Almost back up to where Old!Chapter 2 kicked off. Womp womm.
"Normal Speech"
'Normal Thought'
'"Talking within mindscape"'
"Tenant Speech"
'Tenant Thought (rare?)'
*"Tenant Outside Speech (probably never, just setting precedent)"*
"Your move, old friend."
"It always has been."
- Hiruzen and Danzo.
Mizuki and Bull were playing cards when their company arrived. The silver-haired Chunin at a significant disadvantage, being unable to read the Anbu's facial features behind his mask - not that it would have made much difference either way. A ninja's skill with cards was almost always directly proportional to their ranking, something the stoic Bull took full advantage of.
"Sorry about the wait, Bull-sama. Naruto was disruptive tod-" The blonde in question rushed towards Bull, wailing in protest. "I was not, Bull-chan! Sasuke said mean things about me because of the obstacle course, and then challenged me to a fight!" Iruka was surprised that Naruto would lie about such a thing. 'He's owned up to almost everything wrong he's ever done, at least to Bull - and it isn't like him to start fights...' Still, he had credible eye-witness reports to the contrary.
Mizuki was more than ready to capitalize on the situation. "What's that, gaki? I could've sworn you just spouted a pump for bullshit from that mouth of yours. I saw it, most of the faculty saw it, and a dozen Sharingan Uchiha saw it." His smirk was positively evil, as Naruto looked up at him with shock and betrayal on his face. "No you're a liar! I only pulled Sasuke's fly down, Mizuki-teme! Like hell I'd do anything as stupid as fighting in the lunch room!" Bull had to restrain Naurto from rushing at the Chunin, for his own safety.
"Be that as it may, Naruto, I will talk with those others involved myself." The Anbu had a sneaking suspicion about what had really happened, especially if his younger brother was involved. "Instead, let us begin with today's lesson. You have the books I lent you?" Naruto nodded, unzipping them from his backpack. Bull thought about taking them from the blonde - as punishment both for skipping the basic exercises, and for whatever part he had in today's debacle - but he knew the blonde well enough to see that it wouldn't have been productive. 'He's already shown more interest in reading and training because of them, taking them away now might hinder his good progress...'
Instead, he flipped to the first page. "Take them out and set them aside for now. Iruka and Mizuki will be aiding you with it, but felt that a demonstration would motivate you far more." He opened his own well-worn copy of the tome to the Study of Self. "For a true demonstration, I suggest you seek out Maito Gai, though I warn you now - his training is harsh, and you will regret it." Naruto nodded, trying to commit the name to memory.
The Anbu's cloak obfuscated much of the more detailed workings of the forms, but Bull's liquid grace was still poetry in motion for the young jinchuriki. "These positions - which you skipped - are to ensure your body is flexible and agile enough to begin learning the more advanced studies." He slipped quickly through the gravity-defying poses, letting his breathing be the only sound of his body. "There are twelve forms in the Study of Self. You will learn three in the Academy - for your hands, arms, and feet. They are necessary for Academy Taijutsu, and for your training in stealth and escape artistry."
The Anbu demonstrated a series of complicated wrist and finger movements, and showed off the range of motion that his arms had behind his back. "When ninjas fight, our battles are often over the moment after they begin. Flashy moves and powerful jutsu mean nothing when a shuriken has ruptured your heart, or when your enemy has killed you in your sleep." He bent in half at the waist, first forward, then backward, rolling onto his hands with his legs splayed in various directions mid-air.
When he finished, Naruto couldn't help but try himself, untroubled by the Anbu's words as he focused on attempting some of the forms. When he looked back to Bull for help, the operative was gone. Iruka and Mizuki were already waiting impatiently to begin teaching him the forms he'd need to succeed.
'I guess this means I'll have to do them on my own time...' He hated the boring parts, though - why couldn't everything be as exciting as when Bull did it? Not for the first time, Naruto wished the Anbu could just move in with him and be his older brother for real. 'Iruka's not bad either,' The blonde shook his head and focused on the task at hand.
"The hand signs you'll learn later are probably going to be the most important things you'll ever learn, Naruto, so pay attention - these are the exercises that will let you perform them." After all, not just anyone could go around moulding their Chakra. "It helps if you think of something relaxing while you perform them, you can follow along with me, or copy the book."
Naruto nodded, opting to stick with the live demo. 'Iruka's definitely not bad, I bet he never had trouble with these things.' The Chunin showed him the basics, and then corrected as the jinchuriki butchered them. "For someone with a prankster's heart, you sure have the hands of a blacksmith Naruto" The blonde frowned at the joke, unsure of how to defend himself.
