He was just walking the usual way. It was down the street. He could never remember the real name of the street, but he thought of it as Red Light Road.

It was a broad road, forty feet wide, cobblestones. At the West end of the street: the tall, white buildings of the best civilian school in Konoha, Seirin Gakuen, and the connecting Sun Road (which he did remember the name of) around which were situated in orderly fashion: amenities, shops and restaurants. Not far from that lay a handful of the smaller Buddhist and Shinto shrines, with their white gates and graceful, peaked rooftops. At the other end of Red Light Road: the cabarets, hostess bars, and love hotels, all gleaming glass and neon lights and the whispy skirts flaring about the legs of girls girls girls.

He spent just about ninety percent of his time either at one end of Red Light Road or at the other, or in between.

Today had been another long day.

People were still so busy rebuilding after the Kyuubi attack that most families were not sending their kids to the schools, whether civilian or ninja. So of course, neither did the kids show up at his Dojo.

"Damn it! What the shit! After what I did for this town... where the hell are all the babes! Why aren't they signing up for classes at my Dojo?"

Around him, both civilians and ninja backed away nervously.

They all knew who he was now. Before the Kyuubi, he was just another civilian running a martial arts school where the civilians who did not have the pull to get their kids into Ninja Academy sent the troublesome brats instead.

Now he was famous. Well, he was supposed to be famous. But from the way people eyed him with a mixture of awe and fear (and far too much of that being fear), maybe, he had become infamous.

He paused before a sex toy store, looking in the window. Maybe he could pick up some porn? Then he'd just turn around, go back to his empty apartment and jack off between beers. Screw that. He kept going down the street, mournfully pondering whether or not he would need to move to another village.

"Damn it. I like this place," he sighed.

"No, enough of that, Onizuka! You are on your way to the most fabulous place in the world! A place with beer and real women jiggling about in wondrous thongs and high heels and nothing else! Hang in there Onizuka!" he belted out to the heavens, shaking his fists.

Let the people around him shy away and whatever. The important people in the Village knew who he was, and from them, at least, he had respect.

He had been there for a long time now, longer than his youthful appearance suggested.

But he'd never felt so old before. The Yondaime was dead. He had been a good friend. The nudie bar he was going to was one where they had often toasted to that dashing kid's dreams for the future of Konoha.

Only the Yondaime could look so noble talking about something even as he slipped money into a woman's g-string, her bobbing breasts inches from his blue eyes.

Enough! He tried to lose himself in thoughts of the lovely Yuuhi Tomoko. Oooooh yeah. That woman's body was far too lovely to die in ninja combat. It would have been a tremendous loss for mankind if she had died before she retired as a chuunin and decided to take up the lovely craft of erotic dance. Mmm... those jutting berry-red nipples always made him lose his head.

She would go out with him one day! Absolutely!

"Now what have we here?"

A fight in an alley. Just kids beating another kid. It happened all the time, in every age.

He was just going to ignore the whole scene when he paused, listening in.

The one being beaten was yelling something about becoming a ninja, now that his parents were gone. Because he wanted to become strong enough to protect other people's parents.

Really, who talked about crap like that while being mauled?

Again, his feet inched forward into a step that would take him beyond the narrow entrance to the shadowy little in-between space common to big cities. It wasn't his business. He wasn't a cop...

"I'm a Hyuuga and I couldn't make it in the Ninja Academy! You're all talk, Umino! You're just garbage."

"...G-guh... Ptah..."

That sounded like a bloody tooth being spat out, pinging off the steel exterior of a dumpster.

"One day... going to be strong enough... to protect even assholes... like you... who need to ask a girl to help them beat up somebody..."

"Gyaaah! Damn it! Shit!"

More beating sounds. Like meat being tenderized. It made him feel downright nostalgic.

"That's what you get for biting me, commoner!"

So he waited by the alley.

The prissy Hyuuga brat... man, whenever he saw those robes, he still felt the urge to kick dirt onto them... walked by, huffing as he straightened out his over-sized sleeves, one hand clasped tightly around his wrist. Another Hyuuga followed him, a girl. Older. She had the look of ninja all over her. She was surely the one that had beat down their quarry before the other could safely get his amateurish kicks and such in. Also, she already had that look of bitter resignation that all the Branch House members possessed.

