Chapter Five: Allegro
Upon reaching Konoha, the refugees were brought before the 5th Hokage once more. After hearing Genma and the rest of the squad's report, Tsunade motioned the five Sound ninja into the conference room, leaving Iruka in the hallway to care for the children.
"So I know your name is Taya," he said to the little girl he had just let down from his shoulders. "And your name is… Minoru?" he asked the blond boy that the green haired man had been carrying.
"Yes," said Minoru, shyly, with lowered eyes.
"And what are your names?" Iruka asked turning to the other two children.
"Nohara Mitsu," said the white haired girl cheerfully.
"Serizawa Toshiro," responded the dark haired boy, looking as serious as ever.
"Well it's nice to meet all of you," Iruka said, with a smile, "It looks like you're going to be with us for a little while, so we're going to find you a nice place to stay and we'll see about getting you some toys and clothes and things. Then, of course, you'll have to be enrolled in school…."
"Do we have to?" said Mitsu, with a pout.
"I'm afraid so, but I'll be there, so at least you'll see a familiar face," said Iruka.
"It's okay if you'll be there," Mitsu replied, with a huge smile.
Just then, the door to the conference room where Tsunade and the Sound ninja had been talking opened and its occupants filed into the hall.
"Oh, isn't that cute," said Eriko, aside to Suzu, "It looks as if Mitsu has a crush on the schoolteacher."
'Can't say I blame her,' Suzu thought to herself, watching Iruka with interest, 'Can anyone really be that nice? And if he's capable of controlling such a large amount of chakra, why is he still a Chuunin?'
Suzu continued to study Iruka, intrigued, but her musings were soon interrupted by Renjiro's polite cough.
"It might be best," the red haired Jounin began, "If we all get washed up before the ceremony."
"There's going to be a ceremony," Iruka said with surprise, looking up from where he was crouched, talking to the children.
"It's mainly to let the rest of the Konoha ninja know we'll be staying," responded Eriko.
"You know, 'hi, we're here, please don't kill us'," quipped Juro.
Iruka nodded, "I suppose that makes sense."
"Well, we'd better get moving," Suzu said, stepping forward and taking Mitsu's hand, "I'm sure we'll see you there… Iruka, was it?"
"Yes, I suppose you will, miss…?"
"Suzu," the blonde Sound ninja responded. "And thank you again for helping protect Juro and I," she continued, throwing a smile over her shoulder, as she began moving away with the rest of the Sound refugees.
Iruka only nodded again, and watched as she and her companions retreated down the hallway.
A little over an hour later, Iruka found himself waiting with the rest of the Konoha ninja in front of the steps to the Hokage's office. Tsunade had summoned every available ninja in the village that wasn't currently involved in a mission, incapacitated, or on patrol, so Iruka wondered exactly what the new Hokage had up her sleeve. It seemed to be an unusually large crowd for a welcoming ceremony.
"Iruka-sensei!" Suddenly Iruka was tackled by a flying orange, yellow and blue blur that quickly attached itself to his waist.
Looking down, Iruka grinned openly, "Hello Naruto. How have you been?"
"Great, sensei," Naruto released him and stepped back, smiling broadly, "Kakashi-sensei says I may get to go on another mission soon. I can't wait!"
"I imagine you're pretty excited," Iruka responded, "You know, I went on my first mission in a very long time today."
"Really," crowed Naruto, eyes shining, "I bet you were really cool, Iruka-sensei! I bet you did a really good job."
"I didn't do too badly, now that you mention it," Iruka said, thoughtfully, but was interrupted by the sudden emergence of the Hokage.
The assembled crowd went silent as Tsunade took her place on the steps and cleared her throat before addressing the ninja of Konoha, "As some of you may know through rumor and secondhand knowledge, there are several Sound ninja present in Konoha. These ninja are seeking asylum and are currently here as our guests."
The crowd grumbled in curiosity and a bit of trepidation.
"I will now tell you the same tale that was told to me upon their arrival," Tsunade continued, and then recounted everything Renjiro had told her earlier. "Upon investigation, we found that the initial three refugees' story was true and conducted the remaining members of their party back to Konoha. There are five ninja and four children and they will be remaining in Konoha for an indefinite amount of time, while aiding us with our plans to combat Orochimaru and his forces. I want you to welcome these refugees as if they were members of our own village and learn their names and faces to better assist them in assisting us."
Tsunade turned toward the door behind her, with an amused and expectant look on her face, "Miho Renjiro."
Renjiro stepped out from behind the door and made his way to where Tsunade stood, looking composed and impassive. Iruka noted that his weapons had been returned to him, but that he was no longer wearing his Sound forehead protector.
"Terada Juro."
The green haired man came next, wearing an uncharacteristically sober expression, though his dark eyes sparkled with amusement. He too was carrying weapons and also not wearing his forehead protector.
"Arai Suzu."
The blonde Sound ninja emerged from behind the door and came to stand next to the other two. Her forehead protector was also gone, but she'd regained her own weapons; two wicked looking daggers with unusual holes in the blades, which were sheathed at each thigh.
'Those look particularly nasty,' Iruka thought, eyeing the daggers, 'what a fierce weapon for someone so delicately pretty,' he added, raising his eyes to study Suzu's staid expression.
"Nishio Eriko."
The dark haired woman slipped from behind the door and took her place next to Suzu. Her forehead protector was also missing.
