Chapter 4:

Struggle

"I'm home!" exclaimed a 12-year old Iruka as he stepped into his house.

"Welcome home!" greeted his mother from the kitchen. "How was your mission today?" she asked.

"Troublesome…" Iruka grunted. "I never thought babysitting a little baby could be so hard. They should've ranked it as a C-rank mission, instead of a D-rank."

"Oh? Why, what happened?" his mother asked.

"Well, the baby just kept on crying no matter what we tried to do. It just complained about everything. After changing his diaper, he'd start crying. After feeding him, he'd start crying. While playing with him, he'd start crying. It was impossible to please the kid," the young genin complained.

Iruka's mother gave a chuckle at his complaining. "You know," she said, "you were like that when you were a little baby, too…but at least now you know what we had to go through with you."

"Yeah, I guess… but taking care of the baby wasn't the only thing that irked me. It was also the parents. They were just horrible," Iruka complained. "When we got to the house, we heard a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the inside. We didn't really pay attention to it then, but after they came back from their little trip, that's when we saw something that should never be allowed at all… They had asked how the baby was, so we told them that there was a little bit of trouble here and there but that everything turned out all right in the end. And then you know what they did? The mother went up to the baby and slapped it. Slapped it! Right in front of us! The father even started yelling at the kid, saying how he was nothing but trouble for everyone… And then he had the nerve to apologize to us about the baby's behavior!"

"How awful…" his mother replied.

"Yep… Sensei stepped in, though. He gave them a big lecture afterwards. I don't know what he said or did, but after that, the parents changed their attitudes completely."

"Well, at least those people have settled down somewhat, though I doubt they'll do a complete turnaround," the woman smiled.

Iruka smiled back. "Yeah… but I just hope that the baby doesn't turn out to be like them."

"You know, even though those parents were horrible to their baby; it's still just an innocent child and can't really do any harm," the raven-haired woman started. "There's always a way to break out of that kind of cycle. If the child sees compassion from others, he will learn from them and apply it. If the child is constantly surrounded by loving friends, then he doesn't have to become like his parents. He only really wants acceptance from them, and without it, the cycle will continue on because he'll just become spiteful towards them and then take out his anger on others. But as long as his friends continue to support and show him love, then there's no need for him to be like that. Their acceptance and friendship will help give him the strength he needs to overcome his hatred," she finished with a smile.

"You and your insightful lectures mom," Iruka groaned, but smiled at her anyway.

His mother gave a light chuckle. "I try," she said, a smile on her face. "Well, anyway, here's some leftover food from dinner. You must be starving after coming back from your little mission."

"Oh, thanks a lot, mom!" exclaimed Iruka. "I haven't had any proper food since this morning!"

After finishing up his dinner, Iruka cleared the table and thanked his mom for the meal. Feeling tired from his earlier mission, Iruka decided that sleep was in order.

"I'm kind of tired from today's mission," Iruka told his mother. "I think I'm gonna go and get some sleep."

"Alright, then. Have a good night, Iru-chan!" his mother said with a playful tone in her voice.

Iruka gave a light chuckle before responding, "Goodnight, mom. Give dad a hug g'nite for me when he gets home?"

"I will."

Iruka gave a parting smile to his mother before proceeding upstairs to his room. He got himself ready and then settled into his futon. He fell asleep a few minutes later.

Iruka's peaceful slumber was interrupted, however, a couple of hours later when the earth violently shook and woke up the sleeping boy.

"Ugh… what's going on?" Iruka asked himself as he sat up from his futon. "Is it an earthquake?"

He heard some sort of rumbling before the sounds of explosions flooded his ears.

"What the hell was that!" Iruka exclaimed, surprised from the blasts. "Are we under attack!" he asked himself as he jumped out of his futon to look outside his window.

Before he could get any closer, however, the door to his room slammed open and saw his mother rushing towards him.

"Iruka! Are you alright?" his mother asked him.

"Y-yeah…" Iruka replied, "But what's going on, mom? Are we under attack?"

