It began to climb.
As predicted however, even with a swooping start it risked not only an attack from above but the build-up was excruciatingly slow, as opposed to its earlier maneuvers. Despite knowing this, it gunned its engines and went for it, completely missing Naruto leap across the gap between the buildings further down below before springing straight at it in one fluent move.
This was the 'mistake' the jinchuriki was waiting for the bird to make.
Sweating up a storm and covered in all kinds of crap from running after the bird across the entire village, Naruto flew right up at the climbing swallow and flipped through the air right over its head in a cart-wheeling motion. His swift left hand flew out from behind him along the exact same path the moment he was in reach, intercepting the bird, blindsiding it, and catching it.
"HA!" A laugh of triumph escaped the teen's lips before he went spiraling back towards the ground a dozen stories below.
Timing his descent, Naruto corkscrewed through a netting of power lines crisscrossing the main highway at arrow speed before balling up and spinning towards ground zero. In a frightening display of ferocity, momentum and grace, the blonde opened up just feet above the ground and slammed into it with a crouching stance, right into the road. He slid several feet forward before coming to a cloudy stop, throwing dust in all directions and scaring the shit out of nearby villagers.
Families and shopkeepers, as well as several Chunin that happened to be in the vicinity, instinctively leapt away at the sight of the boy.
Ignoring the whispers beginning to start up again, Naruto looked up with a flash of his goggles and down toward his enclosed left hand, which he had kept close to his chest. Panting heavily and dripping with sweat, the boy then turned his hand to look down at his fingers, where he saw much to his delight the bird that had tried to get away locked in his gentle grip.
The swallow chirped and looked around it with a start, its chest heaving and head twitching this way and that. After several moments the eventual realization that it had finally been snagged became obvious, and it soon ceased clawing and attempting to wriggle its way out of the boy's hand. Its eyes fixed up at the blonde who chuckled and grinned back down at it warmly.
"Caught yah!" Naruto exclaimed, glancing down at the gauntlet on his wrist that contained his spring-loaded hook. "This thing really does come in handy. That was a great chase, Swifty-chan!"
The bird chirped again and ruffled its feathers under his palm, earning a nervous laugh from her captor.
"Whoa. Was that your boyfriend back there?" He received another chirp and a nip to his finger in response. "Ouch. Okay, geez. Sorry about that. It's just that I was really bored you see…" The bird fell into another tirade of chirps, interrupting him and getting Naruto to pull a double-take on the female flyer. "Hey, who are you calling a 'dumbass'? I didn't know you were on a date. Cut me some slack here." The swallow glared up at him, chirping sharply. "Insensitive? Okay, fine, I guess I can give you that one…"
While the bird bitched at being disturbed so suddenly, a shadow from in front of the crouching blonde fell over them and forced Naruto to look up in surprise. When he did he saw Iruka Umino standing over him with his hands on his hips and a look on his face that pretty much said 'yeah, you're in big trouble.' The tapping of his foot only added to the insane amount of tension that he had brought along with him and flooded the entire area with, giving the blonde a moment of pause to comprehend his current situation.
Silence prevailed between them, while the villagers scattered across the street stared with heavy anticipation hanging in the air. After a minute or so of prevailing silence, with nothing being said or shouted between the two for that entire period, Naruto then sprouted his trademark grin and pointed up at the man.
"I found you, Iruka-sensei!"
The man's hair bristled before he went into full 'rage' mode, complete with big-head and bulging veins, "IDIOT! I FOUND YOU! YOU'VE GOT IT ALL BACKWARDS!"
The blonde cackled hysterically before bringing the hand he had caught the bird with up to show his teacher. He rotated his fist so that the creature was facing him and gave it a warm smile. "Hey. Sorry for bothering you, Swift-chan. No hard feelings?"
Having been chirping incessantly minutes before the sudden yelling score, which scared the poor thing into silence, the bird tilted its head a few times at its captor before bowing in resignation. It then chirped happily and nodded.
Naruto grinned, "I'm glad. Thank you." With that he then opened his hand and extended his finger so that the swallow could hop onto it and regain her bearings. The bird ruffled her feathers, using the precious few moments given to her to catch her breath before finally taking flight. Iruka and Naruto followed after her with their respective gazes until she was gone from sight.
