Chapter 21 - Reporting In
Iruka knew he was in trouble as soon as he stepped foot into the mission room and saw "that" look on the Hokage's face. And today was going so well, too. The Chunin resigned himself to whatever fate his mischievous leader had in store for him. At least he had the courtesy to allow Iruka to settle into his chair, gather himself, look through his work basket of today's tasks and files to be sorted.
The old man was quite shrewd; had to be since he was the Hokage. But Iruka's prankster instincts were flaring with warning signals. He knew that something big was in the works. At first he was relieved to discover during the lull that all the Hokage wanted was the dream reports. Since there were only the Mission staffers and the room wasn't crowded, he quickly did his signature transcription jutsu and transferred all his dream memories to paper for his leader. But, oh no. If only it was that simple.
It was the clandestine way that the Sandaime handed him that little mission scroll afterwards. "Iruka-kun, mind looking this over for me?" So what do you say but, "Of course, Hokage-sama." And hearing in reply, "Let's have tea after your shift is over to discuss it." Then his only reply could be, "Hai, Hokage-sama." Apparently, he was supposed to open and read it while said leader watched in anticipation. Iruka dutifully did so. Upon seeing the mission title Hagakure and Uzumaki Kokoro as the client, he furrowed his eyebrows, puzzled. Now what's this about?
As he read through this "mission", he nearly freaked out when he saw the line, "Client is possibly a descendant from the Village of the Hot Water massacre." Licking his lips and gulping, he read on. But the words rang in his head like warning bells. He couldn't tell from the Sandaime's pleased reaction if he was just giddy from seeing his reaction to the highly classified intel detailed in this mission. Or if he actually knew that Iruka was in fact the descendant from said incident. He really, really was hoping it was the former.
Only a few of the elder Naras actually knew and it was a clan secret. Iruka didn't even learn of his heritage until after Shikaru-sensei, being the Clan head, had taken Iruka aside and revealed the whole story. Including the mock disowning of his mother from the Nara clan when she became engaged to his father; to hide any lingering trails to protect his mother and her children. Shikaru-sensei had even given him all the Yagyū clan scrolls, official mon seal and heirlooms that the two Kirisutokyou believers had taken with them when they attempted to escape the massacre with his mother as a babe. The Naras happened to cross paths with them when they were returning from Nanakusa Island. Once the Kirisutokyou convinced the Nara to protect and hide his mother, they'd returned to the battle scene to fight and die with their friends. And the Naras had kept that promise, since it was based on the Nara/Yagyū Clan alliance pact before Konoha was ever founded. Specifically, the pact had allowed the Naras access to Nanakusa Island for herb harvesting rights. The ingredients from there were used in many of the clan's proprietary herbal remedies.
At first Iruka thought he shouldn't have become a shinobi if he was a descendant of a samurai clan. But Shikaru-sensei had put that fear to rest when he shared that it was his mother's choice to become a shinobi after she was told the truth of her heritage. "A soldier is a soldier.", she had told her adopted father, "They only differ in name and type." So she'd chosen to become a soldier to protect the home she loved.
Iruka had been so shell-shocked and emotionally drained after their talk that he could barely participate in team training for the next few days. The ever perceptive Nara leader had shifted to personal training schedules for his students for the next two weeks. During that period, Iruka'd had plenty of time to review all the scrolls. Reading through all the Yagyū clan's history, training notes, laws, customs and traditions had been fascinating. Cataloging and handling the heirlooms ended up as a therapeutic way in coming to terms of having one's paradigm altered drastically.
Included among the scrolls were several documents and treaties that pertained to the bi-lateral pact with Kirisutokyou residents in the Village of Hot Springs. It was only after he reached Chunin that he made his first entry into the Yagyū Clan Log and updated the genealogy with his mother and himself. The elaborate booby traps at home were mainly set up to protect the storage scroll that contained all of the secret Yagyū Clan belongings or, as he liked to call it, his "estate."
