"Naruto, don't do anything reckless. You're coming with me but you won't get close. Promise me?"

"Hm? What's going on, sensei?" the blonde asked, approaching the window Iruka was looking through seconds ago.

"It seems that a half-demon, or possibly a full one, has appeared." the tan man answered after a brief pause. "We better hurry up, come on."
Naruto nodded, understanding. He may be a hothead sometimes but in serious situations like this one, he would behave. Iruka grabbed his gun, which we brought along earlier and rushed through the door, the other following him. They exited the school and looked around. The situation around the supermarket was now a little calmer but that didn't mean that everything was over now.

"Stay behind the guards!" the teacher told the boy and went into the crowd, getting closer to the supermarket without giving Naruto any time to protest. He sneaked in the building and observed his surroundings. There were some fallen stocks around, along with the shelves, and the air was dusty. Judging by the silence, no civilians were in here and the demon was either hiding or was long gone. The brunette was surprised that there was no one hurt. Usually, the monsters enjoyed hurting people, but now, there were only scratches as injuries and that was caused by the falling products and the panic created. He stepped forward but then stopped when he heard a quiet, almost unaudible 'click' sound. He slowly walked towards the direction it came from. He leaned to take a peek but then he froze. It was him. The hunter continued, this time more confidently.

"Is this the thing you had to take care of so much that you had left in the middle of the night with an injured leg...Kakashi?"

The silverhead, whose back was facing Iruka, almost jumped when he heard the familiar voice. He turned around and then gasped.

"Iruka! So you really were a hunter..." he muttered.

"So you really were a demon, too..." 'What a pity, I would have to kill or at least seal such a young and...handsome demon, only because he decides to rob one of the biggest and crowdiest supermarkets in the city.' Iruka thought and sighed inwardly.

"In my defence, I didn't want want to cause such a panic. I entered the building like a normal person with no bad intentions. And I didn't pick a poor shop, even if it would be easier, because I know that it would be bad for its owners but, you see, this supermarket is practically floating in a river of money, they wouldn't even notice."

"And how would you explain all this mess?" Iruka asked him, not really believing any word.

"I literally just stood in one place, while the people were running around."

"Yeah, sure. And how do you expect me to believe you?"

"Why would you not..?" Kakashi asked, seconds after which, he mentally facepalmed at his own stupid question.

"Maybe because most, no, all of the demons just kill and vandalize for fun, I bet you're the same."

"Well, you lose the bet because I'm not. I wouldn't earn anything and it would rise my clan's reputation even more."

"You say that you wouldn't, but everyone says that. And what about your clan? What do you mean..?" Iruka realized that he didn't know the silver-haired man's surname.

"As a hunter, you probably know about the Hatake clan..."

Iruka widened his eyes. "Ha-hatake...You're kidding.." he muttered but it was like fire could be seen in his eyes.

"And now, you'll say, 'You're just like them', right?"

"I know that I shouldn't judge you by this, but I hate this clan and I would do anything to erase it from this world."

The silverhead gave him a confused look, shivering when the other's gaze met his, not really liking the anger the deep eyes held.

"Your clan killed my parents, along with my whole clan and most friends I had. You have no idea how hard it was for me. I became a hunter just so I could take revenge!"

"Wait, I aready told you, I wouldn't do any harm to people unless there is a reason!"

"It doesn't matter, they took something important from me, I'll show them how losing someone precious to you feels!"

"Iruka, listen to me!" Kakashi started, dodging an incoming kick before continuing, "Do you think that I would be stealing from some supermarket if they actually cared about me?" but the brunette didn't stop. The half-demon jumped back and headed towards the exit, the other right after him, then blocking his way. Kakashi looked aroung and saw an open window, rather high but not a problem for him.

"Why are you running now? Just kill me, like your people did with mine!"

"Exactly because I'm not the same and don't want to hurt you! And I believe that you, too, are not a person like that, you have a gun don't you? If you wanted to, you could've shot me already!"


At this time, Naruto was starting to fidget from worry. Iruka was gone for some good amount of time now but nothing could be seen or heard from the safe distance. But then, there was a loud crash coming from the building, which drew everyone's attention. The blonde saw his teacher chasing who, he guessed, was the demon.

"Sensei!' he rushed through the crowd but someone grabbed his wrist before he could go any further.

"Let me go-eh? Mizuki-sensei!"

"Where do you think that you're going, Naruto!"

"But Iruka-sensei might be in danger! Don't you care for him? He's your best friend!"

