Chapter 6: Back to School
"I can't believe it!" Naruto was frustrated. "Homework already! I just got back to school." Naruto, being his usual dramatic self, had one arm over his eyes and the other lifelessly at his side. Falling down to his knees, Naruto continued to lament.
"I have to write a paragraph on what I did during the summer. One whole paragraph! That's like….over a hundred words! There's no way I'm going to be able to do that!"
Standing up now. "I object! This is completely unfair. No seven-year-old kid would be able to do this!" Turning his head around, he asked Kurama "How's it coming along?"
Kurama was sitting at the desk. His brows were furrowed and he had a look of concentration on his face. Pencil in one hand and a piece of paper on the desk. "Not so good. What did we do besides throw water at each other?"
"Well, we fished. That's gotta count for something, right? Write that down. How many words does that take us to?"
"'We also fished in a pond. We didn't catch anything.' There wrote it down that takes us to, one, two, three…" Whispering up to "Nineteen." Kurama sighed. He really didn't want to do this. His handwriting was terrible. The pencil was hard to hold, and this wasn't even his work! It was Naruto's! He should just be sun bathing right now. Get a few more days in before it turns to autumn and then winter.
With a lot more to go, Kurama made an observation. "Iruka-sensei probably just wants you to write down things you did about your training."
"Oh…hehe….right." Naruto suddenly got very quiet. He was twirling his thumbs over each other. Kurama knew exactly what happened.
"You didn't train at all, did you." It wasn't a question.
"Nope."
With that, Kurama was all out of cares to give. He pushed back the chair and started walking towards the balcony. "Hey hey hey, where are ya going?" Naruto leaped towards Kurama and pancaked onto the floor. He grabbed onto Kurama's legs. "I'll get you fresh Tuna! I'll go to the market right now if you write it!"
When in doubt, Naruto always remembered. 'Kurama will do anything for a Tuna sandwich.'
Not wanting to let a good opportunity go to waste, Kurama stopped. "Fine, go and get the fish…" Naruto was out of the house quickly enough you could say he was gone in a yellow flash. Thinking aloud, "Now what should I write… ah yes." Interweaving his fingers and bridging them in front of his face, Kurama spoke in a deeper voice, "Yessss, excellent!" There was a zilch percent chance that Naruto was going to even look at it, especially since Kurama would just put it in his backpack when he was done. Now all Kurama needed to do was finish it before Naruto gets back.
Naruto was bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. Daikoku-sensei's lesson on the history of the warring states was dragging on, and on, and on, and on, and on. Shikamaru had already fallen asleep, Choji was munching away on some chips, Kiba was messing with Akamaru, and even Sasuke was occasionally zoning in and out. Naruto's pencil had already fallen out of his hand twice now. When will the torture end?
'I wonder how long it has been since I last checked the clock.' Naruto thought to himself. 'With any luck, an hour has passed and its almost lunch time.' Putting a hand over his eyes he turned his head towards the side of the room where the clock was. 'Well, let's not get too hopeful. It's only probably forty minutes, half hour at least though.' He opened his eyes.
'TWENTY SECONDS?!' Luckily, he didn't scream it but Naruto's mouth was wide open and a look of utter defeat crawled forth. His head thunked onto the desk. 'It's not going to be a good day.'
"Naruto, sit up." Daikoku called from the front of the room.
'Really not going to be a good day.'
He didn't really want to completely interrupt class once more for Naruto. It also seemed like the usual suspects were zoning out. Sakura was still paying attention. So, Daikoku-sensei carried on about his lesson deemed important by the academic advisory board. He took the mindset that if they weren't distracting other students, his students could sleep. The less he dealt with Naruto, the better.
"WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING HERE ON THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY?! THIS IS THE ONLY LIFE I GOT!" Naruto screamed to the heavens and darted towards the windows.
He also managed to startle the entire class. As Naruto escaped to freedom through the window a hand came out and grabbed him by the collar. "Next time, ask to get some water or try a few deep breaths." Daikoku sensei at least tried to make this a learning experience. Dealing with the mundane was something ninjas tended to do. Not everything was a high-profile rescue operation or fighting.
Naruto was on the front lines of the Third Shinobi World War. His classmates were all around him fighting to the bitter end. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were fighting on the right flank. Choji was enormous and sweeping enemy ninjas back left and right. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were holding down the left flank. Sasuke was injured in the fighting, he was one of the first casualties and was being looked at by Ami. Naruto was bravely holding onto the middle, striking down any enemy ninja that came close. All hope seemed lost. The godless heathens from the stone village were advancing.
