Start Chapter 5
Despite the minor setback Naruto had earlier, he's done really well. He's showing great improvement in every area of his ninja development. The little guy is growing up real fast; I hope this last month is as productive as the last two. He needs to get his chakra control down among other things. Well I guess we'll see how prepared he is once this is over. I'm sure his last term at the academy before he goes onto the final year will be his best thus far. Otherwise, I've failed him as a teacher.
At Training Ground Seven
Naruto looks up at the leaf sitting upon his forehead and concentrates on pushing chakra into it. Letting out a sliver of his energy the blonde causes the leaf to go flying off of his head, "Damn it." He sighs and tries using a lot less this time finding it hovers above his head, "Now comes the hard part he says." Focusing hard he adds the slightest amount of chakra into it and begins to spin it. Iruka looks over at his trainee and smiles in pride at the boy's success.
"Good job, now we get to move onto the next exercise." Iruka motions for the boy to follow him. Naruto comes with him and they stop in front of a tall tree, "Now you're going to learn a very practical skill, tree climbing." The Jounin sees the boy's confused look and walks up to the tree before planting his foot on it. Continuing on up a few feet the brown-haired man leaps back in front of Naruto, "This also has many other practical applications too. You need to concentrate on moving your chakra into the tree and making yourself stick. It's hard to explain, but try using a running start and you'll make it up further." Naruto sighs looking at the large tree towering over him, "Once you can climb it, we'll move onto the next exercise."
Taking a running start Naruto makes chakra flow into his feet and heads towards the tree. He makes it up several feet before being forced back onto the ground hard. The boy rubs his behind before looking at Iruka who is reading a novel before continuing on with his training. Making another attempt Naruto runs up a few feet higher this time, but feels like there must be an easier way. Thinking to himself, he puts his foot on the trunk before adding enough chakra to cause him to stick. He repeats the process, "Now keep it going." Concentrating hard the blonde keeps going up further until his azure eyes open to see, "The top! I'm at the top!" Naruto celebrates until he feels himself slipping, but manages to catch himself, "That was too close…" Wiping the sweat off his brow as the blonde is descending he proclaims, "DONE!"
Iruka looks up from his novel, "There's no way!" The Jounin says before shaking his head, "Alright then, show me." Naruto does as he's told and Iruka can't believe his eyes, "Okay, I guess we can move onto the next exercise, water-walking." Stopping for a second the Jounin asks, "Did you bring your bathing suit?" Naruto nods and pulls his swimming trunks out of his sealing scroll, "Good, go change into them and meet me by the river." Iruka heads towards the water source in a stupor, "I've never seen anyone complete that exercise in such a short period of time." Shaking his head the Jounin stops at the river where Naruto is heading towards, "Alright, this one might take you a little more time." Iruka explains the principles behind water walking and Naruto gets right to it before quickly falling in, "Hard isn't it?" The blonde grunts before getting back to his practicing. Eventually the sun begins to go down and Naruto is ankle deep in the water, which is a lot higher than earlier, "Okay let's try this tomorrow." Naruto nods and the two pack up for the night, "Hey Naruto how about some Ichiraku tonight?" The blonde perks up and the pair heads towards their favorite eatery.
At Ichiraku Ramen,
Naruto finishes his second bowl of ramen and is about to start his third before looking over at Iruka who's idly staring into his bowl, "Hey Iruka what's wrong?"
The Jounin zones back in before saying, "Nothing, but I just want to know how did you get the tree-climbing so quickly?"
Thinking back Naruto recalls, "Well at first I tried the running start, and then when that didn't work I just tried figuring out what amount worked." Pausing for a second to eat his third bowl, "The water-walking though isn't the same, like you said; I have to keep adjusting the amount of chakra I'm putting out. So it is a little more intensive than just figuring out one set point." Iruka nods getting the blonde's logic, "Thanks for the ramen by the way. It's been a while since I've come here."
