A Crimson Bolt Hits The Earth

Dustin was standing in front of his mirror, admiring himself in the yellow gown. He was overwhelmed by the fact that he was actually graduating. Thoughts of his friends ran through his mind and in his heart he was grateful for what they have done. He fought back a tiny tear by thinking of his happiness. Once he heard Tori's van honk, he quickly slipped on his cap and ran out to her van.

When they stopped, they all got out and Dustin was a bit scared to stain his gown with the dirt and foliage from under his feet. They trod through the thick forest until they reach the waterfall. Dustin took a lunge forward past Tori and Shane.

"Let the graduate handle this." Shane and Tori were laughing at his huge ego. He opened the portal and stepped in. Little did he know his gown dragged into the water. Shane and Tori just continued to laugh at Dustin and with each other. They went into the portal behind Dustin.

–

The first sight out there was all the pupils lined up in front of the small stand where Cam and Sensei were standing, giving a small speech to the whole academy. Dustin was so moved by it all, a childish grin ran on his face and started running but slipped on the muddy track. Shane and Tori grabbed both of his arms right before he landed front first into the mud puddle.

"Thank you so much guys!" Dustin was ecstatic when he became so grateful.

"Well it's your big day so don't mention it" Shane and Tori grinned and made their way to the stands. Dustin ran up the stairs to the podium and stood next to Sensei, apologizing about what had happened. Sensei never gave it a second thought and offered him his diploma.

"It is with great honour that I hand you your graduation certificate, Dustin. If it wasn't for your skills, bravery and friendship, you would not be standing here today." Dustin slipped a hand into Sensei's and shook it while accepting the diploma. After the magical moment, he raised his achievement into the air in which lead to a great cheer spread across the whole academy. Shane and Tori made the most noise. They stood up and went on stage and stood next to Dustin and congratulated him.

"There are so many things I want to tell you guys but I don't want to bore you to death so I'll just stick to the basics. Sensei and Cam, You have believed in me and didn't give up on me and I'm grateful of that. Also, Shane and Tori. If I didn't have friends like you I would be so messed up right now." Small chuckles went across.

"And All You Guys! You've Made Me Train That Lot Harder. Whoo!!" The crowd cheered abruptly and Dustin got off stage and followed Shane, Tori and Cam back to Ops to get changed and start his first lesson not as student, but as teacher.

–

A footstep approached the waterfall and opened the portal. The mysterious person walked in and took a good glance at his surroundings. The sun shining showed a big blonde top and sky blue eyes. A uniform different from the Wind Ninja Academy. He was an exchange teacher from the Thunder Academy. He goes by the name of Hunter, The lucky graduate the same as Dustin. He was kindly introduced by Sensei himself and got directed to the Ops. He made his way across.

He slowly trailed down the steps and met up with Cam. "So you must be the exchange ninja that has come to help?"

Hunter nodded, "Yeah I am. The Name's Hunter." Shane, Tori and Dustin came in from the next room and took a look at Hunter.

"umm...who's this?" Tori asked and examining.

"He's Hunter. He's here as an exchange."

"Yeah okay but don't we have Dustin?"

"Well..." Cam hesitantly replied. "It was my dad's idea that there should be two teachers here to further productivity." Shane and Tori got the idea but Dustin was lost in obliviousness. Hunter looked over at Dustin and took a glance at him. Curly, brown hair with dark brown eyes. It was way different from Dustin's sight. Bushy, Blonde hair with blue eyes. He thought it was a nice look for him. Hunter took another step forward which caused Dustin to retreat a little bit. He gaped and showed a small blush that came across his face.

Hunter broke out in a small chuckle. "Hehe, well if we're gonna be working together, I think we should get to know each other." Dustin's mind took it way out of context and another blush drew across.

"How about, uh, if you're hungry," Hunter began to invite, "lets grab a bite?" Dustin nodded and acted his normal self again. "You don't mind, do you Cam?"

"Nah, go ahead we're not that busy now anyways."

Hunter grabbed Dustin's hand and dragged him up out of Ops. Dustin was feeling red after that encounter.

"Aww, they're gonna get along great together." Tori said, acting pretty clever. "Maybe Dustin would be falling for him"

"What!? Are you serious? He wouldn't go that way would he?" Shane shocked in disbelief. He did act a little bit nervous around him so maybe he did fall for him. There weren't a lot of girls around Dustin so maybe he's looking to settle.

–

Hunter and Dustin went back home to change into something more casual,so they agreed to meet at a restaurant they both knew. Dustin arrived first and sat at a table outside under an umbrella. Hunter came up from behind and grabbed Dustin into a playful hug. This caused Dustin to jump out of his seat and tilted his head up to meet his gaze with Hunter. His clothes did look very good on him.

"Hehe Dustin, you got scared so easily." Hunter chuckled as he took his seat.

"Well I didn't know you were there alright?" Dustin acted so innocently and raised his hands up.

"Hehe man Dustin," Hunter said, "You're so cute." He flashed a small cute smile at him. It took him a while to comprehend what was just said. He could take a comment like that from Tori, a girl, but this was Hunter, a guy. A huge blush went across his face, he had to turn away so Hunter couldn't see. Hunter grabbed Dustin's arm and gently stroked him to calm him down. Dustin turned back and saw an innocent looking face on Hunter. He did start to calm down after a while. Hunter lifted his arm up to his chin and forced him to look deep into his eyes. There was a spark that arose from their encounter. Dustin couldn't really explain it but soon, he felt pretty comfortable around Hunter.

"Okay, so what will you boys have?" The waitress came at a bad time but they did come for the bite so they placed their orders and went back to a regular time.