Kaze no koibitō

8

A year came and went like it had never been there. Naruto had a successful first year as a teacher and truth be told, he really enjoyed it. He could understand why Iruka loved to teach. It was such a fulfilling sensation. His students, while somewhat put out that he still didn't care to know their names, were respectful of their teacher and had taken to his style of teaching with gusto.

His relationship with Temari had become more defined and, while not yet in a serious relationship with the brash kunoichi, he was hopeful that perhaps they would have something more defined at a later date. He'd tried dating a few other women (much to Temari's unvoiced disdain) and had found them lacking what he saw in his fellow blonde. The only one who came close was his fellow teacher, Kari, but she just didn't click with him on any level. She was kind, yes, pretty, yes, but she lacked what Naruto wanted in a potential girlfriend and, possibly later, wife. She lacked that fire in her belly, that need to struggle for dominance that Temari possessed.

Perhaps that was what Naruto's problem was. He was just like his father in that respect. He needed a woman who would challenge him and wouldn't be afraid to tell him if he was wrong.

In effect, he needed a woman who wasn't afraid of him...and Temari had proven time and time again that she most assuredly wasn't afraid of him.

His thoughts swung from his burgeoning romance with the Wind Mistress to all he'd learned from his parent's scrolls over the past year. He'd mastered the Rasengan, his father's prize jutsu and then expanded on it by completing the Rasenshuriken. It still wasn't without its risks, but he had such control over it now that the damage was down simply to cuts and bruises. Definitely an improvement over the previous arrangement.

He'd delved even further into his father's scrolls and had developed a healthy respect for the man that he'd never met, the father he'd never know. He literally had hundreds, possibly thousands of jutsus at his disposal. They encompassed everything from Fuuton to Katon and he had begun to slowly master them one by one. Currently, he was only learning the low level ones, and copying them down to show his students. He wanted to learn as others learned, he wanted to share with those he had come to call 'his'. They were his students, and while it was generally frowned upon for Academy teachers to take a vested interest in their students, he technically still had three years to teach them.

His students could all walk in and take the genin exam right now and completely blow away any and all expectations, but what would be the fun in that? He wanted them to decimate the exam, destroy it, and show its incompetency. And his teaching style had not been lost on the other instructors. They'd all taken a more vested interest in their students and the academy had blossomed because of it. This was looking to be the best crop of students to come out since the Sand siblings.

Naruto shifted the scroll in his lap and read a little bit more. He kept getting lost in his thoughts about it being his anniversary in Suna and the date that Temari had promised him when she got back. She was due to arrive sometime that evening and had insisted that he take her out so she could unwind. He had offered to cook her a meal instead, but she insisted and he never could persuade her when she began to pout. Not to say she always got her way. Naruto had long ago figured out that the fiery kunoichi loved a good battle of wills and wit, and he made it a point to fight her tooth and nail when he absolutely wanted to do something.

The fact that they both usually ended up having a good time, regardless of who won, was indicative of their respect for each other, if not their attraction.

He shook his head and turned back to the scroll. He was getting off track again. But as he looked over the writing his mind began to wander again. The scroll he currently had splayed out was a thesis on the functionality and usefulness of Fuuin jutsu and, while he took an exceptional interest in sealing jutsus, he just couldn't focus at the moment. With a growl of frustration, he rolled the scroll up and sat it on the ground beside the couch before lying back with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and began to think back over the past year.