Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I write this piece of fiction for entertainment
purpose only. I do not make any money with it.
It should be raining.
There should be a dark storm, ripping apart the houses as the pain tore apart his heart.
It was Oktober the eleventh.
The Kyuubi was dead; people were celebrating, because they had finally killed it.
For Iruka, a ball of sunshine had been slaughtered.
Why is the sun shining?
One of its rays is dead.
Shouldn't it be hiding away in the clouds?
The village of Konoha was bustling with life.
They were happily telling each other the news.
Iruka had this morning been physically restrained from strangling a parent by Izumo, as the mother had asked him, if he wasn't happy to know that his class had been freed from the demon.
He clenched his teeth, banning the image from the woman and the scene last night from his mind.
As he wandered towards the grave, noises became quieter. When Iruka stepped through the gates of the graveyard, they had faded.
No sound disturbed the peace of the dead. It was as quiet as it had been in his sleep.
The Medic's had given him a sedative, as Iruka had broken down, at the sight of the lifeless body.
Naruto's corpse had been buried in a hurry, as many would have loved to experiment with it.
Now, on the next day, the chuunin was wandering up and down the rows of the graveyard, begging Kami that he would not find his student in the area of the outcasts.
There was already no place on the stone of heroes for the jailor of the Kyubi, so Iruka pleaded to Kami that he had at least been given a place in the area of the graveyard and not been hidden under soiled earth behind the fence.
Where the skeletons were not taken out, but left to rot.
Where new corpses were dumped in the same pits as the old, bones mixing until neither resting place nor names could be recalled.
Naruto's grave was just on the border.
It still had a grave stone, but the grass hadn't been cut in months, only fresh earth, where the hole had been dug last night.
There were glass shards and the smell of alcohol and cold smoke hung in the air.
Iruka cleaned the spot, put down his flowers and started burning the incense.
Kneeling on the soft, moist earth the parental figure of the child tried to structure his thoughts, but again and again the thoughts slipped through his fingers.
Finally he just started to talk, letting the thoughts flow.
"Gomenasai Naruto,
I should have invited you that night, than I would have been there…" Something started to choke Iruka, he tried to swallow, and taking a deep breath he continued: "I should have been faster, faster to help you, faster to understand, that you need help… I should have been there to help you…"
Against all rules and years of training tears welled up and Iruka bit his tongue.
"Gomenasai Naruto…"
Unable to stay any longer, to stay at this grave he fled.
Not caring who saw him, he took off through the streets, guilt gnawing at his gut, pain tearing at his heart.
Streets rushed by, noises and colours faded until it was all background noise, not important.
When Iruka finally reached his flat, he could not tell how he had gotten there. Tears were running down his cheeks. His hands were shaking badly as he fumbled with the keys and when he finally got the keys to fit in the lock, he just grabbed the dusted sake bottle in the cabinet under the sink and fell on the futon.
Tonight he needed to forget; the Chunin took a long swallow, feeling the liquor burning a path down his throat; alone.
This night, the first nightmare began.
This night, Kyubi let all hell loose on Konoha.
Again he saw his parents, house, collapsing in flames.
They engulfed him, burning his skin.
There were these blue eyes, a vibrant blue, but cold, fixated him with an empty look.
Iruka's legs crumbled, pressing his knees against the melting floor, slowly sinking in.
A bloody hole where the seal had been….
If Naruto had known,
If Iruka had told him…
He started sinking…
If he had known, he would have fled…
"But I didn't know Iruka-sensei." Cold fingers caressed his skin.
The burning magma crawled higher, inch by inch.
"Had you told me…"
The fires shot up, swallowing the corpse, the floor opening up…
Iruka fell…
…and woke to the stars, shining in the night.
During day, Naruto never let Iruka alone.
In class, he sat there, making faces at him.
By Ishiraku, he begged for a bowl of ramen.
During the sparring with Izumo, he stared at Iruka, pointing at him, asking; why hadn't his teacher used this knowledge to rescue him?
It was by chance Iruka discovered a remedy.
