Academy Days: The Saga Begins!

[abileunaspada]

Who: Adela Milani (abileunaspada) & OPEN
When: January 3rd-31st
Where: Konohagakure's Ninja Academy
Notes: Adela is one of the chuunin recruited to be a teacher's assistant for Iruka at the academy! At times it's rough, and at others it's fun, but to be a future Hokage one has to know how to address the youth of Konoha! And, well, give them proper reprimand for nearly burning the buildings down on a weekly basis.

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Adela didn't think she'd have such a hard job in assisting Iruka with his academy classes, but man was she ever exhausted! Between running around, teaching kids combat and stealth skills, breaking up spars that were going too far, dousing fires, testing kids meticulously, and dragging the kids who played hooky back to the classroom for extra lectures and hidden evasion exercises? She was exhausted. Even thinking up that list was hard work!

If Adela wasn't running around and helping Iruka however she could, she was taking one of the few breaks she could with a sigh, a bottled water, and a tune to hum to herself. It wasn't like she was the only aid he had, but that didn't stop the work from being any more tiring. At least on missions out of village she occasionally had the chance to rest!

But, maybe she was being too negative. A smile tugged at the teen's lips as she watched the kids, growing up into the next generation of protectors for the village in a relative era of peace. The future that she'd be protecting with all her might, along with every other shinobi there. Yeah... Times like this, it felt worth it. It felt like her goal was even more important then.

Not that she'd tell the kids that, between teaching them, praising them for good work and scolding them for giving less than their very best in their efforts. There was simply no time, but they didn't need to know the hard work of adults yet either. They were still kids, and they were still allowed the time to be young and carefree so far as she could see.

Yeah. This was way better than her days in Kiri. This was Konoha's Ninja Academy.

Comments

[fangoverfang]

Kiba snorted with mirth over Adela's choice of punishment, and at her small admonition of doubt, he looped an arm around her shoulders.

"Nah, personally I would've written it on his forehead, so I think he got off pretty light.." he grinned, then squeezed her shoulders a little tighter. "You're good at this whole.. stand-in sensei thing. Have you looked after kids before?" Kiba only had a little experience from looking after the younger generation of his clan, but Adela was much more adept at it than him, and as far as he knew she had no clan younglings to speak of..

He liked being on good terms with Adela again - hence the comfortable physical contact - and liked seeing her in this kind of environment, too. She seemed to be very happy, and for some reason, that made Kiba happy too.

[abileunaspada]

What the-- she flushed with the contact, a little stiff before she sighed and shook her head, "Not really. M'just doing what feels right for this, and more than anything we're leaders for these kids. We teach them what they can so they can work as ninja when they're old enough, and show them how to do things and why to do them that way."

[fangoverfang]

Their height difference was a comfortable one and Kiba had every intention of keeping his arm steady... but he could sense her tenseness, and could visibly see the look on her face. She wasn't throwing him off, though, and that was definitely progress. Kiba was a very physical person and most of the time those around him were left only with the option of just getting used to it... but somehow Adela was a special case, someone he didn't want to test his luck with.

And so, Kiba retracted his arm after giving her another little squeeze, and folded his arms instead.

"Yeah, though I think you're more of a moral role-model than I am." He mused, then nodded confidently, as close to a compliment as he might get for now.

[abileunaspada]

It happened immediately, she relaxed... But, a sad smile tugged at her lips when he mentioned that, "Yeah, but how moral can we be? We're... We're shinobi. There's gonna be questionable stuff we have to do, whether we like it or not. And like it or not those kids're gonna have to deal with that in the future if they continue on this path."

[fangoverfang]

"Aah, I meant- man, I meant that you're a nicer person than me!" Kiba said, holding up his hands to shake away the confusion she'd found in his words. Nice going, Kiba, trust you to bring the conversation to a low note by accident.. and it was going so well, too. "It's a given that we've gotta have some pretty flexible morals to do our jobs, but.. they'll learn, and it's best they learn from people who better understand what it's like for kids to go through that, than adults who barely remember, eh?"

[abileunaspada]

The expression on Kiba's face surprised her, and Adela just stared at him for a moment before, as much as she could, she tried to suppress something that could only be disguised as a giggle. The smile she was wearing more genuine then, and Adela turned to him with a nod, "Thanks, Kiba. You're right, it's better for them to have a perspective from people who're just going through it for the first time, rather than people who don't fully remember the experience anymore."

