Name meanings in this chapter:
Kajiki - swordfish
Hayashi - forest, Koeda - foliage
Minato-sensei laughed at him, which Kakashi did not appreciate. Especially since he was reporting a possible threat to the village.
The golden-haired leader finally stifled his chuckles. "The boy's father is Umino Kajiki, and he is not a spy. His scrolls contain Mist techniques because he is a refugee from Kirigakure."
"I wasn't aware that we accept ninja refugees from Hidden Mist," Kakashi responded coolly from behind his porcelain mask.
Minato considered his former student. Not too long ago, he would have smirked and told Kakashi not to trouble himself over things that didn't concern him. But Kakashi wasn't just a boy; he was the Wolf ANBU, and he was entitled to the information if he wanted it.
"You're right. Ninja refugees from Mist are not accepted because they are too volatile and untrustworthy. But political refugees are, and Sarutobi-sama was willing to be flexible with his classification," Minato explained.
"Kajiki-san was an activist for political and educational reform in his village. He wanted to abolish the Mist graduation ritual that requires genin hopefuls to duel to the death before they earn their hitai-ate. And he tried gaining support to establish a peaceful transfer of the Mizukage title, since Mist's current policy calls for civil war between hopeful successors and their supporting factions.
"Politics is a dangerous game to play, especially in Kirgakure. The Mizukage saw Kajiki-san as a threat, and ordered his assassination. But he was able to escape." The Hokage tapped his fingers on his desk as he counted off years in his head. "Konoha took him in…let's see…it'll be fifteen years ago now."
"That doesn't prove that Umino isn't a spy." Kakashi countered. "If he really seeks political reform for his home village, what better way to gain the Mizukage's favor and garner support than to provide intelligence on his enemy? He could be biding his time."
"Trust me. Kajiki-san is a political idealist, but he is not a spy," the Fourth Hokage responded confidently. "At least, not a spy for Mist. Now please, stop picking on poor Iruka-kun. If he wants to surprise his parents by learning a family technique I don't see the harm in it."
Kakashi frowned and didn't move from his seat.
Minato chuckled. "You sure don't trust readily, do you?"
"A shinobi shouldn't trust readily. Especially not when we're at war."
The leader sighed exaggeratedly, "It's disappointing that you don't have faith in my judgment here. Am I the Hokage for nothing?"
"I'm just saying, sempai, I hope you're keeping a close eye on this Umino Kajiki, and that you're not letting him near vital intelligence." Kakashi was not in the mood for jokes. Especially not in regards to the village safety.
"You can have confidence, Wolf, that those who know heritage will always be keeping a close eye on him, whether I order them to or not. As you said, trust is not readily given by shinobi." Minato considered his former student. "I however, do trust him, as much as I could any other Konoha ninja. He's already proven his loyalty. When Kajiki-san arrived, he wasn't automatically given citizenship status and could not serve as a ninja. He earned those privileges.
"Before you were born, there were Konoha traitors recruiting refugees to aid in their coup and assassinate the Sandaime. Kajiki-san professed to join them, only to collect evidence against the ninja orchestrating this scheme. He warned Sarutobi-sama about the threat, and was instrumental in the conviction of the conspirators.
"Because of his deeds, Kajiki-san was awarded Konoha citizenship and officially instated as a ninja in service to the Hokage. He courted a Leaf kunoichi named Hayashi Koeda, and the two married thirteen years ago. I was there for the wedding. That man lives for this village, and he's as willing as any natural born citizen to die for it."
"And yet," Kakashi pondered aloud, "He names his son 'Iruka,' which means 'dolphin,' apparently following his Mist clan's traditions."
"A name is a name, Kakashi-kun." Minato responded with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "No one accuses your father of being a farmer."
"But he's recording and planning to teach his son Hidden Mist techniques," Kakashi protested, ignoring his sensei's joke. "And he's strictly ordered that these jutsus never be shown to anyone outside of the family."
