Iruka was never going to be anyone's focus again. He was ready to let Kakashi go down whatever path that he was supposed to stop the jounin from going down because damn it, it wasn't worth it!
Kakashi kept his chakra wrapped tightly around Iruka's and he'd use it to make Iruka miserable if he walked more than five steps away. Going to the bathroom was terrible because Kakashi would tighten his hold and yank, all while giving Iruka the symptoms of cardiac arrest or lung cancer.
He'd be fine as long as Iruka was within arm's reach and spent more time than was healthy curled up against the chunin's side. The moment Iruka left that space, he'd become agitated and restless and the only thing that calmed him down was Iruka's touch.
And he'd go absolutely berserk if someone else's chakra touched Iruka.
It also sickened Iruka to say, but he owed Gai a huge debt. Gai—upon discovering Kakashi was back—showed up all the time, but he saved Iruka from dying on a street somewhere from Kakashi's controlling chakra problem because he always brought food. Granted, some of it was deeply questionable, but he'd bring it and had the magical knack of also bringing whatever else that was needed.
Gai also—apparently—took over his classes because he felt it was the Nobel and Youthful thing to do (and because he seemed to think that he could turn it into a challenge for Iruka). Iruka was deeply scared of the results—the current reports were disturbing, the least worrisome things being that his classes seemed to have a new-found love for hygiene (particularly oral hygiene) and a fascination with adjectives.
It was going to take months to undo the damage.
Still, it did his heart good when Gai came in with a signs posted on his back that said things like 'Kick Me' and 'Yuthfull Poopy Head'. It made him think that, perhaps, his class was still redeemable.
It also helped that the entire class kept demanding his return, once even trying to hold Team 11 hostage until their demands were met (Neji and TenTen had escaped, but Lee had stayed behind because he started babbling something about Noble Intent and the Vital Importance of a Great Sensei). He never thought he had been wildly popular with his classes, but current events were proving him wrong. Not even Gai was bad enough to inspire the entire class to start organising homework strikes and picket lines in front of the Hokage's tower (their signs, he heard, said things like 'Free Iruka-Sensei!', 'Yuth aganst Yuthfullnes', 'Just say no!', 'Iruka-sensei out of jail or we all fail!', and little crudely drawn pictures of Gai and Shikamaru with their faces x-ed out).
He could only wonder what they thought had been done to him, but their devotion was nice, never the less.
Gai didn't seemed bothered by any of this; he'd launch into speeches about how the classes Youthful Loyalty touched his Prideful Heart and how Iruka truly was a Great Sensei and it was No Wonder that his Eternal Rival fell for him.
Iruka always denied any responsibility for his actions at that point. It wasn't his fault, and besides, it wasn't like he had done any lasting damage to Gai! The man might scream whenever he tasted parsley in the future, but Iruka figured Gai could learn to avoid it easily.
Tsunade finally saved Iruka, practically breaking Kakashi's door as she bellowed about Kakashi milking things too much and how she was sick of little pre-genins stealing all of her alcohol and if Iruka didn't get those little brats under control right now she was going to SNAP!
Kakashi sulked through the entire rant, but Iruka had never been so grateful in his entire life. He was so happy he chose to ignore how quiet his apartment felt or how he had to add three blankets and two pillows to his bed because it suddenly wasn't warm enough any more.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Sensei, what's sodamide?"
Iruka nearly choked. "Excuse me?!" After fielding questions about his supposed imprisonment, Gai, the Copy Ninja, and his 'escape', it was not a question he expected to have to answer.
The class was suddenly more alert than it had been during the entire time he had to tried to take them back to chakra control (Gai had insisted on focusing on taijutsu and honour and they wanted to know about his absence). Konohamaru even set aside his plotting and gave Iruka his undivided attention. Hanabi looked very earnest as she repeated the question.
Iruka took a deep breath. "Where did you hear that word?" He asked carefully.
She suddenly seemed less confident. Something in his face or tone must have warned her that it mattered very much who she had heard the word from. "...Around."
He took another deep breath and started counting the angry parents that were going to be storming his classroom later. "It's pronounced 'sodomite' and it's a very derogatory name for someone whose…lifestyle choices are different than what many people think is acceptable." He picked his words very cautiously. "It's incredibly insulting and degrading and if I catch any of you using it, you'll not only be scraping gum off of every surface in this school with a dull spoon without chakra but you will be writing lines and doing exercises until your arms fall off."
The entire class looked stricken, Hanabi particularly.
"Is that word worse than faggot or bitch?" Konohamaru finally asked, most of his normal exuberance gone.
Iruka shut his eyes for a moment and multiplied the number of parents by three. "It's just as bad. Those are all words I never want to hear in my classroom. Does anyone have any ideas of why such words would be inappropriate to use?"
The class was silent. Iruka began counting in his head. One, two, three…The trick hadn't failed him yet.
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve…
The students stirred uncomfortably.
Seventeen, eighteen…
No-one wanted to make eye-contact.
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…
A little girl tentatively put her hand up.
Bingo.
"Because it might make people feel bad?"
"That's very true. Using words like that can hurt a person's feelings very deeply. What are some other reasons why it's not nice?"
The class fidgeted. "Because mommy doesn't like it?" Another child offered.
"That's a very good point. However, it's not what I'm getting at. The reason those words are so bad is because you are saying that there is something wrong with those people when you use it. You are telling them that because they are different than you that they are less than you and with some of those words, less than human. It is never right to bring someone down just because they aren't the same as you. Do you understand?" He looked around at his students and prayed that they understood him and listened to him, if only just this one time.
Slowly, heads started to nod. "It's like if I call someone stupid for liking red better than orange, isn't it?" Konohamaru tried to act wise.
"It's very much like that." Not quite, but it would have to do for now.
The bell rang and nobody moved. All the children watched him, almost expectantly. "I'm not going to give you any homework tonight, but I want you all to think about this discussion very hard. Class dismissed."
The students slowly started moving, every action subdued. Quite a few students hugged Iruka—almost guiltily—before running out the door. He could only wonder what they had been hearing around the village about him.
He sat down and stared at the pile of essays that were waiting to be graded. The first parent would probably start coming in about two hours, meaning he didn't have a lot of time to finish.
He sighed and picked up his red pen. It was going to be a long night.
There you go! I hope to have internet again soon. but that just might be me being hopeful. Either way, enjoy!