Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Fenrir and the Fox ❯ The Academy ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2:

The Academy

 

“Jinra-san! Wake up! It's time for breakfast.”

 

Upon hearing the maid's call, luminous silver eyes bolted open at the mention of what had become his favorite meal. It was Sunday, and that meant that pancakes were being served! He jumped out of bed, threw on the first set of clothes that he saw, and ran down the steps as fast as his legs would take him. It had been a few weeks since he had been found on the roof outside of the Hokage's office, and Jinra still found himself sleeping in the guest bedroom of the Hokage Mansion. He wasn't sure why the Hokage hadn't found him some other place to live yet, but he wasn't about to complain. The bed in his room had the most comfortable mattress he had ever slept on and the house was so huge he sometimes wondered if he could get lost while exploring it. He had never been surrounded by this much luxury his entire life, and if the old man was okay with him staying here, then he wasn't about to just give that up by any means!

 

He jumped the last few steps, skidding a little on the hard wood floors before resuming his run to the kitchen where his breakfast was sure to be waiting for him. He had everything planned out: he would burst through the door to the kitchen, put on the brakes, skid a couple of feet and stop right in front of his usual chair. It was flawless!

 

He began his final mental preparations as the kitchen door came into view. Step one: check! The door slammed open. Step two: check! He turned his body slightly to the side and shifted his weight so he could gradually slow down. Step three: che-

 

Jinra's thoughts were interrupted when someone threw an unexpected twist in his so-called “perfect” plan. There was a familiar looking man standing right in the middle of his deceleration path. The result of this unexpected change was a head on collision with said man, leaving them both in a heap on the floor. The force of the collision had left the two of them slightly dazed until muffled laughter met Jinra's ears.

 

Jinra shook his head to clear the cobwebs that the fall had left him with and turned his attention to where the laughter had come from. “What's so funny?”

 

The Hokage took a moment to get the laughter back under control before finally answering the boy. “I'm not laughing at you, it was just that it was only a few moments ago that I was warning Kakashi not to stand there.”

 

“Ugh. And I'm seriously wishing that I had listened.” Jinra looked over and saw that it was the man that he had collided with that had spoke. The silver haired jounin slowly got up and focused his single eye on Jinra. Jinra only smiled in response. “It's good to see you again Kakashi-san. I trust you are well?”

 

“I was until some hyperactive seven year old ran into me.”

 

Jinra coked an eyebrow as his grin turned into a smirk. “Well, maybe that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been in the way. Besides, you're a jounin, aren't you? You should have been able to jump or dodge or something.”

 

“Kid's got a point Kakashi,” said the smug voice of the cook from behind them. “Imagine, the great Copy Ninja being almost knocked out by a kid. If word got out, you'd never live it down.” The cook let a small smirk appear on his face as he set down the plate of fresh pancakes in front of Jinra and the Hokage.

 

Kakashi let out a slightly aggravated breath before finally getting up from the floor with Jinra following close behind. “Anyway, before all this started, I had a good reason for coming here.”

 

“And what reason is that, Kakashi?” inquired the Third.

 

“I came here to suggest that Jinra be enrolled in the ninja academy”

 

Jinra, who up until this point had been happily devouring his pancakes at a place that would make a shark feeding frenzy seem tame by comparison, abruptly stopped. He hastily swallowed the food that was still in his mouth and stared at the jounin with a mixture of surprise and awe. “You want me to become a shinobi?”

 

“Actually, yes I do. Don't ask me why, but something tells me it would be something that you would be really good at.”

 

This comment caused Jinra to pause for a moment. He had never really put much thought into becoming a ninja. Between what he had heard during his travels and what the Hokage had mentioned during his time in Konoha had given him a fairly good idea of what the job entailed. The main thing he remembered was that it meant that you had to remain loyal to a single village for the rest of your life. It was for that reason that he had rejected a similar offer from the Kazekage during his somewhat brief stay in Suna. Konoha was different though. He had been planning on arriving and staying in the Leaf ever since his mother had died two years ago. This village was where he would find the answers he was searching for, and he had no intentions of leaving. Besides, being a shinobi might not be so bad. A large grin spread across Jinra face as he began to imagine what the academy might be like. Being around kids his own age again, people treating you with respect instead of fear, and being able to learn all of those different techniques. It almost seemed too good to be true. Jinra looked over at the Hokage, his eyes silently asking for permission.