"There's no time for that right now! We have to get out of here now!" the woman exclaimed.

Not questioning his mother's commands, Iruka immediately followed his mother out of his room.

"Where's dad?" Iruka asked his mother as they headed down the stairs.

"He's already ahead of us. Right now, he's helping a couple of the villagers evacuate from their homes."

"But why? What's going on?"

Iruka received his answer once they stepped outside of their house. It seemed as if all hell had broken loose in the village of Konoha: trees were in flames; houses were in rubbles, bodies of villagers were being carried by various people; moans and screams surrounded them. It was a ghastly sight to see.

"Oh, god! That demon's loose! What are we gonna do!" Iruka overheard a man telling a fellow shinobi.

"Demon?" Iruka asked himself. He looked up towards his mother, about to ask her about what the man had just said, when he saw her looking up at something. Following his mother's trail of sight, Iruka's eyes widened at what stood before them. Standing over the trees and homes was a gigantic fox with nine tails wrecking havoc on the village.

"W-what the hell is th—" Iruka was interrupted before he could finish his question, however, when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed hold of him and jerked him backwards. A second later, debris fell on where Iruka had been once standing as signs and ornaments fell to the ground.

"Damnit, this place isn't safe anymore!" His mother exclaimed. "We have to reach the gates! You'll be safe with everyone else there."

"But what about dad?" Iruka immediately asked.

"Don't worry, we'll meet up with your father at the gates."

"A-alright…"

A ball of flame suddenly shot towards the house across from them and immediately destroyed it, making debris fly all over the place. Iruka and his mother dodged the flying pieces.

"We can't stay here any longer! We have to go!" his mother exclaimed as she grabbed the young boy's hand and urged him to move forward.

Iruka followed his mother's lead as they set off toward the gates of Kohoha.

As they headed towards their destination, they spotted a man trying to help an old woman get on her feet.

"Dad!" Iruka shouted as they got closer to the two figures on the road.

"I-Iruka!" the man asked surprised as he turned around to find the source of the voice. "Iruka! Are you alright!"

"Un…yeah, I'm fine…" Iruka replied.

"Oh, thank goodness…" his father said relieved. "I'm glad you're both safe," he finished softly, looking at his wife.

"Need some help?" his mother asked with a grin on her face.

"No, I got it… She's just a little tired," the raven-haired man told his wife. "You both go on ahead. I'll meet up with you at the gates."

"Alright…but be careful!"

"I will…" the man responded back. "You both be careful as well. Take good care of your mother, alright Iruka?"

"Yeah… I will!" Iruka replied before once again following his mother's lead.

Minutes had gone by as both mother and son proceeded towards their destination. Once they saw a part of the gates come into view, they knew that they were almost there. Iruka's mother gave a sigh of relief as they neared the location.

"We're almost there, Iruka…" the woman said as she turned to her son. "You can make it on your own from here, right?" she asked.

"Y-yeah…" Iruka replied. "But what about you? Aren't you coming with me?" Iruka asked his mother, confused at her question.

"I'm going to go back and help your father a bit. He may not have shown it back there, but I know that he's tired already, so I'm going to go and give him a helping hand," she explained to Iruka.

"Let me go with you then!" the young boy exclaimed.

"No! You're in enough danger as it is. I'm not going to let you dive in even deeper!" she vehemently refused.

"B-but—"

"No buts!" she interrupted. "Now go head toward the gates and wait for us there…We'll meet up with you soon enough. Don't you worry, Iru-chan…" Iruka's mother finished softly.

"A-alright…" Iruka reluctantly replied.

"Good… I'll see you in a bit, alright?"

Iruka did not look back as he heard his mother's footsteps retreating towards the opposite direction.

He knew he should be doing what he was told to do, but as Iruka neared the gates, he was beginning to have second thoughts. His father had told him to take care of his mother; and if he was just waiting around at the gates instead of being with her, how could he possibly fulfill his dad's wishes! The thought about abandoning his promise to his dad made Iruka feel as if he was running away from his responsibilities as a ninja… and a son. With a grunt, Iruka had made up his mind. He immediately halted and changed direction. He would not abandon his mother, he thought.

