Another Day at the Academy

Maruko groaned as the streams of warm sunlight hit his eyes. The buzzing alarm clock told him it was time to get up and prepare himself for the day ahead. After all, this was his first day in the Ninja Academy. Maruko threw on his clothes, slicked back his hair as usual, though those few pesky strands still managed to land on his eyesbrows, and ate a quick breakfast, then headed right out. He could hardly contain his excitement as he strolled down the street. 

Soon, Maruko was at the doors of the Ninja Academy. Head held high, he entered, though in truth Maruko had never been more nervous. If only the twins had been put in the same class, the at least he'd know someone here. He pulled out the note with the class' room number on it. Room 114. Maruko found it easily enough, and choking down his nerves, he turned the door's handle and proceeded inside.

The room was simple and tan, with rows of desks lined in front of a large chalkboard. Light filtered in through windows placed high on the walls. There were already some students in the room, though Maruko doubted this was everyone. The teacher had yet to arrive as well, so Maruko found an empty desk two rows back and sat there, waiting for the lesson to begin.

Teru awoke to a strange wet sensation. His eyes fluttered open, and he saw Shirokokuo on his bed. "What are you doing, boy?" He sat up and placed his hands on his thighs. "Wha... what is this wet spot? Oh you didn't! You filthy mutt! You know you're supposed to piss outside!" He was just about to jump at the dog, when he remembered that today was the first day of school. He glanced at the clock, and noticed that he was going to be late if he didn't sprint the whole way there. "Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" He leapt out of bed and threw on his vest amd pants, hurtled down the stairs, grabbed some leftover meat from last night's dinner off of a table, and headed out the door with Shiro right behind. In a few minutes he was outside of room 114 in the academy. He put an ear to the door to hear if the instructor was teaching, but he didn't hear anything. He opeded up the door and strolled in. There were a bunch of kids in there, and they were all a year or so younger than him. "Man, this whole getting held back thing sucks. All of my friends are in the more advanced class, while I'm stuck with these kids," he thought to himself. He walked and took a seat in the back corner of the classroom and promptly went back to sleep, instructing Shiro to wake him up when he smelled the instructor coming.

The last few students arrived and settled into their seats, with still no sign of the teacher. Maruko shifted his chair and glanced at the clock, then decided now would be a good time to take a quick nap, since the teacher was nowhere in sight. Just as Maruko put his head down, a loud "Boomf" and a cloud of smoke caught the stundents' attention. His head immediately shooting up, Maruko looked on as the cloud of smoke dissipated and in its place stood their teacher. He was a tall, well built man of around 30 years, though it seemed that the rigors of shinobi life were already taking their toll on him. His hair was hidden under black bandana, over which sat his Suna headband. He had deep green eyes set into his tan face, and a crooked nose that had obviously been broken multiple times. The teacher had a stern look on his face, but his eyes displayed an inner kindness he could not mask. He was dressed in the standard gear of a Sand ninja, though it was old and had clealy seen much use.

"Hello class," he began. "I'm Kurumo Saigama, and I've been assigned as your sensei. Now before we begin, let me take roll." Kurumo started reading off names, all the while scanning the class and making intial assessments. Everything seemed in order except for an older looking boy in the back of the class with a glazed look on his face. "He's obviously been sleeping," thought the teacher.

"Alright, it looks like everyone's here, so let's get right down to business. Today you're gonna spar each other, so I know what you all are capable of and what I need to focus on with lessons. I've taken the liberty of splitting you into pairs, so I'll announce them now and then we'll go to the gym and start." Maruko wondered who he would be paired with. Sparring had never been his strong suit, considering that he was somewhat small. "Great," he thought, "Just what I need on my first day of school."

"...and last but not least, Maruko Ichibara vs Teru Inuzuka." Maruko looked around and, just his luck, the only person who could possibly be Teru was the older kid sitting in the back of the class. "So, now that that's done, let's head in down to the gym."

Teru felt a nibble on his calf. He shot up off of his desk, leaving behind a small puddle of drool. As he looked towards the front of the room, he saw a thick cloud of smoke that soon dissipated to reveal the a man who appeared to be the instructor. "I remember this guy," thought Teru. "Yeah, he subbed last year for Gama sensi after he needed to go to the hospital after a mission. But what was his name?..." As if the man heard him, he introduced him self as Kuromo Saigama. "Right that's it. Kuromo sensi. I doubt he remembers me though." The instructor, after scanning the room for a moment or two, announced that they were going to go to the gym and spar. "Oh man, this is great! Now we get to show everybody our killer moves, right boy?" Shirokokuo wagged his tail. Teru couldn't wait to hear who his opponent was going to be, but he began to get impatient as name after name was called, but not his. Eventually, his name was called. He was going to be facing a boy named Maruko Ichibara. Teru leaned over to the girl sitting next to him in class and whispered, "Who is this Maruko kid? I've never heatd of him." The girl pointed to a small boy sitting two rows back from the front. "Oh man, this is going to be easier than I imagined," Teru thought. And with that, the class departed for the gym.

