Chapter 5 – Classes Continue

A/N: I read Hear the Silence by EmptySurface (on that other fan fiction site) and got inspired. If you like OC fics and haven't read it yet, check it out. Her characters are amazing, and it's definitely a different kind of read.

-o X o-

"Alright class, time for Shuriken practice!" Iruka declared as we took up our positions at the throwing range. Each individual area had ten training shuriken laid out and ready for us. "You have to hit at least 50% to pass today's lesson. Go ahead and start!"

Soon the field was filled with the sounds of dull thuds as blunted metal struck wooden targets, and the occasional exclamation of frustration when a throw missed the target altogether. It was the fifth week of class, and though we had several practice sessions by now, this would be the first one that got graded.

"How are you so good at this?" Naruto complained, comparing our respective training dummies. Both were covered in shuriken, but the groupings on mine were noticeably more precise. The dummies had three painted circles representing 'kill zones' for those who wanted to go beyond merely hitting the dummy, which were centered on the head, heart, and groin. Konoha was subtly ruthless like that.

"Oh, quit complaining," I replied, glancing around at how everyone else was doing. I was inwardly quite proud that all ten of my shots hit within the red kill zone circles. Only Sasuke matched that feat, a testament that we had both continued practicing after our training session with Itachi. "I practiced a lot more than you. Besides, you still landed nine out of ten on the dummy. That's better than most of the class."

Naruto looked around, and looked mollified upon finding that only three students had landed all ten throws on the target, Sasuke and Hinata being the other two that accomplished the feat. Most of the class was right around the 50% mark. "Ha, look at Shikamaru's!" Naruto said with a sudden grin, pointing at a dummy with only a single shuriken stuck in its head. "He only landed one shuriken on the target! Ha ha, he's terrible at this!"

"Don't laugh; I remember your aim when I first started teaching you how to throw," I chided, getting Naruto to frown at the memory. "And besides, Shikamaru technically had 100% accuracy. He only threw one shuriken."

Naruto shot an irritated look at the lazy Nara. "How can he be so lazy? If I laid around like him all day, I think I would explode."

I shrugged, but Iruka sensei approached and spoke up before I could say anything else. "Well done, Naruto and Tedashi. Excellent throws today. You both pass with flying colors." Naruto beamed at the praise.

"Kiba and Kobi, what is this?" Iruka said with a frown as he continued down the line. "You need to practice more. Even as Academy students, you ought to do better than 20% accuracy."

"Tch, whatever. Throwing stuff from a distance is not my style anyway," Kiba complained. "My clan gets up close and personal and does some real damage."

"And what about Shikamaru? He only landed one!" Kobi chimed in.

Iruka's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the napping Nara. "Technically, I only said you had to get at least 70% accuracy to pass, and he was 100% accurate with his single throw. I didn't explicitly say you had to throw all ten shuriken, so he passes- this time. Regardless, that doesn't change the fact that your accuracy is abysmal. I expect you both to practice and do better next time. Don't give me that look, Kiba. If you don't think the Inuzuka clan needs to know how to throw shuriken, we can sit down with your mother and you can explain your scores to her."

Kiba shivered at the thought. "Fine, I'll practice," he said begrudgingly.

Iruka nodded, and continued down the line.

"20%? That's pretty bad, man," Naruto said with a grin, unable to restrain himself.

"Gah, just wait until taijutsu class. Then I'll show you what's up!" Kiba said confidently.

"First we have to sit through another history lesson," Kobi groaned, causing Kiba to frown.

"What's wrong with history? It's pretty important to know about the wars of the past, which villages we fought against, who allied with us, all that jazz," I said. "Now that I'm in the Academy, I'm allowed to read some of the books in our clan library. The history books are fascinating."

I'd mostly been reading history because there wasn't too much combat related material in the Academy section of our clan library, but it was interesting material to peruse when I was taking a break from more active training.

"Old news," Kobi said, getting a nod from Kiba. "Alliances shift all the time. I say, just point me at the bad guys and let me loose! Nobody cares what their village did in the past."

"Hey, want to ditch that lesson?" Kiba whispered to us conspiratorially. "We totally could, like, just jump out the window and hangout until taijutsu time. We could even warm up, get a few spars in ourselves. It would be great!"

"Yeah, I'm in!" Kobi confirmed. "What about you guys?"

