"So, Naruto, how was your first day of school?"

The young boy paused in the middle of shoveling noodles from his third bowl of Ichiraku's signature dish into his mouth. Bright blue eyes met Hiruzen's warm gaze, and the blond tilted his head to the side as he considered the question. "Wraw, ghe ralke oao-"

"Naruto!" The disappointed glares of the Hokage and Teuchi were enough to cow the boy into closing his bulging mouth and trying to swallow the mouthful. "We've discussed talking with your mouth full before. It is disgusting and disrespectful, and people can't understand what you're saying. You're being very rude in Ichiraku-san's stall. He might not invite you to come back if you can't behave."

Naruto chewed furiously for several seconds before gulping down his huge mouthful. "I'm sorry Teuchi-jiisan! I promise not to do it again. Please let me come back! Your ramen's the best." Naruto plastered his arms to his sides and bowed deeply, narrowly avoiding slamming his head into the ramen stand's counter in his haste to appease the stall's owner.

The street vendor waited in silence for several seconds, arms crossed over his chest. As Naruto began to fidget, still desperately holding his bow, the older men smirked at each other. "I forgive you, Naruto," the vendor began. As shining azure eyes rose to meet him, the chef continued: "But! The next time you forget your manners in my stall, I won't serve you ramen for a week. If you forget again, you won't get any for an entire month."

Naruto audibly gulped, but vigorously nodded to demonstrate his understanding of the ultimatum. As the stand's proprietor turned back to his noodle pots and Naruto picked up his chopsticks to finish what was left of his bowl, Hiruzen repeated his question. "How was your first day of school, Naruto? What did you do?"

This time the boy slurped down the smaller bite of noodles and took a second to finish chewing before he turned back to the Sandaime, who grinned approvingly at the whiskered blond's efforts. "Well, first Akari-sensei started talking about the rules for being at school. I didn't hear them all, though. Akari-sensei told me to go sit in the hall because I wasn't following the rules." Naruto bowed his head in shame at his admission. A moment later, pleading blue eyes rose to the Hokage's wrinkled face. "But it wasn't my fault, Jiji! Honest! Somebody was throwing stuff at me, but Akari-sensei didn't see it."

Tired eyes inspected the whiskered face before Hiruzen nodded in acceptance. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naruto-kun. What happened when Akari-san let you come back into the classroom?"

The young boy's face brightened at the old man's response and Naruto continued his report. "Akari-sensei let me come back in after everyone got a snack. Then she showed us different parts of the room. There was her desk and the chalkboard and the erasers and some cool posters. She said that we have to help clean if we get in trouble."

As the blond rattled on about the classroom and the different parts of the day, Sarutobi smiled to himself. While Naruto's first day at school had apparently been less than ideal, the young blond still seemed determined to make the most of his time in the classroom. Idly, Sarutobi wondered if he'd be able to keep Naruto's nervous energy focused, so that it didn't interfere with the boy's studies. Hopefully, regular ramen trips and the promise of the prize from Kakashi when the ANBU agent returned would be enough to focus the blond for the foreseeable future.

"Thank you, Inu. You are dismissed."

The Hokage watched over steepled fingers as the young ANBU rose, bowed, and turned toward the door. When the gloved hand reached the handle, however, the masked youth turned back and regarded his leader. "Sandaime-sama, does Naruto have a prank prepared for when I get back? The last surprise was a bit unpleasant and, if possible, I'd rather not have a repeat experience."

The old man grinned broadly, glad for the opportunity to shelve thoughts of Inu's report on Kiri's rising new star for later contemplation. Karatachi Yagura would be worth watching very closely, if the reports Kakashi brought back were anything to go by. "I'm quite sure I wouldn't be at liberty to say if I knew anything, Inu. I value Naruto's trust far too much to violate that for your convenience." The cloaked figure tensed at that statement, likely imagining and dreading what a hyperactive five-year-old might have planned for him. The Sandaime smiled as he packed his pipe and lit it with a quick flash of chakra. Taking a deep breath, the weathered patriarch regarded his soldier with a small smile. "That said, Naruto does not know when you are returning, so I doubt he'd have anything planned. He should also be busy at school for the next hour or so. You can return to your apartment without fear, Inu."

