Blood In The Water

Yenka watched her brother crawl, fascinated. Little Hyo was only five months old; yet he crawled so well and was already starting to stand. A tinkling sound broke through her musings, Hyo was standing, and his eyes were fixed on the silver anklet in his hand. Where did he get it? She got up and went to her mother, intent on asking her if she knew about it. She never noticed Hyo beginning to take little, wobbly steps towards their grandmother, who was seated at the table. Later, Yenka's mother came back to see Hyo in her mother-in-law's lap, giggling while staring into thin air. She smiled; she could always count on her to keep the kids occupied. According to her husband, she could make illusions with her eyes. She used to do the same for Yenka when she was younger. When she first came into the family as a newly-wed bride, she had been frightened by those onyx eyes which turned to red at will. But now she found them very pretty. Apparently, her mother-in-law had been a shinobi in her youth, but retired after giving birth to her fourth and last child. So many people came to her mother-in-law for treatment. She would use her red eyes and diagnose any ailments. She never refused anyone, and only charged those who could afford it. While she was very gentle, she would not let anyone walk over her. She remembered a feudal lord who had come to her for treatment once, and would not leave till she treated his son. The son was a terrible person who had abducted and raped many women and children when healthy, now he was dying due to a venereal disease. Healing him would mean further oppression for many. Her mother-in-law made the man see something which made him pale and he left with his whole entourage immediately. They never heard from him again. She knew they were safe as long as she was there with them. Satisfied, she went back to complete washing the clothes.

Watching her grandson play, Amai smiled, the heaviness in her chest decreasing somewhat, but not completely. She was no stranger to loss. She knew her daughter was gone. She had felt it, felt that string break a long time ago, eighteen years ago to be exact. Her dam had been a very knowledgeable person, as she had heard from her aunt. She had never got to see him; he had died giving birth to her. Aunt Mito had told her what she knew; she had learnt from her that he was a very proud, intelligent, shrewd but brave person. When she had asked for an example, her aunt had told her that her dam had done something very few could do. He had sacrificed everything, his name, his reputation, his heart, his very life to give birth to her safely. According to her, her dam was a very proud person, and it had been very hard for him to give it all up, but he had done it for her sake. Then she learnt about her sire, and just how devoted he was to her dam. She had learnt just how dangerous and volatile the situation was during her birth; her sire had never known of her existence, her uncle, the one who was alive, could never come to see her. Only aunt Mito would come to see her, she would bring her children sometimes. She never let her go to Konoha. It was too dangerous, she would say. They sent her to the Arashi family, a distant relative of the Uzumakis in Kusagakure for her safety. Amai would visit sometimes to see her aunt grow old, and she saw her pass on the Kyuubi to Kushina, the next jinchuuriki. Then she saw her aunt die. Years later, Uzushio was destroyed by the war. A part of her was gone with it. She received a lot of books and scrolls from the survivors. She studied them all. She learnt about her dam's clan, the Uchihas. She learnt of her sire's clan, the Senju. Her dam's wisdom was apparent from his writings on the clan, particularly about the sharingan, its forms, and the curse of hatred. "When a man learns to love, he must bear the risk of hatred." It was like a fundamental truth of life. None of them were saints, hardened by the constant strifes of life. While she had never been to Konoha, she had been an active shinobi for a long part of her life, she was aware of the extra baggage, both physical and mental; which came from such lifestyle. Against her will, she had sent her only daughter to live in Uzushio before it was destroyed. Chihaya was gone, but a lingering tie remained. As did Amai's lingering hope that she probably had a descendant from her daughter. That person, whoever it is, still remains alive. None of her other sons and their children had inherited the sharingan. Therefore there remained only one feasible option that it was her daughter's child who had the sharingan, else she wouldn't have felt their presence. The chakra in their blood always sought those with the same blood, and their sharingan served to amplify it. This was how she had always felt her daughter, even when she was away, and her child. It had to be them, one of those who would set the wheels in motion. The wheels which would lift Uzushio's curse, bring her back to life and let her prosper once more, head held high. It was high time this happened. Being patient should be second-nature to a shinobi, so she waited.