Many a time after training, Shikaru-sensei invited him to the Nara compound. When they were alone and Iruka was feeling more like himself, he started asking questions. One time he asked Shikaru-sensei if any of the Naras had opened or read any of the scrolls. He was pleasantly surprised to find out they only helped his mother reseal them and the Nara clansmen never looked in them before or after; partly because it was a lineage seal. They were curious, but dismantling the seal would've been too troublesome. That and then they'd have to go to the Hokage or the Toad Sannin to have another seal put on and that would've raised too many questions. When asked why it was kept secret from the Hokage and the village, the answer was so cryptically given he wasn't sure if it was a real answer or the topic was just "too troublesome" to deal with. But, whatever the reason, a Nara Clan secret it was to remain.
It was his mother who requested that her clan's scrolls and possessions be stored in the Nara's Research Lab for safety's sake. It was quite fortuitous, since the Umino home was destroyed in the Kyubi attack. Mother had planned to share it with him when he came of age, but never got the chance.
As he finished reading the mission scroll, the puzzle pieces started coming into place. Somehow, someway, Shikaru-sensei had foreseen all this! He probably didn't know about him being Saki, but still. What were the logistics behind the Uzumaki children meeting the Nara heir before class? If the snippets he heard were accurate, they had met several years ago. Lining up with when Shikaru-sensei had "reluctantly" taken on a Genin team. Which just so happened to have the 'disowned' clan member's son on it? Yeah, no way this was just coincidence. What the heck!
The Chunin rolled the mission scroll back up to hand back to Sarutobi-sama. He really wanted to throw it in his face, mostly for reasons the Sandaime hopefully didn't know about. But the top main reason was the eerie suspicion that he just got spied on again by that stupid crystal ball! Why else would Saki be added as the "Chief Medical Supervisor"? He'd never told the Hokage about the essential oils either. The old man was acting as if he had just handed him some innocuous file that didn't just blow apart his world with knowledge he DID NOT want or need to know. He was still overloaded from the Clan secrets that he couldn't tell another living soul about. Okay, maybe he needed some intel since he was Uzumaki's teacher, but still. Miki's supposed to be in charge of all this classified stuff. Why was Sarutobi-sama constantly dumping this stuff on him and when the heck was he supposed to sleep?!
He had to admit the old man had pulled quite an interesting political maneuver sewing together all that citizenship part together. It definitely answered that, "Why she's in the academy when she didn't meet the health requirement" question. But then why was he going to such great lengths to help just one little orphaned religious refugee? Hokage-sama may be kindhearted, but he didn't do anything without valid reasons that benefited Konoha as a whole as well. Sure he comforted Iruka when he was mourning over his parents and actually paid attention to him. But he didn't get any 'special treatment'. Sarutobi-sama was just looking out for just another of his shinobi. Maybe it had to do with whatever the heck put this girl on the Top 10 Wanted List?
He had to admit the mission details validating everything was artfully woven together; probably the feedback Sarutobi-sama was hoping for. No fun crafting a masterpiece that you couldn't show anyone. Whether it was a prank or a well-written top secret mission or whatever. The Chunin chuckled and shook his head. "When are you going to stop amazing me with your wordsmithery?" As he handed the scroll back to the Hokage, the latter held up his hand to stop Iruka.
He had been hoping that Iruka-kun, as a logophile, would appreciate his handiwork. "No, that one's for you. I've got copies for my other friends as well." The Chunin's face remained subtly puzzled until his eyes lit with realization to the reference, (friends meaning Team Tomo). "Oh, thank you." He slipped the Hagakure mission scroll into one of his empty pockets on his Chunin vest.
Since a Special Jonin entered to turn in a report, the rest of the discussion would have to wait until after Umino's shift ended. In the midst of the evening rush, the Hokage had to leave to receive a report from several Chunins and a Jonin team. Before he left, he nonchalantly reminded the schoolteacher, "Oh, and when you finish your shift, don't forget to bring that file up with you." Umino dutifully answered, "Hai, Hokage-sama", as he waved to the next shinobi in line waiting to turn in a report to come forward.
Several hours went by with the typical lulls and rushes. Iruka stretched his neck and back. then peeked at the clock as he stretched his arms outward. Only 12 minutes until his shift ended. Some stragglers were being tended to by some of his fellow co-workers. The rest were logging in the missions with him so today's daily log could be turned in and processed by payroll. All the payroll department was allowed to see was the client name, mission grade, shinobi names and the mission's individual name and/or code number.