 

The Third looked at the boys face and couldn't help but smile. He saw so much of Naruto in this boy, and for the past few weeks he had been contemplating whether he should introduce the two of them. The academy would be an ideal place for that to happen, and it would allow Jinra to finally be around some children his own age. The only thing he wasn't sure about is what had led Kakashi to suggest it in the first place. The silver haired jounin had never shown that much interest in the academy and had failed every single team of genin that he was assigned. What was it about Jinra that had caught the eye of one of Konoha's laziest ninja? He took another look at Jinra who was still gazing at him expectantly and decided that there couldn't be any real harm in it. After all, Jinra might have potential as a ninja.

 

“It's all right with me if you attend the academy. In fact, we could get you some equipment today and you can start as early as tomorrow.”

 

At those words Jinra did the only thing that he could think of to express how happy he was. In one huge leap he jumped clear across the table to where the elderly Hokage was seated and embraced him in the fiercest hug he could manage. The force of the leap almost knocked the two of them out of the chair, but the Hokage managed to keep their balance while returning the hug as best he could.

 

Kakashi smiled behind his mask before he excused himself, saying that he was going to tell Iruka that he was going to have one more student than expected this year.

 

Break

 

The next day was one filled with excitement for Jinra. They had spent almost the entire afternoon of the previous day picking out all of his ninja gear and he couldn't wait to try some of it out. Along with the gear the Hokage also insisted on getting him some new clothes, claming that his old clothes made him stand out too much. He really didn't mind though, as long as whatever he wore fit him. He had learned a long time ago that actions spoke louder than appearances when it came to meeting new people. His new clothes now consisted of a midnight blue short-sleeved shirt and some tan colored cargo shorts. The Hokage had also given him a gray vest to wear that had lots of hidden pockets to hold his gear and his normal shoes had now been replaced with a pair of black ninja sandals.

 

He was currently walking down the street to where he knew the academy was located. The Hokage had offered to walk him there but Jinra refused, figuring it might be best if he wasn't seen as being a favorite of the Hokage. The academy was now in sight so he quickened his pace a little bit to ease his growing sense of anticipation.

 

He soon arrived at the building and entered it, stopping only at the front office to ask where his classroom was. The woman at the front desk was busy reading some sort of scroll and after waiting several minutes for her to notice his presence, he finally worked up the nerve to say something.

 

“Excuse me, miss?”

 

The secretary, finally noticing that there was a small boy standing in front of her, glanced at the boy with a kind expression. “What do you need little boy?”

 

“My name is Jinra. Today is supposed to be my first day at the academy, but I don't know where my classroom is or who my teacher is supposed to be.”

 

“Jinra?” That name sounded very familiar, but it took her a moment to realize where she had heard it. “Oh! You're the boy that Kakashi-san said was coming today! You should be honored, Kakashi-san has never recommended a student for the academy before.”

 

Jinra flushed slightly in embarrassment at the sudden increase in attention he was receiving from the woman, but she didn't seem to notice. “Anyway, your teacher is going to be Iruka-san. His classroom is down that hallway, the second door to the left. You should hurry though, his class is starting in a few minutes.” Jinra smiled and nodded gratefully before saying goodbye to the secretary and running down the hallway to meet his new teacher.

 

Break

 

 

The room was mostly empty save for a few early students and Iruka, who was sitting at his desk, calmly grading his papers when he was interrupted by a light knock at the door. Curious as to whom this visitor could be he opened the door to see a silver haired boy standing before him. The boy gave a small formal bow before introducing himself. “Greetings Iruka-sensei, my name is Jinra and I am your new student.” The boy looked up to meet Iruka's gaze and the chuunin soon found himself looking into the most intense pair of silver eyes he had ever seen. He quickly shook himself out of his revere and recalled that Kakashi had mentioned a new student coming to his class, but had never mentioned the name of the boy.

