His anxiety was growing in his stomach as he waited in the academy classroom. They were two teams that were waiting for their sensei, it seemed the Uzumaki and the Uchiha kids were put together, as well as a pink-haired girl. It was fitting. Both kids were top in the class, there was a rivalry between both of them, especially during their spars. Sasuke with his clan style and Uzumaki with whatever the Uzumaki clan style was, both of them were in their own league, but some other students displayed great skill. This year's class was full of talent.
At some point the other team's sensei arrived, he was late, but at least they knew to expect their sensei to come. It looked like the Uzumaki kid knew the one-eyed ninja, or it seemed like it, with the boy screaming at the man about his tardiness, he didn't think that was something you do to someone you didn't know.
But this was the Uzumaki he was talking about, he was as loud as he was talented. He was a tough one when they spar. His speed and unpredictable movement were crazy, and even after studying his fighting style and learning his quirks, Naruto still got his ass kicked, but that wasn't always going to be the case. He would sometimes outsmart the Uzumaki, and he could have won against him if he had more time, but the inevitable happened, they graduated. And this led him to this exact situation he was in right now, in a room with two other classmates, waiting for someone who they didn't even know would show up.
Naruto coughed, trying to break the silence and catch the attention of the other two, "so, while we wait, anything cool or interesting about yourself?" he said, staring at the other boys. They stared back at him.
The awkward silence continued again, it was Naruto who broke the silence again. "Well I don't want to sound so boastful, but I feel like I can handle a sword pretty well," pointing at his sword on his back. No response. This isn't helping his uneasiness about the situation any better.
Wasn't talking to people supposed to relieve some anxiety? That's what he read in that book he picked up. "Social Tools: How animals became man" that's what he remembers the title being. It was about how humans were so different from any other animal and that our best tool was verbal communication.
He wasn't seeing that tool being used at the moment.
He had picked it up in the library after some kids in the academy called him "weird", or "socially inept." He didn't know what those words meant at the time, but he knew it must not have been good since nobody approached or talked to him. So he went ahead and picked a few books to understand the reason for that.
"Hello miss, do you by any chance have any book here about how not to be a socially inept weirdo?" he asked the librarian, looking up at her desk. He did not catch the confusion on her face, as she looked at her reference on her desk, trying to find a section of the library this kid was trying to look for. And when she finished guessing what this kid was asking for, she replied," Yeah, the self-improvement books are over there, kid," she said while pointing at the back of the library, not sure if that's what the violet-eyed kid was asking.
He had learned a lot since then, about social cues, how to tell jokes, and to notice when people were uncomfortable, or at least he thinks he did, because if the situation wasn't uncomfortable, then he didn't know what was.
That feeling of uneasiness started just a few hours ago, when Iruka pulled the three boys just a couple hours before teams were announced, he could guess that whatever he was about to tell them wasn't going to be good.
No Sensei was assigned to him, no reason given on to why, but Naruto had guessed that something must have happened to them, he could've died on a mission, maybe he was a second too late dodging a kunai. it was a morbid thought, and for that reason, he kept it to himself. The mood in the room was unpleasant, and bringing the possibility of their sensei dying would not help. Iruka said that there was a search going on for a replacement, but he didn't look too hopeful, but Naruto wasn't sure, he could never really tell how others felt.
Naruto's nervousness was starting to become too much, he could feel sweat starting to form on his forehead. His thoughts were becoming a jungle, thinking of all outcomes that could come out of this. He felt that his ninja career was in jeopardy before it even began. Would they have to repeat the year? How much time would they lose from this mess, how could this have possibly happened? Surely this situation had happened before, a team with no teacher. There must be some plan for this type of situation. Questions and thoughts stormed through Naruto's head, making his hands clench hard, he just wanted to close his eyes and just not be in the middle of this mess.
But before he lost control of his emotion, he felt again, a feeling. His breath was calm, and his body language became relaxed but ready.
