A/N: Timeline set around the time Naruto and his genin classmates graduate. Senseis are assigned, but none of the squads have met theirs.

Sidenote: Corrected spelling mistakes and reread it for fluency.

The academy teacher was enjoying his last few days at his mission receptionist desk before being sent off on a special mission the Hokage had assigned him. According to the Third Hokage, he was to go with two ANBU and the legendary Copy-Nin.

A man with about the craziest looking white-haired had walked in earlier. A dark mask covered most of his face and his Hitai-ate was worn at an odd angle, covering his left eye white leaving only his right eye visible. He'd introduce himself as Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-nin, in a rather lazy and drawled out sentence. Then he proceeded to joke around and make fun of the receptionist place, claiming it was really messy, and that Iruka was rather disorganized.

The academy teacher was simply flabbergasted at the way the Copy Ninja acted. After hearing all the wondrous stores about the man, he'd think Kakashi act a bit more "honorable." But no, he was lazy, rude, and he'd dubbed him as an "infuriating man."

Then Kakashi asked him his name. "Iruka?! Umi-no Iruka?!" he exclaimed, after hearing it. For a second, the academy teacher thought the man in front of him was going to die from pure shock. "Like dolphins? Dolphins of the sea?"

Iruka nodded dumbly, not sure where all this was going.

"Hmm..." Kakashi leaned in closer to Iruka. "It fits you pretty well, I'll say, you even look like one." Kakashi's visible eye curved into a smile as he continued to stu thedy Chunin.

Iruka felt his face turning red as he glanced around for something to hit the infuriating man with. By the time he had successfully dug out a bundle of rolled up paper, Kakashi was already halfway out the door. "Bye, Dolphin Boy! See you tomorrow!"

Boy?! Now he calls me BOY?! Iruka glared dangerously at the door, as if expecting the Copy Nin to walk back in anytime.

"That's quite a nasty expression there, Iruka-senpai." Instead, Iruka's personal assistant walked in, carrying a fresh stack of papers. "One of your kids causing trouble again?"

"Ah, no, no…" Iruka rubbed his nose sub-consciously, embarrassed at the fact that he let his assistant see him so worked up. "Just a little stressed about the upcoming mission."

The young Chunin raised his eyebrows. "Oh, right. The one that Hokage assigned you yesterday?"

"Right. We have to escort a group of children from one of Fire Country's Villages. Hokage-sama knows I'm good with kids so he sent me along to calm and take care of the children for the trip."

"So who else are you going with?"

"Well, we'll be passing through a part of the Sound and Cloud Village so the Hokage sent two ANBU and one particularly infuriating man to come along."

"Infuriating man?" The younger Chunin repeated, surprised.

Iruka felt heat rising in his face as he realized what he said. "Erm, well, I mean Kakashi,.. Kakashi Hatake."

Iruka's assistant laughed. "The Copy Nin? Well, that's quite an honor. I I'd like to work alongside him. He's like…a legendary ninja."

Iruka shook his head at the naiveness of his assistant. "Hopefully. Anyways, the mission starts early in the morning tomorrow. I better get home early to rest. You know what to do when I'm gone?"

"Of course, Iruka-senpai," stated his assistant firmly.

The academy teacher nodded and picked up his bag. "Then good luck."

"You too."

"Umino…Umino!" A frantic knocking on the door almost caused Iruka to drop his hot fry pan. He sighed and set the sizzling egg on the stove, hurrying to open the door.

Two ANBU stood waiting outside; the one that had called his name was tapping his foot impatiently. Kakashi leaned against the wall of Iruka's house.

"What-already?!" Iruka was sure he set the alarm correctly. They were supposed to leave at seven in the morning, not six! He didn't even change yet!

"It's seven now, Umino." One of the ANBU said.

Kakashi peered over the Chunin's shoulder at a clock inside his house. "Looks like your clocks are useless too. It clearly says 7 a.m."

Iruka whirled around to stare at his kitchen clock as he suddenly realized with horror that he hadn't changed his alarm clock for the weekdays. "Excuse me for a moment," he said, face flushing with embarrassment. "I'll go change and get ready."