Nodding at Sarutobi's assurances, the nineteen-year-old reached up and removed his porcelain mask. "As I am off duty, sir, may I take a moment of your time to ask about Naruto? How have his first several months of school been? I brought him something from my trip."

The old man smiled and gestured to one of the spare chairs on the edge of his office, which Kakashi quickly drew up and sat in. "Ah, the puzzle you asked me to tell him about when you left?"

The silver-haired Jōnin nodded. "Naruto seems to hate sitting still, so I imagine he's having trouble paying attention in class. I thought this would be an interesting way for him to get involved with the material and, maybe, expose him to his heritage." At the pointed look from the Hokage, Kakashi rushed to qualify his statement. "I know we can't let him know the full truth just yet, but sealing would be a relatively harmless way for him to identify with the Uzumaki clan, wouldn't it?"

"That it would." The Hokage puffed on his pipe for a moment, considering. Eventually, the old man breathed out a sigh, slow and tired. A raised eyebrow from Kakashi conveyed the young man's confusion, so Sarutobi gave the young man a brief synopsis. "Naruto is falling behind academically, Kakashi. I wish I could say it differently, but that is the truth of the situation. He is regularly removed from the classroom, nominally because of his 'rowdy, disruptive behavior'. If his grades do not improve, he won't pass this year. I believe the lack of focus and behavior problems stem from a bias against him among the teaching staff but have yet to find concrete evidence of any actual neglect."

"Then why not hire a tutor for him, sir?" At the Sandaime's pause, the silver-haired prodigy posed a solution. "I'm sure that it's not so expensive as to be beyond the means of the entire village. You could call it 'mission pay for a long-term protection detail' if anyone complains. And even if you couldn't do that, it's not as though he doesn't have someone with deep pockets paying for his living expenses."

Chuckling at the pointed reference to Naruto's secret benefactor, the Hokage took a deep draw from his pipe and breathed it out slowly. Relishing the calm that his vice brought him, the old man turned to regard his much younger companion. "The thought had occurred to me; I even offered to Naruto to arrange for an alternative method of instruction when it became apparent that there might be some issues with the standard classroom experience. Imagine my surprise when he turned me down. He said that he wanted to be able to spend more time with his peers. Our boy reasoned that, as the future Hokage, he should start making friends with the people who will be part of his family now." The Sandaime lapsed into contemplative silence for a moment before he continued. "I agreed to allow him to remain in the civilian preparatory school for the remainder of the term. If he cannot pass his classes, though…" Taking another deep breath from his pipe, a pair of tired eyes sought Kakashi's mismatched gaze. "I find myself at a loss, Kakashi. One of the main reasons for enrolling Naruto in school was to allow him to socialize with children his own age. If he cannot do that, I fear that his time at the ninja academy will be plagued by loneliness and isolation. However, even if he learns how to make friends, if he cannot master the material, I will be forced to remove him from the school and resort to other, less holistically desirable, methods of instruction."

Kakashi stroked his mask, considering the problem. "I believe my gift might help with that, Hokage-sama." Reaching into his pouch, the young man produced a small scroll. Somewhat bashfully, he explained to the old man's raised eyebrows, "I got this idea after my first mission as Naruto's protection detail. I decided to study sealing to honor sensei." The Sandaime snorted. Despite his initial opposition, Kakashi had benefitted so much from repeated interactions with the lively blond. An interest (and therefore, for Kakashi, a proficiency) in seals was apparently another, unforeseen outcome. Seemingly unperturbed by his superior's response, the young man continued his explanation, "It's been a long process, but one of the exercises I have completed is to create script responsive scrolls." The teen rolled out a small segment of the document to show a blank space tightly wrapped by Kakashi's slanted handwriting.

The room's older occupant took a moment to glance over the efforts of one of his most promising agents. "Your work bears traces of both of their influences," Sarutobi commented softly. "I'm sure that Yondaime-sama would appreciate your efforts on his behalf. I'd have to call Jiraiya for an expert evaluation, but it looks to be well done, in my humble opinion." Raising his head, the old man smiled at the masked Jōnin from under his crimson hat. "Shall we call our boy to see what he can do with it?"

Behind his mask, the young Hatake smiled. "Hokage-sama, that sounds like an excellent idea."

