Training a Shinobi of the Leaf
by Nee339
Summary: What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?
Warnings: Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.
Last Edited: July 11, 2012
Chapter 3: Orientation Day
Konohagakue no Sato's Academy campus was the only sanctioned educational facility allowed within the confines of the village, which permitted for the easy monitoring of both the civilian and shinobi population. The campus had twelve large buildings, each one dedicated to a specific educational institution, not unlike the universities found in the major metropolitan cities.
Outside classroom 7-143, Umino Iruka quietly waited for the first day of classes to begin. He was leaning against the wall and reading his course schedule. According to that little piece of paper, he was going to become very familiar with that classroom over the next six months. It had been reserved for the Training to Become a Sensei (TBS) program's long-term use.
Iruka was not alone in standing outside the classroom. There were fourteen other people in the hallway waiting for the same locked double-doors to open. Iruka adjusted his backpack as he scanned the faces of the people around him, and uneasily acknowledged the fact that he seemed to be significantly younger than the other shinobi present. They all appeared to be in their twenties or older.
'Great,' Iruka thought derisively, as his dark-brown eyes continued to drift from face to face. I always wondered what it would be like to be a prodigy. Maybe, here's my chance.
As soon as the thought flew through his mind, Iruka flinched at his level of pessimism. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, while forcefully thinking, Positive! – Positive! I need to be positive. Come on, Iruka. – Think! – I can do this. Shiro wouldn't have written a recommendation letter if he hadn't thought I could be a good sensei. Be positive!
With his eyes still closed, Iruka breathed deeply, hoping to force calmness and optimism into his thoughts. He was nervous. He had not been to school or taken part of any structured training since he had been 11 years old. He could not help but worry that he would make a fool out of himself and he was already mentally cringing away from that future embarrassment.
I have to stop doing this to myself, Iruka thought, realizing that he was surely cheating himself out of a fair shot of becoming a sensei. He knew he was a decent shinobi; he had the mission reviews to prove it. He knew he was smart enough to succeed in this program, just as he knew that the Jounin, Itō Shiro, would not have steered him wrong in his counseling.
I have a right to be here and I can do this. I just need to relax and believe in myself and I'll get through this. It's just like any other mission I have ever been on. See the objective, Iruka, devise a plan to get there, and execute. I've done this a thousand times already. I can do it again, he thought and found that, when he opened his eyes, he felt better, as though he was ready to confront the training program head-on, despite his perceived disadvantages. However, Iruka hadn't expected that his first sight, upon opening his eyes, would be a smirking, silver-haired shinobi who obviously had been delighting in Iruka's small display of anxiety.
In reaction to the unknown shinobi's vindictive enjoyment of his nervousness, Iruka pulled his head high and stared challenging back at him. He held the other man's gaze for a count of three seconds before he aggressively bared his teeth. Iruka half-hoped the silver-haired shinobi would charge him, giving him a reason to vent some of his anxious energy, but, the other shinobi stayed where he was, leaning against the wall and grinning at him.
Iruka maintained his sneer until a male shinobi, standing to his left, said softly and decisively, "Not here, not now."
Iruka responded immediately to the older man's tone of authority and he stepped out of the middle of the hallway. He took a deep breath, consciously forcing himself to relax back against the wall. Once he was sure that he had released most of his feelings of aggression towards the smirking shinobi, he felt comfortable in glancing over at his momentary opponent. Iruka saw that the silver-haired shinobi had also lowered his eyes, thus signaling the end to any possible violence in the hallway.
Iruka knew it had been stupid to almost get caught up in a fight right before the start of training. He was there to make a positive impression as a capable and responsible shinobi, not one of a troublemaker. Sighing at his own thoughtlessness, Iruka checked his wristwatch and noticed that, although the time had crept closer to the start of class at 0900, there were still a few minutes left to go. Relaxing against the wall, Iruka watched as more and more people joined them in their vigil.
Iruka was mildly surprised at the crowd the class was accumulating. He had expected that this training program would be mostly deserted. He had believed that most people viewed TBS as a program that lead to the dead-end career of becoming an Academy instructor. He had consented with Itō Shiro's plan only because he had presumed that TBS was nothing more than a curriculum of intensive basic training, with a side course on teaching and, now, looking at the growing crowd, he was fairly certain that he had been wrong in his assumptions.
With a quick swipe of his eyes, up and down the hallway, he noted that the original number of fifteen waiting shinobi had more than tripled during the time he had been standing there. Yes, there was definitely something about this program that he didn't understand and a sense of eager curiosity settled over his thoughts, partially blanketing his anxiety.
Glancing down at his wristwatch, Iruka saw that he had a minute remaining before class started. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood up straight. He was not going to be caught slouching on the first day.
Iruka quickly straightened his clothing and made sure that his long-sleeved navy-blue uniform shirt was properly tucked into his pants. He adjusted his utility belt so that his canteen hung at his left hipbone with its weight counterbalanced by his shuriken and senbon pouch, resting over his right buttock. He also carried a sheathed kodachi to the left of his canteen and, at the small of his back; he had a pouch for kunai, of various sizes; some with specialty explosive notes already attached. On his right side, he had another hard container; only, this one was used for emergency medical supplies. He never went anywhere shinobi-related without being fully armed, first. He even had various other weapons and tools sealed away, inside the scrolls he carried in his forest-green flak vest and even more stored in his apartment.
