathing and he looked to the side as the pair plopped themselves down beside him. He handed them their water bottles, waiting a moment for their breathing to calm.
"Awesome!" yelled Rio, clapping his hands in excitement.
"You say that every day we come here, Sunshine," Naruto smiled as he ruffled his brother's hair.
"Awesome every day!" the toddler cheered.
Kazuya hauled himself up enough to contribute his part to Rio's unruly hairstyle.
"Thanks, Rio-chan," he grinned, before looking at Naruto.
"I think you guys are a bit faster than when we started, but I still suck so I'm not the best judge," he shrugged.
Kazuya nodded before glancing at Hana, who was slowly being buried by three bundles of fur.
"How about we head to the library then? You guys have pretty much caught up with the schoolwork, but we need to figure out your taijutsu and we can't do that here," he suggested, lending an arm to the redhead.
Naruto got up and then turned to dust Rio off as Hana escaped her pups.
"Alright, I got to go drop of these guys if we are headed to the library. Is he coming?" she nodded towards the blond.
Naruto looked towards the toddler, watching his attention focus on the pups. Rio didn't like the library and Naruto could admit that he didn't either; it was a necessary evil though and one that Rio was definitely going to fight.
"We really need to figure out something, 'cause I don't think Hokage-sama can keep taking him and we can't keep bringing him to training," Kazuya remarked.
Naruto sighed heavily.
"I know," he admitted.
"Can the orphanage not look after him? Or a Genin babysitter?" Hana suggested.
"He wouldn't be safe," Kazuya replied, gaining a confused look from the Inuzuka.
"The matron doesn't like him and a Genin might hurt him," Naruto explained, watching the oblivious toddler sadly.
"Why would someone ever hurt him?" Hana asked, aghast.
Naruto and Kazuya looked at each other and shrugged.
"No idea," the brunet shrugged, Naruto nodding in agreement while staring at the ground.
"Why can't my mom?" she suggested suddenly. "She's already got Kiba so it would just be one more."
Both boys looked at her with surprise before hope lit up Naruto's big blue eyes. A shadow crossed his features for a moment, so fleeting that Hana doubted she had seen it, before the boy came to a decision.
"Alright, we can try..." he trailed off uncertainly.
The group headed off towards the Inuzuka compound, Rio settled between the two boys. As they came closer to the compound, Naruto tucked Rio closer into his side as a tall, imposing woman appeared at the entrance. He could see a boy a similar age to Rio tangled in her legs, and the pair looked very much like Hana, although the woman looked much sterner and a lot wilder, with shaggy shoulder length hair and long red triangles on her cheeks.
Hana bounded forward with the Haimaru brothers, hugging the woman around the waist. The woman's face softened slightly as she saw her daughter, but hardened once again when she spotted the three boys lingering around the entrance.
"Hana? Who are they?" she demanded, nodding towards the boys as she gained her daughter's attention.
"That one is Arai Kazuya and the other is Uzumaki Naruto. They are in my class; the ones I told you about," Hana answered, first pointing to the brunet then the redhead.
She then pointed to the woman.
"Guys, this is Tsume, my mum," she introduced.
Both students gave a short bow of greeting to the Inuzuka head, Rio's head poking out from behind Naruto. Tsume spotted the head and her eyes narrowed. Picking up on the movement, Naruto shifted slightly, hiding Rio behind him and glaring right back at the woman. Kazuya glanced between the pair and Hana's mother, before taking a step closer to the two boys.
"What about the pup hiding there?" Tsume asked casually, watching the reaction of the students.
"That's Rio, Naruto's brother. He has been coming to training with us after the academy but we had to find a place for him to go since he kicks up a fuss at the library, so we were wondering if you could watch him since you already have Kiba?" Hana replied, innocent of any underlying meaning to the meeting.
The redhead seemed very protective of the container, placing himself between the possible danger and his pack and the other boy seemed to be part of it if their body language was anything to go by. She approved of the loyalty they obviously shared and how it extended, in part, to her daughter. Tsume had barely seen her daughter in the past couple of weeks, her pup always replying 'training' whenever she caught her in the mornings. It must have been with these boys.
She felt the clumsy attempt of chakra sensing from the redhead and her eyes widened slightly in surprise; the boy could already utilise his chakra enough to direct a sensing ability?
"Is Naruto-kun willing to give the boy up even for a short while?" Tsume queried, reading the reluctance in the young child.
She respected such loyalty and protectiveness in a boy that young, in both of the older boys. Tsume had no problems with the container, trusting the Yondaime's skill, and looking at the toddler now the little blond was hardly a threat to anyone. It must have been difficult for the redhead, trying to take care of a brother only a few years younger than himself and unwilling to rely on adults to help out.
