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Chapter 102 - [102]: The next day

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The Next Day

Taijutsu Sparring Circle, Konohagakure Ninja Academy

Naruto dodged out of the way of the incoming fist, diving in close to his opponent and driving an elbow right into Shino's solar plexus, making him fall back with a grunt and wheeze.

"Damn Shino. You're tough." The blond boy said appraisingly.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san." The Aburame Heir said in a monotone, "You are stronger than you appear to be. I shall have to try harder."

"Bring it!" Naruto grinned. Shino was a nice guy, totally non-judgemental and calm. He could use some help in modulating his voice though.

This was the first time Naruto had faced against Shino and his family's Kamakiri-Style (Praying Mantis) taijutsu. As Aburame were primarily mid-range combatants, it was a defensive style that relied on precision strikes and exploiting the weakness in the enemy's style to land blows at critical junctures in combat. It was different from both the Hakage-style and whatever style Sasuke-teme used, as both of those were either neutral or offensive styles.

The spar continued for a few minutes before Naruto kicked Shino's legs out from under him and placing a heel on his throat, which would allow him to crush it and leave the boy to suffocate if this were a true fight.

"Cease!" Iruka-sensei declared, "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto! Congratulations."

"Yatta-dattebayo!" Naruto grinned before he removed his foot from Shino's neck and extended a hand to help him up. The Aburame Heir grasped it and hauled himself up before both he and Naruto made the Sign of Reconciliation.

"Your skills have made a determinable improvement, Uzumaki-san." Shino stated, "I shall have to up my training to compensate."

"Looking forward to seeing the results." The blond orphan smirked.

As they both exited the sparring circle, Naruto surreptitiously closed the window that had popped up.

[Congratulations!]

The quest [Catch the Fly] has been completed!

You successfully defeated Aburame Shino in a sparring match!

Quest Reward: +500 EXP, + 200 Reputation with Aburame Shino, +1000 Ryo.

Bonus Reward: First Sparring Victory: [Advanced Hakage style Taijutsu] Skill Book.

The last part made Naruto's mood sour slightly. The only reason that this was his first victory in a spar was that he had always been pitted against Sasuke-teme before now. As much as it burned Naruto to admit it, the Uchiha was way more skilled at Taijutsu than he was. Worse, Sasuke was using what had to be a Clan Taijutsu style rather than the Hakage-style, so his strength, toughness and dexterity bonuses were very likely to be higher than his own.

'Still, now that I have this new skill book, I can upgrade my taijutsu once I max out the Intermediate Hakage Style that I'm using right now.' He thought.

Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye. It was right that the Dobe would become stronger after getting his butt kicked by him all the time. If his rival didn't keep getting stronger in pace with him, there was no point in having him as such.

A slightly puzzled Naruto closed a window informing him he had gained 50 Relationship with Uchiha Sasuke. Meanwhile, Mizuki was cursing at him vilely behind his 'teacher mask' and wondering how to sabotage him now, when he had seemed to have catch on to all of the tricks the Chunin had pulled up until this point. He was performing his taijutsu kata perfectly; his throwing form was spot on and Mizuki daren't risk another 'mistaken' test mix-up after the last time.

'Iruka's becoming suspicious…tch.' The man thought, 'It can't be helped…I'll just have to back off for a couple of months. It isn't as if the Demon will become too strong by the end of that time.'

As he thought that, the strap on his sandals snapped. A complete coincidence.

After the Academy

Ichiraku's Ramen Stand

"..and then, blam! I had him beat, Jiji!" Naruto said to the Hokage, who listened indulgently as they waited for their ramen.

"A well-earned victory, Naruto-kun." He congratulated his surrogate grandson, "The Aburame Taijutsu style is not easily overcome, although I can assure you that Shino-kun will be training hard to become stronger now that you have defeated him once."

"Really? Shino doesn't seem like the competitive type." Naruto said in puzzlement.

"True. Most Aburame are not competitive in general." The old man agreed, "But while they attempt to be extremely logical as much as possible, they are only human, so things such as competitiveness do tend to crop up every now and again, especially when they're younger."

"Huh. Makes sense." The boy nodded, "It must be hard to be so stoic and logical all the time; I couldn't manage it at all."

"There are always exceptions to every rule and clan trait." Sarutobi chuckled, "Such as a Yamanaka who cannot use their mindwalking jutsu or a Sarutobi who cannot use Katon or Doton ninjutsu. Granted, they might be rare, but they do happen."

"I'd guess that the clans don't like that." Naruto asked.

"Sadly no. They usually send the child to the orphanage or set them up with a home and caretaker until they either graduate from the Academy or turn eighteen." The Hokage sighed, "I would have made that latter practice a requirement if it were entirely my choice, but the Shinobi Clans have spent quite some time working on keeping the Hokage out of Clan business, so shoot down any law that would force them to do something they do not wish to do."

"Why not start it as a civilian clan law?" Naruto suggested, "If it works there, you could suggest it as expanding into the Shinobi section of the law after a few years."

This took the Hokage back. He had never tried that tack, but now that Naruto suggested it, it actually did make more sense. Unlike the Shinobi Clans, the Civilian Clans of Konoha mainly focussed on stopping any law that might cut into their profits (for the merchants) or support the Demon (for the morons). A law such as what Sarutobi had spoken of would be an entirely civilian matter if he proposed it Naruto's way, meaning that the opinions of the Shinobi Clans would be discounted and they wouldn't be able to vote about it. Plus, with a few years of success in the civilian system, it would be harder to argue against it rather than a completely untried and untested law.

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