I don't own Naruto I would hope you all understand that by now!
Sorry it took so long to update but I had AP exams and I probably won't get the next chapter out until the second week of June because that's when school finally ends! woohoo
This chapter is dedicated to everyone's favorite chunin sensei who is celebrating his birthday today! I hope you all have a great day full of Iruka plushies!
Now enjoy this chapter!
Enjoy!
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Chapter 17: So Ugly It's Cute
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"Hey Mizuki........." Iruka yawned as he entered the classroom where Mizuki was sitting at his desk.
"Whoa! You look like crap!" Mizuki stood up as Iruka just looked at him.
The dark haired chunin sensei obviously hadn't been getting enough sleep with the dark bags that were forming under his eyes. The string that looked like it had gotten pulled was barely holding up Iruka's ponytail, and even while Iruka gave Mizuki one of his grins the lavender haired chunin noticed how disgruntled Iruka's outfit was.
"Heh.........the kids were really excited to see me at the playground now that school is back up it seems." Iruka had a small blush on his cheeks and Mizuki smirked. "They tried to ambush me and I would have gotten out easily but they accidentally got some of the younger children trapped so......."
"So you went through all the trouble to make sure no one was harmed yadda yadda.............man I still don't see how you got to be the favorite sensei." Mizuki pouted.
"Well maybe the kids just would rather learn from you and play with me." Iruka tried to console his friend but then the bell rang and kids came pouring in through the halls.
Iruka looked up at his first class of the day..............four seats were empty he noted as he realized that some of his students wouldn't be coming back.
The whole Uchiha clan, the most powerful clan in Konoha, was wiped out.
"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka looked over at one of his female student who was giving him a worried look.
"Yes Kimiko-chan?" Iruka snapped himself from his daze and gave his full attention to the girl.
"Why was school out for so long?" The small girl smiled brightly at her teacher causing Iruka to sigh.
"What did your parents tell you?" Iruka looked around the room to see some of the kids chatting.
"My dad said that something bad happened and that we were taking the time to mourn though I don't really understand since all my friends are here." The boy who had spoken hugged the guy next to him.
"My mom said that there was someone dangerous loose and we needed to stay inside for our own safety." A girl in that back of the class rose her voice.
Iruka watched as all of his students started to talk amongst themselves before he felt a small tug on his vest.
"Iruka-sensei?" The girl Kimiko from before looked up at him.
"Yes?"
"Where is Mina-chan? My mom said something about her family but why isn't Mina-chan here?" Kimiko looked at the other desks. "And her cousins Uchiha Taki and Rei-san are gone too. Did they move?"
"No Kimiko-chan they didn't move, there was an incident." Iruka waited for his class to calm down before he would explain what happened. The Hokage a briefed the teachers on exactly what to tell the children, Iruka closed his eyes and took a breath.
"I'm afraid that Mina, Taki, and Rei will not be in class anymore."
'''''''''''''''''''
"So what's the mission oh fearless leader?" Kakashi didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice as they sat in a small room they had set up in for the night.
"Kakashi-san! Show respect to Obito-senpai!" The dark haired girl yelled before Hayate grabbed her arm.
"That's just the way Kakashi is Sayaka." Hayate coughed. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at this and looked over at the girl.
"Sayaka? I thought you said your name was Yume?"
"Hehehe.............."
At that time Obito moved across the room to sit next to Kakashi and brought out the scroll the Hokage had given him.
"Sayaka-chan tends to change her name randomly whenever she finds another one she likes, it's rather childish but she is still a great shinobi." Obito smirked at the blushing girl before he looked at Kakashi. "And to answer your question Kakashi I guess I would have to explain some things."
At this all the three shinobi around Obito lifted their heads.
"As you know we have several shinobi throughout all of the territories as spies, bounty hunters, ambassadors, anything. Well I'm sure the Hokage informed you how he felt about something was about to happen since he told me so, it turned out the Hokage was waited to gain information from one of our spies but one spy has gone missing for two weeks." Obito paused to and looked around encouraging them all to ask questions.
"Whose the spy and what where they investigating?" Hayate spoke calmly thought the coughed a few times after he finished the sentence.
Obito just nodded before opening his eyes at Kakashi. "I believe you would know him better than all of us Kakashi, after all I believed you have already rescued him from a few missions in the past."
Kakashi paused for a moment before sighing. "He got caught again? I swear he does it on purpose."
Hayate just mumbled in agreement before he started coughing and got up to go get some water leaving his three friends in the room.
"More or less I would say he sounds like a masochist." Sayaka just scooted over closer to Obito who just smiled at her. "Why do we have to go save this guy? It's obvious to me that he seems pretty weak."
"Actually, when you meet him you might be surprised." Kakashi did a small grin under his mask when he noticed his statement got their attention. "He's probably not captured at all and just playing a game."
"That sounds more like more like Morino Ibiki." Hayate came back and sat down next to Sayaka and looked over at Kakashi. "He probably has something useful for this mission."
"So why are we saving this guy?" Sayaka laughed as if trying to make a joke. "I mean we don't know what our real mission is just yet."
"Che, because to leave a comrade is low, even for you Sayaka-chan." Obito gave the girl a small look causing the girl to bite her bottom lip before his eyes softened. "But after we get Ibiki-san and send him back to the village are next mission will be to track down that Itachi character."
"Itachi........." The girl seemed sad for a moment before Hayate nudged her and she smiled at him. "I guess that's why we were teamed up."
