Chapter 1
"Liar! Liar! Liar!"
"I'm not lying! I swear!"
"You know what happens to liars, Umino."
"No, please! I'm NOT lying!"
"Help me! Help, someone! Someone please help me!"
"Iruka, help us! Call him off!"
"Don't you even look at my Ru-kun. Filthy human scum."
"Oh Kami…the blood…"
"AAAA!"
"…I can taste it…blood…my friends…y…you killed them…"
"I did it for you, Ru-kun."
"NO! NO NO NO NO!"
"R, Ru-kun! Don't leave! Please, come back! I'm sorry!"
"No you're not! You Bakamono!"
"Ru-kun!"
"NOOO!"
"Iruka-sensei?"
"Ah!" The 23 year old Iruka Umino jumped with a start, clutching at his chest, darting frantic hazel eyes towards the intruder. Only to see his pale faced, pale haired colleague. He released a deep breath on a sigh, softening his features with a relieved smile. "Mizuki-sensei. You startled me."
"I can see that." He chuckled, and pulled a chair up to his desk. The two men had known each other for about a year now, both having graduated from different universities and come to teach at the same secondary school. Mizuki taught physics, where Iruka taught English. "Damn it Iruka, you've been like this for weeks now. why are you so jumpy?"
"No reason, Mizuki. Just a little stressed, I guess."
"I should say so, with all the work you've been doing lately. Every weekend you're marking papers 12 hours a day, and teaching here during the day during the week. When was the last time you had a break?!"
"…before I entered university?" Mizuki stared at him, and narrowed his eyes at him.
"Then you better get your bag packed, as you're going on the school strip next week."
"M Mizuki, I can't." Iruka gulped, his honey tanned hands trembling on his knees under the table. If only his black breeches could have restricted the shaking of his knees, or his long sleeved woolly green jumper suppress the chill running down his spine. He forced a grin, and chuckled. "Besides, that staff list went out months ago, ne?"
"Hai. And I put your name on it." Mizuki smirked, but Iruka paled.
Damn.
At times, Mizuki was a cunning little devil. "Me and you are heading the trip."
"H who else is going?" Iruka gulped, fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach as he thought of it.
A few months back, a letter had been addressed to him.
Now, this in itself wasn't too odd. Just getting mail sent to you at home isn't strange on post day. But the letter wasn't on a piece of paper, but an old rolled up scroll in a leather cylinder, with a strange black wax seal on it. He later discovered the Kanji pressed into the wax meant 'wolf'. The letter itself was written in a sharp style of handwriting…in red ink. For a scary moment, he thought it was blood. But that was preposterous. Who would write a letter in blood?
The contents of the letter was a very complimentary invitation for him to take a class up to the letter writer's residence for an educational trip, spanning over 2 weeks in the next half term, where they could learn of the historical relevance of their town from the most preserved architectural building left in the area.
On the front of it, putting aside the eerie appearance of the letter, it seemed a very educational beneficial excuse to get his students out of the stuffy classrooms and into a lush mansion for 2 weeks after a string of very taxing exams. They deserved time off, and this would be the perfect thing.
And Iruka grinned, seeing it as an excuse for him to get a holiday too.
Until he saw the name of the mansion.
The Biju Estate.
The Biju Estate.
Iruka felt like he'd been smacked in the face, dropping the scroll to the floor in his kitchen, and cowering back against his counter, staring at it with horror.
For 10 years, he'd been able to ignore the existence of that looming mansion 5 blocks away from him. Out of sight, out of mind. For 10 years, he'd never heard or seen that name.
But now, there it was, staring at him in sinister red 'ink', inviting old memories to surface to the brink of his sanity. He could hear the 13 year old version of himself screaming in horror, his legs feeling weak, recollecting their strained effort to carry him as far from that place as fast as they could.
He tried to ignore the scroll, leaving it on his kitchen table, only to find out that an identical scroll had been sent to the headmaster of his school.
And Iruka had been named.
He had been personally requested to escort the trip, and the headmaster approved it.
That fool probably saw educational trip, no fee, and approved it immediately.
It had taken some high class wriggling out of that one, saying he had too much work to do.
But if Mizuki had signed him up after all this time without telling him…
"Gai-sensei is going too. He's got nothing better to do now that his physical exams are over, so he, being the 'ever enthusiastic little helper' volunteered himself. Let me see…" Mizuki closed his eyes in thought, and Iruka gulped deeply.
This was it. There was no way of escaping going back there now his friend had unknowingly doomed him. "Kurenai-sensei said she'd go if Asuma-sensei went. You know, so they could 'share a room to save money'. Pah! Who are they kidding, ay Iruka-sensei?"
"Heh…heh…yeah…" Iruka sweatdropped, and averted his eyes.
A sudden flash of silver hair, jutted in spikes to one side, and a warm coal eye curved with a welcoming smile flashed into his head, and a rich voice hushed in his memory.
"Well hello there. Would you like to come in little one?"
"Iruka-sensei?"
Again, Iruka jumped, and forced a weak chuckle.
"Hai?"
"It's Friday. You just have a the next lesson, then you get to go home, do no work, rest this weekend, and meet the coach in the school car park on Monday morning. It's not difficult. I'll even wait for you outside, if you like."
"Daijoubu, I'll be there." Mizuki raised a brow at him, and Iruka punctuated his innocence with a chuckle.
"Alright, but if you don't, I'll make the coach stop outside your house and drag you on it. You deserve a break, Iruka. And as your friend, I intend to make sure you get one."
"Hai hai, I understand." Iruka ran a hand back over his head, wishing he hadn't tied his shoulder length chocolate brown hair back in a practical pigtail, so he could tangle his fingers in it. For some reason, it felt good to ruffle your hair when you're stressed.
