Edited 08/02/2014

(Hey guys, sorry it's taken forever for me to update, but I did an extremely hard semester in college and it took a lot of my time away from working on this….when I wasn't so tired I didn't just drop in bed after I was done with studying and homework. Add to that the fact I have a life outside of writing this story that seems determined to get in the way most of the times the writing bug bites me, and this chapter was slow going. I also have problems focusing on this story alone. Also I realized I was spelling some of the Japanese words like jinchūriki wrong, so I'll be fixing that from now on in chapters, and maybe going back and fixing it in earlier chapters when I have time to. Oh, and I got a private PM asking me why I made this M rated, my answer to anyone else wondering is that it's mainly cautionary. Oh and if I don't get any more descriptions for Naruto's clan swords by next chapter or the chapter after that at the latest, the only person who actually bothered to give me one will "win" by default.)

Chapter 5 - Adjusting

It's been two weeks since the Hokage's announcement to the village and things are finally starting to calm down with the less rational (*cough*stupid*cough*) members of the civilian population. Partially because of the fact that ones who almost broke the Hokage's law were shown the errors of their ways, showing that he and the ninja are serious about protecting the boy, and partially because the small group that was actually actively trying to be hostile to him gave up on finding where he lived.

During those two weeks both Kakashi and Tenzo, as they finally learned Tora's real name is, regularly visited them in their regular shinobi apparel. They did this not only to get to know Naruto and his family better, but also to start teaching Naruto as they promised they would.

Kakashi even ended up bringing his friends Gai Might and Hayate Gekkō to visit. Gai because he knew the man would better help Naruto with his taijutsu, and Hayate because he expressed an interest in having a duel with Asahi when he mentioned his skills in kenjutsu. Too bad Asuma wasn't here to help, with him being one of the only people in the entire leaf village with a wind affinity and the three of them having almost no knowledge on manipulation and few jutsus they pretty much had to leave Naruto to his own devices when it comes to learning any of that. (A/N Once again I'm not going to explain these people as appearance wise they're canon, look it up and shave off a few years if you don't know.)

Its also too bad Naruto didn't take as well to them as he did to Kakashi and Tenzo. While he dutifully listened to any instructions or advice they gave him he rarely spoke to them except in reply to what they say to him, and even then the replies are as short and curt (though still polite) as possible.

He found Gai's exuberant, high paced, and eccentric way of acting slightly intimidating, and Hayate was a hard to read person. But since his new sensory abilities told him they held no dark emotions towards him or his family he trusted them enough to help him improve his skills and give them a chance to earn more trust than that.

Tsume and Kuromaru also came to visit. Knowing the pups were too young to start actively working on clan jutsu yet they focused on physical conditioning to prepare them for not only the chakra usage but also for the initial dizziness and nausea that comes from using the Gatsūga (Fang passing Fang) and teaching the pups Dynamic Marking. They also taught them clan traditions, beliefs, and values, seeing as how it was the pups and, as their bonded partner, Naruto's right to know them. Along with teaching Naruto how to enhance his senses so that they're much stronger than a normal humans, though as a side effect of being Kurama's jinchūriki he had already had better senses than anyone other than an Inuzuka or Kakashi. She even made the four of them (Naruto and his hounds) honorary Inuzuka by giving Naruto a tattoo of the fang marks on their faces on his lower left arm. He found he liked the two, though he didn't fully trust them both yet, he could tell it was only a matter of time.

He also found that he was extremely awkward around her two children Hana and Kiba when she brought them over though. Hana less than Kiba since she was older and more mature and he was therefore able to handle her easier. But Kiba's brash, arrogant, and childish personality grated on Naruto's nerves and he found himself hoping and even praying that not all children his age were like this or the academy was going to be hell. He did like Kiba's pup Akamaru and Hana's Three Haimaru Brothers a lot though.

What came as a surprise to everyone, though once they thought about it the ones who knew her realized they shouldn't have been, was that Anko Mitarashi actually volunteered to help "the gaki" as well. He found it easier to like, though not trust, her when he learned she had also been bitten by the snake, as they often phrased it.

