571 The Reluctant Ninja by Tails42 (Naruto)

Latest update:January 20,2024

Summary:I lived my life around three simple rules; keep your head down, don't stand out, and don't get attached. Here's the story of how I broke those rules numerous times.

Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13995690/1/The-Reluctant-Ninja

Word count:216k

Chapters:52

The Outlier

On a scatter plot, data is collected and graphed as individual dots. This is used to examine the relationship between two variables. A cluster is represented when multiple data points are graphed in the same location on a grid; often representing a strong correlation. An outlier is a data point that is a significant distance away from a cluster. In research, these outliers are often discarded.

I had prime real estate in the classroom. In the back of the room, farthest from the door, and access to a window to look out of. From here it was easy to blend in and pass the days unnoticed. Especially considering the characters in this class.

"Ow, Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto cried out when our chunin instructor smacked the back of Naruto's head with his role book. Today, Naruto had sat down in the middle of the classroom. While the majority of us usually picked a seat and stayed there, Naruto had a habit of wandering. I think it's based on who he thinks hates him less that particular day. He had only sat next to me once sometime last year. But after never spending a whole day with me ignoring his every word and action, including when he put glue in my hair, Naruto never looked my way again after that.

"Knock it off!" Iruka-Sensei roared. We had been in the middle of a review of the shinobi code. Naruto had spent the whole time up until now bouncing bits of paper off the back of Shikamaru's head. I'm sure Iruka-Sensei noticed from the first bit of paper Naruto threw. But Shikamaru didn't seem to be bothered; being asleep and all. So, Iruka-sensei let it slide for a while. Probably just happy that Naruto was staying in his seat and was being somewhat quiet.

However; as was always the case, Naruto's sniggering and lack of focus wore down Iruka-Sensei's patience. Resulting in an eruption. With his hands on his hips and steam coming out of his ears, Iruka-Sensei loomed over the short blond. "You don't have time to be goofing off. There's a test on this tomorrow!"

Feeling singled out, Naruto pointed an aggressive finger at the back of Shikamaru's head. "What about Shikamaru? He's sleeping!"

And it was a truly impressive feat the Nara heir was pulling off. I've never been able to be at peace like that and tune out the world while all this commotion was going on. Being able to sleep anywhere was a skill worthy of jealousy.

Still steamed, Iruka-Sensei rolled his hands into fists and yelled, "Worry about yourself. You haven't gotten one question right since we started this unit!" Everyone seated in the front hunched their shoulders in a poor attempt to protect their ears. At least Iruka-Sensei wasn't a spitter. Otherwise, they'd be in the splash zone.

In the upper right corner of my notebook, I made a tick mark. That's three. Based on the data I've collected over the past two years, Iruka-Sensei is most likely to yell at Naruto five times in a school day. As is calculated to be their average. I expected to see a decrease in the trend line I had graphed during a fit of boredom. It would make sense to see a decrease when considering variables like Iruka-Sensei gaining more experience as a teacher and Naruto maturing with age. But so far, the trend has remained consistent.

Iruka-Sensei cleared his throat as he moved to stand in front of the blackboard; leaving his favorite student in his momentarily cowed state. "Now", Iruka-Sensei said to redirect us back to the lesson. Shikamaru yawned and Iruka's left eyebrow twitched. "Who can tell me about shinobi rule number four?"

Both Sakura and Ino's hands shot up in the air as they each tried to one-up the other. Their rivalry was already fully in place by the time the three of us were placed in the same class. I never got to observe them when they were still friends. And just had to assume that the memory I had of their friendship was still correct. Though to be honest, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about Ino and Sakura. Mostly, I was just pleased they preferred to stay in the front of the room and away from my back corner.

Iruka-Sensei didn't call on either of them. Instead, he turned to his role book. He did this often; a technique to make sure he called on everyone equally. Sound practice for an educator. But for a student like me, it made my life more difficult. "Rion", he called out after a moment. "Please answer".

Sighing, I stood up and took a quick look at the upper left corner of my notebook. Two dashes. Meaning the last two times I had been called on, I had answered incorrectly. It was a sign that I needed to get this one right to maintain my spot as an average and unremarkable student. "Shinobi rule number four". I kept my voice dull and monotone; anything to sound boring. "The mission always comes first".

"That's correct. Thank you, Rion". I waited for Iruka-Sensei to say before plopping into my seat. I was not called on again for the rest of the lesson. I didn't use to have this system about how many questions I could get right and how many I could get wrong. In the beginning, when my sister had first enrolled me in the academy and forced me to attend, I answered everything correctly if I knew the answer. I did what I could to attract the teacher's positive attention. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to. For my sister.