The redhead eyed her, talking in hushed tones with the boy beside him while the toddler looked on in confusion. Naruto glanced down as he sensed the tiny charka signature of Kiba making its way towards them. The group of boys fell silent as they watched the Inuzuka boy.
"You've got funny hair," crowed Kiba, pointing at Rio's blond locks.
"You've got a funny face," Rio retorted, scowling and pointing at the red triangles.
As the boys exchanged barbs, Naruto looked back at Tsume. He couldn't find any of the usual coldness or hatred he usually found in people who didn't like Rio and it seemed like she understood his protectiveness over him. Tsume smiled slightly, the expression softening the hard lines of her face.
"Your brother will be safe with us; no one will hurt him," she assured him.
Looking down at the bickering toddlers, Naruto nodded to himself and glanced once more at Kazuya. The brunet just stared with a raised eyebrow, his arms crossed and his pink gaze sharp.
You gotta start trusting people at some point; we can't do this by ourselves anymore and Rio can't live in this bubble forever.
Kazuya's earlier mutterings swirled in Naruto's head as he knelt, grabbing Rio's attention from the tiny Inuzuka, while tucking an errant strand of red hair behind his ear.
"Sunshine, you're going to stay with Hana's mom for a wee bit, 'kay? We'll be back in a couple hours."
Rio gave his brother a wide-eyed stare, before switching it to the tall lady, and then back to his brother. He gripped the edge on Naruto's orange t-shirt in his fist, the other hugging Inu-chan closer to him. His large violet eyes were filled with confusion; this hadn't happened before. Nii-san hadn't left him alone with anyone but Jiji, Kashi and Kazu-nee.
"Nii-san? Kazu-nee?" Rio asked in a small voice.
Naruto couldn't suppress the slight twitch in his lips at Kazuya's title. At dinner the first day they had met, Rio had decided that since he was Nii-san, Kazuya couldn't be; so being the helpful brother he was Naruto had suggested Nee-san. Rio hadn't used anything else since and Pinku-baka had long accepted his fate; after he'd spent three days 'misplacing' Naruto's kunai. The roof had been his favourite.
"It'll be alright, Rio. You get to make some new friends while Nii-san goes and reads some boring old books. It'll be much more fun here," Naruto assured, trying to comfort the toddler.
The small blond perked up at the suggestion of friends and glanced at Kiba before bobbing his small head. He let go of his brother's t-shirt, stepping hesitantly towards the other toddler, looking back when Naruto took a step away. He continued to walk until he was in front of Tsume; Kiba firmly tangled in his mother's legs. Naruto waved to his brother as the three students set off for the library; honing his sensing ability on the toddler as they walked down the street. He jumped slightly when he felt Kazuya's hand pat his shoulder, some of the tension leaving his body at the gesture.
Kazuya was right; maybe it was time to start trusting people. The older boy had been the first, after two years of just him and Rio, and although he was happy with their little group they couldn't watch the blond all the time. Maybe the Inuzuka could help.
Naruto glared at the book before him, partially hoping it would disappear if he stared at it long enough. Either that or catch fire; he wasn't picky.
Two long hours in library had so far turned up nothing. The taijutsu books they had found so far had been about the history of the arts and the basics of only the academy style. Nothing about new styles, nothing about how to adapt the basic style, nothing useful. They just didn't have access and the tiny hope that the civilian and student sections would have at least something had quickly fallen through.
Naruto had only managed to get through half Hana had and he silently vowed to get better at reading. Beside him, Hana wasn't succeeding either as she groaned into her arms.
"Why do we have to read so much? Why do they need so many pointless books?" she groaned, her voice muffled slightly by the table.
Naruto was about to reply when the pair were startled by a loud thud. They looked toward the final member of their group, the only one of them to actually enjoy these trips to the library. Kazuya looked ecstatic, his pink eyes sparkling, as he rested his hand on yet another damn book. Naruto was going to see these books dancing in his dreams.
"It's perfect," he sang lightly.
Naruto leaned forward curiously, reading the title.
"Taijutsu: Alternate Styles," he read out, before his eyes darted to the grinning brunet. "Where did you find this?"
"Chunin section, since anything below that so far has been useless," Kazuya replied, looking faintly proud. "They don't really watch this place like they should, so I just had a peek and you should be glad I did."
He turned the pages in the book, his eyes flickering across the pages before he found what he was looking for. Triumphantly, he turned the book towards the pair, pointing at the title.
"Even its name is perfect for you."
Naruto skimmed over the page.
Akai Ashi no Sutairu (commonly known as Akai Ashi or 'Red Leg')
A unique style originating from Kirigakure no Sato and created by Zeff, a shinobi of Kiri, Akai Ashi is a rarely used style due to the fact that it does not use arms or fists as part of the style.
