The Ultimate Weapon (Naruto Fanfic)

22-First Day

The room was almost completely silent, save a few whispers, as Aoi stood at the front of the classroom. As per the Hokage's orders, he had arrived on time to the academy. Whoever was supposed to teach Aoi what to do however, did not. So Aoi stood waiting, stoic as ever, as the kids in the room all whispered to one another and waited for class to begin. Then, the door to the room slammed open, 20 minutes after class should have started, and a breathless Iruka could be seen in the doorway.

Iruka quickly composed himself, before striding into the room. He nodded to Aoi, then turned to face the class. "I apologize for my late arrival, I had to take care of some things for the Hokage." There were a few snickers in the back of the classroom at this, but they were stifled as Aoi glanced at them with a faint light of interest in his eyes. "As I'm sure you noticed, we have someone joining us today. This is Aoi, and he is here to learn how to teach." Aoi nodded in greeting, and a few of the students leaned in with interest. "We'll spend a few minutes getting to know each other, so why don't you all ask him some questions?"

Immediately, a few hands shot into the air. A smile grew on Iruka's face as he looked them over. Finally, he pointed to a girl in the front row. "Narika, how about starting us off?"

The young girl smiled winningly, bobbing her head and causing her bright red pigtails to shake with the motion. "Aoi-sensei, how old are you!?" She practically shouted the question, overflowing with excitement.

"I'm fifteen years old," Immediately after saying this, more hands shot into the air, but before one could be called on, a boy was shouting out his question.

"What ninja rank are you?"

Aoi located the boy, "I am a chunnin," was the calm answer.

Another boy chimed into the conversation from the back of the room. "What happened to your leg Aoi-sensei?"

"I injured it while on a mission." There were 'ooh's and 'aah's around the room as they imagined a mission exciting enough to get injured on. A few voices murmured things about princesses, another something regarding a dragon.

Once the children quieted once again, Iruka called on another girl. The symbol on her shirt clearly marked her as one of the Nara clan. "How many jutsu do you know Aoi-sensei?"

"188 jutsu." The class practically exploded at this, shouting out, trying to be heard over one another. That was the most jutsu anyone they had met knew.

For a while the jumble of voices continued, until Iruka stepped forward. He calmed the class down quickly, and soon they were all focused on him. "Alright, I think for now that will be enough questions. We can get to know Aoi as we go on." There were a few grumbled complaints, but soon class was started.

_+_

Laughter and yells filled the air of the playground. Kids ran rampant, some with fake swords, others on swing sets, and a few even playing hopscotch. Throughout all of this, Aoi stood to the side watching over the kids, making sure no one was bullied or injured. Iruka had told Aoi to do, and when to bring the kids in to resume their lessons, but twenty minutes still remained for recess.

A tree to the left of Aoi soon drew his attention however. The leaves rustled unnaturally, the only sign a living animal was in the tree. Instead of only one branch shaking however, the motion continued downward, as if something was falling through the tree. True to the assumption Aoi had made, a small, pale pink animal fell, landing on a soft pile of grass that stood near the base of the tree.

Knowing that there was no threat, Aoi almost turned his attention back on the majority of the children running through the open area. Before he looked away, however, his attention was arrested by a group of three boys. They all held sticks, pretending they were swords. What would have been only fun and games though, was instead one boy fending off two. Sticks rained down on the boy as he tried in a rush of movements to fend off the attacks. He was giving ground however, and the two boys smirked at each other.