Being a teacher was hard. There were a lot of expectations that were required of you, and there was something daunting about being responsible for shaping the future of your country through your students. Any student's behavior that was out of line was automatically reflected on you, whether inside the school or outside. It was a respectable job, but it was also a stressful job. Career advice, parent-teacher conferences, exam results, mediating between the clan parents and Uzumaki. The last one was probably the worst one.
Being his homeroom teacher, any trouble Uzumaki caused or didn't cause, the parents blamed him to an extent. Not that the parents blamed him too much. They mostly blamed him for not saying that Uzumaki was a lost cause and should push for Uzumaki to be "taken care of".
Kakashi wasn't for or against the idea. From his experiences, Uzumaki wasn't acting too far out of line. He was a stereotypical delinquent that caused trouble every now and then. The boy didn't do anything that would warrant a severe risk. The only thing that was truly working against Uzumaki was his status of being a host. It was not the boy's fault. Saying that it was because he was a host that Kakashi never said he was against the idea either.
"Hatake-sensei, did you complete all of your student career consultations?" Umino, Iruka asked. His desk was across from Kakashi's in the faculty room. Unlike Kakashi, who found teaching to be tedious, Iruka loved his job. He was tough on the students but fair. Kind, yet stern. The only one who didn't have trouble with Uzumaki was him. If he wasn't a hunter, Iruka should have been a teacher full time.
"No. Gaara-kun and Uzumaki-kun have been avoiding them." He sighed heavily, watching the clock. His homeroom had started 5 minutes ago. "Can't you take care of it, Ruka-chan," he whined, stretching out in his seat.
Iruka flushed in embarrassment, looking around to see if anyone heard. "Don't call me that," he hissed. "We aren't children anymore."
"I know. It's nice to dream though," he yawned.
"Shouldn't you be in class, Hatake-sensei," Iruka scolded him as he finished packing his own lesson plans for the day.
"Yeah," he yawned again. "The lesson won't take the entire period. It'll be fine."
Iruka was disapproving of his nonchalance to his duties. It wasn't Kakashi's choice to become a teacher, but it was required of almost all young hunters on the island to teach the next generation to foster a closeness between the clans and pass on the hunter values. Today, he wasn't shirking his duties because of laziness. This time he had a legitimate excuse. He was exhausted.
After going to Fukuoka with Gaara, he had been sent all over Japan collecting information. He had discovered two other cases similar to what Gaara had discovered. Strange murders with an actively decaying vampire at the center of it. It had put the entire hunter community on edge.
Was it a disease that was spreading through the vampire community? Was it something else? Could it affect humans?
"You should take care of yourself, Hatake-sensei. We have patrols today."
"Thanks for the reminder, Ruka-chan." He sighed heavily, ignoring the lecture Iruka was giving him for using the nickname. "I'll listen to your lecture another time. I have to report to Tsunade-sama before I go to class. Ruka-chan, could you—"
"I'll talk to Gaara-kun and Uzumaki-kun about their career plans." Iruka smiled at him. "But you're buying dinner this time."
Hatake smiled, thanking him as he stood and grabbing his report in the process. One problem was off his hands, and he didn't have to be yelled at for his failure in getting them to go through their future plan consultation either. He still wasn't sure how he ended up as the homeroom teacher of that class.
Tsunade's office was separated from the faculty room as she was the chairman of the school as well, having a large office on the second floor to entertain investors and the rich politicians and businessmen whose children attended the school. He had gone to this school as well just 6 years prior when Uzumaki had joined the junior high section. He never thought he'd be stuck teaching the brat.
He stopped outside the office hearing voices from the other side.
"I know it's a lot to ask of you two," Tsunade's voice filtered through the heavy wooden doors. She couldn't have been standing too far away if she could be heard. "But if he continues to act up, could you keep an eye on him?"
"It would be an honor to fulfill your request," came the reply.
He stepped back as the door opened. Haruno Sakura and Sai came out, both bowing their head to him in greeting as they left.
Kakashi entered the office next, seeing Tsunade holding a large stack of books in her arms as she grabbed another book from her large collection. "I should really consider getting someone to take over this job, so I can work at the hospital full-time," she sighed, carrying the stack to her desk and dropping them on its surface. "Where the fuck did, I put that file," she murmured.
Her bad language may have offended the normal teachers, but the hunters brushed it off with a slight shrug. A lot of them saw her as an American, giving them an excuse to ignore her odd and sometimes vulgar behavior as long as she wasn't like that in front of the normal children and when she was conducting meetings. Kakashi was just impressed that Uzumaki hadn't picked up her cursing. He was rude, but he rarely cursed unless getting into a fight with another student.
