Iruka gave the newest addition to his class a doubtful look. Long had he dreaded this day; the day when he would come face to face with the container of his parents' killer. To his surprise, it was easier than he expected, though this may be due to the blond's obnoxiously cheerful smile.
"Class, I want you all to meet your new classmate. Haruto, why don't you introduce yourself and talk about what are your likes?"
"Alright, Iruka-sensei." Haruto turned to the rest of the class with barely expressed glee. "My name is Haruto Uzumaki. I like eating, especially ramen, and kind people like the old man with the funny hat. Oh yeah, and I'll also become Hokage one day!"
The class blinked at this joker in silence and then erupted into laughter. Iruka gave a tight, almost sympathetic smile. He was not completely won over yet, but the boy sure reminded him of himself. Iruka seated the newcomer next to the Nara boy, who as usual was asleep at his desk, before continuing his lesson.
Haruto smiled brightly at everyone and poked the sleeping classmate next to him to no avail.
"That's not going to work," whispered the somewhat chubby kid next to him. "Name's Chouji. Want to try my potato chips?"
"Sure." Haruto replied as he munched on the offered treat. "This is pretty good. Not as good as ramen, but still pretty good." And so for the rest of the period, the two classmates happily munched on Chouji's junk food.
Haruto tried not to act too bored, but it was somewhat hard not to do. Not only was he way past all this academy stuff, he had to restrain himself from crying blasphemy at some of the garbage being taught. Tenzou-sensei was right. What were the academy teachers thinking? He suppressed a wince as he saw a pink-haired girl scribbling furiously to take everything down.
"… and now we will have a pop quiz."
Haruto scanned the questions list, twitching from time to time. Who taught the First Hokage the technique he ultimately used to…? Who cares? Instead of drilling the students on practical skills, the teachers made the students memorize inane and questionable historiographies. It was not even relevant history. No wonder Tenzou held the Ninja Academy in general disdain.
This was going to be a long day. Haruto decided.
The young blond calmly ignored the frown Iruka gave him when he collected his near empty quiz paper. Haruto had other things to do. As Iruka continued to exposit some ninja code or other, which was almost guaranteed to collapse out on the field, he was preparing a thesis slash inflammatory critique on Konoha's ninja academy.
Just need a title. Haruto drummed his fingers on the desk as he mulled over his paper. Oh, why not? Unable to come up with something original, he penned the most obnoxious title he could think of using the biggest words he knew.
The Genin Examination: Testing the Inefficiency and Incompetence of Konoha Academy's Teaching Staff
Class ended just as Haruto finished making final touches to his little secret project. He briefly considered the merits of going around to his classmates to introduce himself in a more personal manner, but decided otherwise. While he did sort of want to see how his old friends were, he decided he would rather not deal with the horde of overprotective and hostile parents that would soon descend upon the school. However, just as Haruto stood up, the shadow of a glaring Uchiha Sasuke loomed over him.
"Hi, what's up?"
"Fight me!"
Haruto blinked… hard. What the hell? The blond really wondered if every Uchiha perpetually woke up on the wrong side of bed.
"Eh, you might as well. He does this to everyone the first time he meets them," Chouji commented from the side. Clearly, his own interaction with the Uchiha genius was less than pleasant.
"He's so troublesome," the Nara kid agreed.
"Umm, ok, should we do this outside then?"
Sasuke nodded once glumly before stalking out of the classroom. Haruto winced as he took note of the Uchiha's fan club, led by two rivals with pink and pale blonde hair respectively, bouncing cheerfully behind him.
"Go Sasuke-kun! When you win, I'll take you on a date to your favorite restaurant!"
"No way, Ino-pig, I'm taking Sasuke-kun out!"
"As if, forehead girl!"
Haruto wondered if he should get his eyes checked. Surely this could not be, Sakura and Ino, best of best friends. Haruto had been there that day when Ino stood up to the snotty nosed kid named Ami to defend Sakura. Personally, he had thought it was the most beautiful sight he ever witnessed and truth be told, it had made him feel immensely jealous of Sakura, as he knew no one would ever do that for him. Within the current environment, he supposed he should be a little jealous given how both girls hovered around the brooding Uchiha while they treated him like a stranger. But really, he just felt kind of sad for them. Did their childhood mean that little to them?