Shikaku had liked Minato; he had been a good person, and a proper hokage. But he held him in a degree of respect due to a different issue entirely. It was due to one simple fact, he acknowledged. As a shinobi, Shikaku was aware that they needed to use deception most of the time, even the simplest genjutsus and henge were a form of deception and trickery. However, a lot of problems which plagued Konoha could have been solved earlier, with minimal loss of man power and resources if those handling them would have acknowledged certain facts and incidents, instead of blaming each other to hide their own ineptness. Whenever anyone would tell Minato that his wife was the best seal master in Konoha, he would always reply that she had learnt from the best, with Kushina nodding her assent. The mentioned person was his own wife. Apparently she had been self-taught, while Kushina had been taught by Uzumaki Mito. However, she would always insist that it was Mikan who had actually taught her the fundamentals of sealing, followed by application. Kushina had been a very strong and talented shinobi who had made a few new fuuinjutsus, but she would frequently come to Mikan to take ideas and straighten out possible kinks. Yet it all paled when compared to his wife's prowess in sealing. She had just never bothered to mention it to other people. Currently she was in the middle of refining a new fuuinjutsu, back in a secluded room built especially for this purpose. His father had had it constructed for her when he had discovered his daughter-in-law's talent in sealing with full approval from the hokage, not that they needed it. Shikamaru was asleep, having tired himself out by reading up all his allotted kanji for the day at once. Damn, he would soon surpass his poor father at this rate. He was already beginning to show traits that marked him as a future alpha, and he treated Naruto with a subtle possessiveness. Shikaku was sure he was looking at a future pair here, if Naruto's behavior was any indication. But Naruto's parents had to manage themselves first, newly mated or not, they were still a volatile combination. "Ne, Shikaku? Can you check if the positions of the seals in this scroll match with those on that one?" "Coming dear." It wouldn't hurt to say he was proud of his wife and son, but only a little bit.

Hizashi Hyuuga was this close to bursting as he failed to find his kids in their rooms, it was the least likely of the places they could be at when playing hide and seek. To make matters worse, his mate was conveniently absent when he needed him, he was nearly 40 weeks pregnant, looking for his son and daughter with swollen feet and aching hips. Where was Hiashi when he needed him?! Walking past the old storerooms, he kept looking for any sign of his kids. He passed by one of the storerooms when a sudden shuffling sound caught his attention. He strained his ears; there was another shuffle, followed by few more. Now fully convinced that something was going on there, he quickly pushed open the door to the last storeroom and moved to the side as quickly as his pregnant body would allow. A lot of things came tumbling out at once, an ancient, half moth-eaten rug, a few boxes and some dusty scrolls, followed by a wriggling ball of something Hizashi couldn't quite see well in all the dust. When the dust cleared, he saw two white tiger cubs. Hizashi blinked twice, and then he activated his byakugan. He was absolutely stunned when he sensed his kids' chakra signatures from the cubs. White tigers were so rare; he remembered seeing one at the daimyo's estate when he was a child. But then he remembered the hokage's words from the emergency meeting he called a few weeks ago. So his children were shifters too. It was definitely a milestone in their lives, but that did not exempt them from punishment. He shot a withering glare at the pair, who immediately sat down, chastised and debarred from any further attempts at play-wrestling. Tsume's boy had done a splendid job breaking his daughter's shyness, but he fervently hoped his obedient daughter had not turned into an unruly and disobedient child. Another glare made them change back and rush into their rooms. Looking at the mess made, he could already feel a headache coming. Where the hell was Hiashi?! When Hiashi Hyuuga came home from an extended emergency mission that night, he was slightly thrilled to know of his kids' shifting, but quickly paled in horror the moment he saw Hizashi's face. He had forgotten to inform his mate that he would not be able to attend dinner. As a child, Hiashi was more prone to temper tantrums which he eventually learned to contain, like a proper Hyuuga should. But Hizashi's anger was something to behold. His brother, well, his mate had never really held such family rules in high regard. That night, Hiashi had to sleep in the study room he used as a child. He did not even get to sleep the whole night because he had to satisfy a horny Hizashi who wouldn't look at his face. It was punishment; his mate wouldn't look at him during the most intimate moments. When they were newly mated, a lot of people had spoken behind his back that he was a narcissist who couldn't stand the face of a different person as his mate. But both he and Hizashi knew how wrong it was, because they may have been identical twins, yet there were a lot of subtle differences in their behavior. He also believed he could never make the same face that Hizashi made whenever he tried to cook something, or when he was pleased. Even their smiles were different, the real ones at least, very few people could attest to that. Hyuugas were called cold-hearted by a lot of people, he did not deny it. But he also couldn't deny the way his heart swelled and warmed when Hizashi would smile at him. To be able to gaze upon a face the same as your own, yet so different, the face of someone you loved, everyday, was something Hiashi considered a blessing. It broke his heart when Hizashi behaved like this. He hoped Hizashi would calm down soon; it was also not good for the child in his womb. Their child, the third one to be precise. He couldn't wait to meet her (He was so not going to admit it to Hizashi, ever.)

