A/N: This chapter isn't completely proofread. I apologize for the messy behavior of my first chapter and perhaps, this one too. These are normally typed at around 4 or 5 a.m. in the mornings where I'm rather sleepy and tired.


"Iruka."

"Yes, dad, I'm coming!" A young Iruka ran rapidly towards his father.

"Iruka!"

"D-Daddy?" As the boy leaped into the open arms of his father, the scene abruptly changed. He was surrounded by dozens of shadowy people. "F-Father? Where are you?"

Laughter echoed around the room. "He wants his father, he says."

"He wouldn't want his father anymore if he finds out what he agreed to."

"Quiet. Let it begin now."

Intense pain erupted from within Iruka. Just when he thought he couldn't bear the pain anymore, the scene around him changed. He was running besides his father and mother. "Daddy, we're so far away from home now. How can we get back by night?"

"We're not, Iruka. We're never going back."

"Then where are we going? Why do we have all our stuff, daddy?"

His father sighed and bent down to meet Iruka eye to eye. "We're escaping, Iruka. The Village is no longer safe for both of us."

Innocent eyes peered into sorrowful ones. "But, why, daddy?"

"It doesn't matter. Hurry it up, Iruka."

Iruka's mother patted Iruka's head affectionately. "It's going to be alright. I have friends from the Hidden Leaf that'll take us in. Hurry it up, dear."

They ran for about another ten minutes before their path was interrupted by several shuriken. "You're going no further, Umino!" Several ninjas wearing masks similar to Konoha's own ANBU appeared out of the trees.

"Dammit! Homura, take Iruka and get out of here! I'll stall them!"

Iruka's mother looked shocked. "But –"

"Just go!" Iruka's father drew out a kunai. "Today I die..." he muttered to himself. "It's time to pay for my sins…"

As Iruka ran after his mother, the scenes began to change again. The sky overhead turned dark, quickly becoming a moonless and eerie night. A sound of a bloodthirsty roar sounded in the distance. Little Iruka screamed and covered his ears as the world around him seemed to fill with blood.

"Iruka!"

"Mommy!" He saw his mother before him, impaled by the sharp claws of the Kyuubi. "No…no…" Iruka screamed in despair and charged at the Kyuubi. His body filled with an animistic rage; some sort of power seemed to overcome him.

"Kid, watch out!" Several ANBU made the attempt to drag the boy back to safe grounds, but quickly retreated when the Kyuubi raised his paw. Iruka stared, transfixed, as the great, red paw towered above him. A distant voice seemed to whisper to him.

I am the Kyuubi…lord of all bijuus, obey me or suffer the consequences! Crimson blood dripped from its claws and for a moment, Iruka could see what little of his life flashing before his eyes.

As the Kyuubi lowered its paw, a small, quick figure flashed in front of Iruka, pushing him back. Fiery pain exploded on his face as the Kyuubi barely missed swiping his entire head off. Iruka sank to the ground, all fury gone, his face a mixture of blood and tears. Then he felt himself being lifted into the air, but he could care less now. Both his parents were dead: both of them had died for his cause.

What else was there to live for?

Iruka opened his eyes to see his mother one last time, but all he saw was a glimpse of the huge Kyuubi and a shock of brilliant white hair.

"Iruka!"

He'd been surprise to find himself awake in the hospital when he woke.

"Iruka!"

But there was no point to living any longer…

"Iruka! Do you hear me?"

He wanted to die. The only remnant to that night…

"Iruka! Wake up!"

He'd looked into the mirror…and saw a pale, white scar running across the length of his face.

"Oi, Dolphin Boy!"

Why was he still alive? If he died…he'd be free…

"Dammit. Dolphin boy won't wake up."

And free of a dark secret…

"Wake up!" Iruka's world shook around him and he suddenly sat up, gasping. Dimly aware of the tears on his cheek, Iruka looked besides him to see a very concerned Kakashi and two silent ANBUs. What happened to the Sound NIns? the Academy Teacher briefly wondered.

"Damn it all, Iruka, you gave me quite a scare there."

"K-Kakashi-san?" Iruka stared at the Copy-nin woozily.

"Yes, Dolphin Boy, it's me. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine- Argh!" The instant he finished speaking, an intense pain clawed its way from his neck. He clutched his throat painfully as he fell to the ground again.

"Ferret, Fox, you might want to come take a look at this." Kakashi called the two ANBU over.

