Chapter Text
"Hot-Headed Idiot"
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Hahahaha!!! = Kurama is speaking
Oh, damn boy = Someone is thinking
"I'm saying something" = Someone is speaking
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Daikoku eagerly watched his students do their warm-ups, before the Taijutsu class. His eyes automatically went to the red-haired boy; his new student. The event in the classroom had just cemented in his mind as he could be the genius Daikoku was looking for. His career as a ninja was over already. Trapped in teaching children, Daikoku knew that fame in his name would come exclusively from what his students could accomplish outside the academy.
That's why Uzumaki-kun was so important to him.
He watched Uzumaki do the exercises, calculatingly. The boy seemed to have no problems in the warm-ups, quite flexible. For someone who had never had formal education, Ashura seemed to be very good. This is what growing up with the tension of being dead at any moment can do with a person... Daikoku could not stop thinking.
The chunnin still remembered the report the Hokage had given him. Uzumaki Ashura. Uzushio. Ten years old. Exhibits antisocial behavior, possibly PTSD. Victim of torture by an unknown assailant. Doubtful loyalty. Known skills are: Sensor, high chakra capacity, medium-high knowledge of Fuinjutsu, reasonable chakra control.
And then, there was the disturbing part, in a remark written quickly at the end, in part for things added after the first evaluation.
Aggressive behavior caused by a corrosive chakra when he feels extreme anger. Main triggers for this anger are still unknown.
Daikoku would give his report about the boy after school ended. One of the triggers was most likely the other Uzumaki kid, Naruto. The Kyuubi boy. Ashura seemed to be extremely protective of Naruto. Probably because he's his only family, Daikoku guessed.
He pushed the thoughts out of his head, focusing on the lesson he needed to give. He clapped his hands to draw the children's attention.
"Very well, very well, folks." He called, and the students stopped what they were doing, and arranged, to look at him. Ashura shifted from one foot to the other, but otherwise his face was completely blank. Something happened, Daikoku noticed, but ignored, for now. "Because today is the first day of school after the holidays, we're going to do spars." That seemed to make the kids excited because they started talking to each other. "I'm going to call two names, so you're going to come here in the middle, and fight. Just taijutsu. Understood?"
"Hai, sensei!" The students said in chorus.
"Good. First, Tamai Ryu versus Akuro Shin. "He called, watching the names on his clipboard.
And so began the fights. Most of them were bad, these students simply had no talent. The students cheered for their friends, cheerfully, and Daikoku took notes of the mistakes they made to put in their reports. He was not very interested in those fights, only the one he had held to be the last.
"Next fight! Akimichi Choguro versus Uzumaki Ashura! "Daikoku announced. Choguro was his current strongest student. The boy was a monster as to his strength, and he had learned very well to retain energy, using shorter, faster movements. He would never be the fastest, but could cause huge damage with his strength.
Ashura's eyes rushed to the boy, who was exclaiming cheerfully about his victory. He ran a hand through his red hair, shivering slightly, a behavior that seemed a little anxious, before approaching the center, where Choguro waited, patiently.
"Do not feel too bad when I clean the floor with you, new kid!" Choguro exclaimed confidently.
Ashura's mouth twitched a little before he settled into a gentle smile. The behavior change was extremely abrupt. Even Ashura's breathing seemed more relaxed, Daikoku watched interested.
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"I will not," Ashura promised, leaning slightly. Choguro seemed to be overconfident, very different from Chouji, his friend. Sorry, Choguro, but I'm going to have to knock you off your horse.
Ashura was not stupid. He noticed that Choguro only acted like this because he was Daikoku's favorite. (He noticed how Daikoku tended to treat Choguro better than the rest of the students.) He probably believed he was extremely strong, and the redhead could already notice how bad it was doing.
Choguro's position was too relaxed, his clothes had obviously been made to be cool, not good for a fight. The redhead knew that if he did not humble Choguro a little now, the boy probably would not survive after becoming a gennin.
He shoved the feeling of regret into the back of his mind, putting his hand on the confronting seal, as was demanded in the traditional shinobi disputes. Choguro did the same, smiling confidently.