With Anko came Kurenai Yūhi, Anko's best friend and another friend of Kakashi's, and Yūgao Uzuki, Hayate's disciple and lover. Kurenai came because she wanted to watch over her friend and also to see the container of the beast who killed her father and judge him herself. Yūgao came because she heard from Anko where Hayate had been disappearing to. Yūgao came to like sparing with Asahi and giving tips to Naruto rather easily, though Naruto treated her the same way he did Gai and Hayate.

Kurenai, on the other hand, had mixed feelings, all she saw when she looked at Naruto was a child who seemed to have had a hard life, and she found she was even coming to like the kid, but that didn't stop her from hating the thing he contained. By Kakashi and Anko's request she started helping him with Genjutsu, but she could tell he was wary of her. Little did she know that he was wary because while he could sense that she held nothing against him or his family, he could also sense her hatred for Kurama, and he wanted to see exactly how that hatred would lead her to treating him before he gave her any trust at all.

The pups naturally took their cue on how to treat each person from Naruto. Little did anyone but them (and Kurama) know but one of the side effects of being exposed to so much of Kurama's and Naruto's chakra in the womb was a telepathic link between them. They regularly spoke to each other mentally, even sometimes directly entering Naruto's mindscape to train with or talk to each other easier, though they didn't do that very often due to the mental strain it causes them. This is also one of the reasons why the pups' mental growth and development was so quick, because they could literally "download" anything they needed to know or understand directly from one another's brains as long as one of the others knew or understood what they needed to know or understand, which would come in very handy when they began hunting and tracking lessons with Tsume, or even in a fight when they got that far in their training and the pups were old enough to handle it.

Of course not everything he was learning was practical, they were also reviewing all of his academic knowledge and such to make sure he's ready for the academy when the next semester starts in a week. They quickly realized he was more than ready to pass the academy's academic section as well as the practical, but that wasn't really the reason he was going anyway. Of course his age mates have already been going to the academy for a number of years so him joining in now will probably be somewhat challenging for him. At least Kiba already considers him a friend, which , despite his annoyance with Kiba's personality, he was fine with…..after he showed him who's top dog anyway.

Of course he was actually more worried about the teachers reactions to him than his age mates. He was used to having no friends, he wasn't used to the risk of teachers trying to sabotage him, as his teachers at the lab knew exactly what would happen to them if they even tried. Not to mention the fact that there was most likely not going to be anything they're going to be teaching that he doesn't know already to sabotage anyway, Orochimaru does not suffer fools or idiots, at all. Well, he supposed all he could do was wait and see and rely on his sensory abilities to tell him of their intentions for him.

1 week later - Academy

Naruto stood outside the door to the room at the academy the sheet of paper he was tightly clutching in his hand told him he was assigned to. He's just now realized that thinking about being here and actually being here were two very different things. Thinking about it he could dispassionately point out all the things that could go wrong for him here. Here, now, standing outside the door to the place that would most likely have one of, if not THE largest impact(s) on his new life he found he was more nervous than he'd ever been before.

The pups whined, sensing his emotions and picking up at least the gist of the thoughts that spawned them. You see, for their telepathic link to fully work they actually had to be actively broadcasting their thoughts to each other, a problem they had to rectify if they ever wanted to actually use their ability in battle.

But the pups whine at least managed to break Naruto out of the worst of his nervousness, allowing him to finally knock on the door he'd been staring at for the last five or six minutes. There was a short pause, and then a man, most likely his new chunin instructor, opened the door.

The man examined him from head to toe, and Naruto did the same, as well as examining the man's emotions. What he felt wasn't as bad as it could have been. He felt apprehension, and a small amount of resentment, most likely from having to be the one to teach him, but otherwise he was rather neutral towards him. That's one half down, now he had to either hope that he was the main instructor rather than the assistant or that the other teacher had feelings at least similar to his.

