The way of the shinobi

Prologue

'My Brother'

Umino Argon knelt beside the body of his wife and wept. The struggle continued around him, but he was oblivious, lost in the anguish of losing his beloved. His friend, Okako Tenzuma stood beside him, protecting and trying to comfort him.

Argon and his wife had been friends of Tenzuma for a long time. Now, losing her made Argon seem so much weaker somehow, he thought as he patted his good friend on the shoulder. "Argon we need to move her away, the fox is coming," he gently tugged the other man's sleeve.

"Dad, a cry rang out. Tenzuma turned to see Iruka, Argon's thirteen-year old son burst onto the scene. Dad, what happened?" Iruka cried out.

Suddenly Argon stood and looked at his son. "Iruka, get out of here. It's too dangerous!" he yelled.

"But dad, I want to stay and fight too." Iruka stuck out his chin in the same determined way that his father was at the exact moment.

"No Iruka, Argon moved himself so that the mother of his child was out of her son's line of vision, No your too..."

The shout of alarm broke in, cutting his words short. "The fox is coming! Watch out, the fox is attacking again!"

Argon looked up at Tenzuma, "take my son away from here," he pleaded. Suddenly the giant nine-tailed fox dropped onto the earth with a thud. It was so big that the ground shuddered under the staggering weight of its landing. All the shinobi around the small group leaped to attack. Again Argon implored his friend, (much more urgently this time) "Tenzuma my son, please!" Then he too, charged to attack.

"No dad, Iruka screamed as Tenzuma grabbed him and started to pull him off the battlefield. Let me go, my mom and dad are still fighting!" But Tenzuma had to do this, this one last accommodation for his friend. So despite Iruka's fists pounding on his shoulder, Tenzuma said goodbye to his most trusted friend, and devoted himself to getting the boy to a safe place.

Later, after the battle, it was confirmed. Umino Argon and his wife were both dead, the boy Iruka was the only surviving member of the Umino clan, one of the very respectable old families. Tenzuma tried to comfort him, but was too awash in his own grief. "The boy would be better off not seeing me like this," he reasoned. Argon had been like a brother, the best kind of brother.

Chapter 1

'The boy called Iruka'

"Why am I remembering this?" Tenzuma asked himself, as he shook out of his revery. He had made peace with Argon's death four years ago, why were these thoughts and feelings accosting him now? He had just returned from a long arduous mission. The mission had been the protection of the Hokage of the land of waves. A rouge ninja, named Momichi Zabuza, had been attempting an assassination, and hostel take-over. The original mission had only been supposed to last one year, but had instead stretched to two and then three. He needed a break. So Tenzuma had returned to Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves for a little rest and relaxation.

As soon as he had arrived, he had begun noticing the changes in his home village. The first thing that he had noticed was the new face carved into the mountainside. It was Yondaime's face, he had earned the title Hokage by sealing up the fox's spirit in a safe place. That place had been the navel of an infant, Uzumaki Naruto. Another thing that he had noticed was all the children running around, Konoha seemed to be thriving.

Once again Tenzuma snapped himself out of a revery, being away this long was bad! All he could do was think about the past. Then he realized that he had paused at the K.I.A. monument. This monument was a black stone, with names carved into its glossy surface, a memorial to those who had lost their lives defending the village from the demon fox. The stone had probably been what induced his reflections in the first place. He ran his finger over the names of his friends, stopping on Argon's. "Argon, I still miss you so much. Sorry for not visiting more frequently." He murmured, to the man whose name was on the stone.

Leaving the memorial stone, Tenzuma strolled through Konoha, taking in the sights and sounds that he had missed while he had been away. He sighed, no matter where he traveled, this hidden village would always be home to him.

As he turned down the alley toward his apartment, a small blond boy ran out. There were tears lingering in the corners of his cornflower blue eyes as he raced out of the alley, and headlong into Tenzuma's legs.

Tenzuma smiled and scooped the boy up. "What's the matter little one? He asked gently, looking around for the boy's parents. Why are you out here alone?" The child had such bright eyes, full of a bouncy energy just waiting to burst forth.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, he said, wiping his tears away, and I'm not afraid of anything!"

"I didn't say you were, Tenzuma smiled. He had often thought that he would like to have a child, but had never acted on that wish. So this is the boy who bound and held fast the spirit of the nine-tailed fox? The Yondaime had been a very smart man, for if a child could hold the spirit quiet now, perhaps they all had hope.

Having now finished his whimpering, Naruto must have been getting tired of being held, because he was starting to squirm. So Tenzuma set him down and patted his spiky yellow hair. "You carry the hope of us all, little one. Be strong." Naruto smiled and bounded off quite happy to be left down. The boy reminded Tenzuma of something, but it flitted away as he reached his mind to catch the thought.

Later Tenzuma made his way along the street, heading for the ninja academy. He wanted to file his mission report as soon as possible, so that he could forget about it and enjoy his break to it's fullest. He also wanted to give the same report to the Hokage himself, so that no parts would slip away, due to second-hand neglect. As he walked past the schoolyard, he noticed quite a few students playing together. No wait, they weren't playing. They were all standing around taunting another boy. But that boy was different, he was much taller then the rest.

Tenzuma looked around for an instructor. Seeing none, he easily jumped the small fence around the yard and approached the group of boys.