"You there," Naruto said, pointing to one of the boys. "I've seen you show some skill with Ninjutsu before, what's your affinity?" He finished asking, his face seemingly different from when he last tried to spark a conversation, more calculating. But this didn't feel like a conversation to break the uneasiness of the situation, but more for gathering information. He stared at the other boy, waiting for a response. One of the boys begins shifting around on his chair, looking at Naruto, who was still pointing at him. Naruto must have seen him one day practicing a fire Jutsu.
The boy signed, looking annoyed, "Yeah, I know some fire Jutsu, so what?"
"How big"
'And why would I tell you that, huh?' the boy replied aggressively, he was already not happy being put together with the weird kid, and now he is asking questions? He didn't know why he responded in the first place, he guessed he wanted to break the silence as well, even if it was with the class weirdo. Suteru himself didn't have that many friends, the only person he would consider a friend was their other teammate, but he still wouldn't want to talk to the violet-eye kid. But he had replied, so may as well give him a piece of his mind, but before he could, Naruto continued.
"Well, I guessed it would be small, I mean, not everyone can shoot as big as flame as Sasuke, I mean he is an Uchiha," Naruto said, with his calculating gaze.
This made the boy mad, he shot up from his chair, his fist clenching. He stared at Naruto. "What did you say to me?" Rage was clearly in his voice. How dare he bring that name to him? With any mention of that name, it filled him with boiling rage.
"What? I mean, it's impressive that you managed to learn a fire Jutsu, but I don't know why I expected anything bigger than this," he said while putting his hand close to each other, showing about a foot between his hands. "I mean unless you want to tell me how big, I just have to guess." The space between his hands was shrinking, until there was only an inch.
He was doing it again. When he could not collect himself and felt himself losing control of his composure and emotions, a part of him would swoop in. A part of him that would set aside what didn't matter and move forward. It didn't end well for him most of the time, it would often cause conflicts, and in the end isolation for him.
Naruto's calculating gaze was slipping away, an apologetic gaze soon appearing on his face
He was always in control, he knew why and what he was doing, but in the end, after it was over, he regretted what he said and did. It served no purpose.
He closed his eyes, thinking about how he got himself here. He had first wanted to break the ice, and start something with his new teammates. They were both clearly nervous about the situation with their sensei, from their constant foot tapping on the floor and the doodles they scribbled on the desk proved it. Then when they didn't reply, he saw that it was fit that he needed at least one of their attention, so he made a quick jab at his insecurities.
He would have to apologize, he signed. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't mean anythi-" He opened his eyes just in time, as he saw a fist flying toward him. In what felt like a reflex, he caught the fist with his left hand and grabbed the boy's elbow with his right. He saw his teammate's eyes, and they were full of rage.
Here came the action of his words, maybe he hadn't learned anything from those books.
The other teammate, who was still doodling on the desk, quickly came to try to stop this from escalating any further. He put his hand on the rage-inducted boy, trying to pull the boy away from continuing his punch.
"Knock it off, Suteru, he isn't worth all the trouble, we're already in a shit situation."
His heart was pumping, he just wanted one punch, that's all he wanted. He couldn't though, the grip on his elbow was tight, but he knew he was holding back. Naruto was strong for their age and may have been rookie of the year if he had been in another year. If it wasn't for Sasuke.
That clan boy was something that pissed Suteru off the most. His smugness and the attention he received itched him badly. Anything he did seemed like nothing when Sasuke was in the same room. His achievements in fire Jutsu looked pitiful compared to the clan boy, he knew it was unfair to compare himself to Sasuke. Suteru was a civilian. He had learned a Jutsu with no clan behind his back, but no one seemed to care. His teeth were visibly clenched, like a dog.
Naruto stared apologetically at the kid, he felt bad. He had to make it right, somehow. He had gone too far, he had used the boy's insecurities and emotion to get what he wanted, even if what he wanted was something that could benefit all of them.
" I'm sorry, let's get back to square one, don't you think?" he said with a smile, still holding the boy's elbow. He had said his apology, so he lessened the grip. He had apologized, so no hard feelings, right?