"Ah, there it is," she pronounced loudly, skillfully pulling a page from the middle of the stack without tipping it over. "Haruno-kun was kind enough to do the autopsies for me last night. The results were concerning as it pretty much matched with what Gaara reported on the matter."
She sat on the edge of the desk as her eyes ran through the pages quickly. "The bodies found were of people who had died from vampire feedings a few months ago. From what we know, they have no connection to the hunting world and were just normal humans who were unfortunate enough to be dinner. There were verified dead, drained dry and were sent to the undead morgue."
"Perhaps Sasori-san lied?" Kakashi suggested, sitting on the edge of one of the sofas.
"We're sending someone over there to confirm, but I don't think he lied. He may be a blood-sucking bastard, but he doesn't make it a habit to cause trouble. He's the weakest and most vulnerable council member as he's the only one out in the open running the morgue."
"Then they're ghouls. They may have been forced to drink their sire's blood before their death."
"Will you let me finish," she snapped. Kakashi shrugged but didn't say anything else. "Thank you," she huffed. "As I was saying, they were reportedly dead, meaning it's impossible for them to become vampires. But each of the three bodies had retractable fangs like a vampire. If that wasn't weird enough, their bodies were still decaying and at an accelerated pace. Even if they were a ghoul, they wouldn't be decaying. They're more akin to zombies than anything. Yet when running heavy UV light over their corpses, it's cells reacted more like a vampire's than a zombie."
Kakashi frowned. That was indeed concerning.
"There's also one last thing," she said, grimly. "They all had the tattoo of ouroboros tattooed on their skin."
That was more concerning. There was one scientist who had been obsessed with supernatural research and he loved tattooing that mark onto his test subjects. "Orochimaru is dead."
"We never found a body, and this type of research is right up his ally." She rubbed her temples, wearily. Then she stopped, looking up at him sharply. "Do not allow Gaara near this investigation. You know how he is when it comes to Orochimaru, and if it is Orochimaru," her voice dropped to a menacing level, "do not allow that motherfucker on my island. Hunt that son of a bitch down and don't even give him a moment to speak if you can allow it. There is no defense he can say that will spare him."
"If he's alive," Kakashi said.
"Right. If he's alive," she exhaled, calming herself. "I just wanted to give you an update of what I found since you have patrols today. I will be bringing it up at the clan meeting as well."
"I will keep that in mind during my patrol."
"That's all I have to say. You are dismissed."
He bowed, internally cursing his luck with being saddled with another problem to worry about though his face didn't betray his true feelings. He left thinking about how exactly did she expect him to keep it a secret.
He reached his classroom and paused at the door. He could see it was booby-trapped. Uzumaki may have been a bad student, but he was unexpectedly skilled in areas one would least expect it. These pranks of his for example. If Kakashi was a normal teacher, he would not have noticed the trap set up to dump a bucket of water of him the moment he stepped through the door. It was well executed, rivaling that of actual hunters. He had no idea where Uzumaki had learned to make these traps, but it was skilled enough that only other hunters would notice them.
Now, he could disarm it or bypass the trap entirely, but if he did that, he wouldn't be playing the part of a "normal" teacher. A normal teacher, even expecting the trap, would still fall victim to this trap. If he didn't activate it, he'd might accidentally reveal something to Uzumaki. Being surrounded by hunters, his sense of normal was already slightly off. For example, the fact that Kakashi never became injured from these pranks while a normal teacher might have, had given the illusion to Uzumaki that his pranks were mostly harmless when in reality, it may have injured someone. It wasn't like Kakashi could allow himself to get injured in something as small as a prank, so the skewed sense of reality had to go unchecked.
Sighing again, he realized he couldn't get around this prank either. At least his materials were in a plastic bag this time. Opening the sliding door and stepping through, the bucket that had been set about the door spilled, drenching Kakashi from head to toe as Uzumaki snickered in the back.
"Uzumaki-kun, since you seem to have so much time on your hands, why don't you clean up this mess before going to the principal's office," Kakashi said calmly. There was no sense in getting overly mad about it. It was a waste of energy. There were other things he'd rather focus his attention on. That's when he'd release his saved-up energy. It was more productive that way.
"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, you should be expecting them by now," Uzumaki responded; however, he still stood up and did what he asked. Judging by his compliance, he was probably wanting to leave class and looking for an excuse.
