I do not own Naruto as a game, Manga, Anime series or a character. All original characters are mine though :P

Hi no Ishi (The will of Fire) - Ninja-tag Arc

A new class is introduced to Umino Iruka as things get tossed on their head quickly. How is it that so many exceptions are being made? And since when were so many Clan Heirs gathered in one class? How can a little support affect out favourite blond dobe?

Umino Iruka sat at his desk, preparing for his new class. As always, that meant going over everything he had done with his previous class: what went right, what could be improved. One thing he couldn't resist though, was thinking about all the fun he had with his class. Sure, they were no longer in his care, but each and every student he ever taught would always be his.
Slowly, his eyes scanned the room. The room itself was not that large. It sat a maximum of two teachers and fifteen student - three rows of five chairs, with each row separated by a twelve inch incline with stairs on either side of the room - but there was enough room to showcase the jutsu he would teach his students. Purely out of habit, he pictured each of his previous students, where they sat, who they would socialize with. He knew his students. Not just the standard business card information, but the students themselves.
He still remembered how hard he fought not to laugh when Inuzuka Sashimi fell in the water from the balance exercise with her puppy. It reminded him of his own time as a student and the pranks he pulled. Embarrassingly enough, both pup and master were afraid of water, so they were both panicking and dog paddling to the side. What made it funny, was that the puppy was teaching her at the time. He stayed close enough, so he knew she wasn't in any actual danger.
Then there was the target practice with Yumi shooting apples off of Kurama Miho's head as a dare. He off course punished them, and Kohaku Baru who dared them, but it was very impressive to see. Yumi was allowed to graduate a full year early because of it.
As for Minoji and Shibire? Those two lived like cats, curious about everything! They probably wouldn't live to see age 15 if that kept up! And as their sensei, he made it a point to continuously point that out, but would they listen?

Iruka took a few deep breaths, knowing that he had to calm down. Those two always got under his skin.

Still, with everything he'd been through with them, he was proud. Not just as a teacher, but as a Konoha Chuunin. Some of them would be something special in time, he felt it in his bones. Like Kohaku Natsumi, she was the brightest in the class. She always had top grades, was well liked and worked well with her second cousin Baru - and was likely the only one the oaf (said with all the love the man could muster) would actually listen to. Iruka had dealt with pranksters in his time, even used their shenanigans to help the class at times, but Baru just seemed mean spirited, always speaking in an almost barking voice. Needless to say, Sashimi had a field day with teasing the boy, always trying to 'mate him' with her female pup, Sou. He was one of the few he was glad to get rid of. But, even so, he had managed to help Baru somewhat.
"Sensei, you and Natsumi-nee-chan are only ones that care for Baru. Everyone else think Baru stupid. Baru not like that. That why Baru fight so much." He remembered the boy saying (barking?) once. Of course, Iruka gave him the 'try to earn respect, not instil fear' speech everyone must have heard at least once in their lives.
However, in hind sight he was a bit disappointed with his class. Even though they all passed the final exams - including Baru, though just barely - two of the four teams were sent back to the academy by their jounin sensei. Iruka of course got a full report as to who was sent back and why, which he liked reviewing before receiving a new class.
'Natsumi-chan's team was sent back? Just goes to show you that you can never tell what will happen once they leave the academy.' Iruka red further. It seemed that Hatake Kakashi thought that they lacked any kind of team work. All his reports came back that way. He was usually right, so that meant that Iruka had to pay closer attention to the teamwork from his students.
'Okay, so that takes care of what needs improving: teamwork, taijutsu and battle tactics. Now how do I want to do that? I guess I'll need to take a slightly more practical approach this time around.' He thought fervently, trying to figure out new ways to improve those subjects. He wrote down a few key points he wanted to look at, along with a few ideas he would run by theHokage for approval later on.