"I'm just kidding, these are really hard. When I was our age, our teachers forced our fingers into place - like this," he demonstrated, garnering a yelp from Naruto for his efforts. "Exactly - shake our your hand and give it a bit of rest, we're going to work at this until you've got it. Today." The blonde did so, his face betraying his chagrin at the prospect.
Very little else was accomplished during the rest of their time together - Iruka and Mizuki swapped out, attempting to cajole and entertain the blonde long enough for him to learn something. Mizuki's mood soon changed from irritable to outright frustration at Naruto's lack of attention. "Damnit brat, you're lucky the draft is over, or we'd have at least been able to beat this crap into your head by now."
He lit a cigarette, which signalled the beginning of their first break of the evening. Naruto coughed as the silver-haired Chunin blew smoke in his face, and the two glared at each other. "I've taken up smoking because of your shit - do you think this is a game? Smarten up and start learning." Iruka helped Naruto wriggle the pain out of his fingers, casting an eye at his partner. Mizuki continued regardless, "We work our asses off for you, kid - can you at least pretend to pay attention? You haven't learned a single thing since we started today, and you're already at least a year behind any of the other brats with ninja parents."
Naruto tilted his head at the older boy's first statement, ignoring the jab at his lonely childhood - he hadn't really understood why the two Chunin had decided to be his teachers. 'Bull bullied them into it, sure, but Mizuki could just quit if he wanted to, couldn't he? I mean, it's not like I like him, either...' The blonde looked to Iruka. "Why do you guys teach me, anyways? I mean, I'd be scared of Bull being mad at me, too, but I wouldn't let him make me do something I didn't want to for so long."
Mizuki almost looked like he was going to say something, but thought better of it. "Ask the Hokage, kid." He took a long drag of his cigarette, then put it out under his heel. "Maybe he'll tell you, and then I won't have to deal with this shit anymore." He hoped. "Until then, break's over. The seals for your Kawarimi - what are they?"
The sun was barely over the horizon when Naruto's alarm woke him. The blonde rose with a groan, greeting the Fourth - and the rest of the Hokage Monument - with a bright grin. Today was going to be special for him, he just knew it. 'Today, I'll show everyone! Then they'll be my friends for sure!' He'd been looking forward to the placement spars ever since he'd picked up an outline of the semester one of the other kids had dropped.
'I'll give it back to her today, I bet she'll be so glad I found it that she'll make me her best friend!' He'd already copied it over onto his own paper - a painstaking process of spilled ink and irreversibly damaged brushes, but one that Naruto enjoyed immensely. 'It's too bad I'm not allowed to take notes in class... I bet I'd remember everything a lot better!'
He hoped she wasn't too worried over having lost it all week, but he'd had no chance to memorize everything the teachers had said - they refused to repeat themselves for him, or answer any of his questions. Having all this information in one place was too comforting for him to relinquish, at least until he was certain the copy was complete.
His customary ramen was supplemented with a protein shake he'd promised Iruka to drink. It was a sin against the golden noodles, but Naruto didn't want to disappoint the only instructor who liked him. 'It's not that bad... once you wash the taste out.' He checked the time again, assuring himself he could make it to class.
And then he sat down to focus. The Study of Self wasn't named unjustly - Each of the twelve forms was only useful when one's attentions were turned inward, could only be performed when each aspect was paid due and proper respect, and no detail was left to chance. They forced and demanded obedience of mind and muscle, and even the first form was a challenge Naruto could not perform without utmost concentration.
Naruto's eyes remained closed as he stood. He felt his feet inch apart on the gray carpet, stopping when they reached his mental image of where they should be. Chakra guided his movements, but muscle moved him and will alone held him in the form's positions. Like yoga, the muscles and ligaments stretched. The emphasis of the First form was on the strength and flexibility of one's arms, and it began with a standing Hero's Pose.
To finish the form, Naruto would be required to perform a series of kata walking mostly on his hands, but for now he moved into a simple handstand. He progressed through the first form, restarting as he failed - a habit he'd built for himself. 'If I can't do it all in one go, I can't really say I've done it - otherwise anyone could just keep doing the steps and get it eventually!'