"Hm?" Kakashi looked over at her to see if she would explain. He personally didn't know who Sayaka or Obito were and knew that Hayate was more for the spy missions but he just figured the Hokage had put more trust in these individuals instead of having an actual reason to assign them together.
"Yeah." Obito agreed. "I guess we each have our own job to do in this mission."
"Which are?" Kakashi kept his impassive voice in check. Why beat around the bush when everyone could just say what they wanted out loud. This was probably the last chance they had to do so since tomorrow they would be on the enemy's territory.
"Well I am here because I would probably be able to infiltrate into the enemy's land the quickest without being noticed." Hayate coughed with a smug grin. "Not that the infamous Copy Cat ninja couldn't do the same."
Kakashi grinned under his mask before he looked at Obito.
"I am here because I am a tracker. I am the Anbu squad leader for squad 8, so maybe the Hokage also thought it would be good for me to be the leader." Obito looked over at Kakashi sliding his hand through his dirty blonde hair before grinning.
A leader would ultimately be the rise or the fall of his team, Kakashi thought, obviously Hokage-sama had a lot of faith in this Obito character.
"And I'm here because we are going after Itachi........." Sayaka spoke softly before she looked at everyone. "I was trained by him so I will be able to help Obito-senpai track him more efficiently."
"You don't seem to happy about that." Kakashi stated flatly receiving a glare from the dark haired girl.
"What are you implying?" Sayaka kept her tone low in a threatening matter.
"I was just wondering if you are capable of this mission." Kakashi gave his straightforward answer causing the girl to jump up as if she was about to hit him before Obito stopped her.
"Sayaka stop it now." His deep voice seemed to carry more power Kakashi hadn't noticed before. Obito turned towards Kakashi and with a friendly grin continued. "And Kakashi-san I would hope you aren't trying to imply Hokage-sama was wrong in who he assigned in this mission, because a team is only as strong as the trust they put in each other."
Kakashi paused before said anything and took a good look at the team. Hayate he would trust with his life, they have known each other for quite a while and Kakashi knew better than to underestimate the spy, Sayaka seemed suspicious but Obito was right. Kakashi needed to trust the Hokage's choice or the mission would be a failure and Kakashi wasn't one to allow his assigned missions to fail.
"And don't forget Sayaka you are our link to Konoha while we are searching since it would be easier to go in and out without being noticed." Hayate coughed a few times bringing a blush on the girl's cheeks.
Kakashi gave her a glance over when she startled him by smirking.
"You know Kakashi-san, I was trained by the stealthiest shinobi in Konoha you would think I would learn a few things." Sayaka glared at him as if to doubt her talent again but Kakashi didn't show any emotion and instead he sighed until he heard some soft laughter not to far.
Kakashi turned his glance over to Obito. Who was this guy? He was sure that if Obito was part of the Anbu then he would know something about the guy but then again Kakashi didn't know much about squad 8, mainly because he was too busy with his own missions to bother, which didn't seem like Kakashi at all.
"And why do you suggest the Hokage chose you for this mission Kakashi-san?" Obito interrupted the silver haired ninja's thoughts as Kakashi looked at all of them.
"Why?" Kakashi lifted his hand over his forehead protector and grimaced though no one noticed since his mask covered the majority of his face. "I believe Hokage-sama feels I'm the only who has a chance to kill the brat."
"Why would he think that?" Sayaka said arrogantly causing Kakashi to grin under his mask.
"If you don't know why now then I am sure you will find out later." Kakashi gave her a bored glare before he stood up with the rest of his companions. "I call first shift of night guard duty."
"Sure." Obito laughed calmly before Sayaka hit him.
"Obito-senpai! Why don't you just beat the crap out of this guy and save us all the trouble of having to listen to his ego for the rest of the trip!" Sayaka glared at Kakashi.
"Sayaka-chan, just because you are the youngest member on this team doesn't mean you can act like it now lets go rest, you can have the next shift of duty." Obito took one last glance at Kakashi. "And besides I know who to pick my fights with, and I don't want to fight him."
"But you're an Anbu squad leader and the oldest member on this team. I bet you could take him." Sayaka then yawned and headed towards her spot. "I mean is the Copy Cat ninja really that strong?"
Obito watched her leave and had a small grin on his face before he to went to his spot to sleep. The team wasn't so bad but he was surprised to hear the Hokage say that Kakashi was on his team. He had only heard rumors of the Copy Cat ninja and even seen him a few times in the village but this was his first chance to work with the legend.
Obito gave a toothy grin as he thought of the chance he might get to see Kakashi in battle but soon shook his head. A leader should never wish battle on his team he should only wish for their safety.
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Iruka ran down the street as fast as his legs could take him as the sun started to rise above the Hokage monument. He needed to get as far from his dreams as possible and running seemed like the only choice.
Last night he had come home to discover it empty again. It wasn't that he believed Kakashi was going to just show up out of the blue and then everything would go back to how it was, it was just that Iruka couldn't get away from the memories. As soon as he stepped in his house he remembered his parents, like when they celebrated Christmas or he would remember Kakashi, remember the times he would fall asleep on the couch and Kakashi would carry him to his bed. He would try to avoid the memories and go straight to bed but it seemed they even haunted him in his sleep.
Iruka's legs wobbled a bit as he realized he was already on his third lap around Konoha, it wasn't that he was physically tired due to the fact that all shinobi should be able to run at least five laps around the huge village but that he was emotionally drained.
