8 The Academy

Chapter 7

Ding Dong Ding Dong. The academy bell rang signaling the start of class. Everyone got in there seats respectfully and awaited for their instructor Iruka-Sensei to start class. As per usual, Sakura and Ino were staring infatuated at the cold and indifferent looking Sasuke while Naruto gave him a look of annoyance. It was at this moment that Iruka opened and walked in through the door. Just as Iruka stepped into the classroom entrance a bucket fell from the top of the doorway.

Naruto silently snickered, except what he expected to happen ended up not happening. The bucket that was supposed to fall on top of Iruka's head was instead caught by me.

"Ah?" Iruka put on a bewildered expression and then stared at Naruto and sighed. "Naruto, was it you who put the bucket on top of the doorway?"

"Eh! Aw man, it didn't work." Naruto remarked completely ignoring Iruka's question.

Iruka simply faced palm before revelation hit him. The bucket didn't fall on top of his head? He turned his head to see that the bucket was being held in my hands. When did he...How did he...Iruka silently questioned in his head.

Ahem. He coughed. "Thank you for catching that bucket." Iruka nodded to me.

I simply nodded back and then placed the bucket down in the corner of the front room. Soon after, Iruka walked to the front of the class followed by Kimimaro, Haku, and myself. Everyone else in the class silently whispered amongst themselves at this new development. Sasuke temporarily opened his eyes and stared with the slightest bit of curiosity at us before turning away with indifference per usual.

"Alright class quiet down. I have an announcement to make." Iruka said. "I know class already started a few months ago but we have three new transfer students." He turned to us and asked us to introduce ourselves so I stepped up first.

"Hello, my name is Karasuma Izaya. You can call me Izaya. I'm 7 years old this year and I'll be in your care."

Eh? 7 years old? Just like most of us. He looks pretty handsome right? Wait, is he blind? The whispers continued in class as Kimimaro and Haku both introduced themselves as well.

"My name is Kimimaro. You can call me Kimimaro. I am also 7 years old."

"My name is Haku, and you can also just call me Haku. I hope we get along." He smiled.

"Ehhh...he's too pretty to be a guy right?" Naruto questioned.

"Okay quiet down everyone. They will be attending the academy with all of you til graduation so be nice. Izaya-kun, Kimimaro-kun, Haku-kun, the three of you can pick anywhere with open seats available." Iruka said.

The three of us nodded and chose a spot near the back by the windowsill. Class is most likely going to be pretty boring since it'll only be the basics like learning how to form hand signs and learning what elemental nature affinities are I silently mused. Like sasuke, I stared out the window for most of the class. Naturally they were talking about how to determine elemental affinities and what their properties were so I let the lecture go through one ear and out the other. After class was over some of our classmates came to converse with us. Among them were faces I recognized such as Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Naruto.

"Hey hey, how did you catch the bucket earlier? Can you even see with that blindfold on?" Naruto asked.

"Oi, is that something polite to ask?" Shikamaru lightly scolded.

"What? It was a serious question?" Naruto replied.

I simply turned to face them but before I could reply Haku spoke up. "Something like that isn't enough to stop my big brother. Even though he's blind he can see just as well as any of us, maybe even better since he's a sensory type ninja."

"Oh! So what does that mean?" Naruto remarked.

Shikamaru and the rest simply let out a loud sigh whilst Hinata blushed and was the only one who seriously gave an explanation to Naruto.

"Wow! So you can do stuff like see chakra without looking and you can sense things in your surroundings, that's pretty cool! Hey, did you guys get all that stuff Iruka-sensei was saying earlier? It was kinda confusing y'know?"

"Um...If you'd like, I can help you st-" Hinata whispered softly to herself but of course no one ended up hearing her as Choji cut in, "So, have you guys been to Yakiniku Q yet? They serve the best barbecue meat!"

"Do you ever want to talk about anything other than eating Choji?" Kiba remarked.

Our friendly banter continued on for a bit longer before Kimimaro, Haku, and I excused ourselves. Since we became official students of the academy, we were granted access to the lowest level tier of techniques available to us. The tiers went from D, C, B, and A with A being the highest rank of techniques. S-rank, forbidden, and secret techniques were all kept strictly sealed away in the Hokage's residence. Fortunately and surprisingly, we were also granted access to the C-rank techniques. This was probably due to Lord Third pulling some strings since most kids at our academy don't have access to these techniques until after they graduate.

If kids at the academy reach the level where they can utilize C-rank techniques then they would learn them from either their clans, parents, tutors, or buy them from special shops. Seeing as how the three of us have no background here Lord Third probably did this as a favor to us in order to help us grow. The three of us looked around at the available D-rank jutsus before walking down towards the floor below where the C-rank jutsus were kept.

The more powerful or complicated the technique was the further down we had to walk. Which made sense, after all, if there was an attack and the buildings got crushed in the process, it'd be safer to have the scrolls that recorded techniques and information below ground. And I'm willing to bet that all the techniques located here are all copies, the originals are probably stored safely away at some concealed bunker. The three of us took a look at some C-rank jutsus that looked promising and stayed there for a few hours to memorize its contents. As I finished reading and memorizing the information on some scrolls I prepared to leave. "Haku, Kimimaro, I'm done looking around. If you guys have more things you want to learn here then take your time. I'll probably go out and do some training before heading back home."

