Naruto's Odyssey
Academy Daze I
-o-
IRUKA
Picking up the chalk, Iruka turned to the chalkboard.
"Chakra" He said while drawing the outline of a body, "-is energy. And it's made up of two things. Spiritual energy," He wrote. "- and physical energy."
"Spiritual energy is often associated with the mind, our thoughts, emotions, and the soul. Studying, meditating, experiences, strong emotions, all contribute to growing our spiritual energy. And while all living beings have spiritual energy, it's more prominent in sapient beings."
"Physical energy on the other hand comes from the body. And is directly related to stamina, endurance, strength, and vitality. Exercising both uses and develops our physical energy, similarly to how we build muscles. But equally important as training is eating and sleeping right."
"Mixing those two energies results in the chakra that we shinobi use." He turned to face the class. "Usually, when it's just floating around in your body, you can't see it. But! If you channel enough of it with the right intention." His muscles tensed as he flexed just the tiniest bit in response to exerting a strong pull on his reserves. Enough that it would be visible to the naked eye. "You can see just the faintest outline of it."
A light blue coating of chakra shimmered to life around his body, and the class gasped. A smile tugged at Iruka's lips. It was always a joy to see the wonder in kids' eyes when they beheld chakra. After a moment he ceased the flow and the coating vanished.
"You actually have to be able to channel it to join the academy. That's what the entrance exam was for. But even those who didn't pass have chakra. The chakra is usually contained within our body flowing only in certain patterns. Essentially confined to serve our bodies natural needs. Those that pass the exam are those able to 'unlock' their chakra. Meaning they have both enough chakra for other purposes and are able to draw it away from its normal patterns. If you're parents or grandparents managed to unlock their chakra and trained it, you are more likely to be able to as well." A hand came up to rub at his chin. "That's not to say that there aren't any civilian shinobi. Most of Konoha's shinobi are civilian. Since there are far more civilians around than shinobi clans. They just tend to have less of it. Chakra, that is."
Makaro Akimichi raised his hand and Iruka gave the boy a nod. "But Sensei, how come there're no civilians in our class then?"
"Good observation, but not entirely true. You see, Naruto here isn't from a clan." For a second all of the attention was on Naruto. Iruka himself gave the boy a curious look. Naruto certainly wasn't the first civilian to attend the Konoha Academy.
His file had made note of him possessing more chakra than his peers. Which for a civilian was extremely surprising. Seeing as he was born and subsequently orphaned around the time of the Kyuubi incident, Iruka thought it more than likely that either one or both of Naruto's parents had been shinobi. First or second generation perhaps? That could explain the chakra, maybe also his clan-less status. Most clans took three or four generations to properly establish themselves.
Nearly half a year had passed by since the start of their first year, and the boy had scored at the bottom of his class for the most part. He could understand that considering the boy was an orphan and the other kids had parents, siblings, or shinobi clan members who could help them at home.
Naruto's oceanic blue eyes peeked up from where he'd been looking down and met his own Belatedly, he realized the class had fallen silent and that he, and by extension the whole class, were staring. The boy looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear at this moment. Shit, I got lost in thought. His mind raced back to where he'd left off. "Ah, uh- and neither was Jiraiya of the Sannin and Minato Namikaze, the sixth Hokage. Both of whom attended this very academy."
"But back to spiritual and physical energy. What you need to understand when it comes to the application of chakra in jutsu, is that it isn't always fifty-fifty between the physical and spiritual. Genjutsu tend to use more spiritual energy than physical. And Taijutsu relies heavily upon physical energy."
"In fact…"
-o-
[A few weeks later.]
"Today, class, we'll be talking about chakra natures. Of which there are five." Iruka spoke, taking a stack of papers, hitting them against the desk to line up the edges, and setting them aside. "Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning." He continued, stepping away from the desk and standing in front of the class. "All shinobi are born with an affinity for at least one of these five elements. Mine is Fire. Which just so happens to be the most common elemental affinity in the land of Fire."
"Can you show us a Jutsu?"
"Yeah, show us a jutsu sensei!"
The kids cheered excitedly, eliciting a chuckle from their sensei. "There'll be plenty of time for that once we start learning ninjutsu. For now though, you'll have to do with the theory."
"Aww…"
They chorused in disappointment. Once they were quiet, Iruka continued.
"An advantage in elemental affinity can be crucial in a battle. If I were to find myself in a battle with an enemy Chūnin that wielded the element of water, I would be hard pressed to match him in terms of strength of ninjutsu." Iruka explained. "But victory is decided by many factors. Where are you fighting? How well have you mastered your element? Do you have more or less chakra than your opponent? How does your element interact with the opponents?"
The class was following his lectures with more focus than he'd seen in a long time. Usually there'd be at least one or two children fiddling with a pencil or drawing in their notebooks. Sometimes they'd whisper to their neighbours. Today's topic however seemed to have properly caught their attention.
"Let's begin with the element of Fire. Ninjutsu of the fire element are commonly referred to as Katon and often associated with the Tiger seal." His hands formed into said seal. "Fire is strongest against wind, which is natural considering that air feeds fire. And fire is weakest against water since water cools down and smothers fire at the same time."
"Fire style ninjutsu are also commonly expelled through the mouth. Which makes senses if you think about it. You see, there are three things you need to make a fire: heat, fuel, and air. For example, imagine you have a candle in front of you. First, you take a match, for heat, and light the candle. The wax is what we call the fuel. The thing we burn. And lastly, just like humans need to breathe air to survive, we need to make sure there's enough air around to keep the fire alive. "
"It's the same for Katon ninjutsu. Chakra takes the place of the fuel, the thing you burn. But it's also the source of heat, the matchstick. When performing a fire ninjutsu, the person has to make the chakra vibrate fast enough that it catches fire. That's where the fire affinity really counts because those with a fire affinity tend to have a much easier time making their chakra catch fire. Almost like it's second nature."
