Chapter 18 – The Pervert Ninja Found! Naruto's Fury Boils Over!

Naruto leapt to the forefront of the charging crowd.

"Who is it? Where are we going!" he demanded, to no avail. Suddenly, his footing failed him as he fell to the dirt.

"Oh no…," he groaned. Within moments, he was trampled underfoot by 264 anxious leaf ninja, though Chouji and his dad seemed like an extra fifty.

"No, Chouji! Help m-…AAAHHH! Not the Konoha marching band…oh God…Leaf elephants…OOF!"

When the dust settled, Naruto peeled himself off the ground and, with the help of two clones, limped over to the site of all the ruckus – the Academy. As he came closer, he noticed that most of the crowd was dead silent. Some were shaking their heads in disbelief.

"A little help, guys?"

The two clones propped him up on their shoulders. Naruto thought he caught a brief glimpse of the culprit before the three crashed down.

"OUCH! What the…that was a leaf ninja! I need a closer look…"

Naruto tried to bustle through the sea of somber ninja with his two clones pushing everyone else aside.

"Ahem, future Hokage coming through, let me see what's going."

Once again, a pink-haired ninja blocked his path.

"Outta the way Sakura-chan, I wanna see what's going on!"

She turned around slowly. Naruto was shocked to see tears falling down her pale face as they made eye contact.

"Oh Naruto…" Out of nowhere, she embraced him tightly, crying for the first time since...well, he couldn't remember.

"Uh…ok, I like you too, Sakura-chan…" He patted her head awkwardly. "Honestly, though, get a grip of yourself. Aren't you happy we caught this Pervert Ninja jerk?"

Sakura slowly slipped out of the hug and wiped her eyes with her arm.

"Naruto," she whispered. "Please leave…I…we don't want to hurt you."

Now he was thoroughly perplexed. What was it with all these depressed ninja?

"Sakura-chan, just let me see-"

"NO!" She blocked his way to the scene, tears stillfalling. "Please…"

"For the love of…do something, you two!"

The clones jumped in front of him and put their hands down as Naruto used them for leverage. He flew over Sakura and landed right next to the Pervert Ninja, handcuffed and head down. As he had suspected, the ninja was from Konoha…he could see the flak jacket and clothing.

"Hey, bastard!" Naruto yelled in his face. "Look at me! Look what you've done to all these people! Got any last words before they throw you away?"

The ninja looked up reproachfully at Naruto.

It was then that Naruto had, for the very first time in his life, a near heart-attack. His eyes wandered about the ninja's outline in horror, from the deep vertical nose scar to the spiked bun of hair, to the familiar brown eyes.

"Naruto," he stammered. "Please…"

"Iruka…sensei-"

"It wasn't me! I swear to you-"

Naruto didn't have to collect his thoughts. Izumo and Kotetsu hesitantly picked up Iruka's limp arms and dragged him away from his former student. Naruto stood there, frozen in place. Somewhere down inside, he felt the energy to propel his limbs for movement…

"NO! Get your hands offa him!" he heard himself yell.

Kakashi immediately leapt out of the crowd, blocking Naruto.

"What the hell, Kakashi-sensei! Let me at 'em…give me Iruka-sensei back! Give him b-"

It was too late. He was gone -taken to the cells.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"Naruto...sorry." offered Kakashi.

The crowd dispersed a few hours later. Most of them had the same thoughts of shock and disbelief flowing through their heads as they went to sleep that night. Only a lone ninja remained rooted in the dirt yard of the Academy, the same place that he had felt so desperately lonely so many years ago, untila certainsensei had made him feel wanted for the first time in this world. As the stars darkened, he fell asleep.

Next Chapter – My Heart is Set! Helping Our Friends in Need!