Chapter 3

The group we traveled with was rather big compared to the others I saw walking up. Five loud and rambunctious little children dragged along by a caretaker named Shizuka. Oh. And me.

"Are you excited for today, Arata?" Shizuka asked me, with two kids dangling from her arm and one on her back. Probably trying to eat her hair.

I like Shizuka. She's the only one of the caretakers who doesn't avoid me. Bonus points for not treating me like a dog either. Often when the caretakers want me doing something, they use Shizuka to tell me. At the same time though, she always tries to make me talk for some odd reason, and doesn't get weirded out when I do.

"I guess? I don't really know what to expect." I replied.

"Well, first days at the Academy are always just orientation, so you don't have to worry about it too much." She replied back casually. The kid on her back moved on to balance himself on her head. "If anything, you should try making some friends, Kami knows you need them." She smirked.

Friends? I'm more than a decade and a half older than every single kid in there. How am I supposed to connect with someone who can barely say the word 'meticulous?'

"Friends are hardly my priority."

She made a sound that sounded much too similar to a scoff. "You're going to need to develop at least some social skills if you're going to be a successful ninja. Friends are a great way to get those social skills." She scolded. "And forming bonds with your comrades is very important, especially with other clans."

Like who? The Hyuuga? To me, that would be equivalent to declaring allegiance to Land of Water. Ergo, a death sentence.

"I don't need those. I have a perfectly good bond with the clan already." I pouted.

"Oh yeah? What's her name?" She pointed to an Inuzuka girl about 5 meters ahead of the rest of the group, trying to catch a bug with her hands.

"Ummm... Eriko?" She smirked. "Mariko?" I tried. It got bigger. "Fumiko." I was getting desperate.

"My point has been made."

I walked ahead, making sure that I was in between Shizuka's group and butterfly girl, so I wouldn't have to talk to either.

The Academy itself looked a little different than during the show. It had a newer feeling to it, and an aura of expectation. Clearly a repainting was just done, along with a restructuring of the training grounds in the back. Everything was nice and clean, but the smells were a different story. The place smelt like wood, obviously. But under that there were many many more smells. Scrolls, ink, sweat, iron scrap. I didn't take many trips out to the village itself too much, so I haven't actually learned the smell of many things outside the kennel. Coming to the academy was like stepping into an entirely new dimension.

People in chuunin vests were already organizing people into classes, lists in their hands, and showing directions.

"OK kids, this is it. Be good. The teachers here are a lot less lax than I am, so you better listen to them!" She waves us off as we joined the rest of the group around the chuunin waiting for their room assignment.

"Inuzuka Arata? Let's see… class 202! Go up the stairs and follow the hallway to the right and just keep going. There's a big sign saying 202, go there." I was thankful that none of the other Inuzuka seemed to be following me to my classroom. Don't think that could have gone well in any capacity.

Opening the door to the class and walking in, I was immediately greeted to a faceful of youthful vigor. No, not Gai.

"Out of the way!" A girl with long purple hair up in a ponytail charged straight over me as I ducked.

"Hey wait!" Another kid, this time with short dark-grey hair, ran after her. "Give me back my bokken!"

Yeah no, I wasn't getting myself involved in that. I made an effort to remain as casual and inconspicuous as possible as I walked to a seat in the back. Over the next thirty minutes the class filled from half full to jam-packed. There was barely enough space in the seats. The overall class mood was an interesting mix of nervous anticipation and cheer that really only kids could exude.

Oh if it could last. I thought, as the teacher walked in.

"Good morning. My name is Yamanaka Chizuru, your homeroom teacher. You will refer to me as Chizuru-sensei. From this day forward I will expect a lot from you. So much so that, most likely, I will not see at least half of you by the time the year ends."

She paused, supposedly for dramatic effect. The shock in the atmosphere was palpable.

"In spite of that, the Academy's curriculum is not based on whether you pass or fail. It's based on whether you have the physical and mental fortitude to overcome the pressure that's put on you. I hope you will work with me to make the best of this year. That said, I will now be handing out your syllabus.."

Well, guess she's not a Yamanaka for nothing. Using that declaration in such a stoic manner to grab their attention immediately sets the mood for the class, along with earning her respect by default as a representative of these values. Anyone that questions her way of teaching is then put to blame for complaining simply because they weren't good enough to make the cut. Or maybe thinking too much into this.

"The Academy, as a rule will still use your test scores in the class ranking, which will be shown at the front of the school. The textbooks.."

We have class rankings? Well, I shouldn't be surprised, they do in Japan. Openly displaying it like that is worrying, though, especially among cut-throat competitive ninja children. In the show they seemed to put a lot emphasis on it. It was Naruto's nickname, after all, Dead Last. I dont' know how much emphasis I wanna put on that yet. It'd be safer to stay in the mid ranges probably. Don't wanna catch too much attention.