The man finally finished his inspection and asked, "Are you Naruto Uzumaki," at Naruto's nod he said, "Good, I thought for a minute you'd be late for the first day back at school, and your first day ever. My name is Iruka Umino, my assistant Mizuki is in the classroom, but I'm sure you don't really need a formal introduction with him anyway."

"Not unless you think so Umino-sensei," Naruto told him.

"Please I'm not really one for formalities, there's no need to use my last name," he said, visibly showing his embarrassment at Naruto's formal address to him, along with the resentment and a small amount of the apprehension he felt fade.

"If that's what you'd like Iruka-sensei," was all Naruto said in reply, hiding the small amount of amusement he felt at Iruka's reaction.

With that Iruka walked back into the classroom, making a small gesture to indicate Naruto should follow him in. He walked to center of the area at the front of the auditorium-like classroom and tried to get the attention of the class. Normally he'd have a difficult time of it, but his students had noticed Naruto walk in with him, and their curiosity was enough for them to actually listen to him this time. Making sure he really did have the classes full attention, including an awake Shikamaru, he said "Alright class, as you can see we have a new student joining us this semester. Alright Naruto, go ahead and introduce yourself with your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future."

Naruto only paid half his attention to what Iruka was saying, the rest of his focus was on getting a feel for his classmates and Mizuki's emotions. He practically didn't have to look to feel Mizuki's emotions, the hatred the man held for him practically rolled off of him in waves, and he internally grimaced and made a mental note to never end up alone with him if he can help it. On the other hand, most of his classmates only held curiosity for him at this point and time, though he was somewhat surprised and genuinely touched by the welcoming emotions he felt from Kiba and Akamaru. Though he wasn't distracted enough not to hear what Iruka said about his introduction. (A/N Before anyone asks why they didn't smell snakes on Mizuki, one Kiba and Akamaru would have in canon if he really smelled like them, and two, do you really think Mizuki was important enough to Orochimaru for him or one of his top subordinates to actually meet the ass in person?)

Carefully burying any sense of nervousness down so deep he knew it wouldn't show he spoke, "Hello, everyone. My Name is Naruto Uzumaki, and these are my nin-ken Kimi, Jun, and Ryuu." He points to each respectively as he says their names, then continues with, "I like my family, my nin-ken, reading, learning, gardening, insects that help protect and nurture plants' health, medicine (he felt interest from the girl who was obviously a Hyūga at that bit), and a number of other things. I dislike feeling trapped or confined, snakes, people or things that threaten those I care about, insects that kill plants, though I don't mind the ones that only eat them, as well as fleas, for obvious reasons, people who are cruel to and/or kill animals or plants for no reason, and those who judge others based off of rumors or appearance rather than getting to know them first." (He felt a spike of guilt from Iruka at that one, he also felt the boy who seemed to be an Aburame feel a mixed set of emotions from interest to annoyance, most likely from his comments about insects).

He paused for a second to consider what else to say, then continued with "My hobbies are the same as my likes, though I suppose I should add training both with or without my nin-ken, though preferably with, playing various board games like Go, Chess, and Shogi, puzzles, and cooking to that list as well. (He could have sworn he practically FELT the boy who seemed to be an Akimichi start to drool at that last bit, and his curiosity intensify as well, and a small, somehow lazy(?!) flare of interested challenge from the boy who was most likely a Nara.) As for dreams for the future….well other than becoming a successful shinobi and protecting those important to me I can't say I've really decided on one yet." It was true too, after all, just a month ago he had no dream other than somehow escaping his prison with his family intact. One which he thought could never be fulfilled, and he hadn't even considered the fact that he now COULD have a real dream or ambition of his own to fulfill until it was brought to his attention just now.

Continuing to sense his classmates emotions, he sensed a majority of them having their curiosity satisfied and their interest in him drop at the end of his intro. Most of the civilians, a girl who was most likely a Yamanaka, and a boy who, judging by the crest he wore, was the last loyal Uchiha of Konoha had all most likely decided he wasn't worth more of their time or interest. The fact that he'd said almost everything in a calm, almost detached manner most likely also played a factor in their loss of interest.