So young, and she was already hiding the seal behind a headband.

The little brat tried to stare him down! She had balls, at least. Well, until those perfectly pale eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh... s-sorry!" the precious little thing stuttered, "Um. Excuse us, sir."

He smiled, and allowed just a hint of killing intent to gleam out of his eyes. A faint breeze appeared out of nowhere under the dead heat of a sun that was too bright on a hot day, and stirred the pale blond bangs away from his face.

"Hitomi? What's the big deal about - "

"Don't you know who that is?" she hissed, pulling the other Hyuuga after her. "I'm doing this for your protection you Main House idiot..." They were nearly running by then.

At last, the third kid shuffled out of the shadows. He was missing a tooth, he had bruises on his cheek and jaw and a lot more on his arms, defensive bruises from trying to block kicks after being knocked down.

"Yeah, what do you want, mister?" the kid spat. Red-tinged saliva trickled down his chin from his mouth. His black uniform was a mess, torn up at the knees. The coat sleeves were coming off. But the patch on the jacket breast was still quite visible.

"You go to Seirin, don't you?"

Good times at that place. Good times. How many years had it been anyway?

"Not anymore. I'm quitting. I'm not going to grow up a civilian doing some boring job while ninja like the Yondaime protect everybody. I'm going to be a ninja!"

"Psh. Ninja aren't all that."

Those little eyes glared through the swelling lids. The little guy bit his lip and bent his head and shoved his hands in his pockets and walked forward.

"You got any relatives you staying with?"

"What do you care?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

"I'm going to be moved to the orphanage soon. They say I can't just stay alone back... back home. But I know how to cook and I know how to clean. I'll be fine. But grown-ups don't care what I want..." and then the boy was leaning against the brick wall, trembling as the adrenaline wore off and the pain started to really make itself felt.

"Hrmm."

Steely fingers clamped around the little jaw, raising the face. He enjoyed the outrage in the eyes. Yes, such fine eyes. There was strength in there, and plenty of spirit.

"You know, they don't just let civilian kids with no ninja ancestry study at the Academy. Especially not when they're your age. You're already too old. Makes learning how to manipulate chakra hard."

Grubby little hands smacked his hand away.

"I'll just make them see! I can do it!"

"But if a citizen with a reputation sponsors you, you can make it in."

That got his attention. Then the little eyes looked up to his face, really looked at his face. Here it comes...

"Who are you anyway, Mister? Why do you give a shit?"

And then he was laughing. Delighted.

"You're hired, boy. I like your eyes."

"Hey... Hey, put me down!"

What had his parents been feeding him? The kid was as heavy as a paperweight. Carrying him by the back of his shirt was easier than carrying his beer after a grocery run. Hmm, beeeeeer. If he trained this kid, the brat could be the one to clean the dojo... and his apartment... and cook... and buy his beer!

"First, Umino - "

"Iruka, my name is Iruka! Hey, help! Somebody! I'm being kidnapped!"

"Iruka, my name is Onizuka Eikichi. See the way everybody around us is just pretending they don't see anything? That's coz now that the Yondaime is dead, I am the strongest person in this village. And I'm not even a ninja. So what the hell can anyone do if I feel like hiring child labor? Not a damn thing."

It was true. A few looked at them in puzzlement, but mostly, they just walked along a little faster, or did their best to keep their eyes from falling on the pair.

Iruka flailed his limbs in total futility.

"Hey! Get this crazy bastard off me!"

"Yeah, yeah, yell all you want. Hmm. First, we pick up some beer. And porn. Then you're going to start learning your new job. I love the swearing, by the way. Did your parents have any idea you know all those words?"

"What the fuck? I'm nine! I don't want a job! I gotta go to..."

"If you'd shut up, you might even hear me tell you that as part of your new job, I will be training you personally. And you're going to show those stuck-up ninja bastards at the Academy just what a student of mine can do! Oh yeah!" He cackled like a maniac. "Hehe. The Sandaime always did want me to settle down. Adopting you should make him feel like I give a crap 'bout what he says."

"Heeeeelp!"