"Lastly, I will have to inform you that fighting outside of sparring is strictly forbidden. That is all." She grabbed her bag, pushed up her glasses and walked back out the same way she came in. That was.. succinct? Succinct.

The class was mostly silent, still processing what exactly just happened. A few seconds later, another teacher walked in.

"Hello children. My name's Umino Ikkaku, and I'll be your generals teacher. I'm sure you're very curious on what exactly that means. Well, generals is exactly what it sounds like. My job is to cram as much knowledge about language, math, anatomy, and history into your brain as possible.."

It seems he's just going to ignore the student's collective confounding. I don't blame him, I'd do the same. Wait. Hold the phone. Umino? As in Iruka? Well, that explains a lot.

Just like Chizuru-sensei, he handed us a syllabus and left. This cycle would repeat twice over with two more teachers until lunch inevitably came.

Walking onto the playground I was nervous. Very much so. We weren't allowed to stay inside to eat our lunch, so I'm now going to have to find a free spot in a crowded yard to eat at and process.

I picked the most out of the way spot I could find to sit down and eat my lunch. Slightly burnt chicken with rice and vegetables on the side. Shizuka made it for me. Not exactly a king's meal, but better than I've had in a while. I'll take it.

So. Academy. So far? Not bad. I had little to go off of, but this place seemed promising. Not nearly as suffocating as the kennels.

Out of boredom, I started watching the other kids run around the playground, food hastily stuffed down their mouths and already starting up games of tag. Oh look, it's that purple haired girl again. Wasn't she the proctor of the chuunin exams? Anko right? Orochimaru's pupil. Mhhmmm. Nope.

It seems that peacefully eating my lunch wasn't meant to be, as someone eventually came to walk up to me and interrupting my thoughts of cute, small and adorable puppies being viciously mauled by snakes.

"Umm.. can I sit here too?" The kid from before, with the bokken. Seems he got it back too. Good for him. I nod. He used the puppy dog eyes technique. I was hard pressed to say no.

He sits down next to me, a little bewildered and starts eating his lunch. Rice with some sort of vegetable soup.

We sit and eat in silence for a while. "What's your uuh.. What's your name?" He asked. I raise an eyebrow at him. "Oh I'm sorry! I'm supposed to introduce myself first right?" Not what I was going for, but OK. "My name is Shirakumo Hayama. Nice to meet you!"

Silence.

He looks at the ground. Then back at me. Then the ground. Ugh, fine. "Inuzuka Arata." The look on his face was dazzling.

"Really? You don't look like an Inuzuka." This is going to be a thing here too?

"..I'm aware."

More silence.

"Are you excited for the Academy? I know it's only been like half a day but we could grow so much here! Learn so many different things and.." I just let him keep talking, slowly eating my food all the while. A few minutes later a group walked up, led by the snake charmer herself.

"Hey! Why are you hanging around that weirdo! You should come play ninja with us. We need one more player and Tomoe said you'd be fast so come on my team!"

Hayama, who was thoroughly dismissed by her stopped talking entirely and scooted back to hide behind me. Sigh. I thought I was going to be escaping the cliches. Whatever then.

"I'm not interested." The atmosphere changed, subtly. "And why is that?" She asked, accusing undertone very much present. Maybe honesty will do the trick. "I don't really like you, and I have no real interest in playing ninja. Also, Hayama's not weird. He just talks too much." I heard a squeal from behind me.

The more I spoke the more offended she seemed to get. "What did you say punk?" She grabbed my shirt to hold me up to her face. Okay, so maybe honesty isn't the best way to go with ninjas. Go figure.

"Is there a problem here?" Chizuru-sensei, who just Body-Flickered behind Anko changing the atmosphere from slightly broiled to chilling.

"Well, sensei, I just said I didn't really wanna play ninja and she got like this." The look of both fear and anger she was giving me was priceless.

Chizuru-sensei took Anko to the inside of the building, leaving her posse standing there baffled.

Quietly, Hayama spoke up. "What?" This is far from over. I can tell.

The rest of the day was more of the same, with two more teachers coming in and out. The last one took us on a tour through the whole school and afterwards we were promptly dismissed.

As I walked out of the building to meet back up with Shizuka I was stopped by Anko. She ran up to me and put her hand heavily on my shoulder. "You. Me. Six. Training Ground 12. Today." She whispered, and then stalked off. Well that was quick. Archnemesis acquired.

Walking up to Shizuka I did something I haven't done since being reborn. I started a conversation. "Shizuka. I got invited for a playdate. Can I go?" Now that we were officially academy students, we were allowed some more freedom, which means I could go out into the village during the daytime. She was stunned for a few seconds, then delighted, said. "Of course! Make sure you come back by nine. We're going to be having tonkatsu to celebrate your first day at the Academy, so you can't miss it." I smiled, deceptively mild. "Thanks."

I ran off to go find myself a map because I didn't actually know where Training ground 12 is.