Back then, there had been more students in our year. Enough to fill three classes. Class one for those who had shinobi parents. Class two for the well-to-do civilians. And class three for those who signed up for the free tuition and had no other options. The orphans, the impoverished, and the social pariahs. That was my class during the first year; the class I cynically nicknamed death fodder. Coming from nothing, no one in that class knew anything relating to academics or ninja skills. And the teacher only paid attention to you if he saw potential; if he thought there was a chance you could make it to graduation. It had been a cut-throat environment for six-year-olds. Lucky for me, I had skills from my previous life that helped me stand out. A comprehension of math that my teacher couldn't explain.

Iruka-Sensei ended the lesson on rule number four. "Alright everyone", he announced with a clap of his hands. "We're going to end the day with some sparring. So, let's head outside".

Naruto popped out of his seat as I closed my notebook. "Finally! Something useful", and he bolted from the room.

"Naruto!" Iruka-Sensei yelled after him. He took a couple of steps but stopped at the door. "Don't run in the halls. Other classes are still in session". It must be hard to be a teacher when one of your students elope and you still have all your other students to be responsible for.

I followed behind my classmates as we left the classroom. But I wasn't the last. Chouji had to shake Shikamaru to get him moving and those two got the honor of being last. As I walked through the halls, I listened in on my peers' conversations without joining in. Someone's birthday is today. Ami's mom was going to make udon for dinner. Chouji would be going over to Shikamaru's house after school. Nothing useful that I could benefit from knowing.

After that first year of school, most of my classmates had quit or had been dropped from the program. Our year was reduced from three classes to two. In my second year, my classmates were the well-to-do civilians who had made it through their first year and a handful of survivors from class three. That was the first year I shared a classroom with Sakura.

Second-year, my strategy was much the same. I needed to excel so my teacher wouldn't mark me as a waste of resources. Which was the case for most coming from class three. In the first year, our teacher talked as if it was predetermined that we'd never make it to graduation. In the second year, the message shifted to assume that some of us might make it to the genin corps. So, still low expectations.

Standing outside, we didn't have to be told to form a circle. Naturally, this wasn't our first time sparring during class and expectations were clear. I stayed in the back as Shikamaru and Chouji wandered off somewhere else. Most likely to a spot where Shikamaru thought would be the least troublesome.

From my location, I waited for Iruka-Sensei to announce who would participate in the first match. Standing next to him in the center of all the action was Naruto, who was particularly vibrating. But he wasn't the only student who was excited; judging by the eager grins on Kiba's and Ino's faces. I struggled to understand their enjoyment in this. In this life, fighting was a way of life. If you didn't know how you were screwed. But I had never once found amusement in triumphing over someone by using taijutsu or any of the other ninja skills that had been pounded into my skull over the last few years. Of course, in my previous life, I had been an academic. Victory for me stemmed from getting the highest score on a test or having sufficient data to prove that my hypothesis was correct. Not that I had gotten to experience any of that in this life.

It wasn't until my third year that I was in the same class as the clan kids that make up the rookie nine. The same year, Sasuke's family was slaughtered. That was the year I began to dial back and fade into the shadows. Because that was the year our peers were reduced to only needing one class and the rhetoric changed again. This time too, 'when you become genin…' Third-year to present, I was the only student from class three still standing. My teacher no longer assumed I was nothing. And now, to survive, I needed to be invisible rather than being an outlier. Safety in numbers and all that.

"First up, Hinata and Ino", Iruka-Sensei called, his clipboard ready to make notes on the two heiresses' improvement. Ino's friends started clapping and cheering on the Yamanaka. Good grief. They could at least wait for Ino to do something impressive before making a fuss.

As our classmates shifted to allow the two girls to enter the painted ring on the ground that served as a sparring ring, a presence joined me on my left. There was no need for me to look to know who it was. Shino.

We had nothing in common except for one thing; isolation. I was excluded because of my social status and what my sister did for work. Shino was avoided because of his bugs. Since we didn't make a hassle about it, it naturally led us perpetually being in the back of the class together. And while I never initiated niceties with the boy, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a sense of comradery when we stand together.

Whenever there was group work, Shino and I often worked together because it was easier than waiting to be the last ones without partners. He was a good choice as a partner, considering my mission to be mediocre. Shino was a good student. Right behind Sasuke in the class ranking. So, working with him, I didn't have to choose which things to get right or wrong because Shino was expected to get high marks. To paraphrase, Shino was a good shield. It also helped that he didn't seem to mind being stuck with me. That wasn't the case when I was in class two. With Shino, I never had to stomach comments about how I smelled or that I resembled a gutter rat.

The first match ended with Ino crumbling to the ground after Hinata landed a hit to the other girl's abdomen. "Good effort, girls", Iruka-Sensei praised as the two cleared the ring. Hinata's win wasn't surprising. Anything with taijutsu, Hinata excelled at.

"Me. Me!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up and down; waving his arms in the air inches from Iruka-Sensei's face. "Pick me next!"

