Chapter 4: Yellow Butterfly
“What? That stupid.” Naruto remarked as he gave Dina a dubious expression.
The clan heir laughed, her whole body bouncing. “We haven’t learned how to do wall walk or use the main three jutsu the school gives out. Right now we are focusing on our taijutsu and history.” Next, to her, Tatsuki grunted, dissatisfied by the academy education system.
Dina leaned into the blond’s side while whispering, “Taka is just mad that they don't teach us how to use a sword.” She then turned to wave down a waiter at her clan’s restaurant.
Naruto relaxed in the booth’s comfortable sits. “I can help you Tatsuki. My adoptive parents taught me a little about sword but you have to help me learn the current academy curriculum. I don't want to look dumb in front of the class.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What is a curriculum?”
He slapped his forehead. “Mom says that a lot. I asked can you teach me what you know, like what have the teachers taught you and what are you going to learn. I don’t know any history and stuff. I can teach you skills though.”
She stuck her hand out. “Deal.”
He shook her hand then turned to Dina. “I promise this is the last time. Are you sure your clan is okay with me being here?”
The heir ruffled his brown dyed hair. “Of course they would. They aren't playing us any attention now because we are talking and I haven't bothered the staff.”
A waiter walked up to them and asked, “Can I take your order?” He didn't look up and notice that Naruto was fidgeting and sweating.
Tatsuki answered for him, “Yes. Can we have three slabs of ribs, five bowls of ramen in any flavor, two sets of dango, four plates of calamari, seven pork buns and three pitchers of any drink.” She looked at Dina to see if she wanted more. The heir shook her head then focused her attention on the shaking boy next to her.
The waiter looked, confused, then recognized the mop of untamed black hair. “Ah. Tatsuki, pleasant to see you again.” She turned to Dina comforting Naruto. “Hello, little boss. I am guessing this is your secret boyfriend, eh?”
The brunette turned into a bright color of red and tried to deny it but the waiter continued. “Don't worry little boss. I won't tell your parents.” She snickered as she walked away, ready to gossip to the other employees.
“Ung!” Dina groaned then held her head in her hands.
Naruto patted her back but did not comment about the assumption. Tatsuki gave her whimsical smile and told her, “After we finish eating we could go back to the forest.”
The brunette peeked at her through her fingers. “Which one?”
The blond answered her, “The forest you found me a week ago. I stashed some loot there and I showed Tatsuki where it was so she could take you.”
She quickly stood up and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go. Taka, can you bring the food with us, I don't want to eat here right now.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The swordswoman gave her a thumbs up while drinking her tea and watched the two leave. “They are kinda cute together.” She muttered.
Thirty minutes later, she entered the western forest with a large takeout bag and another filled with textbooks. She was chewing a meatbun with one hand while holding her sword in a relaxed grip. She was scan the forest tops for a blond mop of hair or the scent of barbeque. She forgot how to tell which tree is the hideout. He eventually found her and lead her to the hideout.
About 40 meters above the ground was a makeshift tree fort. The floor was made of large logs, leftover planks from trash piles, lost ninja wire, rope and every nail in the village that wasn't rusted. The walls were thin metal sheets he found around abandoned buildings and the roof was made from spare wooden planks gifted by Tatsuki’s father. Neither one of the girls told their parents about Naruto and told them they were making a tree fort by themselves. The combined materials made a 30 by 20-meter hut with three decent bedrolls, a table, two small cabinets, four fixed cushions, a weapon rack and a large crate for storage.
In the corner, Dina was sitting on a large cushion and was reading an unfamiliar scroll to Tatsuki.
She strode over to her friend and sat down on another cushion next to her. “What are you reading chouchou (colorful butterfly)?”
The brunette passed her the scroll. “It talks about how chakra is made of two types of energy and that some people can use one type but not the other.”
Naruto flopped on a cushion then reached over for a ramen bowl. “Yeah. It’s advanced stuff that we shouldn't worry about now after all basic chakra is hard enough.” He said without any thought. After living with his mothers, he learned how to gloss over details. That’s how he use to get out of trouble.
Tatsuki skimmed the scroll then huffed. “Chakra stuff can be beaten if I learn awesome sword skills.”
Dina sighed. “You always say that. Try to remember my clan is all about chakra and that's why I eat so much.” The other girl grunted but didn’t fully acknowledge the importance of chakra.
Eventually, they started studying and helping Naruto learn year one and two academy history and war tactics. They skipped math after he showed that he knew multiplication, a year four level math. For the majority of their studies they were teaching him work tactics and the three basic jutsu all academy students were supposed to learn.
Honestly, the two girls were starting to regret their decision to help the blond.
“Ha!” Naruto shouted while dispensing a thick cloud chakra. The girls could feel a slight pressure from the amount of pure chakra leaking from his body.
He then blazed through the hand seals then yelled, “Clone Jutsu!”
Immediately the whole room was filled with smoke, blinding everyone inside. They waited a few minutes for the smoke to disperse and to see the results of Naruto’s three-hour long training. Standing before them was a perfect copy of the blond; the sweat on its face to the dirt on his closed toe shoes was a replaced.
“You did it Naruto!” Dina cheered, the joy on her face radiating towards the alchemist apprentice. Tatsuki just sighed in relief, she thought she would have to sit through this for a few more weeks.
He cheered along with her then hugged his clone. The clone blinked in surprise then hugged back, acting more like a puppet rather than a human. He heard a gasp then turned his attention to his friends and was startled to see their astonished expressions. He backed away from his clone and looked down at the ground, feeling terrible. He caused them to dislike him, like everyone else in the village he thought.
Tatsuki could tell something was wrong with the blond. She walked up to him and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. “You are amazing Kogane (Golden)! You surpassed Iruka-sensei! We never saw him make a solid clone and he keeps telling us that it can’t touch things.”
He stared at her, searching for any sign of a lie but only seen true respect and awe. He nervously looked away and replied, “T-thank you. I didn’t know.”
The short haired girl smirked, “I know. That’s why you making something stronger than sensei’s jutsu is surprising.”
Dina’s shock subsided then she pulled the blond into a bear hug, squeezing the air out of his lungs. “You are amazing, Naru-chan! I bet you will be the best ninja ever!”
He squeaked, feeling his back bend to her strength. “Thank you. I have to teach Tatsuki sword skills now…”
“Oh! Right.” She dropped the boy on to the ground and winced when he crumbled in pain.
He gave her a thumbs up from the floor. The pain was worth it for his friends.