He had that dream again, no, not the one where his pants got stolen. He had to use it as an excuse when he was running late to a meeting with Rin. It was a dream so realistic that he often wondered if it really was one. In the dream, he was being taken by somewhere by a woman, she looked so much like him that he was sanguine that this person was his mother. They would be climbing stairs and passing through beautifully decorated corridors. The dream always ended when they reached a door; there were a pair of birds carved on its door. He had a feeling that he knew what those birds were, but he could never pinpoint it. It could have been a memory for all its worth, a really old one, that was the feeling he always had. However, the issue went into the unknown territory when he debated the chances of it being a memory. Because his earliest memories went back to the first time he ate the caramel made by his grandmother. He was seven then. He could never remember anything before that, no matter how much he tried. It had been a taboo topic back when his father had been alive. He had never seen Uchiha Hisami like a father. The man hated his guts, said that he was a monster who had killed his mother and he never deserved what he got. The more he cried, the more he got beaten till his father grew tired of him and sent him to his grandmother. She had tried so hard to take him in permanently, but it had not been possible before his father's death. He had been somewhat relieved when Uchiha Hisami had been declared KIA. It was then that he learnt to mask his tears with bright smiles, and a general callousness and clumsiness which immediately made most people avoid him. It was better this way; he was not going to risk his life and knowledge by presenting it to people, a façade would do the job of distracting people from his progress. There were a lot of problems in his way, but he solved them all. Then appeared the biggest roadblock of them all, a puny, silver-haired guy who looked like he couldn't hurt a fly, but was actually very dangerous and talented. His eyes were all-seeing, and it immediately noticed his façade and started to unravel it. Back to their time as genins, he used to pick fights with him just to enforce his façade. He had been truly annoyed too. He had spent years perfecting his façade, and then suddenly an all-rounder appears out of nowhere and almost exposes him completely. He, Kakashi, was everything that he was not. Yet, he was everything that he too was, only if he revealed his true self. There were a few people who would support him if he did reveal himself like that; it was actually all that he needed. But he had become so used to his façade that he couldn't stop his act. It was the same person, for whom he couldn't leave his façade, who made him leave it. Perhaps it was meant to be. At least that was what Mikan san said when he finally caved in after a lot of coaxing and assurances. Her startled face had suddenly lit up with excitement when he described his dream to her. Then she became thoughtful. That was a few days ago, today; she was taking him to a secluded training ground for a one on one spar. During the spar, she would stop at sudden intervals and start pointing out similarities between their fighting styles. Obito had never noticed it before; after all it had only been a few years since he consciously started fighting in this way and not in the academy style or his sensei's style either. Now he could see it. But he couldn't remember learning it from anyone. Most of the things he had learnt were through scrolls which he got from the civilian restricted section of the library using his father's jounin level pass. After his father's death, his pass had been relocated to the largest drawer behind the mission assignment desk, where those passes would lie in a heap. Swiping one was easy. Later the hokage had issued him a special pass on both Shikaku and Mikan san's insistence. He couldn't possibly repay this debt. While he couldn't remember learning them, he performed them flawlessly, according to Mikan san. That was very odd. He knew chakra had memory too, so proper training would lead to certain moves becoming like reflex, which was augmented further by chakra memory. The matter was presented before the sandaime. Kakashi had to know about it too. Shikaku san, the sandaime as well as Mikan san, all of them had said that it was absolutely his decision. It was up to him about informing Kakashi. He did not find a reason not to. He did not think Kakashi would take such an interest in the matter. Mikan san had told him that she would try to find out the reason behind such dreams and occurrences to come to a conclusion. He was dying to know.