Another bout of self-consciousness hit him, causing him to quickly glance around at the other waiting shinobi, this time, taking a swift survey of the equipment each of them carried. He was relieved to notice that the majority of them were equally as armed as he was, with the only exceptions being a woman down the hall and a few administrative types that Iruka wasn't convinced were shinobi at all. Their bodies were too stringy; with no real muscle mass to them. They also moved awkwardly, as if they were having second thoughts about joining TBS.
Exactly on the hour, the classroom door opened from the inside. Iruka momentarily saw a man, of middling height, standing in the doorway before he moved to the side to allow the students to file past him. Iruka merged with the throng and walked inside.
Once on the other side of the portal, Iruka immediately noticed the group, comprised of a woman and four men, standing around a lecture podium. They were quietly talking amongst themselves while they watched the students walk up the steps to find a chair in the auditorium-style seating. It was a large lecture-hall with enough seats for about three hundred people. Iruka wondered if the fifty-plus student count was going to grow even more, before the start of class. He privately hoped not.
He then walked up the ramp until he located the eleventh row from the front of the classroom, and sat in the middle, so that he was directly aligned with the chalkboard. There were students already sitting behind him, to either side of him, and below him. He had chosen this seat specifically for its placement amongst the scattered students. He hoped that he would not be noticed today. He wanted this observational opportunity to be unsullied by being made an example of for the class or for some other similar humiliation.
Iruka dropped his backpack, filled with school supplies, on the chair to the side of him and sat down, centering his attention on the five people still clustered around the podium. He also noticed a sixth person sitting behind a large wooden desk, strategically placed to watch both the entrance into the classroom and the raised auditorium seating.
The sixth person was also male. His shoulders were broad and his arms were liberally roped with muscle. The man's eyebrows were dark brown, while his hair was shot-through with gray and had been sheared into a neat crew-cut. The man was at least fifteen years older than the five other individuals standing around the podium, which lead Iruka to, therefore, assume that he was somehow in charge, if not the actual headman for the TBS program.
The man stood up from his desk and walked towards the podium, shooing the five loitering people out of his way. Since they immediately vacated the area and then lined up against the chalkboard, Iruka determined that those five shinobi probably were the man's assistants, which made sense when considering the size of the class.
At his thought about the class-size, Iruka subsequently scanned the crowd of students. He saw the administrative types sitting in a cluster down in the front and the silver-haired shinobi sitting high and in the back of the theater. The rest were scattered with at least one to two seats between them and their nearest neighbor. Spread out like they were, it made the class look even larger than just sixty students, he wondered how many there were now. He also found himself wondering if the silver-haired shinobi could be related to Hatake Kakashi.
Iruka turned around in his seat and tried to mentally shake the thought away. Shiro had been right. His mind did seem to be unduly focused on the Copy-Nin. He needed to stop comparing himself to that man and find a more sensible role model. Iruka grinned and settled back into his seat, thinking, Whatever will be, will be.
He then fully turned his attention to the lone man standing behind the podium. As Iruka watched him, he kept feeling as though the man was somehow familiar to him, like he had met him before. There was something about the way he moved his body and the way he slightly tilted his head to the side, when regarding the class that kept poking at Iruka's brain.
The man checked the clock at the front of the room and said, "Alright, it's eight minutes after the hour, go ahead and close the door. If there are any others out there, well, too bad. They should have been here on time, like everyone else."
One of the man's assistants jogged over to the door and closed and locked it. Iruka raised an eyebrow at that. Why would they be locked in? He found out a second later when a gasping shinobi could be heard running down the hall. He slammed into the door while attempting to turn the knob at the same time, only to find it locked. The assistant made an exaggerated frowning-face at the man through the door's long rectangular window, before waving him away. The late shinobi angrily delivered a hand-sign that, roughly translated, meant that the assistant was the get of a whore, a no-man's child – a bastard.
The assistant responded with a hand-sign that meant 'asshole,' before he pulled a shade over the window, blocking out any further communication.
The man standing behind the podium had been amused by the exchange between his assistant and the want-to-be-student on the other side of the door. He stood there, hands on either side of the stand, smiling sardonically at the fate of the shinobi who had been too late to join the rest of the class.
Previously, Iruka had been struck by the familiarity of the man's body language. Now, after hearing the man's voice ordering the locking of the classroom door, he was positively convinced that he had met that man before. He struggled to remember where, but his mind kept skirting the issue as though the memory either was uncomfortable, embarrassing, or dangerous.
Iruka felt jittery and stupid at the possibility that he had forgotten such a powerful shinobi as the head-instructor. He tried to put the idea out of his mind and he shifted in his seat, trying to focus. No matter the memory, the past could wait until the end of class time; especially, if the memory had remained hidden for so long. A few more hours would not make much of a difference, one way or the other.
The instructor was smiling when he said, "Hello class, I am Medic-nin Hiyama Yasuo and I am the Head Instructor for the Training to Be a Sensei program. Since the first day of class is called Orientation Day that means today is the absolute last day any of you can voluntarily drop from this program. Afterwards, only the other instructors and I will be determining whether or not you would make a worthy teacher for Konoha's students."