Iruka-Sensei sighed. Signaling to everyone who paid enough attention that he was about to give in. "Fine, Naruto. You next".

"Yippee!" The boy cheered as he dashed into the ring. Most of our classmates took an unconscious step back.

Studying his clipboard, Iruka-Sensei took his time before saying, "Your opponent will be…. Rion".

It was my turn to sigh as my classmates parted so I could make it through to the ring. Damn it, I thought as I slowly approached. Looks like I was about to take a beating. As part of my rule to not stand out. I never allowed myself to beat a member of the rookie nine. Not even Sakura. Even if it was tempting. Although, I probably wouldn't stand a chance against most of them. But Naruto, as he is right now… Him, I could probably beat. I mean, he was faster and stronger than me. But he never put any forethought into his offensive and never took a defensive stance.

Once I made it into the ring, Naruto beamed at me. "I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, believe it", he declared. Well Naruto, it's your lucky day.

I fell into an academy standard defensive stance without returning the banter and waited. At that time a small breeze blew across the ring. "Begin", Iruka-Sensei said. Immediately, Naruto charged forward.

The trick to throwing matches was to perform just enough that the teacher thinks you're trying. So, I dodged Naruto's first attack by ducking when he swung his left fist. And then I dodged again when he tried to kick me by somersaulting over his leg.

Rising to my feet I turned to face the blond before falling back into my defensive stance. "You can't keep dodging forever", Naruto shouted from the other side of the ring.

I waited for Naruto to charge again before switching to the offense. I had to make a show of this. It'd be weird if I didn't try to attack at least once. As soon as Naruto was in range, I lashed out with my fists, aiming for his right side. My blows hit, but I hadn't put a lot of force behind them. So, Naruto was only momentarily thrown off balance as I jumped away from him.

By the time Naruto regained himself, I was back in a defensive stance. He looked at me; frowning. What did Naruto have to frown about? In another minute or two, he was going to win.

Naruto charged for the fourth time. I forced myself to react slowly. So, when Naruto slung a fist at my gut, there was no way to avoid it. I lurched sideways at the contact and Naruto followed. His weight pushed me to the ground and he landed on top of me to pin me there.

The air had been knocked out of my lungs, so I lay still; waiting for Iruka-Sensei to call the match. My side where Naruto had punched me ached, and my head from where it had smacked against the ground throbbed. A part of me was frustrated with myself that I had to resign to being a punching bag without any bite. Another part of me was just glad that it was over. Except, Naruto was glaring at me. Why? He'd just won when he was used to losing. Shouldn't he be excited and claim that he'll be the next Hokage?

"The match goes to Naruto", Iruka-Sensei announced. "Good job, you two".

Naruto didn't move. "Why did you do that?" He growled out his question in my face. His breath smelled like miso ramen. A fact that made me both hungry and annoyed.

Breathing heavily, I had to speak slowly. "The match is over. Get off me".

But Naruto didn't budge. Reaching out, he grabbed a fist full of my shirt and pulled until my head was off the ground. "Why did you do that?" He repeated his question. This time at a louder volume.

"Naruto", Iruka-Sensei called; his voice tinged with a warning. "You won. Let Rion go".

Naruto must have interpreted Iruka-Sensei's voice because he let go and stood up. But he wasn't done. Facing our teacher, he gestured furiously with his hands. "But Iruka-Sensei, Rion lost on purpose!" I found myself surrounded by whispering as our classmates discussed what Naruto had just said. This is bad, I thought as I pulled myself to my feet. "Rion pulled her punches and let me knock her over".

Despite it being the end of the match, my heart rate sped up rather than slow down. It took all my practice staring into a mirror to keep my face blank with Iruka-Sensei turning his eyes on me. His gaze was calculating and it had the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. "Rion, is this true?"

The focus was on me. In ways I never tolerated before. "I don't know what he's talking about, Sensei". I nearly managed to keep my voice flat. Nearly. But on the last word, my voice cracked and Iruka-Sensei's eyes narrowed.

There was an awkward pause that felt longer than the time it actually took up. "It's time for the next match", Iruka-Sensei announced; ignoring Naruto's disgruntled disagreement.

I turned and fled from the ring as quickly as I could while at a walking pace. Even though Iruka-Sensei had let it go, it didn't feel like he truly had.

My feet took me back to my spot by Shino. I tried to appear relaxed but definitely didn't feel what I was portraying. Two breathes later, Iruka-Sensei moved to the next students and Shino said casually, "You were finally caught. Why? Because you misread your opponent".

I jerked my head in the direction of Shino. As I stared at him a small tremor shot up my spine. How did he know? How long had he known? Shino stared back at me over his high shirt collar. Though, I couldn't read his expression. Not with his collar blocking his mouth and his sunglasses covering his eyes. But there was another question that needed to be asked. If Shino had noticed, who else?

Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13995690/2/The-Reluctant-Ninja