[fangoverfang]

Kiba gulped. The noise that just escaped Adela, that sound of honest happiness, the look on her face to match it... Kiba had never imagined in a million years that such a sight would come to light because of him, and he cleared his throat awkwardly as colour hit his face.

"Yeah, well.." He raised a hand to scratch at the back of his head. "Heh, it's why we're here, I guess." Why the hell was he blushing now of all times? It made no sense!

[abileunaspada]

"Among other things, like keeping runaways from thinking they're ready to escape yet," She nodded, looking to the empty courtyard then with a gentle sigh. Iruka likely didn't need them, but they still should have been heading inside just in case he wanted an in-class demonstration or something during the lectures. Lecture time was about the one time they weren't often called on for help...

Which was essentially a break for them, and a reminder that she still needed to eat. That was about when Adela started absently suffling in her pack, looking for the bento she had packed that morning. It didn't feel like nearly enough food then, but at least it could tide her over until all the kids were picked up after classes let out.

[fangoverfang]

Kiba was thankful that Adela hadn't noticed his blush, and was equally thankful that by the time she'd finished speaking it had almost died down (aside from the faint trace of pink on the tips of his ears).

Food was probably a good plan and, following Adela's suit, Kiba called Akamaru over so he could retrieve their lunches from the pack strapped to the back of the large dog. Iruka-sensei was probably only just settling the class down and taking a roll-call, so Kiba didn't spare much mind to spending just a little longer outside.

He wandered over to a mound of formed wood that acted as a bench, and parked himself down to tuck into what his mother had packed for him. He was probably too old to be still getting packed lunches, but Tsume insisted and when she insisted Kiba knew there wouldn't be room for argument.

[abileunaspada]

"Let's enjoy the quiet while we can, ne?" Adela just grinned, opening her bento and sighing at the scent. It kept warm until lunch time, which was good - perfect, even. It was just simple seasoned hamburger with rice and vegetables, but it'd get her through the rest of the day.

That was when she glanced to Kiba, raising a brow while still wearing that smile of hers, "Hey, Kiba. What've you got for today anyway?"

[fangoverfang]

Kiba held up the note taped to the box, squinted at his mother's penmanship and her crude drawing of a dog, before he removed the lid and peered at the box's contents.

"Looks like salted meat and noodles," Kiba grinned, half a thought away from fist punching the air. His mothers cooking was unprecedented, but out of all the meals she made, this had to be one of Kiba's favourites. The Inuzuka nose was meticulous about smells and sometimes it proved their downfall in the cooking department since spices tended to often taste too strong, but Tsume had cracked the secret... and the evidence was sitting in Kiba's lap.

"Oh, I forgot!" he announced suddenly, and lifted the top tray of the bento to reveal a kibble of cuts in the box beneath, which he placed on the ground for Akamaru.

[abileunaspada]

"That's not nice, you shouldn't forget Akamaru's food," The teasing was light as she got her chopsticks ready, taking those first few bites and enjoying the flavour with a breathed sigh. Maybe Kiba couldn't stand many spices, but Adela? Adela loved them, and the flavour of the meat felt perfectly strong enough -- like there was no way it could improve. The strong flavour was just great!

And it was with contented silence that she just ate, occasionally glancing to Kiba and Akamaru throughout. Not that there was much to talk about, but... Well, just sitting together was nice in its own way, too.

[fangoverfang]

Sitting together in the quiet was definitely nice. Kiba's life was always so full of action and noise given who he was and how he conducted himself.. and Adela was this strange variable in the midst of it all that he hadn't expected nor sought out; but now that she was here he was reluctant to imagine being without her. Of course Adela had her loud moments too, but she was the only person he was able to be quiet with too. Usually it was rare to find him so silent. He was glad they made nice again after their small dispute.

He'd snapped his own chopsticks apart long ago, and was half way through his noodles in mere minutes, almost like he'd inhaled the meal.

[abileunaspada]

Seeing the two eating so eagerly had her amused, and that mirth showed to her face before she went back to her own meal. Normally she'd probably be hurrying just to catch up or compete in some way, but at that time she didn't feel the need to. Simply enjoying her food was good enough, and so was watching them. It was about the only quiet time she had throughout the day.

Still, it took her longer to get halfway through as she glanced to the building again. Classroom was oddly quiet, too... Not that it was a bad thing, but it was a little suspicious at the same time. Was Iruka giving all the kids a test or something? Well, as long as they were behaving...