Iruka had to fight the inclination to cover his face with his hands in the vain hope that Hiyama would not recognize him. Oh, he definitely remembered him, now, and he blushed at the memory. Hopefully, the man would have been too busy that day to remember a recently orphaned young boy, but he couldn't be sure.
The day after the Yondaime Hokage had successfully sealed the Kyuubi into the body of a newborn, before the confirmation of the deaths of his father and brother, and after the complete destruction of his tiny family home, 10-year-old-Iruka had started his journey towards premature adulthood by standing outside the largest medical tent. As Iruka stood there, he noticed that his mind didn't seem to be working quite right. He couldn't seem to form a coherent plan of action, as he had been trained; so, he just stood and watched as the medics rushed from one wounded individual to another, attempting to save as many as they could.
Eventually, a Medic-nin, with short black hair, noticed a pale boy standing three meters away from the mouth of the busy medic tent. No one stopped to ask the boy what he wanted and the boy was treated as a stationary obstacle that one had to go around to reach the inside of the tent. The Medic-nin originally had intended to join up with a shinobi squad, tasked with looking for survivors still left out in the field, but he instead altered his path and approached the boy.
The Medic-nin placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, to get he his attention, and asked, "Son, are you hurt?"
Iruka tilted his head up to look at the medic, before shaking his head 'no' in response to the man's question. The Medic-nin frowned and moved his hand from the boy's shoulder up to his damp forehead, while his other hand felt for the pulse at the boy's limp wrist. Once found, the Medic-nin started to softly count while watching the dial on his wristwatch.
After a full minute had passed, the medic dropped the boy's wrist and tilted his face upwards, gently lifting the top eyelid of each of the boy's eyes, to check for pupil dilation. Because the boy's eyes were such a dark brown in color, the medic had to resort to using a small jutsu that made a light appear at the tip of his finger. He then waved his fingertip back and forth over the boy's eyes, watching the lack of response in his pupils. After his quick examination, the Medic-nin recognized the boy's symptoms and diagnosed him with shock.
Again the medic asked, "Are you injured?" and again, Iruka vacantly shook his head 'no.'
Not willing to trust the boy's answer, the medic quickly directed him a few steps off to the side of the tent's opening. Once satisfied that they were out of everyone's way, the Medic-nin clearly explained, "I believe you are suffering from shock and, to make sure that you are alright, I am going to check you for any injuries that you might not be aware of. Do you understand?"
Iruka nodded again and made no move to resist, as the Medic-nin quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off his shoulders. The medic then ran his hands over the boy's naked chest and down his arms, while he said, "Tell me if this hurts." It didn't, so Iruka said nothing. The medic then turned him around to check his back, and found nothing wrong besides coin-sized bruising from flying debris.
"Sit down," the medic said, and Iruka calmly sat in the mud. The medic knelt down beside him and began to unbuckle Iruka's pants. While he undressed the boy, the medic said, "My name is Hiyama Yasuo, what is yours?"
"Umino Iruka," he blankly answered.
"Nice to meet you. Wish it could have been under better circumstances," Medic-nin Hiyama said as he pulled Iruka's pants down, continuing his check for injuries. The medic was especially careful to leave the boy's underwear in place, to preserve a modicum of privacy. Although Iruka wasn't much concerned with what was happening to him now, he would be in a few days, after he had calmed down and had a chance to think about his experiences of the Kyuubi attack.
Hiyama checked for fractures down the boy's legs, as well as the boy's ankles and feet. He only saw more of the typical cuts and bruises that were prevalent on everyone's bodies. Before he dressed the boy again, Hiyama concentrated chakra to his hands and ran them over the boy's head, and over his body, arms, and legs, checking for internal injuries. The medic found nothing wrong with the boy before him, and he sighed in relief.
"Thank God," Hiyama whispered to himself, as he picked the boy up and dressed him; Iruka placidly letting the Medic-nin manipulate his body into his clothing.
Once Iruka was dressed again, Hiyama asked, "Were you looking for someone in the tent?"
Iruka nodded, and said, "My father and brother. They haven't returned yet."
The medic didn't immediately respond, as he turned his attention to the commotion of the tents behind him, and sighed at what he saw. There was so much blood and, due to the unsanitary conditions that they were forced to deal with, most people inside it would die from an infection within a day or two. If the boy's family wasn't in there and they hadn't contacted him by now, they were most likely already dead.
Sadly, Hiyama asked, "Did you check the survivors' list?"
"They weren't on it and the medic's won't let me into any of the tents to look for them."
"What are their names and ages?"
Iruka blinked, interest slowly coming back into the boy's expression. Hiyama was relieved to see the boy finally showing an emotion beyond the emptiness he had previously displayed.
Iruka said, "My brother is 13 and his name is Umino Takumi. My father is 41 and his name is Umino Kouhei."
Hiyama nodded and wrote the names down on a pad of paper that he always carried about his person and said, "Alright, I'll search for them inside the tents, but first, we need to put you somewhere you'll be safe. Come with me."
