"A ninja must see underneath the underneath."
~Hatake Kakashi
"Lord Kazekage, what are you doing here?" a cloud ninja asked in shock.
Garra's face remained expressionless as his pale blue eyes regarded the man. "The better question is, what are you doing in Sand Country?" While his tone was neutral, his aura radiated killing intent. "A scroll I've been waiting for has been delayed in coming." His chakra flared threateningly. "I think I see why." He finished.
The Cloud ninja leader assessed the situation. His squad was battle weary, far from their home country, and without backup. They were facing Sharingan Kakashi, one of Leaf's best. Now, the most powerful ninja in all of Sand was joining the fight.
They ran.
Garra impassively watched their retreat. After a moment he addressed the Konoha group. "Let's go."
"Lord Kazekage," Kakashi bowed his head quickly, "We need to find our teammate first." Iruka had made himself scarce once the fight began, as he'd been ordered to by his superiors. In the heat of battle, Kakashi lost track of him.
"I assure you, he is safe. Now, come with me." Gaara turned and led the way without bothering to see if the Konoha ninja followed.
Kakashi was suspicious, and yet a careful, scrutinizing scan with the sharingan revealed nothing of concern. The most difficult thing for an imposter to reproduce would be the tattooed kanji on Gaara's face. Kakashi's sharingan recalled every detail of it: the thickness and length of the lines, the exact tint of the dye, the precise position on the forehead. This one matched perfectly.
He pulled his hitai-ate back down over his eye. "With all due respect, Lord Kazekage, we will not continue without Umino. We're not giving up the scroll until he's with us." In reality, they could not relinquish the scroll without him, but that was information he'd keep close to his vest for now.
Gaara shot Kakashi an impatient look. "My men found him before I broke up your fight. I've sent him ahead to Sunagakure with one of my ANBU," he explained to Kakashi as though he were a slow child. "If you want to see him, then let's go."
Fox, the most seriously injured, staggered in his effort to stand. To increase efficiency, Raccoon allowed him to lean on her as they began walking.
Kakashi hesitated, but followed after. Something was not right. Iruka wouldn't leave them in a battle to go ahead with a foreign ninja. No way. Not unless he'd been forced.
The Copy Nin drew level with Gaara, examining him closely while appearing unconcerned.
The Kazekage was dressed in a nondescript black robe, with the sand gourd strapped to his back. The gourd matched his recollection of it, cracked in the same areas. It looked a bit more worn than when he saw it last, which was to be expected.
It was odd for a Kage to be dressed so plainly, but Gaara was an unusual ninja, to say the least. Kakashi and his squad mates had no data regarding the Kazekage's current mode of dress, so he could draw no conclusions from it.
Gaara's hitai-ate was tied loosely around his neck, half-hidden in the folds of his robe so that the symbol was not visible. Suspicious.
Then he looked down at Garra's sandals. Gotcha, Kakashi thought triumphantly. The sandals were difficult to see under the cloak, but when he took a step forward Kakashi noticed that they were scuffed and worn, as though the wearer had traveled a great distance. The Village Hidden in the Sand was not all that far away.
It was likely that this Gaara was an imposter, an enemy ninja intent on stealing the scroll. Or rather, he was unaware that by seizing Iruka, he had already stolen it. Should he play along in hopes of finding the chunin? Or should he challenge him now?
The shinobi had great skill to pull off so convincing an illusion. Kakashi's sharingan could detect no jutsu. Gaara's chakra signature was normal. For a moment, the jounin doubted himself. Sandals were not much to go on. Perhaps he was wrong about this being a trap. Perhaps the Kazekage had been away on a mission. Perhaps Iruka did go ahead without them, since there was little he could do to dissuade an ANBU escort.
Still, his gut instinct told him something was amiss. Kakashi had not lived this long by ignoring his instincts. If this ninja was an imposter, he had to know if there were others around. Kakashi cast his chakra like a net over the area, reaching out, trying to sense out others.
"Is something wrong, Hatake?" Gaara inquired when he felt Kakashi's exerted chakra.
"Nothing. I'm just keeping alert for enemies."
The Kazekage nodded. "Sense anything?"
"No," Kakashi admitted. He made his decision. If they were alone, this was the best time to confront him, rather than let him lead this squad into an ambush. "But I would like to know who you really are."
Gaara blinked lazily, "I don't know what you mean. I am Gaara of the Desert, but you already know that. We don't have time for stupid questions."
