Chapter 2: A Day at the Academy

One week later

"Good morning class! I'd like you all to welcome a new student in your year, Uzumaki Naruto. He will be joining us from here on out and I expect you all to treat him the same as you would any other classmate." The class, all still groggy from trying to wake up in the morning mumbled out a greeting to Naruto before the teacher turned to the newest academy student.

"Naruto, allow me to introduce myself, I am Umino Iruka, you may call me Umino-san or Iruka-sensei, okay?" Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Got it, Iruka-sensei!"

"Great, well why don't you go and find an open seat and we'll begin the lesson for today."

Naruto walked up the aisles of desks passing by multiple rows of desks before finding an open seat next to another boy whose hair was shaped like a pineapple and currently had his head down on the desk attempting to sleep.

"Hi there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage!" The boy lifted his head up with an irritated look as he glanced over his shoulder to observe the newcomer. Naruto, since last week, had forgone the bright 'kill-me orange' jumpsuit he was known for wearing for a more traditional shinobi attire. He was wearing a black long sleeved shinobi shirt with the classic red swirl on the right shoulder. On top of that he was wearing a deep blue shinobi vest with a tall protective collar and two pockets for storage. He was wearing black pants with part of his right thigh and both ankles and shins taped up. Naruto also had a kunai holster strapped on his right thigh where the tape was. To finish it off, Naruto was wearing a pair of black shinobi sandals. All provided for on the expense of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Ugh, how troublesome, why is it always loud blondes that try to talk to me? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" He replied lazily.

"SHIKAMARU! WAKE UP!" Came the voice of their instructor, Iruka. The aptly named Shikamaru groaned.

"Well, there you go, my name is Nara Shikamaru, nice to meet you. If you don't mind I'm going to go back to sleep." And with that, Shikamaru put his head back to the desk only to receive a piece of chalk to the forehead.

"Shikamaru, this is the last time I tell you today or else Yoshino-san will be hearing of this!" Yelled Iruka.

"What a drag," sighed Shikamaru, "I'll pay attention, just don't involve that troublesome woman."

Shikamaru turned to Naruto, "Hmph, well, now that I'm being forced to stay awake, how about I tell you about everyone in the class?"

"Sure, I could definitely use the help, thanks Shika!" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Shika?" He asked.

"Heh, yeah, I like nicknames, it makes remembering people easier!" Exclaimed Naruto.

"How troublesome, now I have to remember to respond to two names now, thanks for that Naruto." Shikamaru groaned.

"Anyways, let's get started. Down at the front with the pink hair, that's Haruno Sakura, she's a bookworm and loud and troublesome. Next to her with the platinum blonde hair is Yamanaka Ino, she's also a loud and troublesome girl. Across the aisle from them is Uchiha Sasuke, last of his clan after they were massacred a few weeks ago, he's a serious brooder so I would stay away from him until he opens up more. Behind Sasuke with the dog on top of his head is Inuzuka Kiba, he's loyal to a fault, loud, brash, and troublesome but is always willing to help out. Next to him is my best friend Akimichi Chouji. Don't ever call him fat, you don't want to know what will happen, but if you want to get on his good side, the fastest and easiest way is through his stomach. To your immediate right is Aburame Shino, he's quiet and not as troublesome but he's a good guy, smart too. On the other side is Hyuga Hinata, she's the heiress to the Hyuga clan but is really shy and timid so approach her carefully. After that… hmmm well I'm not really sure."

"Huh? What do you mean you're not sure? You've been in this class for over a month how could you not know?"

"They haven't done anything to interest me, and besides, it's too troublesome to learn more names than the ones I already learned." Shikamaru explained as Naruto gained a glint in his eye.

"Well then, this class should be interesting, let's get star—"

"NARUTO AND SHIKAMARU, PAY ATTENTION!"

"Troublesome."

"Alright class, we're going to go outside to test your physical capabilities."

The whole class stood up and filed outside to begin their practical shinobi skills, however, Naruto hung back with Shikamaru to ask a few questions.

"Hey Shika, what are we going to work on outside?" Shikamaru groaned.

"Troublesome things that I'd rather not think about, Naruto." Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Well what kind of things?" Shikamaru sighed.