Naruto is wearing a cool orange haori with black flames. He had a black shirt on with black gloves. His shinobi sandals had steel inserts to make devastating kicks. His hair was long and flowing. He was the definition of cool. His trusty sidekick Kurama is with him. Both fighting viciously in this brutal melee.
"Naruto Hokage-sama!" Naruto turned to his right and he saw a disheveled Sakura. "Our allies in the desert can't make it to the fight! They're busy getting a tan!" She was the messenger from the village he sent back asking for more reinforcements and also Naruto's girlfriend. He sent her back in order to spare her from this bloodbath.
"Drats!" Naruto cursed. Those sand ninjas are always doing this. "Not to worry my dear cherry blossom. We won't die here today."
"But Naruto *cough* Hokage-sama! How can you be so sure?" A weakened voice called out to him. Sasuke was breathing heavily, obviously extremely tired from being completely useless and not fighting at all. He was wrapped in bandages and couldn't contribute anything.
"Not to worry Sasuke. With this new jutsu I've developed…I will single handedly win this war!" Naruto sounded confident.
The girls stood in awe of how cool Naruto looked. Haori fluttering in the wind. "But *cough cough* Naruto *cough, cough, cough, cough* Hokage-sama *cough, hack, cough*."
"Easy there Sasuke, it's okay. You can rest now. Here, everyone! Take a kunai and throw it towards the enemy!"
All of the girls came up to Naruto and they picked up the kunai off the ground. They threw it towards the Iwa horde. Naruto disappeared and reappeared in quick succession. It was a yellow and orange flash blinking throughout the battlefield. True enough, in less than half a minute, the humongous Iwa horde was completely cut down. Finally reappearing in front of his friends, Naruto was smirking at Sasuke.
"That was completely amazing Naruto Hokage-sama!" Sakura was cheerful and hugging Naruto tightly. Naruto was in heaven right now. Nothing could make him happier. When Sakura opened her mouth again, something was off.
"What was the name of the jutsu Naruto?" Gone was the melodic voice of Sakura and now replaced with the stern voice of Iruka-sensei. Back in reality, Naruto woke up from his nap. He frantically looked around the room, at the board, nothing. No one was going to help him.
Naruto took a shot in the dark and hoped it hit. "Uhh, Hiraishin no jutsu?"
"Good Naruto. I thought you weren't paying attention. That is correct. The jutsu the Fourth Hokage famously used was called Hiraishin no Jutsu. And Naruto, please get off your desk and sit back down."
In self-congratulations, Naruto jumped on his desk.
*RRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGG*
"Yahhooooooo! Thank GOD it's Friday!" Naruto cheered as he high tailed it out of the classroom. It was Friday! No school for the next two days. The weather was beautiful. The possibilities, endless. What to do, what to do? Naruto sped through the village. Dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and….dodging.
It did make a small exercise for the two Anbu stealthily following him. "I don't know why Hokage-sama still insists on guarding him." Cat was still not as understanding of the mission parameters.
"That is not our job. It is something he wants so it is something that will be done."
Cat would rather have Dog as a partner for these missions. He at least knew the mannerisms of the child. Weasel on the other hand, was still practically one. He was also tactful. Felt like talking to a brick wall sometimes. No depth to his personality. All serious, all the time.
Truthfully, Weasel enjoys these missions as much as Dog does. It is a time where Weasel can remember what he is fighting for. Preserving the innocence of others. Here is the villages ultimate weapon, the carrier of the nine tailed fox, running through the village that gives him dirty looks with a huge smile on his face. People would call him naïve, but Weasel believes he can change these villagers' minds. Naruto reminds him a lot of Sasuke when he was younger, before his father started comparing the two brothers making Sasuke feel inferior.
Finally weaving his way to the front door of his apartment. Naruto opened it with a shout, "I'm HOME!" followed quickly by an "OOF!"
Kurama pounced on Naruto and shouted a quick "Welcome HOME!" in return. They tumbled back down the stairs where the two chasers darted into the nearby tree.
Coming to a rest and now covered in dirt, "How's that for an enthusiastic greeting?"
Naruto, equally covered in dirt, "Sometimes, I wish you just buy me one of those 'I miss you cards' from the store." Standing up and patting the dirt off his pants and shirt.
"Where's the fun in that? Come on, we're burning daylight, let's go!" Naruto grabbed Kurama and they were off to their next adventure.
Cat was left speechless once again while Weasel was jealous of the imagination of the child.
"Just…how? How did he manage to do that? Completely fall down the stairs and everything."
"I don't know. How do magnets work? They just do." Weasel created a clone to pick up Naruto's forgotten school bag to put in his apartment. Then followed after the kid and his stuffed animal. Cat was frozen in place, "How DO magnets work?"