"Good morning, sensei!" The first students were already showing up. He had all their files, of course, but he preferred to meet them before reading about them. That way he could compare his first impression with the opinions of their former teachers.
"Good morning, you two are certainly earlier than I expected." Iruka greeted them, smiling. The two girls seemed on friendly terms and obviously had known each other long before being assigned to his class. The blonde was clearly a Yamanaka, though he wasn't sure about the pink haired one. Both wore their hair in a loose ponytail that reached the small of their back. 'Girls and long hair seem to go hand in hand.'
Not long after another pair showed up: one a brown haired, chubby boy with the kanji for food on his shirt, the other one raven haired and carefree, dragging his feet. An Akamichi and a Nara, no doubt about it.
Right behind them came a slightly taller boy. Black hair, red fang-like tattoos on his cheeks, canine eyes, and a young puppy on his head. Inuzuka, no real challenge there.

Slowly, the classroom was filled. Iruka knew that he was getting twelve students in total, which was usually the case. Four teams of three. The problem was, there were only eleven students present.
"Heh heh! Finally made it! Geez, that took longer than expected." The last student finally showed up. Exactly 3 minutes and 22 seconds late.
"You look quite pleased with yourself. I take it you managed to find us at your leisure?" Iruka asked, masking all emotion completely.
'Where the heck is 'Yurleighshire'?' Naruto asked himself. 'Must be some secret location I had to go to first before coming here. Aw man, no one told me about that! This SUCKS! Okay... play it cool, Naruto. You are supposed to be a ninja, so think like one...'
"Hai, sensei! I'm sorry about being late, but this map was worthless. So I ended up taking the long way around to get here." The blond explained calmly.
That seemed to calm down the academy teacher enough to earn him a seat in the class. "Very well, just sit down and let's begin. Quickly." But Iruka thought the boy would be the perfect 'volunteer' for the first jutsu explanation.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Umino Iruka. I would like you all to call me Iruka-sensei, is that understood?" He looked at each student closely, gauging their personalities and attentiveness.
"Hai!" Came the uniform reply.

"All right, since I see no familiar faces here, I want you all to take turns introducing yourself to your classmates and to me. You will stand up, state your name and why you want to be a shinobi. And if you want you may announce anything special you have to say after that, but that is not required of you. Let's start with you." Iruka pointed to the blond girl in the front row, who was of the first to show up, farthest to his left. She stood up slowly, as if she wanted people to watch her carefully.

