Title: Iruka Sensei – Chapter 2

Author: Wicked Raygun

Summary: After a tragic accident, it is left up to Umino Iruka to become the Jounin-sensei of Team 7.

Disclaimer: Based on characters owned by…You get the idea. I don't own this. I'm certainly not making any money. And suing me is a waste of time. I'm glad we had this little chat.

Spoilers: Takes place at the very beginning of the Naruto series. I'm more familiar with the anime than the manga – yeah, yeah, I know. Blasphemy! I should also mention that I have little regard for continuity if it doesn't suit my purposes. So this will likely end up being AU for more than one reason. And I don't do thinly-veiled bash-fics, so if that's what you want you're going to be disappointed.

Distribution: Ask and you shall receive. I'm pretty easy-going with this type of stuff, so if you'd like to put up the story I'll almost certainly let you. My only caveat is that you ask first and credit me appropriately. So just email me and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Iruka Sensei

Chapter 2

Iruka did his best to hide his anxiety in front of his students. Well, former students anyway. A mentor must be calm and confident, so he tried to exude that in every possible way: from his posture to his tone of voice. Still, any competent Chuunin would have noticed him shuffling the papers in his hands more than necessary, not to mention the long pauses before he spoke.

He began to list off the team compositions one-by-one. He tried not to wince as he announced the teams marked for failure. The true final exam was one based on the concept of teamwork. The actual form of the test varied from teacher to teacher, but the goal was always the same. The students had to be able to work together, or they were sent back.

Every year the academy teachers came up with the compositions. Unofficially, he was meant to create two types of teams: ones meant to pass, the others to fail. It was heartbreaking in a way, since he knew he could be potentially shattering a child's dream, but it was also necessary. Better a broken heart, than a corpse on the battlefield.

And truthfully he had only expected two real teams this year. The others were far too self-absorbed. Oh, they were good kids, for the most part; they just weren't ready to be ninja. And now he was expected to lead a team consisting of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. Only the thing was he had fully expected Sasuke and Sakura to fail the final test.

Haruno Sakura was both overly-confident and dismissive of anyone who wasn't Uchiha Sasuke. She was brilliant, and worked hard on her studies, but physically she held herself back. She had no real drive to be a ninja as well, which worried him more. She had potential to be sure. He had never seen anyone with her astounding level of chakra control – even in ANBU. With some fine-tuning she could be a genjutsu master, or possibly an amazing field medic, but without something to push her, it was pointless. Raw skill only got you so far.

Now Uchiha Sasuke was a prodigy when it came to mastering the ninja arts. Outwardly he was everything one could hope for in a Genin. But if you looked past the sparkle, you could see that he was also mentally fragile. Or perhaps, "fragile" wasn't quite the right word for it. "Unstable" might be better. He needed to be handled with care, the way one would handle a dud explosive tag, not because he might break at the slightest provocation, but because he could potentially explode in your face.

He'd already seen it once this year. A student had said something to set him off during a spar, and Sasuke shattered his leg – not broke, shattered. Yes, it could have been construed as an accident, an overeager student simply going too far, but Iruka never thought that was the case. It had seemed cold, and calculated. Frankly, it unnerved him. And when he tried to get Sasuke suspended for it, he had been overruled. Mizuki had been the one in charge of physical fitness at the time, not him.

Worse, he rejected any attempts to console him, or try to get close to him. Iruka himself had felt sorry for him. And who wouldn't. To lose your entire family in one night, and the perpetrator be your own brother? Anyone would have a hard time coming to grips with that. And Sasuke clearly hadn't. Iruka had tried so many times to engage the boy, to get him to talk, to open up somehow. It was pointless. Sasuke didn't want help from anyone.

Uzumaki Naruto was a different story.

His problem had always been academic. Yes, he was a little immature, but Iruka had seen worse. Hell, he had taken orders from worse, so that didn't worry him. He wanted to be a part of a team, to work with other people. As starved as he was for friendship, you could potentially place him on any team and he would find a way to work with them.

Well, any team except for one with Uchiha Sasuke on it. Naruto hated him. And of course adding his unrequited crush, Haruno Sakura, to the mix was just a bad joke. It was bound to create a self-destructive feedback loop. Sakura would fawn over Sasuke, which would infuriate Naruto. Sasuke would in turn ignore him, making Sakura fawn even more over him being cool, infuriating Naruto even more. And so on, and so on…

And this was his team. Joy.

Iruka had brought up these concerns to the Hokage. But his only words on the matter were that if they didn't pass the test, then that was the end of it and he shouldn't worry about it.

But Iruka did worry. Naruto had already failed his academy graduation twice before. To finally offer him his own forehead protector, signifying he was a ninja of the Leaf, and to simply take it back? It just seemed so callous, so cruel. On any other team, Naruto would thrive. But on this team, he might not even get his chance for another six months. And Iruka suspected that even Naruto's nearly limitless optimism would fade at that.

These thoughts swirled in his mind like a whirlpool, troubling him. With a silent sigh, Iruka announced the members of Team 7 – his team.

Or at least he hoped.

All of the students had been picked up by their respective Jounin Senseis, and now only Team 7 remained. They Genin knew they were a team, they just had no idea who their master was.

Iruka took his time carefully stacking up all his paperwork, and made a point to leave it in his office. Well, former office now. He would have to retrieve his private stuff later. He locked up and walked toward his team.