"Change? Oh, no need to change. You look rather dazzling in your striped pajamas, Dolphin Boy. I bet the children would love you."

Iruka's face turned red and he abruptly slammed the door in the Copy Nin's face. Kakashi's laughter followed him all the way into his room.

After a few complications and a farewell from the Hokage, the four-man squad exited Konoha and started on the main route heading West. Kakashi took the lead whilst the two ANBU took the back. The trip remained silent until Iruka decided to ask some questions. Questions that had been bothering him for awhile.

"Hey, Kakashi-san…why are you even in this mission?"

Kakashi paused mid-step, turning around to give Iruka his trademark smile. "Why the question, Iruka? You don't like me, Dolphin boy?"

This was not the answer Iruka was looking for…but then again, Kakashi WAS unpredictable. "You're annoying, you're rude, you're impolite. I don't go around calling you One-Eyed or Scarecrow."

"One-eyed? Scarecrow?" Kakashi chuckled as he started the trip again. "You don't know how many times I've actually been called that. But rude? I didn't know you were so touchy, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka scowled. He goes from calling me Dolphin Boy, to first name status, now to calling me a sensei? The academy teacher stiffened as Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know I'm just kidding right?" Kakashi said softly.

Then he was back in line again, his hands in his pocket, leading the team squad in his usual aloof and careless manner. "And to answer your question, Iruka. I quit ANBU recently for a VERY special job, but this is my squad, and I'm captain of it, so just think of me as an ANBU without a mask."

"Special job?" Iruka didn't like the way Kakashi said the word.

"A special job," repeated Kakashi again, a cheerful tone in his voice.

Iruka decided not to question the Copy Nin further, focusing his attention on the landscape around him. From his Chunin vest, he pulled out a personal map the Hokage had given him. As he traced their route to the current location, he was surprised to see how such a small conversation could take them so far into the trip without his noticing. They were at least one hour into the mission already.

But how much further did they have? This turned out to be as boring as one of the parent conferences at the Academy. He decided to focus his thoughts on the two ANBU behind him. Having never bothered with higher level "violent" ninjas, the Chunin never payed attention to their masks, but he was surprised to see that the delicate paint drawn on their masks came together to form an animal's face.

"What are you looking at, Umino?" One of the ANBU snapped after Iruka turned around to stare at them several times.

Iruka's face flushed. "Um, nothing. Sorry." So that ANBU has the mask of a Fox and the other...well, it looks like a Ferret. Is that even possible? he thought to himself.

The two ANBUs in the back began whispering in low tones and Iruka couldn't help but listen in. "...one hour perhaps?"

"Yeah. We're passing through Cloud Village first."

"Aren't we already in Cloud Village?"

"On the borders of it. We're almost through."

"I see. Tell Wolf to speed up the pace. We have no time to afford." Wolf? Kakashi?

"Hm."

The Fox-masked ANBU flashed next to Kakashi and whispered in his ear. Kakashi nodded as the ANBU went back to his position again. "You heard him, Dolphin Boy! Speed it up!"

Iruka barely had time to protest when the Ferret-mask ANBU shoved him forward harshly. "No time to wander, Umino."

The rest of Iruka's time was spent trying to keep up with the speed of the squad. It was quite obvious his Chunin body wasn't quite up to the standards of the well-built ANBU body. By the time they reached the end of the Sound Village border, the pace had almost slowed to half the speed they were going before. Kakashi didn't mind, but Iruka could clearly sense the disappointment of the two ANBU behind him.

They reached the Village right when the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Iruka almost tripped on his legs as they slowed; it took all his effort to keep his wobbly, jelly legs from failing him.

Kakashi stayed with Iruka until Ferret and Fox came back from talking with the Chief.

"We'll be taking the kids tomorrow - the plan's to rest today. I'll keep watch - the rest of you discuss what we'll be doing tomorrow. Oh, and Wolf -mind taking the Chunin to the hut? Clearly, he can't keep up with us." Although Iruka knew by now that Ferret was a very straightforward and "mission-oriented" man, he couldn't help but wince at the blunt criticism of him. "I've talked with the Chief and he's going to let us use this hut overnight. It's a small village and we should be thankful for it."