"I am Yamanaka Ino, 11 years old. I want to be a kunoichi because they are soo cool." Alert, direct and typically in love with an idea. The Yamanaka clan specializes in genjutsu, infiltration and interrogation... next.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, 11 years old. I am here to learn to become the strongest and the best kunoichi I can be." She is trying to stand out, while still showing humility. Can't say I'm familiar with her clan though, she's a bit of a wild card... next.
"Aburame Shino. I will be training anyways, might as well get paid for it." Honest, to the point and efficient. The Aburame clan specializes in their own breed of jutsu, I'll have to be careful how I deal with this one... next.
"I am Akamichi Choji, 11 years old. I heard that shinobi get the best snacks in the village, so I HAVE to get me some of that!" Focused on little other than food, but that comes with his clan'sjutsu. Taijutsu specialists... next.
"Name's Inuzuka Kiba, 11 years old. I'm here to show that the Inuzuka clan shinobi are still the best there is, and the money and the food aren't bad for motivation either." Cocky, calculating and attentive to his fellow students, interesting. The Inuzuka clan specializes in taijutsu and tracking... next.
"Nara Shikamaru, 11 years old. And being a shinobi gets me out of the house and away from nagging women." Partly alert, indirect and spoke in an almost whining voice. The Nara have their own breed of jutsu, kageton-users I believe. It will be interesting how I deal with that, maybe I'll add a few simple shadow element jutsu just for him? Not likely, next.
"I-i am H-hyuuga Hinata, 11 years old. I want to become a shinobi to m-make my f-family proud of me." Shy, gentle with words and voice, but her eyes hold a determination that is hard to pinpoint, but impossible to ignore. Tracking and taijutsu specialized clan again. Is this the Hokage's way of saying that I'm getting lucky? Not like him to be so determined to make it easy an academy teacher, oh well... next.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, remember that name cause I'm gonna be the next Hokage, dattebayo! I also like ramen from the IchiRaku ramen shop." Bold, rash and cocky... he's gonna be trouble."What are you laughing about, teme?" Naruto shouted loudly and pointed at the offender.
"Uchiha Sasuke, and I am not required to answer that question." Pensive, cocky and to the point, yet very aloof. As well, he is the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan now. At least the only one still welcomed here. Fire users, I believe. As well, there is that bloodline trait of theirs. Will have to keep a close eye on this one... next.
"Yukikami Hikaru. I am here to improve what I can expect from myself and my fellow shinobi." The boy had pale skin, almost sickly pale, with matching silvery white hair. He had no iris whatsoever, only a small dot for the pupil was actually visible. His pants were white with black splotches in a camouflage design and matching shinobisandals, with a pure white tank top and a white jacket with a furry hood. Being about average height helped him blend in somewhat, but nothing he wore or did hid the fact that he was lanky and ungracefully bland looking. No one would ever confuse the boy for a heart throb. And the diagonal scar - which stretch from just over his left eye, down over his nose and connected to the right side of his slightly swollen mouth - wasn't helping. Puberty was obviously not being very nice to him either. Yukikami clan? Interesting. Raiton users, I think. As well, they were famous for their battle prowess... next.
"Hey everyone, I'm Senju Tatsuko, 11 years old and a top kunoichi in training. I'm here to keep an eye on my friend, Kitsunaga Yuuna." This girl almost sang as she spoke. Her blonde, almost white, hair was brushed tight over the top of her head and braided into three pig tails and tucked into her oversized deep blue jacket, with black overtones. It kind of made you wonder what she had to hide. Anyway, she wore a deep blue cargo pants with three bulgy pockets on each leg. She was about the same height as Hikaru. However, unlike Hikaru, this girl was a knock out! She had the a perfect oval face. A long slender nose and perfectly pouty, pink lips. Just under her mouth was a single vertical slit-like sky blue tattoo, ending just above her Adam's apple. She had warm and welcoming pink eyes; eyes that told you to trust her before she even opened her mouth. Bubbly, amiable and protective, very good. Senju clan? And her friend the Kitsunaga girl. A matched pair. Strange, I didn't really notice them entering.
"My name is Yuuna, I just want to do my best to help save lives." This girl was small. Not just skinny, but short, even for her age. At one metre twenty, she was easily a full head shorter than even Naruto, who was the second shortest in the class. Her wild red hair, large baby blue eyes, and small childlike face made you think she was years younger than she was. She wore her dark green jacket open to show off the top she picked out, which was really not covering much. The 'shirt' was sleeveless, strapless and only four inches wide, neon orange and skin tight, leaving nothing to the imagination (even though she was still flat chested). She also wore dark green shorts, with a vertical stripe along its left seam, also neon orange. Shy, aloof, but wants to protect those she cares for.

'This is going to be an interesting class.' Iruka thought to himself, making a few notes to read through later.

"Well that's everyone. I guess it is time to start our first lesson then: advanced chakra control. Naruto-kun, please come to the front of the class, if you would be so kind."
"Uh, okay." Naruto got up and walked to the front of the classroom and turned to face the class.
"Now, the goal of your senior academy time is mastering the following: 7 jutsus, 4 weapons and at least D-class taijutsu. This is in addition to the skills you should have mastered up until this point; and that only covers what I will teach you. Your other classes will have their own expectations, but it is my class that has the power to make or break you. You will also be expected to take three electives every six months, which I will discuss later in greater detail."
"Anyway, Naruto-kun will assist me in demonstrating the jutsu that you should master by the end of the month: the smoke screne. This is a 'training aid jutsu', which means it is pointless in itself, but when mastered it can be used for other jutsu like the kawarimi no-jutsu, or even a simple form of the shunshin no-jutsu, which is what we will be using it for. Now there are dozens of ways to get the same effect, some with hand seals, some without. The simplest one uses the hand seals tora-i. 'Tiger' and 'Boar'. Then you focus chakra in the tips of your fingers and as soon as you see the smoke, you move out of sight while the smoke distracts your opponent." Iruka waited until everyone took their notes, then turned to Naruto.