"Of course I do, silly! But do you know who that demon is? He's not an average demon, he's one of the Hatake clan!"

"You mean...But then Iruka-sensei really is in trouble! Can't we help him somehow?"

"I'm sure that he knows that already but...Hey Naruto, do you know anything about his parents?"

"He had never mentioned them before but it's not story time right now!"

"Listen, Iruka knows that it's reckless but his parents were killed by that demon's clan and he's probably seeking revenge."

"No way he would do that, ever! He's not that kind of a person, he's calm and nice and-"

"Usually."

"Huh?"

"Do you think that I, of all people, don't know? It's obvious that there's something different in him now though. It's starting to make me worry...I've seen him like that only once and I hoped that I wouldn't twice. Would you do me a favor?"

"What is it about?"

"It will help Iruka...and make him proud of you."

At this, Naruto obviously listened carefully. He trusted Mizuki, he was a hunter too, after all.

"Now listen, there's an old library not far away from here, there's no way that you haven't seen it before. You have to go there without anyone noticing you. There's a scroll in the room in the corner of the library. It may be hidden but you'll have to find it in order to save Iruka. It has red lines on the sides and it's quite big, I highly doubt that you would mistake it for another one."

"Got it." the boy said after nodding, missing the smirk on Mizuki's face."But why am I the one doing this, what about you?"

Mizuki tensed for a second, which again went unnoticed by the younger one, but then remembered Naruto is only like 12, so he wouldn't question much. "I'm going to help the guards here." However lame it sounded, the blonde simply said, "Okay." and headed to where the other told him.


When he got there, he carefully sneaked in after looking around, trying to be as quiet as possible. Surprisingly, there was currently no one so he guessed that he was lucky. After some wandering in the big building, he found the room Mizuki was talking about. He quickly went in and observed it. There were a lot of shelves and scrolls on them and a red carpet in the middle. He looked for a big scroll but nothing seemed to fit the description the older man gave him. He was just about to move to the opposite side of the room to check again but he tripped on something and winced. He may be known for being clumsy and all but there was no way he would trip on the smooth surface. He noticed that there was something under the carpet so he lifted it.

"Found it!" he said to himself after he saw an old and rusty metal box and opened it. He took it out but then curiousity hit him like a tidal wave. He knew that it wasn't the right time for reading it, but it got the best of him. He unfolded the paper and started reading it through. The first thing that caught his attention was a red, bolded text, more like a heading. "Forbidden spells". He quirked a brow and continued, only to come across a warning text. "These spells for capturing demons of a high class have been forbidden because of their capabilities of turning against their user's will. Use at your own risk. It is highly recomended not to use them unless in a critical situation!"

'Is this clan so strong that Mizuki-sensei would need such a weapon to capture just one of them, the one Iruka was following?' he thought. 'That means that I have no time to waste, I have to hurry up!' he stood up and put the scroll in his school bag and hurried to exit the building and go back to his sensei. On his way, he vaguely wondered, if the demon was so strong, why did he run, instead of attacking. But as fast as the question came, as fast it went.


When he came back though, he saw Iruka talking with his best friend.

"What's going on, where's the bad guy?"

"He ran off to the nearby forest but I couldn't catch up with his wolf form. Naruto, stay with Mizuki-sensei, I'm going to check the supermarket's cameras." the brunette said and noticed that the boy was observing him for injuries. He smiled and added, "Don't worry, just some scratches.", ruffling the blonde's hair.

Naruto nodded and watched as his teacher went to the half-destroyed building. He heard a voice and turned around.

"Did you get what I wanted you to?"

"Yeah, but there's no point in holding it now that the Hatake is gone." Naruto said and was about to return but he felt a firm hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"Wait!...I'm sure that he'll be back in a day or two. Here's the plan. We meet after school on Friday at the beginning of the forest. You hide, just in case he comes earlier, if I'm not there already. When I call out for you, come out. We shouldn't leave everything to Iruka, he looks tired enough with all the activities he does every day."

Naruto thought about it, 'He is right, and I want to be helpful too. It's not like I have anything to do anyway.' After a small moment of silence he said, "Okay, I'm up for it"


Iruka was currently watching the camera records with widened eyes and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was just like Kakashi said! He didn't do anything to harm anyone at all, he actually even saved a little girl from a falling shelf, she was probably confused about why everyone was running. He felt something in his stomach:guilt. Guilt for not believing the silverhead. But who was he to blame him, he was from the Hatake clan!

'I should go and check if he's up to something...but that will wait for Friday, I'm too exhausted from all this running to even think about it.'