"Start!"
Ashura stood, waiting, then Choguro decided to attack first, with a punch, aiming at Ashura's head. The younger boy smiled at that, leaning sideways, swiftly deflecting the punch. He took a step forward, and thrust his leg against Choguro's ankles, effectively knocking him down.
"If you do not pay attention, you'll lose your balance very easily," Ashura told him. "You're big, and heavy. Your balance is bad. Keep attention. "
Choguro looked angry as he stood up, banging his clothes to take the dust off the floor. "You'll pay for it." Her face was red with embarrassment. Clearly, he was not used to being overthrown.
Ashura smiled at those words. "Oh? You talk a lot, to someone who can not pin a blow on me." He knew he was being completely annoying to Choguro. But it was better that way.
Neither of them needs to get too close to me.
Ah, there you go with your edgy drama again.
Ahhh, shut upppp!!!
Choguro seemed really angry about the whole situation. He threw himself at Ashura with punches that obviously contained all the strength of the boy, aiming mainly at Ashura's head. One of these probably would not be very nice to take... If Choguro could hit him. Uzumaki put his hands in his pocket, turning away from all the punches, as if it were nothing.
And it was not for him at least.
"Slow," Ashura commented. "Have you thought about training this?"
"Shut up!" Choguro shouted, angry. "Shut up and stand still so I can hit you!"
Ashura laughed softly at that. This is kind of unfair. Fighting children like that, I mean. But he could not feel bad about it. After all, for the first time in his life, Ashura was the one the other students were casting admiring looks on.
Get it over with, kit.Kurama yawned.
As you wish.
Ashura stopped abruptly from moving, receiving one of Choguro's punches on his shoulder. It did not hurt much. The redhead smiled at that, taking advantage of the shock of the largest boy, who seemed surprised to have hit him and grabbed his arm. Turning his body, with his feet flat on the ground, Ashura pulled him with all his might under his body and threw him to the other side. The Akimichi hit the ground hard.
"The victory is from Uzumaki Ashura!" Daikoku announced. Choguro stood up, looking completely humiliated, and Ashua gave him a kind smile.
"Sorry about that," Ashura said, reaching for the reconciliation seal.
"No..." Choguro sighed, letting his shoulders fall before accepting reconciliation. "I was counting ahead before I started the fight and let it go. You were much better than me."
Ashura blinked at this admission, and scratched behind his head, a half-trembling laugh running past his lips.
"Erm, thank you."
He could hear some people talking in the background.
"Did you see that? Ashura-kun is so strong!"
"And nice, did you see?"
"And he's very handsome, too! That red hair..."
Oh... Shit.
You've created monsters kit.
for the teacher to finish the lecture and release the students at the end of class. He tried to ignore the conversations around him, thrusting his hands into his pockets.
Was that how Sasuke felt? He shivered, feeling the eyes of all the girls in the room on his back. This is horrible.
They want to copulate with you now.
WHAT? KURAMA! Ugh! No! They are ten years old! They do not want to... Copulate! His face was almost as red as his hair.
Or eat you, maybe. One of the two.
Ugh, your are the worst!
He ignored the fox's laughter in his mind, paying enough attention in class to notice that Daikoku was freeing the students to leave.
"Ah, Ashura-kun." Daikoku called to him. He stopped, and looked at the chunnin, seeming tense. "Come with me. We need to talk to the Hokage. "
Ashura took a deep breath, and relaxed his shoulders.
"OK."
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"That's how it happened." Daikoku finished explaining the events in the room. Ashura tried not to look surprised when the chunnin decided to hide the part about the KI that he had sent. "And that made me think, Hokage-sama. We ignore Uzushio in the curriculum of the academy. I do not think we should do it anymore, it's important for students to know about the lives that have been lost, to take their ninja career more seriously. "
"Did we ignore it?" Ashura blinked at the Hokage's question. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked shocked. Daikoku looked at him in confusion.
"Yes, it's been six years since we took Uzushio out of the curriculum, sir." Daikoku replied.
The Third's eyes were cold as steel.