"Now Naruto-kun, is this jutsu a nin-, gen- or taijutsu?" Iruka smiled patiently, waiting on the answer.
"How the heck am I supposed to know that?" Naruto complained.
"Because you are supposed to know the definitions of the three types of jutsu. And based on that knowledge, you should be able to figure out where this one fits in."
"Oh, well that makes sense." Naruto thought out loud.
"I'm glad you agree. Now what defines what this jutsu is?" Iruka asked again. "Think out loud if it helps."
"Umm..." Naruto started panicking. Sweat was gathering on his brow, as he thought furiously what the answer could be.

'This could take a while.' Shikamaru groped quietly. 'At least it isn't me up there.'

"Would anyone like to give Naruto-kun a hand?" Iruka asked after almost a minute of silence - doing his best to ignore the rivers of sweat pouring down a certain student's face. No hands went up. "How about you?" Iruka indicated Tatsuko.
"Hai, sensei. The smoke screen jutsu is an E-Class ninjutsu." Tatsuko spoke calmly and evenly. Iruka figured that she knew the answer already, simply because she didn't have to think at all.
"Very good. Now can you explain why?" He wanted to hear the logic leading there, not the answer itself.
"Taijutsu consists of physical attacks, which typically only use physical energy. This jutsu uses chakra, so that is out. Genjutsu is an illusion, so it affects the mind via the senses in some way. This jutsu is not focussed on the mind in any way, so that is out. That leaves ninjutsu, which is essentially everything else." Tatsuko explained.

Iruka just smiled, then looked around the class to see how many people were committing her words to memory, or taking notes. "Very good. Naruto-kun, if you would be so kind."
"Do the jutsu?" Naruto asked rhetorically. A nod was the only reply he got. Not that he needed it; he was already focusing his chakra. "Tora, I - smoke screen!" Bright blue ribbons circled around him, lending an eerie glow. The whole class stared in slack jawed amazement, including Iruka himself.
'He's focusing too hard. If he keeps this up he'll-' Before Iruka could even finish that thought, the chakra ribbons around Naruto exploded, filling the whole room with a thick blueish-grey smoke at an alarming rate.

"Well, since the classroom is still airing out." Iruka began, giving Naruto a slight glare. He had relocated his entire class to the indoor gym. It wasn't anything special, to be honest. It was three times larger than the classroom, with some target practice dummies lined up against the far wall and the ceiling was nearly four metres high. The wooden floor looked beat up, but was obviously still well taken care of - meaning that the wood was not splintering and was obviously cleaned and oiled as needed. "We will just have to start with your first weapon practice: the kunai. What you will do is pick a training partner, and we will go through the basics of armed combat. You can pick anyone you want, for now." Iruka immediately regretted that last sentence.

All at once, everyone started fighting who was going to team up with who. But the academy teacher quickly noticed that they were mostly fighting who was NOT going to be paired with who.
Once Sasuke partnered up with Shino, it was hard to not notice that Ino and Sakura got into an argument as to who was going to team up with Naruto. Both girls seemed to hate the idea, and kept trying to pin it on the other, until Sakura took Hinata and Ino grabbed Kiba.
"Okay, so they obviously don't like Naruto-kun. I wonder if it is only those two." Yuuna and Hikaru were teamed up and already stretching. Shikamaru and Chouji were off to one side. One with a bag of chips, the other with a bored look on his face. That left only Tatsuko and Naruto.

"Looks like it's just us left." Tatsuko turned to the other blond, who had a sour, rejected look on his face.
"Yeah, I guess you don't wanna practice with me either." The boy complained softly. Iruka was about to team them up, but the look on the girl's face said that she was not entirely against it. Curiously, he waited to see how it played out.
"What's the matter, you scared to practice with a girl?" Tatsuko teased, just loud enough that only Naruto could hear her. Iruka had to read her lips, seeing that he was on the other side of the room.
"Nothin' scares me, dattebayo!" Naruto retorted defiantly.
"Then get over yourself and let's dance." She teased, running for the kunai that were nicely lined up on the table.