When he finally finished, he opened his eyes - he had just enough time to get to class, and though he hurried, his journey was full of contemplation. 'The whole form is important, together, I'm sure of it.' He'd seen the power that radiated from Bull's performance of the Study of Self 'It wasn't just a bunch of poses, it was all linked somehow. If Bull messed it up, I would've probably laughed - but he didn't, and...'
The blonde didn't really have words to describe how he felt about it. Had he been granted the vocabulary, 'The Study of Self seemed to radiate from Bull's center, from his very being, rather than the movements he performed. It permeated the air with an aura of power and absolute conviction' may have come close. However, he didn't, so he was left vaguely unsatisfied by the time he arrived in class.
He quickly spotted the girl who'd dropped the outline - attendance hadn't been called yet, so he had a brief window of free time in which to be himself. "Hinata! Hey I found this for you!" He jogged across the room, ignoring the glares of the small group of kids Hinata sat with. She found herself alone with him as he sat beside her, and though her eyes glowed briefly, the scowl she'd meant to send his way came out instead as a blush. 'Ah, thank you Naruto. But I dropped that one for you to have, seeing as the teacher didn't give you one.'
"Ah... um... thank you, Naruto." She accepted the slightly crumpled, ink-stained paper, hugging it. 'Stupid! I will accept my mistakes, and hold them close. Naruto, why can't you see how you're being treated? Why do I try to help you, when you only bring me only embarrassment and shame?' The Hyuuga couldn't help but notice the petty discrimination of her teachers and classmates towards the blonde - when she'd asked her parents about it, and about the strange Chakra in Naruto's stomach - her parents had been less than forthcoming with answers.
'Father wants me to have nothing to do with you, while mother only began crying...' Naruto, oblivious to the tumultuous emotions and racing thoughts behind Hinata's blank eyes, simply grinned. "No problem, princess! Hey, so we finally get to spar today, who do you wanna hit the most? I know who I'm gunning for..." She humoured him until class started, mentally sighing at the bonds she'd have to reforge with those he'd scared off.
Mizuki finished attendance with his usual jab. "...and Uzumaki Naruto, present. Unfortunately. Alright class, I'm sure this is the day you've all been waiting for - today you get to show off everything you know about beating people up. Don't be afraid to unwind, an instructor will help if you get hit too hard. Remember, you can go home at any time kids - being a ninja is painful sometimes, and it's not for everyone."
That last bit wasn't in the official speech, but there were a lot of civilians this year, and word from above was to weed them out. 'We're already low on ninja after that damn fox walked through the eastern section - it's not like we couldn't use the extra hands.' Mizuki wasn't one to dwell on the stupidity of the powers that be, though - his patience with their orders came from self-assured knowledge of his advancing career, and his superiors knew exactly which strings to pull in order to sate the Chunin's ravenous ambition.
As they traveled to the Academy training grounds, Mizuki and the instructor joining him began to pick out obvious volunteers. They signed to each other, using standard Chunin code. ;Excited, many Uchiha combat Inuzuka ?; Mizuki could only imagine the tension between the beast lovers and the Uchiha - one kept the law of the land, the other guarded the city's streets. 'And both were at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding Naruto, after the demons' cowardly actions last week.'
Reaching the sparring grounds, which was a series of circular dirt openings in the otherwise paved property, the two Chunin directed the flow of children into a rough semicircle around them. "Anyone caught without your eyes on me for the next five minutes gets the boot - so pay attention.", Mizuki began to explain the most important Academy rules Naruto would learn during his stay.
"A spar is not a fight, even if it might look the same. You are here to learn how to be Ninja, how to fight like ninjas and act like ninjas - but first, you have to learn like ninjas. Sparring, then, is how to learn how to learn. In that sense, a spar is structured, like a book or a lecture." Naruto refrained from groaning at that - lectures were the worst. He'd even rather read, if it came to the choice.
"Like a book has a beginning that introduces your favourite character, the spar has a beginning that demonstrates the basics of what each student knows. When your spar begins, I want you to drop into a fighting stance if you know one. Everyone who doesn't know one can move over to Koto, and you will begin learning from him now.' Mizuki ushered a large fraction of the civilian children over to his partner - It wasn't much compared to the whole, but it was still a half-dozen useless brats off his back.
"Once you've found your stance, I'll stop the spar to correct or improve what you've shown me. Then, like a book, the spar progresses to the middle - where the action is. With my mark, both students will begin to fight. You are not to use any Chakra, if you can, and if you know any kata your parents have told you not to use, for Kami's sake don't use them - yes, Uchiha, I know what you can and can't pull here, don't even try to slip a fast one by me." Mizuki glared when he would've preferred to chuckle - in his opinion, the clans should always be able to show off their skills - but regulation was regulation.