Shikamaru had trouble understanding what went on in his parents' minds sometimes. He could only guess some parts, though his father would always assure him that it was okay and that he was learning in leaps and bounds. Today however, he could sense a sort of excitement in both of them. His mother was a picture of barely contained anticipation; even his normally poker-faced father looked a bit excited. He wasn't worried though, his parents were surely able to handle most things which life threw in their way. Like that time when Naruto got kidnapped. He had immediately felt something was wrong when those masked men approached them. After all no normal person would meet a group of three year olds playing hide and seek like that. He had been planning to have a nap in his favorite hiding place. He was sure no one would be able to find him there, except Naruto. He had a knack of finding him out no matter how well he hid. Oh well, he would just pull in Naruto for another nap when discovered. The place was big enough for them two. That was how he had avoided detection and followed those missing nin till stepping on some dry leaves had led him to be discovered and subsequently, knocked out. He had woken up in the hospital with his mother at his side; Biwako obaa san checked him for injuries and cleared him. His parents had assured him that Naruto was alright. On asking what else had happened, both his parents had smiled mysteriously and said there had been a lot of fun, but for the grownups only. He would understand when he became older. Two days later, Obito and Kakashi san left Naruto with him as his parents went with them somewhere. Naruto's parents looked really flustered, blushing and all when they came in to take him. Later his parents explained to him that Naruto's parents were now officially his parents. He did not quite understand what that meant. He had always thought that they were Naruto's parents, even though they looked nothing alike. He did understand that they were mated now.

It would be wrong to say that Obito wasn't excited. He was really excited actually. Kakashi was excited too, he was just better at not showing it. But there was an air of anticipation around him which Obito was sure he wouldn't have been able to sense had they not been mates. His senses had been fine tuned a bit when he became Kakashi's mate. When he had finally mustered up the courage to tell Kakashi, he had been afraid for a moment that Kakashi would react like he did when not told about Shujiro Uchiha's ultimatum. Thankfully he didn't. Mikan san had given him a very suggestive smile and told him not to tell Kakashi what he felt. "The brat is more sensitive than you think. Not to mention that you two are mated now." Obito had had enough, thank you. He did not want a rerun of past events. If anything, he wanted to put a part of his past behind him as well as find out what was happening to him. So the Nara couple was in the Hatake clan house. Mikan san had been carrying a small scroll when she came in with Shikaku san. It looked like a sealing scroll, but the seal was much more intricate than the ones normally used on basic sealing scrolls. Kakashi looked quite interested too. When she unsealed the scroll, a lot of things came out, a bunch of letters, pictures and newspaper cuttings. There were a lot of books and scrolls too. These scrolls looked like ordinary scrolls, but on a closer glance, one could see that they were not made of the standard paper normally used in making them. The material looked like parchment. "Kakashi, plug your nose with something, it will smell. The mask doesn't matter." Kakashi complied, if he was surprised he did not show it. True to her words, the moment she opened a scroll, there was an unpleasant smell. "Your noses will get used to the smell quickly." She told the others, wrinkling her nose. Kakashi had probably unplugged his nose for a moment and hurriedly re-plugged it, all the while making noises which sounded like gagging under his mask. It really was a nasty smell. "Is that animal membrane?" Kakashi asked