 

“Are you the boy that Kakashi sent?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“Excellent. I wasn't expecting you until later, but now is fine. Please take a seat. Once every one is here I'll introduce you to the class.” Jinra nodded and turned towards the mostly empty classroom. Other than he and Iruka, there were only three other people in the room. The first was a black haired brooding boy sitting at the front of the classroom. The boy seemed to exude an aura that screamed, “touch me and die.” The second person was a girl with long blonde hair held back in a ponytail save for one of her bangs that seemed to hover around one side of her face. She seemed unaffected by the brooding boy's aura and had created a death grip on his arm, smiling happily all the while. Both their eyes had been focused on Jinra ever since he had entered the room. It was unnerving to say the least. The third person, however, hadn't seemed to have noticed his entrance at all and was napping happily in the second row from the back. The boy had black hair held in a spiky looking ponytail on his head, giving his head the vague resemblance to a pineapple. Just from looking at him, Jinra could tell this was the laziest human being he had ever laid eyes on. Wanting to avoid the odd looks he was getting from the other two, Jinra walked towards the back of the classroom and took a seat in the opposite row from the lazy boy and waited for class to start.

 

A few minutes later, the rest of the students began to file in. Quite a few of them paused for a moment to study the new inhabitant of the room, but never actually said anything. Finally, the bell rang indicating the beginning of class. Iruka got up from his desk and made a quick glance over the classroom, checking attendance. From what he could tell there was only one person missing. Iruka's eyebrows furrowed in aggravation. Where the hell is he this time! This is the third time this week he's been late! He'd better not be doing another prank again or I'll…

 

“Iruka-sensei?”

 

Iruka snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention towards the pink haired girl who had asked the question. “What is it Sakura?”

 

“Who's the new kid?”

 

Iruka suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do and almost smacked his forehead for forgetting. “I'm sorry, I forgot to announce that there is a new student in our class. I just found out yesterday that he was coming. Jinra, could you please come to the front of the class?”

 

Jinra nodded and got up and slowly walked to where Iruka was waiting for him. As soon as he got there Iruka laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him so he was facing the class. “Class, this is Jinra, our newest student. Jinra, this is my class. Does anyone have any questions?”

 

A hand immediately shot up belonging to a feral looking boy with red facial tattoos and what looked to be a small dog on his head. Iruka pointed to the boy, “Yes, Kiba?”

 

“What's his last name?”

 

Jinra paused slightly before answering, “I wasn't born with a last name, but since then I have adopted one. If you would like you could call me Jinra Ozuma.”

 

Another hand immediately shot up, this time belonging to the pink haired girl that had asked about him in the first place. Just like before Iruka pointed towards her, indicating that she should go ahead and ask her question. “Why the name Ozuma?”

 

“Because that is what everyone said my father's last name was, even though I've never met him.” The answer seemed to satisfy the class and Jinra was finally allowed to sit back down. As soon as everyone was seated again Iruka began a boring lecture on the history of Konoha, starting with the First and Second Hokages. About fifteen minutes into it Iruka was interrupted by a loud crashing sound coming from outside the door, followed by the entrance of a very winded blonde haired boy wearing the ugliest orange jumpsuit anyone had ever laid eyes on. His hair was spiky and seemed to stick in every direction but down and was held away from his forehead by a pair of odd-looking goggles. This, of course, was none other than the famous Naruto Uzumaki. The boy closed the door firmly behind him and looked towards Iruka, who was rubbing the bridge of his heavily scarred nose to keep from yelling at the boy before he could explain himself.

 

“Sorry I'm late Iruka-sensei, but I overslept. I think my alarm clock is broken again.”

 

“It's fine Naruto, just find a seat and sit down.” There was a definite edge to his voice saying that the situation was anything but fine, so Naruto decided not to press his luck and just find a place to sit, preferably at the back of the class. He looked around to find his normal eat taken by none other than the pineapple-headed Shikamaru, and the only other unoccupied seat left was next to some kid he didn't recognize. Huh, we must have gotten a new student today…