"Uzumaki, apparently you are to report to Hokage-sama's office after you have finished there."

Naruto looked around from scrubbing the chalkboard to see an ANBU standing at attention behind Akari- sensei, near the door of the classroom. Today had been a good day with relatively few disturbances; Akari-sensei had only threatened to throw him out once. Jiji had been hinting at a reward for good behavior, so the blond had restrained himself from putting spitballs in Ami's hair, or worms in Hibachi's bento, or any of the other things that just screamed to be done in retaliation to his classmates for how mean they were. However, despite the mental fortitude it required, Naruto's good behavior did not reduce the punishments he had already accumulated. Today was his last day of cleaning the board after last week's pepper incident with Jun's lunch, so the blond finished rubbing it down before he bowed low to his teacher. "See you next week, Akari-sensei," the whiskered boy chirped out as he ran to his desk to collect his books. He then ran up the stairs to the waiting ANBU, taking two or three at a time and never falling, despite giving the impression that he was only a hair's breadth away from doing so.

"Hi Tora-san! What's Jiji want?" Naruto waltzed up to his escort, school supplies spilling haphazardly from thin arms. He smiled brightly at the cloaked figure, not really expecting a reply. ANBU weren't known to be very talkative, after all.

The porcelain mask looked blankly down at the boy for a second before its owner turned and began walking out of the classroom, clearly expecting Naruto to follow. The grinning blond ran after his escort, stopping every few steps to recollect a pencil or notebook that had spilled from his arms. Eventually, Tora appeared to run out of patience, as the cloaked agent stopped and collected the overflowing pile into a neat stack, which was handed back to Naruto. "It would be helpful to collect your belongings neatly before we started moving, Naruto-kun."

The whiskered blond happily accepted the stack back and resumed trotting at Tora's side. The pair walked through town, Naruto loudly narrating his day and his ANBU escort responding only with the barest of gestures. Apparently, the morning had started with a test to write several of the newer hiragana symbols, which Naruto had barely passed after staying up late last night to practice. During their numbers lesson, he had been forced to put up with some harassment by his classmates as he struggled to count beyond what he could keep track of on his fingers. "Ami and her band of butt-monkeys" had been chief offenders, though there were apparently others as well. The day had finished with a tour of the Aburame greenhouse and apiary, which the blond had enjoyed. Apparently, the class had been joined by the Aburame heir, who was "creepy" for his monotone speech patterns, but "still pretty cool" because of his willingness to interact with the blond.

As the pair walked, a particularly strong gust of wind blew down the street, and Naruto shivered and drew his arms tighter. The late fall air was brisk, but the blond's winter jacket kept out most of the autumn chill. When they finally arrived at the Hokage's office, Tora knocked once before inclining a masked head to his charge and disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Clumsily rearranging his load to reach for the doorknob, Naruto pushed open the heavy door, shouting as he entered. "Jiji! I'm here. Tora-san said you wanted to talk to me."

"He's not the only one, Naruto. I'd like to talk with you, too." The familiar, baritone voice pulled bright blue eyes away from hunting for a place to lay the blond's schoolbooks to see windswept, silver hair perched atop a masked face.

"Kaka-nii!" Notebooks, pencils, and stray pieces of paper exploded in every direction as the blond forgot entirely about taking care of his school supplies and threw skinny arms wide open to run and hug his brother. Eventually, Naruto removed his face from the flak jacket and turned shining blue eyes to Kakashi's lone grey one. "Jiji didn't tell me you were coming back, 'ttebayo! Where were you? Did you do any awesome ninja stuff? Did you like it there? Did you miss me? Was-"

"Naruto!" The Sandaime's raised voice momentarily distracted the blond from his outburst. "I believe we've discussed asking more than one question at a time. It becomes much harder for people to answer you when you ask so many things at once."

The blond pouted under the amused scrutiny of his elders. "I know that. I was just happy to see Kaka-nii. Besides, I know he's super smart; way smarter than Akari-sensei. I sometimes have to ask her three times before she answers even one of my questions." The blond held up his hand and, after a moment of counting, raised three stubby fingers to emphasize his point.