'After all the problems of picking a partner, the last ones paired up are the first one practising.' Iruka laughed, thinking to himself. "Well, now that everyone is ready, let's begin with some simple attack and defend sequences."

Iruka took his time to explain the first sequence a few times. Though it was only twelve attacks and corresponding defenses, he had painstakingly taken all the time needed to make sure everyone knew what to do. This was supposed to be the first time any of the students had practiced with kunai, so he would not take any chances.
'Sasuke, Shino, Kiba, Hikaru, Yuuna, Tatsuko. Half of the class was actually ahead of schedule, having obviously practiced with kunai before.' Iruka thought, keeping a keen eye on all of them. 'Sasuke's the only one showing off though. He's probably just trying to get the attention he is missing at home. His family was slaughtered not more than six months ago. I'll have to keep a good eye on him.'

'I'm going to have to switch up the partners, otherwise there is going to be a gap between skill levels. It will end up happening anyways, but they each need a fair chance to develop here.' He thought for a while, trying to weigh out the possibilities. 'Sasuke is the trouble zone, so he can't be paired with a girl... as for the rest, it makes no real difference. Well, after kunai throwing, we'll go back to the classroom, and I will hand out the homework assignments.' He calmly watched as his new students went through the forms again and again for just over an hour, before he decided to switch things up. All the while he was trying to see who was being more active and when, trying to see what they were trying to say with their actions.

"All right everyone. That is enough combat exercise for today. Now, we need to practice throwing kunai. After that we will do some cool down laps and go back to our classroom. There are twelve targets, each student needs to pick a single target and try to hit the black dot in the center of the circle on the dummy. That means no throwing kunai at each other. Is that understood?"

It took a few minutes for everything too cool down after the switch, but it became much clearer who needed to practice more: Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Yuuna. Only a third of the class were any good at the moment. Sasuke seemed to be the best, but not by much.

However, something struck Iruka as odd. The four students that had clearly already practiced... 'They aren't missing. Even if they don't hit the bullseye, they aren't missing the dummy.' That had never happened before in Iruka's class. 'Tatsuko is only hitting the bullseye, she has the best accuracy. Shino's kunai are digging deepest into the dummy, he is throwing the fastest. Hikaru is reloading the fastest, so he is throwing at least twice as many as anyone else. Sasuke is throwing two at once, obviously showing off, but still doing very well.' It wasn't hard to tell that they had started training long before coming into his class.
But what struck Iruka, was the team effort his students were showing. Hikaru was constantly stopping, to give tips to Yuuna. Shino would throw a few words of encouragement to Hinata from time to time, too. Tatsuko was actually doing much the same for Naruto, though he would gripe and say he knew already. Only Sasuke ignored everything and kept pushing himself harder.
'Wait a minute, now Tatsuko is helping another student. Kiba... She seems a bit shy now for some reason. I wonder if that means anything.' Shortly after, Hikaru went and helped Shikamaru and Chouji. His words were simple, but they were well received. Something about pretending the dummy was something they wanted to hit.
"You know, if you two keep this up. You're going to be competing for last place." Tatsuko teased Ino and Sakura. Within seconds Iruka could see the difference. The pair focussed better before each throw, greatly improving their aim. True, the weren't hitting the bullseye, but they hit the dummy with relative ease now.

Iruka gazed in awe as his students improved bit by bit. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he was quite pleased with them. Almost forty-five minutes had passed, and he had yet to open his mouth once. They simply knew what to tell each other to keep their spirits up, and to keep the growth going. For the first time in years, Umino Iruka was pleased on the first day with his students.

Back in the classroom, the students were finally settling back in their seats. Everyone seemed a bit tired, and no one had eaten lunch yet. Iruka knew that he was pushing them harder than they normally would have trained. Not that he minded that, it was just weird. Truth be told, he expected a lot more complaints.

