"Talents."
Naruto didn't know what to think of his peers.
On one hand, Aris and Sasuke were in the class, and he rather enjoyed their company.
On the other hand, all of the other clan kids were there, too, along with some non-clan ones.
Thinking about it some more, he figured he may as well be glad for it.
After all, they were all horribly strange. Just the way he liked his people. Just like him.
"Troublesome."
"Shikamaru, stop sleeping in class! It's the first day and you're already going to get us in trouble!"
"Um, won't Shikamaru be the only one to get in trouble?"
Ino gave Choji a harsh glare for his efforts. One which he quickly caved to.
From what he had heard, they were already taking after their parents. Scary.
Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress, was also in his class. Although, she was sitting quietly in the back corner of the class room, compared to his window seat more towards the middle.
Seems a little shy to be a ninja. Oh well.
After all, shinobi came from all walks of life.
"C'mon Kiba, leave her alone."
"Really, sis? I was just saying hello!"
The Inuzuka twins, Kiba and Kita, along with their twin dogs, Akamaru and Akimaru. Joy of joys. Even better, they were bugging his sister, even though her seat was in the front of the class. Or more accurately, one was bugging his sister while the other told him to stop. While the dogs just watched. Typical.
And judging by the looks Aris kept giving him, he'd probably be the one to deal with it, too.
Well, I'll just have to make it enjoyable then, won't I?
Ino had, at one point or another, moved herself over to the side a pink haired girl, and had begun chatting away. Sakura, I think?
Sasuke had, surprisingly, taken the seat right in front of him. Judging by the glow on the cheeks of both boys and girls within the class, she was going to have a fan-club in a few years.
Bet I'll be able to take some interesting photos for 'em.
"Quiet down, everyone, it's time to begin our class." At their sensei's words, the class settled down. Naruto seemed to be the only one surprised by this.
Quieting down a classroom of rambunctious six-year-old's took a special type of moxie.
"For the next six years, you will be studying to become shinobi, as you already know. More than that, however, you will be training to be the best you that you can be." Pausing for effect (and to make sure she had everyone's attention), she then continued.
"Our village was founded by Hashirama Senju, alongside Madara Uchiha, and he had one simple, but important, belief. We now know that belief as the Will of Fire, and it is at the heart of Konoha. It is the belief that by loving one's village, you can achieve the ability to protect it. More than anything else during your time here, it is important that you learn what the Will of Fire truly means. A meaning, that will be ultimately be decided by all of you. For only you, can choose what to you wish to believe."
Seeing she still had everyone's attention, she concluded on a lighter note.
"But it is also important to remember that you have a long time to ponder this. Focus on bettering yourself, on living life to its' fullest, and these answers will come on their own."
When she smiled, Naruto swore he only blushed a little.
Luckily enough for him, nobody seemed to notice.
Only six years old, and I already have a crush on my teacher. God, but my life is already way too complicated.
Judging by the giggle he heard from Kyo, she heartily agreed.
Class had been boring as hell.
If he'd known he already knew all the stuff they would be teaching, he would have brought his patented Prank-planning notebookâ˘.
At least lunch was looking like it was going to be marginally more entertaining.
"The high and mighty Hyuuga. To what do we owe the pleasure of your appearance in our pleasant little academy?" Sneered a rather average looking bully.
Brown haired, brown eyed, average build, and toting around two very similar looking henchmen. Yup, someone ripped these guys straight out of some cheap manga.
Seriously, guys like this will pick on anyone who looks weaker then they are. It's disgusting! If you're going to pick on someone, save it for the bedroom! And get some dynamic character progression while you're at it, too. Being a background character is so last century.
Looking around, he saw people begin to take notice. Seeing that some of them looked like they wanted to intervene, he decided to go first.
No way in hell am I gonna let someone steal my fun.
Walking up, he tapped the leader on the shoulder.
When he turned to look at him with a dumb "Huh?", he went ahead and gave him a good old right hook, knocking him flat on his ass.
"He sucker punched him!" Someone screamed.
Ooh, but that felt good. You know, I think these bullies might be on to something with the whole audience thing.
The bullies' friends didn't wait long to return fire.
Dancing around their punches with ease due to the reflexes granted to him by Rosa's training, he decided to step it up a notch when he the saw the leader get back up.
When the one on his right went for yet another punch, Naruto used his right hand to redirect goon number one's fist into the face of goon number two, the one on his left.
Judging by the sound of cracking bones, the goon on the right didn't know how to throw a proper punch.
"My hand!" Well, there was one down for the count.
Giving a sympathetic hiss, Naruto decided to give him some friendly advice.
"That looks painful, I'd recommend getting that looked at. And also learning how to throw a proper punch, but that can wait."
Friendly-ish, anyway.
"Ya Basthard!" Judging by the way Goon 2 was mincing his words, he had probably lost a few teeth when his buddy socked him.
If he lost a few teeth from a punch like that, he must be rather weak-chinned.
God, but Naruto loved terrible humor.
Dodging yet another horribly thrown punch from the second goon, he couldn't resist even more.
"Geez, didn't your mum ever teach you not to talk with a tooth (or three) missing? It makes a generic goon like you sound even more ugly, if you can believe it."
When the leader came up behind him in an attempt to hold him in place, he quickly ducked down, letting him get hit in the face by his own goon.
Jeez, but these guys really just don't learn.
When the goon froze up in shock after he knocked his leader out cold, Naruto quickly decided to apply the best cure he knew.
By adding foot to face.
And with that, the fight was over.
Looking around, Naruto admired his handiwork with a toothy grin.
"Naruto!" Why, that sounded an awful lot like an angry Iruka-sensei.
Uh-oh.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Giving her a confused look, he answered honestly.
"Um, playing with my classmates?"
If the look of shock was anything to go by, she didn't exactly appreciate his honesty.
The look of shock quickly turned into one of resignation.
She let out a sigh.
"I should have figured this would happen . . ."
Looking at the downed goons, she gave Naruto an order.
"Naruto, go and get the nurse. He'll want to look at these three."
Giving her a winning smile, he turned to Hinata.
"See you later, Hinata-chan."
If the blush she gave was anything to go by, he had just gained himself a new friend.
Man, if making friends was this easy, he'd have to do it more often!
Another rewrite done.
Fun fact: It turns that during part one of Naruto, Iruka is 22 years old. That's six years after this point in time. Luckily enough, it's not unheard of for ninja to be chunin by 16, or even younger, so that works out. It helps that Mizuki is also about 21 at this point in time, perfect for his assistant teacher position.