Iruka blinked, banishing the memories from his mind. He needed to focus, not reminisce about the time he had followed a young Medic-nin Hiyama to the orphan tents, where he would later spend the majority of his time, when he had not been studying for the Genin Exit Exam. Iruka needed the TBS program and he needed the respect of the Medic-nin if his plans for the future ever had a chance of coming to fruition.
Hiyama had just finished going through the attendance roll and handed the list of names off to one of his male assistants. Hiyama then smiled up at the class, while indicating the five shinobi, standing against the chalkboard.
"Behind me are my assistants who are here to help me teach this class. You will treat them with the same respect that you will treat me and, together, we will see what type of teacher you will become. So, learn their names and ask questions. They are here to help you and if you do not take advantage of that fact, then you will fail. It's that simple. Do you understand me?" asked Hiyama, his smile contrasting with the seriousness of the information he was imparting to them.
After receiving a response indicating that the class did understand his threat, Hiyama continued with his presentation. He said, "As I pointed out just a second ago, today is Orientation Day. For those of you who are unsure about continuing with the TBS program, then take advantage of this day and drop out. Today will be the only day to quit without receiving a demerit in your file. As you all know, if you acquire enough demerits, then it's off to see the mind healers while they try to figure out why you keep quitting and it may result in your loss of shinobi license. You have been warned.
"Now, moving on. Since it is the first day of the program, there will be no other classes scheduled after orientation. That means, for the next two hours, I am going to explain to you, what will be expected of you in TBS. Let me say this now, you must meet all of the minimum requirements for this program, otherwise, you will fail. This is no joke people. If you fail, then you will have it recorded in your file and you will not be allowed to retake the program," Hiyama said, making Iruka nervous.
Iruka had not realized how serious TBS was turning out to be. He felt his body come down with nervous jitters, not unlike when his body was flying-high on adrenaline.
Hiyama nodded at the serious expressions of his students, and continued with his lecture, saying, "Now, let's get to business. TBS is a strenuous course that re-teaches shinobi basic skills, as well as the more advanced subjects. So, starting tomorrow, those of you who have decided to stay, will be put through assessment tests to see what you know. These will be the only tests in the program that you cannot fail, so you can relax about being graded. No matter your individual skill-level, TBS will still take you. Being dropped from the program has more to do with your personality than your skill-level. We can always turn you into a better shinobi, we cannot fix that you're an asshole. Anyone have any questions so far? Yes, in the back."
Iruka and the rest of the class turned in their seats in order to see the student with a question. It was a slim male, with sandy brown hair and a burn-scar around his mouth and down his neck.
"How can a person's skill-level not affect whether or not you accept them? Those guys down there don't look like they have ever held a kunai in their lives," said the burned man, referring to the administrative civilians clustered together in the front of the class.
Iruka smiled a bit meanly, feeling himself relaxing. No matter how bad he was as a shinobi, he was ten-times better than some civilian.
"Good question. As I said before, we can always turn a person into a decent shinobi, but we can't fix a person's attitude. Since everyone on the faculty at the Academy must be shinobi trained, the interested civilians have to make the switch. This is the program that they are directed to. Now, the civilians who have decided to join TBS will be held to the same standards as all others within this program, and everyone must show significant improvement throughout the six months we have you. In other words, the civilians' skills have no place to go, but up. The same cannot be said for a shinobi. So, you and the rest of the shinobi in this room will have to work extremely hard to match their progress."
The burned man looked agitated and said, "But that's not fair. Even after six months of training, I could easily take out any one of them."
Hiyama smiled, nodded at the point, and said, "Yes, that may be true, but are you as academically gifted as those men and women over there? I doubt it. Generally, shinobi within a village have been training since they were very young and only have peripherally learned other subjects, like languages, social studies, and the sciences. Now, those civilians have received full academic educations and only lack the shinobi skills required for this position. Plus, a shinobi-only-faculty at the Academy is mostly for traditional reasons; however, with this training, they will be allowed to wear the Chuunin uniform, thus blending in while they teach the children math and other soft subjects."
A small man with shiny black hair raised his hand and asked, "Then, what's the point of having shinobi train in TBS if you can recruit amongst the civilian academics?"
Hiyama smiled again and said, "Another good question. The answer is this: A true shinobi instructor teaching at the academy is priceless for the younger generation. A shinobi who has been out in the field knows when a child is ready to take the exit exam and when to hold him back. A civilian, even though they have gone through this training, are infamous for letting that training fall all out of practice and they are highly unreliable in judging the Geinin-hopefuls. However, training the civilians in shinobi skills is a part of this village's defenses. They are the back-ups of a back-up plan. In other words, should Konoha be engulfed in a war tomorrow and absolutely everyone must be on the walls to fight, then the civilians would be tasked with teaching the next generation, with only one or two trained shinobi to oversee the entire operation. They are useful, so they are trained. Anymore questions about this?"
No one spoke.
"Okay, moving on. Konohagakue no Sato is not like the other hidden villages. We do not twist our recruits or our children into monsters, and then set them loose on our enemies. Instead, our training program stresses responsibility, duty, hard work, and village pride. Through these measures, we hope to turn out successful and mentally stable shinobi. Also, we do not press our Genin into attaining Chuunin rank early, like the other villages. We believe that a child should mature into their role of shinobi, and that might mean years of D and C rank missions or as little time as a month for an individual to be ready. Each person is different. Furthermore, we must always remember that a majority of these Genin are still children and are answerable to their parents. Many Genin are not allowed out of the village due to parent stipulation."