"It's been almost a month!" Iruka slammed his fist into the nearest tree and sighed. He wasn't the violent type. Iruka sighed as the sweat ran down his face and dripped of his chin before he wiped his forehead with his arm.
"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka was startled as he turned his head a bit to see a boy with thick eyebrows and long eyelashes staring at him.
The boy was in one of his classes that he had taught for a few weeks when the teacher left on a mission. He had peach skin and a bowl cut that flipped out at the end until it was tied into a long and think ponytail behind the boy's head.
"Rock Lee-kun? What are you doing out here so early?" Iruka smiled down at the boy who smiled back up.
"I'm looking for a place I can train!" The boy through his fist in the air. "I will show those kids who has no talent!"
Iruka bit his lip as he looked at the boy. If he remembered correctly this kid had no talent in any of the fields of being a ninja, and yet to have so much passion to train..........
"Iruka-sensei you look sad." Iruka brought his attention back to the 'so- ugly-its-cute' boy in front of him.
"Huh?" Iruka shook his head at the unintelligent response he just gave. "I mean what are you talking about Lee-kun?"
"You need to let go." The boy replied with a straight face causing Iruka to go wide-eyed.
"What?"
"That's what my parents tell me whenever I feel sad, I need to let go of whatever is causing the tears because smiles are much more easier to bare!" The boy smiled at Iruka before he started to walk off in another direction.
"What was that?" Iruka mumbled to himself as he watched the boy go off. Was it just him or did that boy look a lot like Gai?
Iruka looked up to see the sun had already risen and smiled. Today was Sunday so that meant no school, which Iruka was very thankful for since he currently had many other things on his mind. Iruka slowly started walking back to his house with a small grin on his face.
"So all I have to do is let go, Lee-kun?" Iruka put his arms behind his head and looked at the sky. "Maybe your right."
The sun scattered across the village as the clouds slowly moved blocking its light from its destination. The cherry trees had already lost their pedals minus one that refused to let go of spring. The children in the park ran around the tree screaming and laughing until they were called to go eat lunch.
One boy stood watching the tree in the breeze as his blonde hair moved along with the branches. The boy sighed silently wishing he could hold onto time just as the tree was able to keep spring for a moment longer the boy wished for time to freeze, the blond child touched the goggles on his head before he sat on the swing attached to the stubborn tree and slowly began rocking back and forth.
His legs started to push him higher as he got closer and closer to the clouds in the sky. Some day he would be able to get higher. Someday he would be able to grasp what hope that this very cherry tree held onto and soar.
One day he would fly.
"Hokage-sama!" Iruka walked into the assignment room he knew the Hokage would be at during this time of day. "Hokage-sa........."
"Iruka."
"Wah!" Iruka grabbed his chest as he smiled sheepishly at the old man behind him.
"Yes, Iruka-sensei? Is there something I can do for you?" the Hokage smirked as Iruka blushed. Some ninja he proved to be and what was with the Hokage sneaking behind him like that!
"Umm, yes actually I would like to change my address." Iruka gave a small grin as the Hokage gave him a small doubtful look.
"Hm?" The Hokage puffed on his pipe a bit before giving Iruka a serious glance. "Is there something wrong with your house?"
"Uh, no I was just meaning to move. I found a small apartment near the school and decided that would be more convenient then having to take care of a house that I am hardly at anyway." Iruka put his hand behind his head and smiled. "And I think it's about time I finally let go, don't you?"
"What is the meaning of all of this so suddenly Iruka?" The Hokage inhaled his pipe before sighing. "And after you went through all that trouble to keep the house after your parents passed away."
"I know Hokage-sama it's just........." Iruka paused before he gave a bitter smile. "It's just that it is full of too many memories."
"I'm sure they are all good memories." The Hokage smiled as he remembered Iruka's parents and even Kakashi, all were very good people.
"That's the problem, its hard to move on from something you wished you still had when everything around you just keeps pulling you back." Iruka looked at the Hokage with a serious expression. "I think it's about time I grew up and let go of the memories so I can finally make some new ones."
The Hokage nodded before he grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to Iruka.
You're growing up Iruka-kun.
"You know what to do. Just fill out the paper and give it too Fukui-san and everything should be set."
"Thank you Hokage-sama!" Iruka smiled and did a small bow before he headed towards the station Fukui was at.
The Hokage just smiled before he looked at all the missions that still needed to be assigned today.
Hmm.........maybe I should check to see how the new genin teams are doing?
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Kakashi followed Obito as they walked towards the area Morino Ibiki had last been seen disappearing into very carefully. As they approached they didn't hear or see any signs of life coming from the building causing Kakashi to doubt if they were at the right location.
Hayate appeared right beside Kakashi and sighed. "You wont believe this."
"Why, what's going on?" Kakashi asked quietly and Obito listened in as Sayaka soon appeared right beside Hayate.
"He's standing in the middle of the courtyard and there are no shinobi around here beside us. I thought he was captured?" Sayaka looked at Obito for an explanation but the leader just shrugged.
"Well, we still need our information from him so lets go get it." And with that the four disappeared reappearing in front of a man wearing a torn jacket and a black bandana over his head. He had two scars on his face and his eyes seemed to be very cold as he just stared at them.
"Your late." Ibiki spoke coldly before Kakashi sighed.
"No we aren't, your just early you sadist." Ibiki looked over at Kakashi with a glint of amusement in his eyes before he smiled.
