Three Hundred and Sixty One
Madara wakes up with Tachibana cuddling him. It is the second morning in a row that this has happened. Madara is instantly alert and on edge, his shinobi instincts waiting for an attack that will never come. While he waits for the kid cuddling up to his back to wake up, Madara reflects on the previous day. He took Tachibana to the hospital, just like he promised. He met the girl, Sekitei. She ran her mouth the whole time Madara was there, in between crying because her splinted and plastered foot was uncomfortable. Madara now knows all the details of all five children's' lives. He is both sickened and horrified by most of what those children went through.
He did not think it possible, but Madara has finally met someone with a worse childhood than his, and that kid is currently hugging him for comfort. Perhaps Madara will get used to being hugged like this. Or maybe the brat will learn to sleep a full night in his own bed!
Finally, Tachibana wakes up. Madara helps him dress again, since the boy still can't dress himself. If he wasn't blind it wouldn't be such a problem. Madara is more lenient with Tachibana since it is his third day even encountering clothing, and he is blind on top of that. If he was a normal twelve year old, there would be no leniency.
Madara makes breakfast once he and the kid are up, and they eat in silence. Neither talks much in general so there is nothing strange about the silence.
When breakfast is over, Madara washes the dishes while Tachibana continues his quest to memorize his surroundings. Madara winces every time he hears the kid fall over or bump into something.
Madara senses Iruka right before Iruka walks in through the front door like he owns the place. "Hey Madara," says Iruka, grinning. "I'm going to back at the Academy today, so guess who gets to come and give me a hand."
"You are enjoying making hand jokes a little too much," sighs Madara. "And I don't 'get' to come and help you, I have no friggin choice."
"That is correct," says Iruka. "Grab some bento and let's hit the road."
"What do I do with the kid?" demands Madara. "I can't leave him alone all day."
Tachibana proves Madara's point by tripping over a chair that he walked around a minute ago.
"You see what I mean?" says Madara, gesturing to the boy.
"Just bring him," shrugs Iruka. "He can sit in on the class and listen."
Madara helps Tachibana figure out his shoes and they set off. He stops on the way to buy some bento for himself and the kid. He isn't sure if the kid will like it, but he's eaten everything Madara has fed him so far. Madara is trying to fatten the boy up a bit. He resembles a stick shaped like a person. Whatever the Order of Joe fed him was obviously not enough to sustain a growing boy.
Finally they arrive at the Academy and head to Iruka's classroom. Madara sits Tachibana down in a front row seat so he can keep an eye on him. The class files in, giving Madara strange looks. To Madara's surprise, he recognizes two of the students: Kimiko and Burifu.
"Alright, class!" calls Iruka when the clock strikes nine. "Before we begin I have two announcements. The first is that you have a new classmate starting today. Burifu, stand up and introduce yourself."
Burifu stands and says, "Hi! I'm Burifu Uzumaki! I like mud, eh." Then she sits back down.
"Thank you Burifu," says Iruka. "Now, the next announcement is that, due to my recent loss of an arm, I have hired a teacher aid. Class, this is Madara Uchiha. He is a living piece of history. That boy in the front there is his foster kid, who will be sitting in with us until we figure out what to do with him during the day."
The kids all groan and wine.
"Living history? Booooooring!"
"Aw, he's gonna be a boring history lecture, isn't he?"
"But whyyyyyyyy?"
"I wanna learn ninja stuff, not boring history!"
"Madara sensei is boring!"
Madara glares at Iruka.
"What?" says Iruka, grinning at him. "At least they won't be scared of you like the kids were the first time around."
This guy is an insane genius, Madara decides. He got those kids bored of me, on purpose, in one sentence.
"Since you're all so bored already," says Iruka cheerfully, making the kids groan. "We are all going outside for a run! Come on: stop groaning and get your little bums outside."
Burifu jumps up and runs to the classroom door, excited to go for a run. Iruka practically teleports to her, grabs the back of her t-shirt and says, "We do not run inside, Burifu. Save the running for the practice yard."
The other kids slide out of their seats and head out of the classroom. Only a few are not complaining.
"I thought you all wanted to be shinobi?" demands Madara.
The kids turn to him in surprise."What?" says one. "Of course we do, that's why we are here."
"Then stop whining about having to do shinobi training," says Madara.