after stopping his gagging. "Yes. It isn't supposed to smell this bad after drying, but this batch was made in the old way where the smell is retained." It turned out to be a pretty productive evening for Obito. Most of the scrolls and books contained jutsus exclusively belonging to Uzushio, with elaborate diagrams and explanations regarding execution of each move and chakra theory. All of these Obito could perform without prior knowledge; yet he had felt like he was grasping at straws. Knowing the details and theory of these jutsus helped deepen his interest. Mikan san had a lot of scrolls on fuuinjutsu and its application too. Both Minato sensei and Kushina san had been extremely proficient in the art of sealing. Kakashi had picked it up from sensei fairly quick, he too showed talent in sealing. Fuuinjutsu had never really appealed to him before. When the Nara couple finally left, Obito had at least a dozen scrolls on sealing and books on Uzushio's history. Obito had no idea what to do with it. Mikan san had only given him a look he couldn't quite describe and asked him to have a read. "Do tell me if you recognize something." She had told him before leaving, her hands squeezing his own. There was a look of quiet desperation in her eyes, a silent plea, for what, Obito still didn't know. But he was aware of a few things. Mikan san was Kushina san's childhood friend, both of them had come to Konoha from Uzushio, Kushina san being the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi after Uzumaki Mito. But there had been no elaborations as to why Mikan san was sent with Kushina san, because as far as the agreement went, Konoha only required a jinchuuriki. He remembered this clearly because he had accidentally overheard sensei and Kushina san talking about this. He had been hiding on the tree, practicing a new technique for camouflage and infiltration, when the two settled down under the same tree to talk. Kushina san had been livid to the point where Obito considered shunshining to another tree as he feared that the current one would simply combust under her rage. She had screamed a lot about bigoted old farts who did not deserve Mikan that "Mikan" being some person he did not know but both Minato sensei and Kushina san seemed to know personally. For the first time in his life, he had also seen Minato not make any attempts to pacify her. His face resembled a storm cloud. He had never seen his sensei wear such an expression. It meant that those men Kushina san had mentioned most probably belonged to the shinobi council, and that they had said or done something to this Mikan person, who was very close to both of them. It had taken him a while, but he had eventually joined the dots after the Kyuubi's attack and a few meetings with Mikan san. Obito had often noticed her gazing at the simplest things with a single-minded intensity at times and then mutter something equally baffling, till date he had heard her say the names of colors, a few numbers, scents and some instruments. She never explained anything about her behavior. He wasn't sure if her husband knew. But Naras were naturally smart. He thought of asking Kakashi if he knew something. He had a lot of things to tell him too, he just wasn't sure how to broach the topic. Honestly, being mated and married did not make much of a difference except being able to sense each other's emotions better and ground each other maybe. Kakashi, Naruto, Obito. Three individuals, they were still the same. Kakashi was still in ANBU and mostly remained out on missions. Obito had started doing missions again, but mostly low-risk ones which were assigned by the sandaime. Naruto remained a happy, carefree child who babbled a lot especially after Ino and Shikamaru had taken it on them to make him learn more words than the basics ones like mama, dada, tinkle and potty. Naruto stayed with the Naras when both Obito and Kakashi remained away on missions. His mind was going off topic again. He needed to make a mental list of things he needed to talk about with Kakashi the rare moment when he was home.