"What happened to the people who captured you?" Sayaka spoke up as she gave the man a suspicious look.
"I was getting bored waiting for you guys to come so I had a little fun. Nothing big, I didn't kill more than three so you don't worry about it." Ibiki looked over at Obito. "I have information for your mission but I will only tell you."
"Understood." Came Obito's calm reply as he and Ibiki disappeared so they could be out of hearing range.
"Why I oughta!" Sayaka fumed as she held her breath trying to contain the anger of being cut off like that.
"Calm down Sayaka-chan." Hayate coughed a few times before glancing at Kakashi. "I wonder what he did to make all the men leave him behind?"
"Really because I don't." Kakashi said half jokingly before Obito appeared by them again but Ibiki was nowhere near.
"Okay guys, time to head out." Obito gave a toothy grin. "Ibiki already left, he said we should leave soon too because those men are most likely going to come back."
"What did he say?" Hayate jumped on a tree branch so that they could start traveling quicker.
"Our first place to look will be the neutral village a long the valley of the waves. That is the last spot anyone has seen a shinobi that resembles Itachi, from what I hear the Uchiha is avoiding a lot of people so he is moving more slowly. We should be able to find him quicker than anticipated." Obito gave a look towards Kakashi.
"Seeing as long as we don't hit any bumps along the way." Obito's toothy grin made Kakashi smile under his mask. This guy was really looking forward to fighting.
"To the land of the waves it is!" Sayaka smiled as they all vanished in the air.
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Iruka admired his small one room apartment as he moved his last box to the kitchen table. It was a lot smaller than he had originally thought it was going to be but having the kitchen and the living room attach wasn't so bad. He was a single male teacher after all and didn't take up a lot of room.
He had sent all of his parents valuables to storage where he would eventually have to go through it all when he had a break but in the mean time he had sold his house to small business organization that were looking for a new place to call their headquarters and were more than glad to pay for double what Iruka was asking.
The chunin sensei stifled a yawn as he looked at the time. He better head to the school now so that he could be there an hour before the kids giving him plenty of time to plan the day's schedule.
Iruka tied his hair up with a string and placed his hitai-ate leaf headband over his tanned forehead. He zipped his vest and smiled in the mirror as a tint of pink came across his cheeks slightly flushing his scar.
"I feel ridiculous but Lee-kun was right." Iruka smiled contently. "Maybe the reason I became a teacher was so that I could learn just as from these kids as I teach them in class."
With that thought in his head Iruka grabbed his clipboard and made his way of the door not noticing the calendar that laid on the floor with that Monday circled in read indicating it was a day of some importance.
Iruka couldn't help but feel like everything was going his way today. The air was great and from the looks of the sky it was going to be a clear day with no clouds. Iruka started to feel slightly sorry for Nara Shikamaru, a kid in his class that had written only one thing on there last test.
It was 'I wish I was a cloud.'
Iruka made his way down the hallways taking note in how all of the other classrooms seemed to be missing their teachers but he just pushed it to the back of his head as he opened the door to his class to end up dropping his clipboard at the sight in front of him.
All the female teachers were occupying the desks his students would normally be in and were all smiling at him with a strange glint in their eyes. Iruka blushed immediately at the sight and started to say something but when nothing came out he just picked up his clipboard and stared at the floor as he made his way to his desk.
Iruka heard a small giggle from the female teachers and decided to take a quick glance at them only to have his face flush up again as one of them go up and walked over to him.
"Iruka-sensei." The woman spoke in a low voice as she got really close to him.
"Huh, w.........w.........ww......hat! I emanhdsi!" Iruka paused as all the teachers laughed seemingly delighted how baffled the young teacher was. "I mean yes?"
"I-ru-ka." The teacher repeated before she put both her hands on the wall so Iruka was stuck in-between her and the wall. "I was wondering if you could do something for me?"
Oh kami! Iruka blushed even deeper as he saw how all he other teachers were staring at him to see how he was going to react. What are they up to?
"Y...y...yes!" Iruka blurted out causing his voice to break in the process making the teacher trapping him smirk.
"Close your eyes sensei." She spoke softly into his ear causing Iruka to shudder.
"W...w...why?" Iruka jumped up startling the female teachers.
"Please?" The female teachers in the background asked making Iruka look at them disbelievingly.
"Umm, listen guys I don't know what's going on but," Iruka gulped as all of them glared at him. "I'm sorry but I really don't see any of you this way."
All the women just smiled and a few laughed out loud causing Iruka to get flustered. What was going on?
"Shut up sensei!" The teacher in front of him got his attention. "Now be a good boy and close your eyes!"
Iruka giving up on fighting what ever was going to happen squeezed his eyes shut and started praying. Well if they were going to do anything vulgar it wouldn't last long since school was going to start soon and if they planned on killing him this was a very awkward way in doing it!
"Okay open your eyes now Iruka!" Iruka hesitantly opened his eyes even though he heard all the women shout it.
Iruka gaped at the sight before him. All the female teachers were around a small cake that had a few candles on it and a few were holding some presents.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRUKA!"
So all he had to was let go...............Iruka smiled as he hugged a few of his coworkers. He should definitely take advice from kids more often.
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I would love to reply to all of reviews but I am currently in a rush so I will respond to them next update or put it on it this chapter later!! Please review and tell me hoe you felt about this chapter!
in a rush sorry but I really have to go now! Happy Birthday Iruka-kun!
I hope you all have a great week!