"Ah... I understand. It seems... Someone has been doing things without my permission again. "The voice of the Hokage was a cheerful tone, like a concerned grandfather, which seemed even more frightening in this situation.
That's when Ashura noticed. If it was not Grandpa Hokage who took it from the curriculum…
Danzou.
Ashura's eyes darkened, and he took a deep breath to contain the anger he was feeling from the counselor. How dare he...
"Ah, Ashura-kun." The Hokage turned to him. "How did you realize that Naruto-kun was from the main family of Uzushio?" The Hokage's tone was still skittish, but Ashura knew he was at stake here. He could feel the Anbus chakra hidden in the room.
"Uh." Ashura blinked, making an expression of pure innocence.
We are Kitsune. We are the deceit. Kurama said.
"Well, Kushina-sama was the Hime-sama of Uzushio," he said slowly. "And all the Uzumakis knew that she came to Konoha to fulfill the role of the main family as jinchuuriki." Ashura decided not to hide her knowledge. "Naruto-kun is a Uzumaki, I can feel it in his chakra, and he could only be her son, after all, she was the only Uzumaki around here." He shrugged. "It was not difficult to put two and two together, dattebasa!"
The answer seemed to satisfy the Third. He nodded.
"I understand. And it seems like you're aware of Naruto-kun's condition. "Ashura nodded.
"B-but I will not tell anyone, dattebasa!" He said hurriedly, feigning anxiety. "I-I mean, it seems to be a stealthy... matter." Ashura winced a little, putting all the fear he could into his face. "You're not going to kill me for knowing, right?"
"Oh, of course not, my boy." Bingo. The Hokage seemed to have fallen into his acting. "Just remember not to tell anyone, it's forbidden to talk about it in Konoha."
Ashura nodded anxiously.
"And... Hokage-sama, with all due respect," the redhead began, biting his lips. "Naruto-kun is living in a really bad situation, dattebasa. I wish I could live with him. He... needs help, Hokage-sama. "
"That's out of the question," the Hokage said, a bit colder. "You're still a child, Ashura-kun, I can not let you take care of another child."
"But… And when do I become a gennin?" He asked. "I'm going to be legally adult, and I'll be able to earn money to keep us both, please, Hokage-sama!"
Hiruzen watched the red-headed boy, calculating. He looked for signs that the boy was lying, that he was trying to use Naruto, but found none. Ashura looked honest, worried about his family. The Third could understand that.
"When you become gennin." Hiruzen accepted. "When you become gennin, I will allow you to be responsible for Naruto.
Ashura smiled at that, visibly relaxing.
"But," Hiruzen said. "You must hide your Naruto surname at all costs. If you tell him, I'll take that you're trying to rush things, and that's an act of betrayal. "
Ashura straightened his back, seriously, and nodded.
"Right, Hokage-sama."
"Dismissed."
The Uzumaki left the room, with a mixture of pain and happiness in his chest.
He's going to let me take care of Naruto-kun, Ku!
The purring of approval was the only answer Ashura received, but he did not need more than that.
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"Wh-What happened?" Ashura asked. He had rushed out of the Hokage tower to find Naruto at the Academy at the end of class, and when he had arrived, Naruto did not look good.
Naruto had a bruised jaw, dirty clothes, and a swollen eye. It looked bad.
"I got into a fight, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed furiously. "Keichi-teme said that I was stupid because I could not read! Then, then! So I said he was stupid, because he looked stupid, and he hit me. And I hit him too! "He seemed honestly angry with the situation.
"Ah." Ashura blinked, he remembered Keichi from his academy time. The boy did not have the strength to become a ninja, he had given up before the end of the first semester. "Fighting is not good, Naruto-kun. But if anybody fights with you, fight back. You should not let people push you around. I'm proud that you defended yourself. "The redhead messed Naruto's blond hair, which smiled proudly and happily.
"Oh, I asked Iruka-sensei about what tomorrow's class would be, and he said we'd be studying shuriken throwing!" Naruto said excitedly.
Ashura's smile fell as Naurto spoke of Iruka.
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"Hey, Iruka-sensei, right? Are you the Uzumaki Naruto teacher? "Ashura asked the adult, even knowing the answer. Umino Iruka looked at him seriously.