Kakashi had spent most of his life not doubting things, because he always evaded or ran away from such situations, it was his own observation. But being mated changed the matter quite a bit. It was easier to sense if Obito was keeping something from him, and vice versa, probably. At least he would ask him now. Back when he had first made Obito, at a glance, Obito had looked to him incredibly fake for some reason; he couldn't exactly tell his sensei that Obito smelled wrong. It felt like Obito was suppressing his true self, the self who was not so stupid and bad at jutsus. The fact that he could pull it off so well before sensei and Rin and others with no one suspecting anything ticked him off even though he too was essentially doing the same, keeping himself from others. The other thing which ticked him off even more was that each and every one of Obito's observations regarding him which he used to tell Rin and sensei loudly had turned out to be true. The package from Jiraiya containing Naruto's belated birthday present had come in a few days ago. Along with the gift there would always be something for both him and Obito. He still remembered the first time Jiraiya gave him a book from his famed Icha Icha series that too with Naruto's gift on his first birthday. One look into the book and Obito had thrown it aside as if it was some kind of plague and speed walked away, mumbling something about perverted old men corrupting the next generations and washing his eyes with bleach. It was also the day when Naruto added a new word to his steadily growing vocabulary, pervert. He would never tell Kakashi exactly what Jiraiya had gifted him. All that Kakashi knew was that it was a book too which Obito would snatch away and hide before Kakashi would manage to get a glimpse of it. Jiraiya would never tell him too, brushing it off by smiling lecherously. It had taken every ounce of self control for him to not try to tear the pervert apart. But damn, his books were very engaging. He had resorted to keeping out of Obito's eyesight when reading the book. Obito had told him that he did not really care if he turned into a socially inept pervert, but had threatened him with bodily harm if the book was ever found around Naruto. As usual, he was already halfway through the book, out of Naruto's eyeshot and by default, Obito's. Yet not even such an engaging book could keep his mind from straying towards the mysteries surrounding Obito, who had taken to waking up every night at least once, talking about a dream which kept recurring. Today's discussion with Mikan san and Shikaku san had yielded some results; he was with the latter poring over more sealing scrolls. Mikan san had been gracious enough to leave those with them. Kakashi had never seen Obito take interest in sealing, but this time he looked interested enough. He wondered if Obito was going to learn sealing, it would be good if he could learn it from Mikan san herself. Speak of the devil, Obito was calling his name. He was never going to admit it, but after being mated, he was finding it increasingly hard to stay away from Obito. Sometimes, he would feel that he was going to spontaneously burst into flames or melt into nothing when he saw Obito smiling. This was very alarming; he wasn't used to being that emotional yet! So he started taking more missions. The sandaime had only sighed when he went to take the mission from him and said, "Kakashi, do come back alive, at least for your mate and child". No one in his team had snickered though; they knew their captain very well. "Hatake Kakashi, come down from the tree this instant. Naruto wants to have a bath with you. And that book will not enter the house." Obito was standing under the tree he was sitting on, looking directly up at him. "Maa, Obi chan, why are you being so mean to me? I will not leave the book around Naruto, I promise." Obito visibly bristled; he was still so easy to rile up. Then his eyebrow started twitching, he was trying his best to control his temper, finally looking at him with a pout. It was incredibly adorable, if Obito hadn't been looking at him, he would have recorded it all in his sharingan. It was not that he could not, while it would have been ridiculously easy if it had been someone else, Obito was turning out to be pretty much immune to most of his diversions, a part of him had been annoyed at first to learn that Obito could counter many of his jutsus. But it had quickly evaporated when he saw Obito having trouble actively countering his jutsus in a fight because he had been suppressing this side of him for a long time. It had taken more than a year for him and Mikan san to help him overcome it. "I'm not being mean, but you will be, in Naruto's eyes, if you are late. So don't be a pervert and give him some time." He made his way inside after placating Obito. It had been a long time since he had actually relaxed when having a bath. Now, where was his cub? Those tiny, wet footsteps were easily visible on the otherwise dry floor. Ah, Naruto was going into the prankster stage finally. They grow up so fast. Slipping into the hot water, he let out a sigh. He had been too engrossed in mapping every part of Obito's face and categorizing it as adorable in his perfectly photographic memory. Not good, he hoped he could pass off that blush on his face as caused due to being in the steaming bath. "Mama, papa is being a pervert, again!" Damn Naruto. What a brat! At least he had graduated from dada to papa. "You hurt me Naru chaaaaaaaaan…" he pulled the kid into the water, Naruto letting out a shriek in the process. Almost immediately the door slid open, revealing a very worried looking Obito. "Waah Naruto! Are you hurt?" he promptly reeled back with a blush and closed the door. "Bakashi, Naruto I swear I will tie you both upside down on one of the trees and leave you there for the night the next time this happens." Both Kakashi and Obito let out a sigh, separated only by a door, so much for trying to ask the other something.

