Chapter Six

Over the next few weeks Iruka's life seemed to fall into a new routine. In the morning he would wake up early and meditate. He'd discovered the first time he had started a regular meditation regime years before that he always had too much energy afterward, so he couldn't practice too late or else he'd never get to sleep. Besides, the exercises Tez gave him always left him with a surplus of chakra that inevitably came in handy during his day at the Academy.

Speaking of which, that was going much better. Because he had more energy, Iruka was able to devote more energy to his class so he spent less time disciplining them and more time actually teaching. As a result, the students were more engaged in their lessons and spent less time trying to avoid class. The class was moving along nicely again and Iruka managed to put his chakra training to use when helping his students with ninjutsu training.

After his time at the Academy, Iruka would go to work for Kakashi. True to the Hokage's word these shifts rarely ran late because they had very few papers and forms to redo. The hours felt short and the time usually flew by before Iruka knew it. And it always felt like they managed to accomplish something, which was a nice change.

Usually afterword Kakashi took Iruka out to dinner. The first few times they went to Ichiraku's, but when Kakashi got tired of ramen they started branching out into barbeque and sushi, which was just fine with Iruka. He liked ramen a ton, but sometimes it was nice to eat something different. Talking together in a non-professional capacity had started out as awkward, but as the days passed and eating together became ritual the conversation began to flow.

Then after dinner Iruka would go to the training grounds to work on the physical part of Tez's lessons. Usually Kakashi came with him and gave him advice, but oftentimes the Hokage left him to his own devices. Iruka figured that Kakashi only came to the practices in hopes of seeing Tez, but of course it never happened. Although, several times Tez did pop in during these sessions.

That was one thing Iruka could never get used to: the randomness of the times Tez popped in. Usually it was in the late afternoons or evenings, but sometimes it was the morning. But it was never the same time twice in a row! And there was no pattern, just a random set of times and dates. Sure she was polite and warned him of her presence before she started talking to him, but it was still very disconcerting the time she showed up when he was jerking himself off.

Needless to say, that hadn't gone off as well as he'd hoped. The whole rest of her visit was awkward as hell, too.

The training itself was progressing nicely. By the time three weeks had passed Iruka could form a chakra barrier that could withstand not only physical attacks, but a few chakra attacks as well. He could move and manipulate the shield a little, but not enough to actually be able to use it as body armor during a fight. He could, however form the shields in an instant, and use them strategically during a fight.

He was also becoming faster. After the first week Tez assigned him some drills to practice every day before he worked on his new assignments. The drills pushed him to not only move with greater speed, but also to react faster to attacks. The drills were basic things, like running and performing basic attack and defense routines, which conditioned his body to remember the movements so that when he was attacked he could respond appropriately before his brain could catch up.

Despite how well the training was going Iruka didn't feel that he was improving nearly as much as he needed to. He was skilled with shadows and illusions, but he needed to learn how to turn his chakra into two different elements if he wanted to be a true Jounin and not a tokubetsu Jounin. Sure there was a certain prestige in being an expert in something, but it just wasn't what he was going for. Technically, shadows and illusions weren't elements, either.

Iruka sighed as he walked out to the training field. He needed to have another talk with Tez. He needed to figure out which direction he wanted to go in during his training and he needed her help to do it. He'd been going around in circles thinking about it, but he'd realized a long time ago that he really wasn't drawn to any element in particular.

Tez, however, had already told him that her magical focus was split into four: she had power over earth, air, fire, and water. She could also heal and had a special bond with plants. They'd managed to do a lot more talking since that first bonding conversation, but very little of it had been about the future of Iruka's training. He'd learned a little about her family – as huge, complicated, and twisted as it was – as well as about her friends and the people directly involved in her life, but they hadn't discussed about her role in the magical world since that one time a few weeks ago.

She wasn't the only one who shared things. Iruka had told Tez about how ninjutsu worked and all of the different kinds. He'd also told her about Naruto and the Nine Tailed fox. She'd listened carefully and quietly through the whole thing before she'd asked, "So, why didn't you just adopt him?"

Iruka had been flabbergasted. He'd never even thought of it, to be honest. Then Tez had told him about how she had taken her first – and youngest – son away from his mother when he, Jason, was six years old because the woman had refused to get his autism treated. Then her second son had been thrust on her by her king-god of an uncle (she really didn't seem to like him much, or that whole pantheon she was related to), and the eldest she had taken in because no one else could handle him. "I wouldn't give them up for the world!" was the last thing she said on the matter.