Iruka ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up with his mother. When he finally found her a couple of minutes later, he was surprised to find his mother in the middle of a confrontation with the fox-demon.

"Mom!" Iruka exclaimed. But the second Iruka had called for her; he had immediately realized his horrible mistake.

When his mother had heard him, she immediately turned around, clearly surprised to see him standing there. That one moment gave the fox a chance to strike.

"Iru—" The demon's attack did not give the woman a chance to finish. With one swipe from its powerful claws, Iruka's mother was savagely thrown to the side, plowing her into a building.

"Mother!" Iruka screamed at the top of his lungs as he quickly ran towards the building in which she was thrown.

When he made it inside the building, he was horrified to see his mother lying underneath a pile of rubble. Not wasting any time, Iruka immediately lifted the fallen debris off of his mother with unknown strength. Once he was able to lift enough to free his mother, he fell to the ground next to her, calling out her name; urging her to wake up and open her eyes.

His mother was a horrid sight to see. Blood was all around her and her left arm was twisted in a grotesque manner, but Iruka didn't care just as long as she was alive.

"Mom! Wake up! Wake up! C'mon, open your eyes already!" Iruka shook her body as he called for his mother. "Say something! Damnit…say something…anything…" he said softly as tears cascaded down his cheeks. He choked back a sob. "Mom…" he whispered, laying his head down on his mother's chest.

Iruka began to cry harder.

"I-Ir…" a voice suddenly whispered despairingly.

Iruka suddenly jerked up, surprised to hear his mother talk.

"M-mom?" He asked, looking at her face.

"I-Ir…" she began again, looking intently into her son's eyes.

"Mom! Save your strength! I'm going to get you out of here and bring you to a medic-nin, OK! So just save your strength!"

Iruka was surprised when his mother lifted her right hand towards him.

"I…ru…chan…" she whispered so very softly to her son, a smile on her face. Her breathing had become very ragged and he knew she would not last for very long. And so with her final breath, she lightly brushed the cheek of her only son before her hand finally dropped to the ground; the rest of her body very still.

"M-mom? Mom! Mom!" Iruka shook her, trying to get her to open her eyes again, but no matter how many times he did it, she would not budge. Fresh tears began to flow down his cheeks. He called for his mother one last time. When she did not respond, Iruka's sadness began to overwhelm him and cried out in anguish, screaming into the night.

"I failed…" Iruka began. "I failed… I couldn't keep my promise… I couldn't protect you like dad told me to…" he whispered to the fallen woman beside him. "I let that demon get you…damnit… I let it take you away from me and dad…"

Iruka got up off of the floor and slowly walked outside of the broken building. Looking up, he saw the fox with its back turned towards him. Iruka began to feel the rage building up inside of him.

"YOU DAMNED FOX-DEMON!" Iruka screamed at the fox. It looked like Iruka managed to catch its attention as it slowly turned around towards him.

"You killed my mother… you took her away from me… I'm going to kill you… I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he yelled at the fox. Iruka wanted revenge; and he didn't care whether or not he was going to die in the process.

The demon stared at the little boy. To Iruka, it looked like the fox was giving him a smile, as if it was mocking him. It wanted Iruka to try and kill him, he thought.

"Well, then that's what he's going to get!" Iruka exclaimed. Picking up a fallen kunai from the ground, probably from the fight between his mother and the demon, Iruka rushed towards the demon.

The fox was ready for him though as it raised its front claws and struck down on Iruka. He was hit and was thrown backwards, but when he hit the ground, a large puff of smoke appeared. Lying there on the ground, where Iruka was supposed to be, was a log. Iruka had used Kawarimi no Jutsu at the last moment.

"UP HERE YOU STUPID FOX!" Iruka screamed in mid-air as he threw the kunai at the fox-demon.