I shared a look with Naruto. "I'm staying," I said with a shrug. "I like history, especially learning about the past Hokages. They were awesome, the best ninja of their time. Maybe we can learn something about how they fought."

That got Naruto to perk up. "Yeah, I'm staying too," he confirmed, suddenly resolute. "Maybe Iruka sensei can teach us some super awesome Hokage jutsu after the lesson!"

"Ha, yeah right!" Kiba scoffed. "They won't teach you anything like that. Well, the offer stays open 'til we're out the door. Or window, in this case. Otherwise, we'll see you at taijutsu class this afternoon!"

Iruka finished grading everyone's throwing skills, and we followed him back inside for a history lesson. Brazen as ever, as soon as Iruka turned his back for an instant, Kiba flung open the window and leapt out, followed closely by a noticeably less agile Kobi.

"Hey! Get back here!" Iruka yelled, rushing over to the window, then sighed. "Mizuki, can you go track them down?" Mizuki nodded and exited to track the boys down. "Perhaps I will make them sit through my history lecture while Mizuki sensei teaches you all taijutsu this afternoon," Iruka continued, drawing a few snickers from the class.

"I think they would have enjoyed this lesson, anyway. It involves one of the greatest heroes in Konoha's history. Today we'll be talking about the man who defeated hundreds of Iwa ninja in a single battle, Minato Namikaze, better known to his enemies as the Yellow Flash. He helped end the third great ninja war, and sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyuubi that attacked our village seven years ago. The Fourth Hokage..."

-o X o-

The class was abuzz after Iruka's lesson, excitedly recounting to each other their favorite parts of his legendary exploits as we all started to file out towards the taijutsu grounds. Naruto was starstruck.

"Iruka sensei!" he exclaimed, rushing over to the man as most of the class headed out. I hung around to wait for him. "Did he really take down hundreds of enemy ninjas in one battle with the Raijin? Can you please teach me that jutsu? Please? Please? Please?"

Iruka gave him a dry look. "Does it look like I know that technique? Because I don't know that jutsu. No one does. The Fourth Hokage was the only one good enough with fuinjutsu to figure out how to do it."

"Fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked, confused. "What's that?"

"Hmm. Well, it's a special type of jutsu involving seals. Usually the ninja uses special ink to draw the seal, and then activates it with his chakra. It's how sealing scrolls and exploding tags work, but seal masters like the Fourth Hokage could do way more than that. Not many people know much about it though. We don't teach it at the academy, and I don't even know how to make a storage scroll," Iruka admitted.

"Some people even put seals on human bodies," I chimed in.

For a second, Iruka looked horrified. He glanced at Naruto, then at me, and I suddenly realized he thought I was referring to the seal on Naruto. "Like this one," I said quickly, lifting my cloth headband to reveal the caged bird seal. Iruka gave a sigh of relief, and proceeded to look rather embarrassed.

"Woah, that's so cool," Naruto said, staring at the design. "Does that give you some kind of cool powers too? Can you teleport or turn invisible or anything?"

I quirked my mouth, feeling a mixture of frustration and amusement at his conjectures despite the weight of the topic. "No, this one is closer related to the exploding tag variety, I believe." I wasn't quite able to keep all the bitterness out of my voice.

Naruto looked appalled. "Why would anyone put an exploding seal on your head?"

Why indeed? I thought. "The idea is that if I were to die or get captured in battle, then the seal can trigger, causing a mini internal explosion that prevents the enemy from stealing my Byakugan," I explained simply. It was a bit more complicated than that, but even I didn't understand the intricate workings of the seal. Fuinjutsu was not an encouraged topic of study for branch family members. "It does some other stuff too, but that's the primary function of my seal."

Naruto still looked a bit taken aback, and he didn't even know the darker side of the seal that allowed the main family to control the branch family. But seven-year-old Naruto didn't need to hear about that.

"Wow, that's kind of scary. Hey, Iruka sensei, where I can learn more about fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked curiously. "I'm going to become a seal master like that Fourth Hokage, but even more awesome! Believe it!"

Iruka grinned at his enthusiasm. "I'm glad you're excited about studying on your own, but I don't know where to start, honestly." Naruto looked crushed. "But I'll ask around for you. I know some other ninja who are at least decent at it, and I'll get their advice on how to get you started. Sound good?"