After class, instead of tutoring, Iruka headed for the training rounds. He worked for hours on end, exhausting himself. None of his partners showed up and so he could push himself as far as he wanted,
When Iruka fell down on his futon, after he barely made it home, dreamless sleep was his reward.
Trouble with his friends followed during the next weeks, because in order to train enough and not be held back, when the others thought he pushed himself too far, Iruka pushed them away.
Their faces just reminded him about the mistakes he had made anyway.
But some were more stubborn.
Izumo never really gave up, until, one day...
One afternoon, after classes Iruka was now found most often in the bibliotheca, two chuunin interrupted his copying of ninjutsu and taijutsu movements from various scrolls.
The teacher's old techniques didn't push him far enough anymore. He needed to expand his knowledge.
Suddenly, a shadow fell across his paper.
Annoyed Iruka looked up. He would have to hurry to make ends meet in his routine already.
Kotetsu grinned down at him.
"Ohayo Iruka! How's life?"
The brown haired Chuunin had to suppress a snort. Too close. They were too close. Their chakra leaning towards him. Touching, probing his. After the ghosts' cold, lifeless presence it was stifling.
"Quite fine, thank you Kotetsu."
"Great. So, in the rusty Kunai, there's a party tonight. Anko is paying for the first round."
Their presence alone was choking him, why couldn't they leave him alone?
"Thank you, but I've got quite a…"
Kotetsu cut him off. "Oh come on Iruka! You haven't been out in months! The parents are starting to complain about your teaching. "
"Yes, you look quite troubled lately. Taking three weeks to return a pop quiz? That's not your style Iruka. " Chipped Kotetsu in, he was the one leaning over Iuka's table and blocking the light.
Anger started to boil up in Iruka. Troubled, what did they know? They didn't see a boy following them. A boy they could have saved. There were no nightmares for them.
"Come on, the prices are half price till two…"Izumo cajoled. "We will even help you grade those papers from the last class test so you can go. Come on Iruka."
A tendril of chakra brushed across his skin. It was too close, too hot.
"I said NO!"
Hands slammed down on the table. As Iruka rose Kotetsu pulled away.
His yell let the hall freeze.
People stopped whispering and stared at the group in the island of desks in the middle of the hall.
Kotetsu stared at him. Not caring about the commotion he grabbed Izumo and proceeded to drag him away.
The warmth of their presence fled with them.
Iruka stared straight ahead, cold sweat clung to his skin. Naruto stood on the spot Izumo had just vacated.
Blond hair, matted with blood, blood on his hands, where he had pressed on the wounds, knowing he was too late.
Iruka started to choke on his breath, lungs heaving before he fled the hall.
He sought out the emptiness of his apartment.
Again, his eyes started burning; his hands were shaking as they crumbled the paper in his hands, hot, salty tears smearing black ink. He let himself fall on his futon, tasting the stale air he curled inwards. His finger clenched, hitting the floor he sobbed.
Now that they were gone, he missed their presence. What had seemed overpowering before he needed now.
Iruka shivered, pulling a blanket across his shoulders. He was cold.
"I'm sorry… Kotetsu…Izumo…"
This day, Iruka's sensei stood next to the clearing in the forest, where Iruka had fled from prying yes.
Half hidden bay the bushes, half hidden by the falling rain he watched him, anger lurking beneath the calm demeanour.
It was to such an argument, that his sensei had died, because the Genin hadn't been able to work together.
The next day, the brown haired man was stuck with Kotetsu in the mission room.
Icy cold was between them
Iruka was mostly handling the scrolls, sorting them through, making sure reports and descriptions were filled out properly and such.
It was good work, since it occupied him and didn't allow his mind to wander.
It was just in lunch break, when Iruka sorted a stack of new missions from the Hokage's secretary into the stacks mission room, a voice spoke up in his head.
"Why didn't you come?"
His hands started shaking. Naruto sat on the desk, bloodied, broken fingers playing with his torn trousers; a smile was firmly set on his face. It had always been there when he had come barging into the mission room to bug Iruka, only now his eyes were dead, staring right ahead, not focusing on anything.