Iruka felt cold hands prying his fingers away from his neck. There was a distinctive intake of breaths.

"What-what is that?" Inoichi sounded horrified.

"It looks like a curse mark," Fox said.

"A curse mark? Isn't that the one Anko Mitarashi has?" Inoichi asked.

"Correct. It was a curse mark meant for me, I believe," Kakashi said darkly. "The idiot interrupted Orochimaru's attack and got bitten instead."

Iruka managed to scoff despite his pain. "I'll take that as a 'thank you,'" he said defensively.

"You're welco-" Kakashi frowned, his witty remark dying on his lips. "Dammit, Iruka. I never asked you to-"

"Drop it. Now where are the kids?"

"The group of kids?"

"Yes! For Hokage's sake, the KIDS!"

Kakashi stared at Iruka dumbly. "You're this injured, screaming in pain, and you're concerned about a group of kids?"

"They're little kids, Kakashi-san. They're innocent little- ugh!" A new wave of pain made his entire body shudder.

Fox bent over Iruka, studying the curse mark. "The curse mark seems to be very active," he said. "It almost looks like it's trying to resist something…and something else in Iruka's body views the curse mark as a foreign thing and is forcing it back."

"Here, we gotta get him back to Konoha as soon as possible." Kakashi picked up Iruka. "Ferret and Fox - try to relocate the kids and guide them back. Orochimaru disappeared after cursing Iruka, but I don't doubt the fact that he'll be back soon. I'll hurry off to Konoha now."

"Got it." Fox and Ferret sped off in the other direction.


"He...he already woke up? Impossible!" Kabuto had never seen his master so surprised.

Orochimaru licked his lips, his snake eyes narrowing as he thought about his curse seal. "That seal is supposed to render the victim unconscious for at LEAST two days. And he woke within an hour? Something must be wrong...or he just has very high potential."

Kabuto shook his head. "I researched him. Iruka Umino, Academy teacher. He's just a Chunin."

"What about his history?"

"Well, he's an immigrant from somewhere. On where, I have no information about. But he came to live in Konoha since he was four years old with his father. His father died in the Kyuubi attack when he was six. Iruka just went on with life; nothing special has ever been recorded about him except for his uncanny ability to deal with kids."

Orochimaru hissed, his hands hitting the desk of his wooden desk. "The Hell Curse Seal was meant for Kakashi. But did I go wrong somewhere?"

"It's not possible, Orochimaru-sama. The test results were 100% successful." Kabuto flipped through a stack of papers.

"Then the only possible thing left is that this Chunin has very high potential. Kabuto, I want you to focus on finding out where he originated from."

"Understood, Orochimaru-sama."

"And continue to watch him. My seal has been unable to influence him; I've only tasted remnants of his memory. He's somehow resisting it."

"Resisting?"

"Indeed." Orochimaru smiled, rubbing his hands sardonically. "Kabuto, put aside our plans for Hatake Kakashi now. I've got a more interesting subject to work on now."

Kabuto sighed. All the work done on trying to curse Kakashi had gone to waste. "Understood, Orochimaru-sama."

"Good. Now here's the new plan..."


Anko's stare was cold and hard as she surveyed the curse mark on Iruka's neck. "I've never seen the likes of it before," she said. "It might be a new one Orochimaru-sensei created."

"Are you sure you can do nothing about it?" The Third Hokage, Kakashi, and Anko watched as Iruka went through another agonizing spasm of pain.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. It's been years since I was with Orochimaru and I know nothing of his new developments." Anko bowed her head sorrowfully.

"I see."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not sure. The doctors to tell me that pain-killers don't work on him. It seems like he is trapped in something like a genjutsu. Or even his own mind." Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Now we'll need a new Academy teacher in place - and I really don't know anyone better than Iruka."

"Didn't the genins get assigned their senseis already? There shouldn't be a new round of kids for awhile."

"Oh, correct. And you were one of the senseis?"

"Indeed. I was assigned to be the mentor of a Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. I'm scheduled to meet them tomorrow."

Hiruzen nodded and turned to leave before he thought of something else. "Doesn't Iruka need to tell the children their teams though?" he asked, addressing the two ninjas before him. His old days in the Academy was coming back slowly to him.

Anko frowned. "I think he'd always done that, Hokage-sama."

