Chapter 26 – Ichi-go-ichie
Ichi-go-ichie: every moment is unique and will never come again
Term from a Glossary for the Tea Ceremony
It was just Kokoro and Instructor-san left in the classroom. A relief after such a noisy day. Today being Friday, the children had been even more restless. The limping student steadily made her way slowly down the middle steps to turn in her assignment.
Instructor-san's frazzleness was mellowing into a calmer melody, ironically sounding somewhat like a band warming up before a performance: which was kinda fun how the melody synced with his movements. Alternately moving papers and files between his desk and satchel while seemingly searching for something. She slowed down slightly to enjoy the show of the teacher in his own little world.
Poor Instructor-san did the best he could with his translating sheets that she had filled out for him. But there would be lots of gaps that Wynn would have to fill in once he got back. Instructor-san did periodic verbal assessment reviews to make sure she was tracking with the class content. But it couldn't count towards her grades yet, due to the academy's strict documentation regulations. Hence why Kokoro's grades were on hold. Either way, she didn't care.
Tilting her head left towards the ceiling to a familiar ripple of contented amusement brought a relieved smile to Kokoro's face. It'd been over a month since Anko had left on that mission. Maybe Gai would be back soon, too?
Like a cork exploding from a bottle, Sunshine ran outside after class, joining a race between Kiba, Akamaru, Choji and some of the other boys. Was that what Anko was watching? From the stairway windows or something? Pearl had left early with someone from her clan.
This was a perfect chance to unload some of her ramen she'd never eat. But Instructor-san's voice hadn't sounded wobbly for quite a few weeks now. Maybe he wasn't hurting for lunch money anymore? Blinking, she sharply looked at the wall to the right side of the doorway. How did Anko get down to the hallway so quickly? Shaking her head, Was that... hesitant curiosity tinkling in Anko's heart song? The distracted Chunin mentally counted something on his fingers while staring absently towards the pencil holder on his desk. Oh! Maybe it wasn't Sunshine that Anko was watching. Perhaps it was their new teacher. They hadn't met yet, had they? Anko was rarely hesitant. Bold, brash and loud was more her style, especially around the guys. But Kokoro discovered Anko had a reserved side, although rare to see. It was rather calming to hear Anko's meditative koto/flute tune during the tea ceremony. Kokoro's mouth bleghed and she shook her head to escape the memory of that awful, bitter tea. Never again! Lesson learned: be wary of Anko's gleeful prankster melody.
The preoccupied teacher always seemed to know where the children were, except her. Kokoro tapped her staff a little louder on the last two steps down so Instructor-san would know she was there. Thus preventing that shocked, grating "clash-clang-whoosh" whenever she forgot to subtly make her presence known. Sometimes his ponytail did swoosh hysterically in time with the whooshing notes.
Instuctor-san wasn't like the other teachers who chose to ignore her. Instead, whenever he had to interact with Kokoro, Instructor-san tended to have a slight bumbling, distracted professor thing after class. Sometimes he was in a frenzy to gather his things to rush off somewhere. But for the last few weeks it wasn't uncommon after classes to see him plop down at his desk in a daze, attempting to sort through the school paperwork. He was a curious teacher, indeed. He was... loud, but always fair. Barking, scolding or clucking after his little brood of baby chicks. Even his ponytail reflected his bouncy childlike nature. Very unlike how Teacher had been.
In spite of his uneasy awkwardness towards them, she tried to show respect to him in these little ways. He probably hadn't noticed. But that wasn't important. As she approached his desk, she leaned against it to free her right hand to take the assignment from within her sling.
Anko finished her debriefing with Gai's booming voice still echoing in her ears. She smirked to herself as she made her way down the stairs to the Academy. It was worth it to rile Gai up to pay back the Sannin for his shenanigans at the hot spring onsen and on the journey back. Didn't think they'd bring Gan right into the village proper, disguised of course. It was rather fun to watch Gan's reactions when he found out he would be forced not only to shave that stubbly "artistic" beard but that Jiraiya himself would dye his hair and apply his makeup, etc. She had learned a lot about "not samurai," including Hyro's last wish. She had been dismissed to say hello to Kokoro before escorting her up to the Hokage's office. Oh, she wasn't plotting... not at all.
