Konoha: Daily Life - by Tiggs Panther

Chapter 3: Where Kids with Weapons are the Norm...

Disclaimer:

Naruto ain't mine. Any familiar characters are similarly not mine. They, and the Hidden Village of Konoha, are the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. Anyone new is my fault. The ideas are, too. (I doubt anyone else would want to admit to them).

Although some of the blame has to go to my friends who (truthfully) tell me I don't write enough.

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Working at the Academy was a mixed blessing. On the one hand you were training up the next generation in ninja skills. On the other, well, I'm sure the punchline writes itself. Between planned attempts at cutting class and unplanned attempts at blowing the place sky high, at least the job could never be called boring - despite what some mission-based Chuunin would imply.

Umino Iruka walked into the staffroom and, once out of sight of the students, held a tissue to his nose and slumped into the nearest chair. Teaching rudimentary Henge techniques carried a great risk, mainly when making at least a vague overview of the differences between boy-ninjas and girl-ninjas. If only there was a way to stop the giggling. Sometimes he was even tempted to use the Morino Ibiki method - stating that anyone wanting to keep their differences better stop laughing.

"And this picture here," Iruka said, attempting to draw on the blackboard, "shows what a grown woman looks like." Everything had been going well up to that point.

"That's not right," piped up Konohamaru from near the back. "A grown woman looks more like this!" And, at that, promptly changed into a well-proportioned young woman lacking any clothing whatsoever. This was met by much amusement from his classmates, tempered with a (small) touch of embarrassment from his two co-conspirators.

Sometimes, just sometimes, he did find himself wondering why he'd allowed Naruto to pass. Then he though about what it'd be like if Naruto was around to "teach" the current intake of hellraisers. No, Naruto was doing better for the village as a Genin that he would be stuck as an Academy student.

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Meanwhile, across town, the barmaid was heading in for an early shift. One of the drawbacks of working in a ninja pub was that mission-weary ninjas would often need liquid sustenance at just about any time of the day. This mean that shift-work behind a bar could easily cover any time of the day.

Plus, sometimes, the journey in was nothing short of ridiculous. Even as a regular villager she could easily spot that the wall she was walking past had three patches that were definitely not the right material. Added to that she's already passed by seven rocks-with-feet, four square wheels, a cardboard dog and the worst impression of Hokage-statue she'd seen so far this year.

She sighed. It must be Stealth Training at the academy again.

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Yes, I know I was trying to mainly stick to non-major characters. I still am, though. If there are any eyes through which to look at the Konoha pre-nins, it's Iruka-sensei.