Chapter 08

Ignoring the whispers beginning to start up again, Naruto looked up with a flash of his goggles and down toward his enclosed left hand, which he had kept close to his chest. Panting heavily and dripping with sweat, the boy then turned his hand to look down at his fingers, where he saw much to his delight the bird that had tried to get away locked in his gentle grip.

The swallow chirped and looked around it with a start, its chest heaving and head twitching this way and that. After several moments the eventual realization that it had finally been snagged became obvious, and it soon ceased clawing and attempting to wriggle its way out of the boy's hand. Its eyes fixed up at the blonde who chuckled and grinned back down at it warmly.

"Caught yah!" Naruto exclaimed, glancing down at the gauntlet on his wrist that contained his spring-loaded hook. "This thing really does come in handy. That was a great chase, Swifty-chan!"

The bird chirped again and ruffled its feathers under his palm, earning a nervous laugh from her captor.

"Whoa. Was that your boyfriend back there?" He received another chirp and a nip to his finger in response. "Ouch. Okay, geez. Sorry about that. It's just that I was really bored you see…" The bird fell into another tirade of chirps, interrupting him and getting Naruto to pull a double-take on the female flyer. "Hey, who are you calling a 'dumbass'? I didn't know you were on a date. Cut me some slack here." The swallow glared up at him, chirping sharply. "Insensitive? Okay, fine, I guess I can give you that one…"

While the bird bitched at being disturbed so suddenly, a shadow from in front of the crouching blonde fell over them and forced Naruto to look up in surprise. When he did he saw Iruka Umino standing over him with his hands on his hips and a look on his face that pretty much said 'yeah, you're in big trouble.' The tapping of his foot only added to the insane amount of tension that he had brought along with him and flooded the entire area with, giving the blonde a moment of pause to comprehend his current situation.

Silence prevailed between them, while the villagers scattered across the street stared with heavy anticipation hanging in the air. After a minute or so of prevailing silence, with nothing being said or shouted between the two for that entire period, Naruto then sprouted his trademark grin and pointed up at the man.

"I found you, Iruka-sensei!"

The man's hair bristled before he went into full 'rage' mode, complete with big-head and bulging veins, "IDIOT! I FOUND YOU! YOU'VE GOT IT ALL BACKWARDS!"

The blonde cackled hysterically before bringing the hand he had caught the bird with up to show his teacher. He rotated his fist so that the creature was facing him and gave it a warm smile. "Hey. Sorry for bothering you, Swift-chan. No hard feelings?"

Having been chirping incessantly minutes before the sudden yelling score, which scared the poor thing into silence, the bird tilted its head a few times at its captor before bowing in resignation. It then chirped happily and nodded.

Naruto grinned, "I'm glad. Thank you." With that he then opened his hand and extended his finger so that the swallow could hop onto it and regain her bearings. The bird ruffled her feathers, using the precious few moments given to her to catch her breath before finally taking flight. Iruka and Naruto followed after her with their respective gazes until she was gone from sight.

The Chunin looked quite surprised, "Was that a Fire-Breasted Swallow?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed while looking up at his teacher with a grin. "Her name is Swift-chan; my training partner."

His instructor looked back at him with an astonished blink, "That species of swallow is one of the fastest birds in the country. How were you able to catch her?"

"It wasn't easy," Naruto replied tiredly before thumping himself hard in the chest, "But I caught her with a combination of guts, speed and wit. I've been playing tag with her for over a year now, so I've gotten much, much better since when I first started."

"Whoa," Iruka smirked, giving the boy a complementary gesture, "Not bad. I guess that explains why you're so good at running away from the authorities?"

"Damn right."

"Not that it matters now though, because I've caught you. Apparently I'm the only shinobi in this whole damn village, living or dead, who is able to," Iruka said, folding his arms and watching the boy rise to his feet and dust down his shorts. Even with this statement the blonde wasn't worrying about his predicament in the slightest. "Are you going to come quietly or do I have to drag you away from here kicking and screaming?"

"Well, other people would normally come quietly, but personally I prefer leaving a scene kicking and screaming. It's way more fun than walking," Naruto exclaimed without hesitation, earning a shake of the head from his normally intimidating teacher. The jinchuriki gazed up at the man without flinching or trembling. This was the truth about the blonde haired squirt as he was so bold and foolhardy he had no concept of fear from the familiar. "But before anything else happens, I have a quick question for you, sensei."

"Fire away."

"If you're here, talking with me," Naruto pointed at his chest before gesturing towards the Hokage tower where the academy was also located, "Then who's looking after the rest of the idiots?"