Chapter 4: Graduation

Marinford

Paradise: Grand Line

Carrying his box of possessions, Naruto left the barracks that had been his home for last month. He'd spend the next eleven at the Marine Officer Academy. And whether out of kindness or coincidence, he'd still be rooming with Kiba at his new location.

Not that he'd mind meeting new people, but he'd become fast friends with the other boy. He'd even gotten used to having Akamaru around, despite the rather cramped state that came from having such a large dog in an already small room.

Turning a corner, he found himself face to face, with none other than Garp. Quickly he set down his box and saluted the man, expecting him to continue his way. Instead, he just stood there examining Naruto.

"I heard you master three techniques of Rokushiki?" Garp asked him out of nowhere.

"I did," says Naruto. "I know the theory behind all of them. I'm starting training with Rankyaku."

"Then I suggest you learn Tekkai quickly," the large Vice-Admiral told him.

"Is there any reason?" Naruto asked curiously. "I was working on Shigan next."

"Trust me, Naruto, Tekkai is something you should learn," Garp insisted, then walked off without an explanation.

What had that been about? Naruto didn't have a clue. Still, he could boast to Kiba later that Garp himself was giving him advice on training. That gave him pleasant thoughts as he picked up his box and continued to navigate towards the academy. He was crossing a training field near his destination when he saw a flash of something out of the corner of his eye.

Almost as soon as he'd noticed there was a loud impact directly in front of him, and Naruto found himself pelted with chunks of earth that had been thrown up by it. Quickly overcoming his surprise, he looked in the small crater to see what had caused it and was intrigued to see a cannonball. He hadn't walked into an artillery practice zone, had he?

Looking toward the direction, it had come from; he didn't see any cannons. Just a single man standing on a nearby hill. Make that a very familiar old man who was waving at him.

"Tekkai, Naruto, Tekkai!" Garp yelled loud enough for Naruto to hear even from a distance.

That would have to be a powerful Tekkai to withstand a blow like that. Judging by the crater, it had a lot more force behind it than a cannon would impart. And Garp had thrown it? Just how strong was he?

It was then Naruto noticed the man lifting another cannonball from a small stack beside his feet. He hurled it and Naruto instinctively leaped to the side, seeing the metal sphere pass right through where he'd just been standing.

That could have killed him! What kind of homicidal maniac was this man? But seeing him reaching once again for his pile of death, Naruto dropped his box and dashed full speed toward the entrance to the academy's dorms. He had to dodge three more assaults, but slid through the door safely, panting and sweating more from the adrenaline than the actual exertion.

"Naruto?" a voice asked from beside him. "Is something going on out there?"

He realized he wasn't alone in the hallway he'd just entered; it was that girl from that naval exercise who was next to him. Tenten, he believed her name was. But how to answer her question?

He wasn't about to go around raving to everyone that a legendary hero had gone crazy and was trying to kill him. He'd be the one locked up in an asylum somewhere.

"Uh, just getting some exercise," he lied, trying to sound as natural as possible. "I passed the Officer Exam so I'm moving in here today."

"That's great to hear," she told him. "I'm more surprised you failed the first time."

"Ah, that's a long story," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"Well, I wish we could talk more, but I'm just leaving," Tenten says to him. "I already graduated just received my first assignment."

"Ah, good luck with that," he replied to a bit enviously, "I wish I were going with you."

"Ah, I'm already late," she declared and then brushed past him to hurry out the door.

Naruto watched her go worrying briefly that she was about to be crushed by a cannonball. But she continued without meaning Garp was gone. He did still need to go back and get his box of possessions. Deciding to play it safe, he summoned a clone which he sent outside to look for any sign of Garp.

It was only a few feet from the entrance when a cannonball flew into its head from directly above, destroying the clone and smashing into the path beneath it.

"That's a nice trick, Naruto," a voice called out from the roof.

Yeah … He'd go back for the box later. Turning from the door, he continued until he located his new room. It was a bit larger than his previous one and included a pair of desks to go with. The better he gets to work on practicing his Tekkai, the more his chances to survive will be increased if he wants to see graduation.