"And Jo Keiji," Tsunade concluded, as the bespectacled young man joined the rest of his companions, his own forehead protector also absent.
"These five have been given permission to continue training so that they may be of greater aid when the time comes to battle the Sound. The children are not present because we thought they had been through enough of an ordeal already and didn't want to unnerve them. They will be enrolled in Konoha's ninja academy tomorrow morning."
Iruka made a note of that, thinking he might want to get to work early the next morning to help ease the children's transition.
"We ask that you grant our guests the hospitality they deserve," Tsunade continued, "The information they can offer us is invaluable in determining the Sound's weaknesses."
With that parting statement, the 5th Hokage dismissed the ninja assembled and turned to make her way back inside.
"Iruka-sensei," said Naruto, with a curious expression on his face, "Do you think they're spies?"
"That's a possibility, Naruto," Iruka said, thoughtfully, studying the Sound ninja, who were milling about on the steps, not quite sure what to do with themselves until Tsunade pointed them in a particular direction.
'I really don't think they are, though,' Iruka thought to himself, 'Maybe it's the children, but my gut says they're telling the truth.'
"The 5th Hokage suspects they're spies," came a third voice from behind Iruka and he and Naruto turned as one to see Hatake Kakashi.
"That's why she wanted everyone to recognize them," Kakashi continued, "So that they can be watched constantly for any suspicious activity."
"That makes sense," Naruto nodded, "I'll do my best to keep an eye on them too."
"Everyone will," said Kakashi, "Konoha looks after its own."
Iruka only nodded in response, continuing to study the refugee Sound ninja thoughtfully.
The next morning, Iruka rose early and made his way to the academy in expectation of extra work. Upon arriving, he found his instincts were correct, when there was a memo calling for a faculty meeting waiting for him on his desk. Crumpling the paper in his hand, Iruka left his classroom to make his way to the faculty lounge. Upon entering, he noticed that quite a few of the other teachers had shown up early as well. Taking a seat, Iruka leaned back in his chair and waited for the faculty meeting to begin.
It went fairly quickly once all the academy's teachers had arrived. The integration of the Sound children was discussed thoroughly and each child was assigned to a particular teacher's class. Iruka himself was assigned Mochida Taya, which pleased him for some reason. He was glad he'd gone on the mission to retrieve the children and already had a good rapport with her.
Iruka's good mood was crushed, however, when the senior instructor at the school brought up the possibility that the children were spies.
"I know it's a prospect we do not want to accept," stated the senior instructor, "But it's one we can't ignore. We know Orochimaru is ruthless, so there is nothing that says he won't use children to do his dirty work. Treat them as you would your other students, but keep a close watch on them. If there is any suspicious activity, report it directly to me and I will bring it to the attention of the Hokage personally."
After that, the faculty meeting was concluded and Iruka left the lounge to return to his classroom. A few students had already arrived when he walked through the door, and Iruka greeted them cheerfully. Still, the fact that some of his colleagues believed that the Sound children might actually be spies weighed heavily upon his mind. Iruka just couldn't believe it.
As if on cue, at that moment Arai Suzu and Mochida Taya walked through the door.
"Iruka-sensei," Taya said happily, bounding up to him to give him a hug.
"Good morning Taya," Iruka said, hugging her back, "Did you have a good first night in Konoha?"
"Oh yes," Taya said happily, "Pretty lady Hokage found some really nice rooms for us and we even got new clothes and toys."
"Nice rooms?" said Iruka, trying to determine where Tsunade had found a place large enough to hold five adults and four children on such short notice.
"Hotel," mouthed Suzu over Taya's head, grinning.
Iruka nodded in understanding then turned his attention back to Taya, "Some of your other classmates have already arrived. Would you like to meet them?"
Taya suddenly turned shy, nodding once and glancing around the room nervously.
"Hey, Moegi," Iruka called, waving over the rambunctious red haired girl.
"Yes, Iruka-sensei," said Moegi, trotting over.
"This is Taya," he said, introducing the two little girls to one another, "Taya, this is Moegi."
"H-Hello," Taya said softly.
"Hi," Moegi squealed, "You're new aren't you? Hey, I just got some new colored pencils. Wanna see?"
"Okay," Taya smiled, relaxing, and she and Moegi ran off to examine the contents of Moegi's pencil box.
"Well, that was fairly painless," said Suzu, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, she looks like she's going to be just fine here," responded Iruka, turning back to the blonde Sound ninja.
"Taya's pretty resilient. I was hoping she'd be easy, especially after the episode with Minoru this morning," Suzu shook her head.
"That bad?" Iruka asked, sympathetically.
"He was terrified. He clung to my leg so tightly I almost needed a crowbar to pry him off."
"A new school can be a frightening prospect for young children," Iruka said, letting his gaze drift over his quickly filling classroom.
"And Minoru is so shy anyway," Suzu sighed, "He seemed to settle down, fortunately."
"That's good," Iruka nodded, "So how are you and your companions handling getting the children to and from school?"
"We take turns," Suzu said, "Each day one of us will drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon."
"I see, and you got first day honors?"
"We drew straws," said Suzu, blushing, "I lost."
"I see," said Iruka, laughing, "Well, I probably need to start class now, but it was nice talking with you again, Suzu."
"It was nice talking with you too," Suzu said, with another smile, "See you this afternoon, Iruka."
Iruka waved goodbye to her and then turned to address his class.