It was none of his business though. As Uzumaki went to get the materials to clean up the mess he made, Kakashi stood in front of the class, teaching in his drenched clothes without a pause in his daily routine. To lead the younger generation by example without explicitly telling them. Do not let the small things faze you, continue through the inconveniences, the unexpected, and the discomfort. Keep yourself grounded and focused on the task at hand.
Whether his example ever set in or not was up for debate, but it was an area that he excelled in. He rarely let things affect him and let it show on the outside. It was an old rule amongst the shinobi. A shinobi never hesitated and killed their emotions to complete their missions. Kakashi took that lesson to heart. If there was anything he wanted to pass on, it was that discipline.
"Alright class, please turn to page 129."
Unlike missions where they dress in black and blend into the shadows of their environment, patrols were much more casual. Majority of the supernatural world was aware of who occupied the island. Therefore, it was counterproductive to conceal oneself as that was what the enemy would look for. It was looking unsuspecting and out in the open that would lower the enemy's guard. So during the day, when shikigami and familiars were unable to move around in the daylight without capturing the normal world's attention, hunters went around the island in pairs, inspecting the island under the guise of running errands or having fun. As such, during patrols, casual clothing was fine as long as their chosen weapons could be concealed.
For Kakashi, he fell into the category of having a hard time concealing his weapons. Guns were not common in Japan and hard to conceal where he had easy access. As it was officially illegal for him to carry a firearm, he opted for concealment over speed, relying on his partner to stall the second it would take him to draw his weapon.
A second or two may not seem like a long time to the normal person, but it could feel like an eternity in a fight when a skilled vampire could cut you down in a quarter of a second. There was a lot of trust he placed in Iruka in keeping him safe those precious two seconds.
Iruka was rambling on about something Uzumaki did. Since Iruka was the Japanese literature teacher, it probably had something to do with his writing. As low as Uzumaki's grades were, he had nearly perfect grades in Japanese literature and English. English wasn't a surprise since Tsunade helped raise him and it was her native language, but Japanese literature was hard to believe by the way he talked and acted. Yet every exam period, Uzumaki would be in the top 5 for the two subjects while barely getting into the double-digit markings on his other subjects. He was always left off the list when the top 50 scores for those subjects were announced to deter the normal students from seeking him out, whether in admiration or seeking help with their studies.
"Can we change the subject, Iruka. You've been talking about Uzumaki for over an hour."
"It hasn't been that long," he argued, though in reality, it had indeed been over an hour. "It just gets me so mad. I was really looking forward to reading his new novel. It was about ninja during the Edo period. I was curious on what his take was." He laughed. "I mean aren't you curious? He's surrounded by them and has no idea, so what does he think happened to them? What did he think our struggle was like to adapt?" Iruka's eyes were alight with excitement. He really loved his books.
"It is interesting," he agreed. "But you're acting like his old man bragging about his child's accomplishments. He's not even a cute kid."
"I disagree. He has his cute moments," Iruka's eyes softened. "If my children end up with even half the interest in literature as Uzumaki-kun has, I'll be happy."
Kakashi chuckled. "You really are an old man. Why don't you find a girlfriend first before you talk about children."
Iruka's face sobered as he looked straight ahead. "I don't plan to have a girlfriend anytime soon."
The light atmosphere became heavy instantly, and Kakashi knew he had overstepped his bounds.
Before he had a chance to lighten the mood again, they caught sight of a police car parked outside the entrance to the cemetery.
"Looks like we'll be busy tonight after all," Kakashi said. Iruka nodded in agreement.
"I'll search the perimeter." Iruka broke off from him in a casual manner as Kakashi went up to the cop who was writing in a notepad.
Kakashi kept his footsteps silent until he was right behind the police officer. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"
The cop wasn't even startled, turning around and giving Kakashi the sincerest smile Kakashi had ever seen. "Hatake-sensei, what are you talking about? We've known each other for years. It's Usokawa, remember?"
"Oh, right." Kakashi shook his head, rubbing his temples. "It's been a long day."
"I imagine. It can't be easy."
"Teaching really isn't for me," he agreed. "So, what's going on here?"
"A case of grave robbing, or an attempt anyway. Most of the bodies were cremated so there is nothing to steal. I'm suspecting it's a ghoul. A desperate one."
At the mention of a ghoul, Kakashi became stiff, tightening his lips.
Usokawa smiled at him. "Why so on edge? It's not like I don't know about the hunters. The whole vampire incident, remember?"