"I can't believe I'm explaining this. Well first we usually do a lap around the academy building to build endurance, then we test our speed in a race. Afterwards, we will typically work on chakra control by doing the leaf balancing exercise. Later, we'll work on shurikenjutsu and finish it off with taijutsu practice and sparring. I told you it's troublesome, I would much rather find a good tree to lay under and nap or find a good hill to lay down on and cloud watch." As Naruto listened his eyes began to light up in excitement.

"Are you kidding? That sounds awesome, with that kind of training, I'll be hokage in no time at all!" At this, Shikamaru smirked.

"Heh, not me. My goal in life is to be an average ninja with an average life who retires early so I can relax all day." Naruto frowned.

"EH? That sounds way to boring, Shika. You've just got to find something that motivates you." Naruto explained.

Motivates me, huh? I wonder. Thought Shikamaru as he followed Naruto out to the training grounds.

"Alright, now that we're all here," Iruka sternly looked at Naruto and Shikamaru who both had the decency to look sheepish at their actions, "we can begin our training. My good friend here, Mizuki, will be helping us out today and for the rest of the year in the physical application of being a shinobi, you may call him Mizuki-sensei."

"For now let's split the class in half and work from there with one half going with Mizuki and the other half coming with me." Iruka continued as he proceeded to split the shinobi hopefuls between the two instructors with Naruto and the clan members all ending up with Mizuki. Iruka took his portion of the class to start running around the academy building leaving Mizuki with a bunch of interested kids.

"Okay, welcome to my boot camp! First, I'd like to start with some time trials, so we're going to have one on one races to figure out what your top speed is. So go ahead and pair up so we can race." Mizuki began the training right off the bat.

"Heh, I'll blow anyone here right out of the water in a race, just you watch me!" Claimed Kiba arrogantly. Naruto smirked.

"You know what? I'll take you up on that. If you're the fastest in the class then you're a good goal for me to surpass!" Challenged Naruto.

"Oh yeah! Finally someone recognizes my prowess! Hear that Akamaru! We're considered the fastest in the class!" Kiba boasted as Akamaru yipped in agreement. Mizuki took this chance to step in and take control of his portion of the class.

"Alright you two, since you're both so eager, why don't you start us off?"

'Heh, of course I would get the demon brat in my group. Maybe I can turn this towards my favor by stunting his growth a little.' Thought Mizuki viciously as he prepared to rig the race in Kiba's favor.

Both academy students lined up to begin the race and could see the finish line about forty yards off.

"Okay you two, when I say go!"

"Ready? GO!"

The two boys immediately took off both running their absolute hardest to beat the other. At the ten yard mark Naruto started to pull ahead of Kiba shocking the class. Mizuki, however, would have none of that and channeled his chakra into the ground while stomping his foot lightly. As Naruto and Kiba both approached the twenty-five yard mark, Naruto noticed a slight protrusion on the ground and just as he was preparing to leap over it to continue the race, the rock suddenly shot upwards creating a barricade in Naruto's path. Out of instinct, Naruto leapt up to avoid it while performing a graceful flip in the air and landed on the other side of the rock to keep running. Naruto proceeded to finish the race a hairsbreadth ahead of Kiba but turned around fuming about what had happened to see a completely flat racing lane and Mizuki coming over to congratulate them on their race.

"Great run guys, that was some impressive speed you guys put on for first year academy students! Seriously, you should be proud." Mizuki claimed with an easygoing smile on his face.

"Man, I can't believe I got dethroned from my spot as the fastest student already. You better watch out Naruto, because I'm coming for ya and you'll never see it coming when I blaze past you!" Shouted Kiba as a friendly challenge towards Naruto.

"Heh, I'm looking forward to it."

'Impossible! I've never seen a genin move with such grace let alone a first year academy student, it makes absolutely no sense! I need to look further into this.' Thought Mizuki with malicious intent towards finding out how Naruto avoided his jutsu.

The rest of the class was silent as they went through the rest of the races trying to figure out how Naruto pulled off such a maneuver but no one was quite as intrigued as Sasuke Uchiha.

'How did he get that kind of reflexes?! I need that kind of strength if I am to ever kill Itachi!' Sasuke intoned jealously.

"HA! You may have beaten Kiba-baka but there's absolutely no way you could ever beat Sasuke-kun! He's the best in the class and he's so amazing!" Screeched Sakura as she swooned over the dark brooding look that Sasuke was currently showing. Naruto frowned as he sidled over towards Shikamaru.

