from Academy to Anbu by theriku260

chapter 4

ANBU Locker room, noon…

Multiple ANBU squads were preparing for various missions and shifts when Naruto walked in with a twitching eyebrow and muttering.

"Hehehe. Just you wait, Gai and mini-Gai. I will create a barrier you can't break through! And when I do, my mornings off will cease to be interrupted by ramblings of…" Here Naruto shuddered. "Youth." Tenzo, Yugao, and Hikaru winced in sympathy for their young friend- the poor boy was Gai's new 'pet project' that extended beyond training and into attempts to bring back Naruto's "youth". It was really not a fate they wished on anyone.

Unfortunately for Naruto the other squads found it hilarious.

"Hahaha I am so glad you were suckered into that apartment and not me!" Jaguar teased. He had moved in right after Naruto had, avoiding the curse that was Gai. Most of the other ANBU sniggered as the youngest among them muttered like a deluded old man about killing who ever taught Gai about seals. Of course, Ro all knew it was Dragon who just disabled them randomly for kicks. They would never tell Naruto, however, for fear of Dragon carrying out his threat of assigning them 'Konohamaru duty' for a month.

"Shut it! Captain Tiger, permission to sanction an assassination mission of whomever sells Gai his jumpsuits and taught him seals?" Naruto asked hopefully. Tenzo sighed, familiar with this situation.

"Permission denied, Mouse. Besides, I think you'll like your mission we're preparing for tomorrow…or at least, you'll be doing the rest of us a favor" Tenzo said. Naruto cocked his head.

"What kind of mission?"

"Oh, just running the trap course for the academy today." Tenzo grinned evilly at the pale expression on Naruto's face; when Hawk- who usually ran the course- was called in on a mission, Tenzo had swiped it for his squad. Not only would Ro get to observe an unbearably easy watch from the shade of the trees, but Naruto would be able to see his teacher again- in off duty gear, too.

"Is this payback for making the Hokage wear orange?" Naruto asked.

"Why, whatever made you think that?" Tenzo asked. By his too innocent expression, however, Naruto knew: his captain was a vengeful bastard when he wanted to be.

Academy, next day…

"Alright class, remember to treat whomever is the instructor with respect: they'll teach you basic traps and how to disable them!" Iruka was stern with the nine year olds, especially Konohamaru and his friends. His pride as a teacher was on the line, and if his students misbehaved it would reflect poorly on him. They reached the clearing the new instructor wanted them at quickly and Iruka's jaw dropped. Standing in the middle of a sea of traps, was his unreachable student, Naruto. The boy wore standard black pants and long black shirt, and the face mask he sported resembled a certain cyclops. What really got Iruka, though, was when Naruto turned to face them and plopped down, holding up ten flags.

"I don't believe in babying students and find learning by doing is better than anything- my traps teacher threw me in the deep end so I will do the same. I am your target- I have ten flags on me- one for every three students. Your job is to team up into three man cells and make your way through the field to me, setting off as little traps as possible. You will be graded on how quickly and efficiently you get through. The winning squad will be treated to dinner by me at Ichirakus" That got the kids' attention. Iruka's jaw dropped though at the cool tone of Naruto and the difficulty of the traps set. "Go" Naruto said after a moment and thirty students split off, preparing for their trial.

Iruka used a shunshin and kawarimi to make it into Naruto's circle, and sat next to his old student.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted happily. "I didn't know you were teaching this class." Naruto sounded happy, and he was, but he was also nervous- Iruka was known for being able to make Naruto talk about everything, not something Naruto wanted at this time when his ANBU status wasn't spread around.