Akai Ashi is entirely based on the leg strength of the individual and employs the use of powerful hits, increased flexibility and light footwork to work at optimum capacity. The individuals who have adopted this style are usually those whose hands are too valuable to risk injuring in a fight; however, the difficulty of the style means that only a few shinobi in the Elemental Nations have successfully mastered this style as the lack of use of the upper limbs is commonly seen as a limitation...
Naruto looked up from the book to see Kazuya still beaming.
"I can't read half of this," Naruto frowned.
"You get the gist of it though?" Kazuya insisted, watching the redhead nod.
"Plus this book has the katas we need to get you started with this style and the best part; you don't need your arms so we don't have to worry about you ending up in the hospital after intense taijutsu training!" Kazuya crowed.
For the first time since they had entered this place, a smile grew on Naruto's face, soon matching that of his friend. Hana grabbed the book from between them and skimmed over the page, understanding from the description Kazuya's excitement.
"With this, you could actually stand a chance against the second years," she realised, turning the pages to take a look at the katas.
"I mean, it'll take a few years for you to actually master it and everything since you're so tiny but this style is focussed on speed and footwork more than anything. The power can come later," Kazuya added.
"I'll grow eventually... plus I'm younger than you by like, two years..." Naruto muttered beneath his breath.
"Anyway, we can sneak the book out and start on this tomorrow, but for the test we'll work on dodging and tricks since it's so soon. For now we need to start focussing on how we can get the forms and Aiko-sensei's signature," Naruto continued a bit louder.
"Aka-chan has a point; we need to get them pretty soon. The test's in two weeks and it'd probably be safer to get them well before the test so there's less suspicion," Kazuya agreed, relaxing into one of the chairs
"The forms can't just disappear; there's no way no one will notice. Plus the signature has to be believable. They're chunins," Hana added.
The group feel silent for a few moments, contemplating the next stage of Operation 'Jump'.
"Why don't we make it so they can't notice?" Naruto suddenly piped up, attracting the looks of his friends.
"I mean, what if they can't notice 'cause they are too distracted?" he added after seeing their confusion. "What if there were too many strange things happening for them to notice a few bits of paper missing?"
Kazuya furrowed his brow, switching his gaze to the table's surface as he turned it over in his head.
"How?"
Naruto grinned and his scar twisted with the motion.
"We prank 'em."
Over the next week, Konoha's academy was bombarded with a chain of stange events that left the students buzzing with gossip as the sensei became more and more agitated.
It started small. Salt in the sugar bowl, curry powder in the cups, notes on classroom doors that lead to the sensei hunting down their classes. On the second day, everything in the staffroom was moved three inches to the left, leading to much swearing and bruises until they figured out why they kept bumping into things.
Then it began to escalate.
Chairs began randomly collapsing in the staffroom, doors super glued shut, laxatives now replaced the curry powder. On the fifth day every single hallway was covered in full cups of water. It had taken two hours and a B-rank water jutsu for classes to start up.
On the final day, the sensei had entered to find their staffroom had been redecorated. It was pink everywhere. Pink walls, pink ceiling, pink desks, pink windows, pink chairs and pink everything on the desks. The floor was an expanse for pure glitter, none of the worn brown wood to be seen; everything had a film of glitter on it.
The sensei had come in together as they had grown wary over the past week. There had been no success in finding the culprits and the chunin that was stationed at the academy the previous night was nowhere to be seen. As they stepped into what they hoped was the only prank today they triggered a trap; pink paint rained from the ceiling directly above them followed by a shower of glitter.
As they stood partially covered, most being able to get out the way, they spotted the chunin guard dressed in a pink sparkly dress and terrible make-up, tied up and gagged on the ground. Every single sensei went to class that day sparkling. They kept finding glitter for weeks after they cleaned the office.
Then the pranks had stopped. Half the village was expecting something at this point, but nothing happened the next week. The 'reign of terror' over the academy's sensei appeared to be over.
No one noticed a few missing forms.
The morning of the test, the second year classes were buzzing with a mixture of nerves and excitement. As Hideki-sensei finished off the attendance, the three first years quietly walked in and placed their papers on the desk before taking a seat near the front of the class. As the class turned to stare at the trio, Naruto rubbed his now cast-free arm as Kazuya stood to address the teacher.
"We're here to take the test, Aiko-sensei signed to say we could," he explained before sitting and holding his breath.
Raising a single eyebrow, Hideki-sensei glanced at the three papers before shuffling them away to be filed later. He had too much to do today and if the ever-tough Aiko had agreed then they must be ready.
"Alright then, this is how the test will be given. First is an hour long written test, followed by target practice and then chakra control. We'll finish up with a round of taijutsu, since we started sparring this year. Now spread yourselves out for the first portion," he announced, collecting the test papers from his desk before heading to hand them out.