Iruka smiles, "No problem bud, you earned it. But that doesn't mean you can slack off! We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!" Naruto nods excitedly and the Jounin pays before the exit as they say their thanks, "Anyways, we've got a little over three more weeks to get you ready, so by the time we're done you'll be a whole new Naruto."
Naruto smiles, "I know, everyone will be so surprised when I come back and start kicking ass…" Thinking over his words, "Well, I won't be a show-off; I can't beat people if they know all my moves. So I'll just have to good, but not too well." Iruka is impressed by the maturity the blonde is showing and nods before the two part ways.
The Week before the Academy Resumes
"Well Naruto you've learned everything I was going to teach you a week ahead of schedule." Naruto smiles feeling accomplished, "However, that doesn't mean you can slack off! We're going to go hard this week by testing you every day." Iruka lines up from his student in a battle stance, "Now Naruto, show me what you've learned!" Naruto draws dual kunai before making hand seals for his spark jutsu. Amplifying the amount of chakra he causes the sparks to turn into small fireballs. He uses them as cover before hiding in the brush; Iruka opens his senses and tracks the blonde. Although the boy has hidden himself well from the Jounin's senses, his chakra-signature is still there if only barely.
A hail of shuriken comes at Iruka and he bursts into a log, Naruto quickly turns around to catch a fist from the brown-haired man, "Nice try!" The blonde is forced out into the open and makes hand seals for an overpowered air jutsu. Dividing the bullet into small balls he creates an almost invisible driving force that Iruka avoids. Leaping into the sun that blinds Naruto and he is rocked by a kick to the chest that sends him spiraling back into the water which he stays atop of, "Good you've learned to keep yourself afloat!" Sending three shuriken at the blonde and forming hand seals that multiply them into a cloud of weapons.
Naruto allows his replacement to be pierced by them and gets behind Iruka with a knife, "Yield." The blonde feels a cold kunai press into his neck and sighs as Iruka puffs into smoke, "I yield."
Iruka smiles, "Good job, you fought smart and I'm sure if you had a team you could've done a lot better." The two relax before facing each other, "Now that we're warmed up, how about round two?" Naruto smiles and the two go back at it.
Later that Day at the River
The two share a tree trunk as a resting place watching the sunset from either side of it, "Well Naruto I must say I'm impressed." Smiling at the voice of the old man Naruto sees his old best friend, "You've come a long way from only a few months ago."
The blonde looks up, "Well I wouldn't be anywhere close to here if Iruka hadn't taken me in."
Sarutobi takes a drag from his pipe, "Naruto I expect great things from you this term, and in your final year. When you graduate I fully expect you to do even greater things." Pausing for a second the aged leader looks at the blazing sunset.
"Well it's like I told you that one night in my apartment. I plan to surpass all the Hokages!" Naruto says excitedly. Sarutobi nods before exiting the area in a swirl of leaves. The student and teacher sit there for several more hours until night begins to fall and eventually Iruka leaves, "One day, just maybe I can show the entire village that I am worthy of the name Hokage." Staring at the stars Naruto sits there in wonder for a little while longer. He gets up and stretches out his tense muscles before deciding to head home to get a good night's rest.
The First Day of School
Naruto collects his books and throws them in the sealing scroll. Making sure his lunch is together for the day he grabs the paper bag and tosses that in there as well. Once the blonde has completed his morning tasks he exits his apartment, locking the door behind him. Walking down the hallway of his complex he feels a nice little breeze on his face and sees the sunshine peeking out. Once he gets to the main stairwell he traverses down the steps out onto the streets below. The city streets are crowded as both civilians and ninja walk along the paths. Figuring he has enough time he takes the slow way to the academy. Once he reaches the gates of the school he takes a deep breath and puts on a confident smile before saying, "I'm ready for this year to start." Continuing on his way through the courtyard he heads into the building. Once inside he goes to his new classroom and opens the door to see Iruka and several other students already inside of there, "Hey Iruka."