Iruka's hands went limp, the scrolls falling out of his hands, rolling all over the floor of the room.
The sound of laugher shook Iruka out of his daze. As steps came towards the room he bend down quickly to retrieve the scrolls. He noticed that the red wax-seal of the Hokage, the kanji for fire, which was placed on al high ranking missions, had broken.
As Iruka picked the scroll up it opened. The mission was about a group of robbers, threatening a small town.
His fingers tightened, breath coming in short puffs.
On their last attack, they had burned down the schoolhouse, endangering the lives of the village's children in their demand for money.
He raised his head, brown eyes meeting blue for the first time since that fatefull day.
His pupil, nodded. "Prove it Sensei, prove that you are strong, prove it to me, that you just didn't know, that you were not too weak to help me."
Without a second thought Iruka put his signature down, filled out the paperwork and put the files in the respective drawers.
Then he walked over to the locked shelves in the back of the storeroom.
All missions above B-rank were kept there. Only the staff on duty had a key. Iruka put the scroll back, for one moment he was glad for the argument with Kotetsu. Usually Iruka would have needed his partner with him to confirm nothing had gone missing, but as this was hardly legal the chuunin couldn't care less.
The paperwork was filled out, explaining he was on a mission and since it was all finished no one was going to bother asking what kind of mission it was.
When someone discovered the mission had already been assigned, it would be thought of as a mistake, because, who would assign an A-rank mission to a chuunin?
Iruka smiled sadly. Naruto was on the desk again, but now his gaze seemed to be less accusing, his presence not so hurtful anymore.
Soon Iruka would be reunited with him. Soon he would be able to explain.
With a soft thud, the door closed, Iruka's coffee mug standing forgotten on his desk.
After a trip to the village on the border to wind country Iruka had bunkered down in a cheap hotel, mattress worn thin, bathroom towels clean but threadbare.
To find someone to talk to was hard, people keeping to themselves, quiet and afraid, but a charming smile went a long way to lighten up their mood and soon enough an old woman recalled two men becoming too wealthy without reason.
The first was a dead lead, drug smuggle was a crime, but not the one Iruka was after, not the one the ghost of the dead boy was after. The ghost, who still trailed Iruka's heels.
The second man though, was a success.
He took a walk to the next cheap bar the men visited frequently. Soon enough, the guy waltzed in and proceeded to get thoroughly wasted.
The air was thick and smoke from cigarettes and cheap oil lamps burned in everyone's throat and eyes.
Voices started to rise, fighting for Iruka's attention, but he clung to the lipps of his target.
"So there they were, three of them against eight others, all enemies full fledged shinobi, armed to their teeth. "
The man swayed in his seat. "And you know what theses dammed useless ninja did?"
"Shut up you drunkard!" Said a dark haired, small, but lean framed man. He was obviously fed up with his companion.
"They just were beaten! See buddy? It would be better to just pay Enzi and his guys. Then you would end like me!"
With a roaring laughter he drowned his cup, while the modestly clad man next to him stood up and headed for another table. In the smoke filled room.
"That's right." Iruka handed the thin waitress a coin and stood up. "They would end, just like you will."
Following the bragging drunk out of the bar, he waited for his chance.
After a couple of turns in the maze of the small alleys he body-checked his suspect and Iruka pressed a kunai at his throat.
As the shinobi's knee was digging in his back the man didn't dare to move.
"You have got two choices. Either you tell me, where this Enzi is, or I inject you with some poisons and wait till you do."
The cold metal bit his skin and drew blood. It was ridiculous how easy it was to make this man talk.
He had been prepared to hide out in the woods for days if necessary, but this subject broke down just by hearing the threat looming over his head.
In less than an hour the ninja had all the information he needed.
One deep cut and a doton jutsu later earth had swallowed up the remains and Iruka pushed himself forward.
It was time. Time he realized, to show Naruto that he was strong, that his teacher was capable of protecting, even if it had needed the death of his student to find out.
Five miles south from the city the main trading route had a small path to the right. It was hard to spot, since it was hidden by foliages and was hardly more than an animal track in the soil.