From the back of the room, a confused male voice said, "Wait, I thought Genin were always considered adults once they graduated from the Academy. Is this no longer true?"
Hiyama nodded along as the speaker spoke. He answered, "That's a good question, and the answer is complicated. There are a few problems with treating children, who have just graduated from the Academy, like responsible adults. They might have had the skills to pass the test for graduation, but that does not mean they are mentally able or ready to look after themselves like an adult. So, if a parent says that they don't want their child leaving the confines of the village, we generally listen to them. It is because of this lack of maturity and experience that we have all rookie-Genin work under Jounin-senseis until they become Chuunin. However, during times of war or if the child attains Chuunin-rank, then the wishes of the parents no longer matter. Upon graduation the child becomes ours to use as we wish."
Iruka raised his hand and voiced a question that had been building within him for the last couple of minutes. He asked, "What about orphans?"
"That's another good question. Orphans are a different class of child, altogether. Generally speaking, because of the tragedy of losing their parents and the requirements of looking after themselves, you will find that most orphans demonstrate a level of maturity and self-reliance that the other children lack. Therefore, orphans are viewed with a bit more respect. However, orphaned children are often overlooked when they are having problems with the coursework, because they lack the funds for private tutors and the parental-power to see to their needs. If you become a teacher at the Academy, you will be dealing with many, many, orphans. You will have to learn to become empathetic to their needs, because, as children, they often do not have the vocabulary to ask for help. Also, you will become the most prominent adult figure in their lives and it will become your duty to guide them on their way to becoming strong shinobi and respectable adults.
"Now, if you all could hold your questions, I have a lot of ground to cover before you all leave here today. Good, my second point, before we digressed, is that there are no such things as prodigies."
A murmur rose from the classroom as the students gave voice to their general disagreement to Hiyama-sensei's statement. Hiyama seemed to enjoy their discontent. He was smiling as he waved the students to silence and continued with the lesson.
"Yes, yes, I know that every one of you has some story of some person that is considered a genius, bla, bla, bla. Well, I say to those people, they don't have a fucking clue about what it actually means to be a genius and they are just labeling children with titles that the kids have no hope of maintaining throughout their careers. I have seen and taught hundreds of children and adults in my career. Many of them, I can say, were better fighters than others or had some special gift that gave them an advantage over their opponents. However, during my career, I have also seen every so-called-prodigy beaten, at least once, by someone else. You must all understand, that on any given day at any given time, anyone can beat anyone else. A lot that goes into winning a match is comprised of luck. Should someone slip at an inconvenient moment, be a bit congested so they have trouble breathing, the sun was too bright and got in their eyes, etcetera, then the supposed lesser-shinobi wins.
"I bring this up because, during your time as teachers, you will deal with many children that come to you laden with rumors of being a prodigy. But all of those rumors are commonly started by the child's family and are often political in nature. A prime example of this that everyone here probably already knows about is Uchiha Itachi. Had the Uchihas kept their mouths shut about Itachi, no one would care about some boy in the process of tryouts for ANBU. Because the Uchihas predominantly work in law enforcement, covering both the village and the shinobi grounds, everyone has heard about Itachi and everyone is in awe of a boy so young possibly gaining a highly competitive ANBU slot.
"Now, one must consider the reasons why a family would want to put their children in such a dangerous situation. ANBU receives the heaviest personnel losses every year. Why should a family want that for their 12-year-old-son, especially, when this 'prodigy' has not yet had the opportunity of producing children of his own, who would potentially acquire all of his genetic gifts? Does anyone have an answer to that?"
No one spoke, too caught up in Hiyama's argument to refute it.
"Well, I believe that the child was pushed into graduating and attaining his bloodline, early, not because of any special power or reasoning skills that the child had. If you want proof, take a look at his coursework from the academy. His work is good, but it reads like a regurgitated textbook. My position is this: Itachi is not a genius. He was an overly rehearsed academy student and he used the benefits of his bloodline to progress the rest of the way. Although Itachi is a good shinobi, he does not have any sense of drive of his own to continue to achieve within the field. It is proof that his early advancement is entirely from the pressure of his clan.
"Now, this behavior demonstrated by a clan is not unique to the Uchihas. Every clan within this village will or has tried to gain power with the rumor that they produce the most powerful children who grow up to be the most powerful shinobi. As a teacher, you must be aware of this political ploy and be able to withstand the draw of a genius-child. You must be able to distance yourself from their achievements and be able to see to the needs of rest of the class. A genius-child has the dazzling effect of overshadowing their classmates and, those within that child's class, suffer from lack of attention and, as a consequence, die more quickly from lack of proper training; thus, lending credence to the genius-claim when the genius-child outlives his classmates. Oh yes, another thing that you will often see is that most genius-children are male. Are there any questions?"
Cursing himself the whole time, Iruka raised his hand again and asked, "What about Hatake Kakashi? Is he not a genius? He did not have the benefits of a bloodline before graduating the academy."
