I now own Naruto and all Naruto related products… Right…. Of course not, the standard disclaimer still holds. I don't actually own anything at all… (author starts sulking) Also, apologies for the short chapters; I will try to write more...
Naruto ran hurriedly towards the academy, clumsily flopping along in his sandals, several sizes too large, and in his bright orange jumpsuit. He could not believe that he was already late for his first day towards becoming a real ninja. It wasn't really his fault as he has spent the entire night prior trying to repair his room. Some random people had smashed apart his window and thrown bricks through into his apartment. As a result, Naruto had spent much of the night fixing up his place.
"Stupid people, always messing up my apartment." He shivered a bit. "It's always the same cold eyes." What had he ever done to them to deserve such treatment? In truth, he hadn't really started his pranks until the past few years, mostly for fun, exercise, and attention. He snickered as he briefly reminisced about his latest episode. The village deserved the small measures of justice from his pranks for their raw treatment. All his life, he had protected and sheltered the whole village from the stupid nine-tailed kitsune. And for this, they repaid him in such a manner!
So far in his life, he had been kicked out from the orphanage where he had first found himself within days after he could walk and talk, supposedly all the skills he needed to survive, according to the caretakers. Although the old man Hokage had given him money and tried to help how he could, he still could only get a rundown, abandoned apartment in the worst district of town. Shops overpriced him and generally refused him service. And, worst, almost everyone looked at him with such cold and inhuman eyes, that really chilled him.
Finally, after avoiding some threatening drunks and some bitter curses, he managed to get to the shinobi academy, where a stern-looking, scarred teacher stood at the front of the classroom. He turned from gazing at the silent students and fixed Naruto with a steely glare as he entered. "Uzamaki Naruto." Without waiting for an answer or any sort of response, the teacher continued. "Hurry up and pick a seat. Next time, do not arrive late. It is unbecoming behavior for a shinobi." Turning this into a brief lecture, he addressed the whole class. "Tardiness can have repercussions on the field, the delay might be the difference between the success and failure of a mission, the difference between the enemies' death and yours'. Now, welcome everyone to the first day of the shinobi academy, an important next step towards becoming a proficient shinobi. I will be your teacher for these next two years. (1) My name is Umino Iruka, but you will all address me as Umino-Sensei." He proceeded to methodically discharge his duties and responsibilities, taking role and asking each student to briefly introduce him or herself to the whole class. After a brief warm-up activity, Iruka proceeded to launch into his first lecture of the year.
"Today, we will learn briefly about the history of the ninja world and of the founding of Konoha. As you previously learned in elementary school (2), originally only a few people were able to wield chakra, the primary type of energy we shinobi use, effectively. We will cover in greater detail the exact nature and details of chakra in a later lecture. Anyway, the first such users were held in awe for their seemingly supernatural abilities. Over time, rudimentary jutsus and fighting styles emerged, as well as the primitive beginnings of the shinobi occupation. Though at first the roles were that more of a warrior, shinobi roles eventually evolved along the lines of today into a type of a specialized assassin and fighter. Shinobi gained the label of tools, for a cause or leader, in their abilities to grasp at and utilize greater amounts of chakra."
"With this, diverse style of fighting emerged, setting the basis for the development of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, as well as causing new rifts and troubles. Along with this new diversity came dissension. Differing ideologies and specialists began to clash. As leaders established peace in their countries, they termed themselves as elemental countries, naming themselves after variants of the elements, the most powerful claiming one of the five main elements, the countries of Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Earth. Following the restoration and formation of order, in an effort to make peace, shinobi gathered according to their beliefs and styles to the different countries, and formed hidden schools to train and raise new shinobi."
"The daiymo's of each country, seeing the power of shinobi, encouraged the growth of these schools, forming the hidden villages of today. Shinobi remain essential due to their specialized abilities and use of chakra that most people and normal soldiers have no access to. And with the firm establishment of these villages, the leaders took on the title of kage, as an embodiment of the element of their country."
Iruka glanced up at the clock and paused, closing his notes and the textbook. He looked up at the silent, sleeping, and daydreaming class. A thick vein throbbed. Grabbing a handful of eraser, with pinpoint accuracy, Iruka nailed half a dozen children in the head, knocking them out of their chairs. He distantly noted with some surprise that Naruto had remained, if not alert, at least awake. "Now that I have your attention again…" He glared at the suddenly slightly cowering children. "We will continue this lecture tomorrow, with an additional segment on the Shodaime Hokage. Are there any questions? No? Remember that there will be a quiz on this later in the week. Class dismissed for break." The class scattered out of the door and headed out to play.