It couldn't be helped though, that's how he started talking to anyone who wasn't family a long time ago in an attempt to distance himself from his captors. However, four students, who he'd already identified as the clan heirs to the Aburame, Hyūga, Akimichi, and Nara clans that he was told would be in his class, all showed a decided interest in him for the reasons he'd already managed to deduce, and of course he was already sort of friends with Kiba (and got along well with Akamaru).

He honestly wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was already having trouble figuring out how to be friends with Kiba (though luckily for him it seems like none of the others seemed to have his personality), or even if what he and Kiba had was really a friendship. How was he supposed to add four more people to that list? It looks like he'd be seeking out more advice from Yui, Hayate, or Yūgao as the most normal people he knew about stuff like this. For now all he could do was hide his nervousness and go with the flow and take cues from how they interacted with him until he could figure out exactly how to act around them.

"Alright, since we still have five or so minutes till class starts I'll allow students that raise their hands to ask Naruto questions until class starts, though remember Naruto has a right not to answer your questions if he doesn't want to," Iruka said. It seems like he managed to spark a small amount of curiosity from the man as well.

A pink haired girl at the front of the class raised her hand first, "Yes Sakura, go ahead," Iruka said.

"You said those three are your nin-ken, but I thought only Inuzuka had nin-ken, and you don't have their clan markings, though you have something similar to them," Sakura stated/asked.

Taking a second to dedicate her name to memory, Naruto answered, "Yes that is true, but due to certain circumstances I'm not comfortable talking about I became an honorary member of the clan, which is what this tattoo of their clan marking means, and all honorary members are basically clan members without the name, which means they receive nin-ken as well," Naruto answered while showing said tattoo. It was true too, seeing as how he had Tsume give him a detailed explanation of exactly what being an honorary member meant before he accepted her offer. It just wasn't the whole truth for him.

Seeing that answer satisfied her question, this time it was the Akimichi who raised his hand, "Yes Chōji, go ahead," Iruka said.

With permission granted Chōji looked at Naruto with a intensely serious expression and asked, "How good of a cook are you," getting sweat-drops from almost everyone in the class.

Naruto, once again memorizing the name, unsurely answered, "I don't know, I'm the main cook in my family, since one of them burns water and the other can only do simple dishes, but I've ONLY cooked for my family, and I think they'd still say it tasted good even if it wasn't. If you're really that curious though, I could give you a SMALL sample of my lunch once it's time." He got a satisfied nod the boy in response.

The next person to raise his hand, to the surprise of everyone but Naruto, was the Nara, Iruka gave the same response he did everyone else using Shikamaru's name.

"This is troublesome, but how about a game at lunch," Shikamaru asked.

Naruto simply shrugged and replied, "Sure, I carry a number of different boards with me anyway, we'll have to pick one of the shorter ones though considering time restraints." He got an agreeing nod in response. The boy then promptly placed his head on his desk to go to sleep, not caring about the rest of the questions or answers, and getting sweat-drops from most in response.

Naruto's response also prompted Iruka to ask, "How when you aren't even carrying a backpack with you?"

Naruto looked at him and asked, "Have you lectured on storage seals yet?" He got an understanding nod in response.

The next person to raise their hand was the Hyūga, though she seemed unbelievably embarrassed and uncomfortable even doing that much."Yes Hinata, feel free to ask your question and I have to say yours will be the last," Iruka said.

Giving a small, barely heard eep in response Hinata managed to stutter out, "By medicine do you mean like a med-nin or herbal?" (A/N As I've already said there's no way in hell I'll actually write stuff like stuttering out, I'll simply mention they do something like that only.)

Naruto tilted his head in thought for a second before once again shrugging and saying a simple, "Both," in response. The obviously timid girl simply gave a shy nod in response while flushed from the embarrassment she felt for having so much attention directed at her.