"Finally, like a story book, we reach the end of the spar. Once you've shown me what you know, we can begin learning what you need to know. If you are weak, this is where you will learn to become strong. If you are slow, you will learn speed. If you lack grace, you will learn to flow. A ninja needs of this and more, in order to..." his gaze and demeanour indicated he wished for one of the students to finish his sentence, something they'd learned quickly after having been berated for their lack of attention more than once.
"Uhm..." Hinata began, eager to prove herself - before Naruto blurted out ahead of her - "Finish the mission, 'ttebayo!'
A few other students stumbled out answers in and around the blonde's exultation, most of them correct, but a few with silly ideals such as 'survival' or 'being the best'. Hinata merely hid in her coat, a furious blush threatening to turn her entire face red. 'Failure, failure failure.' Still, her mind added the boy's correct answer to her continuing analysis of him - the impulsive nature she was already used to... as was Mizuki.
"Ah, thank you Naruto, for volunteering to be my first example - head over to the ring and we'll go through this slowly." The Chunin cleared out one of his ears, which was ringing slightly from the outburst. "Would anyone like to make an example of our resident dobe?" After hearing the Uchiha scion ridicule the boy with the name, it had stuck - despite Naruto being almost on top of the civilian students.
Regardless, he needn't have asked - berth was being made in the crowd for one Sasuke Uchiha to step forward, an arrogant smirk betraying his confidence and eagerness. "Come on, dobe, get in the ring already - or are you too scared?" Growling, both boys entered the ring and waited for Mizuki to explain further.
"Begin by forming the Seal of Confrontation - Naruto, please demonstrate it for the class, perfectly mind you - I won't stand for everyone learning it wrong because of your failures." He was only mildly irked when the jinchuriki performed a flawless handseal - after all, he taught the brat himself.
"Everyone should remember it from your entrance exam, in any case - if you need to, perform the exercises for the Seal of Confrontation over the weekend. Beginning next week, spars will become part of our daily curriculum, and failing to meet the requirements for too many spars may result in your expulsion." If anything, Mizuki was a stickler for the rules he thought made sense - if you couldn't keep a consistent sparring practice down, you didn't belong in the Ninja world.
"But back to the spar at hand - Naruto, Sasuke, show me the stances you will begin this spar with." The boys quickly dropped into familiar stances, with Naruto adopting the basic stance from the Study of Forward Motion, and Sasuke, the gentle slouch of the Intercepting Fist.
"Sasuke, not bad - get your parents to explain to you the importance of proper footwear, however, I believe you have been warned about your arches more than once." Mizuki frowned at that, as the raven-haired prodigy seemed loath to adopt standard Ninja footwear - opting instead for an old pair of too-small sandals. The result was, barefoot, an as-for-now easily correctable arch - one that would become more and more noticeable as it affected his footwork and balance. It would never hurt his career as a Ninja, but the difference between life and death can be the difference of a hair's width when Chunin or Jonin fought.
Turning his eyes to Naruto, he spotted many variations from the 'proper' stance - but all were acceptable alterations, learned from his spars with Mizuki and Iruka - if he wanted Naruto to improve, he'd have to continue giving the demon knowledge. 'I only need him to pass the year, I only need him to pass the year, I only need him to pass the year...' The mantra played over in his mind as he marked down various improvements that could be made to the blonde's form.
"Now then, can anyone tell me the first rule of engagement in a spar?" He nodded as hands were raised, waiting for Naruto's outburst. It was unfortunate that he could not remove a student for being overzealous - as a junior instructor, he couldn't hand out unjustified detentions, and as he needed the blonde to pass, he couldn't afford to elevate any 'problems' to a senior. "No one starts until the referee says so! No one continues when the referee ends the match!"
The Chunin ignored the extraneous comments from the blonde's speech - 'No hitting Mizuki in the balls indeed, you wretched child.' If any of you break this rule, ever, during your training at the Academy, you can be expelled, at the least. If you go so far as to kill or injure another student after a referee has called a match, you can be executed." He let that sink in, noting which students seemed unconcerned or overly upset, documenting their names and reactions. 'Everything really is a tool for the Academy' The information gained on each student in the Academy would prevent dozens, maybe hundreds of Konoha deaths.
"Alright Naruto, Sasuke - you know the rules, you know the procedures - show the rest of your class a spar."