Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Twenty-Two[XXII]: Red Classmate

   Uzukaze Naruto sighed deeply, accepting his fate whether he liked it or not. Today was the day that he would be going to the Academy to get introduced to his charges formally, which meant that he was going to be sitting in a classroom for eight hours, presumably reviewing what was going to be on the graduation exam, which was tomorrow. 

   Months had passed rather quickly, nothing out of the ordinary for the most part. He had gathered up the soon-to-be team consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Hyūga Hinata, and Aburame Shino a while back and trained them just as he did with the other three, albeit this team was much more dysfunctional than them.

   Nothing a week of rigorous training couldn't fix, anyway. While they weren't perfect by any means, Naruto was quite pleased by their progress. Inuzuka and Aburame weren't clashing as much anymore, while Hyūga managed to gain some more confidence after a talk with him, well, Kenko. Hyūga now acts as the glue, able to calm their arguments down if they do have any. 

   Because they were going to be a tracker team, Naruto had pushed their sensing skills to their limits with some simple seals and tracking exercises. Of course, he also worked on them individually, Hyūga with some long-ranged fighting, along with Inuzuka, and Aburame with short-ranged combat. He also was able to give them a good shove towards developing some professions.

   Hyūga found out her natural skills when it comes to fighting with light shortswords, which gave her an advantage against some opponents. Inuzuka, while still working with Akamaru, began to focus on some solo techniques that could still be amplified with the help of his partner. Aburame had a very good aim, he picked up the bow and arrow quite easily. They were in the beginning stages, of course, still sloppy, but he was still proud of them.

   There had been no major information on the Akatsuki for Jiraiya and, as expected, Itachi has not contacted them at all. His ANBU had accepted all the new recruits, and though there were a few instances here and there, it worked out in the end. All in all, these past few months had been peaceful, but Naruto knew, sooner rather than later, that it would be broken.

   Currently, he was in front of the academy now, grimacing a little as he entered through the door to be met with a scowl and a sharp gaze. He was wearing a long-sleeve black shirt with the red Uzumaki swirl on the back and a pair of black ANBU pants, black open-toed shinobi saddles to match. He also wore a minor Henge, but that was to hide his scarring and seals, he was still able to access the later.

   "What do you think you're doing here, Demon Child?" The lady spat, clearly displeased by Naruto's very existence. He said nothing, though, simply presented the note the Hokage wrote from him, the lady saying what class he would be in ( not knowing that Naruto already knew the number thus knew she was lying ) before getting back to her work.

   Naruto shoved the note into his pocket along with his hand, walking down the narrow wooden hall until he reached the classroom number he wanted. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door three times, once at a two-second interval, the other at a four-second interval, a knock that ANBU used to identify each other in foreign or unknown places.

    Soon enough, whatever talking from inside the classroom quieted as the door opened, a surprised Iruka looking down at him, clearly expecting an ANBU. Which he technically was, just not in this form. Naruto remained silent, simply taking the note out and giving it to Iruka, who raised a brow but did nothing more.

   Iruka motioned for him to come in, which he did, Iruka closing the door behind him. "Class," Iruka addressed the curious students, "we have a new student, treat him well." Iruka turned his attention to Naruto. "Call me Iruka-sensei, and please, introduce yourself to the class."