"Alright then Naruto, please take a seat anywhere not already taken and we'll start our first day of the semester," Iruka said with a small smile as a majority of the class took out their text and notebooks.

Naruto looked around to decide which of the four empty seats he would take. The first was an aisle seat that put him next to Kiba, but it also put him as the center of class, and he didn't think he could take Kiba's personality and the crowded feeling it might give him, so that was out, he could always apologize to Kiba and explain most of it later if it bugged him.

The next seat was in-between two civilian kids, so that was a bust, he didn't want their parents freaking out about it if the kids mentioned him when they got home and their parents were some of the less….apathetic civilians. So that left the two at the back right-side row that were around Shino, it seems like he either liked it that way or that no one wanted to sit next him because he was an Aburame. It looked like the second one was the more likely of the two if the fact that the boys emotions seemed to show no signs of him not wanting someone to sit near him had anything to "say" about it. Looks like he was picking one of those seats than.

Walking up to the boy with his pups in tow he asked, "Hi, mind if I and my companions sit here? I would also appreciate hearing your first name Aburame-san."

The only outward emotion the boy showed was a slight raising of one of his eyebrows, inwardly he felt the boy feel a small amount of surprise and an increased spike of interest in him (Naruto) as well. He finally replied with, "No Uzumaki-san, I have no problem with you sitting near me. Why you ask? Because these seats are not mine to deny you in the first place. I also do not mind giving you my name. Why you ask? Because you asked so politely it would be rude of me to refuse. My name is Shino Aburame, it is nice to meet you." (A/N GAaah, I don't know why, but writing Shino's manner of speech is a lot harder than it seems. Please, since I know I'm going to be writing this character at least reasonably often, someone tell me if I'm doing him correctly.)

Naruto sat in the seat to the right of Shino, since the boy was sitting in the middle seat, with Kimi and Jun hopping onto his lap before settling and Ryuu doing the same as Akamaru and resting on Naruto's head.

Naruto then said, "Thank you Shino, it's nice to meet you, too. I suppose you're right about the chairs not being yours to keep from me, but it is still common courtesy to ask."

Shino might or might not have replied to that if it weren't for the fact that Iruka began his lecture right then. It seems like the first subject that would be covered would be history….that he'd already learned years ago….something told him it wasn't his classmates personalities or his teachers reactions that he should have been worried about, but the sheer boredom he'd have to fight off hearing lectures about stuff he was already beyond at the age of FIVE for Kami's sake.

Time-skip - Lunchtime, academy grounds

It seemed to him that as soon as he sat down in the shade of a tree with a swing hanging down from one of its branches he was surrounded by a veritable swarm of children. In actuality it was merely five kids and a hound, Kiba with Akamaru, Shikamaru, Hinata, Chōji and even Shino all moved to sit near him as soon as he sat down, though Shino sat slightly more separated from them than the rest. Seeing the expectant, almost eager, looks of both Chōji and Shikamaru he couldn't help but let loose a small smile as he reached down to the miscellaneous seal on his sash to unseal his bento (boxed lunch,) his pups meals and bowls, and a checkerboard (with pieces) from it, much to the surprise and even slight awe of the others.

"I thought storage seals are for scrolls," Chōji asked.

"A typical store-bought storage seal will be put on a scroll called a storage scroll, anyone who can make storage seals themselves can put them pretty much anywhere they want. Though a permanent storage seal on skin that wont simply fade away after one use or wash is both harder to do and painful for the person receiving it, since it has to be literally burned on through chakra or tattooed on, which is why I use my sash," Naruto replied. While normally he wouldn't be so loose-lipped about info on his skills, this info was so basic anyone who studied even the basics of making (not using) seals would know, so he didn't mind telling them.

"Well, that's cool and all, but what I want ta' know is why you didn't sit next to me in class earlier when we already know each other, I kept that seat empty just for you ya' know," Kiba asked in a slightly irritated tone even as he and everyone began opening their bentos and splitting their chopsticks.

