The Boy in the Park

Chapter Eight

Naruko was looking at him with a curious and hopeful expression, as he began to look at the questions she had written on a scrap of paper. He nodded to the girl, and began to answer her. She smiled and sat down next to him, listening as he explained about Chakra, about why a Kunai had to be thrown from slightly above a target and about things he had read from his mother's books —which his sister wasn't privy to.

By the time he was done, Naruko was slowly looking at the scrap of paper now filled with kanji written by him. "Anything else, Naruko?" he asked as he grabbed his book, ready to open it again.

"No, Aniki!" she exclaimed. "It's everything I wanted! Tomorrow I'm going to ace the test 'ttebayo!"

He narrowed his eyes. "You have the test tomorrow?"

"Hai!" she answered with a bright smile, the perfect image of 'ignorance is bliss' and 'extreme case of guts'.

"And you aren't studying?" he asked once more to be serious.

She frowned. "Aren't we studying now, Aniki?" she smiled then, making that sort of bright ten-megawatt smile that could blind a man. "We're revising, right?"

He blinked for a second, his mouth hanging slightly open in disbelief. Then he smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Silly me," he chuckled.

He mulled it over for a moment, before carefully adding. "You know what you should do? Take a piece of paper and copy the questions of your test and the answers you gave. Then if you bring it to me I'll look into it and see what was wrong and what wasn't."

Naruko nodded vividly. "All right, I'll just do that Aniki!"

She suddenly turned to the side, gazing sideways. "Neh, Aniki, your birthday is coming up right?"

He cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Oh, right," Naruko chuckled nervously. "What would you like as a—"

"I stopped celebrating it since I was eleven," he remarked. "And I stopped receiving gifts at thirteen," he pointed out. He shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"W-What!? Aniki! Birthday parties are a big deal 'ttebayo!" Naruko exclaimed. "You have to celebrate it!"

"No," he shook his head. "Birthdays are for kids."

Naruko pouted and huffed, inhaling air to puff her cheeks. She seemed to be trembling with 'righteous anger'. Her eyes shone dangerously as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not a kid, and I like birthday parties!"

"Of course," he replied neutrally. "But I don't."

"Aw…I made the effort of asking Hokage-jiji when it was," her shoulders dropped. He closed his eyes for a moment. The girl had asked the Hokage when his birthday was, rather than him? Just how exactly did her brain logic work?

"Why didn't you ask me directly?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" she huffed in displeasure. "But then you said you didn't want anything!"

"You didn't need anything," he corrected her.

"Yeah, that!" she grumbled to herself, making a grouchy face. She fidgeted with the hem of her orange jumpsuit —an eyesore to watch, but she had taken a shine to it after the academy had asked all students to come with a change of clothes to do physical classes. She had found it, she had liked it and…she practically slept in that jumpsuit nine times out of ten, at least, probably. He didn't know if she actually slept in it —he hoped not.

"Well then," he mused. "How soon do they correct your homework?"

"By the next day," she replied.

"Good, then…as a birthday gift, I want to see you take a good grade in tomorrow's test," the girl blinked and the suddenly paled.

"Ah…Ah! Aniki! I have to go…water the plants! Yeah, see ya tomorrow!" as Naruko dashed off he chuckled to himself.

"Remember to copy the test!" he waved at her retreating back, as she yelled back at him.

"Will do, Aniki!"

He shook his head and returned to his book.

"That was impressive," a voice —that he generally recognized when it screamed— said, as he rolled his eyes and closed his book —it was a Treaty on Existential Life Crisis.

"Umino-san?" he said hesitantly, looking around. Then again, it was a Chuunin so he was supposed to know how to hide.

The Chuunin appeared from the corner of his view, his arms crossed over his flak jacket. "So the reason Naruko actually was quiet today in class was your idea, mister 'Aniki'?"

"Ah, she was quiet?"

Iruka chuckled. "Not by much, but it showed when she stopped asking question. Are you tutoring her under the Hokage's order?"

"No," he shook his head. "Hokage-sama did ask me to check on her marks, but nothing more," he looked to where the girl had dashed away. "She's a good kid," he remarked. "I can't understand why she gets pitiful marks."

"Mizuki's the one who corrects the tests, I asked him too: he said she tends to go overboard with the answers and doesn't even try and give a correct reply. She writes for the sake of writing and filling the blanks," Iruka said. "He showed me one of her tests once, so I really hope she does better."

"Should you be telling this to me?" he asked then curious, "I mean, I'm not one of her relatives or her guardian."

Iruka shrugged. "For all I know, she keeps on spouting how her Aniki is the coolest Aniki in the world: she even got into a tussle with Sasuke Uchiha once over it."

"I'll have a word with her over it," he blinked. "But didn't the Uchiha…you know…"

"Yeah, unfortunate," Iruka grimaced. "Sasuke's never been the same afterwards. I think he barely tolerates Naruko because she doesn't try to get closer to him."

"Ah…so it's an old thing."

"Well, not really," the Chuunin fidgeted for a moment.

"If you want to sit…" he moved to make room on the bench for the Chuunin, who actually accepted.

"Naruko's sort of a tomboy, and it's difficult to convince her to attend the kunoichi only lessons," Iruka turned his gaze towards him, trying to make a small smile. "In the end, she did manage to avoid them, but whenever it comes to wait in class she immediately starts a fight with someone else."

"She's easily bored," he said slowly. "I suppose she reads books only with me?"

"I don't know about reading books," Iruka said. "There are few Chuunin in the academy, what with our low numbers and probably the low salary…but there's always a scuffle by the time I enter the classroom."

"Naruko isn't one to start fights," he replied. "She's really not the type."

"I'd like to believe that, but…maybe you could talk to her?"

He nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Good and…thanks, I suppose," the Chuunin stood up. "Are you interested in becoming a teacher?"

He furrowed his brows. "I never thought about that."

"Well, when you finish your schooling give me a call: the academy needs any teachers it can get."

"Isn't it a shinobi-only institute?" he retorted.

"Yeah, but we also teach things like maths and other stuff…you don't need to be a shinobi to explain the history of the elemental countries to a bunch of kids. And if there's one more teacher, then there's one more Chuunin who can take on a ninja arts class."

"I see," he replied. "I'll think about it."

"Good. See you then."

"Goodbye," he replied, and then returned to his book. He chuckled. Him, a teacher? He'd wring the students' necks before they even got to the end of the lesson.