Naruto glanced to the side to nod to his friends, silently hoping that Kazuya had drilled enough into his brain that he could pass. A test paper was handed to him and he grabbed his brush, turning it over when the sensei gave the word.
The hour passed quickly for most, the only sound being the rustling of paper and the occasional muttering. Naruto had managed to fill in over half the questions, but the rest were beyond him; he just hoped that he had enough to pass. Beside him Hana continued writing right until the end of the allotted time while Kazuya placed his brush down ten minutes before the end.
After collecting the papers, Hideki-sensei herded the class to the targets outside and began to call out students one-by-one to throw the five kunai and five shuriken and noted down their scores. After the second years had finished he called out 'Arai', watching the brunet line up with the target. The boy looked comfortable with the weapons, throwing them in succession at the target. Noting the score of 7, he called the Inuzuka, watching as she sank 8 into the target.
Finally the little redhead stood in front of the target. The name Uzumaki rang a bell in Hideki's head but he couldn't place where, the thought that the kid looked a bit young for even first year passing through his head. The kid had gone through some shit though, if that scar on his face and those too-old eyes were any indication. Uzumaki planted 7 into the posts and Hideki gave him a short nod before telling the class to grab three leaves.
The test for chakra control was pretty straightforward; they all started with three leaves and they had to keep them attached to their body for 10 minutes, including keeping one on their forehead. To gain more marks they could add leaves as they went along, but they could not let any drop to the ground.
Sitting them close to the trees, he watched the kids settle as they began channelling their chakra. It was still pretty new to them, only beginning to handle chakra this year and he wandered over to the first years, wondering how they would manage without official training.
Arai seemed to have a handle on it with five leaves stuck to him. Hideki nodded with approval as he noted it down, also writing the Inuzuka's score of four leaves. As he came to redhead he stopped and stared, his brush frozen above his scoring sheet as he watched Uzumaki add a leaf every few seconds, after stabilizing the ones already on his body. The kid stopped at fourteen, cocking his head at the teacher as Hideki stood in shock, causing some red strands to hang in front of his face. Noting down the score almost absentmindedly, he turned to review the other students before calling time.
As the class headed to the final part of the day, the midday sun shining down on them, Hideki moved towards the redhead who stopped talking to his friends to look.
"Where did you learn that?" he demanded, unable to wait until after the taijutsu.
He had heard of students being able to circulate that many at the end of third year at the earliest, but never in first year. The boy scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, giving a lopsided grin.
"I started working on chakra control before the academy so I had a few months head start," he admitted. "I had to 'cause I couldn't risk chakra going through my arm, so I had to learn how to control it pretty early on."
Hideki nodded as he glanced at the kid's left arm, noticeably paler and thinner than the other.
The taijutsu fights began shortly and the sensei watched carefully. His class was pretty good overall for a second year class but there were no overwhelming victories. The Inuzuka's clan style was strong, the first year girl actually winning her fight.
Arai did well too, throwing quick punches as he constantly moved around the ring. The other boy had a difficult time catching the smaller kid, though as the match progressed he landed more and more hits. Arai lasted a while against the Yamanaka before taking a foot to the stomach. As the kid coughed his way back to his friends, the pair sniggering at his misfortune, he called the last students left to the ring.
The Akimichi boy stared down the redhead, hesitantly looking back at his sensei with an 'are you serious' look plastered across his features. Hideki shrugged and called out for the fight to start, wondering how long it would take to rush the redhead to the hospital.
The fight began with the much larger boy throwing a soft, slow punch at the redhead, as if expecting the kid to break at a touch. Uzumaki, quick on his feet, dodged and jabbed a pointed hand into the Akimichi's armpit. Hissing in surprise, the large boy was not fast enough to stop the redhead kicking the back of his knees. Uzumaki buzzed around the ring, the Akimichi starting to take the fight seriously. When the first hit landed, there was a collective wince as the small boy hit the ground. However, he rolled and rose to his feet, his face set with determination.
The Akimichi landed several more hits during the fight and the Uzumaki just kept getting back up again. Soon enough though, the large boy managed to grab the redhead and flung him outside the ring. Hideki called the fight and looked over to check on the smaller kid. Seeing him rise to his feet once more, Hideki announced the end of the test and informed the kids they would be issued their results after an extended lunch.
The three first years exchanged nervous grins as Kazuya reached over to Naruto's shoulder and steadied him. It would be another trip to the hospital after the results since he could already spot the slight swelling from the redhead having landed on his bad arm. He could send Hana ahead to the clan compound to let Rio know they would be on their way.
They could just hope now that the results would be counted before they were found out.
Thanks for reading!