"Come on stupid, do something funny, one boy goaded. Yeah, another chortled, something funny. The other boys each took a jab at the older boy. You're not worth spit so stop acting like you are."

The boy receiving the brunt of their teasing, just smiled weakly and rubbed the scar that stretched from one of his cheeks to the other, across his nose. He had brown hair pulled into a short ponytail, that stuck out at an angle from his head. He also had a look on his face that could easily have been mistaken for a carefree grin, but under that grin deep sadness lingered. However the grin wasn't what stopped Tenzuma in his tracks, not the grin but the face that held it, Umino Argon's!

No, it can't be Argon, but then . . . , Iruka, Argon's son. Yes that had to be Iruka. Tenzuma thought to himself.

Just then Iruka's eyes met his and Tenzuma sprang into action. Grabbing the leader of the group with one hand, and Iruka with the other, he drugged them both into the school. Tenzuma quickly located the head sensei and told him what had occurred. He turned both of the boys over to their sensei. Then he looked at Iruka. He didn't think that it would be appropriate to hug the gangly teen, though he wanted to. Instead he turned on his heel and left the room.

With a new purpose in his step, Tenzuma strode down the hall. Iruka was still in the academy?! How was this so? He was nearing seventeen, if he wasn't already. He was too old to still be stuck in the school!

When Tenzuma reached the Hokage's council chamber, he paused. The door was closed, he knew that he should wait. "Oh well, I'm not really known for my patience," he said with a wry smile, and pushed the door open.

Inside he felt two pairs of eyes turn on him instantly. One pair belonged to the leader of the village. The other pair belonged to a young man. Well it wasn't actually a pair of eyes he was peering at Tenzuma with, just a single eye. The other eye was covered by a hitae-ate headband, that held back a puff of silver hair. Tenzuma realized then that this wasn't just another kid, this youth that was looking at him now with his hand resting tensely on his shuriken pouch, was none other then the most promising young ninja of the village, Hataki Kakashi. The boy was a wonder, Tenzuma had heard. But that was just a distracting thought that he pushed aside quickly.

"Hokage-sama, forgive my intrusion, but I need to speak with you." Tenzuma informed the older man.

"Very well, the village leader paused and looked over at the slim, silver-haired, boy. He smiled a slightly irritated smile, you may go, Kakashi. Thank-you for that information. I will see what I can do." The young Jounin stood, bowed politely to the Hokage and Tenzuma, and simply left.

"Now Tenzuma, what is it?" The Hokage asked.

"Well it's about Iruka, Argon's boy. Why is he still in the academy? Isn't he old enough to be on a Genin squad, and in higher training?" Tenzuma didn't mean to ask so many questions, but once he started, they all just seemed to tumble out.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, took a few puffs on his pipe, and studied Tenzuma. He was in that position for so long that at first Tenzuma believed that he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. But then the man shifted and removed the pipe from his mouth.

"Tenzuma, many things have changed since you have been away. Iruka is one of them. The day the fox attacked Konoha, was the day Iruka lost his will to live. He studied Tenzuma with his intense, weary eyes, before continuing, Iruka has lost his will to try. His grades fell and continue to fall. He pulls the worst kinds of pranks on his teachers. He clowns around all the time and doesn't apply himself. Life is just a big joke to him on the outside, however on the inside it's slowly crushing him. All the Jounins know this, but none want to take the risk of training him."

"But as Argon's child, he has great potential! Besides he is nearing seventeen . . . , the realization suddenly hit him, . . . he's going to be dropped isn't he? Tenzuma had a sickening feeling creeping into his gut. The senseis at the academy weren't going to put up with the boy much longer. Can't a Jounin be assigned to him?" He already knew the answer, if a mentor didn't take a student on with all his heart and might, the teaching was almost doomed to fail. If that happened then Iruka would be. . .

"It is true that if Iruka doesn't gain a mentor before his birthday in four months, he will be dropped. The Hokage was watching him now with a look in his eye that unsettled Tenzuma. However, unless the sensei is truly devoted to him, I fear he may fail in any matter."

Unconsciously Tenzuma stepped back. "No! I know what your getting at, but I can't . . . , I mean, I won't take him myself. Umino Argon was too close and I lost him. To get attached to his son would just be bad for both of us, Iruka and me. I mean . . . He struggled, trying to sort out the emotions that were wracking his spirit even now. I turned my back on him before, and I mean . . . I should have stuck with him and helped him through his loss more. But I didn't, and now I don't think I would be a good choice for teaching him." He ended lamely.

The wise Hokage just sat watching him. "Hokage-sama, I know what you think and I know that you told me before that I should take Iruka as my student. But I don't feel as though I can let myself become emotionally attached to the boy. I cannot fill Argon's role to his son. ("Or the village" he added inwardly) I would almost rather have to train Hataki Kakashi," he added sarcastically.

Well Tenzuma, you've done it this time, he thought to himself. You sound like a whiny little kid.

Later that night, Tenzuma returned to his apartment, only to realize that he was still carrying the now tattered report that he had been planning to submit. "Oh well, I'll do it tomorrow," he told himself with a sigh as he climbed into bed. It had been a rough day and he could feel a headache coming on. To be continued in chapter 2 -Tintiger-