*rewrote beginning
"Now these here are special gapes," Iruka smiled down at the awed little faces of his students.
"Why do we have to know about these?" a little boy asked from the back of the group.
Iruka straighten from his hunched over position popping one of the odd looking grapes into his mouth. He chewed in thought, his jaw slowly working up and down. After popping two more of the grapes into his mouth and sighing, he looked back to his class. They were only one or two months from graduating. "Well Kiba," he's voice was gentle paired with an even gentler smile, "As you know, one day you're all going to be true shinobi."
"I'm going to be the best Shinobi ever and become the Hokage," a loud voice boomed from an orange bundle.
"How? You're the dumbest in the class," another child yelled.
"When!" Iruka broke over the brewing fight, popping the strange grapes into each of the boy's mouths, "You are shinobi. You will be given missions where you'll need to gather information." The boy's yelped in surprise as they bit down, before sighing.
"We know," Sakura sighed sliding her long pink hair behind her ear.
"Do you know where the best place to gather said information from?" he asked turning to the lady behind the cart and dropping a few coins into her hand. She handed over a large plastic bag with the odd crystal grape.
"Bars and brothels!" a boy blurted out and blushed when the lady behind the stand giggled.
Iruka smiled at the lady, "Toki-sama, these crystals grapes are delicious. I see the Grass planes are as fertile as ever."
"As always," the young woman smiled back happily, "Put lately the villages close to the fields aren't."
"Oh," Iruka titled his head, "Why's that? I hear they are doing quite well. Grass makes some of the greatest pottery."
"Well this is just rumor," she leaned forward and dropped her voice. She eyed the kids before continuing in a whisper. Whatever was said between her and Iruka was a mystery. "That's what they say at least." She finished with a nod as she stood straight.
"Well thank you for letting my students sample some of your fine produce," Iruka bowed to her and turned.
As soon as they were out of ear shot of the lady, Hinata asked the question that was on all their minds. "Ano," her quiet voice barely sounded over the roar of the market. The bouncing pony tail they were following came to a stop as their sensei turned to face them. He raised a brow expectantly at her. "Ano," Hinata begun again, "What did that lady say?"
Iruka smiled brightly at the curious looks sent his way, "Just that some Rock Rats were eating the crops."
"That's not what she said," Kiba yelled.
He was suddenly muffled by another crystal grape. "Alright everyone gather around I want you to try these." As he handed out three to each student he leaned close to Kiba and Hinata. "The best places for information are exotic food stands. But you need to be careful, not everything they tell you is true."
It was a lesson Hinata had taken to heart. When out with her team gathering information Shino and Kiba would run around and confirm any and all rumors they came across. "Ten or nothing," the merchant yelled at Sakura who was unsuccessfully trying to barter with the man. So far they had only gotten a few snippets of information here and there.
"These Crystal grapes are over ripened," Sakura argued, "What's more you lied about where they came from."
"I'm sorry do you grow these?" the gruff man asked, "Do realize how difficult it is to get the right texturing on the outside and the right gooeyness on the inside? The mountains of Earth country are the best for growing these delectable plants."
"Buzzt Wrong. It's Grass soil that makes them the best," Sakura growled, "Five for two."
"Ten for two," growled the man.
"Ten for two," Hinata broke in. The man's head snapped her way just realizing that she was there. She picked one of the grapes off and popped it into her mouth. Carefully she bit down. The hard outer shell of the grape gave way beneath her teeth. Instantly a sweet gooey juice filled her mouth causing her to sigh. Sakura was right though it was a little too ripe. "The shell is a little harder than it should be. The juice is a little too liquid, but it is still sweet."
"Not bad girly," the merchant scratched at his scruffy bread.
"I had a sensei who introduced me to a verity of strange fruits, but the Crystal grapes have always been my favorite," Hinata explained.
"Yep, these are best sellers everywhere I've been," the man agreed.
"Everywhere, then you must hear a lot?" Hinata asked, "I heard a rumor in one of the lower villages in Earth Country." She suddenly leaned forward causing the man to do the same in curiosity. "They say a nin of the Leaf got in and stole a scroll."
"Yeah, been hearing that rumor too," the man nodded keeping his voice low, "Some Rock nin say they caught him though. Been torturing him like crazy."
"Why?" Sakura asked leaning in too.
The man gave her a nasty look before turning his attention back to Hinata, "He hid the scroll is what I hear. He refuses to tell them where it's at." They lapsed into silence before the man perked up. "Ya know, this lady was telling me that there's a bar across from the building they're holding him in. She said that you can get all the latest gossip on Little Leaf there."
"Little Leaf?" Sakura repeated the name slowly.
Another glare met her. He obviously did not like her. "That's what they're calling him, Little Leaf. I've been meaning to make it down there to learn some more but business has been booming."