Upon hearing Naruto's yells, mingled with those of some of the other children in the school's training yard, she checked out the stairway window and watched them for a bit. Annoying little brat, but was it ever good to see his bright face and hear his energetic voice. They had made it home. Shouldn't have. But home they were. Naruto was engaged in some sort of race with some of the other boys and he was losing. Not by much. Only a few boys, including an Inuzuka, were ahead. As they, one by one, touched one tree, each rebounded back to where the race had started from. She leaned upon the windowsill, resting her forearms and letting her hands dangle out in the fresh air. Children playing with Naruto was a new thing since she'd been gone. Maybe the gaki didn't need the "training time" with Gai and herself now. Not that she would miss that excuse for playtime... much. Maybe Sandaime would lay off of the training to interact with children excuses now.
It was going to be fun when she finally met with Saki. That little rascal! Smirking to herself, Medical Supervisor? Pfft! So tempting to call out to Naruto, but... duty awaits. Perhaps she would come back and collect the gaki. Amuse herself with his antics. She didn't feel like going to an empty home just yet anyway. Anko pushed off the windowsill and flickered down a few steps and turned down the hall towards classroom 3-D.
She had rolled her eyes at the Team Tomo name in the revised Hagakure mission. She halted in the empty hallway, a few steps away from the door. Per protocol, she'd need to introduce herself to Dolphin-sama as one of the members of Team Tomo. Not that he'd know that they ever met before.
She'd henged herself whenever she had needed his help a few times, giving him an alias. With all the ANBU he dealt with, he'd just assumed she was another one and pretended not to notice. Sometimes she just needed to talk with someone like him, without all the baggage of the past. And as always, Dolphin-sama just helped by being himself. No tricks, schemes, etc. A friend who cared and listened. She didn't fool herself; there were quite a few women he'd helped who had taken a fancy to the unassuming Chunin. She was one of many.
Today would be the first time he would meet and talk with Anko. If it wasn't for this mission, she'd just keep avoiding him. There wasn't any good reason why a sane, level-headed shinobi like him would- Anko shook her head, chasing the thoughts out of her head. She entered the classroom with her impish smirk. There's a teacher to haze and a little girl to surprise and embarrass.
"Welcome home, Anko!" said the little girl standing in front of the teacher's desk. The Chunin turned his attention from the smiling little face to her as she entered. She saluted and winked in mischief, eyeing the distracted Chunin, startled from looking at some papers in his hand.
Iruka snapped his attention from the soft-spoken Uzumaki to the brash lovely woman who'd just stepped into his classroom. He mentally noted the trench coat similar to the ones the Intelligence branch members favored. Kokoro introduced them and he hadn't been able to say anything. He vaguely remembered meeting her, but he couldn't remember when, how or where. Mission room, most probably. In the midst of her whirlwind of brash words and flirtatious innuendos, his brain froze up. Uzumaki-chan was blushing and stuttering as badly as he was, voicing her objections. Ah! Is she hazing me or Kokoro? Finally, Mitarashi-san mostly relented, introducing herself as part of Team Tomo via the code phrases. He nodded minutely to acknowledge, message received, which raised his student's suspicions. Aside from looking at her and him, doing that cute puzzlement head tilt, she said nothing as her teacher and friend's friend chatted. Mitarashi-san informed Uzumaki-chan of the Hokage's summons. In a whirlwind of flirting wordsmithery, she coerced him into taking the girl upstairs in exchange for escorting the boy home; saving him a lot of time and giving them both an escape from her hazing.
It wasn't his first time carrying Kokoro on his hip up to the Hokage's office for a meeting before his mission shift. He patted her back sympathetically from their mutual suffering that Mitarashi-san inflicted on them. The dazed girl nodded, attempting to apologize in garbled noises. Iruka just smiled sympathetically at her and shook his head, not your fault, don't worry.
