Curse of the Moon, Secrets of a Teacher

"Iruka Umino, you need to take care of this wound, you're lucky the nurse could take out all the silver before it became serious." The Sandaime looked at the young sensei that was lying on his stomach.

"I'm aware Hokage." The current Hokage looked down at the young teacher before him. Questions raced through his mind, but he knew the answers to all of them. He could always read the expressions on the young man's face.

"He knew."

Silence and a few tears that streaked down the chunin's face was his only answer. They both knew that this situation could have turned out to be far worse, if it wasn't for the academy teacher's keen senses. They both knew that the young boy with the sky blue eyes and an odd obsession with orange would have been killed, if it wasn't for Iruka.

"Will Naruto be punished?" Iruka turned his chocolate brown gaze to the dark wise one. He hoped that the young boy would never be punished; it would be unfair to a child who only knew suffering.

"No, Naruto helped catch a traitor; he is a young hero in my eyes." The Hokage offered the academy teacher a warm smile and sat down gently next to him. "Is Mizuki the only one that knows?"

"No one knows about me besides you and your sons." Iruka looked away once more from the kind gaze of a man he loved as family. "I… I can't believe, he would do something like this. I thought I could trust him."

"I know this is difficult for you, but Mizuki was only using you since the very beginning. You are a kind person, with a big heart, a terrible loss, and in your eyes a horrifying secret. He took advantage of that and turned against you." The Sandaime rubbed the younger man's back gently, keeping away from the fresh wound in a comforting notion. "There are many people in this village who care about you and who would never betray your trust. Don't let one person's actions destroy your kind nature."

Iruka smiled up at him and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the feeling of the man's comforting hand on his back, and the general warmth that was the Sandaime. They both stayed there for a little while, enjoying each other's silent company.

"This will scar you know, because of the silver." Iruka let out a shaky chuckle and smiled up at the Hokage.

"I think I should tell Naruto." The Hokage knew that this statement was more of a request for permission. He smiled and shook the mocha strands of the young teacher.

"I think you should tell your secret to whomever you like, Iruka. Not all people will betray your trust, and if anyone can understand your situation, it would be that troublesome kid."

"You sound just like a lazy student of mine. That Nara boy is always saying the word 'troublesome' like Asuma smokes cigarettes." The statement about his son and his horrible habit made the Sandaime give a hearty chuckle.

"Yes, I believe my son will have an interesting time with Shikamaru in his genin team." Iruka smiled at the thought of the smoker having to deal with someone as difficult and lazy as the young genin. "Although it might be good for him, he spends too much time chasing after Kurenai."

"So his crush never went away then." Iruka smiled at the memories of a younger Asuma being constantly turned down by the beautiful ninja.

"You know, it wouldn't be bad for you to have a relationship. It could be healthy seeing a woman who is older than twelve." Iruka rolled his eyes but the smile did not fade.

"With his temper, the woman would have to be crazy." Iruka rolled his eyes as the subject of their previous conversation walked in. Asuma stood next to his father and looked up and down the teacher's bandaged back. "That's going to leave a wicked looking scar. I'm guessing Mizuki used a weapon with silver in it."

"Yeah, I suppose. Is the package for me?" Asuma gave Iruka a smile before handing over the container to him. He then helped the teacher into a sitting position careful not to touch the still healing wound on his back.

"You better enjoy that kid; I got the best from the Akimichi clan." Iruka smiled and set the contents in his lap and opened the white container slowly enjoying the smell of raw meat. He took a few bites and enjoyed the taste. "You know I'll never get used to the disgusting look of a human eating raw meat."

Iruka gave him a sharp glare between bites of his meal, but never said anything more. His body was demanding food to replenish the energy it lost in trying to distract the silver from his back. Asuma gave a good chuckle and turned to look at his father. He noticed that the old man seemed tired as he usually did, but he had a small smile on his face. They were both relieved to find out that the teacher wasn't killed by last night's events, and that the only thing wrong with him would be the wound on his back.

"Well, I would hate to leave you, but I must discuss last night's events with the village elders and council." Sandaime once again ruffled Iruka's hair and turned his gaze towards his son. Asuma looked back, and they both understood the clear understanding that Iruka would need more than just physical healing.

"Have a good rest of the day Sandaime." Iruka watched the Hokage leave the room while Asuma watched him. He noticed that because of the silver in the weapon he was healing much slower than usual and that whenever he moved his arms he would wince and then tries to hide it.

"Iruka, if you ever need anything at all, you know I'm here for you; even if I have to scratch behind your ears and buy you the most expensive raw meat in the village." Iruka glared at him but the smile on his face never went away.

"Thanks Asuma." They sat in a comfortable silence while Iruka ate his meal. When he was finished he put the container back in the bag and slowly turned around to lie on his stomach once more. The jounin took this as his cue to leave and started walking out the door.

