Leaf Academy Chapter 5: Discovery, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Words cannot describe the shame I felt after my last chapter. Giving it a quick glance over not too long ago to re-read what I wrote, I noticed critical, embarrassing errors. I accidentally put a question mark instead of a period, spelled the word going as goinf, and probably many others. It is true I could blame Spell Check for missing them, but in actuality, it is my job as the writer to catch those mistakes.

If there are any repeat mistakes that you notice in this chapter please tell me. In addition, is there any way to fix those mistakes without losing all the reviews the chapter received? If so, please tell me.

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A chilled Naruto walked through the park at dusk, as the frosty September weather nipped through his windbreaker. At the end of the school day—when all of the jerks and idiots that filled the school were inside and away from him—this school became actually tolerable.

No one else was at the park, because the cold and dark had scared them all back in, and nothing could have pleased Naruto more. Right now, I want to just think by myself, he thought. Haku and Kabuto are cool, but we are not really that close. Haku has so many other friends that he rarely has time to hang with me, especially since most of his other friends hate my guts. Kabuto is just…weird. He acts nice and friendly toward me, but sometimes I get weird signals from him.

While still pondering his few acquaintances at the academy, a noise startled him from his increasingly depressing thoughts.

"Huh?" he asked aloud. Waiting for a few more minutes, he strained his ears, listening for the sound again. One of the few advantages that he knew he had over other people was an almost abnormally acute sense of hearing, so if he could not hear it, no one could.

After a few more minutes of motionless silence, Naruto finally heard it again. It was a high-pitched whine originating from some bushes to his left. Curious, Naruto slowly stalked closer to the noise. When he was close enough, Naruto quickly parted the bush's leaves to find a surprise.

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Neji stalked toward her door. There were a million other things he would rather be doing than subjecting himself to a date with Temari. She was petty, sadistic, conniving, cruel and—worse of all—a gossip hound.

Pounding on the door, he waited irritably for his date to answer it. Looking down at himself, again, he smiled. The best part of this horrible date would be wearing his favorite suit. He loved wearing suits; they made him feel powerful. However, no amount of power would make him look forward to this date. He could not understand why his father was torturing him like this.

When Temari opened the door, he greeted her woodenly, and, like the gentleman he was, offered his arm to escort her.

However, he was forced to do a double take, not because she was wearing a stunning dress made for prom, but her clothes were rather…ordinary. She still looked nice, he guessed, but not what he was expecting. She wore jeans, a red blouse, and a white sweater-jacket thing. Neji furrowed his brow trying to recall what the name of the thing she was wearing over her shirt, but was drawing blanks. He assumed it was just a called a jacket.

"Why are you wearing a suit?" She asked, equally puzzled at his choice of clothing as he was hers.

"Uhh…I assumed that we would be going to a fancy restaurant." Neji replied slowly, wondering what she had been planning on doing—especially after she laughed at him.

Still giggling, she told him her plans. "No, silly, we're going to a nightclub."

"A nightclub?" He asked, as he started to panic.

"Yup." She replied as she pulled her past his Mercedes and over to her Porsche.

Pulling out of her hand, he shouted, "Wait!" After they both recovered from his outburst, Neji frantically thought of a way out of his predicament. "Umm…Oh look, I'm not dressed to go to a club. Too bad, it seems like we can't go."

Frowning, Temari stared at Neji, before she smiled and clapped her hands with delight. Tugging his necktie, she brought him closer.

A mere five minutes later she had changed him—his appearance at least. She had stripped him of his suit jacket and his tie—tossing them away into the wind—unbuttoned and un-tucked his white dress shirt—leaving his white under shirt exposed—and mussed up his long, perfectly straight hair.

Neji looked down at himself in shock. He was appalled! He was disgusted! He was completely shred of all the dignity and power his clothes had provided.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He shouted.

"You told me you weren't dressed for a club, so I fixed you." She calmly replied, leaning against her Porsche with her arms folded.

"I didn't need to be fixed!" He yelled exasperatedly. "I only said that, because I did not want to go to any stupid nightclub!" Neji promptly shut his mouth. He had not planned on telling her that, but it was too late, now.

"I thought as much, but now you don't have an excuse to not go." She replied calmly, as she filed her nails. "Why do you not want to go, anyway? Am I not good enough for you or something like that?"

"No," he lied. He really did not like the stories he had heard about her—they were only stories since this was actually the first time they had met. However, that was only half of it—the less important half, too. "I have never been to a club, and I have never wanted to go to a club. Vile delinquents visit clubs, and infest the place like a nasty sickness.