It took Iruka a long time and a lucky fluke to discover he didn't have any of the typical natural chakra affinities most shinobi did. But once Hokage-sama found out from Shikaru-sensei the details, his mission room duties shifted to take full advantage of his unique gift. The best part was that it required barely any of his chakra stores, since basically all the jutsus he created for his affinity were all E to D-ranked. No matter who he taught, no one else seemed to have the knack for it either. Unfortunately in his research he couldn't find anyone else present or past, to have the same affinity as he did.
"Word Affinity" is what they finally decided to call it. The only reason they figured it out was because Shikaru-sensei discerned the unbalanced Yin/Yang chakra leeching from Iruka's fingers during different jutsu during training spars. So their teacher tested him with the special chakra paper when his teammates left for the day. The result: a jumble of hiragana, katakana and kanji swam around the front and back of the paper shifting into new characters. Weird, yes he knew. Add to that his photographic memory and Konoha had itself the human typewriter or something. He rarely used it outside his home or the Mission Room processing office / filing room with the two-way mirror into the main room. If he used his Word Ability anywhere else, it was always away from the prying eyes of the main shinobi population and the chatty civilians.
He never imagined he'd be given so much high security intel access with this. But, apparently, he was. He still wasn't quite sure why when his affinity made him a possible security leak. Even with all the security protocols. Of course, the odds that he'd ever leave the village walls were next to nil. He knew that for sure once he was offered the Saki assignment. Pretty much a friendly house arrest. With being Saki & Shepherd, not to mention an ordinary schoolteacher, it was a wise move. And with his chakra impairment, a safe life. Well for a shinobi anyway. Steady income, low physical risk and a nice creative outlet for his impetuous prankster heart.
He finished transferring the last 5 log pages and stacked up his pile. Got up to 20 pages. The normal page rate per Chunin was about 6-8 before one started getting twinges in one's wrist. You'd be surprised how many mission room workers had to go get treatment for wrist tendinitis. Sometimes the hospital would send medic-nins to help during busy seasons. Iruka filed the different graded mission scrolls in the proper bins for the next shift to take to the archives. The Chunin then went through the usual checking out routine. Gathering his log sheets, signing out on the time sheet and finally swinging his school bag over his shoulder, he walked over to drop off his log sheets into the payroll receivables bin and made his way up to see the Hokage; who happened to be in a meeting. So Iruka pulled out the final 2 classroom assignments that he hadn't had a chance to review during the breaks. The elderly secretary was nice enough to offer a clipboard which he gratefully accepted. Still waiting after another 30-40 minutes after finishing his grading, he debated internally whether he should go grab some food and return. Then the Hokage's door opened to the waiting area.
Miki was assisting one of the shinobi who was limping with a field-dressed right leg. With his arm around Miki's shoulder. Behind them followed his other teammates a young Kunoichi, who was fussing over the other teammate whose arm was in a makeshift sling. When they saw him looking at them, he nodded in warm acknowledgment, "Welcome Home.", and with a short bow adding, "Thank you for your service." It was sort of traditional saying in the mission room. Some said it off-handedly, as a polite dismissal or farewell. Yet, he had always said it as a comforting assurance especially to injured shinobi fresh back from the field.
Miki smirked at Iruka being Iruka. The team stood a little straighter, bowing their heads appreciatively in return. Peeking past the troupe headed to the hospital revealed a weary Sandaime resting his hands on either side of his head. Fingers upon his temples and thumbs on each side of his chin. Glancing up from some papers on his desk to find Iruka miming "drink" with a tilt of his hand. To which the old man smiled, slightly nodded a grateful yes. Then Iruka put one finger up, then two. To which Sandaime shook his head no, raising 3 fingers. The surprised Chunin barked out laughing. Raised his eyebrows and faux saluted. Turned back around to get the Hokage 3 hot coffees from the kitchenette in the waiting room. Lifting Hiruzen's spirits slightly from the tense debriefing. Giving him a chance to defuse and collect himself before having a mini Shepherd/Saki meeting.
Words
Hagakure:Hiding in the Leaves: This is also used as a semi-idiom to mean, "doing good deeds without calling attention to oneself".
Kirisutokyou: is the Japanese translated word for those who share the same faith or belief as Kokoro.
Yagyū Clan: Historically there was a real Yagyū clan. Fun fact, their mon, (sort of like a herald), is a black rice farmer's hat in a circle.