Chapter 2: Pitiful Grudges

Koda was happy. So happy. He had the best job in the world! First, he gets to shape and teach the future of Konoha. Second, he was working with his cute childhood friend, Mino. Third, and in his opinion best, he got to take revenge against the weakened Nine-Tailed demon brat. It was petty, he knew full well, but each time he remembered his sister's ruined corpse, burnt by toxic chakra as it melted her form. He had a grudge, and by all the kamis in heaven and hell, he was going to get something. "Good morning Mino, are you ready for another day?"

Mino nodded as she held the lesson plan in her hand, "yep, a full month in and I sense this class might make great ninjas. Well, hopefully not that thing." She scowled at the thought of a certain blonde.

Koda chuckled and clasped her on her back, "well, at least we get the last laugh." He opened the door for her and followed her into the classroom. The children were loud as ever, with Naruto and Sakura sharing her book. Sakura looked animated as she tried to explain low level chakra theory to Naruto. Koda scowled. Every time Naruto would be knocked down by him and Mino, he would get right back up with the help of that Haruno girl. He was disappointed in her. Such a bright child tricked by a demon. If she only knew who he was, she too would abandoned him so that he would not be able to influence her to such a degree. Certainly it is too late now. He sighed at that thought and used the Big Head Jutsu. Known by every Konoha teacher, it managed to quiet the children. Naruto was still reading the book, that Sakura lent him. Koda wanted to kick him out, but the excuses got flimsier and he knew he'd need good excuses if he wanted to kick that demon out of his class. Unfortunately it seems Haruno kept him in line despite the energetic personality. The outbursts Koda and Mino used as excuses weren't as frequent.
He started his lecture. Naruto paid close attention. Koda hated that. He hated but could do nothing until the blonde made a slip.

Naruto was desperately trying to stay still. The energy of his yang chakra literally vibrated him in his seat as he read and listened to the lesson. It was almost painful. Naruto, whenever his mind started to wander, would be counting the minutes before the physical training and weapon technique training lessons. To him the hours till then was pure torture.

Sakura knew her friend well. Naruto was a very active boy. With endless stamina him sitting still is akin to a miracle from kami. As such she knew entirely what he was going through must be like what she went through whenever he dragged her out to train on their off days at his level. She may be stronger than normal girls her age, with a bit more stamina than any other girl her age, saved for the Hyuga clan heir, Hinata, but Naruto was just built different. Even Kiba with his own stamina from being trained as clan heir to the Inuzuka's couldn't keep up with Naruto when it came to stamina. She looked over at Sasuke, blushing, 'I doubt even Sasuke could match Naruto in stamina. Though with his skill he never needed to." Sakura had seen the three times Naruto and Sasuke sparred, once in the academy and twice when he invited them over to meet his mom. That time was a bit creepy considering how empty the Uchiha compound was. Ever since Itachi massacred the elders and the police force, the Uchihas only had a small population of very young and very old civilians. At this point and time, Sasuke Uchiha was the eldest of the children at age ten. Each spar Sasuke would win, but with each spar, it would be a more difficult win for him each time. Just like how his skills with chess kept growing and forcing even Shikamaru to play harder and take longer. It almost seemed like Naruto learned by doing.

Sakura thought that and suddenly lifted her head up from her book in an epiphany. 'Naruto learned by doing!' She started to form an idea on how to teach him. She had noticed the disproportionate treatment from her senseis towards Naruto. Much like her mother's treatment of Naruto, she didn't get it. However, she can use it to Naruto's advantage. She waited until lunch to bring up her idea to Naruto. "Naruto, I think I know why you have trouble studying," Naruto looked at Sakura in question when she said that, "and the reason why is due to the fact that you might be a kinesthetic learner."

Naruto looked at her puzzled, "what's a kinnyseptic learner?"

"Kin-es-thet-ic," Sakura corrected with exasperation, "it means you learn best when you're physically active. You'd rather learn by doing it yourself as opposed to learning from books." She waited until understanding dawned on him. "I have an idea to get our sensei to inadvertently help you, but you'll have to act as if you're punished and hate it, okay?" she asked him. He nodded his understanding. "So here's the plan..."

Naruto had to hide his smirk coming into class the next day. Time to execute operation Sakura's Brilliant Plan. He was one of the first people here, and as such he decided to play a prank on the teacher. He placed a thumbtack he had painted the night before to look like apart of the wooden chair when viewed from above. He sat in his usual spot afterwards and couldn't help but snicker at what was going to happen next. He never pranked anyone before but he always wanted to. Now was the perfect time. Sakura's Brilliant Plan involved him getting in trouble, and her being "cruel" and thinking of a punishment that will, if all goes according to plan, will aid in him learning while simultaneously allowing him to train his body. A win-win in his eyes.