Taking a minute to give Chōji one of each item in his obviously larger than all but Chōji's bento, much to the boy's delight, and set up his pups meal to give to them, Naruto then replied with, "I'm sorry Kiba-san, but if you were listening to my intro I said I dislike feeling like I'm trapped or confined, and being in the middle of a classroom, surrounded by kids I don't know…." He trailed off suggestively, and saw understanding dawn in not only Kiba's eyes but the others as well.

"Are you not worried about this affecting your performance as a shinobi? Why you ask? Because as a shinobi there is a high chance of you ending up in tight or small places or surrounded by people," Shino stated more than asked.

"Well, when I say I dislike it, I really mean I simply dislike it. I don't go into panic attacks or anything like that, at the worst I'll feel an uncomfortable emotion a lot like paranoia in that kind of a situation," Naruto replied after a moment of thought. After all, if he had a panic attack or something every time he was in a confined place he would have been having one pretty much every day of his life down in the lab.

His question answered, Shino gave a simple nod and started eating his bento, being careful to do it in a way that made it so that no one could see his mouth. That seemed to be a cue for everyone to start eating, as they did just that. However, as soon as Chōji took a bite of one of Naruto's dishes his eyes took on a slightly dazed look with the smallest amount of drool trickling out of his mouth.

"Chōji," a slightly worried Shikamaru asked.

"Good," is all Chōji said in reply, holding out the "o" in good for a short period of time before finishing the word. This reaction and reply got Kiba to laugh out loud, Hinata to giggle quietly, Shikamaru to mutter out a quiet "Troublesome," Shino to raise an eyebrow in an amused fashion, Naruto's still present small smile to grow a bit, the pups (including Akamaru) to bark their amusement, and Chōji to blush a bit in embarrassment when he snapped out of it.

"Well Akimichi-san, I suppose you have your answer then," Naruto said with carefully concealed amusement…well, except for the small smile anyway.

Chōji gave a nod in reply, blush fading from his cheeks, before saying, "Just Chōji is fine, and I'd like it if I could call you Naruto too, please," this comment got nods of agreement from Hinata and Shikamaru.

"That's fine with me Chōji-san, Hinata-san, Shikamaru-san," Naruto replied. The fact that Naruto still used the "san" suffix caused them to sigh a bit, but judging from the fact that even the usually stubborn Kiba didn't protest at Naruto's use of it earlier they decided that that was the best they were going to get.

After that a companionable silence overtook the group as they ate, only broken by the occasion click from the checker pieces as Naruto and Shikamaru took their turn and the occasional shout from a fellow academy student when someone passes by close enough for the group to hear them.

Most of them had just finished eating when they heard a muttered "Troublesome" from Shikamaru and turned to see that Naruto had won. While this got no real reaction from most of them, it caused Chōji to stare in shock as Shikamaru had never lost a strategy game to anyone in or around his age-group before, so this was a pretty shocking thing to him. (A/N When Shikamaru is older and more experienced I could see him losing to no one but his dad, but he's still a kid right now so I believe other members of the clan that are older than him would be able to beat him at least.)

"Ah, I can't believe I lost, what a drag, I think I'm just going to lie down and stare at the clouds for the rest of lunch, maybe sleep. I want a rematch with shoji later though you troublesome blonde," Shikamaru muttered out while doing the previously mentioned actions.

"Alright then Shikamaru-san, if that's what you want," Naruto said while wondering what he'd done to be labeled troublesome, before reviewing his memory of everything Shikamaru has said so far and realizing everything except sleeping and cloud watching was troublesome to him.

Felling a tap on his shoulder, Naruto turned to see it was Shino who had done it, who then nodded his head at the board in obvious invite. Nodding in return, Naruto picked up the board and moved so that he was now facing Shino with it., and just like that they began to play.

This time though, it wasn't in silence. Chōji was the first to break the silence by asking, "So where and who did you learn to cook like that from?"

