naruto cahpter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Naruto sighed for what seemed the millionth time that night. He’d been going over the files of the students and what was expected of a chuunin teacher for a couple days now and he was not happy. The students were fine; he’d get to know them later. It was the class curriculum that bothered him. It seemed that every hidden village insisted on teaching history and other book related topics over practical things. He scowled and leaned against the wall. He was going to change that with his class, consequences be damned. Knowing that you were responsible for teaching children how to be ninja, even if it was just the basics, was a huge burden. He wouldn’t send them off half-cocked.

He looked around at all the scattered files and picked up one of particular interest. It was the requirement for the graduates. Same as Konoha. Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin. Despite their boast of quality shinobi, Suna had low starter standards like their ally. True their numbers were lower because only the best of the academy were accepted, but his class wouldn’t be like that. Pulling out a blank scroll Naruto began to scribble furiously on the parchment. His class plan would break rules and tear down barriers and if Gaara didn’t like it then let him try to stop him. Uzumaki Naruto always proved his detractors wrong.

Naruto straightened himself out as he walked toward Gaara’s office. Clad in his beige pants, black shirt, and battle coat with his chuunin vest beneath, he cast quite a shadow. He nodded his head to the receptionist and knocked on the door. He tugged on his vest again and smiled. Temari had wanted to be the one to present it to him, but Gaara reserved the right of the headband for himself alone. A monotone voice bade him to enter and Naruto stepped inside. Gaara took in his friend’s appearance and nodded approvingly.

“While I appreciate the change of color, I don’t think your father would have approved of you tearing the sleeves off his coat.”

“Yeah, well, it gives me a better range of movement. Besides, a sleeveless trench coat looks cool.”

Gaara sighed and walked around his desk. He presented Naruto with his headband and bowed to him. Naruto took it with a smile and bowed to his friend. The two straightened up and each took a chair. As Gaara made his way back to his comfy leather chair, Naruto tied the headband around his arm. He liked his hair better down anyway.

“Congratulations new chuunin of Suna. I am proud to welcome you into our ranks.”

“You don’t need to say all that Gaara.”

“Shut up idiot, I’m obligated to. Now where was I? Oh yes.”

The speech continued on for nearly five minutes in Gaara’s drawling monotone and Naruto was sure by the time it was over that the former jinchuuriki had only said the speech to make him mad. His eye twitching madly, he tried to keep his voice calm.

“Is that all Kazekage-sama?”

Gaara frowned and the sand behind him swirled up.

“I thought I told you not to call me that.”

“I thought I asked you not to say all of that spiel.”

“Yes, well, that is my right. On to other topics. I assume you are prepared for your class?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve read the curriculum? Read the files on your students?”

“Yes.”

“I can trust you not to teach them frivolous things like that Oiroke no Jutsu of yours?”

“They’re children Gaara. I wouldn’t teach kids that jutsu.”

‘Not what I heard.’

“All right then. Chuunin Uzumaki, welcome officially to the Suna ranks. And Godspeed and good luck with those little brats, you’re going to need it.”

“Gee thanks. Well I gotta go. I’m fixing dinner again tonight and I’ve gotta get to the market.”

“You’re fixing dinner?”

“Mmhhmm.”

“…I’ll be over later.”

“Heh, see you then.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto hummed as he stood over the stove. Cooking had become something of a nerve soother for him and it relaxed him greatly. It was a plus that everyone enjoyed his cooking. He’d tried some of Temari’s fare and ate it politely, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Kankurou, however, did not share his tact and ended up being brained by a frying pan. Poor Naruto had to run damage control between the two the rest of the evening. No wonder Gaara used to be homicidal.

Naruto tensed when he felt someone lean over his shoulder, but eased up when he saw the golden tresses of Temari.

“Whatcha cooking?”

Naruto shrugged his shoulder to get her away and pushed her back with his free hand.

“None of your business. You’ll find out when dinner’s ready.”

“Awww, but I want to know now.”

“Well, tough shit. I’m not spoiling the surprise, but if you keep bugging me I won’t make dessert either.”

The blonde beside him disappeared immediately. She absolutely adored the desserts Naruto had made in his short stay at the compound and had put a whole cake away by herself. She complained of an aching stomach the next day and Naruto berated her for being such a pig, earning him a knock on the head from her battle fan. Ah well, it was all in good fun. Staying with the Sand siblings was a real riot. He chuckled to himself and tasted what was in the pot. ‘Hmm, needs more salt.’