Sorry it took so long to update but I had AP exams and I probably won't get the next chapter out until the second week of June because that's when school finally ends! woohoo
This chapter is dedicated to everyone's favorite chunin sensei who is celebrating his birthday today! I hope you all have a great day full of Iruka plushies!
Now enjoy this chapter!
Enjoy!
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Chapter 17: So Ugly It's Cute
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"Hey Mizuki........." Iruka yawned as he entered the classroom where Mizuki was sitting at his desk.
"Whoa! You look like crap!" Mizuki stood up as Iruka just looked at him.
The dark haired chunin sensei obviously hadn't been getting enough sleep with the dark bags that were forming under his eyes. The string that looked like it had gotten pulled was barely holding up Iruka's ponytail, and even while Iruka gave Mizuki one of his grins the lavender haired chunin noticed how disgruntled Iruka's outfit was.
"Heh.........the kids were really excited to see me at the playground now that school is back up it seems." Iruka had a small blush on his cheeks and Mizuki smirked. "They tried to ambush me and I would have gotten out easily but they accidentally got some of the younger children trapped so......."
"So you went through all the trouble to make sure no one was harmed yadda yadda.............man I still don't see how you got to be the favorite sensei." Mizuki pouted.
"Well maybe the kids just would rather learn from you and play with me." Iruka tried to console his friend but then the bell rang and kids came pouring in through the halls.
Iruka looked up at his first class of the day..............four seats were empty he noted as he realized that some of his students wouldn't be coming back.
The whole Uchiha clan, the most powerful clan in Konoha, was wiped out.
"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka looked over at one of his female student who was giving him a worried look.
"Yes Kimiko-chan?" Iruka snapped himself from his daze and gave his full attention to the girl.
"Why was school out for so long?" The small girl smiled brightly at her teacher causing Iruka to sigh.
"What did your parents tell you?" Iruka looked around the room to see some of the kids chatting.
"My dad said that something bad happened and that we were taking the time to mourn though I don't really understand since all my friends are here." The boy who had spoken hugged the guy next to him.
"My mom said that there was someone dangerous loose and we needed to stay inside for our own safety." A girl in that back of the class rose her voice.
Iruka watched as all of his students started to talk amongst themselves before he felt a small tug on his vest.
"Iruka-sensei?" The girl Kimiko from before looked up at him.
"Yes?"
"Where is Mina-chan? My mom said something about her family but why isn't Mina-chan here?" Kimiko looked at the other desks. "And her cousins Uchiha Taki and Rei-san are gone too. Did they move?"
"No Kimiko-chan they didn't move, there was an incident." Iruka waited for his class to calm down before he would explain what happened. The Hokage a briefed the teachers on exactly what to tell the children, Iruka closed his eyes and took a breath.
"I'm afraid that Mina, Taki, and Rei will not be in class anymore."
'''''''''''''''''''
"So what's the mission oh fearless leader?" Kakashi didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice as they sat in a small room they had set up in for the night.
"Kakashi-san! Show respect to Obito-senpai!" The dark haired girl yelled before Hayate grabbed her arm.
"That's just the way Kakashi is Sayaka." Hayate coughed. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at this and looked over at the girl.
"Sayaka? I thought you said your name was Yume?"
"Hehehe.............."
At that time Obito moved across the room to sit next to Kakashi and brought out the scroll the Hokage had given him.
"Sayaka-chan tends to change her name randomly whenever she finds another one she likes, it's rather childish but she is still a great shinobi." Obito smirked at the blushing girl before he looked at Kakashi. "And to answer your question Kakashi I guess I would have to explain some things."
At this all the three shinobi around Obito lifted their heads.
"As you know we have several shinobi throughout all of the territories as spies, bounty hunters, ambassadors, anything. Well I'm sure the Hokage informed you how he felt about something was about to happen since he told me so, it turned out the Hokage was waited to gain information from one of our spies but one spy has gone missing for two weeks." Obito paused to and looked around encouraging them all to ask questions.
"Whose the spy and what where they investigating?" Hayate spoke calmly thought the coughed a few times after he finished the sentence.
Obito just nodded before opening his eyes at Kakashi. "I believe you would know him better than all of us Kakashi, after all I believed you have already rescued him from a few missions in the past."
Kakashi paused for a moment before sighing. "He got caught again? I swear he does it on purpose."
Hayate just mumbled in agreement before he started coughing and got up to go get some water leaving his three friends in the room.
"More or less I would say he sounds like a masochist." Sayaka just scooted over closer to Obito who just smiled at her. "Why do we have to go save this guy? It's obvious to me that he seems pretty weak."
"Actually, when you meet him you might be surprised." Kakashi did a small grin under his mask when he noticed his statement got their attention. "He's probably not captured at all and just playing a game."
"That sounds more like more like Morino Ibiki." Hayate came back and sat down next to Sayaka and looked over at Kakashi. "He probably has something useful for this mission."
"So why are we saving this guy?" Sayaka laughed as if trying to make a joke. "I mean we don't know what our real mission is just yet."
"Che, because to leave a comrade is low, even for you Sayaka-chan." Obito gave the girl a small look causing the girl to bite her bottom lip before his eyes softened. "But after we get Ibiki-san and send him back to the village are next mission will be to track down that Itachi character."
"Itachi........." The girl seemed sad for a moment before Hayate nudged her and she smiled at him. "I guess that's why we were teamed up."
