*Author's notes: I'm a little concerned the characters are coming off a little ooc-ish. I'm trying to fix that. Naruto and characters belong to Masashi.

She tasted of cigarettes and something sweet. Her hands caressed the boy's pectoral muscles as she sucked on his lips and tongue. His eyes were wide open, and he told himself to just focus on the ceiling, but it was difficult. He mostly just looked at her forehead. The woman's hair was dark, and he could tell it was soft from the moments her bangs would occasionally brush against him. Her skin was pale, blemish free, and well taken care of. She had the type of look that, had Iruka been at home talking about girls with his Genin teammates, he would have been attracted to. Hiroki would have called this woman hot and Ritsu would have said, but can she fight?

Now that Iruka thought about it, there was no signs that she could. She hadn't been there when his team had been attacked and he had been separated from the other boys and his sensei. She hadn't even participated in his initial beating. There was no sign of her possessing any chakra. If he could just get out of these restraints, he could figure something out. He might even be able to take her.

Suddenly the Genin was pulled from his thoughts by a sharp slap across the face, quickly succeeded by a kunai to the fleshy part of his upper arm. His whole body jerked and he bit down viciously on his own tongue. He knew her goal was to make him scream. Apparently it made kissing him more enjoyable.

I'm not enough to keep your attention, hnn? Well maybe you're better suited to the boys. There was venom in her voice and her eyes flashed dangerously as she swiftly dismounted the boy and the table and strode across the room. She threw the door open and shouted down the hall, Phoenix, Hawk-Eye, get in here! Almost instantly, two huge men were standing with her, walking behind her, and eying the leaf Genin with expressions he could only compare to hunger.

Iruka stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand and poised to write. He'd gotten halfway through his lecture notes before he'd frozen, and he'd now been standing, back to the children and chalk unmoving on the board, for a good couple of minutes. The class of eight-year-olds watched in confusion. What was wrong with their sensei?

"...Sensei?" The voice of the smallest child brought Iruka back to reality.

"Yes Meiko-chan?" he responded, turning to face his class. Guilt washed over him as he saw the mild fear and utter concern on their little faces.

"Are you okay, Sensei?"

Iruka nodded and was about to make up some sort of excuse before another child spoke up, "Who was that man at the window? He'd been looking in for the past ten minutes."

Iruka turned to the window in question, but by that point Naruto was already gone.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto congregated at the top of the Hokage monument. Naruto had been shadowing Iruka for three days now, and his concern was only growing. Kakashi and Sasuke had spent the last few days scouting out and questioning Iruka's friends. Now it was time to share information. "Okay," the scarecrow started, "The other two thirds of the Chuunin trio were completely unwilling to talk. They didn't give us anything except that he has nightmares sometimes. So, I'm going to assume that that's what's happening now."

Sasuke nodded before turning his gaze to Naruto. "I talked to Genman-san. He's in the mission room on a regular basis so I figured he'd noticed something. He said that he's noticed that Iruka-sensei has lost some weight and is often staring off into space during his shifts. He's worried. He's offered his assistance if we want it."

A silence enveloped the three Jonin for a few moments before Naruto's expression turned incredulous. "That's it? That's all you've got?"

"None of the teachers knew anything about anything, and Ebisu even directed me to Anko and Ibiki. I haven't been to T&I to speak with either of them, because I'm not sure there's any reason to. I haven't ever seen Iruka with either of them. Have you?" Kakashi was a ball of irritation at this point. In a village full of nin that liked to gossip, how was it that no one seemed to know anything about a certain, tanned academy sensei? It'd been three days and Kakashi had scraped up virtually nothing.

"You were following him, Dobe," Sasuke muttered. "What did you find?"

The two Sharingan users looked at the blond teen with expectation, and Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "He doesn't even get into bed most nights anymore, but it looks like it's because he forgets. He's drinking a lot of kava, and Sakura-chan said that was generally used to calm anxiety. His appetite is shrinking. He hardly touched his dinner last night. Sakura-chan said she sees him jogging by her house almost every night. I'm going to spend the night with him tonight. Maybe I can get him to talk."

Sasuke glanced up at the sky, letting himself admire the view of his village for only a moment before turning back to his companions. "Izumo and Kotetsu said he gets like this almost annually. It sounds like it either passes on his own, or he's able to pull himself out of it. Maybe there's nothing for us to do except wait it out."

"No." Naruto's voice was firm. "No. How long would we wait? A week? A month? Until he wastes into nothing? Not a chance. If it were me, he would do something."

Kakashi nodded almost absently before he spoke up. "For once, I agree with Naruto. If other people who are used to his idiosyncrasies are noticing and are concerned, I think we need to do something."

Sasuke hnn'd before finally giving in. "Then what do we do now?"

Naruto's expression turned grim. "I guess we go find Anko and Ibiki."

The purple haired kunoichi and the T&I expert were sitting in one of the training fields when they were spotted by the last Uchiha, the Kyuubi container, and the spindly scarecrow. It seemed suspiciously like the three of them had interrupted some sort of sunset picnic, but no one said a thing about it. Instead, Naruto just rushed right on over.

"Hey!" he called in a way that reminded everyone of his irritated twelve-year-old self. "Hey! We have to ask you some things!"

"Dobe calm down," Sasuke muttered, but Naruto had already sprinted his way across the field. Kakashi and Sasuke took their time heading over, figuring they'd have a head start on a getaway if Naruto pissed either of their targets off enough to warrant some form of retribution.

Ibiki eyed the three Jonin with veiled curiosity and Anko sighed loudly. "What do you want, Loudmouth?" she asked Naruto, her eyes rolling.

"Are you guys friends with Iruka-sensei?"

Anko and Ibiki shared a look before the huge man addressed Kakashi. "What is going on here?"

"Maa," Kakashi's visible eye turned itself into its happy crescent as he scratched the back of his head. "The boys are worried about Umino, and Ebisu told us to talk to you two about it. But we don't want to bother you." The elder of the three then grabbed the back of Naruto's collar and the cuff of Sasuke's sleeve and began pulling them back. "Come on boys. Jaa, ne!" He called over his shoulder.

They were almost halfway back across the field before Anko stood. "...Wait!" Her voice was filled with a hesitation that was uncharacteristic for her and it immediately caught Kakashi's attention. "Is he okay?"

Naruto broke free from Kakashi's hold and scampered back. "I don't know. I don't think so. I thought maybe you'd know."

Ibiki gave a brisk tug on the hem of Anko's coat and motioned for her to sit back down. As she nestled herself back in the grass, Naruto sat down across from them and stared, his blue eyes full of worry. Sasuke held back, not comfortable being so near to the interrogation specialist since the session he'd had with the man upon his return to the village after his defection. Kakashi, too, kept his distance but used a surge of chakra to enhance his hearing.

"It's the nightmares?"

Naruto gave a nod. "We think so. It's impacting more than just his sleep though."

Ibiki sighed. "Damn kid. I bet he stopped taking his medication."

The talk of medication brought both Kakashi and Sasuke a few steps closer. Neither of them had been aware that the sensei had been chemically treated for anything, and if the sudden stiffness in his back was anything to go by, neither had Naruto.

Ibiki's voice was gruff as he continued, "Look. I know you're worried. But if it's not putting him in danger or hindering his ability to do his job, you shouldn't be snooping around. And if it is actually effecting him that much, you should take your concerns to Lady Tsunade. We've already told you more than we should have."