Temari shook her head at his snobbishness. She was snobby too, but not about nightclubs. "So you don't like me, and think clubs are too dirty." Seeing him about to protest about liking her, she cut him off. "I can tell you don't like me; it's fairly obvious. Honestly, I don't care; I did not want to go on this date, either."

After pausing a few minutes, a realization hit her. Narrowing her eyebrows, she asked him, "You can dance though, right?"

Neji froze. That was his major reason he did not want to go. He could tolerate any number of annoying girls or filthy dance halls, as long as he did not embarrass himself. He was a Hyuga; humiliation was intolerable.

"Of course, I can dance." Neji smirked as he responded.

"You can't dance," she crowed, calling him out on his lie. Neji grit his teeth and ground them together. "I can too dance!" He roared.

"Than come with me and prove it." Temari cooed, patting her car that she was still leaning on. Neji shut up, quickly. Temari sighed. "You have to come, our parents practically ordered it, so hop in the car. You probably want to get their early, so fewer people see you making a fool of yourself."

Mumbling under his breath, Neji got into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut. Temari climbed in, and after grinning like a maniac, shot out of the school's grounds.

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"C'mon Kiba! We need to get this done by next week, so stop lollygagging and help me with this!" Kin yelled as she looked up from her computer to glare at the boy, sleeping on the couch. Was sleeping anyway, Kin's harsh shout had startled Kiba awake.

Kiba yawned, as he lay sprawled over a few beanbags he had piled together in the dorm's common room. Kiba lived in the house for those with 'financial needs,' which meant that the dorm was crap and all the other occupants were dirt poor, like him.

Kiba and the other kids in the 'economically challenged' section were only accepted into the school because the school wanted a more diverse student body. Several years ago, an altruistic Headmaster had enrolled some of the hard luck cases from the surrounding neighborhoods into the school. When he moved on two years ago, everyone thought that the program would die with him, but the new Headmistress, Tsunade, was equally as nice as the previous and let the students like Kiba stay.

"What's the rush?" Kiba asked as he tried to go back to sleep.

Kin, who was quickly losing her patience, yelled at Kiba with exasperation. "We've got to get it done by the 27th, because the election is on September 27, moron! Did you seriously forget everything, he told you?!"

"I knew that," Kiba snapped. "I meant why bother rushing through it now. It's the third, now; we have, like, practically a month."

Sighing, Kin decided it would be less stressful if she just ignored Kiba and found someone else to help her. Standing up and stretching, she went to go get Zaku.

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"A fox?" Naruto asked to himself, confused what a baby fox was doing there. Eventually getting over his surprise, Naruto realized the fox seemed to be unable to move. Trying to help it, he reached out to pick it up.

"Ow!" Naruto retracted his hand. "Damn fox bit my finger," he muttered as he stuck his bleeding finger in his mouth. Taking a better look at the fox, he realized it was not only scared, but injured as well. The fox tried to get up and run away but as it stood its leg crumpled beneath it, sending it into a heap back on the ground.

"It looks like you broke your leg. How did you manage that?" he asked, aware that it would not respond, but not really caring. Naruto sighed. His logical side knew that bringing taking in a fox would cause a whole truckload of problems that he did not need—especially with all the other problems he had—but to his vexation his conscious would not permit him to leave this baby animal alone with a broken leg.

Sighing again, Naruto gently reached for the wounded fox again. Though it quivered in fear, it did not lash out again. Once the fox grew accustomed to Naruto stroking his fur, the boy hoisted the animal up and curled it up against his jacket.

I know that they allow animals—one kid has a white puppy running around and another has a giant bug collection—but taking in a baby fox will not be easy, Naruto told himself, trying one last time to drive some sense into his thick head. "I don't know how to fix your leg, feed you, or take care of you at all." Naruto told the fox. "But I will sure as hell try."

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"Kiba, come here, please."

"Yes, sir."

The teacher sighed. The period had just ended, and Kiba had thought that he was finally free from Chemistry. Unfortunately for Kiba, his chemistry teacher, had called him over, stealing his precious few minutes of freedom.

"First and foremost, how many times must I tell you to keep your dog out of the lab?" Professor Ebisu asked exasperatedly. "The Headmistress may allow animals on the school's grounds, but I will not tolerate their presence near my chemicals. I'm not doing this to be mean, but it is a serious hazard that should not be taken lightly."

