Since he'd been six years old, Naruto had been fascinated by fuuinjutsu. Since he'd been nine, he'd been working with various summoning scrolls. He'd also been trying to summon ramen, and had actually made a few friends through the misfires of that research.
Kiiromaru, a large middle-aged yellow-ish furred Inuzuka hound who looked similar to Kuromaru was one of those friends. Which led to the entire Inuzuka clan treating him a bit more friendly than they otherwise would have. Kiiromaru, after all, was a veteran hound who'd gotten into quite a few scrapes. He wasn't a major combatant, and got around much more slowly and with more aches and pains than when he was younger - but he was a member of the clan and respected.
The Akimichi clan had begun showing up for the summoning experiments as well. A Summon Food jutsu was seen as both something their restaurants would have to compete against (which was bad) and a way of getting emergency supplies when absolutely needed (which was good.)
Naruto wasn't seen as a complete failure. Just a general failure, sort of an idiot savant. Fuuinjutsu - genius. Possibly beyond genius. Just about anything else? The public at large saw a loudmouth boy whose ninja skills were below-par.
The bell rang. People went into class.
Naruto stopped scribbling on a piece of paper as Iruka entered, mostly because Terra had tapped him on the leg with her foot to indicate he needed to pay attention.
Five months from now was the genin test. She had to make her move soon.
Hinata watched and envied the girl sitting next to Naruto.
She envied the girl whose hair seemed to shift coloration with the lighting. Blonde now in the sunlight, she could and did associate freely with Naruto. Hinata could imagine her in the other girl's place.
If only...
One month later:
"-and Sasuke was so cool!" exclaimed Sakura.
"Yup," agreed Ino.
"That's my Sasuke!" said Ami.
"YOUR Sasuke?!" asked every other fangirl present.
Terra shook her head as she walked past the fangirl contingent, the smirking boy they adored, and took a seat next to Naruto.
Naruto glanced back at her, puzzled. "You always have lunch with me."
"Right," said Terra.
"You never pay attention to Sasuke," noted Naruto.
"True," agreed Terra.
"I think you're the only girl who's not a Sasuke-fan," said Naruto, wanting to confirm that she wasn't such.
"There's more than just myself," said Terra, picking at her food.
"There is?" asked Naruto.
"Isn't that right, Hinata?" asked Terra.
"Eep!" went a tree.
"Hinata?" asked Naruto.
"Hinata, if you don't come out from behind that tree, I'm going to come drag you out," said Terra, putting her lunch to the side.
"Ah-ano, I mean," said the tree.
Naruto in the meantime had gotten up, snuck around the tree, and was now directly behind the girl in question. "What are you doing back here Hinata?"
"EEK!" said the girl in question, leaping and twisting around and... falling to the ground.
Naruto looked down at the girl on the ground. "I just don't understand girls."
"Troublesome," said Shikamaru from nearby, summing it all up in his usual fashion.
"Nurse's office," said Terra, grabbing one of Hinata's arms. "Naruto, take her other arm."
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(Posted Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:48)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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