[fangoverfang]

Kiba finished in record time, always one for eating good food quickly before it lost it's freshness. It didn't really make sense considering the meal had been sitting in his pack for a good few hours, but regardless he never liked to leave food sitting for too long while he ate.. That wasn't to say he didn't savor it, though... and settled back for a moment to let the remnants of taste swill in his mouth as he looked up to the bright blue sky of another beautiful day.

He only looked back toward the ground when a cold nose nudged at his ankle, and glanced down to see Akamaru placing the empty box in his lap. Kiba chuckled, and fit the two layers back together before sticking it back in his pack.

He focused back on Adela then. "You almost done?"

[abileunaspada]

"Yah, giv' me a minu'," Adela didn't even bother swallowing as she spoke, only then hurrying to get the last few bits of rice into her mouth before nearly choking on it. It didn't happen though and she sighed from that painful swallow, shaking her head before reaching for her bottled water, "Sorry, m'done. Didn't mean to make you wait."

[fangoverfang]

Kiba snorted out a laugh, and nudged her in the side with a sharp elbow. "I was gonna ask if you needed me to wait for you, stupid, I wasn't rushing you."

Ah, the teasing was back. Although now it was much more affectionate than it had been - more like light teasing between friends rather than purposeful taunting. She'd have to get used to it from him eventually, no time like the present for a little more exposure.

[abileunaspada]

What he got in return was a huff and a scowl... That really looked more like pouting than anything. Whatever tone she had, hopefully Kiba would pick up on the fact that she wasn't actually mad or anything, just a little embarrassed over said teasing, "We're supposed to finish food quickly so we're ready for anything. Even if it's not an out of village mission, Iruka-sensei could still call on us at any time..."

... Yeah she was totally pouting.

[fangoverfang]

"Aaand I'm pretty sure," he continued, his arm going from nudging her in the side to being wrapped around her shoulders. "That if Iruka-sensei needed us and we were still eating, we could just save it for later, huh? That's if he didn't wait for us to finish, heh.." Iruka-sensei was kind of really polite like that. It had been weird at first, to not be Iruka's student and be on the same level as him, but Kiba had gotten used to it eventually... the politeness was taking a little more effort to get used to, though.

"Anyways, you eat slow as it is, so if anything happened we'd probably have to leave you behind..." he carried on, squeezing her for good measure, just so that she knew he was kidding.

[abileunaspada]

"The hell you would, I'd have you eating my dust before you even got halfway out," He was met with a smirk, shoving playfully before she actually made to put her empty bento box away. Jeez, Kiba... Still, things were better now that they had actually resolved the issues they had before. It just felt... lighter, now, to be there with Kiba. Even if she still wasn't entirely sure of his casual displays of affection, like his arm. It was still kinda weird.

Maybe Kiba just did that with his friends though, and if that was the case... Well, she'd feel better about it.

[fangoverfang]

"Uh-huh, sure, sure. I'm pretty certain you'd still be breaking your chopsticks while I bring home the glory!" Kiba crowed, elbowing back at her just as playfully. Oh yes, it was definitely much better now the two were comfortable around each other. Or at least that was the way Kiba saw it. He'd always been a physical person, even with acquaintances - it was just the way his family worked - and since he actually liked Adela, she had a great deal of physical contact to look forward to. She hadn't complained yet, so as far as he was concerned, they were getting on great.

"Either way," Kiba announced before she could get another quip in. "We should probably get back to class. You wanna race there?" There was a glint in his eyes suddenly, and a daring smile on his face.

[abileunaspada]

"Hm..."

Give her a moment...

Before she was on her feet and already running there, laughing a little before she focused on just getting there before Kiba. Even with the head start, a win wasn't guaranteed!

[fangoverfang]

Kiba wasted a stupid moment looking after her with a confused expression before he realised just what it was that she was doing.

"Oh no you don't!" he yelled around a wide smile, immediately on all fours and sprinting across the sanded ground after her.

[abileunaspada]

"Oh yes I do!" Adela was yelling right with him, darting into the building and trying to block his path at every turn. Like she was about to make this easy for him!

[fangoverfang]

See, this is what Kiba liked about Adela. She was so quick to react, and even quicker to scramble to the finish line (figurative or not), especially when there was competition. Just like Kiba himself.

Her only downfall was so willingly going against someone like Kiba, who had spent all of his life entering into mini-races with his clan-mates.. Years and years of trying to beat the speed of his mother and sister while dodging their blocks had equipped Kiba with an almost perfect alertness that meant Adela was next to no match for him, and soon they were head to head, with only a short way left till their goal!