Chapter 6: Back to school
One week, it had been exactly one week since Mami and Naoki had come back home to the leaf village and a lot had happened in that time. After a two day long sleep Mami had been summoned to the Hokages office over and over again, going over every little detail over and over again. It was maddening, driving the women to breaking point when the Hokage had nothing to go on, not a single scrap of detail to go after the horrid man Mami was sent to follow.
After a long and tense day of more questioning Isamu decided to hit on Mami to which he got a reply of a hurt foot and a door in the face, Mami was rather pissed after that and it was not long after that a bloody Shikamaru turned up at her door. It was then that the evening got confusing, there was kisses and misunderstandings until Shikamaru finally confessed his feelings.
Mami was on a blissful high the next day as she went to see the Hokage, the women was still stubborn and was convinced that Mami was hiding something so after a shouting match Mami ran out of the office only to bump into Hinata and Tenten, Mami had a complete breakdown in her flat to which she was thankful no one was there.
After a long and sleepless night Hinata showed up with a 'mission' for Mami, it took a bit of convincing but finally Hinata gave in and the two of them plus Ino went to the hot springs for a girl day. Which was how Mami could be found in the market.
It was a to nice a day to be coped up in the restricting walls of Mamis little flat, the sun was out, the birds were singing, the leaves were turning their bright colours and a slight breeze whispered though the village making it an almost perfect day. The mid day sun shined down on the Leaf village and warmed the exposed skin of Mamis shoulders as she and Naoki strolled though the lunch time market, quite often Mami would find little trinkets she had seen on her travels from other lands; today there was nothing new.
There was nothing much to do this afternoon, Mami was having Tenten and Hinata round for a sorry for running into you dinner and that was all the plans she had.
"MAMI" A deep voice shouted as a tanned hand waved in her direction, Mami turned to the call to see the brown hair of her old sensei, the scar that ran along the bridge of his nose would give him away anywhere.
"Iruka, what's up?" Mami called back with a wave of her own, Iruka dodged though the growing crowd of the market and finally caught up with the young kunoichi, he had to catch his breath for a moment but when he did Iruka looked frustrated.
"I'm sorry to bother you but can you do me a huge favour" Iruka asked as he righted himself to look down at Mami, Iruka towered over Mamis small frame but it was just the same with everyone; Mami was on the smaller side so it was no surprise.
"What did you need me to do?" Mami queried as Naoki pawed at Irukas large feet, he wanted to play with the older male but Iruka was having none of it.
"I was hoping to teach the class about working with ninja animals but your sister had to duck out at the last minute, the class is meant to start after lunch so I have been running round trying to find someone to help..." While he was speaking Iruka had a look of slight panic on his face as he looked around, his hands batting the playful dog away "…I have no one to talk about ninja hounds, I was thinking of asking Kotetsu Hagane but I hoped I would bump into you. Please say you are free this afternoon"
"Sure I can do it no problem, I had no plans anyway" Mami agreed with a smile on her face, the worried look on Irukas face soon turned into a face splitting smile.
"Thank you Mami, you have no idea what a wonder you are" With his large hands Iruka held Mamis in his own before gripping her wrist and running back towards the academy, Mami struggled to keep up but Naoki loved it as he bounded along with his tongue lopping out the side of his mouth. It only took three minutes of running to get back to the academy and it brought all the memories flooding back, they were not all good ones at that. Naoki could sense his masters sadness and pined in sympathy, Mami just smiled at her fluffy partner.
When Iruka didn't let go Mami got a little confused and was about to ask why when she was flung into the classroom with Naoki following behind, the two tumbled towards the other side of the room where Shino and a group of other shinobi waited.
"Hi" Mami waved pleasantly as Naoki bounced into the back of her legs causing the young kunoichi to fall into the group.
"Hay, watch it mutt girl" A shrill voice screamed as a purple haired women leapt out of the way. No one would have guessed that Ami would have made it though the academy let alone become a kunoichi, she was the bully of the school and quite often caused problems within the group if she didn't get her way. Ami had short shoulder length purple hair with a single bang that came right down to her bust, she wore a pair of black shinobi bottoms with a long purple dress like top, there was a split down ether side and a big pink ribbon tied across her body.
"Sorry my bad" Mami apologised as she shoved herself off the floor, Naoki looked down ashamed as his tail went dipped between his legs.
"It was an accident, no need to apologise" Shino calmly stated as he looked the other way. Shino had relatively stayed the same as he did in his younger years, the same brooding look with his dark sunglasses and blue headband, he always had his lower face covered with some kind of fabric but it wasn't a mask like Kakashis.