Hiyama smiled and shook his head, and answered, "First off, there's always one exception to every rule. Even though I tell you that genius-children do not exist and are political myths, still, during the course of your career, you will come across children so clever or so gifted that they could be nothing but geniuses. As for Hatake Kakashi, the only son of Hatake Sakumo and the only surviving student of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, I don't know if he is one or not. He could be the product of severe coaching throughout his childhood or he could be the only legitimate genius I have ever met. However, his status is extremely difficult to judge, considering who his father and Jounin-sensei were. He is renowned for deflecting all possible analysis into the situation and refuses to cooperate with the medical staff about the working of his transplanted sharingan eye. So, I say again, who knows?
"However, what I said before about genius-children is true. Even if you get a student like Kakashi in your classroom, you still have to look beyond his promise as a shinobi and see the other children surrounding him. They need training just as much, if not more than the genius of your classroom and, as a sensei, you need to be able to give it. Are there any other questions?"
Hiyama nodded at the quiet classroom, accepting their silence as answer to his question. He then pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to his assistants. The assistants then started walking towards the students, passing a paper to each person. Hiyama watched all this for a moment and then said, "Since there are no questions, we are going to carry on. The paper that's being passed out, right now, is the course syllabus for TBS. Once everyone has a copy, there are a few things I want to go over before I let you all go for the day."
A moment later, Hiyama started to speak again. He said, "Alright, I want to direct your attention to the top of the page. As you can see, it says that all participants of TBS must move into the academy housing in order to receive the full benefit of the training. This is indisputable and set in stone. Starting tomorrow, everyone wanting to stay in the program will be moving into the Academy dormitory, two people per room."
The response was instantaneous. The entire class, as one, groaned and cursed aloud at the pronouncement of moving into the dorms. Hiyama smiled as he patiently waited for the class to quiet down. After a few seconds, the worst of the whispers had stopped and Hiyama started speaking, once again.
"Before any of you ask this question, I will go ahead and answer it. No, you cannot live off campus. Everyone must be moved into the dorms or they will be dropped from the program. I do not care what clan you hail from, how influential your family is, or how close to campus you already live. If you want to become a sensei for Konoha's hundreds of trainees, then this is what you have to do. Is that understood?"
The students all made noises in the affirmative. Hiyama nodded and continued, "That's good. You might not believe me now, but living on campus will make a lot of sense in just a moment. Okay, moving on, you will see a copy of the weekly schedule that you already received at registration. Now take a moment to reread it and you will see that, in TBS, there will be a lot of early mornings and late nights. This is the primary reason why we have you on campus. We have six months to turn you all into first-rate teachers. There just isn't any time to be hunting you down all over the village, because of a schedule change. So take note, in TBS, your time is mine. There will be no missions, no home visitations, no nothing, unless I schedule it."
Nobody spoke for a moment, letting the pronouncement sink in. Iruka didn't care where he lived, as long as it was out of the weather. His apartment was as bare as the day he had moved in. All of his equipment could be easily stored in a few storage scrolls and moved immediately. He wouldn't be surprised if he were the first one moved into the dorms.
"Alright now, I want to go over the weekly schedule. As you can see, the morning classes do not change. It is the afternoon classes that do. So real quick, so you all understand that early morning physical training, PT, starts at 0430. You are not to be late and you should come outfitted in workout gear. Do not bring weapons to PT. They will just slow you down and I will not allow you the time to go stash them back in your room.
"PT lasts, as you can see, for two hours. During those hours, we will have you running, working out with the weight machines, practicing your gymnastics, and anything else we can think of to improve your physical conditioning. After PT, at 0630, you will receive a fifteen-minute break, where you will eat a nutritionally sound meal. The assistants will make these for the first three weeks. Afterwards, you will be required to bring your own breakfast. If you deviate from the diet, well, you won't like what happens to you.
"Next, at 0645, you will work on chakra control exercises. Again, do not bring weapons to chakra control, unless otherwise stipulated by one of your instructors. Chakra control will also last for two hours. At 0845, there will be another fifteen-minute break. This will be the time when you will run back to the dorms, retrieve your weapons and bring them back. For the next four hours, you will be training in taijutsu and weapon handling. If you have specialized in a weapon and have received your mastery of it, then do not bring it to practice. Mastery level is the highest that can be taught in TBS. For more specific instruction, I can provide you with a list of names after you complete this program.
"At 1300, there will be a half-hour meal break in the commissary and then off to classes. Most of your classes will take place in this auditorium. The only exception will be when you are at the hospital learning medical jutsu. As a teacher, you must be capable of a few iryōjutsu; otherwise, you will not be allowed near Konoha's trainees. Primarily, our students are very young children playing with knives for the first time. There will be accidents, so you must be proficient in this area.
"Anyway, from 1330 to 1730, you won't need to bring weapons to those classes, either. Just bring the books and supplies to take notes with. At 1730, you will all meet back at the PT grounds, where there will be another hour-and-a-half of group exercises. At 1900, for one hour, is your last meal break for the day, so enjoy it. At 2000 everyone is expected to take a shower. It is a communal bathing room and there is enough room for all of you. There will be no fighting over specific showerheads. At 2045, everyone is expected to meet in the common room for study time. This will be the time where you will ask your classmates for help or ask your instructors, because they will be there with you. At 2200, it is lights out.