He hadn't attempted Tekkai in a while, but in the concept, it was simple. You had to tense your muscles in just the right fashion and will them into becoming as hard as iron. In practice, even the slightest wavering in your will could cause the technique to fail and crack your defense.

Summoning a clone, he prepared his body and nodded for the clone to start. He watched the blow heading for his stomach, trying to focus his will even harder on its intended destination.

He felt the impact of the fist then doubled over as the blow to his gut knocked the wind out of him. Naruto saw his clone looking down at him sheepishly as he was recovering from the assault. Not being deterred he stood back up and resumed his previous stance.

"Again," he ordered firmly.

And that was what Kiba found him still doing when his friend walked in the door a few minutes later. He was already sporting bruises all over his body, having tried several different targets. Not only to see if he had better luck there but also to avoid assaulting already abused body parts.

"What exactly are you doing?" Kiba asked dumbfoundedly.

Akamaru had followed the boy inside and seemed to quickly decide he did not approve of the situation. The only problem was that he couldn't seem to figure out which Naruto he should be upset with. He quickly settled on pushing his way between the two of them, and sitting there, giving both Naruto's a look that made it clear he wouldn't let them try anything.

"It's just that Vice Admiral Garp was trying to kill me," Naruto started explaining, letting his clone vanish which seemed to calm Akamaru down.

"Really?" Kiba quipped. "What did you do to piss him off?"

"Nothing," Naruto told him. "Garp wanted me to be trained in Tekkai and those Cannonballs are his idea of for Tekkai training."

"Are you serious?" Kiba asked dubiously.

"I'm afraid so," Naruto confirmed. "But I'm not exactly having much luck here. I may not even have the physical conditioning for the technique yet."

"Well, it doesn't sound like the sort of technique you can learn overnight," Kiba consoled him.

"But my life may depend on me doing just that," he replied bitterly.

0o0o0

And so, his life at the Marine Officer Academy began. Naruto had to send clones to all his classes to avoid death by Garp. The Vice Admiral certainly hadn't given up on his 'training.' Thankfully he remembered everything his clones experienced, as many of the lessons were quite interesting.

He particularly enjoyed studying military tactics. They also were getting more real combat training. Sure, the unarmed training was too basic to be of any use, but they also trained in the basics of guns, swords, and artillery.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto hadn't left the dorms since he'd entered on the first day. He'd spent some of the pay he'd received when he completed basic to buy himself weights to train with. But even as his strength grew, he was frustrated by the slow progress he'd been making over the months.

He'd activated Tekkai on numerous occasions now. But he still couldn't reliably use it. And even at his best, it wouldn't be strong enough to stop one of Garp's cannonballs.

And on top of everything else, he was sick of being interrupted from his training by the memories of his head being smashed in by a high-velocity iron projectile, whenever Garp took out one of his clones.

The only good thing to come out of this is that he did get some real experience patching holes on a ship. As Garp didn't let the risk of damage to a marine vessel deter his efforts, they trained on ships fairly regularly.

At least he got breaks on occasion. Garp wasn't always in Marinford. Sometimes his clones would go weeks without being bothered. And over time his skill at Tekkai became both stronger and more reliable. He remained hesitant to put it to the test. Even a small mental slip could cause the skill to drop. And there was nothing like having a cannonball hurtling at you to make you lose your focus.

But it was during the tenth month of his schedule eleven at the academy that a particularly long absence from Garp finally convinced Naruto to risk going outside and getting his real body some much-needed sun.

He was lined up next to the other officer trainees waiting for the instructor to arrive. The rest of them had all long since learned to give him a wide berth, creating a very noticeable break in the line on either side of Naruto. A fact that was picked up by Lieutenant-Commander Iruka, who happened to be walking by them that day.

He didn't usually hang around the academy, dealing more with the enlisted recruits. But whatever caused him to be walking past that day, their odd formation drew his attention. After pausing to examine it curiously, he approached them.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you how to form a line?" he asked derisively. "Straighten this mess up immediately."

There were some nervous fidgets, but no one complied with his order, a fact that didn't look like sit well with the young officer. Moving over to the trainee to Naruto's right, he got directly in the young man's face.