"Where's this bar?" Sakura all but demanded.
The guy curled his lips in disgust at her, "Somewhere on the south end. A guy name Oaky runs it."
"Ten for two, right?" Hinata broke in before Sakura could react to the look the man was giving her.
"For you five for two," The scruffy man smiled grabbing the grapes and putting them in a bag. "For her, ten for two," He nodded in Sakura's direction.
"WHAT?" Sakura yelled startling a few people. Hinata quickly paid before dragging Sakura off.
"The nerve of that guy," Sakura fumed stomping down the road.
"At least we know where Sensei is now. A building across from Oaky's bar," Hinata tried to calm Sakura down by slipping her a few grapes. They were gone in a matter of seconds.
"You know Hinata," Sakura stopped looking at her last grape with a fond smile, "Iruka-sensei was right. These are special." They both shared a fond smile, thinking back to their fondest lesson from Iruka-sensei.
Eiji's eyes were like hot coal, burning in their intensity. His lips curled over crooked teeth to farther exclaim his anger. Iruka had been far more talkative than he use to be. Normally this was a good sign. It meant that Eiji had finally broken the head strong man and would soon have his way. However this did not seem the case with Iruka. The man's own lips were pulled into a painful smirk as he hung from the ceiling by his ankles. He swung back and forth like a pendulum, his blood leaving a dotted trail as he swung. Eiji growled at the man, "Where is the scroll?" he asked again.
Again Iruka gave an answer, "In my desk, but you have to promise you won't tell the answers to the kids. They try to steal from my desk when I'm not looking," he stated an annoyed look passing over his face, "They have this ongoing game, answer snatch. I use to play it when I was a kid. Of course I now know the truth of the game," he suddenly smiled happily as he begun to spin slowly adding to the back and forth motion. It was slightly dizzying to watch. "We, teachers, believe that if a student can find and grab the right answer scroll, he should be allowed to take special spy lesson. So far only three of Tonto's students have been able to succeed," his face turned into a creased expression, "Wonder if I'm not teaching my students right. Maybe I'm lacking something," he looked up at Eiji questioningly, "You don't think I'm under qualified for teaching information gathering do you?"
Eiji glared down at his pivoting head, "Seeing as you were captured stealing information, I'd say yes," Eiji replied hotly.
"Oh come now Eiji," Iruka said putting on a hurt expression," I not only got the scroll but I also got pretty far too. I can't be all that bad. I mean you guys haven't found it yet, right? So there, information gathered!" Iruka finished happily a cheesy smile on his face.
"An information gathering mission is completed only when the information has made it back to the right people," Eiji growled, "Seeing as your mission hasn't been completed means you failed."
Iruka took on a thoughtful look as if he was truly considering Eiji's words, "Well that does put a kink in the plans, doesn't it? Well I could have always sent a messenger bird back with the information way before you all captured me."
"We considered that, but no portal spotted any such bird," Eiji countered growing angrier by the second. "Where is the scroll?"
"Or," Iruka continued as if he hadn't heard the question, "I could have given it to some of my fellow nins passing by."
"At least one of them would have remained behind to help you distract…."
"OR!" Iruka continued interrupting Eiji, "I could have sent a clone ahead…" Iruka took on that fake thoughtful look again, "Why hadn't I thought about that in the first place. I could have left a few clones behind and made a run for it. NOW I THINK OF IT!" He dared to look annoyed at the thought.
Eiji let loose another bone creaking punch; he felt the ribs underneath give. Iruka bravely kept his scream trapped behind clenched teeth. "The scroll chunin?" He grabbed Iruka and pulled him forward, kneeling down he snarled, "Where is the damn scroll? Not your test answer scroll, or your grade scroll or the secret porn scroll! WHERE IS THE SCROLL?"
"I'm afraid," Iruka hacked smiling through bloody teeth, "You're going to have to be a little more specific than that. I have quite a few of them," he grunted as Eiji punched him again, "I have one on my shelf back home, Interrogation for dummies. You're welcome to it. I think it'll be quite helpful. I heard you have a really tough shinobi you're trying to break." Eiji roared hitting Iruka a little harder, he relished the short shout as more bones bent and broke under his power. Iruka wheezed, "You could have just said no thank you." Eiji reared back for another punch.
"Sir you hit him like that again and he'll die," one of his medics called suddenly, "I think we should end here for the day, and try something new tomorrow." Eiji's fist was still pulled back his hot eyes bore holes into Iruka. After several tense moments he lowered his hand and nodded.
As he left the room Iruka called after him in a slightly sorry tone, "Sorry I couldn't be more help. Good luck with that Nin!" Eiji swore loudly as the cell door swung shut.