The nine-tailed demon seemed to react faster than Iruka had thought as it immediately raised its head and blew a spiral of wind from its mouth. Iruka was surprised when the weapon stopped and suddenly changed its direction towards him. With no way of escaping while in mid-air, Iruka could only close his eyes and cross his arms, prepared to receive the blow that was coming. He was shocked, however, when he did not feel any pain. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see a man's chest in front of him. As he looked up, Iruka found himself face-to-face with his father.

"D-dad?" Iruka asked in disbelief as they landed on the ground.

His father fell on his knees, face contorting in pain before he coughed up some blood.

"Dad!" the boy exclaimed.

The man looked up towards his son and smiled at him. "Are you alright, Iruka?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…" Iruka replied. "B-but, mom…she—"

"It's alright, Iruka… I know you tried your best…"

"But I—"

Iruka did not get a chance to explain as he was suddenly pushed away from his father. Time seemed to slow down for him, as he saw the claws of the demon slash horizontally, hitting his father head on. He watched with eyes wide open as his father was thrown to the side, his body spinning in the air before finally hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Iruka was not able to escape unscathed from the attack either. The force of the blow was so powerful that the gust of wind that followed the swift attack was strong enough to cut some of his hair off and scratch him across the face. Iruka fell to the ground, screaming in pain as he held the cut along the top of his nose.

Suddenly remembering that his father was hurt, Iruka felt the pain lessen a bit. He stood back up and quickly ran towards his father. When he reached him, Iruka gasped at what he saw. His father was laying on the ground with deep gashes on his back, and an arm and a leg that was bent the wrong way. The tears came back as he shook his head as if he was denying that this had just happened. He fell down on his knees next to his beaten father. He called out his name and tried to shake him, but unlike his mother, his father would not move, nor say his name. His father was dead.

Looking up, Iruka saw the fox-demon staring at the two of them on the ground. The demon looked like it was smiling as if satisfied with its work. Iruka's anger came back. But as he was just about to get up to get ready for another offensive attack, a gigantic frog had slammed into the nine-tailed fox, making it fall on the ground.

"Oi, Kid! What the hell are you doing here!" a man's voice exclaimed.

Iruka squinted his eyes a bit to find a blonde-haired man standing on top of the frog's head. It was the Fourth Hokage.

"You shouldn't be here! It's too dangerous!" the Yondaime exclaimed. "Now hurry up and get out of here! Run!"

Iruka didn't move. He wanted to stay and fight. He wanted revenge for the deaths of his parents. He wanted to kill the beast.

When the Yondaime saw that the boy was not going to run away, he had to take matters into his own hands.

"Gamabunta, I need you to stall the Kyuubi for just a bit. I have to go get that kid down there to safety," the Fourth told his partner as he jumped off of his head.

"Alright…but hurry up! I'm not taking care of this myself," Gamabunta told the Yondaime. The Fourth gave a chuckle when he heard the large toad mumble something about "stupid kids" and "heroics."

When the Fourth touched the ground, he immediately grabbed hold of Iruka and ran towards the gates.

"You'll be safe with the others at the gates. Just in case that we fail here, everyone will already have escaped," the Yondaime explained to Iruka.

The Fourth noticed Iruka trying to break free from his grasp.

"Damnit, kid! Do you really wanna die that much!" he exclaimed.

"I want my parents back!" Iruka suddenly yelled.

"I-I see…" the Fourth said, slightly taken aback by his statement. "Those must've been your parents then… "

"That thing took them away…mom…dad…They tried to protect me...and I couldn't do anything…" Iruka whispered.

"Then let me ask you something, kid…Do you really think your parents would've wanted you to die after they sacrificed their lives to save you?" the Yondaime asked Iruka.

The boy remained silent, but stopped his struggle.

"That's better…" the blonde-haired man said.

When they reached the gates, the Yondaime set Iruka down and asked one of the villagers to watch him. Then he turned towards Iruka.

"Don't worry, kid. I'll take care of things from here on in. That thing isn't going to cause anymore trouble after tonight, I promise you that…" he reassured Iruka.

Iruka looked down, not meeting the Fourth's eyes.