"Hm?" Kakashi looked over at her to see if she would explain. He personally didn't know who Sayaka or Obito were and knew that Hayate was more for the spy missions but he just figured the Hokage had put more trust in these individuals instead of having an actual reason to assign them together.
"Yeah." Obito agreed. "I guess we each have our own job to do in this mission."
"Which are?" Kakashi kept his impassive voice in check. Why beat around the bush when everyone could just say what they wanted out loud. This was probably the last chance they had to do so since tomorrow they would be on the enemy's territory.
"Well I am here because I would probably be able to infiltrate into the enemy's land the quickest without being noticed." Hayate coughed with a smug grin. "Not that the infamous Copy Cat ninja couldn't do the same."
Kakashi grinned under his mask before he looked at Obito.
"I am here because I am a tracker. I am the Anbu squad leader for squad 8, so maybe the Hokage also thought it would be good for me to be the leader." Obito looked over at Kakashi sliding his hand through his dirty blonde hair before grinning.
A leader would ultimately be the rise or the fall of his team, Kakashi thought, obviously Hokage-sama had a lot of faith in this Obito character.
"And I'm here because we are going after Itachi........." Sayaka spoke softly before she looked at everyone. "I was trained by him so I will be able to help Obito-senpai track him more efficiently."
"You don't seem to happy about that." Kakashi stated flatly receiving a glare from the dark haired girl.
"What are you implying?" Sayaka kept her tone low in a threatening matter.
"I was just wondering if you are capable of this mission." Kakashi gave his straightforward answer causing the girl to jump up as if she was about to hit him before Obito stopped her.
"Sayaka stop it now." His deep voice seemed to carry more power Kakashi hadn't noticed before. Obito turned towards Kakashi and with a friendly grin continued. "And Kakashi-san I would hope you aren't trying to imply Hokage-sama was wrong in who he assigned in this mission, because a team is only as strong as the trust they put in each other."
Kakashi paused before said anything and took a good look at the team. Hayate he would trust with his life, they have known each other for quite a while and Kakashi knew better than to underestimate the spy, Sayaka seemed suspicious but Obito was right. Kakashi needed to trust the Hokage's choice or the mission would be a failure and Kakashi wasn't one to allow his assigned missions to fail.
"And don't forget Sayaka you are our link to Konoha while we are searching since it would be easier to go in and out without being noticed." Hayate coughed a few times bringing a blush on the girl's cheeks.
Kakashi gave her a glance over when she startled him by smirking.
"You know Kakashi-san, I was trained by the stealthiest shinobi in Konoha you would think I would learn a few things." Sayaka glared at him as if to doubt her talent again but Kakashi didn't show any emotion and instead he sighed until he heard some soft laughter not to far.
Kakashi turned his glance over to Obito. Who was this guy? He was sure that if Obito was part of the Anbu then he would know something about the guy but then again Kakashi didn't know much about squad 8, mainly because he was too busy with his own missions to bother, which didn't seem like Kakashi at all.
"And why do you suggest the Hokage chose you for this mission Kakashi-san?" Obito interrupted the silver haired ninja's thoughts as Kakashi looked at all of them.
"Why?" Kakashi lifted his hand over his forehead protector and grimaced though no one noticed since his mask covered the majority of his face. "I believe Hokage-sama feels I'm the only who has a chance to kill the brat."
"Why would he think that?" Sayaka said arrogantly causing Kakashi to grin under his mask.
"If you don't know why now then I am sure you will find out later." Kakashi gave her a bored glare before he stood up with the rest of his companions. "I call first shift of night guard duty."
"Sure." Obito laughed calmly before Sayaka hit him.
"Obito-senpai! Why don't you just beat the crap out of this guy and save us all the trouble of having to listen to his ego for the rest of the trip!" Sayaka glared at Kakashi.
"Sayaka-chan, just because you are the youngest member on this team doesn't mean you can act like it now lets go rest, you can have the next shift of duty." Obito took one last glance at Kakashi. "And besides I know who to pick my fights with, and I don't want to fight him."
"But you're an Anbu squad leader and the oldest member on this team. I bet you could take him." Sayaka then yawned and headed towards her spot. "I mean is the Copy Cat ninja really that strong?"
Obito watched her leave and had a small grin on his face before he to went to his spot to sleep. The team wasn't so bad but he was surprised to hear the Hokage say that Kakashi was on his team. He had only heard rumors of the Copy Cat ninja and even seen him a few times in the village but this was his first chance to work with the legend.
Obito gave a toothy grin as he thought of the chance he might get to see Kakashi in battle but soon shook his head. A leader should never wish battle on his team he should only wish for their safety.
''''''''''''''''''''
Iruka ran down the street as fast as his legs could take him as the sun started to rise above the Hokage monument. He needed to get as far from his dreams as possible and running seemed like the only choice.
Last night he had come home to discover it empty again. It wasn't that he believed Kakashi was going to just show up out of the blue and then everything would go back to how it was, it was just that Iruka couldn't get away from the memories. As soon as he stepped in his house he remembered his parents, like when they celebrated Christmas or he would remember Kakashi, remember the times he would fall asleep on the couch and Kakashi would carry him to his bed. He would try to avoid the memories and go straight to bed but it seemed they even haunted him in his sleep.
Iruka's legs wobbled a bit as he realized he was already on his third lap around Konoha, it wasn't that he was physically tired due to the fact that all shinobi should be able to run at least five laps around the huge village but that he was emotionally drained.
