Originally posted on aff 2007-06-27 - 2008-02-13
I
Umino Iruka had never been a strong person, chakra-wise, anyway. He was a simple schoolteacher, a chuunin, probably with enough skill to pass the test to be a jounin. But then, if he were to become a jounin, he would have to give up teaching, and he'd have to learn to stomach killing people. He certainly didn't enjoy that part about being a ninja, killing people. He preferred to leave that to people like Hatake Kakashi and, unfortunately, Uzumaki Naruto. Iruka had hoped at one point Naruto would follow him into teaching, but he knew after Sasuke had gone Naruto would never give up anything until he brought the Uchiha back. Iruka thought of that boy and wondered where he had gone wrong, where he had missed the signs. He was sure everyone else was thinking the same thing, but Iruka had begun to rationalize everything. Even if he had seen the signs, even if he had intervened, Sasuke would have still gone anyway. Sasuke wanted power and power didn't come to those who waited. Iruka had done his best and that was all that mattered. Of course, in the eyes of others, not everyone believed that. Some blamed Itachi, others blamed Sasuke's teachers. Iruka felt the hatred was directed toward him personally, which made watching Naruto leave to find Sasuke all the worse.
Iruka hated seeing his students grow up and run off to their deaths. Those that died while barely genin hurt his heart the most. Because of recent incidents, genin had been recruited for higher-level missions, and not all of them survived. Iruka wished he could go out on those missions for the children, simply to keep them from dying. It wasn't fair. But then, life wasn't fair. Iruka knew that, first hand. He rubbed the scar across his nose and went back to reading the reports he'd been given by his students, wondering how a naginata could be used by a ninja. He looked out the window of his small apartment, watching the lights of the village flicker on and off. It wasn't enough it felt like the walls were closing around him, it felt like his whole world was crashing down. Naruto was off training again, Sakura was training with Tsunade, and everyone Iruka knew seemed to be dying or leaving. Iruka stood up and moved to the balcony of his tiny apartment, pushing open the door to let in the fresh air. There was a time where he would sit like this and be visited by Naruto who would be looking for a free meal. Iruka would treat him to ramen, they would talk, and go their separate ways or Naruto would make a nest on Iruka's couch when he didn't want to be alone.
Life now would never be the same. The kids he had taught were full-fledged shinobi and kunoichi. Iruka was left teaching the newer generations, the future of Konoha when the generations before them fell. Iruka could feel it draining him, leaving him a shell of a man. Iruka shivered in the night air and finally moved back inside his apartment to finish grading his papers. He'd just settled down when he realized he wasn't alone. Iruka had spent most of his adult life dealing with twelve-year-old children who were fighting to become genin, to make their village proud. His reflexes were better than the average chuunin's and his senses were on par with a jounin's. His hand slid beneath the small table he was leaning against, fingers curling around the hilt of the kunai he kept there. Iruka shifted just a bit, as if to reach for another paper, and as soon as the intruder was close enough to stab, Iruka whirled with the kunai leading. His wrist was caught in a strong grip and the chuunin found himself staring into the mask of an ANBU, the elite ninja merely canting his head.
"Iruka-sensei, the Hokage would like to see you."
Iruka was speechless, only nodding as the ANBU released him to gather necessary materials, such as his vest and shoes. Weaponry could always be obtained at a later date and Iruka was a ninja anyway. It wasn't like anyone would attack him inside of Konoha. He was just a lowly chuunin after all. Iruka followed after the ANBU once he was ready, all the way to the Hokage's tower, going over excuses in his mind to anything Tsunade-sama could come up with to pin on him as his fault. He couldn't remember doing anything that could get him in trouble, but you never knew. Tsunade could come up with anything when she was pissed over her latest loss in gambling or in her drunken haze. Not that she was always in a drunken haze or gambling like a fiend. Still, he dreaded stepping into that office without knowing why and the fact an –ANBU– had come to fetch him, well. Iruka was scanning his brain for anything he could've done that could warrant in a talk with the Hokage.
At a loss, the chuunin followed the ANBU into Tsunade's office and swallowed when he was left alone in front of the woman. He didn't smell any alcohol and he couldn't sense anything amiss. It didn't ease his paranoia one bit. Ninja of any rank were paranoid (jounin especially, for they were convinced someone was trying to kill them all the time); it came with the territory. Iruka's paranoia hadn't been touched for a good while simply because he taught children. Children he could easily toss out the window if they got snippy, though parents tended to frown upon that.
"Ah… Tsunade-sama?" Iruka ventured, keeping his distance from the venerable lady. Tsunade's gaze flicked up to study the teacher for a few moments before she dropped her attention to the papers on her desk.
"Thank you for coming, Iruka-sensei."
"My pleasure, Tsunade-sama. Ah, if I may inquire as to why I'm here?"
"Oh yes. It's been brought to my attention that several people share a belief that your skills are lacking because you don't go on any missions. I think it's a bunch of bullshit. You either have to have jounin skills or just absolutely fucking insane."
Iruka fought back the smile, but Tsunade noticed it anyway and gave him a smirk of her own. She rose then, leaning on her desk as she shuffled papers and pulled out something Iruka was familiar with, having worked in the Missions Office for most of his chuunin career. In the hours that weren't taken up by teaching, of course. It still didn't lessen Iruka's worry that whatever was going to happen next he wouldn't like.
"Still, I have to please those bastards somehow, so I'm sending you on a little mission. It's rather easy. All you have to do is pose as a waitress at an establishment called Abeko in the port town of Iiga in Umi no Kuni. I'll get you a map so don't worry about getting lost on the way. The mission is a request from a rival syndicate, you'll be meeting with a representative before you start, but as for everything else, it's all detailed in this scroll."
"Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I have classes to teach."
"A substitute has been found for you. All you need to do is come up with lesson plans, and I'll see they are delivered. You should get started, Iruka-sensei. I'll send one of the ANBU to escort you to Hi no Kuni's borders when the time is right."
Iruka could only nod numbly as he was given the scroll detailing his mission and moved slowly back to his apartment to begin packing. He couldn't retort and anything he said would just give those who questioned his abilities more reason. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been out on a mission, however easy, staring at the things he packed that he wasn't sure he'd need. In the end, he decided he'd bring everything he could that might assist him with this easy mission that would be anything but. Replacement kunai, extra clothes, an extra flak vest just in case, and other necessity items he would need, they all went into his pack. Still, he wasn't sure if he could pull off what would be required of him.
After all, it's hard to be what you know you're not.