While Naruto was counting, the two adults shared a meaningful look before Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well, it's still a good thing to try to only ask one question at a time. You can overwhelm someone if you ask them too many things at once." The silver-haired young man led his blond companion to the waiting chairs behind the Sandaime's desk and all three settled into a comfortable circle. When they were settled in their seats, Kakashi turned and addressed the grinning little boy across from him. "Now, let's start with one question at a time, Naruto. What do you most want to know?"

The boy pondered for a moment before a light blush stole across his face, and he began playing with the hem of his shirt. He mumbled out, "Did you miss me?" before the blush overwhelmed whiskered cheeks, and he ducked to hide warm blue eyes behind his golden spikes.

Kakashi stared in surprise at the question for a second before reaching over and laying a hand on the thin shoulders. When Naruto looked up, the young man met too-blue eyes with his own steely grey gaze and replied simply, "I missed you very much." At this, Naruto's face lit up, and he ducked his head again, the blush returning in full force.

After a second, the blond raised warm eyes and asked, much more calmly than the first time, "Where did you go, Kaka-nii?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in the Sandaime's direction, a silent question for his leader. The old man's quick nod and subsequent reach for the map stored in his desk conveyed how much the village leader was willing to allow his subordinate to disclose. Pulling Naruto's chair closer to the desk, Kakashi pointed to the aged parchment the Hokage had laid out. "I went to the Land of Water, which is located right here." A gloved hand gestured to the collection of islands on the eastern side of the map. "The Land of Water is one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, which means it is home to Kirigakure no Sato." As the blond opened his mouth to ask another question, the young prodigy preempted the question. "No, I can't tell you what I was doing there. The mission details are classified."

Naruto's small brow knit itself together in confusion. "What does that word mean, Kaka-nii? Classified?"

"Good question, Naruto. The word classified means that something is a secret that only certain people can know. Sandaime-sama," Kakashi indicated the smiling Hokage, "decides what people need to know and, in this case, Uzumaki-kun, you don't."

"Ah, that's mean, Kaka-nii." Naruto turned away from the silver-haired Jōnin to pout. After a moment, though, he gave it up and turned back to the chuckling adults. "So, what can you tell me, then? It's been forever since I saw you, dattebayo."

"Well…" The Jōnin reached into his equipment pouch and produced a small scroll, which he unrolled on the desk with a flourish. "I spent a good portion of my leisure time working to make this for you. It's the puzzle I told Hokage-sama about before I left. Think of it as a late birthday present."

Naruto watched as the scroll rolled open on the Hokage's desk. Scooting his chair closer, the blond's face transitioned from excited to confused to incredulous, in rapid succession. "Kaka-nii, that's homework, dattebayo! Why'd you make me more homework?"

The face that Naruto turned up at Kakashi was filled with such deep betrayal that both adults had to stifle another round of chuckles. "Well, Naruto, it's not actually homework. This is an example of fūinjutsu that I made to see how much you learned while I was away. You can choose not to complete it if you want. However, I think that you'll want the gift that's sealed away inside. Think of it as an opportunity to show me everything you learned while I was gone."

Picking up a calligraphy brush that the Sandaime has prepared precisely for this purpose, Kakashi wetted the tip and offered it to the watching blond. "What am I supposed to do with that?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the adults, fully intent on descending into a spectacular sulk at the injustice being forced upon him. Kaka-nii was giving the boy homework, no matter how he tried to claim otherwise.

"Well," Kakashi answered, "I know it's an older method of writing, but I still think you ought to recognize a calligraphy brush. I wanted to show you how to unlock the prize hidden inside the scroll."

Naruto turned back to regard the pair for several seconds. Eventually, he turned to the oldest and, apparently, most trustworthy person present. "Jiji, is Kaka-nii trying to prank me so I do more homework?"

The old man grinned behind his pipe before answering the scowling blond. "While you will need to do what amounts to schoolwork to find Kakashi's gift, Naruto, he has told me what is hidden inside the scroll, and I think you'll consider it worth the effort. Besides, this can be considered special training for when you are a ninja, if you do well."

Blue eyes regarded the pair suspiciously for several seconds before Naruto shrugged, scooted his chair closer to the desk, and accepted the offered brush. "So, what do I need to do, Kaka-nii?"