Kakashi grabbed the shinobi's shoulder, pushing him back into a tree and holding a kunai to his gut. The fact that a shield of sand had not emerged brought a vindicated smile to the Copy Nin's face. "Liar."
Gaara's dark rimmed eyes widened, then relaxed. His normally passive features broke into a smile. The look was out of place and, if anything, made the imposter appear more demented. "What gave it away?"
There was a tense pause as Kakashi weighed his strategy. His two ANBU teammates had not noticed the deception, but were now reaching for their weapons as well. This imposter was outnumbered. Yet if his chakra was as strong as it felt, they were in for a tough fight.
"It's the voice, isn't it?" Gaara continued, mouth now ticked downwards in a slight frown. "I knew it was a little off. I can't get it quite right. It's been so long since I last saw Gaara and, well, this was a rather last minute plan. If I'd had more time to practice…"
Did this guy just forget that he had a kunai at his gut? Or was he toying with them? Kakashi interrupted with a light jab. "Who are you?" he growled.
"Relax! It's Iruka," the imposter winced.
When Kakashi didn't back down, the fake Gaara added, "You know, your teammate? 'The chunin'? or 'the scroll's vessel'?" The kunai was digging painfully in his flesh and the words were spilling faster. "I teach in the academy, take Naruto out for ramen, I'm allergic to Asope leaf…agh! Kakashi get off me or I swear your next mission will be so deep in swamp country you'll have slime oozing from your ears for months!"
Kakashi blinked and drew back. He released Iruka's shoulder and tilted the hitai-ate on the man's neck. He saw the leaf symbol engraved there. "Gaara" scowled and rubbed the sore spot.
"How are you doing that?" Kakashi asked.
"You act like you've never seen a transformation technique before," Gaara-Iruka commented. "I'm sorry your academy training was so substandard."
"That is no ordinary transformation jutsu." Fox snapped, annoyed. "Don't give us that drivel."
Rubbing at his non-existent scar, the chunin reluctantly admitted, "It's… a family thing."
"A kekkai genkai?" Fox pressed.
"Nothing so grand," Iruka scoffed. "I mean the technique was passed down in my family." His face flushed a little, but still being disguised as Gaara, it looked so odd. "And I shouldn't have to tell you this jutsu is highly confidential. The more people who know of it, the less useful it becomes."
"Your chakra feels like Gaara's. You don't actually…" Raccoon began.
"Have Gaara's abilities? No, not at all- as Kakashi so aptly demonstrated." For Iruka, slipping into lecture mode was the most natural thing in the world. "It's a forged chakra signature. The disguise is purely physical; there's no actual change in my skill, power, or speed. In reality, this is little more than a basic henge technique, but refined to perfection."
"Then what were you doing interrupting our battle?" Kakashi frowned. "What if they saw through your bluff, or if they decided to attack anyway? You'd be dead."
"I had to risk it." Iruka said firmly.
"You jeopardized the mission."
"I saved your lives," the chunin countered hotly. "You honestly expect me to sit back and watch more of my teammates die? I'd rather commit seppuku." The words left his mouth before he thought, and he regretted them immediately, knowing that Kakashi's own father had died that way.
If Iruka's words stung, the jounin didn't let it show. "Whatever. Just drop the illusion. If we run into actual Sand ninja, they won't take kindly to someone impersonating their Kazekage."
"Right." To the other's surprise, instead of popping back into original form amidst a burst of chakra smoke, Gaara's form began to shift and stretch, gradually becoming taller. Short red hair lengthened and darkened, while pale skin browned into Iruka's natural coloring. The transformation was fascinating to watch.
Finally, Iruka's body was back to normal form. Breathing heavily and hands shaking, his black robe morphed into his navy blue uniform, and Gaara's gourd became Iruka's vest and pack.
Kakashi now understood what Iruka meant by a henge refined to perfection. This technique wasn't an illusion that Iruka continually expelled chakra to uphold. Instead, it was a true transformation, using chakra first to change his form, and then once again to change back. He could likely remain in his altered state while asleep or unconscious, since he didn't seem to need chakra in between transformations. A highly useful skill.* If Kakashi hadn't burned so much of his own chakra already, he would have taken a peek with his sharingan.