An hour later Gaara showed up with Baki in tow. It was a good thing that Naruto made unusually sized portions. Between him and the Sand siblings, food never lasted long. As the four made small talk in the living room, Naruto began to set the table. Putting his fingers in his mouth, he let out a shrill whistle.

“All right. Soup’s on.”

The four appeared at the table so fast Naruto thought they had used Shunshin. With a quick ‘Itadakimasu’ everyone dove in. Naruto waited to see what they thought before he dug into his plate. Baki sat up straight and swallowed his mouthful before smiling at Naruto.

“This is very good Uzumaki. Much better than anything these three ever came up with.”

Shouts of indignation came from Kankurou and Temari while Gaara just grunted and kept eating. No use arguing if the food got cold. Once everyone was done and patting their bellies, Naruto retreated to the kitchen and came back with a covered dish. Temari was literally bouncing in her seat from anticipation. Naruto pulled the cover off the dish to reveal a double chocolate cake. Temari was practically foaming at the mouth. Gaara looked over at her and sighed.

“Temari, close your mouth. You’re drooling everywhere.”

Naruto just laughed as the kunoichi wiped her mouth off and held out her plate for a slice of cake. He cut her a generous portion and watched her dive into it. The others were no better though, except for Baki who kept some dignity while trying to shovel it in as fast as he could.

“Gaara, you’re the Kazekage. You shouldn’t eat like a pig. It sets a bad example for those of low station like myself.”

“I’ll remember that when you have to come up with extra curriculum for the children. Perhaps table manners would be a good subject.”

“Perhaps.”

Dinner passed without much more incident and the five found themselves in the living room, passing around a sake bottle. Baki took a strong swig and passed it to Gaara, who declined and passed it to Kankurou. Baki stared at Naruto for a moment before speaking.

“So Uzumaki, any idea how you’re going to teach all those brats?”

“I do actually, but I’m not going to tell what my lesson plan is. I want my class to be unprepared for what I have in store for them. They’ll find out in two days what kind of teacher I am.”

Temari took a swig and passed it to Naruto.

“So you won’t tell us anything? Not even a little hint?”

Naruto smirked and took a swig before passing the bottle to Baki again.

“I’ll just say that my curriculum will be as unorthodox as I am. We need ninja here in Suna, but more importantly we need quality ninja. I intend for my entire class to pass.”

Gaara stared at him incredulously before snorting.

“I’ve heard that claim before Naruto and believe me, that’s a dead wish. It won’t happen.”

“I know what the requirements for genin are Gaara. I intend for my class to surpass those standards. That’s all.”

The other four stared at him for a second before going back to their drinks. Baki took a huge swig and sighed heavily.

“That’ll be the day.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Today was doomsday. Naruto groaned when the alarm clock went off and took a swipe at it, sending it across the room and into a wall. He sat up and looked bleary eyed across the room before settling on the scrolls still spread out on his bed. He rubbed his eyes furiously and mussed his hair. Growling, he got out of the bed and set the alarm clock back on the bedside table. With a sigh, he got dressed in his now normal attire before going downstairs to start breakfast. Temari would be up soon and Kankurou would follow.

Naruto was lost in thought as he flipped the omelet. He was no genius and he’d accepted this role without any prior knowledge of what to do. Flying by the seat of his pants worked in battle but in a classroom structure was the watchword. He’d have to hope that what he was going to do wouldn’t be frowned upon. He didn’t like the idea of parents or an angry Gaara trying to kill him. Temari came in and said ‘good morning’. Naruto waved at her and set her omelet on the table, before turning back to fix another for Kankurou.

If bad things happened, then bad things happened. Naruto would make no excuses for what he was about to do to those children. He’d seen too much in his short life. He was sixteen years old and was going to teach children just a few years younger than he. They couldn’t understand what he had experienced in life, the solitude, the loneliness, the pain, the sadness. But he’d make them understand. Those kids would leave his classroom, not as he had left his, a stupid, simpering little fool. They’d ALL leave shinobi of the highest caliber or none of them would graduate at all. Kankurou stumbled in and grunted. Naruto sat his plate in front of him and began his own omelet, still lost in thought.

