Spoiler:

A warm sunny day meant that the students at the local schools would be taking swim classes again. Not that they didn't do swimming when it cooled down for the winter; it never got that cold down in the village, but most of the local pools where either river fed, modified hot springs, or indoors. The indoor pools would close this time of year for repairs and upgrade cause everyone wanted to enjoy the springs and rivers; the snow melt from the mountains was delightfully cool by the time it reached the local areas, and the springs where always a nice stable temperature. Now the the sun was warm, and the breeze warmer, it was perfect time to be outside.

He reported to the academy with a bunch of other Genin that where going to help chaperone the various classes. He was going with one of the older classes, one that didn't need as much help. They already had a teacher's aide, a Chuunin that was going to be a teacher the next year, so they only needed one more adult to watch the dozen or so kids. Thankfully, they where taking them to one of the nearby parks instead of across town to the springs; the park had one of the larger rivers and several of it's tributaries running through it, and the village had roped off several of them to serve as swimming areas for kids and adults. A good part of the park was closed off to the public so that the academy could use it safely; they where running field events, ninja trials, and swimming classes and events all day, and needed the room.

"Alright class. You know the drill, change out and line up."

A chorus of groans and whines signaled the start of the class; the kids just wanted free swim, or to go do the races and other fun stuff for the day. However, they where getting their 'class' for the day done early, so they'd have more time to have fun later on. Not that a bunch of 10 year olds cared, but whatever. So long as they did their laps and the sensei signed his mission papers, Hiroyuki didn't give a damn if they whined.

He positioned himself up on one of the lifeguard chairs they had set up; they weren't the permanent ones you saw at most pools; these where special portable ones they had special for days like this. They where little more than raised platform structures that the various adults and ninja could use for lookouts and springboards just in case something happened; as well as for speakers that needed to get up high to be seen and heard.

The kids lined up as told at the edge of the river, at a spot deep enough to safely dive, but not so deep that they where in much danger. The water itself was crystal clear, which made things easier on everyone. There where special seals up river that trapped debris and cleaned the dirt and other small particulate matter out of the water long before it reached the park; keeping it clean, clear, and safe for everyone. You could easily see the river bottom, and that way no one could disappear if they got caught on something underwater. Hiro had been given a small whistle to use, he was supposed to start the laps. A sharp burst of air had the whistle calling out shrilly, and the first set of 5 kids diving into the water to do their laps. They had to finish 6 full laps to 'finish' the class. It was basically a way to show off that they had built of their swimming ability and power enough to swim moderately long distances with special weights attached to their wrists and ankles.

10 minutes later, the slowest of the bunch finally finished his last lap, and the next group lined up. A burst of the whistle sent them diving in for their trials. This batch was faster, the slowest of them only needed 6 minutes to finish, and that was because he was working short an arm, due to an injury and the way the arm was bandaged. He was a superb swimmer normally, that was the only reason he was still allowed to do trials, because he'd proven he was strong enough even injured to handle them.

Another burst, and the last kids where in the water; they were the odd men out of the groups and basically racing each other for the giggles. They dicked around a bit, but still finished in decent time, 6 minutes each. Not bad for young kids. Their sensei herded them up and passed them off to the next teacher in charge, they'd be doing track and field events for a while now. Hiroyuki hopped down from the structure while they where busy herding the next group in and hit up the teacher in charge, getting the signature for his mission completion and moving on to the next one. He'd be collecting several of these over the course of the day, so he needed to get moving to his next assignment.

872/600