"Yatta! Thanks, Iruka sensei!" Naruto exclaimed gleefully. "Come on, Tedashi, we gotta get to taijutsu class so I can kick Sasuke teme's butt. Let's go!"

"Thank you, Iruka sensei," I echoed, following Naruto out the door.

When we got outside, most of the class was pairing up with each other for the coming exercises, but I noticed Kiba and Kobi were tied up to a training post back-to-back, looking simultaneously mutinous and helpless. With great difficulty, I withheld the amusement from showing on my face. Mizuki glared at us when we got to the training field; or rather, he glared at Naruto, and I happened to be standing close enough to distribute the heat. "You're late," he stated.

"We were talking to Iruka sensei about some of the details of our lesson," I explained. "I apologize for our tardiness."

Mizuki glanced at me, almost as if noticing I was there for the first time. "Hmph. Whatever, pair up with someone to spar. Time to see if you have been paying any attention to the techniques we've been practicing."

"Alright, Tedashi, you are so going down again today!" Naruto declared eagerly.

I shook my head. "No, we can fight anytime. Let's practice against someone new," I suggested.

I had sparred with Naruto a few times since we had met, and it was always a battle of technique vs endurance. Naruto was strong for a seven-year-old boy, but he had no technique at all. No one had taught him how to fight, so he just charged at the enemy and started throwing haymakers or trying to grapple. When he connected, he was a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for him, the Gentle Fist style capitalized on turning the opponent's momentum and power against them, dodging and deflecting blows to create openings to counterstrike. I had a huge technical advantage over him, and could hold him off for a long time. But Naruto just didn't quit, and I still hadn't figured out how to use the Jyuuken to shut down his chakra, so I could never outlast him. I rarely came out on top in our fights, for all my technical skill.

Learning the basic academy taijutsu benefited Naruto much more than me. Naruto still didn't know much technique, but even the most basic foundation worked wonders for his style. He could put his power to better use, and our spars were more fun, even if the outcomes were even worse for me. I was just as eager as he was to see how he would stack up to the rest of our peers.

"Fine, but you owe me a fight later. Alright everyone, who wants to get their butt kicked? Get in line behind Sasuke teme," Naruto announced, looking around to find his rival.

"Sasuke already paired up, but I'll fight you, Naruto kun," Choji said amiably. I wasn't too surprised that no one else had wanted to pair up with Choji. Some of the dumber kids made fun of him, but the Akimichi were one of the four noble clans of Konoha for a reason. I didn't doubt that Choji could pack a wallop if he put his full strength into one of his blows.

"Alright, Tedashi still needs a partner. Who isn't paired up yet?" Mizuki asked, scanning the crowd. "Oi, Shikamaru. I see you on the ground there. Get up and get over here. You're fighting Tedashi."

"I have to use taijutsu to fight a Hyuuga? As if this class wasn't troublesome enough already," he drawled, slowly standing up and meandering over. "This has to be the worst possible matchup."

"If it cheers you up, I won't use the Jyuuken," I assured him. I didn't feel the need to admit that I couldn't use the Jyuuken yet. "Just regular taijutsu. Using my clan techniques to shut down your chakra system would be pretty unfair."

Shikamaru gave a nod of appreciation, and we turned to watch the first spar as Mizuki called out the names of the combatants. "Alright, ladies first. Ino, Sakura, you're up."

The first couple matches weren't too exciting. Ino barely beat Sakura, which I thought was kind of embarrassing, since she was a clan kid and Sakura was not. There were a few other matchups between girls I didn't that I didn't pay too much attention to, before Mizuki moved on to the boys. Even Choji and Naruto's match wasn't that inspiring. Choji didn't really want to hurt a friend (though I appreciated the fact that he considered Naruto a friend), and he allowed Naruto to just lay into him for a few minutes. Eventually, he realized that Naruto wasn't the type to be offended by a good fight, and one solid blow knocked Naruto off his feet and out of the circle, causing Mizuki called the match with a smirk. Several other fights occurred between kids I didn't recognize, all of which were lackluster. It was our first day of sparring, however, so I knew not to expect anything from those who didn't have a clan to give them some pre-academy training.

"Alright, next up, Shikamaru Nara vs Tedashi Hyuuga. Ready, begin!"

At Mizuki's call, I dropped into the basic Gentle Fist stance, allowing Shikamaru to make the first move. As I expected, he didn't take it, preferring to just stand still in the academy basic stance. Most would probably chalk it up to his laziness, but I wasn't so sure. Charging in against a Gentle Fist user is usually not a wise option, and since we couldn't use any jutsu here, waiting for me to make a move was probably the smartest thing he could do.