However, sometimes Iruka wondered how much Tez liked her life. Whenever he asked her she would sidestep the question and bring up something else. He managed to glean a few things, though. She was clearly powerful and well positioned in the magical government. She had three kids whom she loved. And, most recently, he learned that she could not only use four out of the five elements, but she had had passed eight super-hard tests. Those tests were so hard that most people didn't even survive one of them.

He'd been thinking since that last visit that maybe he'd want to get involved in lightning and air jutsu. Kakashi could help him with the lightning when Tez wasn't there, and Naruto was always happy to show him his Rasengan. That way he'd be able to do more intensive training when Tez wasn't around.

He felt the shadows in his mind just before Tez said, "Actually, you're already programmed for fire and water combo."

"What are you talking about?" Iruka asked.

"Well, last time I was here you said that only certain people were genetically predisposed to use jutsus that combined two or more different elements at once. The first time I came by when you were super exhausted I saw you use a jutsu to warm up a container of cold food. That jutsu uses the fire element in conjunction with the water element already found in your food to heat everything."

Iruka couldn't think. He was predisposed to use two elements together? His sensei must have known or else he wouldn't have taught him that heating jutsu. How come his parents hadn't told him?

"Dude, you need to chill. Anxiety isn't good. You may really start hallucinating one of these days, then where will you be?" Tez teased. "Although, seriously, I have something good to tell you!"

"Oh?" Iruka asked, intrigued. Tez never had news. She wasn't a very newsy person.

"I'm awake now!" she announced with a drum roll. She'd started using audio affects sometimes a few visits ago. Iruka wasn't sure he really appreciated them. "I can come here whenever I want and stay for as long as I want. That way I can train you properly!"

And she could concentrate on her assignments properly, too, Iruka thought. She'd been trying to use her magic, but she rarely brought enough chakra with her to effectively cast anything too complicated. She had successfully blended her power with Iruka's and used that, but it tired him out more than he was willing to accept. Apparently he felt it more when his chakra was used by someone else than when he used it himself. It would explain why he was more tired when she used less of his chakra for a spell than when he cast a similar jutsu.

"Is that why you decided to pop in just when I was on my way to the training field?" Iruka asked, drawing his mind back to the present.

"Yep! I'm happy I timed it so well, actually. It be midnight over here. I let everyone around me know that I need some 'me' time, so we shouldn't be interrupted."

"Great!" Iruka said as he turned off the path and toward the clearing he usually trained in. "We need to talk."

"Oh, no, are you pregnant?" Tez demanded with a smile in her voice. "You know we girls should always use two forms of birth control at all times!"

"Shut up!" Iruka said aloud, temporarily forgetting in his irritation that Tez could hear his thoughts. "I'm gay, not a girl!"

"Well, you know what they say: we girls need to stick together!"

Iruka rolled his eyes but started his warm-ups without another word. It wasn't until he started the second set that Tez broke the silence.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I was just wondering what direction our training was going to go in now. I can't continue to grow with drills and practice exercises – I need someone to spar with. Kakashi-sama helps me with my training sometimes, but he isn't my sensei and it isn't his job anyway." Besides, technically it was illegal to attack the Hokage. In real life, though, it just felt wrong to actually fight with him.

"Ah, you see, that's where phase two of my great plan comes in!" At that, Iruka felt a wave of power he couldn't control seep out of his body and move ahead of him. He stopped his movements and watched as a body appeared out of nowhere.

The form before him was male and about the same size as Iruka. It had dark brown hair that fell below its shoulder blades and was held together in a ponytail at the base of its neck. The jaw was square and the neck was thick, leading to strong shoulders and a strongly muscled torso. Its eyes flew open to reveal bright blue surrounded by darkly tanned skin.

"It's a mixed form I used a few times when the United States government wanted me to go undercover in the male half of a prison, and once when I went undercover as a drag queen in a club." The voice was deep. No one else Iruka had ever met had ever had a voice quite that rich. It was impossible!

"Are you sure you're really a girl?" he asked. The figure before him smiled and bowed mockingly.

"I'm definitely a girl. You can grope if you like."

Iruka backed away a step and held up his hands. "I don't feel like getting killed."

The figure walked up to Iruka, grabbed the poor man's hand – Iruka was completely frozen in place for fear of his sanity – and slid Iruka's hand into its crotch. True to her word, there was no penis there.

As Tez released Iruka's hand she said, "I'm still connected to you, since it's through your body that I'm still connected to my body so we can't get too far away from one another, but I don't foresee you being more than three miles away from me while we train anyway." Her voice was a little lighter, but still very low, almost as if she weren't pushing her voice down quite as much. Maybe it was a strain keeping her voice at such a low bass?