"It's been almost a month!" Iruka slammed his fist into the nearest tree and sighed. He wasn't the violent type. Iruka sighed as the sweat ran down his face and dripped of his chin before he wiped his forehead with his arm.
"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka was startled as he turned his head a bit to see a boy with thick eyebrows and long eyelashes staring at him.
The boy was in one of his classes that he had taught for a few weeks when the teacher left on a mission. He had peach skin and a bowl cut that flipped out at the end until it was tied into a long and think ponytail behind the boy's head.
"Rock Lee-kun? What are you doing out here so early?" Iruka smiled down at the boy who smiled back up.
"I'm looking for a place I can train!" The boy through his fist in the air. "I will show those kids who has no talent!"
Iruka bit his lip as he looked at the boy. If he remembered correctly this kid had no talent in any of the fields of being a ninja, and yet to have so much passion to train..........
"Iruka-sensei you look sad." Iruka brought his attention back to the 'so- ugly-its-cute' boy in front of him.
"Huh?" Iruka shook his head at the unintelligent response he just gave. "I mean what are you talking about Lee-kun?"
"You need to let go." The boy replied with a straight face causing Iruka to go wide-eyed.
"What?"
"That's what my parents tell me whenever I feel sad, I need to let go of whatever is causing the tears because smiles are much more easier to bare!" The boy smiled at Iruka before he started to walk off in another direction.
"What was that?" Iruka mumbled to himself as he watched the boy go off. Was it just him or did that boy look a lot like Gai?
Iruka looked up to see the sun had already risen and smiled. Today was Sunday so that meant no school, which Iruka was very thankful for since he currently had many other things on his mind. Iruka slowly started walking back to his house with a small grin on his face.
"So all I have to do is let go, Lee-kun?" Iruka put his arms behind his head and looked at the sky. "Maybe your right."
The sun scattered across the village as the clouds slowly moved blocking its light from its destination. The cherry trees had already lost their pedals minus one that refused to let go of spring. The children in the park ran around the tree screaming and laughing until they were called to go eat lunch.
One boy stood watching the tree in the breeze as his blonde hair moved along with the branches. The boy sighed silently wishing he could hold onto time just as the tree was able to keep spring for a moment longer the boy wished for time to freeze, the blond child touched the goggles on his head before he sat on the swing attached to the stubborn tree and slowly began rocking back and forth.
His legs started to push him higher as he got closer and closer to the clouds in the sky. Some day he would be able to get higher. Someday he would be able to grasp what hope that this very cherry tree held onto and soar.
One day he would fly.
"Hokage-sama!" Iruka walked into the assignment room he knew the Hokage would be at during this time of day. "Hokage-sa........."
"Iruka."
"Wah!" Iruka grabbed his chest as he smiled sheepishly at the old man behind him.
"Yes, Iruka-sensei? Is there something I can do for you?" the Hokage smirked as Iruka blushed. Some ninja he proved to be and what was with the Hokage sneaking behind him like that!
"Umm, yes actually I would like to change my address." Iruka gave a small grin as the Hokage gave him a small doubtful look.
"Hm?" The Hokage puffed on his pipe a bit before giving Iruka a serious glance. "Is there something wrong with your house?"
"Uh, no I was just meaning to move. I found a small apartment near the school and decided that would be more convenient then having to take care of a house that I am hardly at anyway." Iruka put his hand behind his head and smiled. "And I think it's about time I finally let go, don't you?"
"What is the meaning of all of this so suddenly Iruka?" The Hokage inhaled his pipe before sighing. "And after you went through all that trouble to keep the house after your parents passed away."
"I know Hokage-sama it's just........." Iruka paused before he gave a bitter smile. "It's just that it is full of too many memories."
"I'm sure they are all good memories." The Hokage smiled as he remembered Iruka's parents and even Kakashi, all were very good people.
"That's the problem, its hard to move on from something you wished you still had when everything around you just keeps pulling you back." Iruka looked at the Hokage with a serious expression. "I think it's about time I grew up and let go of the memories so I can finally make some new ones."
The Hokage nodded before he grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to Iruka.
You're growing up Iruka-kun.
"You know what to do. Just fill out the paper and give it too Fukui-san and everything should be set."
"Thank you Hokage-sama!" Iruka smiled and did a small bow before he headed towards the station Fukui was at.
The Hokage just smiled before he looked at all the missions that still needed to be assigned today.
Hmm.........maybe I should check to see how the new genin teams are doing?
''''''''''''''''''''
Kakashi followed Obito as they walked towards the area Morino Ibiki had last been seen disappearing into very carefully. As they approached they didn't hear or see any signs of life coming from the building causing Kakashi to doubt if they were at the right location.
Hayate appeared right beside Kakashi and sighed. "You wont believe this."
"Why, what's going on?" Kakashi asked quietly and Obito listened in as Sayaka soon appeared right beside Hayate.
"He's standing in the middle of the courtyard and there are no shinobi around here beside us. I thought he was captured?" Sayaka looked at Obito for an explanation but the leader just shrugged.
"Well, we still need our information from him so lets go get it." And with that the four disappeared reappearing in front of a man wearing a torn jacket and a black bandana over his head. He had two scars on his face and his eyes seemed to be very cold as he just stared at them.
"Your late." Ibiki spoke coldly before Kakashi sighed.
"No we aren't, your just early you sadist." Ibiki looked over at Kakashi with a glint of amusement in his eyes before he smiled.