Kakashi nodded and swung an arm around Iruka. "Alright, Dolphin Boy, we'll get to your room." Iruka's protests were muffled as Kakashi threw him into the small straw hut near the camp. "Sweet dreams, Dolphin Boy."

"Hey, hey-" Iruka tried getting up, but his body and legs refused to respond. He sighed and lay his head onto the straw mattress, suddenly realizing how tired and sore he was. Outside, the ANBU and Kakashi began to talk in low whispers. Iruka caught small phrases here and there, but he was quickly drifting into unconsciousness. He was out and snoring before he knew it.

Iruka was woken rudely by a bucketful of cold water. Not surprisingly, he saw Kakashi standing above him, giving him his trademark smile with an empty bucket in his hands. "You snore loud, Dolphin Boy. We couldn't get you to wake up, so Ferret suggested I do this."

Iruka spit out water as glared furiously at Kakashi. "And you listened to him?"

Kakashi tossed the bucket away. "Why not?"

Iruka scowled as he got up, folding the now-soaked blanket and laying it neatly out on the straw bed to dry. "What's the hurry anyways?"

"We just gotta take the kids home and that'll be that. The end of the mission."

Somehow, the last sentence seemed to motivate Iruka. When he slid on his Chunin vest, he was all ready for business. "So where are the kids, Kakashi-san?"

"The kids? Oh...talking about the kids. You might want to give them a nice look-over; they're rather depressed and dirty. Perfect job for a little Dolphin Boy like you." Kakashi chuckled and easily evaded Iruka's attempt at whacking him with a straw bundle. "Oh, and you should work on your aim a bit."

Iruka stood fuming for several minutes before exiting. Next time Kakashi comes in to take a mission, I'm assigning him the most painful ones there are, he vowed to himself.

"Umino! Over here!" Fox waved him over. The rest of his squad members were sitting around a small group of kids. The Town's elder, an elderly old man, stood coaxing them, reassuring them that the trip to Konoha would be a s safe one.

"But, this was our home!" An older kid with dark brown hair stepped out from the group of kids. He looked to be around ten years old. "We want to stay here," he said, speaking for all the children. "We've been here for half a year now."

"I know, Shiru. But it's time for you to leave. Konoha's a much better place then this old time-withered town. It's time for me and my wife to retire to the countryside to live out the rest of my life. This town will soon get run over by the Sound anyways." The Chief sighed and patted the young boy's head.

"But-" Shiru protested.

"That will be it, Shiru. Please: This is my last request."

The boy exhaled heavily and shot a nasty glare towards the Konoha squad. "I don't want to go with some creepy masked people!"

"Creepy masked people?" Iruka decided to take action. These kids were becoming more and more like his academy children. He'd expected to find a bunch of kids that needed some cheering up, but it was obvious that the older boy was working them up. "Now, Shiru, wasn't that your name? Does it look like I'm wearing a mask?"

The boy looked a bit taken-aback. "No-no…"

"Does he look like he's wearing a mask?" Iruka pointed at Kakashi, ignoring the fact he was being rude.

"No…"

"That's right. Just ignore the people with masks; they're here to protect us on our journey. It's going to be a quick one. Konoha's a wonderful place to live." Iruka smiled whole-heartedly at the boy.

There was a moment of silence and then the Chief laughed. "Well, now that's taken care of, you may leave now. I thank you for taking in the children."

Fox nodded. "Take care, Chief. Thank you for your hospitality."

The Chief nodded and walked back in the village. "Good luck on your journey," he called back.

The squad arranged the order, leaving Iruka and kids in the middle, and the ANBU in the front. Kakashi now guarded their backs, in which Iruka wasn't particularly happy about. He didn't trust the man, and he doubted he ever would.

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky when they reached the borders of the Hidden Sound. Iruka could feel the ANBU's tension before him; he knew that Konoha wasn't on friendly terms with the Sound, but the way the ANBU were acting made a bit more nervous then usual.

They were barely halfway into the road when several ninja threw themselves at Kakashi. The ninja turned out to be mere bandits, but they were dangerous nonetheless. Kakashi missed a shuriken heading Iruka's way and it nearly hit Shiru who was besides Iruka, save for the Academy Teacher threw himself in the weapon's way. They had to stop awhile and clean Iruka's wound before heading on.

