After the Rain

Chapter 4: Bark Like a Dog

Chapter Four – Bark Like a Dog

Uzumaki Naruto: "I bet you're dying to know my name!"
Gaara: "I couldn't care less."

With his hands firmly planted in his pockets, Shisui watched their academy sensei go through the basics of Shuriken throwing. It was a sunny day in early February, but the wind was so cold he was wearing gloves and a scarf to keep out the chill. Not that they were very effective against the wind, but every little layer helped.

He was not the best clad kid, but he hadn't expected to be outside for this long. Though he was far from the worst dressed child in his class, that was for sure.

Their sensei was a short man with retreating black hair. He was one of those people who talks slowly and clearly when trying to explain something to you. Making each and every sentence he uttered sound extremely dreary. It was always a feat to remember the start of his sentence by the time he came to the end of it. That was how much he dragged out the words. It was also why Shisui was currently finding the whole lecture to be extremely boring.

Next to him was Nara Ensui, his closest friend in the class. He looked close to dropping asleep where he stood, and was only paying a slither of attention because he'd get scolded if he didn't.

Shisui's eyes wandered over the group of children, his classmates, and rested a moment on Umino Iruka and Naruto who stood opposite him in the crowd. The sunny girl probably took the prize for worst clad kid in the class. She was only wearing her normal orphanage attire and a thin jacket. Shisui wondered how she wasn't shivering from the cold, or maybe she was freezing but hid it well.

Iruka and Naruto had been very good friends lately, and spent most of the time in class sending notes secretly. He was amazed they hadn't been caught yet, it was truly a testament to how sneaky they could be. As far as Shiusi knew they had bonded over their love of ramen, at least that was the only subject he'd ever overheard them talk about. Every day.

Naruto sat on the same row as him in class, just on the other side of the classroom while Iruka sat on the row in front of him. It caused him to be the unwilling witness many of their more obvious attempts at conversing while their sensei talked about the five affinities.

Once, Naruto had used one of Ensui's senbons to send a message over to Iruka. Her aim had been off, and it had almost stabbed Shisui in the hand during its sail. He was pretty sure she'd been aiming at the wall, but senbon throwing was obviously not her strong suit. He'd told her as much too after class, and she'd bashfully apologized. It was the first time he realized just how difficult it was to stay mad at Naruto. She was just so sweet it felt like he was scolding a kitten.

Iruka could be just as mischievous as his blonde friend, but he was less of a risk taker. Shisui thought he was an alright guy. He was very normal, neither brilliant nor bad at anything. Naruto however… She was very good, beyond average strong. Had it not been for her complete lack of concentration in lectures she'd be top of the year. It was mysterious yet curiously understandable how she'd managed to skip first year with such a short attention span.

"Shisui-kun, you'll go first." Said their sensei suddenly, and the dark haired boy looked away from the duo whispering on the other side of the ring.

"Okay, sensei." He replied and walked over to the Shuriken bag. It was the first time he'd ever been allowed to touch one of these. His father Kagami would never let him close to them so he was very excited to finally do this.

Shisui was excited but at the same time very nervous that he had to go first, what if he completely messed up? The Shuriken felt different in his hand, heavier and smoother, so his aim would probably be off since he was so used to the wooden Shuriken at home.