"Bye Kid, try not to scare away any of the pretty nurses with that temper of yours." Asuma gave him a warm smile and turned around.

"Kurenai told me she always wanted a small window box to hold flowers outside her apartment window." Asuma stopped and turned around at the now smirking chunin. "Her favorite color is also red, and she likes poppies." Iruka laughed at the flustered looking smoker and gave him a small chuckle. "I may have a bad temper, but with your looks and bad habits you need all the help you can get." Asuma glared at Iruka and gave him the middle figure which only caused the teacher to laugh more.

"See you in the usual place in three days Iruka. Don't be late." The teacher gave a tired smile before lying back down and falling into a deep sleep.

…

"You know there is a monster that teaches at the academy, not as bad as that demon-fox brat, but just as deadly." Mizuki looked to his cell mate with a wicked grin on his face. He looked to the other side of the cell to see the guard who was giving the talking pair his full intention.

"Who the hell are you talking about new guy? If there really was someone deadly teaching the children wouldn't they be here right next to your sorry ass?" The prisoner looked at his new white haired cell mate with annoyance. If the new guy wanted a guard to listen to his ramblings he shouldn't have picked the wicked purple haired female.

"The teacher that helped brought me down and protected the fox brat." Mizuki stopped to look over at the guard stationed and noticed that she tilted her head towards them just a tiny bit. "He was attacked back when we were all genin. He wasn't in the same team as I was, but he told me all his secrets a few months ago. The guy is a monster and a killer, and he teaches children!"

Anko Mitarashi leaned into the conversation going on between her former classmate and the other criminal. Normally she wouldn't care about such ploys for her attention, but she knew Iruka from the academy days. She also currently worked with his sensei from his genin days.

"If he is so deadly, why the hell hasn't the Hokage killed the fucker?" The criminal was now as interested as the guard was.

"Because he has the Hokage wrapped around his finger. Think about it, he probably convinced the senile old man that he could be of some use and to keep him alive. Plus, he was a kid when it happened to him and we all know that the Sandaime has a soft spot for brats." Anko rolled her eyes at Mizuki's speech, but she couldn't help finding herself more and more interested about what he said. They were talking about Iruka. The bi-polar, shy sensei with amazing aim and the funniest blush she had ever seen. There was no way a wan like that could be a monster, let alone keep a secret that he was one.

"So is he like the demon fox?" Mizuki gave the criminal a wolfish grin and turned to see that his plan was working. He had the guard listening to his every word.

"No, unlike the little brat he doesn't have a seal on him to keep the monster at bay. The guy told me that the monster would come out whenever he let his emotions take over him, and three times a month when the moon is at its fullest." Anko widened her eyen in shock. If anything Mizuki said was true, then Iruka certainly did suffer from something extremely horrific, and dangerous. She had only learned about it in advanced training, and from old files of prisoners she had to read for her job.

"That is enough yapping you two, lights out for everyone." Anko quickly went and got a different guard to hold her place. She needed answers, and the only place she could get them was from her boss. She walked to his office in determination and opened the door.

"Anko, I thought I had you on guard duty as a punishment for last week." Ibiki Morino raised a scared eyebrow and gave her a fierce glare.

"Not know Ibiki, I need answers on why the hell that fucker Mizuki is calling Iruka a monster." Anko had her fists curled and they were shaking. In her mind no one had the right to call anyone a monster. Especially Iruka who was always kind to her even after she returned from Orochimaru's clutches.

"I was afraid Mizuki might know the truth, it would explain the silver." He motioned for his subordinate to sit down in the chair across from his own. "Anko, you must understand that word cannot get out about this, it would ruin the kid's life."

"So it's all true then, what Mizuki said about Iruka. That he is a monster." Anko felt slightly hurt from all the information that was kept from her.

"That kid is not and never will be a monster." Ibiki sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. This whole situation was becoming more and more complicated by the minute. "I'm only going to tell you the basics about the situation and nothing else. If the kid wants to tell you, then he will tell you. But none of what I'm going to tell you leaves this room. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir." Anko got herself in a more comfortable position and helped herself to the tea that was available at her superior's desk.

"I'll start from the beginning…"

Author's Note:

So I've recently rejoined the crazy ride that is Naruto. I've decided to write this little story because Iruka is one of my favorite characters and I have an obsession with werewolves. I'm not sure if I am going to add any pairings yet, or if I'll add a second main character to the story. I do want to get to the time skip to when Naruto is more bad ass and Tsunade comes in because she is just plain awesome. I don't have a beta so please excuse my mistakes and let me know about them. I'm also a little rusty on cannon so if I get something majorly wrong let me know, but this story will probably follow most of canon and take place during the time skip. I'm not sure yet (haha, indecisive author is indecisive.) So please leave a review, and if you have any comments or suggestions for the story let me know in the review! THANKS :D