Haku nodded, "Okay big brother. I'll stick around for a little while longer. There are some interesting water techniques that I want to memorize."

"Me too. Since my elemental affinity is with earth there are some earth style jutsu I wish to learn." Kimimaro added.

I nodded and then walked back up the stairs and out of the academy. Looks like it's getting pretty close to evening already I mentally noted and looked up at the sky. I took a quick glance around me but no student in sight. I guess Shikamaru and the rest of the gang went to eat some barbecued meat after class. Not sure what they're up to now though. I've got a few hours of daylight still so that should be good enough to try out some new stuff.

"Flying Thunder God Jutsu!"

Not a second later I reappeared near a paper tag stuck on a tree that was marked with my own unique Flying Thunder God Sealing Formula. This was a secluded area in the forest surrounding Konoha that I discovered during the week before Kimimaro, Haku, and I started attending classes. It was nice and quiet here where I didn't have to worry about random prying eyes. As long as no one intentionally tracked me down here, I wouldn't be discovered.

Alright, I pretty much have a general understanding of using the Flying Thunder God technique. I'm only missing my own unique kunai's. I've placed papers with my unique sealing formula in multiple places so I could instantly teleport to them in case of emergencies. According to Iruka-sensei, one of the requirements to graduate is the ability to use the Cloning Jutsu. For me that's really simple but it isn't that great of help in actual combat. Even though I still have to work on stage 2 of my Rasengan training I'll focus the rest of my time today perfecting the Shadow Clone Jutsu first, and if I succeed in that then I could potentially double my training speed...

Thud.

Dust slowly rose in the air and heavy panting sounds were heard. Huff. Huff. Huff. Huff.

Haaaaah...I let out a deep and relaxed breath as I lay motionless on the ground. Sweat dripped from my face and body. Well, I call that a success I smiled. I looked up and gazed at the starry night sky, the moon lit up the forest giving off a scene of beauty and tranquility.

A small, soft and gentle breeze caressed the trees, the flowers, and the surface of the river. I slowly closed my eyes through my blindfold and relaxed my body and mind as I steadied my breathing and felt the comfort of the wind brush my face and my hair. I could sense myself getting stronger with everyday, but I knew it still wasn't enough yet. As I lay there in the comfort of the silent forest I contemplated about what was to come.

In the future, Naruto will steal one of the forbidden scrolls known as the scroll of seals in the Hokage's residence in order to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The shinobi called Mizuki will then attempt to steal it and Iruka will intervene. In the end Mizuki fails. I don't think I need to intervene for something like that. This way it'll help Naruto grow as an individual and he'll realize Iruka is more important to him than he realizes. The problem is Orochimaru.

I know he will instigate an attack on Konoha but now I'm not too sure how that will play out. Originally he had the help of Kimimaro in dealing with the Fourth Kazekage and his entourage, but Kimimaro is on my side now so I'm not too keen if things will play out the same. It's possible that Orochimaru will still succeed and instigate an attack during the Chunin exams, he'd probably just have to put in a little more effort. If that does happen, how should I respond? Do I tell Lord Third? That'll draw suspicion towards me though if I know about the attack with no evidence.

Do I let Lord Third die so Naruto and Jiraiya can bring Tsunade back as the Fifth? I need her skills in order to heal Kimimaro. Will she even come back if Lord Third doesn't die or will she only return after Lord Third is dead and is convinced by Naruto and Jiraiya? Ugh...The problem with knowing the future is that I can step in and intervene at big moments like these, but then it would alter the future I do know of, and from that point knowing the future won't be as large of an advantage to me anymore. I don't even know if I'll have the sufficient strength yet to even change the outcome if and when Orochimaru attacks the leaf village.

In fact, what if Orochimaru recognizes me as one of his experimental subjects? He originally wanted Sasuke's body but if he realizes that I survived, what if he wants my body? Maybe he won't recognize me since it'll be quite a few years later but still, the possibility remains...

Oh! I know! I'm an idiot. I practice the Flying Thunder God technique. All I need to do is somehow give Lord Third an object that has my Flying Thunder God mark on it sometime before the Chunin exam begins. Then, no matter how dire the situation gets, I just need to reserve enough chakra to ensure that I can utilize the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to save Lord Third incase the situation turns very bad. I'll have to time it well and make sure that Lord Third doesn't activate the Reaper Death Seal technique.

Since Jiraiya will also be in the village at that time then we don't have to worry about having someone capable of defeating Orochimaru. Ugh, but then he won't have his arms crippled and jutsu taken away, that leaves for an uncertain future again. Then there's Sasuke and his whole avenger's heart ordeal and he'll most likely defect to Orochimaru to gain more power. Or do I intervene for that too? Wow...I'm back to square one. Contemplating about what I know of the future and trying to control it so it's different but not different isn't going to work. No matter what, I either intervene and possibly change the shape of the future, or I just let the future play out as I know it and I care only for myself...

Sigh...Screw it. This is my life now and this is the world I'm living in. Lord Third is a good person and took Haku, Kimimaro, and myself in. If I have the chance to save him then I will. I'll worry about everything else as it comes. No use thinking about them now since everything might be different by then. The most important thing is getting stronger, that way no matter what changes happen, I'll have the strength to take them head on. I opened my eyes and started my quiet and silent trek back to my cozy apartment.