Temari had watched the boy from the moment she entered the kitchen. He never looked at them, just kept making breakfast as if in a trance. She knew today was his first day as a teacher but she’d never seen the hyperactive blonde so…quiet. It was almost scary. But she knew enough from dealing with Gaara not to bother someone when they were being introspective. It wasn’t good for anybody. She wanted to say something bad, but when the blonde dropped his plate on the table and ate absentmindedly, she knew it wasn’t her place.

Kankurou glanced across the table to his sister and nodded his head in Naruto’s direction. She shook her head no. She wasn’t going to interfere. Kankurou sighed and sat up straight.

“Oi Naruto, what the hell’s with the long face?”

The blonde looked up and gave the puppet master a confused look.

“What’s the deal man? You nervous?”

“Who wouldn’t be? I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m good with kids.”

Temari pushed her plate away and looked into his eyes.

“You’ll do fine Naruto. I know you can do it.”

For some reason that settled him down some. He felt more at ease. He gave her a shaky smile and returned to his meal with more gusto. The siblings looked at each other and grinned. He’d be fine.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto strode down the hallway of the school with his files ready. He looked this way and that, trying to find his room and saw someone leaning against the wall further down. Upon getting closer he saw it was Gaara, leaning outside his class door. The red head looked at him and nodded.

“Good luck my friend. Don’t let me down. I expect big things from this class.”

“Why? Because I’m so awesome?”

“No, because you’re an idiot who has the devil’s luck. I expect you at my office for lunch. Good bye.”

Gaara was gone in a swirl of sand and Naruto took a deep breath before entering the room. His descent into hell had begun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The children were all hyped up today. They were getting a new sensei. Some had heard that he was a badass jounin who had been hurt and was on sick leave. Others had heard that he was a missing nin from another country that Kazekage-sama had convinced to become a Suna nin. Others had heard that it was a beautiful kunoichi who was as deadly as she was good looking. None of them were even close.

They all looked up when they heard the door latch turn. The room grew quiet as the door opened revealing a teenager clad in beige pants, a long sleeved black shirt with a chuunin vest over it and a sleeveless white trench coat with red flames around the bottom. The boys all stared in awe at how young he was. The girls blushed at his looks. The blonde hair was a rarity in Suna, only Temari-sama had blonde hair and it wasn’t that blonde. It seemed to fall about his head in a haphazard way and yet framed his face perfectly. Everyone wondered why he had scars on his cheeks and just who he was. They’d never seen him in the village before.

They watched as he crossed the classroom and stopped in front of the desk, dropping the files on top before turning and hopping up to sit on top of the desk with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. He grinned at them and when they saw his enlarged fangs, they’re eyes opened wide. He looked like…a fox. The slanted eyes only made that more prominent although foxes don’t have blue eyes…

“Hello class, I’m Uzumaki Naruto, your new sensei. You may address me as Naruto-sensei ok?”

All the children nodded and bade him good morning. Naruto smiled at them before hopping off the desk and standing straight as an arrow, his hands behind his back.

“Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let me tell you a little about myself. I am the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Yokou. I have a fox demon inside of me just like Kazekage-sama had inside of him. Before any of you freak out, I have the situation under control. I just want you to know that so that if any of you are going to make this a problem, leave now.”

He paused to see if any would leave. None did. That was a good sign.

“Good. We might work out all right after all. Tell me, what are the requirements to be a genin of Suna?”

A small girl raised her hand. Naruto nodded for her to speak.

“Um, to do the henge, kawarimi, and bunshin and to also pass a written test.”

Naruto nodded and the girl sat down pleased with herself.

“That is correct. That is Suna’s graduation exam. But it is not mine.”

The kids’ eyes flew wide open and their ears perked.

“I don’t merely mean to make you genin. I plan to make you ninja. Fully functioning ninja by the time you leave this classroom. You, in the front row, what is in that textbook?”

“History, sir, along with theories on the lower level jutsu.”

“Give me that.”

The student walked forward and handed Naruto his book. He flipped through it, made a disgusted face, and tossed it on the floor.

“Everyone, take your textbook and toss it into a pile.”

Once everyone had complied, he made some seals and burned them with a Katon jutsu. The children all stared in horror. What the hell was this man thinking?