"Well, the where is kind of hard, as my family were living in a pretty isolated area in Fire Country that's not on any maps. As for who, no one, other than the occasional pointer here and there I taught myself," Naruto replied absentmindedly, keeping most of his focus on the board in front of him.

"What made you decide to move to Konoha," Kiba asked curiously, he honestly hadn't thought about it until now.

"Well, my adopted mother wanted to move to a village because she wanted me to be able to make some friends my own age and she was getting tired of home schooling me. We decided on Konoha because her "I-won't-admit-he's-my-boyfriend-when-he's-definitely-my-boyfriend" boyfriend had always wanted to be a shinobi and it was Fire Country's shinobi village," Naruto once again absentmindedly replied, it was his turn.

"Adopted mother," Hinata stuttered out.

"I'm afraid my birth parents died protecting me from a rather nasty missing-nin they had the unfortunate luck of running afoul of the day I was born, so I never knew them," Naruto replied sadly. It wasn't the whole truth, the Uchiha who controlled Kurama was definitely a missing-nin from his own admission, but the one who killed them with a claw through their gut while protecting Naruto from said claw was Kurama himself. Kurama had already apologized for it, but Naruto couldn't really blame him, he can relate somewhat after being imprisoned his whole life, and he certainly wouldn't want to be imprisoned again after just gaining his freedom either.

"Ah, I'm sorry for bringing up such a sad subject, "Hinata barely manage to get out, her stuttering having increased due to the flustered emotions she was feeling.

"It's no problem, while I'm sad I never got the chance to know them, Yui-okasan has been doing the best she possibly could to raise me, and Asahi-ojisan helped too. I'm satisfied with the family I have," Naruto replied. He didn't get why that made Hinata so flustered or the others to feel a weird mixture of sadness, pity, and guilt. He was, admittedly, somewhat sad he never had the opportunity to meet or get to know his parents, but he couldn't really miss what he never had, right? He found he didn't like the feelings he was getting from his…friends, so he decided to change the subject.

"So, Hinata, is the reason you asked me what kind of medicine I have an interest in because you have an interest of your own in the subject," Naruto asked the shy girl.

Realizing they were making Naruto uncomfortable, Hinata accepted the change in conversation by stuttering out, "Yes I do, Naruto-san, that plus an interest in gardening makes it so that I'm actually able to make my own herbal medicines."

"But you only do medicines, that seems like a waste. I use my own gardens to make anything from medicines, poisons, and antidotes to a special kind of chemical that repels certain types of insects," Naruto replied absentmindedly, having returned a majority of his attention back to the near finished game. Hinata seemed to become lost in thought to that.

Shino raised an eyebrow in curiosity to that before asking, "You only repel them, that is a surprise. Why you may ask? Because most people would kill bugs they don't like."

"Why kill them for doing what they were born to do. It's not they know the plants they're killing are important to someone. They're just living their lives doing what they were born to do, and I won't kill them for something as simple as that when an equally simple solution of scaring them away from my plants works just as well," Naruto replied with some force behind his words. He valued life far too much to take any of it unnecessarily, Orochimaru had already caused him to stain his hands with the blood of insane experiments and prisoners he sicced on him (Naruto) to test his abilities to see the killing of anything as any more than a last resort.

Slightly taken back by the force behind Naruto's statement, Shino simply nodded in understanding and made his last, and losing, move against Naruto. As he expected, Naruto used the only move he left available for Shino to use and took all of Shino's remaining pieces, therefore winning.

This was a good thing however, as shortly after he took the last of Shino's pieces from the board, the bell rung warning that it was time to head back to class or be late. This prompted both Shikamaru, who was more interested in watching clouds while listening to the answers the strawberry blonde that was quickly becoming an enigma than in sleep right now, and Kiba, who simply didn't want to return to classes, to groan slightly. However, groans or not, everyone packed up, got up, and headed back for the rest of their school day to continue. All the while thinking various thoughts about the mysterious strawberry blonde that had suddenly and unexpectedly caught their interest and worked his way into their thoughts…..