"Alight. Well, I'll see you later then." Mizuki got up, in perfect sync with the bell for last lesson. "See you later."
"See ya."
As his pale haired friend left his classroom, he was immediately replaced with the steady stream of pupils for his English class.
Iruka released a deep breath, professionally pushing his personal issues aside to conduct his lesson, and flicked through his lesson planner.
He got to his register, and raised his head to the class, beaming like he always did. "Ohayo class.
"Ohayo Iruka-sensei." They all chorused, and he smiled at them.
"Aburame Shino?"
"Hai."
"Akimichi Choji?"
"Konichiwa."
"Haruno Sakura?"
"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka looked up and nodded a smile at his bubblegum pink haired pupil. Sakura, always smiling, his brightest student.
"Hyuuga Hinata?"
"…hai sensei."
"Hyuuga Neji?
"Hai."
"Inuzuka Kiba?"
"Hai!"
"Rock Lee?"
"Hai Iruka-sensei!" His most enthusiastic student jumped up and punched the air.
"Nara Shikamaru?"
"Hai." His laziest student droned on his desk.
"Tenten?"
"Hai sensei."
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Hn." Iruka looked up, and frowned. Once again Sasuke had sat himself strategically dead centre in the middle row of the class room, his chin perched on interlocked fingers, his elbows supporting him on the desk, and his keen onyx eyes locked on him. that boy seriously worried him, with his icy aloof attitude, yet brilliant grades. If it wasn't for his academic record, Iruka would have sent him to the headmaster's office for a nice long chat about…everything. Although, I suppose it might be his new style, this 'emo' thing that's going round these days.
"And Yamanaka Ino?"
"Hai sensei." She sighed dreamily, gazing doe eyed at the young Uchiha by her side. Sakura then glared from the other side of Sasuke, and tried to get Sasuke's attention instead. But he ignored them both, used to this fan-girl treatment after so many years of it.
"Right, well." Iruka coughed into his hand, and beamed at them all. "I have some good news." I suppose. "I'll be leading the class trip next week." There was an eruption of cheers from the class, and Iruka had to smile despite his increasingly queasy stomach. It seems his class were looking forward to this far more than he was.
Well, that was obvious for obvious reasons…
"Alright! I was worried about it just being Strict Mizuki and purvey Gai!" Kiba barked a laugh, only to have Lee punch his arm.
"I would be perfectly happy having Gai-sensei lead our trip!"
"Yeah, you would, Lee." Kiba purred suggestively, only to receive another whack over the head from Tenten.
"Don't be an ass, Kiba." But she was smirking, and Iruka had to stand up to get them to quiet down again.
Though he agreed with them. Gai, the maniac PE teacher was a little too enthusiastic towards his job. He liked his students a little too much…
But deep down, he was a good guy, so Iruka gave him his respect.
And a wide berth.
"So, you know about the arrangements, I assume?"
"Sensei!"
"Hai Sakura-chan?" Iruka sat on the edge of his desk, preferring the more personal on their level kind of approach to teaching. He put his hands over the knees of his jeans and waited with a patient smile.
"We are to all meet at 7am in the front car park, where our bags will be loaded onto the coach, and we will all be seated and go straight to the mansion on to Konoha avenue and up Hokage drive. I've seen that place a few times, sensei. It looks really cool!"
"I looks haunted, Sakura." Ino smirked at her pink haired rival, who sneered at her instantly.
"No it isn't. There's no such thing as ghosts. Isn't that right sensei?"
Iruka blinked, and picked up his planner. Doing what he was doing a lot recently.
A topic swerve.
"Today we shall be looking into different examples of discourse in everyday speech."
oo00oo
Nothing was worse for keeping something secret, than being in a room full of 17 year olds. Sure, the smaller kids were stubborn and nosey, but they weren't perceptive enough to know whether something was being covered up or bothering their sensei.
Unlike 17-year-old Sasuke, who seemed to raise his brow at Iruka too many times to be normal (for Sasuke) in one hour.
But Iruka pushed that aside, choosing instead to drive home as quickly as possible (and safe), blunder into his cosy little flat and sprint up the stairs to his apartment on the top floor.
It consisted of a living room, a corner kitchen, a bathroom, and single bedroom.
Ok, so it's basic. For now, it's all I need. Iruka sighed contently, ignoring the piles and piles of paperwork on his living room Kotatsu, dumped his satchel by the locked door, and walked straight into his kitchen.
Ice cream.
Ice cream would solve all his problems.
Iruka chuckled, pulling a carton of his favourite ice cream, cookie dough chocolate chip, and poising a spoon above it. He brought one mouth watering scoop of it to his tongue, and sank in his chair with a delighted moan.
Oh yes, ice cream solved any illness, physical and mental.
So his stress just ebbed away from him as he dug through the carton.
But like any suppressant, it soon wore off, making him think about the very thing he managed to forget for all of 20 blissful minutes.
He was going back there, after 10 years.
"I'm sure the new owner will be very nice and informative about the local heritage." He tried, but it still didn't wash. How on earth would a new owner know him, by name, where he worked, and who he worked for? Not to mention his address.
But a ghost wouldn't know any of those things either. He…he couldn't still be there. I was a stupid little kid!
Iruka growled, throwing the empty carton in the bin and pulling his chocolate brown hair from his bobble. It fell by his shoulders, and at last, he ran his hands back through them. He then smoothed his hands over his face, pinching at the scared ridge of his nose, and tracing it with his I was 13. Of course something scary like that would make me think of monsters and ghosts. I was just a kid, and that was just a very scary…experience…in my head…like Dr Orochimaru said, all in my head…