"Alright…I'm off!" the blond said as he took off towards the battle.

Iruka stayed where he stood, staring at the ground, for a couple of minutes before one of the villagers finally came up to him.

"Hey…don't worry, kid. The Yondaime always keeps his word. That demon won't last for very long… He wasn't named Hokage for nothing, you know." the man told Iruka, ruffling his hair.

"It's not that…" Iruka whispered, shaking his head. "It was my fault…all my fault…"

"Kid…"

"Damnit… mom…dad… I couldn't protect them… I couldn't keep my promise… I just wasn't strong enough...I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH!" Iruka roared to the night sky. "I wasn't…strong enough…" he whispered softly as he fell on his knees, tears in his eyes.

Iruka punched the ground in anger. "Damn you, fox…" He punched the ground again. "You took them away from me…" another punch. "You took away my family…" he gave another. "I'll kill you… I'll definitely kill you…" he seethed as he punched the ground one last time in anger.

The man watched sadly as Iruka vented out his anger and sadness on the ground.

"Kid…I-I don't know what to say…" he said softly.

Iruka got off of the ground and began walking towards the battlefield.

"Hey kid… where do you think you're going?" the man asked, suddenly grabbing Iruka by the collar of his shirt.

"Let me go, old man! I'm gonna go kill that thing myself! I don't care what the Yondaime says! I should be the one to kill that thing!" Iruka exclaimed, struggling to get free from the villager's grasp.

"Are you crazy! You think you're going to survive fighting that thing!" the man exclaimed, making Iruka face him.

"I don't care!" Iruka yelled at him. "Just as long as I kill that beast!" he pushed himself away from the villager's grasp.

"Do you really think your parents would want you to do that?" the man asked calmly.

Iruka's eyes widened as the question reminded him of the one the Fourth had asked earlier.

"I know you must be hurting kid… but this no way to honor your parents' memories by going in there and getting yourself killed…"

Iruka didn't want to listen to the man's words. He didn't want to listen to what the Hokage told him. But in the end, his resolve broke and Iruka silently walked back towards the others.

"Just be—" the man tried to say, but was suddenly interrupted by a pillar of absolute darkness suddenly rising to the night sky. It was resonating from the area the demon and the Yondaime were fighting.

Everyone watched in awe as the darkness filled the night sky and then gradually thinned and finally disappeared… and then finally, there was only silence.

"I-is it over?" one of the villagers suddenly asked.

"I-I think so… I don't see anything anymore…not even the demon" another replied.

The crowd suddenly cheered. The horror was finally over. Iruka, however, did not stay for their little celebration. Instead, he started running towards the area where the pillar had come from. As he neared his destination, Iruka was able to find a kunai lying on the ground. Picking it up, the boy continued on, determined to fight if he had to.

Once he arrived, however, Iruka was surprised to find nothing there except a couple of shinobi looking depressed and the Third Hokage standing with them while holding what looked like a baby. As the young genin looked around, he was able to overhear part of a conversation between two anbu.

"Looks like it's finally over…" one of the anbu said.

"Yeah… but at the cost of the Yondaime's life…" the other replied sadly.

Iruka's eyes widened at this news. He started walking away from them, and turned towards where the Sandaime was. He was also talking to a shinobi.

"…over, but the Yondaime sacrificed his life in order to save this village." the old man began. "No one must know what has transpired here today, at least not yet. The village is not yet ready to find out the truth."

"But why?" the jounin asked.

"Because they will not take kindly to the fact that the demon is indeed still alive…" the Third said.

The jounin was surprised at this news, as was Iruka.

"Alive? But didn't the Fourth destroy that demon!" the jounin asked.

"No… we could not destroy something as powerful as a greater demon, like the Kyuubi… We could only seal it inside a vessel. That's why this baby is here. He was the sacrifice we needed to seal the Kyuubi in."

"Then…"

"No… this baby is innocent. He is not the Kyuubi. This baby is our savior. We would not have been able to defeat the demon without him," the Sandaime explained.