In a real fight, a good Hyuuga would have started off with some quick two-fingered jabs with the intent of weakening his opponent. He would close off a few tenketsu, and then drive home an open palm strike while the opponent was off balance and still reeling from his lack of mobility. Without the Jyuuken, however, quick jabs were pretty useless.

Instead, I inched closer to him warily, before taking an aggressive step and throwing an open palm thrust, which he dodged. He continued to sidestep and contort his body in impressive fashion, dodging each of the powerful strikes I threw at him. On instinct, I switched from the hard, open palm strikes to the quicker two finger jabs, only without the Jyuuken to power them. He grunted when I landed three quick jabs to his right shoulder, and then he smirked, returning a powerful blow to my stomach with the same arm. I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me, and barely blocked his follow up left-handed blow aimed for my head. I wasn't fast enough to block the powerful follow kick delivered to my abdomen, however, which sent me skidding out of the sparring circle.

Both of us were breathing a bit heavily when Mizuki called the match. Shikamaru was victorious. I walked over to make the seal of reconciliation. "Good fight," I said, and I meant it. "You baited me into a typical Hyuuga finger jab, and counter-attacked well."

"Only cuz you didn't use the Jyuuken," Shikamaru drawled with a shrug. "Once I saw you switch to a jab, I figured I had you, since you wouldn't shut down my chakra. A Hyuuga wouldn't expect a counterattack from the arm they just shut down. I was surprised that you were able to handle that first punch well enough to block the second."

"I've fought with Naruto a bit, and he can really pack a punch," I explained. "No offense, but you don't have the raw power he does. He doesn't make contact with me very much, but I've learned to take a hit and block the follow up, because if I take two shots in a row from that kid, it's lights out. Most people probably didn't realize it, but the fact that Choji took so many blows during their spar and kept standing speaks volumes about his durability."

"Hm, how troublesome," Shikamaru said, looking at Naruto. "He looks kinda shrimpy, really. I wonder where the power comes from."

I just shrugged in response, which was good enough for him.

"Alright, we've saved the best for last," Mizuki announced, revealing some obvious bias. "Sasuke Uchiha verses Hinata Hyuuga. Ready, begin!"

Two children of the heads of arguably the most respected (or feared) clans in Konoha faced off. Sasuke dropped into his Uchiha Interceptor stance, while Hinata relaxed into the same stance I had used just moments before. Unlike Shikamaru, however, Sasuke charged straight in.

He started with a strong high kick, which Hinata stopped dead with a two-armed block, transitioning into a rotating palm strike that caught Sasuke as he was still bringing his leg down. In a real fight, it probably would have been over right there. But without the Jyuuken to extend the strike beneath the skin, it merely resulted in Sasuke sliding backwards from the blow. I doubted that he really knew what kind of damage he could have taken from that strike.

He narrowed his eyes at getting parried so easily. Knowing Sasuke, that didn't surprise me. What was surprising was the confident smile on Hinata's face. She knew that she could have won it right there, and in her mind, she had just defeated the Uchiha, regardless of how this match was called at the end.

The spar carried on for several minutes, as Hinata continuously blocked Sasuke's attacks and responded with gentle counters. Sasuke seemed confused and irritated at her style, which seemed to be all defense and zero offense. Then, she spoke up. "Since it seems we are at a stalemate, I will now use the Jyuuken. Please prepare yourself." So, she could form Jyuuken blocks? I activated my Byakugan for a better look. Sure enough, when Sasuke charged her again, she transitioned her parry into a series of blows across his arm, causing him to cry out in pain. Each strike was perfectly aimed to shut down a tenketsu. While Sasuke was still reeling from the pain, she delivered a hard strike to the chest, mercifully without any Jyuuken enhancements. It was still enough to send Sasuke flying out of the sparring circle, and Mizuki called it. "Winner, Hinata Hyuuga!"

Several of the spectators looked impressed. A few looked at me as well, as if asking, why didn't he do something like that? I tried to hide a grimace and keep a straight face.

"Hey, can I fight now?" Kiba called from his spot on the post. Akamaru sat at his feet, panting contentedly. "Watching that fight got me all riled up! I learned my lesson, honest! I want to fight someone!"