"Shinobi training?" says Tachibana, cocking his head to one side. "Is that what everyone is doing here?"
"Yes," says Madara, remembering that he has not actually explained to the boy what the Academy is. "This is a school for aspiring ninjas."
"Oh…" says Tachibana, his face slowly lighting up. "Can I train too?"
"I don't see why not," says Iruka. "Come on everyone: stop staring at the blind kid who was raised in a forest and get your butts to the training field."
"Hey, I lived in a forest too," says Burifu. "With the Order of Steve."
"Really?" says Tachibana, smiling. Burifu cannot see his smile, since he didn't turn his head towards her at all. "I am from the Order of Joe."
"Oooooh," says Burifu, understanding dawning on her face. "The Order of Joe is weird and creepy, eh."
"That's enough chatter," says Iruka, his eyebrow twitching. "OUTSIDE, NOW!"
The kids scramble for the door with Iruka bringing up the rear. Madara takes Tachibana by the wrist and leads the kid outside. When the class reaches the training yard, the class lines up to start running around the edge of the concrete yard.
"Just follow the other kids' chakra signatures," Madara tells Tachibana. "And don't shuffle or scuff your feet. You'll trip if you do that."
"Yes Uncle Madara," says Tachibana and heads over to the other kids. He lifts his feet carefully in a manner very different from his usual shuffle.
"Are you sure you'll be able to keep up, new girl?" says one of the bigger kids in the class. "You're younger than the rest of us, I'm surprised you are even in this class."
Burifu looks at the boy with innocent respect. "Wow, you must be really fast if I won't be able to keep up with you," she says.
"Why is she even in this class?" Madara whispers to Iruka. "Isn't she a year younger than the other kids?"
"Oh yes, she's younger," Iruka whispers back. "But she's a little too young for the class she actually belongs in. You can't graduate before age ten now days, and since she's too young for the graduating class, we put her with kids closer to her age. Putting her in the new entrants' class would've been an insult to her abilities, so we put her in the second year class."
"What age do kids enter the Academy now?" asks Madara, frowning.
"Seven is the age they begin the shinobi training," says Iruka. "There are two other classes, one for six year olds and one for five year olds. Those kids just learn to read and write; they learn a bit of history and play a lot. Hashirama cried in happiness when I showed him those classes."
Madara is not surprised. That was their dream, after all. A world where children are not forced to fight in adult's wars.
"THREE...TWO...ONE...BEGIN!" Iruka calls to the waiting children.
The children take off running. Burifu runs alongside the rest of the class, a confused expression on her face. "Why are we running so slowly?" she asks. She runs out in front of the pack and turns around to run backwards. "Come on," she says. "We won't get faster running at a comfortable pace! Let's go!"
"YES!" a boy wearing a blue scarf agrees, punching his fist in the air. "Let's all run as fast as we can, kore!" He takes off running much faster than before.
"Wait, Konohamaru!" one of the other kids, a boy with snot running out of his nose, calls after scarf boy and tries to run after him.
The rest of the class increases their pace, except Kimiko, who genuinely seems to be running as fast as she can already. Burifu grins at Kimiko, gives her a thumbs-up and turns around. Then she sets off running at a pace Madara could have matched at that age. She quickly passes all the other kids and catches up to where Tachibana is slowly working his way up to a jog.
"Follow Kimiko," says Burifu. "You can keep up to her alright, I bet. She's the one with the fuzzy purple chakra that smells of Wind and Fire, and little bit of Water."
"Okay," says Tachibana.
Satisfied, Burifu runs to Kimiko. "Help the blind kid, okay? If he can follow you, he'll make it around the yard, eh."
Kimiko nods and stops running. She catches her breath while she waits for Tachibana to hesitantly stumble his way over to her. Then she takes his hand and whispers, "Come on, let's just run."
Kimiko starts by jogging slowly, and Tachibana soon adjusts his gait to keep up with her. Then Kimiko increases her pace bit by bit, until they are running about as fast as they are able to.
Madara crosses his arms and watches the wanna-be ninjas run. All of them except Burifu, and maybe Konohamaru, wouldn't last a second in a real fight. Konohamaru is not as fast as Burifu, but his pace is steady, and Madara can sense that his chakra is better developed than hers.
This class needs whipping into shape.