"Now, let me make this absolutely clear for all of you. At 2200, there will be a mandatory bed check. We will go to every room and make sure there is no one else hiding underneath the bed or in the closest or anywhere else you can think of, to stash a person. Also, there will be no sexual contact between you and your roommate and everyone will absolutely leave all female candidates alone. There will be no sexual favors swapped for tutoring or anything else you all can think of. You all have full use of your hands and that's the only comfort you are going to be receiving for the next six months, because I absolutely refuse to deal with lovers' quarrels while I am trying to teach you bunch of knuckleheads. Now, is that understood? Are there any questions?"
The silver-haired shinobi raised his hand and called out, "Yeah, I have a question."
"Okay, what is it?" Hiyama asked.
"You got us scheduled so tight, when the fuck am I supposed to take a shit, sir?" asked the silver-haired shinobi in a jocular tone.
No one laughed.
Iruka's eyes opened wide in surprise at the audacity of the silver-haired shinobi. He couldn't believe he had just asked that question and with so little respect for his sensei, too.
Hiyama-sensei did not seem to think the shinobi was funny, either. His ever-present smile had hardened into a severe look of disapproval. He asked, "What's your name, shinobi?"
"Touji Mizuki," he said, defensively, as if he was starting to realize his behavior had been unacceptable.
This belief was validated in the next instant when Hiyama said, "Well, Touji Mizuki, you are here on my sufferance, so learn respect for your superiors or you will be dropped from TBS. As for lavatory breaks, depending on the time of day, you might be allowed to relieve yourself. If your instructor tells you 'no,' then that's too bad. You'll either hold it or, in your words, you'll shit down your leg. Whatever's more comfortable for you."
Angrily, Mizuki said, "That's disgusting! Why would you want to do that to us? That makes no sense."
"It makes perfect sense," Hiyama refuted. "For disrespectful piss-ants, such as yourself, then you will be made to suffer for your inability to control your mouth. For someone else, who knows how to talk to a superior, they will be told when it would be most appropriate to use the restroom. Understand?"
Mizuki apparently did, because he leaned back in his chair and did not say anything further.
"Alright, now that that's taken care of, we have one more bit of business before I let you all leave to pack your belongings or drop out of the program. If you look past the grading scale on that piece of paper, you will see that there is a paragraph about a three-month review. This is very important, so pay attention.
"When we are three months into the training, there will come a day that you are going to be asked what area you want to specialize in. Now, I am not talking about you wanting genjutsu versus taijutsu, or anything like that. No, what I am talking about is what type of teacher you wish to become. There are four types of teachers that TBS trains, and each one is just as important as the next, so know that now. I don't want to hear any bullshit about how teaching little 7 year olds isn't as prestigious as being a specialist that takes on apprentices.
"So, the four types of senseis that we train in TBS are as follows: Academy, Infiltration, Specialists, and Basic Training. The one that you all probably are most familiar with is the Academy Instructor. This position teaches basic ninja skills to the next generation. Most often, the students are very young, however, that does not mean that all academy instructors will only be teaching children. In fact, it is quite often that we get students from the farms or surrounding villages and they all are looking to become Konoha shinobi. That means that some of our academy students come to us much older than normal. You will note, we stop accepting students into the program if they are older than 25. If a student is older than 25, we will route them into one of the other training programs for best possible use of their services.
"The second most known program is the Specialist Trainer. This sounds like exactly what it is. A shinobi who has been trained through TBS and who also has a primary specialization that Konoha is in desperate need of. Medicine is one such program, Torture and Interrogation is another well-known program. As a Specialist Trainer, your student pool generally comes from the ranks of Genin or Chuunin. Very few Jounin want to receive anymore training, especially if it means giving up one to three years just to learn the material. The good thing about being a specialist instructor is that you will only have one to four students at a time. Although, due to the popularity of medical jutsu, the program has been turned into its own school, although, it is still technically categorized as a form of specialist training.
"The next one is infiltration. Almost no one has ever heard of this program and what it does is establish schools all over the world, as part of a spy network. Now, not all of Konoha's spies are sitting around in dojo's teaching little civilians how to punch dummies. No, we put our spies everywhere, but our schools just so happen to be gossip mills. Besides, you will be surprised where a teacher can get access. For example, a noble needs his son to be able to handle a sword without looking like a fool and cutting off his head, or the Daimyou needs someone to train his samurai."
The class laughed at this pronouncement and Hiyama and his assistants all shared in the joke. The civilians appeared a little lost, but they soon caught on, when Hiyama continued with his explanation, saying, "Yes that's right. The righteous and noble samurai are all trained in the use of their weapons by ninja, the scourge of the world. The possibilities for that branch are endless.
"Furthermore, the students that don't make the age cutoff for the academy or aren't skilled enough for specialization, end up here, in infiltration. This is because a true infiltration mission needs more than one man to be truly effective. So in infiltration, the students are taught how to be spies, and the teachers from TBS set up schools in designated cities or villages. Then, a few months after the school has been established, the students follow the teacher. Once there, they start accepting lessons at the school and making contacts, establishing a cover, and slowly they infiltrate whatever part of the society we want him to. So you see, the school also becomes a safe house, a checkpoint for the spies. It also provides a superior for the spy to report to, so that the information can get back to Konoha.
