Ko smiled reassuringly at Naruto as he handed the boy the pencil he was supposed use while taking the second test of the year. He knew that the boy wouldn't get any of the questions right, but it would result in less disturbances if Naruto, who was picking up on the anxiety of the other students, wasn't anxious himself as it tended to make him cry. The boy who had been tugging on the ropes with which the teacher had bound him to his booster seat which one of the other students had donated, having probably nicked it from a restaurant, took the pencil with a babyish smile that lit up his wide blue eyes.
Smiling back, he carefully watched the boy as he waited to turn over his test paper, making sure that Naruto didn't accidentally stab himself with the pencil which was much sharper than the novelty pencil which had been included in the boy's school supplies. Supplies that were incredibly worse for wear despite the fact that they hadn't seen much use. This was due to the fact that the use they had seen had been rough, and not what they had been intended for by a baby who didn't know what they were for and often used them as teething toys. Fortunately, the boy whose hand wasn't the right size to hold a writing instrument that wasn't a toddler sized crayon, or a pencil that was of approximately the same thickness, didn't stab himself during the wait for that day's exam to start. An exam Ko wasn't entirely sure he himself was entirely ready for, since he had spent so much of his class time looking after Naruto who really should be at home with a babysitter or something.
When it was time to turn the test paper over, Naruto rather cutely tried to copy the rest of the class, creasing his paper badly in the process. After that, Naruto started playing with the pencil, at one point connecting the lead to the paper and noticing that it made marks. Laughing happily, the boy started scribbling all over the paper. Some of said scribbles resembled the boy's name.
The next Monday, after the tests had been graded and handed back, Ko was surprised to see that Naruto had gotten one of the questions right completely by accident. The answer to the question having been "Uzumaki". Points had been removed for his lack of detail though.
Itachi watched the First Year Academy students from his spot over by the older students who were his classmates. Having tested out of the First Year class before he'd even arrived at the Academy, and being on track to graduate at the end of the year, he was taking classes with children who were a good three years older than him. That difference was nothing compared to the age difference between the average members of the First Year class and the youngest member of the class, who was standing next to Hyuuga Ko and trying to imitate the basic warmup stretches.
He wondered how the small Uzumaki child who reminded him of his little brother would fare when his companion eventually left him behind. Hyuuga Ko, despite his somewhat retiring nature, had been another one who had been on the fast track for Early Graduation. Though the Hyuuga's wouldn't be one that was nearly so early as his. Ko would be leaving the Uzumaki behind at the end of the year at the latest, and it would be a major miracle if the Uzumaki child got past the first year without having to repeat it at least twice, considering his age.
As he watched little Naruto's butt wiggle in the air as he tried to bend down to touch his toes, he smiled as he remembered Sasuke trying to hide under a blanket only for his wiggling diaper-clad backside to give him away. As Naruto tried to straighten back up, his over-sized head which made him a bit top-heavy caused him to overbalance and fall. The child gave a startled shriek of surprise when he hit the ground. Rather than getting up right away, the boy sat there and cried like Sasuke would've if he'd fallen over.
"Get up Uzumaki!" the Instructor for the First Year class said, kicking the small child who was still sprawled on the ground.
It had been more of a rough toeing, than a kick, but it was still a kick. As his parents had told him before, You. Never. Kick. A. Baby. Especially not a baby who was even smaller than Sasuke was right now.
This seemed to be the cue that Naruto's classmates had apparently been waiting for, as the rest of Naruto's class finally snapped and mobbed the evil baby-kicking Instructor. Without really thinking about it, he grabbed one of the Kunai he was supposed to be practicing throwing and joined the mob of First Years. From the looks of things, he wasn't the only member of his class to make the decision.
The Hokage groaned as he read the report he'd just received. It had taken over two hours to restore order at the Academy, and the First Year Instructor had been sent to the hospital after having nearly been killed by his students. One of whom, quite possibly a Fourth Year student who had abandoned the nearby target practice in order to join the mob who had attacked the Instructor, had nearly eviscerated the man with a dull kunai.
The thing was, he didn't really feel much sympathy for the man considering the fact that, according to eyewitness accounts of the incident, the man had been seen kicking Naruto. The only regret he felt about this situation was over the paperwork he'd be stuck with, and the difficulty that would be posed by finding a last-minute replacement for the man. A replacement who wouldn't follow in his predecessor's footsteps.
The Uchiha had recently been clamoring about being given more responsibilities in the running of the village, so maybe...
Smiling, he wrote a missive requesting advice from Fugaku regarding recommendations involving an important position that involved the next generation of shinobi.
Fugaku sighed as he pulled the Hokage's note off of the top of the pile of paperwork that swamped his desk. A pile that was nearly as large as the one that graced the desk of the Hokage. This pile was a combination of Clan business and Police business which he had to tend to, being both Head of the Uchiha Clan and the Chief of Police. There were days he wanted to take a break from it all, but he knew he couldn't because he had been born into the position and it was his burden to bear.
Important position? he thought as he read the missive that had been sent to him. Well, it isn't as if I would ask anyone else to do what I'm not willing to do...
Edited 7-18-15. Edited 9-5-16.