"I gave you an order," he said harshly, then without waiting for a reply turned to his left and began walking back toward Naruto.

But Naruto wasn't paying much attention to Iruka any longer, as he'd spotted something else that sent a chill down his spine. Off to the left, standing on top of a nearby building, stood Garp, having chosen the worst possible time to return.

He was already preparing a throw, and Naruto made ready to dodge. But before he could, he realized Iruka was once again next to him, and would be directly in the cannonball's path should Naruto move out of the way.

Not having any choice, he instead took a wide stance and prepared to put his training to the test. In a flash, the large metal object slammed into his chest, sending Naruto's whole body backward with force. He crashed into Iruka with enough momentum left to knock the both of them to the ground.

Naruto took only a moment to regain his bearings. Upon doing so, he realized he now held the iron sphere in his hands, and none of his bones seemed to be broken. He was in more than a little pain, but it didn't appear to be anything serious. Climbing to his feet Iruka did the same a moment later, looking completely shocked.

"What was that?" he all but yelled. "Is that a cannonball in your hands?"

"Nice catch, Naruto!" Garp shouted from his position on the roof.

"This explains why everyone was keeping their distance," Iruka muttered, having deduced what was going on. "Isn't something being done to stop this?"

"Well, it's been going on since I started and I haven't been hurt yet," Naruto boasted, proud of his accomplishment and not wanting to admit that this was the first time he'd taken a hit.

"Still, I'll be filing a report on this incident immediately," Iruka promised.

So saying he began to walk off, keeping a wary eye on Garp as he did. The Vice Admiral just waved cheerfully to him as he left.

0o0o0

With his newfound confidence from that incident, Naruto began venturing outside himself regularly. But if Iruka did file a report, it hadn't done any good. Naruto faced three more of Garp's assaults over the next month. And Naruto was proud to say his Tekkai had protected him on each occasion.

So with his training nearly complete, he found himself once again preparing for the naval combat simulation that he'd first done at the end of basic training. Only this time, he'd be the one in charge of the crew. He was especially looking forward to the exercise as he'd been paired against Kiba. Sure, they were still good friends, better than ever in fact. But that didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy proving his superiority.

And he got off to a good start. His crew was far more competent than the one he'd served with when he last did this. The anchor was raised, and the ship took off smoothly. At Naruto's direction, the helmsman turned the ship to port, the direction he knew the other ship would be waiting for. That was when he saw him. Garp was standing back on shore looking at him intently.

But he wasn't very concerned with Garp's attacks anymore. He'd just deal with this and move on. But a moment after Garp threw the cannonball, Naruto realized it wasn't heading for him. Whether through bad aim or deliberate action, Naruto quickly calculated its trajectory would cause it to land a half dozen feet to his right, putting a hole in the ship in the process.

No, he wasn't going to let the man ruin this for him. Not sparing a moment to second guess himself, he ran directly into its path. Naruto only had a brief instant to prepare himself but got his Tekkai up just in time to protect him as the momentum of the iron object sent him sliding across the deck.

He let himself breathe a sigh of relief at his success when he felt the railing hit the back of his legs bringing a jolting halt to their progress. Unfortunately, the upper half of his body continued merrily on its way, spilling him over the edge and sending him plummeting into the water.

Naruto could now confirm firsthand that those who had eaten a devil fruit couldn't swim. What was worse, it felt like the ocean was draining the very strength from his body. But very shortly after his descent, he saw another body dive into the water, one he recognized as the proctor. The man pulled him up, lifting his head above the water and allowing Naruto to gasp for air.

One of the recruits had already thrown a rope into the water which the proctor grabbed and used to climb back to the ship, carrying Naruto with him.

"Just hold on," the proctor said worriedly after gently laying him on the deck. "We're going to get you to a doctor."

"No, I'm fine," Naruto told him, strength already returning to him now that he was out of the seawater.

"Don't lie to me," the man berated him, "You were just hit by a cannonball, for goodness' sake. You were all but dead in the water when I got to you."

"Really I'm fine," he insisted, climbing easily to his feet to prove it. "I couldn't swim because I'm a devil fruit user."