Mizuki shook his head. "No. For the last time, you don't get to fight today. Alright everyone, get some water, your parents will be here soon to pick you up. Class dismissed."

I found my way over to Sasuke, who looked to be in an extremely sour mood. "How did she do that?" he asked. "It was like she lit my arm on fire from the inside."

"That's our clan's specialty taijutsu," I said. "We can forcefully close your tenketsu with our strikes. With a few light blows, we can nearly shut down your whole body. If you're fighting against a Hyuuga, make sure you don't get hit."

Sasuke scowled. "I see," he said, thinking about the match. "Hey, let's spar sometime, with the Jyuuken thing," he said.

I bit my lip. "Sure. I can't actually shut down your chakra points like she can, but I can still spar in the same style. Want to see if Itachi can come? He can watch us and give us pointers."

Sasuke's scowl vanished instantly. "Yeah! Nii-san will know what to do for sure."

That same weekend, we sparred under Itachi's supervision. The entire day was spent on teaching Sasuke how to deal with the Jyuuken. Even though I couldn't perform it, I used the same Gentle Fist style as Hinata, so Sasuke got some good practice without the side effect of losing feeling in his arms after every attack. Itachi was insightful and instructive, and despite the focus being on Sasuke, I was able to learn some of the weaknesses of my own technique.

"Thank you, Tedashi," Itachi said when we ended for the day. Sasuke was practicing the moves he had learned against the air a short distance away. "But I must ask, why allow Sasuke to learn how to counter your own technique?"

I shrugged. "He's my friend," I said truthfully. "I want him to do well, to get stronger." Itachi stared at me somberly, and I couldn't read his expression. Did he want more of an explanation than that?

The moment seemed to drag out awkwardly before he nodded. "Very well. Is there anything I can do for you in return, Tedashi?" he asked. "You have been most helpful today, and I haven't taught you anything. We do not have much time left today, but if you can think of something you need help with…"

He let the offer hang, and I thought about it. What was the most important thing I could learn from Itachi in a single, brief training session? I knew our time was short- and not just today. I needed something that I could work on myself without his supervision. And then an idea struck.

I had been spending a lot of time in the clan library lately. To read anything ninja-related, you had to be at least a genin, but there were still history books, reference material on other nations, and all sorts of other useful resources available to anyone in the clan. I suspected that the main topic that I wanted to study, however, wouldn't even be found in the jounin section of our library.

"Itachi san, there is something," I said hesitantly, "but I'll understand if you can't help me. I was looking in our clan library for books on fuinjutsu, but it is not an area of study that my clan encourages. I couldn't find anything. Do you have anything you could teach me about it?"

I wasn't sure that Itachi was skilled in fuinjutsu, but being a genius, I suspected that he might know something. That said, I also didn't know how someone would go about teaching fuinjutsu, either. Is it something that he could get me started on in a day? If so, it was a better thing to ask for than a ninjutsu, since I didn't know my own affinity yet, and I was content with my own clan's taijutsu. I considered asking about genjutsu, but I knew his best ones were Sharingan related.

He hummed. "Fuinjutsu is not my forte, but I believe I can still help you," he said. My heart skipped a beat. "But not tonight. It is too late for anything more today," he said, glancing at the setting sun. And like that, my hopes were dashed. Itachi was a busy man, and time to spare for his little brother and friend were few and far between. The chances of us meeting again were getting slimmer every day.

Even so, there was no reason to antagonize him. I wasn't a fool. "Thank you, Itachi san," I said politely.

"Are you ready, nii san?" Sasuke asked, getting impatient with his shadow boxing exercise.

Itachi turned to go, but hesitated for a minute, looking back to meet my eyes. "…Be a good friend to Sasuke," he said quietly, and left.

The next school day, Sasuke surreptitiously slipped a book into my bag. "Nii san said you would want to take a look at it. You can hang on to it for a while," he said.

I tilted the book so I could scan the cover. It read A Study in Fuinjutsu: the Uchiha Collection. My eyes widened. It wasn't a thick book, and the Uchiha weren't traditionally known for their fuinjutsu, but if this was their authoritative collection, it was bound to have some good stuff in it. Possibly clan secret level stuff. This was not material to hand away lightly. Itachi chose to give this to me?

"Thank you, Sasuke," I said softly, trying not to imagine the fallout that would occur if either of our clans heard about this.