The Chunin looked quite surprised, "Was that a Fire-Breasted Swallow?"
"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed while looking up at his teacher with a grin. "Her name is Swift-chan; my training partner."
His instructor looked back at him with an astonished blink, "That species of swallow is one of the fastest birds in the country. How were you able to catch her?"
"It wasn't easy," Naruto replied tiredly before thumping himself hard in the chest, "But I caught her with a combination of guts, speed and wit. I've been playing tag with her for over a year now, so I've gotten much, much better since when I first started."
"Whoa," Iruka smirked, giving the boy a complementary gesture, "Not bad. I guess that explains why you're so good at running away from the authorities?"
"Damn right."
"Not that it matters now though, because I've caught you. Apparently I'm the only shinobi in this whole damn village, living or dead, who is able to," Iruka said, folding his arms and watching the boy rise to his feet and dust down his shorts. Even with this statement the blonde wasn't worrying about his predicament in the slightest. "Are you going to come quietly or do I have to drag you away from here kicking and screaming?"
"Well, other people would normally come quietly, but personally I prefer leaving a scene kicking and screaming. It's way more fun than walking," Naruto exclaimed without hesitation, earning a shake of the head from his normally intimidating teacher. The jinchuriki gazed up at the man without flinching or trembling. This was the truth about the blonde haired squirt as he was so bold and foolhardy he had no concept of fear from the familiar. "But before anything else happens, I have a quick question for you, sensei."
"Fire away."
"If you're here, talking with me," Naruto pointed at his chest before gesturing towards the Hokage tower where the academy was also located, "Then who's looking after the rest of the idiots?"
"Mizuki. I finally had a good reason to get that lazy-ass of a substitute teacher to do some actual work around my class instead of just dropping in whenever he feels like it," Iruka replied sternly, wondering whether his friend would be able to hold down the fort in his stead. Of course, seeing as how they were both disciplined and mature teachers the scar-faced individual with the ponytail really didn't think he had anything to worry about, and hence dismissed any further concerns on the matter. What he had to focus on now was the more pressing issue standing before him, "As for you, young man, you and I need to have a little chat regarding your absence from this morning's lecture…"
"Oh no," Naruto murmured with slumping shoulders. "Let me guess… detention?"
"As much as I'd 'love' to doll out some more chores for you to do as penalty for your actions, seeing as that this time you were actually doing something productive outside of class I'm going to let your little offense slide," Iruka said, before reaching out and grabbing the boy by the ear. The blonde let out a yelp of pain when he found his full weight and body being dragged down the road by his precious lobe. He was forced to stumble along at an incredibly fast pace to keep up with his smirking teacher. "Right now I'm more interested in putting those impressive and supposedly honed skills of yours to the test."
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey! Be careful, Iruka-sensei! You're going to rip my ear off!"
"Well then, if you don't want to have your entire brain pulled out of your head through the side then hurry up. We don't have all day."
"OW! S-Slow down! Where are you taking me?"
"Back to the academy," Iruka said with a playful grin. He looked down at his student just in time to see tears of anguish welling up in his eyes as he glared back up at him defiantly. "It's nearly second period… and you know what that means don't you?"
Taking a moment to think as he was dragged across the dirt against his will, Naruto blinked several times before a pained smirk came across his face.
"T-Taijutsu practice?"
"Exactly. It's free picks today, so you can choose whoever you want to be your part-"
"The village idiot Sasuke!" Naruto shouted immediately before his teacher had a chance to finish.
The man let out an amused and exhausted sigh, "I was going to recommend Choji, but sure. Why not?" Iruka looked ahead of him again with a doubtful grimace. "Just try to take it seriously this time."
"I'll try… but… your lectures are always so boring."
"Oh are they now?" Iruka asked while suddenly twisting the boy's ear, earning a yelp of agony. "Would you care to review that assessment? I don't think it was a very accurate or fair survey of my teaching methods."
"Ow! Ow! Ow! But it's true, sensei! I'm not going to lie about something like that!"
Iruka grinned sinisterly. "We'll see how long you'll be able to keep up that tough-guy act of yours once I have you scrubbing toilets with your tongue."
Well. Naruto wanted kicking and screaming; so he got kicking and screaming.