"Another thing about fire style ninjutsu, is that they tend to be far easier to perform than water and earth. The process of transmuting chakra into solids or liquids can be incredibly taxing. Especially if you don't have an earth or water affinity. Which is why most earth and water element users need to have earth or a body of water nearby if they don't want to risk depleting their chakra too quickly."
"Mastering the fire element, or any element for that matter, requires extensive training and understanding of one's elemental affinity. Skilled fire-type ninjas can manipulate their chakra more efficiently, achieving higher temperatures, longer-lasting flames, and more intricate fire-based techniques."
-o-
[Weeks later.]
Iruka slumped in his chair as the last of the students trickled out of the classroom, allowing himself a moment to just relax. While not physically taxing, teaching a bunch of children demanded a certain amount of patience. Which, admittedly, stretched thin when they wouldn't listen. They'd talk during class, whisper and laugh, needle each other. Lose focus the moment they deemed class boring. Which wasn't unexpected considering they were first years.
He knew it would sort itself out by the time they got around to their second year. Kids tended to adapt to the shinobi discipline rather quickly.
Still, he enjoyed his new job.
Taking a breath, he was about to begin grading the latest tests when the door to the classroom slid open to reveal one of his colleagues.
"Iruka-sensei." The young lady greeted, smiling.
"Kouki-san." He returned the smile. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yes, the principal asked to see you in his office."
Iruka frowned. The principal? "Oh, did he tell you why?" He questioned, getting up from his chair and moving towards the door.
She shook her head. "No." She smirked. "But I saw the Hokage entering not too long ago."
Iruka faltered mid-step, caught so off-guard he stumbled like a fool. "T-the Hokage?!" He yelped, eyes wide.
She laughed lightly and he flushed at how his voice cracked towards the end. He straightened up trying to regain some semblance of dignity and stepped outside. "Well, I'll be going then. Thanks, Kouki-san."
"Good luck, Iruka-sensei."
-o-
The short time spent walking to the principal's office was expended trying figure out what they could possibly want from a complete newbie like him. He couldn't help the slight knot in his stomach. Had he made a mistake somewhere? Messed up in some way? But then why would the Hokage be present? The leader of the village surely had more important duties that making sure Iruka was teaching his class well enough.
It occurred to him that this was the leader of the village he was about to talk to. It was nerve-wracking to say the least. Sure, he'd seen the wizened old man in the administration building before, been present when the man held speeches before the gathered people, and even around the village a time or two, but had never actually talked to the man himself outside of that one time he'd been given his first B-ranked mission, and even then it had been the team leader who'd done all the talking.
When finally he reached his destination, he knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in." The principal's voice sounded from inside, and Iruka took a breath before entering, in a last-ditch attempt at calming his nerves.
In his seat behind the desk sat the principal, grey hair slicked back, and glasses polished to shine.
Standing by the window looking out over the academy yard stood the Hokage himself.
Iruka bowed his head respectfully. "Hokage-sama."
Though his head was angled downwards, he could still see the white robes shift as the Hokage turned around. "Rise, my boy."
Iruka rose from his bow to meet the eyes of the fifth Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves. Hiruzen Sarutobi. His spine straightened instinctively.
"I'm told you're teaching for the first time. How do you like it?" Hiruzen asked pleasantly.
Such a normal question. "A- good, Hokage-sama."
"Iruka's performance has been exemplary. I hear only good things about him from his colleagues." The principal replied. Iruka fought the urge to scratch the back of his head, both proud and embarrassed at the praise.
"Good." Hiruzen chuckled as he took off his hat and placed it on the desk. "No need to be so nervous. I try to come by at least once or twice a year to see how the future of our village is coming along." Then he nodded at the principal. "And see an old friend."
The principal huffed good-naturedly.
"Tell me, how does your class fare."
Iruka took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Good, Hokage-sama. The kids are eager to learn. The class average is about where you'd expect for first years. Individual students' strengths and weaknesses are mostly in-line with what we'd assume from their clans. And based on overall test scores, Sasuke Uchiha currently ranks at the top of the class."
Hiruzen chuckled. "Young Sasuke's following in his brother's footsteps it seems."
He means Itachi. The Uchiha clan heir had been lauded as a genius after blitzing through the academy and winning the Chūnin exams to earn himself the rank of Chūnin. And being the youngest Uchiha in recent memory to awaken the third stage of the infamous Sharingan.
"And what about Naruto? How is our young civilian student coming along?"
Iruka went over the boy's performance in recent times. "Naruto's scores aren't the best; he ranks lower in the class. And struggles a bit with the academic portion. But not for a lack of trying. He's resilient and determined to succeed, Hokage-sama. I think he's taken the fact that he isn't part of a clan as motivation to work harder than the others. He does well in taijutsu though. Very tenacious, and with the stamina to back it up."
Hiruzen's lip curled up in a small smile. "That's good. Naruto's background as a civilian brings a different perspective to the academy. It's important for us to nurture his talents and provide him with opportunities to grow. I believe he has a lot to offer. Potential, that with proper guidance, could flourish."
Hiruzen smiled warmly at Iruka. "You've done well, Iruka-kun. Continue to inspire and guide your students. The future of Konoha is in your hands."
Feeling a renewed sense of purpose, Iruka bowed deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I won't let you down."
-o-
AN:
Yo, back again with another chapter. Hope you like it. Don't hesitate to leave a review, and if you want to talk about this fic or any other, I've written, feel free to join the discord channel.
~Zenix404~