"Ah yes. Why?"
"I just wanted to let you know, Naruto-kun has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He needs help to keep up with the other students ... "He began to explain, but stopped when Iruka's face became cold.
"Nothing is an excuse for him not to strain, I will not give anyone special treatment. He needs to deal with his problems alone. "This felt like a punch in Ashua's stomach, and the redheaded boy took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
This is not your Iruka, remember. This Iruka still thinks it's Naruto's fault that his parents died.
Ashura knew, but it still hurt.
"Well, then you're a shitty teacher," Ashura said finally, letting a little rage drip from his words. "You are deliberately sabotaging a student after learning that he has a condition that he does not control. Naruto-kun has no control over all this. And you're... you're... "he growled, ignoring the surprised look Iruka was giving him. "Oh, damn it! I do not even know why I thought it would be any different. You all look at a six-year-old, and see what you want to see, because you’re all ignorant. Damn it all! "
And he disappeared with a shunshin before Iruka answered. He needed to fodus on the taijutsu class after lunch.
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"Shuriken throwing, huh?" He said, to disguise the pain that this confrontation was causing in his chest. "Good. Let's take care of these injuries, and I'll help you learn how to throw a shuriken properly. "He smiled gently at the blonde.
"Yatta! Thank you, Ashura-nii! You're the best, dattebayo! "Naruto exclaimed excitedly and Ashura laughed.
"No I'm not, you're the best." Ashura teased, messing Naruto's hair again.
Well, we're the same person, so I guess we're the best, kiddo.
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How did this happen? Ashura wondered, with a sigh, staring into the gennin's angry brown eyes in front of him. It had not happened in his timeline, not at all. Naruto was hiding behind him, looking honestly afraid. It hurt in Ashura that he felt that way, but part of him was relieved that the boy felt comfortable enough to demonstrate his real feelings now that he had someone to help him. He would never do that himself.
"I'll ask only once," Ashura warned, cold rage dripping from his words. He could already see the Academy students lurking in the fight about to begin. "What makes you think you could threaten Naruto-kun?"
"That brat hit my brother yesterday!" The brown-eyed boy snapped. "Right, Keichi?"
Is this guy dumb?
"Yes, Kaito-nii!" The little devil (aka Keichi) responded with a mock tone of sadness. Ashura struggled not to look at the younger, knowing that if he did, he would lose his temper.
Keep calm and resolve this peacefully. He's a gennin. I can not stand showing my skills.
You could let me talk to him. Kurama suggested.
This is the opposite of peacefully, Kurama.
"You're stupid," Ashura finally said, keeping the cool calmness in his voice. "Naruto-kun and Keichi got into a fight, that's true, but from what I see, Keichi is fine. Naruto-kun is still injured. Because of your little brother. If anyone should threaten a six-year-old here, it should be me, since your brother hurt Naruto-kun. "
Kaito growled, looking really angry at the idea of Ashura hurting Keichi.
"But I'm not a hot-headed idiot like you." Ashura ignored Kurama's laughter in his mind. "And I would not hurt a six-year-old, even your brother being a pest."
"I'm not a hot-headed idiot!" Kaito growled, angry. "And no matter who hurt the most, your brother hit mine first!"
Ashura was starting to get annoyed with the situation, too annoyed to notice that Kaito had said that he was Naruto's brother, even though it had never been said in the conversation.
"Is it? Then his brother is a pest and a liar. "Ashura sneered. "I'd like to see you try to hurt Naruto-kun. Just try, Kaito. If you, or anyone else try to hurt Naruto, I swear I'll clean the floor with you."
"You should not be so arrogant." Kaito smiled at the challenge. "You're just a cocky Academy student! It seems like I'll have to teach you your place!"
Ashura tried not to smile. Kaito had bitten his bait. My bait? The thought stopped there and he stared wide-eyed. Oh, shit.
Typical Kitsune Behavior... Provocation.
Lost in thought, Ashura paid no attention to Kaito, who had begun to make a couple of hand seals.
"Doton ..." Ashura heard.
Oh, shit.
"Cold Asshole"