Everyone came in, with Koda and Mino, as usual, coming last. Koda immediately started by giving a test. He went to his chair while Mino gave out the tests. Halfway through the test giving, Mino hear Koda yelp in pain. She saw Naruto howled in laughter. Koda glared at him. "Something funny Uzumaki" Naruto gave his best innocent-but-clearly-not look. Koda glared at him, "go stand outside for disrupting class."

"Sensei," Sakura jumped in at that point, "since Naruto is always disrupting class, might I suggest he do physical activities for the entire class? I mean, why should he get exactly what he wants?" Koda thought for a bit.

He then smirked and turned to Naruto, "on second thought, you should go to that corner and do plank exercises for the entirety of class. If you stop even for a second, you'll be doing it again tomorrow." Naruto grumbled under his breath as he went to the corner and started to get into a plank. No one saw his smirk, but he managed to get a decent enough view of the board and was able to actually listen to the lecture and lessons on chakra without the excess energy build up that caused him distraction, the pain cleared his head as he continued to train while paying attention. He understood most of it too. That which he couldn't, he could ask Sakura later for clarification. Thus, the rest of the year went much like this. Unfortunately for Koda, Naruto turned out to be a prodigy trickster. His pranks ranged from the simple in the beginning like dirty chalk erasers dropping from doors and water balloons launched from under desks, to more complex ones, like that one that involved a toad, a free gift card from a high end restaurant, and a sexy transformation technique, that Naruto created by combining his massive yang chakra and his knowledge of human anatomy which he had to stand on his head the entire class to learn about countering female seduction techniques. Koda and Mino never recovered their relationship from that. Eventually by the end of the year Naruto had driven his sensei completely insane to the point that he decided to quit after the year was up.

When their first year ended for summer break, a ten year old Naruto, and eleven year old Sakura find themselves having fully shanghaied their sensei and with Naruto understanding basic knowledge a little bit better than he definitely would have just simply reading while sitting still. Meanwhile, Sasuke was constantly badgered by Ino for dates much to his chagrin, but always tried to turn her down gently like his mother had told him. He trained himself to the bone everyday. Sakura, despite liking Sasuke as well, never did capitalize on any chances while he hung out with them due to her being busy helping her knuckle-headed friend. Ino took this to mean she liked Naruto and would routinely try to get them alone together in some manner. Her favorite was during the winter festival when she managed to lock Naruto and Sakura in a firewood storage shed for the night, unbeknownst to the two, and they had to cuddle together for warmth. She would routinely try to give her advice while pursuing Sasuke.

Choji and Shikamaru stayed eating and sleeping in class, respectively. Naruto and Sakura would routinely play Chess Shikamaru at lunch. Sakura and Shikamaru's games would not end in one lunch, and occasionally they'd pass movement instructions of their pieces via passed notes in class or shouting coordinates in public. The battles between them were legendary in the Nara clan who would occasionally hear them pass by each other and state their moves out loud, leaving many Naras, despite being lazy, speculating how the games were turning out with limited information. Their passion for chess grew as did their skills in seeking information as some would even become passionate enough to stalk them until they passed each other for a clear view of the board. Their longest game to date is 25 days, ending in a Nara victory, though barely with only two pieces left. Choji had never won a single eating contest with Naruto, especially when it came to Ichiraku Ramen. This dumbfounded Choji so much he actually asked his father and mother if Naruto was a lost Akimichi clan member.

Hinata had found herself drawn to Naruto, but was too shy to befriend him. Ino noticed her furtive glances at the blonde knucklehead, and, smelling potential drama, dragged her into the friend group with Naruto in order to create conflict with Sakura. Hinata than became fast friends with everyone. Naruto always tried his best to befriend Hinata, but her blushing and fainting made him refrain himself because he thought she had a chronic illness. Kiba occasionally helped Naruto with his pranks. He proved very capable and eventually they didn't limit themselves to just their sensei when it came to Naruto's pranks. He was quickly being known as the Prank King from Hell. His pranks always targeted the people who hated him the most, or sold him bad food or empty packs of ramen. Those who sold empty ramen were the worst hit. All in all, despite it's ups and downs, Naruto had a great first year of school and despite the constant bullying and abuse of power from the administrators and teachers, he enjoyed coming back to school.

But know it was over for a year. Already Naruto is enjoying himself training by a pool he found when he was younger and homeless at five. As he tried to keep multiple leaves on him, slowly letting them drop off in order to practice chakra control while he warmed up with push-ups. He continued until only one leave was left for 23 minutes, his best time so far. 'Man, Sakura really is great. She helps me so much.' He smiled at the though of Sakura then blushed when he didn't understand why his heart pounded when Sakura was near him. But that didn't matter. She was his first friend and she goes out of her way to help him. He continued his training trying to keep leaves stuck to him for longer. His summer basically went like this except for the occasional prank and seeing his friends.

One summer day, he finds a family of foxes and enjoys feeding them, loving them, and taking care of them. Soon summer ends and thus begins the second year to becoming ninjas for the village.