"Bug boy, keep your bugs away from me" Ami squealed as a single bug fluttered her way, she flapped her arms around trying to shoo it away.
"That's not one of mine Ami, nothing I can do" Shino said with a hint of a smile hiding behind the fabric of his coat, Mami had to hide a giggle as Iruka came into the room with his class following behind. The young ninja in training laughed and happily chatted as they all tumbled in and took their seats ready for class to begin, Mami could remember being that small and how scared she was when it was her first day.
It was nice seeing the next generation of ninja ready to learn and with a smile of fondness Mami faced the front.
"As you can all see we have some visitors in class today…" Iruka started as he gestured to the group of older ninja at the back of the classroom with a wave of his hand "…they are here to talk out the ninja animals they work with. Not many ninja will have an animal partner as few are born with the compatibility of working with an animal, if you do you will mostly likely know already but if not hopefully today will help. I would like all of you to listen to what our guests have to say and all questions will be answered at the end" With this Iruka stepped away from his desk at the front of the class and the first shinobi handler came forward.
The first handler was from the bird division and he droned on in his plain and boring voice about his feathered friend, he talked about how they fly, what they can do and so on; within half an hour most of the class had fallen asleep and even a few of the older ninja had to. There were no questions about the bird division so it swiftly moved onto the next ninja animal, bugs.
Shino stepped forward in his normal stoic way and stood at the front of the room, the air he was giving off showed this talk was going to be long and boring just like the one before but he surprised everyone by raising his arms, with a small but mischievous smile on his face Shino let his bugs loose. The small swam of bugs flew around the room covering everyone, many of the females squealed with degust but only two in the room laughed their heads off in delight; Mami was at the back of the room holding onto her sides with laughter as Naoki bounced around trying to catch the small flying insets.
After a few minutes of this Shino called his mini army back and proceed to tell the room about his fantastic bugs, the room clapped and cheered once Shino had finished and walked back between the rows of students to get to the back of the room.
Next it was Ami, she swayed to the front of the room with a smile on her face as her feline partner crawled around the room. Ami started off her explanation by telling them what cats can do, how they are the main animal used for stealth and how they are over all better then dogs, Ami then looked up at Mami with a smug grin on her face. Ami's cat was smaller then average and you could hear her deep breathing as she hid within the rafters above the students, so much for stealth.
"Where do you think my ninja cat is?" Ami asked the class as she stood proudly at the front, straight away a student raised their hand and with a small smile pointed up to the rafters exactly were the black cat then fell to the floor.
"Just there sensei" The sliver haired boy laughed, Ami looked really putout when her cat was found so easily but being her normal self Ami tried to cover this with a smile and some praise.
"Well done, you must have good hearing to find my cat like that" Ami praised as she smiled kindly at the ninja in training, her feline partner scampered along to jump onto her mistress shoulder.
"What was that sensei?" The young boy called as he lent forward, making a show of not being able to hear Ami.
"That's enough Sakumo" Iruka warned as he sat to the side of the room, his eyes watching the playful boy. Ami was stood their with her face slowly turning to a light shade of pink, her dark eyes glaring at the child.
"Yes Iruka sensei" The boy sighed as he sat back down in his seat, his silver haired sister was sat beside him trying not to burst out laughing just like Mami was doing in the back of the class.
It was three hours from the moment Mami was pulled though the class door before she had her chance to talk, as she walked down the steps between the rows of students she thought of how she could begin her talk. There had been birds, bugs, cats, pigs, horses and even rabbits. With a small sigh Mami was at the front of the class, she quickly turned to look at all the students when three in particular that jumped out at her, Sakumo, Emi and Den the three Hatake triplets. Mami knew them well and smiled at the three when an idea came to mind.