Kiba rolled his eyes. This reason was Ebisu's way of saying he hated dogs and needed a valid excuse to keep Kiba's beloved Akamaru away, other than 'I just don't want it here.'

"Secondly, you are failing." Kiba's eyes nearly popped out of his head, as his mouth dropped open. That was quite a jump in topic, he thought wryly. Truthfully, Kiba was not surprised at all, but he had learned over the years that teachers were more sympathetic and likely to give out free points if you acted shocked and upset.

"If you did not think you were failing than you are even dumber than your grades, which should not even be possible." Ebisu snapped, knowing that Kiba was faking.

"You are going to need a tutor." Kiba groaned, he had needed one a few years ago, and it had been one the worst experiences of his life. "It will be Uchiha Sasuke."

Kiba froze. He was screwed; scratch how bad that old hag had been, this would be the worst thing to ever happen to him. "Sir! Certainly there is someone else—anyone else!" Kiba did not care that he was pleading—practically begging.

"I'm sorry boy, but he is the only one."

"That's a lie; there is no way he would agree to doing something like this."

"True, he did not agree, but this is his punishment."

"Oh, I see. What for?"

"He was caught bullying and harassing an underclassman."

"In other words, he beat up some freshmen, and they tattled on him. Sucks to be him."

"If you wish to put it so uncouthly, then yes, that is what happened. However, I believe it will 'suck to be you,' as you so eloquently said it, because he will be tutoring you."

"You're killing two birds with one stone. You're punishing me for slacking off in your class and 'violating lab etiquette/safety' and him for punching the lights out of some nerdy kid who probably deserved it. Nice work, teach, your smart."

"I'll hope that you were not being sarcastic and take that as compliment. Now get out of my sight, I can't stand being around you students for more than I have to."

"Wait! There's got to be some way I can change your mind!"

"Never bring that mutt into my classroom again, and I'll see what I can do." Ebisu replied, while glaring at the white puppy.

Kiba whimpered. He really hated Sasuke, but whenever he was without his beloved Akamaru, he felt…empty inside. Not quite that bad, but he would be bored as hell with no one to talk to. Yes, he did talk to his dog; the two of them shared a deep understanding and link.

"Fine." Kiba mumbled.

"If you bring it again, not only will I put you with Uchiha, but I'll find ways to make your life ten times worse than it already is." Ebisu paused to look through his notes. "Shino Aburame is your new partner. Now, leave me alone!"

Kiba sighed with relief; he did not know who this Shino kid was, but anything was better than Sasuke.

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"Hmm…" Naruto mumbled, as he scratched his chin. "I've got to call you something, don't I? But, what? Fox naming is not my specialty is not my forte; actually, naming in general isn't my forte."

Naruto's thoughts drifted to back when he was in the orphanage—before his boarding schools. The orphanage had given every kid a small pet, except him—for some reason the women there had hated him. However, one of his few friends had asked him for his help naming a black kitten. Months had passed before the two could agree on a name, until finally; his friend had decided that he would name it after someone he admired. Unfortunately, that was Freddy Krueger from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies.

Thinking hard, Naruto thought of anyone he admired, liked or tolerated that would have a good fox name. Drawing blanks he scratched the top of his head again, desperately trying to find a suitable name.

It dawned on him, slamming into his brain. Naruto's eyes widened and his lips curled into a small smile just thinking about it. "I used to know someone named Kyubi. He's a perfect fit for you; from now on your name is Kyubi." Despite Naruto's bold declaration, the young fox was asleep, curled up in the boy's arms. Naruto just looked down and shook his head. Carrying it back in under his windbreaker, Naruto strolled back into his dorm.

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This is not and will never be a Yaoi story. I just want to repeat that so no one gets the wrong idea with the tutoring thing. I really hated the idea of having a tutor, but I could not think of anything else. I did change it from the tutor and tutored falling in love or whatever. One of the plots is to bring together the three-man squads, as friends.

Sorry, that Temari's description was pretty vague, but I don't really study girl's clothes. I was trying to think of what some of my friends would wear, but then I realized that I'm not looking at their fashion tastes.

If you don't like Kiba and are starting to get annoyed at how much screen time he is getting, than fear not. Kiba will be a huge player in the beginning, but may slip into obscurity later on in the story.

I sort of copped out with Kyubi. Some people said a person—with varied genders, personalities and other things, though—while other voted for an actual fox. Now, you can get both!