Disclaimer: Don't own, never will. Alas.
Moi Musings: Yes, this is Chapter 3 again, but it has gone through a major revamping, so plenty has been changed indeed. The Mary-Sue complications have thankfully (and hopefully) been chopped out, because I did not want to create another fake, one-dimensional character in the world of Naruto fandom because I want my OCs to be real. Haru-chan is human, thank you very much.
Do re-read and review. It'll help very much.
Umino Iruka. Age 25; rank chuunin, in charge of training at the academy.
Umino Iruka, checking the clock. Countdown. Three, Two, One.
Knock-knock.
"Excuse us…" The door creaked open slowly, and four familiar faces stared back at him. The brown-haired teacher smiled.
"Kakashi-sensei. I see that you're finally here." He paused.
There was something different today. Team 7 looked the same. Sakura seemed slightly exasperated (as she always did). Naruto was looking v-e-r-y hopeful (as per normal). Sasuke looked stoic (as he always was). But Kakashi.
Kakashi looked different.
Slouched forward with the world on his shoulders. Eyes tired and drooped. Fake smile.
How long had it been, since he last looked like that? How many months, years.
Since she died.
It had been awhile.
He wasn't sure how long. Eight years, approximately, if he wasn't wrong and if his memory didn't fail him. It wouldn't, of course.
He had missed her. He still did, in fact, but not as much. He thought of her, occasionally, lesser over the years though he still did. He remembered her, of course. His self-proclaimed Big Sister.
Anko had started it. Naturally. It started when they got into the hobby of wrecking havoc in his classroom, when he was still a young whippersnapper and pipsqueak, unsure of names and faces and the trouble that little brats could cause when instructed to do so. Anko's way was outright explosive, but she…She was the mastermind behind pranks that were far worse, far more traumatizing than a little disorder in the classroom.
She first got the kids to switch classrooms. So 1A ended up in 1C, while 1C toddled over to 1B, which had contents that then resided in 1D's classroom, which had been vacated and shifted to 1E, who had decided to put up in 1A for the meantime. She then took advantage of the little elementary tricks and traps that the children had learnt, so simple that unsuspecting chuunins fell for them mainly because they overlooked them.
Dusters were placed between the doors (to act as a smokescreen); large pails of water were balanced atop the cupboards and securely fastened to carefully attached strings (to disorientate the enemy); extra threads were inconspicuously strung around potentially tripping areas (to lure (or trip, whatever it took) the enemy in); and then, those darling rubber kunai and shuriken that you can get at the joke shop (for that final bang). Finally, the clocks were set forward by a couple of hours, and she somehow managed to touch up the bell a little.
The kids had gone home pretty early that day.
And Iruka, on his part, was pretty glad that he wasn't the only one who fell for it.
Then Anko had called her Big Sister, and asked her to teach her all she knew. And she replied that the young grasshopper had much to learn. Then Iruka had chased the both of them out of the chalky, wet classroom, dusty, trying to dry out and hurting, because those rubber kunai and shuriken packed quite a punch. Then she had turned back, laughed and shouted. He still remembered what she said, very clearly indeed.
Now, now, 'Ruka dear! You wouldn't want to hurt Big Sister now, would you?
He had yelled back that she wasn't his big sister; he wouldn't want her as his big sister even if she paid him to be. She had winced, and then laughed again.
Think about it! One day you'll look back on this, and laugh!
Trust me.
He didn't exactly laugh when he recalled the "incident"; in fact, he cringed at the thought, because those rubber kunai and shuriken packed quite a punch. But he did smile a little, because it was kind of funny, especially when he got back and found half of his colleagues wet, dusty and hurting from flying rubber weapon attacks.
It was funny. And he missed her.
They had missed her. Those who knew her as more than the smiling, laughing façade she had kept up, those who knew her more than the rest, who simply remembered her as a beautiful, skilled shinobi who had transferred, for the sake of her village, to the Cloud. Those who remembered her as a human rather than a ninja.
Those who had cried, inwardly or outwardly, when they received the news.
He still remembered that day. He had been teaching, as usual, when Genma had come in. It was so sudden that he could barely believe it.
"Have you read the papers today, Iruka?"
"Eh? No, I was rushing so I didn't manage to…"
His face had been grim. Iruka remembered the whispers as he followed Genma out of the classroom.
He remembered the atmosphere in the school office. So tense and suffocating. He remembered the faces. He remembered how forlorn they looked. He remembered the blank eyes, the dark faces, the pain and regret. He remembered Asuma telling him. Then he remembered the sounds of sobbing.