"Captain, the other ship is dead ahead," a recruit called out from the crow's nest, interrupting further debate.

Hmm, Garp may be a jerk, but he had given Naruto an idea.

"Keep our course heading straight for the other ship," Naruto ordered the helmsman.

Then summoning nine clones, he helped them all gather up the paint cannonballs into a big pile on the prow of the ship. The crew looked on with suitably awed actions also served to convince the proctor that he was going to be okay.

Lifting one of the mock cannonballs experimentally, he tossed it off to the side to gauge his distance, finding himself pleased with the result. He was no match for Garp, but these paintballs were much lighter than a real cannonball. And thanks to his months of strength training, it seemed his range was a fair bit longer than a cannon's range.

So, he waited until Kiba's ship had just passed within that range and then opened fire. With Naruto and nine clones throwing as fast as they could, it looked almost as if a storm of giant rainbow hailstones was falling on the other ship. When he stopped, it was clear to the naked eye the ship had received many direct hits.

"I guess that means we win," he announced jovially to his crew.

0o0o0

"Did you have to show off so much, Naruto?" Kiba complained from beside him. "What exactly could I do to respond to that?"

"You still haven't let that go?" Naruto asked. "If anything, you should be glad I did that. Like you said, what could you have done? There's nothing they could fault you for. It would have looked a lot worse for you if I'd won with conventional tactics."

"And what makes you so sure you would have won?" his friend replied petulantly.

"Look, we both graduated, so let's just leave it at that and enjoy the moment," Naruto told him diplomatically.

To his great pleasure, Kiba took his advice, and they soon filed into the auditorium where their graduation ceremony was about to take place. Finding their seats they waited as the rest of the graduates made their way in, along with some family members taking up seats in the back.

Soon the ceremony began, and Naruto was thrilled to see Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself giving the speech.

"You're all here today because you chose to begin a noble career path," Sengoku orated. "And now, thanks to your year of hard... work..."

His words trailed off at the end as he noted Vice Admiral Garp making his way onto the stage carrying a large box.

"Garp, what are you doing here?" Sengoku demanded of him.

"I'm going to let you finish," Garp replied, "But Naruto doesn't graduate unless I say so."

"That's not your decision to make," Sengoku replied angrily. "Now get off the stage this instant."

But Garp ignored the order and set the box down, opening it to reveal that it was full of cannonballs.

"Consider this your real final exam," Garp called out to him. "And you better not dodge any of these."

Naruto was unsurprised to see all the other graduates had already vacated the area. Even Kiba, who had been sitting right next to him was nowhere in sight. This wasn't going to be simple. He'd never tried to take more than one of these at a time, and the range between them was much less than ever before as well. But his pride wouldn't let him back down now.

Naruto crossed his arms in front of him and braced for the impact. The first one hit his right forearm, and Naruto could swear he felt his arm about to snap just before the pressure subsided and the ball fell to the ground. The seat behind him was helping prevent his body from sliding backward from the impact, not that he'd have minded a little extra distance.

Almost as soon as the first attack had finished, the second struck him dead center on his forehead. Naruto wondered briefly how he'd been able to protect himself when there wasn't exactly a lot of muscle up there.

But he ignored the thought and the new ringing in his ears. And a good thing he had as he regained control of his Tekkai just in time for the third cannonball, which landed directly in his gut.

It forced him to exhale his breath, but he'd prevented it from doing more than that. The next projectile came so quickly that gravity had yet to begin to assert itself over the previous ball. It struck him in his lower right leg, but he stood firmly, refusing to lose his balance because the next one …

There wasn't a next one. Sengoku had wrestled Garp to the ground and was holding him there with his arms pinned behind him.

"Congratulations to all of you," Sengoku declared, clearly still focused more on his struggle with Garp. "You're now officially commissioned ensigns in the Marine Force. Dismissed."

Meanwhile, Garp was filling the auditorium with his raucous laughter. He'd also managed to free one of his arms which held out in a thumb-up sign.

"You pass, Naruto," he announced loudly. "Now go out there and teach those pirates to fear the Marines."