"Hey Shika, what was that all about?" Inquired Naruto.

"What, Sakura? Oh, Sakura and Ino are Sasuke's biggest fangirls, which also goes along with why they are so troublesome." Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Ino overheard their conversation.

"Care to repeat that you lazy bum?" Shrieked Ino

"Ugh, why is it always troublesome blondes?."

The rest of the training went on as Naruto seemed to be a natural at every category of the physical training aspect earning nine out of ten bullseyes in the throwing portion and having the most endurance out of the class shown in their run around the academy. His biggest problem was definitely the chakra control portion where he was unable to do the leaf balancing exercise. At this time, both sections of the class came back together to do the taijutsu portion and to spar.

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke stepped forward, an arrogant smirk on his face as his fan club swooned over his cool and aloof attitude.

"Iruka-sensei, before we begin, can I choose my sparring partner?" Iruka paused and rubbed the back of his head in a nervous fashion.

"Well, normally we wouldn't allow that, but since you asked so nicely, sure go ahead." Iruka gave the nod to Sasuke to pick his partner.

"I choose Uzumaki Naruto as my sparring partner." Sasuke replied casually.

"Ooooooooooooh." Came the class response as they felt the tension of Sasuke calling out one Naruto Uzumaki specifically.

Naruto calmly stepped out into the ring and introduced himself.

"Hey there, Sasuke! I'm Naruto, nice to meet you!"

"Hn. Let's see if you can keep up with an Uchiha elite." Sasuke turned his nose upwards as he responded arrogantly.

"W-well, okay. Let's have a good match." Replied Naruto nervously at being passed over so quickly.

"Hn."

Both boys turned to face each other in the circle after performing the pact of harmony and got into their stances waiting for Iruka to call the start of the match.

Iruka looked between both of them before stating, "Okay, this is a taijutsu match only, the winner is whoever remains in the ring or remains conscious. I want a clean match, got it?" Both boys nodded not taking their eyes off of each other for even a second.

"Okay, Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka paused to build up the tension.

"Hajime!" Came the call to start the match.

Neither participant moved, both studying the other to see who would make the first move. After a few moment of tense waiting, Sasuke became fed up and decided to initiate the fight between the two. Dashing forward at near genin speeds, Sasuke almost seemed to appear in front of Naruto whose eyes widened at the realization of what was happening. Naruto sloppily got a block up just in time to save an embarrassing first punch knock out and was immediately put on his heels. Sasuke followed up his initial strike with a left hook which Naruto blocked and then leaped into the air with a spinning kick. Naruto saw his opportunity, ducking low under Sasuke's kick and charging forward taking Sasuke's legs out from under him causing him to hit the ground hard as all of his air left his body in a loud whoosh. Naruto patiently waited for Sasuke to stand up before initiating the fight again.

Sasuke got up warily, he couldn't believe that he made such a mistake and took the first hit. However, just as he got back into his taijutsu stance, the interceptor fist, Naruto decided to take the initiative and set the pace of the match as his own. Naruto charged ahead using his superior speed to take Sasuke by surprise and attempted to punch him with a right hook. Sasuke moved to block but was quickly shocked when it turned out to be a feint and received a knee to the gut for his mistake causing him to gasp in pain and slide back a few yards towards the edge of the ring. Naruto decided to end the fight there and rushed in with another right hook. However, just as he was about to strike, Sasuke parried away the punch leaving Naruto wide open for a quick jab to the throat and a powerful kick that sent Naruto sprawling along the ground towards the other side of the circle. Sasuke then rushed in to finish the fight just as Naruto was getting to his feet. Seeing Sasuke's intent, Naruto quickly planted his feet and intercepted the spinning kick that Sasuke performed, winching at the power behind the blow. Smirking, Sasuke then threw a wicked punch that connected but before he could pull away, Naruto clamped down on Sasuke's hand locking him in place, and with an incredible show of strength, Naruto proceeded to throw Sasuke over the top of his back and out of the ring, where Sasuke didn't move for a few seconds stunned at his loss. After a few moments of silence, Iruka's voice rang out across the clearing.

"As proctor, due to Uchiha Sasuke being knocked out of the ring, I declare the winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto turned towards his classmates only to find jaws on the floor at the spectacle. Thoroughly embarrassed at the attention he was receiving, Naruto reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, uh hey guys. Hope you all enjoyed that!"