"Why!" Iruka suddenly yells out. "Why are you letting that thing live! That demon may be sealed, but it's still alive!"

"The Kyuubi is alive, yes, but it can do no more harm inside this boy's body."

"I refuse to believe it! The Yondaime promised me that he would get rid of that demon! He promised me!" Iruka yelled at the Third.

"And he fulfilled that promise. The demon is gone… alive, but gone," the old man said calmly.

Iruka growled and took out his kunai while he rushed towards the Sandaime. He lifted up his weapon, ready to attack the baby the Third was holding.

"Can you really kill such an innocent child?" the Third suddenly asked.

Iruka managed to look at the baby's face as he struck the kunai down on him, but instead of seeing the face of a child, he saw his mother's instead.

Iruka stopped his attack just as it was about to make contact.

"Damnit…" Iruka whispered. The hand that was holding the weapon shook. Drawing his hand back, Iruka fell to the ground. A voice that sounded a lot like his mother's suddenly flooded his ears.

"No matter what…it's just an innocent child…" it had said.

Iruka could only stare at the ground.

The Hokage handed the little boy over to a fellow shinobi. He then kneeled down to face Iruka.

As if reading Iruka's thoughts, the Yondaime said, "Your anger is justifiable, but you mustn't forget that a child is still just a child."

"But that demon killed my parents," Iruka said softly.

"The Kyuubi didn't kill your parents…" the old man started.

Iruka stared at him.

"Your parents may have sacrificed their lives to protect their only son. They may even have sacrificed their lives to protect this village, but their memories still live within you… in here," the Sandaime said softly, patting Iruka's chest. "Your parents were heroes. You should remember them as that."

Iruka remained silent.

The Third helped Iruka to his feet. He then turned to the shinobi next to him and took the baby from his arms.

"In a couple of days, I will announce the truth... but until then, the people should return to their normal lives and rebuild. Many have died today, but we will honor them. We shall hold a memorial for all those who died trying to protect this village and its people," the Yandaime told the shinobi around him.

"What about the baby?" Iruka suddenly asked, head still bowed.

"The baby will be considered a hero, but… unfortunately, he will have to bear the burden of carrying the demon inside of him for the rest of his life," the Third finished sadly.

"I-I see…" Iruka whispered.

"We should all head back now and tell the villagers that it is now safe. It is time to rebuild the village of Konoha…" the Sandaime said aloud so that everyone could here.

Everyone nodded their heads and left the area.

"Iruka-san?" the old man asked.

The boy turned to look at him.

"You should know... that your parents are watching you right now… up there," the Sandaime began, gesturing at the stars above them. "And right now, I think they'd be very proud of you…" he smiled before walking away.

Iruka stared at the old man as he slowly disappeared from view. He then looked up into the night sky, watching as a shooting star flew across.

"Mom…dad…" Iruka whispered to the open sky before finally walking away.

A/N: Wow… that was actually a pretty long chapter…

I have to say that this chapter was actually pretty hard to write for some reason. I had to rewrite it twice before I was finally satisfied with the outcome, though not totally… But I managed to get it done, though it took over a week for me to do it. Eh, what can you do?

Iruka was very emotional and very confused in this chapter. Well, I hope I did a good job portraying it at least. I think that's why this was one of the hardest chapters for me to write. His mood had to keep changing from sad to angry to confused to sad, etc. etc. It made my head spin.

You may be wondering how the Sandaime knows Iruka's name, but the Yondaime doesn't... Well, keep in mind that the Sandaime has been the Hokage for many years, more than the Yondaime has. Also, I always thought that he was the type of person who would actually try to learn the names of everyone in the village. So yeah… that's my explanation however uninteresting it may be.

I may also get a question about this, so I better answer it now. You may have noticed that I didn't mention the names of Iruka's parents. The reason? Because I want to try and keep it canon as much as I can. The manga or the anime never mentioned their names, so I won't either.

Well anyway, next chapter will be another Iruka flashback, though a couple more years later.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! 'Till next time!

This chapter has not been beta-read.