“If you want to study that, do it on your own time. I plan to make you children strong, stronger than the genin in Konoha, stronger than Iwa, stronger than any other genin in this school. When you leave my classroom, you will be able to stomp the shit out of any student from this academy outside this classroom. Fighting amongst yourselves will not be tolerated. Am I clear? If you have an ego, if you’re a fan girl or fan boy, if you’re just an idiot with a chip on his shoulder, get out. I have no use for you.”

“I was an idiot when I was a genin. I thought I had something to prove. I left the academy greener than a grasshopper’s ass and thought I was king of the world. Let me tell you kids something. The world isn’t fair. I’m the first to admit this. I’m a human sacrifice kids. I’ve been beaten, I’ve been tortured, and I’ve nearly been killed. The ninja world is not pretty and some of you may die. I’m not trying to scare you, but that’s the way the world is. Don’t think being a ninja is cool, don’t think it is noble. It’s a job. It’s a service to your village. To most you are a tool.”

“Personally I don’t believe that. Emotion can’t be wiped out. It’s what makes us human. I want you to know that I don’t play favorites. I will be working with each and every one of you personally. This class is a team effort. If you have illusions of grandeur, if you think you’re better than your classmates, get out. This is the golden rule of my class. Everyone passes or nobody passes. And we will do this over and over and over again, until everyone passes. Am I clear?”

Every head nodded dumbly. Naruto smiled and his smile made the children relax more.

“I’ve seen favoritism and what it can do to a team. I won’t let that happen to my students. If one of your classmates is struggling, help them. It’s better for you in the end. If you can’t get your chakra under control, ask someone who’s good with control to help you. If you need to build up your reserves, then get with someone who knows ninjutsu. If you suck at hand to hand combat, find a classmate who can kick your ass and work with them. That works the other way around to. Offer to help. Don’t sit by idly while someone struggles. If I see you doing that, I’ll kick your ass out of this class so fast, even medical jutsu won’t be able to take the boot print off your cheeks.”

The children all laughed at that and Naruto’s smile grew wider.

“Not to say there won’t be bookwork or homework assignments. I just prefer to work on the practical things. History, to me, is a hobby. Knowing how many hairs were on the Shodaime Kazekage’s ass isn’t going to help you midbattle. Knowing how to beat the shit out of your opponent will. Now I’ll take questions until we have to leave. Don’t tell me your name though. I don’t want to know them.”

“Why not sensei?”

“Because then that would mean that I had a personal attachment to you and as a sensei who is going to grind you into the ground, I’d rather not know you all personally, otherwise I might decide to go easy on you.”

“Are you going to teach us lots of cool jutsu?”

“I have a very limited repertoire at the moment, but I will teach you what I can. Remember kids, a ninja never stops learning. He’s always learning something new, something useful. What jutsu I do know are powerful though. At one time, I had the toad contract, but I gave it up when I left my village.”

“What village are you from originally?”

“I’m from Konoha. I left there for…personal reasons that I won’t divulge to you kids.”

“What’s the biggest toad you ever summoned?”

“The chief toad GamaBunta.”

The children all gasped and began to whisper amongst themselves. Naruto cocked his head and asked what the problem was.

“Nothing sensei, it’s just that Kazekage-sama was beaten by a boy who could summon toads during the failed invasion of Konoha. We’ve heard that he’s friends with him now though.”

Naruto put on his foxiest grin and put his hands on his hips.

“Yeah I whipped Gaara’s ass pretty good.”

If the children were dumbstruck before then they were comatose now.

“No way. That was you? You beat the Kazekage?”

“When we were children yes. But I don’t want to talk about that now.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not my place to tell of the defeat of the Kazekage. He’s my friend and I won’t belittle him by talking about things in the past that don’t affect us now.”

Naruto looked around the room and saw that their questions were coming to a close.

“Any more questions?”

“Just one. Can you show us your jutsus?”

Naruto grinned and walked to the door. He turned in the doorway.

“Let’s take a trip outside real quick. Some of mine can be a bit…destructive.”

The kids filed outside quickly and blinked against the nearly noonday sun. Naruto coughed to get their attention.

“I’ll show you two of my favorites and after that we’ll go home for the day.”

Putting his fingers into a familiar cross-shaped seal, he cried out ‘Kage Bunshin no Jutsu’ and as many clones as there were students popped up. Naruto looked to his students and grinned.