"Well, that was awkward," Iruka said. He fingered the scar on his nose in agitation.

"In that case, think fast!" Tez shouted as she threw a punch. Iruka barely managed to dodge it when he saw Tez's leg coming in from below. Damn, she was fast! He barely managed to block the kick before she spun around and threw another kick at him. Iruka ducked the kick and lunged forward with a punch that Tez grabbed. She pulled his fist and planted a quick kiss on his cheek just as her fist connected with his solar plexus and knocked the wind out of him. Only then did she back off.

"I'm glad you turned your defense into an offense. That was some very quick thinking! But you don't want to put so much of your weight forward into an attack because it's easy to throw your balance off. Keep your center, or come in with a secondary attack immediately after so that if they do pull, you get 'em."

Iruka nodded and lunged in at his sensei. She blocked with her strong arms and tried to grab, but Iruka's leg was no longer there. Instead, his fist was aimed directly at her face. She barely managed to get her hand up in time to block, but her head had already been ducked down as she came in with another uppercut aimed at Iruka's stomach. Iruka dodged to the side with a spin and he brought his leg up in an axe kick only to have his balls poked.

"What the hell?" he asked as he took a couple steps back with his hand over his crotch.

Tez shrugged. "You left an opening, and a true enemy doesn't fight fair."

They practiced taijutsu with rapid-fire movements for a good hour and a half. Tez always exposed a weakness in Iruka's defense, but she also told him how to compensate for it. Then, in the next round she would try to exploit the same weakness only to have Iruka prepared for it, and then she would move on with new movements. Part of Iruka's problem was that he hadn't sparred with anyone of his own level in a long time and he'd grown rusty. The rest was just that Tez was really good.

After taijutsu Tez had Iruka do some stretching. "Stretch whenever you can," she said. "It'll keep your muscles limber and flexibility increases the speed at which you can recover from getting hit during a fight."

"You do know that I know most of this, right?" Iruka asked.

She smiled bashfully. It was almost a cute look, despite the heavy masculinity of her face. "Sorry, I'm kind of used to training rookies who are very good at sparring, but have no actual experience."

"Yeah, me too," Iruka said between breaths. She'd run him ragged! Although this was to be expected: close quarters fighting takes more out of a ninja than hours of running. The extra energy gets pulled into the opponent when a strike is thrown.

"Anyway, to get on to some ninjutsu, can you do this?" Tez asked as she stepped up into thin air and crouched down, her feet hovering about two feet above the ground.

Iruka looked at her in amazement. "No, I can't."

"I've taught you how," she replied with a sly smile. She wasn't even breathing hard! "I'm just standing on a shield."

"Oh." He could do that. He constructed a shield away from his body just as she'd shown him and stepped on it.

"Now, I want you to try to move the shield around. You'll want to make sure your chakra flow is consistent and maybe picture your shield as a platform that moves like a flying carpet."

Iruka did as she said, but he felt his shield extend to the side instead of sliding over. He looked over at Tez and noticed that her eyes were glowing bright blue as she looked down at his feet.

"Maybe if you pulled your chakra out of the side that's staying there and moving it over with the platform it'll move," Tez said thoughtfully. Iruka tried it and started sliding around to his right. Then, just to see if he could do it, he tried moving the platform up in the same manner. It moved easily.

Then his chakra flow petered out and he fell to the ground. Fortunately he managed to land gracefully, years of training coming out to save him. Kami, he was so tired! So he started stretching again, but Tez called his attention.

"What I'd like you to do now is to create two shields, one above the other and over a little bit, and I want you to use that chakra push technique that I first taught you to push yourself from one shield to the other, kind of like the way you would jump from one wall to another to climb up between two really tall buildings." Then she demonstrated, making her scattered shields glow the same blue that her eyes had been gleaming earlier. Was that the color of her power when she used it?

One thing could be said for Tez: she was graceful. At first she did the exact exercise that she'd described, and then she conjured a few extra shields that she kept moving in a very complex pattern. She kept jumping from one to another, but she used attack moves as though she were fighting an invisible enemy. The shields she bounced off of were used not only to keep her airborne, but also as weapons to attack the enemy and as shields to protect her from thrown weapons. Iruka was impressed, not only with the taijutsu, but with the fact that Tez kept no less than five shields moving in five distinct patters, from which she deviated constantly.

After several minutes of amazing airborne acrobatics, Tez took one of her shields and wrapped it around an imaginary figure and landed softly on the ground. Iruka burst into applause along with another pair of hands. Tez took a quick bow as Iruka turned to see Kakashi leaning on a tree behind him.