Once the team moved on to a safer, more defensible location, they stopped to take care of their wounds. Raccoon had the worst of her wounds treated and then took a soldier pill to place Fox, the most badly injured, in a restorative coma. The female ANBU cleaned and bandaged the unconscious Fox's wounds to prevent infection before they healed. Meanwhile Iruka treated Kakashi's burns.
The chunin's hands shook as he applied cooling salve on Kakashi's shoulders and back. "What's wrong?" the jounin queried.
"Nothing too serious. The burns are mostly second degree, and-"
"No. I meant what's wrong with you. You're shaking."
"I'm fine. Transforming just takes a lot out of me." Iruka explained, his voice thinly veiled with pain. His chakra was significantly drained, and his abdomen was cramping up painfully. The scroll had shifted during the transformation, and its new location was not at all comfortable. "I'll be fine, but I may not be able to keep our usual pace."
"We're close enough now that it doesn't matter," the Copy Nin assured.
There was a long silence, penetrated only by the sounds of medical supplies being retrieved and applied. Raccoon checked on Fox. Now that he was in a restorative coma, none of the injuries should put him in mortal danger. Had the fight gone on much longer, things may have ended very differently for any of them.
She was discomfited to realize that Iruka had quite possibly saved one or more of their lives. "If you can do such high level jutsu, why aren't you a jounin?" she asked.
Iruka shrugged. "What you just saw is the only high level jutsu I know. My proficiency is with the basics."
"The only one you know, but not the only one you're capable of learning" Kakashi remarked offhandedly. "Konoha needs more jounin. You're lacking in certain areas, but given enough time and the right training, you just might qualify."
"Perhaps," Iruka replied vaguely, now wrapping sterile bandages loosely around the copy nin's torso.
"I think you could," Kakashi persisted, "Especially if you had the right trainer." He fixed the chunin with a steady gaze. "Like me, for instance."
Iruka raised his brows in surprise. Did Sharingan Kakashi- the man of a thousand jutsu- just offer to train him? The sensei recovered quickly, mentally berating himself for thinking like a star-struck fan.
"I appreciate the encouragement, Kakashi, but I don't wish to pursue jounin training," he stated, firm but characteristically polite.
"Why not?"
The many answers flit rapidly through Iruka's mind, as he tried to frame his answer:
Because enemy ninja expect jounin to be a threat and keep a closer eye on them. Being a no-name chunin makes being a semi-spy and intelligence agent much easier.
He obviously couldn't reveal that.
Because my chakra reserves are very limited. Even with strict chakra control, it's still necessary to avoid jutsu that drain massive amounts of chakra, or else the toll on my body would effectively negate the jutsu's usefulness. The single exception of that is the Master Henge, whose full draining effects would not be experienced until I choose to release the transformation.
No, there was no need to divulge a physical disadvantage.
Because I can't continue as a Senior Mission Room worker if I'm constantly leaving on missions. The Third's untimely death has left Konoha with a Hokage unprepared to shoulder the full administrative burden of the position. Training Shizune to be an effective assistant in these matters takes priority.
The fact is, Tsunade had yet to understand the intricacies inherent in being a "paperwork ninja." The Mission Room should not be a dumping ground for ninja who couldn't cut it elsewhere. Yet she had a habit of bringing in staff that Iruka felt were not up to par. He suspected that this laxity was the reason for their current crisis.
But he would not tell them anything that reflected poorly on their leader, or that revealed too much about the inner workings of the Mission Room.
Because taking a person's life still makes me ill. The psychology ninja were not much help in this matter. Combat sickness is something I will likely deal with for the rest of my life.
He didn't want to tell them that. He put up with enough condescending attitudes as it was.
Iruka settled for the fifth reason. "Because I wouldn't be able to teach in the academy if I became a jounin. Teaching and building up the next generation- that's what I live for."
"I see." Kakashi nodded, a smile in his eye. "If that's really how you feel, you must be far too insane to qualify for promotion."
PLEASE NOTE:
* The idea for the Master Henge comes from Goldenkizamu's "Paperwork Ninja Memories" and "As Strong As Need Be." (However, my all-time favorite of Golden's works is "True Confessions of a Paperwork Ninja." You should all read it.) I take no credit for the concept behind the technique.
Anyway, I have permission to use the jutsu with complete impunity. In Golden's stories, it is known as the Perfect Henge. I changed some aspects of the technique (particularly the preparations needed beforehand with the Perfect Henge), and to reflect that I have called it a Master Henge.