"Kajiki-san is a man who deeply feels his obligations. He's never shared Kiri jutsu because he is bound by an oath of blood never to reveal them. He considers them family secrets, and is allowed to protect them as such."
"Who knows what other 'family secrets' he's hiding," the ANBU muttered.
Minato lifted his hands in mock-surrender.
"I see there's no relieving your suspicions," he noted with a smile. "That's fine. You're hardly alone in that opinion."
The Hokage sighed and turned to look out the window to the village beyond. "I only ask that you don't trouble the boy over it. He has a hard enough time making friends, because of who his father is. I believe you know what that's like."
The teenager frowned. Sensei just had to bring that up.
"Iruka's a Konoha citizen: born, raised, and educated here. The son needn't be punished for the misdeeds of his father, actual or imaginary."
"Easier said than done." Kakashi sighed, drawing from his own life experiences.
"True," Minato agreed. "People can be an unreasonable lot. I trust that you, at least, will act sensibly. You may even consider being nice to the boy. Iruka's a good kid, and it couldn't hurt to try and connect with people closer to your age."
Kakashi stared at him blankly. "I didn't come for social counseling, sempai. I just wanted to make you aware of a possible threat."
"And I appreciate that," Minato assured him with a smirk. "But I stand by my earlier conviction. Umino Kajiki will sooner die for Konoha than consider betraying it."
Iruka appeared in Kakashi's training ground every day to practice his technique.
The ANBU figured that if he trained early in the day, while the brat was in the academy, he could then be free to spy on him in the evenings. Often, Kakashi watched in secret, while reading the scrolls that Minato wanted him to study during his forced sick-leave.
The child's skill left much to be desired and his pint-sized chakra reserves were laughable. However, over time the jounin couldn't help but grudgingly appreciate the Umino child's resolve. No amount of failure deterred him from his training.
And fail he did.
The technique was too advanced for him. C-rank jutsu were chunin level techniques. Iruka could not learn it from parchment alone. Though Kakashi had been surprised by the boy's ability to open the scroll in the first place, clearly Iruka was no genius. None of this came naturally to him. Whatever progress he made came slowly, at the cost of blood, sweat, and, (though he tried to hide them) tears.
Once Kakashi became thoroughly convinced that there really was no one helping him, that the pre-genin honestly expected to learn a C-class jutsu in time to surprise his parents for their anniversary, he gave up spying. He had better things to do, after all.
Still, on occasion, sheer curiosity made him show up to check on the kid's progress.
"You're pathetic," the teenager drawled, while cleaning and sharpening his blades by the stream's bank. "I bet you don't even know what you're doing wrong."
Standing ankle deep in the water, Iruka clenched his jaw and tried to ignore him.
Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. The Umino boy may not be skilled enough for the battlefield, but he was showing some promising mental determination. Testing this kid's mettle would be an amusing diversion.
"Give up, kid. You should just stick to playing ninja with your little friends. Obviously, you can't cut it with the real thing."
"Shut up!" Iruka snapped.
"Make me," Kakashi replied pleasantly, his visible eye curved up in a smile.
When Iruka was finally done for the day, he would pack his bag and leave the clearing- drenched, dog-tired, and defeated, with tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
But he always came back the next day.
Kakashi could respect that.
The Academy students lined up in the practice field, and the sensei divided them into small teams. Each team took turns running through the obstacle course.
As they waited their turn, one group of boys decided it would be a lot more fun if they picked out which war hero they'd pretend to be while going through the course.
"I call Jiriaya-sama!" one toad-loving youngster exclaimed.
"Can I be Minato-sama this time?" Iruka interjected quickly.
"Well, I guess you can be the Yellow Flash," the blonde who usually played the role replied reluctantly, "but only if I get to be Sharingan Kakashi!"
This proposal was met by another boy's indignant protest. "No way! I'm Sharingan Kakashi. It's my turn!"