The class filed into the gym behind Kurumo and made a ring around some sparring mats. The teacher then entered the ring and adressed his class

"Now I just want to remind all of you that these are friendly matches. Don't hold back but don't hurt each other, either. The point of this exercise is to see what you're all capable of. Now then, first up..." Two by two, the students entered the ring and had their matches. Maruko's heart pounded faster and faster as his bout drew nearer; he knew that this wouldn't end well. Compared to Teru, he was much smaller, and considering that his opponent was an Inuzuka, close combat was his specialty. And he had a dog with him. Maruko began to think of any possible way for him to even last a minute against Teru, no longer paying any mind to the sparring going on. After what felt like some time, Maruko heard his name being called. "Oh crap, I guess its my turn," he thought.

"Well Maruko, are you going to come out here or not?" questioned the teacher.

"...uh- oh yeah! Sorry, Kurumo sensei." Maruko rose and entered the ring, turning to face his opponent. He had decided to let Teru make the fist move, considering his own lack of skill in a melee. Kurumo signaled the fight to start, and Maruko stood ready to counter as best he could Teru's attacks. "Well, here I go," he muttered. "Let's hope I don't get hurt too badly."

Teru couldn't wait any longer. Everybody else had gotten to spar, but he and this Maruko kid still had not gone. Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, Teru and Maruko were called up. "This is it, boy! This is what we have been watkng for!" Shiro barked and wagged his tail. Teru stepped up into the ring and eagerly awaited the signal to begin. Soon, Kuromo sensi signaled the start of this match, and Teru sprang at Maruko on all fours. "This is my favorite part of training!" he exclaimed as he hurtled at Maruko.

Maruko tensed as the large feral boy hurled himself forward. To Maruko, he seemed more of an animal than a person. Fitting, all things considered. He decided to wait until Teru was getting ready to strike, and then rolled underneath the blow, coming up behind Teru. Then he would take advantage of his position and kick out his opponent's legs from behind. Maruko would then proceed accordingly from there. "I hope I can time this right," he thought. "If I screw up this kid'll be all over me." Maruko swallowed nervously, and prepared to put his plan into action.

As Teru went towards Maruko, he noticed the small boy ready himself for the assault. He swung his fist at his opponent, and was just about to land the blow when Maruko rolled out of the way and appeared behind him. Teru, however had anticipated a sneaky move. Instead of stopping to face his enemy, he kept moving forward so that he went out of Maruko' range. "He's smarter than I thought," Teru said to himself. He then began to run in circles around his opponent in the opes that he would become dazed and confused. "If I spin him around enough, than he'll become dizzy, and then he'll be vulnerable. Then me and Shiro will swoop in to finish him off. He glanced over at his companion, and the beast appeared to have read his mind, as it nodded. Teru kept running in a blurry circle around Maruko.

Just as Maruko was readying his kick, Teru sped out of range. Not only that, but now Teru was running circles around him. His first reaction was to follow the Inuzuka's path, but Maruko soon realized that this was what his opponent wanted. Instead, he started to rotate very slowly and simply followed Teru by turning his head. If he did not reappear after going around, then Teru would have to be behind him, and so he could be countered. Maruko now waited for Teru to realize this would not work and try something else. "I just might have a chance if I can keep dodging him," he muttered under his breath.

As he circled, Teru noticed his ruse was not fooling Maruko. "Man, I hoped that would work," Teru thought. "This kid isn't as weak as he looks. I need a new plan. And fast." It was at that moment that Shiro appeared out of whatever dark corner he was standing in. Teru began to shout, "Shirokokuo, where have you been, you lazy good for nothing...". Then, he had a brilliant idea. "Hey boy, do you remember what we did to my brother the other day?" Shiro barked in approval. "Good. How about we give it another go?" Shiro readied himself, and Teru took that as his sign to commence his plan to finish the match. He shot out from his spin and arrived next to Maruko just as he faced Teru. The young Inuzuka gave a stiff shove to Maruko's center chest, and at the same time, Shiro took his place behind Maruko's legs, unbeknownst to him. "I got him now!" he thought.