"Iruka, Haruka…Haruka is dead."
He remembered.
He remembered the Hokage's office. He remembered standing by the door. He remembered the muffled conversation he wasn't supposed to hear.
"Sandaime-sama, I don't understand why we can't-"
"Kakashi, you must understand this. She is not a ninja of Konoha."
"But she was, Hokage-sama. She was part of…"
"Your ANBU squad, and she was part of us as well."
"Then why can't we engrave her name? She was part of the village, she transferred for the sake of the village, so why can't we-"
"I understand your feeling of loss, Kakashi. I know how you and the others must feel. Everyone is having a hard time coping now."
"Hokage-sama…"
"Anko and Kurenai were crying. Gai was in hysterics, Genma refused to believe anything I said and Asuma has been smoking like a mad man. I don't even know how Iruka is taking it. They came to my office, Kakashi. I've seen each and every one of her friends and comrades, and now I'm seeing you."
"Please, Hokage-sama, just as a way of paying our respects."
"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but no. We will not be engraving her name."
"But-"
"Haruka is no longer part of Konoha."
"…I understand. Excuse me."
The door had clicked open, and Kakashi had emerged, eyes dark and unreadable. For a brief moment, Iruka had felt it, felt the pain and the anger and the frustration and that mind-numbing blankness of resignation, and then it was gone. Kakashi brushed past, and disappeared down the corridor.
When he asked Hokage-sama why he had refused to engrave her name amidst those of the fallen, Hokage-sama had smiled, emptily.
"Because that would make her death too official."
"IRUKA-SENSEI! Please, PLEASE, are there ANY missions that are actually difficult? And hard to do? And unusual? Or at least something ELSE besides gardening? "
There were only memories now. The loud, familiar voice cut through them and rang piercingly in the air.
"Let me check…" Iruka shuffled through the D-rank mission file with feigned concentration.
The mission file which had its title carefully taped over with masking tape. It now read as Hard and Difficult Missions not meant for the Faint-hearted.
Anything to fool the blonde ninja.
"Hmm…Apparently, a domestic cat by the name of Pon is on the loose."
Naruto face-faulted.
"It's infamous for being very aggressive."
Iruka smiled at the dejected boy, sighing inwardly.
There were so many. So many B-class missions, so many A-class. But he couldn't risk it. He wouldn't.
They were still young, still innocent. Let them live for a little while longer. He sighed, and sifted through the file absent-mindedly.
No. No B-class and definitely no A-class and…What's this? Mission objectives…B-class at least… Verging on A-class even. What's it doing in this folder? Where are the specific requirements? Hmm, not stated…
He read through it once. And twice. And thrice. He thought through it a little. B-class. Team 7 did complete a C-class once. It was a C-class verging on B-class. Yes. Verging. And they came back alive, yes. Alive and kicking.
B-class. They'd live, wouldn't they?
He looked up at the retreating backs of Team 7, and cleared his throat.
"Kakashi-sensei? Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"
The jounin looked back briefly at the smiling teacher, before ushering his team out. He shuffled back to the desk, an eyebrow raised neatly in a silent question.
What?
Iruka's smile was hiding too many things for comfort. The suspicious 26-year-old watched as the single sheet of paper was slid across the desk towards him.
"Head to Godaime-sama's office and request for that mission, Kakashi-sensei. I'm sure that Naruto will be delighted to be on this one."
Kakashi, eyebrow still raised, picked it up, and scanned through quickly. Iruka watched in glee as his eyes widened considerably. He would have compared them to dinner plates, but that would have been such an understatement.
The silver-haired man read through it. Once, twice, thrice, before looking up, bewildered.
"But, Iruka-sensei…This is at least B-class. Shouldn't the chuunins g-"
"I think Godaime-sama will be glad to have Naruto out of her hair, at least for awhile."
And before Kakashi could answer, the younger man shoved him out of the office and slammed the door behind him. Iruka listened as there was a pause, before the soft sounds of footsteps faded away, and then silence. He leaned against the hard wooden surface and slid down slowly. Replaying the scene in his head, he chuckled. The jounin's reaction was certainly priceless.
He stared out of the open window at the clear, blue sky and grinned.
I hope Kakashi doesn't goof this up.
He sat for a while longer, and sighed.
I hope Naruto doesn't goof it up for him.
It's not that easy to establish an alliance after all.
Yes, another chapter revamped and completed. Yayness!
Review if you can, and if she's still really Mary-Sue and perfect-like, tell me. Constructive criticism please. (In other words, nice flaming.)