"That was very good," Kakashi said as he stood up from the tree. He walked forward and said, "I don't think we've met."

"We haven't," Tez replied. "You can call me Tez. I'm helping Iruka to become a Jounin."

"He'll certainly make it in time if you continue teaching him," Kakashi said with a large, obviously fake smile. "I'm just surprised that a shinobi of your talents and distinct appearance hasn't come to my attention before."

Iruka could smell the tension in the air. Why was Kakashi being so aggressive? His words may have been polite, but his tone was sharp and his posture was stiff, not at all like his normally relaxed composure. He was normally such a laid-back man, even with strangers and other Jounin he'd never met before.

"Well, you and I have met before," Tez said. "I just don't normally look like this. Usually I take the form of a woman." Then, suddenly, her voice changed. It went up in pitch and became the same voice that Iruka had been hearing in his head for the past month or so. "Perhaps this voice sounds familiar?"

Kakashi shook his head, not looking bothered by the sudden change in the least. Tez turned and winked at Iruka. Clearly she'd meant for him to recognize her voice. After all, she had been in Iruka's body when she'd spoken to Kakashi that one time, so the Hokage would have heard Iruka's voice and not Tez's.

"Well, anyway, I'm not interested in Iruka. He's nice and everything, but I've got my own life and that only currently involves Iruka and our training. Speaking of which," she turned to Iruka. "Try manipulating the shields. Moving them, jumping around on them – basically incorporating them into a fight. Some of the best defensive moves become the best offensive moves. Also, I want you to work on that warming jutsu and see if you can make it bigger. Tomorrow we'll see what we can burn with it, and maybe try some water manipulation."

With that Tez's body disappeared. There was no puff of smoke or brush of leaves like a normal teleportation jutsu, just one moment she was there and the next she was gone. Clearly she didn't know what a teleportation jutsu was supposed to look like, otherwise she would certainly have made it appear normal. Then he felt her chakra retract into his body the moment before she said, "Mind if I watch the show, though?"

Iruka sighed. "Whatever." Aloud, he said, "She's a bit… different."

"I noticed," Kakashi said. He still looked tense.

Iruka smiled, but didn't do anything. Instead he said, "She doesn't understand proprieties. She shouldn't have said that stuff about not being interested in me. I think she just misunderstood a few things and felt…"

"She didn't misunderstand," Kakashi cut in.

Iruka stopped mid-sentence and froze. "What?" his voice asked. Tez had pushed in and taken control of his voice, he realized, but he was still too frozen to push back and try to retake control.

"You heard me," Kakashi snapped in a very non-Kakashi-type manner. "I've been courting you for weeks, trying to get you to like me enough so I could confess my feelings for you, and then he came around…"

"He's a she," Tez made Iruka mumble, but Kakashi plowed right over him as if he hadn't heard.

"…and I saw the admiration in your eyes and…"

"Kakashi-sama!" Iruka shouted, finally regaining control. Kakashi snapped his mouth shut, but kept glowering at Iruka. Iruka made himself calm down before he said, "Kakashi-sama, Tez is a girl. She chose that form because we were evenly matched in size, but she's actually a girl. That's all. She's a decent friend and an amazing instructor, but nothing romantic could ever happen between us."

"What about me?" Kakashi demanded. "Could you ever be romantic with me?"

Iruka thought about it for a few moments. He didn't want to say anything too hasty. Kakashi was hansom. He was powerful and of very high status even before he was chosen as Hokage. He was a good ninja, even if he was a bit juvenile and harsh. Women and men alike always threw themselves at his feet in the hopes of just having a simple date with the man. "His aura is also compatible with yours," Tez cut in. Obviously she was keeping tabs on his thoughts again.

"I guess I could," Iruka said. "Honestly, I've never even thought about it."

Kakashi seemed to relax at that. He even smiled. "Well, that makes things a bit easier!"

"How so?" Iruka asked.

"Well, I don't have competition! How would you like to go out on a date with me?"

What was that? The Hokage was asking Iruka, a Chunin, out on a date? Did Hokage's date? Was Kakashi gay? More importantly: what was the right answer?

"Um, sure?" was what he said.

Kakashi's smile turned into a flat-out grin. "Great! I'll meet you in front of Ichiraku's at Noon on Sunday. See you tomorrow!" Then with a wave and a swirl of leaves he was gone.

"Now that that is out of the way we can work on this shield technique, and then we can move on to teleportation jutsu. You said before that you sucked at it." Tez said in an amused tone.

With a sigh Iruka returned to his training. Clearly he wasn't finished yet.