Chapter 8: Arising Difficulties
As the morning classes drew to a close, Naruto began to feel jittery as their first Friday approached. Naruto's eyes darted back and forth as Iruka brought the lecture to a close, something about the relationship between Konoha and the other hidden villages.
"Now I'm sure you're all excited, many of you anticipating today." Iruka began, as he noted the eager expression on many of the boys faces. "This week, we'll be doing an obstacle course, in singles, to test each of your physical ability, stamina, and awareness of your surroundings. Eventually this'll be expanded on, up to a group of three doing the task together, and other tasks such as simulated combat scenarios using blunted kunai and information wars."
Heading to the door, he beckoned to the class. "Follow me, we've set it up outside of the academy, as we didn't have sufficient room."
Turning to the kids, Iruka said, "I don't expect any of you to be able to finish this course yet. Not even our most talented shinobi finished it on their first. Before you graduate, you'll be expected to be able to get through this course in under five minutes. With that in mind, Aburame Shino, you're up."
One by one, the students went through the course, and as expected, none of them had managed to finish it. Shino showed surprising dexterity and made it a full quarter of the way through the course before his stamina ran low. Others such as Kiba and Chouji got stopped by the rickety bridge, unable to keep their balance.
"Namikaze Naruto, if you would." Iruka beckoned, after Kiba left the course.
Smirking, Naruto nodded and rushed into the course, certain he'd show what he could do. Stopping in front of the first obstacle, his actions belied his words as his comrades failures cautioned him in the deception of the course.
Naruto closed his eyes and let out a breathe, calming himself. As he opened his eyes, he jumped into action scaling the vine-covered wall. Halfway up, the vine he was using for a handhold tore as he shifted his weight. Cursing to himself, Naruto immediately let it go and managed to grasp a sturdier vine before he hit the forest floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto climbed the wall with a little more care.
Clearing the wall, he saw that he had a choice to make, if the sign was to be trusted. To the left was a path that would consume more time, but would also be less difficult, and to his right was a much more direct route to the next obstacle, if a lot more physically demanding. Neither path showed exactly what he'd have to deal with, nor did the sign give any hint.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Naruto veered for the right path, trusting in his growing physical ability.
Cautiously, he walked along the trail with gentle steps, hoping not to set anything off. Pausing momentarily, Naruto eyed his surroundings looking for any signs of trouble. "Ah, screw it." he muttered to himself, well aware of his shortcomings. Abandoning all caution, Naruto ran forward trusting in his instinct to pull him through. Immediately, he regretted his decision and without anything to grab onto, he plummeted to the forest floor immediately.
Spotting Naruto's progress, Mizuki shook his head in resignation. Sighing to himself, he left the scene and reported to Iruka.
"Iruka, Naruto took the Giman Path and while he had showed a modicum of control at the start, he abandoned all care fell to the simplest of the traps in that zone."
Nodding, Iruka turned to the rest of the class, "Nara Shikamaru, your turn."
Shortly, the rest of the class went through the course, and as expected none cleared. Shino, Hinata, and Sasuke were the three who made it the furthest, Sasuke almost managing to make it halfway there before being caught unaware by a trap whereas Shino and Hinata both were forced to stop due to their stamina.
"Time for the results. Mizuki, if you would." Iruka said after a few moments of silence, as the two Chunin compiled their progress, speed, and reasons for stopping.
"Uchiha Sasuke, you made it the furthest of all the students, however, you were reckless in how you dealt with some of the obstacles. Work on that. All things considered, we rank you as first among the class."
Smiling at the praise, Sasuke accepted his words with a nod.
"Aburame Shino, your methodical way of dealing with traps and other obstacles was impressive, however, your movements were excessive and you consumed much more stamina than needed. Spend some time eliminating unneeded movement. You rank second among the boys and third overall."
"Will do, Sensei." Shino said, taking Mizuki's words at face value.
"Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba. You both showed great stamina and impressive physical ability for your age, however, both of you are unbalanced in your physical ability. Work on your weaknesses. You two rank fifth and sixth among the boys, and sixth and eighth overall."
"Yes, sensei." Kiba said in a defeated tone. Chouji merely nodded.
"Namikaze Naruto. You did well on the first obstacle, showing good reaction time when the vine broke. However, in frustration you took the more difficult of paths and approached it without caution. Work on your patience and continue improving. You've shown impressive growth this week, but you still have much you can improve on. You rank eleventh among the boys, and fifteenth overall."
With a sheepish expression on his face, Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, yes, Mizuki-sensei."
"Nara Shikamaru...You showed an incredible lack of effort, but despite that you managed to make some progress. While you may find this to be too troublesome, it is one of the requirements to graduate from the academy. Build up your stamina, make an effort, and continue to grow. You rank thirteenth among the boys and eighteenth overall."
Sighing, Shikamaru merely nodded his head.
"Hyuuga Hinata. You made quick and decisive decisions while overcoming the obstacles and had excellent movements to complement your choices. Work on increasing your stamina and do Konoha proud. You rank first among the girls, and second overall."
With a gentle smile, Hinata accepted the praise.
"Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura. The two of you showed quick thinking in the second obstacle, however, you both quickly gave into your frustrations and loss awareness of your surroundings. Work on your tempers, and hone your physical abilities. The two of you rank seventh and ninth among the girls, and seventeenth and twentieth overall."
Falling silent, Mizuki turned to Iruka who addressed the class. "Now then, everyone. Work on your weaknesses over the next week and aim on improving your standing. Next week will be an intelligence war course, Monday and Tuesday will cover the importance of intelligence and the best methods to gather the intelligence, Wednesday and Thursday will be theoretical assignments. Friday will be a compilation of the week and your aim will be to steal the scrolls from the opposing teams. Teams will be entirely random. Three members to a team. Dismissed."
A/N: Just a forewarning, in the future I may end up losing my internet for some time, so if you don't see updates for a long time (over a month), then that is the case. I'll put another notice up when the danger of losing it is gone. In other news, I'm curious as to who you think Naruto's sensei will be (and his team). All teams, including their sensei, are already decided. This was just to see how many, if any, are correct.