Fear for them, Physical Education class. sadistic grin
FANfiction, my duckies.
"Today, my brats, we're going to be studying physical education. Now, I don't know what you were expecting, but I want all weapons dropped in a pile over there!"
Hermione shivered, still not quite used to the manic grin of her new instructor. Dutifully, she and the other students began a pile of 'weapons.' Obviously, their wands went there, but Hermione was a bit startled to notice a bat, various sharp implements, and even more magical devices topping it off. Sasuke, who was sorting through the pile, seemed strangely satisfied to note that more than one person had brought non-magical weapons.
"Good, brats. You were thinking. " Naruto's cheerful voice pulled the girl from her dazed assessment of what on earth her classmates had been thinking.
It seemed like Naruto had read her mind, because that was his next question.
"Will one of you tell my why you brought these to this class? Be honest! In fact…" The blond man nodded at his partner, who then took up a more threatening position, looming over the teenagers and smirking maliciously.
"Take off those black things, and sweaters if you have them on. Strip down as much as you can without being indecent. Sasuke's going to check you for any more weapons, and if we find one on you…"
Stifling a gasp, Hermione glanced around at her classmates and friends. Some looked scared, a few looked baffled, but a few looked defiant. Her stomach roiled a bit when she noticed that Neville, Ron, and Harry were in the last group.
With less embarrassment than either Naruto or Sasuke expected, the students pulled off their extra layers, until the girls were in their skirts and blouses, and the boys were in their trousers and undershirts. Then, Sasuke began his inspection, patting each student down as he searched for hidden weapons.
Reaching up, Hermione patted the bun at the back of her head. The instructors were new; they'd have no idea that she almost always wore her hair down. And why should they have any reason to inspect the ornaments--rather sharp hair-chopsticks--sticking out of it?
Finally, he reached Hermione, who was, unusually, at the back of the group. She noted that every time he'd found a weapon, he'd simply told the student to stand off to the side. About a quarter of the class was in the 'armed-but-not-quite-dangerous' group, including her friends.
Sasuke smirked at her, and she couldn't help but gulp. Though he was completely objective throughout his search, it was obvious why the girls hadn't complained. He patted her down quickly, finding the sharpened pencil in her pocket, as well as the roll of coins. Nodding, the dark-haired man indicated that she should join the other group.
"Wait up! Teme, were you just going to let her get away with that?!" Naruto, who'd been watching the inspection with satisfaction, pointed indignantly at Hermione's hair.
"Dobe, she's the only one who did a somewhat decent job at hiding her weapons; I thought I'd let her keep them."
Ron, Harry, and Neville were staring at Hermione incredulously. She could imagine Ron's thoughts: She's scary! Actually, she noted, the rest of the class seemed a bit impressed as well. The girl sometimes forgot that people who'd grown up in the wizarding world didn't know about muggle gangs.
It wasn't that she'd been a part of one or anything, but she had heard stories, after all. Was it so surprising that she had knowledge of how to protect herself physically? Evidently so.
The teachers had finished arguing by this time, and they turned to face the students once more.
"For those of you who brought weapons: good for you." Naruto nodded happily. "For those of you who kept the weapons after I told you to drop them, extra credit."
Stunned silence reigned, as the young wizards took in their teacher's words.
"As for you!" Hermione almost squeaked as she was singled out. Having the professor's full attention was bad enough in a normal class, in this one, it was just terrifying.
"You get extra-extra credit! If we had been ordinary people, you would have been able to sneak those senbon by us!"
"Um…" Should she really be pointing this out? While she didn't exactly dislike correcting her teachers, Hermione couldn't help but feel that maybe these two should just be left alone.
"Naruto, sir, instead of extra credit, we get points awarded to our house, in fives, tens, twenties, even fifties if it's something particularly good." Whew, neither man looked annoyed. In fact, Sasuke was wearing a thoughtful expression that had made the girls in the class sigh. Again. Hermione cursed the members of her sex. Did they have nothing better to think about?
"We have a mixture of all four houses in this class, correct?" Sasuke spoke for the first time that day as his dark eyes trailed over the expectant children.
"What house do you belong to?" One by one, the students who'd hidden weapons upon their persons named their house. Of the eight, four were from the house called Gryffindor, three were from Slytherin, and one was from Ravenclaw. Sasuke raised his eyebrow speculatively. How interesting.
"Okay, so, um, fifty points for you! And twenty for each of them, how is that?"
Naruto looked way too pleased with himself for Sasuke's taste. So, being the mature ninja that he was, he flicked a small rock at his blond companion.