"Ready when you are, Sasuke-chan," Haruto called out with a wide grin. It probably wasn't very nice of him, but he thought the Uchiha prodigy deserved it. Plus, it was so easy to get him all riled up.
Sasuke growled in anger and predictably charged at the blond with a flurry of kicks and punches. The ferocity of the attack took Haruto by surprise; not enough to take him down but certainly enough to make him wonder what his classmate was smoking.
Should I or should I not. Haruto considered giving Sasuke a serious beat down and burning him a little with his new fire techniques. But rationality prevailed. It was much too soon for him to reveal his abilities.
But on the other hand, Haruto really did not like the implication of actually losing to Sasuke. He winced as his arms absorbed another one of Sasuke's punches. Plus, the Uchiha bastard actually hit pretty hard and he dared not show off anything other than his sub-par Academy standard taijutsu blocks. The girls squealed at seeing their hero take the upper hand.
Alright then, you asked for it.
A grim smile appeared on Haruto's face as he saw how close some of Sasuke's female admirers were standing. When the raven-haired boy haphazardly charged at him again, instead of offering his normal weak blocks, the blond fluidly slid around his attacker and gave him a violent chakra induced push. Unable to halt or reverse his initial forward momentum, the Uchiha stumbled and crashed into the ground before his adoring fans. The sudden reversal of fortune stunned all the spectators.
Sasuke looked murderous as he picked himself off of the ground. Haruto, however, was not about to give his opponent the chance to retaliate. With a patented smile on his face, he charged the Uchiha, but then midway to his target, he "tripped." The blond wavered from his trajectory and careened head first into a nearby gaggle of screaming, flailing girls. Haruto subsequently capitulated as he was set upon by an angry horde of vengeful females. Sasuke glared at the blond, clearly not satisfied with his pyrrhic victory. His angry and fiery eyes told all that he would not soon forget this humiliation by the newcomer as he stalked off. The Uchiha's departure was most fortuitous for Haruto as the bulk of the girls soon let his battered form be.
"Need a hand?"
Haruto gazed upward, smiling as he took Chouji's outstretched hands. "Thanks."
"Why did you throw the match?"
Haruto turned to see the Nara boy carefully scrutinizing him. He's pretty keen, guess he really is a Nara, despite how lazy he is.
"Because not doing so would be too troublesome, yeah?"
For the first time in a while, the lazy genius laughed.
"You are alright; troublesome, but alright. My name is Shikamaru Nara." The lazy genius offered his hand. Haruto gave Shikamaru a look, surprised at the show of friendship, but nonetheless accepted the offered hand.
"Hey, new kid, not bad." A third character soon came up to the group, a dog trailing at his side yelping happily. "Name's Kiba. It's about time someone taught that stuck up Uchiha prick a lesson. But don't fool yourself. You'll still never be a match for me and Akamaru."
Haruto looked at the ninja dog and then at the cocky academy student. He seriously doubted that, but said nothing. Haruto decided it was not worth the trouble to ruin the vague sense of camaraderie he seemed to have suddenly gained with the people around him. It was different from the learning fellowship between him and Tenzou or Yuugao, but it felt nice nonetheless.
"Haruto, our families are having a little get together later today. Since you seem to be new and all, why don't you come over? You could meet some new people."
Haruto fought against the urge to wince. Meeting new people was simply something he did not do, but Chouji did sound very sincere. The offer could have put him in a tight spot if he did not have a suitable excuse.
"I appreciate the offer, but maybe some other time. I have to do something later on today, I'm afraid."
Chouji seemed disappointed, but let it go. Haruto quickly exchanged pleasantries with his new friends before rushing off to his secret appointment. So occupied was he in his affairs, however, that he never noticed the shy pale-eyed girl staring at him in awe with a blush on her face.
"Seems like a nice guy, don't you think, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked his friend as they were walking home.
"All I know is that he will be very troublesome."
"More troublesome than Ino?" Chouji asked good-naturedly.
Shikamaru thought about it. Unlike most people, he paid attention to Haruto's fight with Sasuke. He knew there was no way that the move the blond used to topple the Uchiha was an academy taught one.
"Yes."