Iruka stopped.
The scent of smoke drafted through the air. His brow furrowed. What is going on?
Pausing for a moment Iruka kept the path in range of his vision and started to jog. It was time to prove himself and Naruto he could protect his village.
Smoke and ash invaded his senses.
Where a roaring fire had been before, there was silence now.
Tora sat up. He winced, as his ribs complained loudly. His vision had gotten blurry. When the ANBU tried to push himself up to his feet he slipped. A large, dark puddle had formed around him, making the loose soil muddy.
He held his breath, ignoring the bite from his burn wounds.
Someone was coming.
Would one of the bandits be so dumb to come back?
But the person, coming into his field of vision wore a ninja-vest.
So he's at least Chuunin.
The man crouched before he reached the end of the trees, stopping right where the explosion had left the trees unscathed.
His hitai-ate reflected the moon. Tora smiled under his scorched mask.
It wore the leaf symbol.
"Comrade"
Iruka jumped as someone called him. Bringing his kunai high he turned round.
In the pale moonlight he couldn't spot anyone at first, until one of the corpses moved.
Iruka inched closer. He couldn't detect any genjutsu and the wounds in his chest were real. The Chuunin could hear the blood in his lungs.
An ANBU mask covered his face.
Tora saw the young man jump and come slowly closer.
"I didn't know any other Konoha shinobi was assigned to this area."
Guilt showed on the Chuunin's face, but to his defence Tora had to admit, that he hid it quickly.
"You are still loyal to our village?"
No lie showed on the Chuunin's face as he nodded. "My loyalty to Konohagakure no Sato will never fall."
His voice was strong and steady. Tora smiled behind his mask.
"That's good to hear. You have to hurry."
"I understand."
As the newcomer crouched down and started to form the signs for medical nin-jutsu Tora started laughing, which ended in a coughing fit.
He could taste the blood on his lips.
"Don't bother. My blood loss is too high and my chakra too low."
Iruka stopped the chakra he had gathered was released into his body than he understood.
He wants me to finish his mission, or deliver something.
This was not unheard of, when wounded, ninja often transferred missions to available comrades.
"What shall I do?"
"Take my mask and intact parts of armoury. Than proceed in searching Enzi Aoi."
A blond boy crouched down next to the anbu, trailing fingers over the bloddstains. Iruka pushed the thoughts away, his comrade needed him, and missed the miniscule smile on Naruto's lips.
Iruka nodded. "I've studied his side in the bingo book. It is his group of bandits that I'm after"
The question why the anbu was hunting for the man was left unsaid. Just because Iruka was carrying on his mission, didn't mean he needed to know more than the bare outline of what was needed to do the job.
A raspy breath was drawn by the ANBU.
Iruka shifted uncomfortably. Taking of an ANBU's mask was seen as a crime in the hidden villages, as they preserved the identity of the most skilled shinobi.
"It's an order. You will finish this mission. I have dispatched most of his men and wounded him critically, he should not pose too much of a threat anymore."
Clear and strong, the voice shook Iruka out of his thoughts. He had gotten a command and following the lessons, that had been drilled into is mind Iruka bent forward, cutting the strings of the mask and took it.
Dark brown eyes looked back at him. The man, sensing his nervousness, gave him a reassuring smile. Blood had run down his left cheek.
"Tell them, Matsuda Haruki asked them to stay strong and live."
Iruka swallowed heavily. He knew he should leave now, but he couldn't.
"Go and don't forget to tell the blue squad. They are Inu, Falcon and Akatora"
Iruka put the mask on his face. He gave the Anbu a last salute and jumped, taking on the trail the mortally wounded shinoby pointed out.
The porcelain was still warm.
He did not notice how a small form remained at the anbu's side, carefully stroking one hand, as another life neared its end
A.n.:
So, first multi chaptered story, first authors note.
If you read it till here I thank you very much.
Regarding the question what happened to the Kyuubi, I wrote this story according to the theory that the demon would die with its jailor.
Please review, constructive criticism is highly appreciated as I know there are a lot of things to improve.