Iruka Umino was on a mission, a highly dangerous one. At least he found it dangerous, no matter how much his friends and colleagues laughed it off. Only Obito san and Kurenai san had sympathized. Unfortunately, a mission is a mission; he only hoped his ass wouldn't be groped this time. Anko Mitarashi was one crazy woman. It didn't help that she was a dangerous shinobi who had no qualms about using her sex appeal and hormones to have her way with fellow and enemy shinobi alike. Her arrival was always accompanied by a deranged cackle, followed by a rush of hormones which often left him dizzy more than aroused. He was probably the only shinobi among his peers who was unaffected by her charm. For a chuunin, he was remarkably stubborn, a trait most of the shinobi population, students and parents alike would learn to fear someday. But that also meant that Anko's mission reports were never submitted properly whenever he manned the mission assignment desk. She usually made the chuunin at the desk submit her report to her superior in the Torture and Interrogation (TI) department, a man named Ibiki Morino who was a real nightmare according to them, especially if the reports were not to his liking. She had however, not yet managed to make Iruka submit her reports even once. Unfortunately, this had led her to develop an unhealthy obsession with him. This included stalking and groping him everywhere, including the men's public baths, the academy where he was still a part-time teacher, and his apartment. He would forever be grateful to Obito san for having his mate suggest a few improvements to his already formidable arsenal of booby traps lining the apartment, and it wasn't that Anko didn't get caught in them, but the woman was proving to be annoyingly persistent and difficult to shrug off. Due to the sudden deployment of many chuunin to the Iwa border owing to tense developments there, he was being sent to a check post being led by Anko san to deliver important information from the spies of Konoha. Shouldn't a jounin be sent with such a thing, you wish. Iruka swore that the sandaime was becoming even more of a pervert with age; he had seen those magazines sneaked in between the reports, they were basically porn. And the old fart had taken to matchmaking in his spare time. He had not missed the smirk when he had handed over the mission scroll to him. Was the universe trying to screw him up by pairing him with the most dangerous woman in Konoha? He could see the temporary fence around the camp set up, he was absolutely dreading it. He dearly hoped the older woman would be busy, so he could quickly hand in the report and leave. He practically tiptoed inside the post, only to see Asuma san stirring something in a pot over the fire and practically chewing on his cigarette butt. As soon as he saw Iruka, he paled considerably. "Um, Asuma san, is something wrong?" Iruka was alarmed to see the blood draining from his face so fast. "Of course Pops would find it the best to send you here. If you want to make it out of this check post alive, hand me the report and leave, NOW." Iruka was pretty sure it had something to do with Anko. He almost threw the scroll at Asuma san and tried to turn around, tried. He couldn't turn around, and it felt like the surrounding temperature dropped a few degrees in an instant. "Ooh, my Ruka chan is here! Aren't you going to play with me?" Anko was practically purring like a cat in heat, with a hand firmly set on his shoulder, which wouldn't budge. He could dimly feel Asuma san face palming at a distance. "Oh, fuck my life!" he muttered to himself.