"All right everyone, it's almost time for our lunch break. But before that I want to give you all something." Iruka waited for everyone to quiet down, before he continued. "It has long been a tradition in my class, that I would give every student a leg-pouch with four kunai and a few other tools to practice with at home. Now, I have lined them up here on my desk, but before you receive them there is a vow you must take."
A clamour spread through the class like wildfire. No one had ever heard about anything like this, and no one knew what to think about it.
"All right, settle down. The reason why this has to happen now, is that after the lunch break we will start with some exercises with bomb tags. As for the vow, it is simple enough: just that you will not use what you learn to harm the innocent or fellow Konoha shinobi. Though it is far more important to understand that even though we are training you to destroy, it is only supposed to be used to protect. Whether that is protecting your classmates, your friends, your family, or even someone you don't know that needs your help."
"All right. Now, who wants to go first?" One by one, the students came forward. They each vowed to be the best shinobi they can be, and that they would protect the village, even at the cost of their own life.

"Now that we have the happy sappy stuff outta the way, can we start blowing stuff up already?" Hikaru half joked, causing the entire class to laugh. Iruka, of course, expected at least one student to say just that.

"Gomen, Iruka-sensei. I'll try to be more serious." However, he never expected that same student to chastise himself. Iruka took a moment to compose his thoughts.

"Everyone, we will have a half hour break for lunch. Please eat your lunch in this room, because I need to ask a few of you some questions before we start back at 13:17."

~Hikaru's POV~

'Not even a day in this class. No more than four hours. And you already open your big mouth! Now she's gonna be pissed. Aw man, Hikaru, what have you gotten yourself into?' The Yukikami sulked, half eating his lunch. He had immediately apologized to Umino-sensei, but he knew that would not get him off the hook. 'She specifically told me not to draw attention to myself. Aw man.'

"Sasuke-kun, I would like to begin with you." Umino-sensei called Uchiha to the front of the class.

'Aw man, I'll bet Umino-sensei wants to talk to me, too. Why'd I open my big mouth?' The white haired boy sat uneasily in his chair. He chanced a gaze at the one person who could make him feel like a child, only to find her face down on her desk. To everyone else she probably looked like she was taking a nap, but he knew better. This was when she was most alert!
"Hey, Hi-chan." Hikaru's panic was interrupted, and momentarily forgotten. He was obviously so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice anyone sneaking up on him.
"She's upset with me isn't she?" Hikaru kept his voice low, but knew she would hear him anyways.
"Dunno." Came the reply, along with a slight yawn and the halfhearted rubbing of an eye. "But she said to relax and just not let it happen again." Though it did not relieve his heart entirely, he was more at ease. He took a few deep breaths and simply tried to enjoy his food.
"You know, you make the best bento." He said honestly.
"You're only saying that because you want me to make another one tomorrow." He laughed, knowing that that was also true.
'You always have such simple words for me, but I can't seem to shake how deep they affect me. Thank you.' He tried to say the words, but they got lost somehow. They always did. There was just something about being this near to her that turned his insides into a pretzel.
As usual, his predicament earned him a smile, and a mere wave of the hand dismissing it altogether. "Just wake me up when class starts again."

~End POV~

Iruka was leading his class to an reinforced bunker under the school. It was designed to withstand the worst of what the students could come up with, so he was not worried about the safety of the building... No, it was the safety of his students that he was sweating bullets for. Every year an average of three hundred academy students are injured here. Almost half of that is hospitalized for more than a week. Luckily the academy has a low percentage of fatalities, but that is mostly due to the quick response of the Medical-nin.

Each class given here is required to have at least three chuunin present, of which one must be at least a C-Class Medical-nin. And even then, there must be a team at full alert for any and every emergency.

"They're gonna be fine, Iruka. Nothing bad is going to happen, and even if something does, they are still gonna be fine." He chanted over and over in his head.

End Chapter 1

A/N: The section that shows Hikaru's point of view shows only last names. In Japanese culture it is proper to refer to someone by their family name, but in a tightly knit place likeKonoha it sticks out. It comes over as remote, unfamiliar and a bit cold.

Many thanks to my beta: Kiravu. Wouldn't know what to do without you :D