Mission time
Iruka was tired, very, very tired. He had been hounded all day by Genma…well not hounded but Genma hadn't stopped staring at all! The whole freaking day, from the moment he touched his neck to the now and that had been about 6 hours now. Iruka sighed and stamped yet another report, praying for the time to go faster so he could get away from the piercing stare that bore into his neck.
Iruka hands twitched nervously every few second as time wore on so slowly and he could almost see how slowly it went. He occupied one of his hands by tapping his pen on the table in a rhythmic sound, trying to make time fly faster and for a while it did until, "Damn it Iruka! Stop that" a hand clamped down on his tapping one. Iruka startled eyes followed the hand up the arm to the face it was attached to, "Genma…I'm sorry" he smiled nervously as the hand moved away from his own. Genma snorted and flicked the senbon irritated but said nothing as he went back to his work.
Time continued to snail its pace away as Iruka got more and more bored and twitchy 'what wouldn't I do for a mission right now' he sighed for what must have been the hundred time just this hour. But even now that Tsunade was the hokage, his missions where rare and far between. At time Iruka wished that he could be someone else…somewhere else. His eyes closed slowly as the sound of something forgotten brushed his mind, something he longed for.
His shoulders which had been tense relaxed and the frown on his face smoothed out. Iruka forgot everyone around him as the sound seemed to take over him and a salty smell filled his nose. Iruka drew a deep breath before opening his eyes, his mind calmed enough to ignore Genma and any other that came to annoy him "ohayo Iruka-sensei!" except him… Chibi Iruka slammed his head on the wall multiple times as Kakashi handed in his LATE report. Iruka's eyebrow twitched as he got a look on the report and he gave Kakashi a strained smile, "Kakashi-sensei….I'm afraid you will have to do this again"
Kakashi u-turned eye gained a twinkle "but Iruka-sensei, I'm sure its alright" both of Iruka's eyebrows twitched, hell no it was not finished aaaand it was wrinkly and had ink splashes all over. Iruka drew a deep breath, "Kakashi-sensei…. You have to do it again and it has to be neatly and more importantly…finished" Iruka stressed the word and gave Kakashi back the report before ignoring him and the puppy eyes that was given to him.
Iruka gave a mental sigh of relief as Kakashi moved away to do the report…or find some other sod that would approve the one that he had. In all reality Iruka didn't care as long as he wasn't the one that got yelled at in the end. Iruka never liked getting yelled at….made him feel bad so he always did his best to avoid it. Iruka blinked at a new report on his desk 'what the…oh ANUB people' he sighed to himself and quickly looked it over before sealing it. He must have been the only chuunin to actually see any of the reports but with great power comes great responsibility… Well more like he sometimes had ANBU guards…freaky guys.
He actually remembered a time when they used to spy on him in the bath and you might question how he knew. Simple… ANUB where pervs that fell out of threes with big nosebleeds. Iruka chuckled softly and shook his head before returning to his other paper work to make the two last hours go fast so he could head home or perhaps go with the others for a few drinks, as long as it wasn't raining.
Iruka jumped slightly as the door of the mission office was suddenly slammed open by their Hokage, Tsunade. She stood there a few seconds looking over the gathered ninjas before speaking, "Kakashi, Ibiki, Genma, Asuma and Iruka, report to my office as soon as you can, find someone to step in for you if need be" her serious tone got everyone on guard before she disappeared. Iruka frowned as he looked around the mission room, Genma had quickly got Raidou to take over his shift but who would he….Anko!
Iruka called out to the woman and she gave him a annoyed look before taking over. The chuunin gave her a grateful smile before hurrying after the four others but as he took the path to the hokage tower he couldn't help but wonder why he of all people was needed.
He arrived quickly at the doors but he was later then the other four…of course he was a chuunin and they jounins, so it was kind of obvious who would arrive last.
Iruka gave a short greeting to them, which they nodded to before they stepped inside the hokage office. Ibiki and Kakashi quickly took position by the wall, leaning comfortable against it while Genma and Asuma took there place by the windows. Iruka himself just stood by the door as he wasn't used to being in the office with the lady Hokage herself. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, observing them all as they came. She spared him a short smile before it dissipated into a grim line.
"I'm sure you are all curious to why I have summoned you…personally", 'well duh!' Iruka maintained his polite expressive even if he was somewhat annoyed on the inside. The other four nodded or gave another form for sign that they had heard her. The blond woman sighed and lent forward on the desk and folded her hands into a pyramid "you five are here because of the resent proceeding in Mist….there has been rumours and uncertainties that has cause a few problems for us and I want you five to find out if its true". The moment Tsunade had said Mist everything had frozen inside of Iruka 'I have to return…god help me' he took a deep breath "Hokage-sama….I understand that you have the other four here but…what am I good for in a mission like this" he questioned gently, trying to avoid making it sound like he was doubting her.
Tsunade chuckled oh so softly and for Iruka it was like the chiming sound of the bells of doom, "But Iruka…you're the most important piece of the mission as you original come from Mist" Iruka took a slight steep back as his eyes widened 'she knows!' his insides where screaming for him to run as the others where looking at him, both the jounins and the ANBU's hidden in the shadows. Iruka shook his head slowly 'this wasn't suppose to happen! …never suppose to…' Tsunade shook her head, "Relax Iruka…you're a loyal ninja of Konoha and you always been, but you are the main person of this mission because you will glide in easier then the rest of your team mates"
Iruka tried to avoid looking at anyone as he wanted to be invisible, "H-hokage-sama…. Its been a long time since last I was on a mission and I'm not sure…" but Tsunade easily broke him of "that's why we are sending four jounins with you to make sure you will be safe Iruka, now you know the objective of the mission is information gathering. Take half a hour and meet each other by the gate, Ibiki you are team leader" she was clearly dismissing them so Iruka had no choice but to bow and go home to get ready. And he got away quickly before the other four demanded answers from him
The four jounins where left by the office door, looking at both each other and the smoke cloud that Iruka left in his haste to get away. It was Ibiki who first spoke up, "Well… it explains why he's so different I guess…" Genma flickered the senbon, "Mmm and it's another piece to my puzzle" the other gave him puzzled looks but he ignored it. Kakashi sighed "well, we have time to figure this out but right now we need to pack and get ready" the other nodded before transporting themselves to their own home.
Iruka sighed as he checked over his apartment one more time, to make sure that everything was off and clean. He had watered the plants, thrown away food that would get bad, sealed of confidant things and papers, packed extra clothes and weapons, a few scrolls that came from Mist, left a note for Naruto to look after his apartment and of course a book for those times there would be nothing to do "alright….just one more thing to do" Iruka muttered to himself as he lifted his backpack onto his back. He quietly teleported to his destination- the Memorial Stone.
There was no one there at this time and Iruka was grateful for it. He traced his parents' names reverently, "Hey Mom, hey Dad it's me, Iruka, I got a mission and I'm kind of scared about it… I have to go back to Mist you se and…well my team mates are jounins" Iruka sighed and looked around, "You could say I'm afraid…what if they figure out? I cant leave Konoha now… its my home" Iruka shook his head and bowed to the stone, "Well…I'll see you as soon as I can." he went off towards the gate never seeing or sensing the eyes watching him.