Iruka let out a long, tired sigh. The students always had trouble paying attention to the lecture portions. History was something important to know, contrary to common perception. Knowing the background of the world helped shinobi explain, understand, and accept the structure and nature of the system of the elemental countries. Similarly, their later lessons in politics and geography would help immensely. Starting next week though, when all of the bureaucratic issues were settled, they would alternate lectures with practical lessons and skills every day.
Suddenly, Naruto's voice broke through Iruka's thoughts. "Eh, Umino-sensei?" He asked tentatively, probing the character of his teacher, trying to determine if Iruka would treat him unfairly or violently.
To Naruto's great surprise, Iruka put his notes and planner down to give him full attention. "Yes, Naruto?" He replied, stiffly and with a bit of anger, but pushed down with some self-control and containing some measure of curiosity. All of the other students had already left the again silent room.
"I had a question, Umino-sensei." Naruto continued, seeing that, if not fond of him, Iruka was at least willing to give him a chance.
"Go ahead."
"Was there always chakra? In the lecture, you made it sound like chakra and the use of chakra was originally very rare."
With considerable surprise at the attention and at the surprisingly sharp question, Iruka had to reevaluate his opinions a bit. "Well, chakra has supposedly always been there. However, written records only go so far back. Even now, we aren't even sure of the origins of chakra, though such research would be of immense importance."
"Hmm. Will we go over the theories of its origins in the later lecture you mentioned?" Naruto, rather curious, followed up.
Again, Iruka's estimation of Naruto rose a notch. "Probably not, it is a little too in depth for academy students to learn right now." Seeing Naruto deflate slightly, he smiled and added, "Though, if you're really interested, you could read about it at the shinobi library if you'd like." He was starting to warm up a bit to the child. Though, he noted Naruto's frown at the mention of the library.
"Thank you Umino-sensei. May I ask another question?"
"Of course." He wondered what else Naruto would ask.
"Why is our hidden village called the Leaf? We are located in the fire country, aren't we?"
Iruka was astounded. This child was quite sharp. "That is a very good question! Most people gloss over the fact and ignore it, even though the part of the connection should be obvious to them. There are three reasons. First of all, as you will learn tomorrow, the Shodaime, the First Hokage, was the one who established this hidden village. His bloodline limit was the Mokuton, which allowed him to control plants, though usually he used various trees. In his honor, the village was named Konogakure, or Hidden Village of the Lead."
"Secondly, and more importantly, a topic less touched on, the Nidaime also supported this name as a reminder. The terrible times of strife prior had taken a toll on the people. A former major clan had a name relating to plants but was destroyed during the turmoil. Much of the village had come from the survivors and they called this place the Leaf as a token to remember as well as a symbol of their hope in a new beginning.
"Thirdly, most of the other hidden villages, which you will learn about, also do not have names identical to their elements. There are the Hidden Villages of the Mist, the Rock, the Sand, and the Cloud. Most of the villages take on names related to or somehow symbolic for their style of fighting."
At this point, even Naruto's eyelids were beginning to sag down from the fairly long lecture. But, he had made an effort to stay as it was fairly interesting. "Thank you, Umino-sensei. That was very interesting."
"No problem, my pleasure." Iruka smiled at his student, who ran off to play for a while before class started again. Naruto was proving himself to be a very interesting child. He would have to keep an this year's kids, especially Naruto.
Soon, perhaps too soon, break was over. As the students straggled into the classroom, Iruka once again launched into his teacher mode and, though the second half of class was a basics in taijutsu session, gave a long lecture about the importance and history of taijutsu and the varied styles. He did break up his monotonous class with some spar exercises and some basic kata practices.
A/N
(1) It hardly makes sense for students to go to the ninja academy for just a year. For me, I have it set up so that aspiring shinobi go to the ninja academy for two years to learn the basics. But, a majority of learning takes place in the genin squads, as the team sensei's usually wait at least a whole additional year before nominating students.
(2) In my story, I theorize that normally, children go to regular elementary school at the starting at the age of six for three years. After that, they can pursuer more normal education or can enroll in the ninja academy. These school years merely entail more everyday lessons such as basics in math, writing, and geography.
Naruto already knows about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? How? Will this change how he feels and acts? Next Chapter: Naruto is a genius of a student… or not! Iruka wonders why, as Naruto fails and falls behind.