"What happened to the people who captured you?" Sayaka spoke up as she gave the man a suspicious look.
"I was getting bored waiting for you guys to come so I had a little fun. Nothing big, I didn't kill more than three so you don't worry about it." Ibiki looked over at Obito. "I have information for your mission but I will only tell you."
"Understood." Came Obito's calm reply as he and Ibiki disappeared so they could be out of hearing range.
"Why I oughta!" Sayaka fumed as she held her breath trying to contain the anger of being cut off like that.
"Calm down Sayaka-chan." Hayate coughed a few times before glancing at Kakashi. "I wonder what he did to make all the men leave him behind?"
"Really because I don't." Kakashi said half jokingly before Obito appeared by them again but Ibiki was nowhere near.
"Okay guys, time to head out." Obito gave a toothy grin. "Ibiki already left, he said we should leave soon too because those men are most likely going to come back."
"What did he say?" Hayate jumped on a tree branch so that they could start traveling quicker.
"Our first place to look will be the neutral village a long the valley of the waves. That is the last spot anyone has seen a shinobi that resembles Itachi, from what I hear the Uchiha is avoiding a lot of people so he is moving more slowly. We should be able to find him quicker than anticipated." Obito gave a look towards Kakashi.
"Seeing as long as we don't hit any bumps along the way." Obito's toothy grin made Kakashi smile under his mask. This guy was really looking forward to fighting.
"To the land of the waves it is!" Sayaka smiled as they all vanished in the air.
''''''''''''''''''''
Iruka admired his small one room apartment as he moved his last box to the kitchen table. It was a lot smaller than he had originally thought it was going to be but having the kitchen and the living room attach wasn't so bad. He was a single male teacher after all and didn't take up a lot of room.
He had sent all of his parents valuables to storage where he would eventually have to go through it all when he had a break but in the mean time he had sold his house to small business organization that were looking for a new place to call their headquarters and were more than glad to pay for double what Iruka was asking.
The chunin sensei stifled a yawn as he looked at the time. He better head to the school now so that he could be there an hour before the kids giving him plenty of time to plan the day's schedule.
Iruka tied his hair up with a string and placed his hitai-ate leaf headband over his tanned forehead. He zipped his vest and smiled in the mirror as a tint of pink came across his cheeks slightly flushing his scar.
"I feel ridiculous but Lee-kun was right." Iruka smiled contently. "Maybe the reason I became a teacher was so that I could learn just as from these kids as I teach them in class."
With that thought in his head Iruka grabbed his clipboard and made his way of the door not noticing the calendar that laid on the floor with that Monday circled in read indicating it was a day of some importance.
Iruka couldn't help but feel like everything was going his way today. The air was great and from the looks of the sky it was going to be a clear day with no clouds. Iruka started to feel slightly sorry for Nara Shikamaru, a kid in his class that had written only one thing on there last test.
It was 'I wish I was a cloud.'
Iruka made his way down the hallways taking note in how all of the other classrooms seemed to be missing their teachers but he just pushed it to the back of his head as he opened the door to his class to end up dropping his clipboard at the sight in front of him.
All the female teachers were occupying the desks his students would normally be in and were all smiling at him with a strange glint in their eyes. Iruka blushed immediately at the sight and started to say something but when nothing came out he just picked up his clipboard and stared at the floor as he made his way to his desk.
Iruka heard a small giggle from the female teachers and decided to take a quick glance at them only to have his face flush up again as one of them go up and walked over to him.
"Iruka-sensei." The woman spoke in a low voice as she got really close to him.
"Huh, w.........w.........ww......hat! I emanhdsi!" Iruka paused as all the teachers laughed seemingly delighted how baffled the young teacher was. "I mean yes?"
"I-ru-ka." The teacher repeated before she put both her hands on the wall so Iruka was stuck in-between her and the wall. "I was wondering if you could do something for me?"
Oh kami! Iruka blushed even deeper as he saw how all he other teachers were staring at him to see how he was going to react. What are they up to?
"Y...y...yes!" Iruka blurted out causing his voice to break in the process making the teacher trapping him smirk.
"Close your eyes sensei." She spoke softly into his ear causing Iruka to shudder.
"W...w...why?" Iruka jumped up startling the female teachers.
"Please?" The female teachers in the background asked making Iruka look at them disbelievingly.
"Umm, listen guys I don't know what's going on but," Iruka gulped as all of them glared at him. "I'm sorry but I really don't see any of you this way."
All the women just smiled and a few laughed out loud causing Iruka to get flustered. What was going on?
"Shut up sensei!" The teacher in front of him got his attention. "Now be a good boy and close your eyes!"
Iruka giving up on fighting what ever was going to happen squeezed his eyes shut and started praying. Well if they were going to do anything vulgar it wouldn't last long since school was going to start soon and if they planned on killing him this was a very awkward way in doing it!
"Okay open your eyes now Iruka!" Iruka hesitantly opened his eyes even though he heard all the women shout it.
Iruka gaped at the sight before him. All the female teachers were around a small cake that had a few candles on it and a few were holding some presents.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRUKA!"
So all he had to was let go...............Iruka smiled as he hugged a few of his coworkers. He should definitely take advice from kids more often.
''''''''''''''''''''
I would love to reply to all of reviews but I am currently in a rush so I will respond to them next update or put it on it this chapter later!! Please review and tell me hoe you felt about this chapter!
in a rush sorry but I really have to go now! Happy Birthday Iruka-kun!
I hope you all have a great week!