He says and the Jounin gives him a nod before pointing towards the back row by the window, "Naruto I know we've been training together for the past few months, but don't expect any special treatment. You're going to have to earn your grade in here, so treat me like any other teacher you've had." The blonde nods in understanding before heading back to his assigned seat. Once there he waits for the rest of the class to file in and little by little they do. Iruka waits for everyone on the roster to come in and when the last person does he gets up and says, "Welcome to your last year at the academy, my name is Iruka and I'm going to be your instructor." Pausing for a second, "This year is going to be a lot different than the previous few you've had. We're going to do far less book learning and the majority of the class will be practical application of your ninja skills." Pulling out a small clipboard with names on it, "So if you haven't been practicing your taijutsu, basic techniques, and all of that you're going to have a tough time passing this year. I'm going to take roll now before we start our start of year examination." The brown-haired Jounin begins going over the list of names. As he finishes he picks up another clipboard, "Now everyone follow me outside and we're going to do some conditioning testing."
The class collectively groans and the teacher heads out the door. Everyone follows suit and Naruto stays at the back with Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba. The blonde boy says, "So have you guys done anything over the break at all?" The group nods and mostly says training with their families, "I guess we'll find out what everyone else has been up to now." As they approach the track Iruka stops the class and does a head count to make sure everyone is still there.
Pointing to the track he says, "Alright, now I want you guys to run twenty laps as fast you can. Stretch and warm up before, so you don't go pulling anything the first day of class." The Jounin gives the class ten minutes to warm up before lining them up at a starting point, "Everyone ready?" A collective silence is hanging over the group and Iruka blows a whistle. The students take a running start and are off to a good beginning for the first few laps. It becomes apparent to Iruka who hasn't done anything over the last few months very quickly. He notices Naruto and Sasuke at the front seemingly neck and neck for first. The Jounin smiles as the blonde pulls away the last two laps and comes in first by a good hundred meters, "Well it seems our top student has some competition this year." Sasuke growls a little at the comment and goes to sulk as everyone slowly begins to finish, "Now that everyone is done we're going to do a test of your weapons accuracy at the target range."
Sasuke smiles knowing he's definitely got the blonde idiot on this one. The class heads towards the target range and Naruto lines up from his dummy. Sasuke being the show off he is throws all five of his kunai at once hitting each bull's eye. Not letting the display get to him the blonde lines up and throws each of his kunai separately. He manages to hit each of the targets on the bull's eye as well "I guess you aren't better than me at everything huh?" Naruto brushes off the comments before collecting his weapons once he gets the go ahead.
Iruka notices the blonde's self-control and begins cracking a little smile, "Okay everyone settle down, it's time for a taijutsu examination. I want you to run through the basic katas on your own and I will watch you." The brown-haired man calls out names until he reaches, "Naruto Uzumaki, come forward." Iruka nods at the blonde as he moves towards the line "Go ahead and begin." Naruto flawlessly goes through the basic movements at a good speed surprising the Uchiha. Once everyone has gone Iruka motions for the group to come inside, "Alright we're going to do the Academy three demonstrations inside." The group heads inside back to the classroom taking their seats once again, "Okay let's get started." As people get through demonstrating their skills the clock ticks closer towards the end of the day.
Naruto's turn comes up and he runs through the first two jutsu before attempting the clone technique pulling it off with ease. Iruka nods in approval at the boy's jutsu and calls out the rest of the names. Once the last person has gone the final bell of the day rings, "Alright everyone good job, those of you who didn't do so well I hope you work on those issues. I'm sure by the end of the year you'll be able to do everything that's required of you without issue." Dismissing the class for the day everyone, but Naruto leaves, "Since I'm going to be your instructor this year I won't be able to help you outside of class." The blonde looks a little downtrodden at that news, "However, that doesn't mean I don't expect you to keep practicing what you've learned. I want you to keep up the good work even in my absence, but if there is an issue just come see me okay?"
The blonde boy nods before leaving the room after a successful day to go train…
End Chapter 5