"Just like Iruka sensei said some ninja are born with the ability to work with animal counterparts, my name is Mami and I'm here to talk to you today about ninja hounds or dogs if you prefer. I have a ninja hound called Naoki and we have been together since birth…" Realising his name had been called Naoki startled awake and jumped up from his sleeping spot at the back of the room, he then run forward to catch up to his mistress and lost his footing as he scrambled down the stairs, he tumbled down the last few steps to land in a heap on the floor
"…he is a mad as a hatter but I wouldn't have him any other way. Naoki can't fly like birds can, he can't be millions within a swarm like bugs, he can't be as quiet as a mouse like cats can, he can't run as fast as horses, he can't eat his way though a wall like rabbits can and he can't wallow in mud like a pig but a ninja hound can do and be so much more…" Naoki detangled himself much to the amusement of the class and happily bounded up to Mami, he licked her hand in greeting before he sat back and watched with his tongue hanging out of his mouth
"…dogs are very much like people, each one has their own likes, dislikes and personality's, sometimes a dog pared with a ninja wont work and that is because they are nothing alike and their not compatible with each other. Dogs are always loyal to the person they fight with and sometimes the people their partners love most, they will do anything for their partner even if it means getting hurt themselves…" Mami stopped for a brief moment as Naoki bounced up, he trotted along the row at front of the class with his nose to the ground, he walked up and down before he dipped his head in one of the students bags, he came back with a huge green ball in his mouth
"…as you can see when you aren't fighting dogs are always there and will be whatever you need from them, dogs can do jobs from fetching the morning newspaper to guarding your family and home, but the job they are mostly called up for is tracking, they have super sensitive noses that can pick up the smallest trace of a scent. If any of you find a ninja hound that is willing to be your partner you have found a campaign for life" Once she had finished talking Naoki dropped the ball at his masters feet wanting to play, instead he got a rub behind the ears as Mami picked up the fuzzy ball and threw it back to the owner.
"Are there any questions?" Iruka asked as a hand raised in the air.
"With the markings on your face Mami sensei does that mean your are of the Inuzuka clan?" A timid voice asked as their young brown eyes shined with wonder.
"Why yes I am, I'm the youngest of the three siblings, my brother Kiba is a year older then me and my sister Hana is six years older. Hana is the only one of us to have three hound partners, the three Haimaru brothers. Most hound dogs are around Naokis size but there are some like my mums partner Kuromaru that are bigger and some of which are smaller"
"Do you need a special kind of jutsu to work with Naoki?" An excited voice asked as they waved a hand in the air, with a smile Mami silently asked Iruka if she could quickly explain the basics to them, when she got a nod she turned back to face the class.
"Before you leave the academy you will all learn about the five types of chakra, you
don't need any particular one to work with ninja animals. You don't really need any special jutsu but yes you will need to learn some techniques to work fully with your partner when in battle"
"Can you show us one?" Emi asked with a smile on her face, Mami was unsure but Iruka once again nodded, she shrugged before calling Naoki over; he had once again gone looking for the ball. He barked happily before he ran over and slipped his body though Mamis legs, once she was safely sat upon his large furry back Mami moved her hands to perform a few hand seals.
"Man beast clone" She called as a cloud of thick smoke covered them both, the room looked confused and worried at first but when the cloud cleared they all laughed with wonder. Standing at the front of the class was Mami with a hand on her hip next to a Mami with a hand on her hip, there were two. The class cheered and laughed when the two Mami's did some tricks and started to run around, everyone saw double until one Mami ran into a wall and with a puff of smoke chanced back to Naoki.
"Settle down now class…" Iruka called as he moved from his seat, his hands waving the group at the back down "… can I call all of our guests down here so we can all thank them for taking the time to talk to us today" The whole class cheered and clapped as the seven guests and six animals came down to the front; the horse was to big to come, Mami was stood at the end with a big smile on her face as she bowed. Mami had a lot of fun today and buy the looks of it Naoki did to. Ami looked as smug as ever as she stood on the other end of the line, she bowed to but the black cat of hers fell off her shoulder, with the sudden movement Naoki glanced over to see what it was.
"No Naoki" Mami scolded as she tried to grasp onto his blue collar, she knew that look of playfulmess in his eyes but she wasn't quick enough to stop to large buddle of fluff as Naoki leapt from Mamis grasp and chased the hissing black cat around, the students screamed as they jumped out the way, books were flying and chairs were knocked over as Mami chased her partner around.
"Keep that filthy mutt away from us…" Ami screamed as her cat finally found safety in her owners arms, Naoki was pinned down under the weight of the Hatake triplets who all had smiles on their worn out faces "…I have no idea where he has been"
"I'm sorry Ami, he has never done that before" Mami apologised as Naoki tried to wiggle his was to freedom.
"A dangerous animal like that should be put down" Mami took a step forward once again trying to apologise and explain he had never chased an animal before but Ami wasn't having it. The students were all huddled at the back of the classroom and now that there was no danger from being trampled by the stampeding dog it looked comical, the room laughed at the image of a large dog chasing a cat while being chased by his owner.
"Ami…"
"…keep away from me you scared freak" There was an echoing slap around the room as Amis hand caught Mami in the face. Mami stood there shocked as she raised a hand to her now reddening cheek, the laughter stopped dead in it's tracks as the triplets and some of the other students went to protest; Ami was out the room before they could even open their mouths. Well Mami and Naoki were having a good day.