"Well since he can't make it tomorrow..." Hiruzen scratched his head. "Kakashi, mind taking over his job for a day?"

"Eh?" Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I - I can't stand those kids! It's bad enough I was assigned to be a sensei!"

"Just one day, Kakashi. Do it for your old Hokage." The ache in his head was beginning to make him dizzy. He'd done too much paperwork today and he really didn't want to search for another ninja to replace Iruka.

"Fine, fine." Kakashi sighed.

"Excellent. I'll go look for a copy of Iruka's team assignments. Wait here a moment, Kakashi." Hiruzen left the room.

"Well, Kakashi, I'll be going." Anko held up a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi exhaled heavily and sank down on a chair next to Iruka's bed. All of this was becoming more and more troublesome - just to quote one of Fox's favorite phrase. He really didn't ask for Iruka's protection; but now he owed his life to a Chunin he barely knew.

But the jonin could hardly argue. If he was Iruka, he'd probably have done the exact same thing. After all, those who broke the rules were trash, but those who abandoned their comrades are worse than trash. If danger came, he'd protect a friend no matter. Thank for teaching me that, Obito.

To pass time, Kakashi pulled out Make-Out Paradise from his pocket. He'd barely flip open to the first page when Iruka groaned besides him. "Ka-Kakashi-san?"

The Copy-nin immediately stored his book back again. "Yo, Iruka. How's the pain?"

Iruka's face was covered with sweat; his eyes were bloodshot and his usually tidy ponytail was in a mess. "I'm...I'm not so sure..." he gasped. "It's...horrible."

The two fell silent for a long moment. "Hey, Dolphin Boy. Since you're so ill right now, the Hokage asked me to take your place tomorrow."

Horror replaced the agonizing look on Iruka's face. "Yo-YOU?"

Kakashi smiled. "Why, you've got a problem with that, Dolphin Boy?"

Iruka shook his head. "You couldn't even deal with a small group of kids..." he said softly. "Nonetheless an entire class..."

"Aw, come on. I'm not that bad, am I? Remember when I told you about the special job?"

Iruka nodded weakly.

"I'm going to be a sensei in one of the squads."

Iruka made a surprised noise.

"That's right. Some kids called...Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Haruno."

"I...I can't believe it. You're tutoring Naruto?"

"Who's he?" Immediately after asking the question, Kakashi regretted it. Iruka entered another spasm of pain, barely recovering after a long minute of gripping the hospital bed's side tightly.

"Na-Naruto...he's such a cheerful kid..." A weak smile played on Iruka's lips. "Always eating ramen..."

"Ramen?" Kakashi frowned at the lack of information.

"Yeah...ramen. I thought you knew him, Kakashi-san."

"I'm not good with names."

"Oh..." Iruka lay back down on the bed. "And...and Sasuke. You'll need to watch that one..."

"The Uchiha?"

"He's so cold...I wish he'd learn how to make some friends." His breaths came in short gasps as the curse mark on his neck continued to battle with his own body.

"You all right, sensei?" Kakashi peered down on Iruka in concern. The Academy Teacher made no reply, his eyes scrunched in pain and his face contorted with excruciating pain.

"Oi! Stay with me, Iruka! What about Sakura?"

For a moment, Iruka said nothing. "Ah...yes. Sakura. That young girl has high potential...but she's always distracted by Sasuke..." It was getting harder and harder to talk properly. His vision was hazed by pain and his mind was spinning. "Kakashi...do me a favor."

The Copy-nin raised his eyebrows. "What is it, Iruka?"

"Take care of them well...they need a strong mentor. Consider it payment if you must..."

"Payment?" Kakashi chuckled. "No, no need for payment, Dolphin Kid. It's my job anyways."

"Your job?" The door opened and the Third Hokage walked in, handing Kakashi a stack of papers. "I finally got them. Don't forget to meet the kids eight in the morning tomorrow, Kakashi."

"I got it." Kakashi turned back to look at Iruka, but the Academy Teacher had blacked out. Thanks for the encouragement, Dolphin Boy.

For now, Kakashi would worry about his new job and Iruka's health. But the fact that Orochimaru wasn't done dealing with him was a constant factor in his mind. The Copy-nin knew that the Snake Sannin still had more in store for Iruka and him.

He'd need to keep an eye out. After all, he didn't want any more sacrifices made for the cause of him. He'd had more than enough in his life.


~Tenzo-kun