"Ow! Sasuke-teme! What was that for?!"
"Hn, dobe. You're smiling too much. Let's get started." The dark-haired man smirked in anticipation.
"Okay, listen up brats! We're going to start off by showing you a short sparring match between Sasuke and me, using only hand-to-hand combat." Sasuke's smirk widened.
"After that, we're going to separate you into smaller groups and teach you some basic defense moves. We'll be practicing them for the first twenty minutes of every class from here on out, so don't think you can get away with slacking off, punks!"
Standing at the edges of the courtyard, the students whispered amongst themselves as the two men faced each other, as casual as they could be. Sasuke had his hands in his pockets, while Naruto danced around, 'stretching.'
"Are you done yet, dobe? I can beat you in less time than it takes for you to get ready." Sasuke's smirk had evolved into a full-out grin by now.
"Teme! I'd like to see you try it!" A growl, and Naruto launched himself at his friend.
Harry could barely keep up with the movements, if it weren't for the vastly different color schemes the men wore, he mightn't have been able to tell what was happening at all.
Because the point was to show the students an example of hand-to-hand combat, the ninja stayed close to one another, never further than two meters away from one another. The fight was messy, but somehow graceful, with Naruto and Sasuke punching and kicking, blocking and dodging like they knew what the other was going to do before he did it.
Harry swallowed, eyes wide, as Sasuke caught Naruto's fist in his palm. But neither man hesitated for a moment as Naruto twirled around with a backhand. Sasuke ducked, only to hold his arms up to block a kick. He grabbed Naruto's leg and pulled, forcing the orange-clad ninja to the ground. From there, the two men rolled around for a bit before Sasuke finally landed on top.
"Hn, twenty-one to nineteen, dobe."
There was stunned silence and annoyed grumbling from Naruto as the black-haired man stood up. Neither man was even breathing heavily. Sasuke turned to face the teenagers.
"We don't expect anything like that from you, of course, but you can see how useful knowing physical combat could be. Especially against someone who expects you to use magic."
"Now," Naruto had finished grumbling, and his smile was right back in place. "Who wants to volunteer to help me demonstrate the moves you will be learning?"
Sasuke smothered another grin at the look on his student's faces. Perhaps this assignment wasn't as bad as he'd expected it to be. The brats were amusing at least, and if he got really bored, he could always take Naruto up on his constant requests to explore the 'Forbidden Forest.'
"Oh, I know! You, Miss Fluffy-head! You'll be my assistant for now!"
The girl--who's name was, both ninja knew, Hermione--looked cautiously interested. She didn't really like fighting, but then again, she'd have to learn eventually. At least this way, she'd be practicing with someone who knew what he was doing, she reasoned.
"Hey! Don't touch Hermione! She's just a girl; she can't fight!" Ron stepped in front of his female friend defensively. If he'd had his wits about him--which even he would admit he often didn't--he would have noticed the dark aura gathering behind him. As it was, the other students edged away slowly, and the instructors simply smirked.
"What is that supposed to mean, Ron? Are you saying that I can't fight simply because I'm a girl?!"
Ron finally seemed to remember who exactly it was he'd been trying to defend. His eyes widened and he turned around to explain himself.
"No, no, it's just that, well, you can't hit anyone. I mean, girls just don't. Ginny might yell at me, but she'd never…It's just not something girls do!"
Anxious to defend himself, the red-haired boy didn't notice the hole he was digging. Hermione's eyes became more and more enraged with every word. Finally, she hauled off and punched him in the gut, causing the boy--who was a good two inches taller, and quite a bit stockier than her--to collapse to the ground with a pained grunt.
The blind fury was just wearing off when she felt an arm slung across her shoulders.
"And that, brats, is what happens when you underestimate your opponent." One arm still on her shoulders, Naruto ground the knuckles of his other hand gently into her scalp in a friendly noogie.
Hermione looked up at him, noting vaguely how blue his eyes were from this close. He was, what, four years older than her? Noticing her blank stare, Naruto winked at the girl. He was satisfied to see, instead of a blush, a slow grin spread across her face. Together they looked at the rest of the class.
Harry gulped, realizing that yes, Hermione was going to be at the top of this class as well as all the others. Glancing wildly around, he realized that at least half of the nervous stares were no longer directed at their teachers, but at their new accomplice.
The torture was going to be worse than any of them had expected, Harry thought, as Ron moaned from a spot near his feet.
"Right. Let's get started."