"Throwing yourself in like that?" Kakashi had said disapprovingly while dabbing at Iruka's shoulder. "Rather careless of you. What if it hit some vital spot?"

Iruka frowned at the man for about 10th time that day. "Kakashi, if anyone's in danger, I save them. Their life values much more than mine at that moment."

Kakashi sighed and tied Iruka's shoulder with a thick cloth. "Throwing yourself isn't the way to go. At least you should learn to defend yourself and others with some basic weapons."

"I lose it when others are at stake," stated Iruka bluntly.

"Such a shame for an Academy teacher."

"...hey!"

Iruka spent the rest of trip teaching songs and basic ninja survival techniques to the young kids. He's earn their respect after saving Shiru's life and they were willing to listen to him and happily listened to his stories and lessons.

By midday, they were almost completely through Sound Village. The ANBU seemed to have relaxed completely and Iruka felt relieved that the mission was almost over. As they neared the border that marked the end of Sound Village, a dark chuckle was heard.

Everyone stopped. Kakashi and the ANBU immediately drew weapons. The children huddled behind Iruka in fear.

Ferret's ANBU masked seemed to darken as a shadowy figure stepped out of the trees. "Orochimaru. Traitor to Konoha."

"Kukuku. I'm surprised you know. I'm also rather hurt you decided to pass through my lands without saying hello to me." His long, pink tongue slithered out of his mouth as he glared at the group of ninja sardonically.

"Orochimaru. I suggest you move out of the way or we'll have to dispatch you." Fox moved his hands into a familiar hand sign that Iruka couldn't seem to remember where from.

"Dispatch me? Oh, there's no need for that. I'm not here for the kids." Orochimaru smiled at the ANBU and raised his hand. Immediately, dozens of Sound ninja appeared from the trees around them, moving in to attack the group.

Iruka frantically gathered up the kids, urging Shiru to lead them to a safe place out of the battlefield. Luckily, the kids sensed danger and needed no extra bidding, running towards the exit of the border with Iruka coaxing them behind.

The Academy Teacher got no further when he was slammed into the ground by a dead carcass of a Sound ninja. He dimly saw Ferret's mask being sliced in half by another ninja, revealing the face of a familiar man.

Iniochi-san? Isn't that Ino's father? Iruka recalled memories of the man coming to pick up Ino from her Academy studies after school. Iruka never really got a chance to speak with the man; the ANBU always seemed to be busy.

He shook his head to clear himself of the memories and focused on the problems that faced him right now. At the kids are safe. Now to get out of here. He pushed the carcass off him with some difficulty and cautiously stood up, ducking in time to avoid some kunais flying over him. 'Iruka, watch out!

Kakashi pushed Iruka out of the way as a dozen kunais flew towards them. The Copy-nin quickly countered all the weapons with his own kunai, making them fall to the ground, harmless. "Dolphin boy! I'll clear a path for you. Hurry and get the kids over the border!"

Iruka nodded and picked himself off the ground, waiting for Kakashi's signal. More Sound ninja flooded in, all of them seemingly targeted at Kakashi.

"Dammit - Iruka, move now!" Kakashi sounded desperate - his Sharingan was fully in sight now; the ex-ANBU was being pushed to his limit.

The academy teacher didn't need a second word. Iruka ran through the haze of ninjas, Kakashi behind him, while the ANBU took their back, taking out any shuriken.

"I don't think you'll be getting away so easily." Two huge snakes came bursting out of nowhere, knocking back Fox and Ferret. Kakashi cursed and stabbed a snake while the other headed for his neck.

"Iruka - I thought I told you to run!" Kakashi's words came out in quick gasps.

Iruka was thrown off balance again, throwing up his arm to protect himself from yet another round of shuriken. Dimly from the side of his eye, he could see Orochimaru's neck extend. the Snake Sannin was coming in quick now, fangs bared, ready to strike Kakashi with a quick death.

Without a second thought, Iruka threw himself in the way of Kakashi. A second later, his neck seemed to explode with hot fury pain...then his world was black.

A/N: Hopefully, the next one will be out soon.

~Tenzo-kun