“This is how I’ll be teaching each of you personally. I prefer hands on training and teaching so no one will fall behind.”

“But sensei, they’re just bunshin. They can’t help us.”

One of the clones frowned and walked over to the boy. Everyone watched as it raised its hand and waited for it to pass through the boy’s head. Instead a smacking sound was heard and everyone looked in shock to see the boy holding his head. The clone walked back beside its brethren and smirked.

“As you can see, these are Kage Bunshin, not regular bunshin. They are quite solid and have my knowledge and ability. When they are dispelled I learn everything they learned and I keep the knowledge. They’re extremely useful and if I deem that everyone is worth passing and has enough chakra capacity, I shall teach it to you as a parting gift.”

The children seemed to be salivating at the chance to learn such a powerful jutsu.

“Sensei, what about the second jutsu?”

“Ah yes, my other favorite. This is difficult to learn and I will not teach any of you this. It takes an insane amount of control and power and you simply aren’t ready. Even I can’t do it without the aid of a clone.”

He held out his right hand and a clone stepped forward. Slowly blue chakra began to form in his hand and took the shape of a sphere as the clone maintained it. Naruto ran toward a large piece of an old wall and thrust the sphere into it, blowing it to smithereens. He clapped his hands to free them of dust and walked back to the group, dismissing his clones. He turned back to the kids and ushered them back inside, ignoring the heads poking out of the windows to see what the hell was going on. Once inside the classroom, he took up his station at the desk again.

“Now look kids, I’m not going to lie to you. This is my first time as a teacher and I don’t want to screw up. I promised Gaara that I wouldn’t let him down and I intend to start with this class. Suna needs good shinobi, dependable shinobi, and this class has the potential to be one of the best ever. Take the rest of the day off and think about whether you want me as a sensei or not. I’m unorthodox, I’m brash, but if you’re willing to learn, I’m willing to help you. If you ‘d rather wait till next year when you can have a seasoned chuunin teacher, then I won’t blame you. We’ll be going by ear here.”

“We’ll still have tests by the way, but that will be on things I think are important. Personally I think genin exams are a crock. I myself can’t create a simple bunshin. I have too much chakra. I have a friend back home who can’t use jutsus but he’s still one of the best ninja I’ve ever met and on a good day he could kick anyone’s ass from here to Mist and back and never have that smile of his leave his face. We will accentuate your positives and work on your negatives. Remember this class’ motto is: No one is left behind. Now get out of here. I got other things to do and a lesson plan to work on.”

The children filed out as if in a daze and Naruto left after them, wondering if he was doing the right thing. As soon as the door was closed, a genjutsu dropped and the Sand siblings stood in the corner. Temari turned to Gaara and saw that he was deep in thought.

“So? What do you two think?”

Kankurou took up a thinking pose that looked unnatural on him, but this was an unorthodox thing to begin with.

“I think he’ll either make or break these kids. Naruto was always a do or die kind of person. Personally? I think the academy has been due for a shake up like this for years. What do you think Temari?”

“I think he’ll do fine. I actually like his approach. It reminds me of Baki-sensei. Gaara, what do you think?”

Gaara didn’t answer for several minutes. He just stood there with his arms crossed until that small smile made it onto his face and his siblings stared at him waiting for his answer.

“I hope Naruto bakes another dessert tonight. I seem to have acquired a sweet tooth.”

He disappeared in a swirl of sand, leaving two baffled jounin. After the shock wore off, Temari smiled at Kankurou as they walked out of the room.

“He’ll do just fine. And I hope he bakes a cake tonight too. That boy’s a damn good cook.”

Kankurou took a sip out of his canteen.

“Then why don’t you rope him and take him out?”

Temari looked up as they walked and waited until Kankurou took another sip of water before answering.

“I just might. I saw him in boxers remember? He has a great ass.”

Poor Kankurou nearly died from choking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto did indeed bake a cake that night and everyone was very appreciative. He retired early to his room to think about what he’d done that day. He laid on the bed with one arm on his forehead, staring at the ceiling. Had he done the right thing in telling those kids the truth? Had he been too harsh in telling them the ugliness of the world? He sighed and rolled over to look at the clock. It was late and he needed to get to sleep. He rolled back onto his back and sighed again.

‘I guess I’ll find out in the morning.’