**Five Days Earlier**
Iruka had been one of the first to notice that there was a problem.
His normally rambunctious class was unusually subdued and Konohamaru failed to attack him from behind a plant for the second day in a row. In fact, for the second consecutive day, Konohamaru wasn't even in the classroom. Neither were Moegi or Udon. The Kurosaki twins, the Inuzuka girl and Tenten's little sister were also missing. That made two more absences from the day before, he noted, setting down his bag and pulling out the day's lesson plan.
It was not uncommon for ninja children to miss a half or even a full day of school, but to miss consecutive days signified that something was amiss. The class seemed a little deflated and Iruka examined them dubiously before turning to the day's lecture.
He was halfway through the lesson about proper seclusion techniques when the sound of a child approaching made him turn from the chalkboard. Standing behind him was the little Yamanaka boy, white-faced and sweating. Alarms immediately went off in Iruka's head and he asked the boy quietly what was wrong. What came next were the 5 words a teacher dreads the most.
"I don't feel so good."
That was all the warning Iruka needed and he managed to step out of the path of the projectile vomit before it poured out of the child. There was a collective sound of disgust from the raised seats around him followed by a trembling voice a few rows back that said, "I don't feel good either."
Iruka looked from the miserable boy in front of him to the ghost-white face of the girl who had spoken and made a rapid decision.
"Alright!" He said loudly, raising his arms in a gesture of proclamation. "Class is cancelled for the rest of the day!"
The fact that the kids didn't cheer so much as sigh in relief was enough to tell him that he had made the right decision. The kids shuffled out of the room, many of them looking decidedly queasy. He prayed he had averted disaster. Sending the kids home would likely prevent the spread of whatever bug was going around. He hoped.
He turned back to the boy in front of him who was teary-eyed and sniffling. "I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei," he murmured pathetically.
Iruka gave him a sympathetic smile and replied, "It's ok. It happens." The boy blinked and shivered slightly.
"Give me a couple minutes and I'll take you home, alright?" The child nodded and Iruka had him sit down in his own desk chair. He nudged the waste-basket in his direction, "In case you're going to be sick again. Consider it target practice." The boy gave a weak smile and Iruka left him to find a janitor. He penned a quick note to the Hokage, informing him of the apparent flu outbreak, and headed back to collect his student. He wrapped the boy in his own jacket and swung him up piggyback.
"Just warn me if you're going to throw up again, alright?"
"'K," the boy muttered as he rested his head on the teacher's should. Iruka walked carefully, trying to jostle the boy as little as possible.
Arriving at the boy's house, he deposited the child into the arms of his mother, who didn't look much better than the student. "Whole house has it," she said wearily when Iruka inquired as to her health. The teacher grimaced and backed away, wishing the family well. He managed a dignified walk until he was out of sight of the Yamanaka house, and then broke into a dead sprint. Shower, he thought, tea, no, orange juice, ok, both…
He dove through is front door and locked it.
"Please, please, please…" he whispered to no one in particular as he walked down the hallway to his bathroom, stripping as he went. "I've been good."
He hoped the karmic balance was leaning in his favor. He hadn't been sick in a year and desperately wanted to avoid whatever doom virus was now eating its way through the village. He gritted his teeth and bore the scalding water as it poured down his back.
Surely, he thought, surely I've done nothing to deserve something as awful as that.
The karma gods grinned. Poor, poor Iruka-sensei...