The role of Kakashi was so fiercely contested, a rotation had long ago been set so that everyone would eventually get a chance.
"Actually," the blonde corrected, "It's Iruka-kun's turn to be Sharingan Kakashi. That's why I offered to trade for Minato-sama."
He glanced at Iruka. "So what do you say? You can be the Yellow Flash, but you'd be losing your turn for the Copy Ninja."
Iruka wrinkled his nose at boy. "Who cares? Kakashi-san's a real jerk."
Jaws dropped.
"How can you say that?" The other boys gawked at him, scandalized by the insult.
"Cause's he's always picking on me, that's how."
"Yeah right! Like you've actually met the copy cat ninja," the pretend 'Toad Sannin' snorted derisively.
"But I have!" the scarred-nose youth insisted. "He's a tall, skinny kid with messy white hair that kind of poofs out everywhere." Iruka demonstrated the "poof" by sticking his hands up around his head. "He's in the village on furlough or something."
"Don't be an idiot, Iruka-kun. Kakashi-sama is always on the front lines- where the action is! He doesn't need furlough."
"Yeah, he doesn't even need to sleep," one kid added knowingly. "He's that good."
"Well... Then maybe he goes on furlough to visit his family," Iruka shrugged. His thoughts went to the letter his parents had written between battles, informing him of their pending return.
"He doesn't have a family. Duh. Don't you know anything?" A roll of the eyes accompanied this exasperated remark. "Kakashi-sama's the last Hatake. Isn't that cool!"
He chewed on his lip thoughtfully. It didn't sound very cool to Iruka, but he kept that comment to himself. "But what happened to his family?"
"Everyone knows his dad killed himself," a boy shrugged. "I don't know about his mom or the rest."
The other boys nodded in agreement.
"His dad…killed himself?" Iruka repeated in shock. "It can't be! That's not what father told me- my dad says White Fang was assassinated!"
"Yeah?" his classmate shrugged. "Well, your dad's a liar. Everyone knows that too."
Iruka's eyes flashed angrily. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me."
"Take that back!"
"No way…gaahh!"
By the time the teachers broke up the fist fight, Iruka was sporting a bloody nose and his classmate a black eye.
At detention, the curious pre-genin could take it no longer. He asked his teacher the question that had been nagging him since the fight. "Sensei, how did Hatake Sakumo die?"
His teacher raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random question, but proceeded to answer it. "White Fang committed seppuku after failing a mission. He could not deal with the disgrace of having botched such a critical mission by his poor choices." The sensei shook his head sadly. "You must remember, Iruka-kun, that the mission always comes first. Sakumo-san forgot that, and see where that led?"
The answer saddened and confused him, but Iruka opted not to mention his father's comments about White Fang being killed- not to his sensei. Iruka had once gotten his father in really big trouble by telling sensei, "My dad says we should overthrow the Konoha Police 'cause it's corrupt."
Umino Kajiki's exact words, spoken while they were eating dinner in their home, were "You have to admit, Koeda, that our police system has inherent flaws. It could use some overhaul . Historically, consolidating so much power into the hands of only one clan tends to breed corruption."
But the seven-year-old Iruka couldn't quite grasp the meaning of all those words, and had just expressed what he thought was the gist of the conversation. (It didn't make much sense that "overhaul" and "overthrow" were such different words, when "haul and throw" meant pretty much the same thing.) Dad had to spend a week at the T&I Department to get the misunderstanding cleared up, and when he got home he spent another week in bed.
Perhaps Iruka had misunderstood again.
But what else could his dad have meant, those many times he remarked with a meloncholy sigh that "Hatake Sakumo is a victim of character assassination"?
As always, I extend my gratitude to my reviewers: jazzy, XcrazyXookamiX, Nascorgi, Ir1s, yure-chan, Reidluver, DarkAuroran, Rangerfan58, and umino-gaara,this last time. :) I adore getting your feedback, and often it motivates or inspires additions and/or alterations to the story.