Suteru felt the grip on his elbow loosen, he aggressively smacked Naruto's hand away, jumping a few steps back, and prepared a stance. Naruto's surprised expression showed as he saw the boy taking a stance. He could not understand, he said he was sorry, why was he still mad? He saw the other boy shout at the angry boy, trying to calm him. He was not balanced in his stance, his legs were too close. A stance meant a fight, and a fight meant an enemy was near, but he was staring at Naruto.
The boy stood for a couple seconds and started rushing toward Naruto, but he stared back, with a confused expression. Suteru was running with a punch aimed right at him. Everything felt so slow as he watched the boy run toward him, he could not understand why this was happening, why was he still mad?
Naruto stood staring at the fist coming at him. He felt sad, he could not understand the other boy's feelings, but he knew that he himself was sad, and he didn't like it. He felt his muscles preparing to respond to Suteru attack, his reflexes.
Why can't he understand people sometimes?
And as he was about to move to block the fist and punch Suteru's jaw, they all heard a voice.
"So this is what happens when you leave three boys in a room with no one keeping an eye on them, huh?" A woman's voice said.
The three boys stood still, Suteru fist frozen in the air, his head turning to look at the source of the voice. The red-haired woman was leaning against the frame of the door, staring at the boys with an amused face, but slowly changed towards a serious expression.
"Honestly, I should fail you three right here and now for what I just saw right now. The village doesn't need anymore hot-headed and trouble-making ninjas," not realizing she had just described herself at their age. She had expected a tense group when she arrived but didn't expect a fight between the Genin. It wasn't every day that a team wasn't given a Jounin.
She couldn't think of a time this happened, granted she wasn't snooping around the Academy, listening to any dramas happening. This was all very last second, she had just left from speaking to Hiruzen. She continued to stare at the three boys, taking enjoyment from the shocked expression on the Genin. She studied the boys, she had read the report on each of them, but seeing them in person was a different story. The boy with the fist still in the air had brown hair, and that was all she took notice of him; the other boy, who was still trying to stop the boy from fighting, was standing there, staring at her.
The third boy, Naruto, has no last name. It was strange, she saw in his reports, he was born just a couple days before the Nine-tail's rampage. She would guess he was made an orphan that day, his parents were not on any records, so their bodies may have never been found. There were still so many missing from that day. But this was all a guess, speculation that she had no right to make about the boy. She looked at all three of them.
She could just fail them, go right back to Hiruzen, and be done with this. But Kushina Uzumaki wasn't a woman who backed down from a challenge.
She looked out the window and saw that the sun was already in its last minutes of the day.
"I think I've seen enough today for introductions," she said, seeing the fear on the Genin faces for a second, they must have thought she was failing them.
"Meet me at training ground four at 7AM, and please, be nice to each other when I get there, '' she said cheekily, before disappearing in a blink.
The three boys, still seemingly frozen at the exact spots before the red-haired Ninja made herself known to them. Suteru's punch was still a few inches from Naruto's face. After some time, Suteru put his fist down, still staring at Naruto. He would continue this another time, but for now, he felt embarrassed; and he didn't feel like fighting when embarrassed. Suteru and the other boy left the room quietly, leaving Naruto alone.
Naruto looked at the boys leaving, watching as the door slowly closed. He looked for the nearest desk and took a seat. He signed, putting his hand on his forehead, he felt a headache pounding.
He thought to himself, 'forgiveness isn't so easy, I think''
Here it is, the long awaited continuation of a story you probably forgot about. Yeah, If you expecting constant updates from this story, it be best to set those expectations a little lower. I really work on this sorry on the weekends. I'll be honest, don't know how long I'll actually go with this story, but I try as long as I can.
You know what sucks, after publishing the first chapter, I came up with two other story ideas that are way more interesting than this, to me at least. If anyone curious, just ask in the reviews, and I give small summaries next chapter.
Again, sorry for the shit grammar. If you notice how bad my writing, I'm sorry I'm new at writing stories, but if you think my writing is good, then its just skill, you know.
Also, this isn't a Kushina/Nar- I don't even want to finish that sentence, but trust me its not that type of story, but they are connected in some way.
How was the dialog in this chapter? I've never write dialog before, so It may suck. But in general, how was this chapter? I'll make sure to take any constructive criticism personally. Anyway, thank for reading.