Just Smile: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 10: Crack

"I hate being useless." Naruto groaned as he faced the wall as he sat on his butt, his arms crossed. "You guys pretty much carried me to the finish line." 

"We did carry you into the finish line." Itachi corrected, a small smirk on his face as Naruto's smile diminished slightly. 

"Yeah, but I was supposed to help you."

"You did," Izumi called out, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "When we got back to the starting point, there were a lot of dead people, that earth jutsu did a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people, you saved us from that." She said with a small grin, but it was a fake smile.

She was terrified a Genin wielded that type of power. They might even be stronger than Itachi and Naruto, to have killed half the competition with one jutsu. . . She shivered at the thought but hid it well as she looked at Naruto. 

"Naruto," Itachi began. "You carried us to the edge of the barrier, that's almost ten miles out! To shunshin that far, it's quite impressive, a feat that even Shisui-sensei would be proud to know that you accomplished it." 

"I guess," Naruto spoke, turning away from the wall and grinning brightly, the warmth spreading to both of his teammates as they smiled kindly at him. "Okay, now what's next?" 

"Well," Izumi began as she stood up, looking at the clock that was above their door. "The Third Exams are supposed to start soon, I heard it's a 3 v 3, but I'm not too sure. We're waiting for the teams to get here." 

"Oh?" Was all Naruto could get out before Shisui burst open the door, a grin on his face. 

"Welp guys, it's time to go home for a month before walking all the way back!" 

"What? Why?" Itachi asked in a confused tone. "I thought the Third Exams are going to take place next?" Shisui nodded.

"They are, but within a month." He said, holding up a finger. "You see, a lot of people are going to the Chunin Exams, and its also going to get streamed across the Five Great Nations so people from other villages can watch it. It'll take a while for the village to get ready and for everyone to arrive, so we have a month to go home, train and get prepared, and come back." 

"OH!" Naruto shouted, popping off the ground, his grin even bigger. "I get to train with Kaka-nii more! He said he'd teach me something cool when I got back!" Shisui sweatdrop, looking at Naruto awkward. 

"Actually Naruto, we're going to train as a-" 

"And you can have 1 on 1 sessions with Izumi! And Itachi can train with Fugaku-san! It'll be great! Then, we can come back and whoop some butt!" He ran out of the door. "I'm going to go pack I'll meet you at the gate!" 

"Homesick much?" Izumi muttered as she glanced over at Shisui who was smiling awkwardly at where Naruto once was. "Shisui-sensei, you're gonna teach me a lot so I can catch up to these two right?" He didn't answer, still shocked. Izumi hmphed as she walked up to him and stomped on his foot, effectively knocking him out of his trance as he suddenly began shouting curses. 

"DAMN IT THAT HURT YOU BIG FOOTED TODDLER!" He shouted, causing a tick mark to appear on Izumi's forehead. 

"Toddler? Are you calling me that cause I'm short? I'll rip your head off!" She shouted as she began chasing Shisui around the room, shouting at him while Itachi just looked at the two with a bead of sweat going down his forehead.

"Uh, I'm going to go pack too!"