"First, you need to adjust your grip. When you hold a calligraphy brush…" Kakashi instructed Naruto briefly on the grip and technique for using the writing implement before he was content that the energetic blond wouldn't destroy the brush with his first stroke. Then, pulling over a blank sheet of parchment, the masked Jōnin instructed, "Now, write your name on this piece of paper. I want to see the neatest writing you can do."

Naruto pinched his tongue between his lips, brow furrowed in a supreme act of concentration, and bent to comply, apparently having forgotten his initial opposition to the exercise. After several painstakingly focused minutes with multiple restarts, the blond drew back and wiped his forehead with the hand holding the brush, inadvertently leaving a thin line of ink across his brow. "How's that, Kaka-nii, Jiji?"

The pair of adults had been watching the boy work, a silent conversation of hand signals and body language allowing them to evaluate and discuss Naruto's performance without distracting the blond from the task at hand. It was the Sandaime who responded first. "Well, Kakashi, I don't think you'll have to worry about the sensitivity. It may take him a while, but his writing is clearly legible."

"He does have good penmanship, doesn't he?" Kakashi agreed. "Those strokes are very clean."

Naruto glowed at the praise. "I work at it every night, dattebayo! I'm gonna be the best Hokage ever, so I need to do good in class. Jiji said so."

"That's quite impressive, Naruto" Kakashi tapped the open scroll on the table before continuing. "Now, this scroll is very special." Taking the brush from the blond, Kakashi began drawing random lines in one of the boxed regions of the scroll. Naruto's blue eye watched, enraptured, as the ink strokes faded away seconds after they were drawn. "As I mentioned before, I used fūinjutsu to make this scroll. It's a test of everything you've been learning this year to answer the questions here and find what I've hidden inside."

Naruto accepted the brush back with reverence as blue eyes inspected the scroll. "How do I make what I write stay there, Kaka-nii?"

Kakashi gestured to the sheet. "If you complete the exercise correctly, what you've written will stay behind. The seals I've prepared with this scroll will recognize when you've answered correctly." Gloved hands completely unrolled the scroll to show what waited at the end: a small circle boxed dozens of times by tiny script. "Every time you successfully complete an exercise, one of the boxes will disappear. When the last box disappears, you'll earn your prize."

Naruto's eyes glittered as he eyed the waiting prize. Pulling the scroll toward himself, the young boy looked at the first section. "What do I have to do here, Kaka-nii?"

Kakashi pointed to the first section. "Well, this part is asking you to write out the numbers from one to ten. For this exercise, you need to write the correct words, in order. I know that you might have learned the kanji for some of these words but stick with the hiragana for now."

Naruto blinked at the paper for a second before he set to work and began to write out the appropriate characters, clearly taking great pains to make sure that his handwriting was immaculate. Several minutes later, he looked up with azure eyes gleaming after writing the characters for ten. "How do they look? Nothing disappeared, 'ttebayo! That means I did a good job, right?"

There was a momentary pause as the three watched the first box around the prize storing seal fade to nothing. "Well done, Naruto," the Sandaime praised the grinning boy. "Why don't we see such effort on the work you do for Akari-sensei?"

The question had been asked mostly in jest, but Naruto apparently missed that fact, as the blond paused to consider his answer anyway. "It's because this is special." The blond gestured to the unfurled scroll and grinned as the scattered ink droplets disappeared into the page. "Kaka-nii made this awesome scroll just for me. I need to do my best so it's worth it, dattebayo!" After a second, the grin slipped away. "Akari-sensei wouldn't believe I can do it, anyway."

The blond shook his head to clear his thoughts as the two adults exchanged troubled glances. "Well, you did a very good job, Naruto," Kakashi commented, trying to distract from unhappy thoughts. Reaching to the table, he rolled up the scroll and presented it to the young boy. "Keep working on those exercises. If you work hard, you'll get them all done by the end of the school year. You'll have to pay close attention in class, though. I don't think you've learned everything you need to finish the scroll yet."

"For right now, let's take a break, Naruto," Sarutobi cut in as the blond began reaching toward the brush to resume his work. "Kakashi has been gone for a long time and I have to admit that I'm eager to hear about your field trip today. Will you put off working on the scroll to tell us about it?"

At Naruto's excited nod, the trio circled their chairs near the office's stove and settled in for an afternoon of listening to Naruto's animated (and embellished) stories about the past several months in the classroom.