Author's Note: I know some of you have expressed concern at how swiftly I seem to be writing this story. Although I do write pretty quickly, I would like to assure you that I'm not quite that fast. The first several chapters of "Prelude" were written prior to my even having an account here, and I posted the first six chapters all at once. The seventh and eighth chapters were also previously written, but required a bit more fine tuning before posting. It did not take me long to edit them, however, which is why they too were posted within a few days' time. I wrote this chapter two nights ago and, as it stands, I seem to be averaging about a chapter a week. Thus, once this chapter is posted, I regret that the speed at which I've been updating will slow considerably.

I have also taken a couple of suggestions into consideration, most notably the one about Naruto figuring more prominently in the story. Naruto is a very large part of Iruka's life, thus he should definitely get a fair amount of page time in a story about Iruka. Therefore, I have planned scenes involving him in at least two chapters, and may possibly add others in the future.

I also wanted to explain that I'm old fashioned in my writing style, meaning I completely outline a story, chapter by chapter, before ever writing a word. Thus, I know how the story will progress and end before I ever begin it, and I set goals for each chapter in the outline, expressing which plot points need to be made to progress the story. The rest, as they say, is gravy.

On a completely unrelated note, I saw a football player on TV tonight who had a scar across the bridge of his nose, just like Iruka's. I'm not entirely sure if he's college or pro, but I think he plays for Colorado. I'd never seen a real person with a scar like that before and, actually, it didn't look bad. It was noticeable, but didn't really detract from the guy's looks in any way.

Anyway, here's the actual chapter. I apologize for the brevity, but what happens here didn't seem to fit with the previous chapter, or the one that comes after. I thought it would be longer, but apparently I needed less words to get my point across this time.

Chapter Nine: Dissonance

"Where the hell have you been?" Renjiro growled the moment Suzu let herself into the suite of rooms she'd been sharing with the rest of the Sound refugees.

"I was out," she said, somewhat taken aback, "With -"

"I know very well who you were with," Renjiro snapped, "I saw the little show you put on from the window."

"You were spying on me?" Suzu responded, shocked and angry. "How dare you! You have no right -"

"I have every right," Renjiro said, harshly. "It's my job to protect you and the rest of the Chuunin and children from possible danger."

"Dating is dangerous?" Suzu said, incredulously, "I know it's been a long time for you Renjiro, but really, I think you're overreacting."

"I am not overreacting. You know just as well as I do that now is not the time to be fooling around when there's a potential war at hand," Renjiro hissed. "You need to be concentrating on your training instead of wasting your time with that schoolteacher."

"I'm not wasting my time," Suzu fumed. "I enjoy spending time with Iruka. It makes me happy. After everything that's happened I think I deserve a little happiness."

"You say he makes you happy, but are you fool enough to think he's really interested in you, Suzu? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he's using you to gain more information about us? I wouldn't put it past that woman," Renjiro said, meaning the Hokage, "To encourage one of her ninja to seduce you so they can spy on us. In the end he's only going to hurt you, and I don't want to see you hurt."

"Don't be absurd. Why would they want to spy on us? We have nothing to hide," Suzu said astonished. "Renjiro, please calm down. Trust me, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

'When did he become this paranoid?' She wondered, trying to regain control of the situation, 'Maybe everything he's lived through is finally starting to take its toll… or maybe it's something else entirely.'

"Suzu," Renjiro sighed, "You don't understand. I know you've been hurt and lonely since your parents passed away, and I've tried to do everything I can to comfort you, but I don't think dating a Konoha ninja is the best way to assuage that loneliness. They don't trust us… and I'm not so sure I trust them."

"You've got it all wrong," Suzu groaned, rubbing her temples. "I have been lonely and I have been hurting – we all have – but that's not why I'm seeing Iruka. I like him. I've finally found someone who speaks to something within me, someone who… who… just feels right," she finished, simply.

Renjiro flinched, as if wounded, but Suzu forced herself to ignore it. "Besides," she continued in a calmer tone of voice, "It may turn out to be nothing at all. I like him, sure, but it may go nowhere. In the meantime I'm going to continue training and planning for the day when we retake our village. That's what's important to me and that's what I'm putting first. You have nothing to worry about."

Renjiro sighed and sat down heavily on the couch in the suite's common room. "I just wish you hadn't gotten involved with him," he said. "It complicates things, Suzu, and we need as little complexity as possible right now."

"I know it does, but let me relax a little, Renjiro. I promise everything will be fine."

"I'm holding you to that, Suzu," Renjiro shook his head. "I hope you don't disappoint me."

Iruka was nearly home when a dark, human-shaped shadow darted from a rooftop above and landed on the sidewalk next to him with a thud. Iruka reacted instinctively, immediately striking a defensive posture before the silhouette coalesced into the familiar shape of Hatake Kakashi.

"You're out late tonight," Kakashi said, mildly.

"I could say the same for you," Iruka replied tersely, not quite sure why the silver haired Jounin was bothering him.

"I've been keeping an eye on the refugees per the Hokage's orders," Kakashi said, gesturing with his head in the direction of Suzu's hotel, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Oh, shouldn't you be back there, then," Iruka responded, sounding somewhat more defensive than he meant to.

"Under the circumstances, I thought it might be best to talk to you before I made my report to the Hokage," Kakashi shrugged lazily, and Iruka suddenly realized that the Jounin had seen his and Suzu's goodnight kiss.

"Let's get to the point then," Iruka sighed. "Is the Hokage going to have a problem with me seeing Suzu? I don't remember her forbidding associating with the refugees."

"It's not forbidden, no," Kakashi said slowly, "But do you really think it's wise?"

"Why would it be unwise?" Iruka frowned, "I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this."

"Because we don't know their intentions. It's possible that they're using her to get close to you to gain information about Konoha," Kakashi said bluntly.

"What secrets of Konoha could I possibly know that a potential spy would want?" Iruka asked, somewhat bewildered.

"Well, for one, you are extremely familiar with evacuation procedures," Kakashi suggested.

'Well, yes, there is that,' Iruka thought to himself, 'but really, this is becoming ridiculous.'

"Look, Kakashi," he sighed, "Trust me, she's not after my 'secret evacuation procedure knowledge'. Now if you don't mind, I'd really like to go home and go to bed. It's very late."

"I'll make my report to the Hokage in the morning then," Kakashi shrugged again.

"That's fine, you do that," Iruka shook his head and began moving toward the door to his apartment building.

"Oh, and Iruka?" Kakashi said, nonchalantly.

"Yes?" Iruka sighed wearily.

"Be careful. Don't let anything slip in the heat of passion," Kakashi finished, a smile crinkling the corner of his one visible eye. Then, in a sudden puff of smoke, he was gone.

Iruka just muttered darkly to himself and pushed open the door to his apartment building, wondering why everything had become so damn complicated all of a sudden.