Now let's see here. Where should I even go to find a map? A tourist hall? In a hidden village? Didn't think so. You know what, let's just ask around. I walk up to a random ninja taking the boring way through Konoha, walking the streets. Medium height. Short black hair, black eyes. In a world where primary colors for hair is normal, he's nothing special.

"Hey mister! Do you know where I can find Training Ground 12?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And why would a kid like you need to know that?"

Oh right. "I'm on a scavenger hunt and one of the clues says it's close to there." Smile. Don't forget to smile. You're an innocent and unassuming kid that isn't about to do anything. No sir.

He grunted. "Very well then, the training grounds are found on the eastern outskirts of the village. There should be a signboard around the area you could use."

It was already 5:45, so I hurriedly thanked him and left. I scrambled east, almost at a running pace, but not quite so as to preserve energy for the actual fight. I arrive, and sure enough, there is a giant sign board that tells me of the location. I open the fence to the training ground and walk in.

The place itself is basically a giant field, with a small lake to the left and a collection of trees to the right. Anko herself is already there, casually leaning against a tree. Noticing my presence she walks over to the center of the field and faces me.

"You ready to get your ass beaten!? I don't take crap from nobody! Not even clan kids! Bring it, loser!" She adopted a rudimentary battle stance with knees bent and fists at her sides.

We weren't taught any actual taijutsu yet, so truthfully, I have no idea how to actually fight. What we were taught however, is body enhancement with chakra. I can improvise.

Not really knowing what stance to pick, I adopted Lee's one. One arm behind the back, and one arm in front with knees bent. God this is weird. "Let's go then."

She certainly wasted no time, opening her pouch and launching projectiles at me. I sidestepped them. They were pretty poorly aimed, and not with a lot of speed but..

"Real kunai?! Are you crazy!?" The girl somehow got real honest-to-God throwing knives in a kids' brawl. She charged with a yell, not bothering to answer.

Okay then. Let's try this. LARIAAAATT!

I charged as well, channeling chakra to my legs and drastically increasing my speed, arm roughly colliding with Anko's neck.

She tumbled backwards, coughing all the while. Wow, that actually worked. Somewhat.

She stood back up. "Is that. *Uuuugh* all you *Gah!* have?!" She threw more projectiles, senbon this time. With my chakra enhanced speed I dodged even more of them and raced around to her back.

"No." I said, as I delivered a roundhouse kick to her side. She fell over again, this time not getting up.

"So what was that about not taking any crap?" She glared at me.

"I'll get you back for this!" She once again reached for her pouch, dropping smoke bombs. In the resulting smoke, I couldn't see her fleeing. I could still hear her open the gate, and her scent getting more distant, but pursuing this isn't a wise idea by any means.

I walked out of the training grounds myself, feeling in a good mood. About beating a five year old. Never mind I feel awful.

"That was a sad excuse for a fight." a male voice, faintly familiar.

"I know." The man comes out of from behind me and I turn around to face him. It's the same man from before. "You were watching? Why?"

"Of course. I knew from the get go you were lying to me, and children usually aren't allowed on the Training Grounds. Even off duty, I am still part of the Konoha Police Force." Shiiiiiiiit. Play it cool, play it cool. You can do this.

"Well, I was.. Invited and it felt rude to refuse."

He snorted. "Your taijutsu was horrendous."

I snorted back at him. "I'm five."

"You certainly don't act five." I crossed my arms.

"Stalking a child through Konoha isn't what I'd call Military Police behavior either." He stayed silent.

"What's your name boy?" I considered lying, then discarded that idea immediately. Lying's what got me here in the first place, and it's not going to get me out. I don't need that lesson twice either thank you very much.

Note to self. Work on your deception skills.

"Inuzuka Arata. Yours?"

He smiled a toothless smile. "Uchiha Fugaku. I hope I don't see you again anytime soon." I smiled back the same way.

"Me neither sir." He body-flickered out. I let out a sigh.

Coming back to the kennel I was greeted by a worried Shizuka. "What happened? It's barely 7?"

I walked in and took off my shoes. "Nothing. They weren't very friendly, so I left." She frowned. Hey, lying to Shizuka doesn't count. She never catches on anyways.

Suddenly her frown turned into a smile. "Well lucky for you, Chiyoko just had a new batch of litters, so we'll be doing your first compatibility tests soon!"

The compatibility test is exactly what it sounds like. You'll be going through a short trial with each and every new dog to see if you'll end up partners or not. It's actually more ritualistic in nature, but the Inuzuka were never one for formal things. It involves making an uncomfortable amount of eye contact and seeing if your chakra can connect with each other. If you form a bond, you're compatible and that pup will be your partner in the future. If not, you gotta wait for the next batch. At least, that's what I scraped together from the fragments of info people told me from the experience.

Honestly, I don't know what to expect, but I just hope he won't be as loud as the rest. "Great."

A/N. Revised 4/23/2020