Sasuke looked bored, but then again, when didn't he? Sakura was anxiously moving her knees from side-to-side, unable to sit still. Occasionally she would try to sneak a peek at Sasuke and then start to blush. Naruto meanwhile seemed as if he was moments away from spontaneously combusting, he looked so excited. This was tempered, of course, by his smiling at Sakura and subsequent scowling at Sasuke.

When he finally was in front of them, he silently stood at parade rest, his eyes moving from one student to another.

This lasted for almost a minute before Sakura quietly asked, "Um, Iruka-sensei, is something wrong?"

Iruka still said nothing. Another lengthy span of time went by, wherein the three Genin settled down and began to fidget under his evaluation. The tension in the air was palpable.

"The three of you will get something to eat, and then meet me on the playground in one hour."

Looks of comprehension spread on Sasuke and Sakura's faces, but not Naruto's.

"But, Iruka-sensei, we're supposed to meet up with our new sensei."

Iruka smiled only slightly. "You just did."

As he was walking out of the classroom he had to suppress a large grin when he heard Naruto loudly whoop in joy.

Amazingly enough, things had somehow gotten worse. The three Genin were far away from each other when he arrived. They weren't so much as looking at one another when he got there. How much could possibly happen in an hour?

And to think they weren't even teenagers yet.

Iruka repressed another sigh, choosing instead to clear his throat to catch their attention. The three Genin turned toward him, and he smiled at them.

"It's tradition that we all introduce ourselves to one another. Obviously you all know each other from class a little bit, but this is different. The bonds from your first team can last a lifetime. After all, you'll doubtless have to depend on one another for survival some day. How about you just start with your names, your goals and why you want to be ninja. Who wants to go first?"

Sakura raised her arm. "Um, Sensei, maybe you can go first?"

Iruka shrugged. "Sure. I'm Umino Iruka. My goal is to have a family some day. And I became a ninja because I wanted to honor my parents' memory."

He noticed Naruto's wince when he mentioned honoring his parents' memory and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Your parents are dead?" Sakura asked in shock. She quickly covered her mouth, when she realized that she might have been rude. "I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei. I didn't mean to pry."

He just waved off her concern. "It's alright, Sakura. I don't mind talking about them. It helps me remember them. Besides, as your sensei, I want you to get comfortable with the idea of asking me questions – it's even more important now than back in the classroom. And, yes, my parents were both ninja who died while on duty. I was very young when it happened."

Sasuke seemed to be staring at him very intently.

"Any other questions?"

"How did it happen?"

Both Naruto and Sakura were dumbfounded that Sasuke had asked that. Truthfully, they would have been shocked had he done anything other than grunt, but actual words stupefied them.

"They died protecting the village during the Kyuubi attack," he told them after a pause. Iruka was starting to worry about Naruto's state of mind. He was probably still reeling from finding out about his prisoner. Iruka quickly asked if there were any other questions, when none became apparent he pointed to Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My goal is to one day reinstate my clan and kill a certain person. I became a ninja so I could – be like someone I once admired," he said in a mostly steady voice. His hesitance at the last words he spoke seemed to indicate a deeper pain.

Iruka nodded politely at him.

"To reinstate your clan is a noble goal. But I'm afraid that true ninja only ever kill while on missions, and even then, only when necessary. But we can talk about that later." Sasuke glared at him. Iruka decided to ignore that. "Sakura, how about you go next?"

Sakura took a moment to compose herself, and then spoke. "My name is Haruno Sakura. Uh, my goal is—" she stopped talking mid-sentence to glance at Sasuke and then shrieked and blushed. She then continued as if nothing had happened. "And the reason I became a ninja is – well, I wanted to be strong."

Iruka just decided to go ahead and ignore her first answer – it wasn't like he had any great insights into the mind of a preteen girl to begin with. Instead, he focused on her second answer.

"There are many ways to be strong, Sakura, and many paths to get there. But they all require sacrifice and dedication. If you're prepared to give me those two things, I'll do everything I can to help you become strong," he told her with a smile on his face. She smiled back.

Iruka looked at Naruto. "Your turn."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he said while jumping up from his sitting position into a crouch and pointing a finger at himself. "And my goal is to become the Hokage and have everyone recognize how awesome I am! The reason I became a ninja was so I could be just like my hero, the Shodaime – the most awesome Hokage of all!"

Iruka smiled.

"Better not let the Sandaime hear that," he admonished him playfully. "But truly the Shodaime was a powerful and well-loved man himself, and serves as a great example to follow."

Naruto beamed at him.

After a moment, Iruka sighed as he bolstered himself for the next part of what he had to do.

"Unfortunately, I regret to tell you that your first lesson as Genin is this: life isn't fair." The three Genin looked at him curiously. "Your graduation last week was merely the first part of the real test to see if you are worthy. Tomorrow you will go through another test, and if you fail you will not become ninja. This test is exceedingly difficult, and generally only one out of three people pass."

After a short pause, the three Genin began protesting vehemently. Iruka responded by drawing his sword, and driving it several inches into the ground. The sudden, violent act shocked them into silence.

"Do you think this is some sort of game?" he asked in a low growl, and then stared at each of his students in turn. "Ninja live for this village – if it's necessary they even die for it. In order to become a ninja you must be willing to give everything you have – and then you'll give even more. This life is not for the weak. Only those who carry the Will of Fire can move on to the next level."

He stared at each one of them again.

"Training Ground 7. Tomorrow. Nine A.M. – Come prepared for battle. Or don't come at all."

With that said, Iruka took his sword, cleaned it with a small rag, and placed it back in its scabbard in one fluid, practiced motion. No one said anything as he walked away.

End of Chapter 2