The man with a burn on his mouth raised his hand and Hiyama nodded at him to go ahead and ask his question. The burned man asked, "Why are you telling us about infiltration. Isn't that supposed to be a secret and only for those who need to know?"
"Good point. Technically, you are correct. None of you in this room needs to know about infiltration or how it works; however, upon registration, you also signed a silence clause that states, if you spill village secrets, even to another Konoha shinobi, then you have sanctioned your own assassination. But, I have told you this information for the simple reason that secrets kept to close to the chest are often lost in times of war. If the Hokage is killed tomorrow, ANBU's wiped out from trying to protect the Hokage, and if the rest of the shinobi class doesn't know about infiltration and are too busy fighting in the war, then what happens to our spies? If everyone responsible for their safety is dead, who will be left as contacts for the spies at the schools? The answer is no one. So, in an effort to circumvent this eventuality, we tell every new TBS trainee, which means that every sensei in Konoha knows that, somewhere out in the world, there is a school with its batch of spies left hanging."
The burned man shook his head and said, "I still think that's foolhardy. You just spilled half of Konoha's spy network to a room full of people not even guaranteed to become teachers after these six-months are over. Any one of us can be a spy for another village, trying to learn Konoha's training techniques."
"Another good point, however, I have done no such thing. Try finding one school in a city. It doesn't even have to even deal with fighting. It could be anything, from flower arranging to dog grooming. We talk schools because it tends to be a business that offers some type of training, even if that's just training new employees to take a position. That's all part of infiltration. It just means that if a shinobi comes out of TBS, then they are more likely to be a spy handler than an actual spy. That's all. Plus, that's just one measly portion of the way Konoha gathers intelligence. If you want to really join the dark-side, consider joining Root. They are the major spies for Konoha.
"Anyway, is that clearer? Do you feel better about our village's security?" Hiyama asked. The burned man shrugged and leaned back into his chair.
"Okay, last category is called basic training. Basic training deals with troop movements, in other words, soldiers. Basic training often goes hand in hand with infiltration, but not always. So, when Konaha receives word from the Daimyou that we're going to war, this is were the basic trainers earn their money. They turn broken down farmers, laborers, and craftsmen into rank and file soldiers. They are also used for missions when a village complains about attacks from another village or from over the border. The basic trainer will go there and teach tactics and, if kept on retainer, will win that village's little war for them. Are there any questions about any of the four programs? We will be going over them more in depth, over the next six months."
Hiyama waited a few seconds, allowing the students to gather their thoughts. When no one had asked a question after ten seconds had passed, Hiyama continued with his lecture. He said, "Now, the last thing I need to explain to you is that, at your three-month-review, you will be taken aside by one of the instructors. Together, you will go over your progress through the first three months of the program and then, you will give your request for what type of sensei you would like to train for. The instructor might disagree with you and will say that you do not have the personality for working at the Academy but you would be great for basic training, or something like that. You are to take their opinions with great deal of weight, because they have helped me train many senseis in the last five years.
"Anyway, just because you say you want to work in infiltration at your three-month-interview, it does not guarantee you that position in the future. Your preference is only that, a preference. So, in the end, my assistants and I will be determining the best place to put you.
"And finally, because you have finished the TBS program that means you owe Konoha at least six years of service as a sensei. After those six years are up, you can rejoin regular rotation for missions or you can keep on teaching, whatever you may like. Now, if there are no questions, you may leave."
Iruka stood up, swinging his backpack over his right shoulder. He waited for the aisle to clear so that he could slip into the line, streaming out the door.
Checking his watch, he saw that it was only 1000. They had only been in class for an hour. He had a lot to do today before move-in tomorrow. He had his apartment to pack, clean, and he had his landlord to see about releasing him from his lease. Yes, he had a lot to do today.
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Chapter notes: Author's Note: First off, I want to take time to thank the people who bothered to review my story. It is nice to read what everyone has to say. Anyway, some of those reviews had mentioned that there are not many action scenes in my story. What I have to say about that is simple this: Everyone has read the stories about how much training a person does to get stronger or the stories with the blow-by-blow fight scenes. This story isn't necessarily about those aspects of shinobi life. It deals with the unmentioned aspects that are mostly glossed over because people consider them boring or too hard to write about. So, yes, that means cussing, sex, rape, and just general brutality, when required.
Anyway, please let me know what you think of chapter three. Thanks.
Chapter end notes: Author's Note: For avid followers of the Naruto anime, you probably noticed that Mizuki did not act like Iruka's long-term friend. I did this deliberately. Although I wish that Iruka would receive more screen time in the anime or manga, I do not like those fill-in episodes with Mizuki. To me, they came off as ridiculous and unbelievable. So, in my story, Mizuki and Iruka are largely unfamiliar with each other until they are forced to work together in the same classroom.
Please let me know what you think. Your reviews are useful to me and often point out issues that I have not thought of. Thanks for reading and I hoped you like it.