As they neared the top of the uncrowded stairways, Uzumaki-chan's eyes suddenly twinkled. She leaned forward to whisper mischievously into his ear, "Maybe Saki will avenge us." Iruka couldn't help but bark out laughing, barely gripping the railing before his foot slid backwards off the step. He shook his head, chuckling in good humor; smiled and whispered back gamely, "Mmm, perhaps, but I do work in the mission room, where I assist in assigning missions, along with other things."
Her eyes widened, catching the drift of his payback method, "Oh, that's where you go after school?"
He shook his head, negating the misconception, "Mm Mmm. Not everyday, my shift depends on the week."
Her eyes widened even more with delight, "Mmmm... Instructor-san..."
He reached the top floor and opened the door as Kokoro continued, "That's kinda like administration or..." waving her free hand in a little circle for the right words. A good teacher always takes advantage of real life learning opportunities. So, of course he agreed to give her special lessons on how the village administrative system worked from a personnel perspective. As a part of her Naturalization Civics curriculum. Iruka was a very dedicated teacher, as Mitarashi-san would soon learn.
Both in better spirits, Iruka brought her right up to the Hokage's secretary before placing her feet on the floor. After exchanging "thank you" & "you're welcome," Iruka patted her head and went to go turn in some paperwork. Then he discretely made his way to the secret room; transforming into Saki, then skirting through the escape pathway, chuckling on his way to the Hokage's office and amusing himself with the possible ways Saki could, "avenge" the teacher and his student from Mitarashi-san's wiles. But Iruka's plans would be more fun. First things first. Time to enjoy the upcoming surprise. Eyes alight with glee to watch Kokoro's startled surprise at Saki's dramatic appearance into the room from behind the bookcase.
Shisui was ushered into the Hokage's office by the secretary to the sight of two children. A plain young girl, (with an arm in a sling), sitting in a chair to the Sandaime's left and the precocious Saki sitting on the Hokage's desk with his arms wrapped around one folded leg, a foot resting on the desk and his other dangling off the side. He did not raise his eyebrow nor tilt his head. It certainly was an unexpected sight. The slightly shivering girl had been watching him as he entered, tilting her head in befuddlement. Then she shifted her eyes to Saki as the boy turned his head and grinned upon seeing the Uchiha.
Bowing in proper etiquette, "Hokage-sama, you requested to see me?"
During his greeting, Saki dropped his legs to either side of the corner of the desk, hands gripping the corner, allowing his legs to swing. The boy barely resisted saying anything, but his eyes were twinkling. Shisui stood back up, shifted his stance with his arms relaxed at his sides with a minute nod to acknowledge the prankster's presence. His attention was directed towards the Hokage. He patiently awaited instruction and probably an explanation to... whatever Saki was grinning about. The girl jerked her head from Saki towards the wall behind Shisui's right. When Sandiame cleared his throat, she shivered slightly as she snapped her attention back to him.
"Yes. Actually I summoned all three of you here for several reasons. But first, Saki, would you bring over those chairs for Uchiha-san and yourself, please?"
Pouting, Saki turned his head over his shoulder towards the Sandiame, "But you promised I could sit on the desk if I-" The Hokage waved his hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, but this meeting is one of those exceptions we talked about, Saki."
The young prankster huffed as he jumped off the corner. Dragging his feet, he went to fetch one chair after another from the back of the room on the right side of the door. He placed one chair right in front of the desk. Motioning to Shisui to take it, he turned to get a second chair for himself. Dragging it to the left of Shisui, angling it slightly towards the girl to both their right, he plopped into the chair with one foot on the seat and his arms crossed.
Author's Notes:
Best Wishes and a warm welcome to our new subscribers. Thank you for following Kokoro's journey. As always, special thanks to my Mom for her expertise in grammar, spelling and proofing!