That was right. A couple years ago, Usokawa had almost been a victim. The details were fuzzy, but since Kakashi hadn't run into Usokawa since, it was no wonder he was having trouble recalling. "It's just been a long time since we had an officer on the island who was aware of what's going on."
"I understand. Keeping things from Asuma-senpai is difficult. He's sharp. Fortunately, he's a die-hard skeptic when it comes to the supernatural."
"That's true." Kakashi leaned against the car, wondering how a ghoul had managed to get onto the island. They would have to step up security at the ferry.
"How is Uzumaki-san?"
"Hm?" Kakashi responded after being pulled out of his thoughts. When he realized who Usokawa was talking about, Kakashi said despondently, "why is everyone talking about him today?"
"Sorry. It's just that I finally heard the rumor surrounding him. He's Namikaze, Minato 's son, right?"
"Yeah, but I wouldn't go sticking my nose into that business. Police or not, the hunters here won't be too happy if you throw that name around."
"It's just that I feel bad for him. It appears he doesn't have many on his side. and with his past with Orochimaru…"
Did he tell Usokawa about Orochimaru too? No, he definitely didn't. Someone had been talking when they shouldn't have been. He'd have to look in on that. "How certain are you that it was a ghoul going through the graves?"
The officer seemed confused. "Pretty sure," he said carefully. "Why? Is there something I should keep an eye out for?"
Kakashi was hesitant to say anything but looked into the young officer's eyes. He was curious and he always wanted to help. He could trust him with some details. "There's been some resurrected corpses that resemble Orochimaru's work running around."
"Really?" The officer said, sounding a bit interested.
"If you see anything strange, report it to us immediately. Do you understand? This isn't a problem for normal people to handle."
The officer nodded sharply. "Of course. I'll come straight to you," he answered, satisfying Kakashi. "Just one last thing, we got a call about preparing for some bigshot moving to the island in a month and some preparations that need to be done beforehand. A Tobi or something other."
"The retainer of a vampire who's coming to the island."
"Is that so?" Usokawa said almost amused. "That sounds scary."
"Don't underestimate them. All I can say is for you and the other officers to stay out of their way and let us handle them. Understand?"
"I will do my best," Usokawa said, still with that mysterious twinkle in his eyes. "Thank you for the heads up, Hatake-sensei. I'll do my best to keep what you said in mind." Usokawa said his goodbyes and left the scene. Iruka came back around shortly after.
"What did he say?" Iruka asked, tilting his head towards the other side of the cemetery.
"He said some graves were desecrated. From what it sounds like, it's probably a ghoul."
"From what I saw in the cemetery, I'd agree. They were older graves, those who weren't cremated. Unfortunately for the ghoul, those bodies have long since decayed." Iruka's voice lacked any warmth. He was already preparing himself for the hunt.
"Did you find a trail?"
Iruka nodded. "I have an idea of where they're headed."
There were some tracks leading from the graveyard. They were light and hard to see as the sun was starting to get low, but they followed it to the best of their abilities. After some time, Kakashi also had an idea of where the tracks were leading. On the east side of the island, where the cliffs and rocky waters resided, a small shrine stood. It was old but still in decent shape as a few people still came to worship it. With the years of the ocean washing away at the rocky cliffside, the ground was unstable so fewer people would walk all the way to the shrine. It made a good hideout for anyone wanting to hide.
A young teen boy sat on the steps having just emerged from the shrine. His skin was drained from color and his eyes were sunken in, but other than that, he looked to be a normal boy. Upon seeing them, he stood abruptly, taking a step onto the rickety stairs. He knew what they were, and it made things easier for them.
"Why did you come here?" Kakashi asked, casually removing the two Colt .45 pistols from under his jacket.
Seeing the guns, the boy took another shaky step back. The boy was racked with fear, barely able to move as his eyes locked onto the weapons. "I-I-I-I'm sorr-ry," he said, his eyes filled with tears. "I-I was jus-just so hun-h-hungry. I d-don't want to- want to hurt anyone."
"How'd you get to the island?" Kakashi asked again, his tone showing no sympathy or cruelty as he nudged the safety off with his gun.
"I-I don't know. I was in the f-f-forest near Kyot-to. Next thing I know, I-I was here. I've been trying to le-leave since I got here. I-I-I swear. I o-only eat the dead."
"Are you saying, you have no master," Iruka said. He had pulled out a retractable sword from his clothing. The black blade was inscribed with ancient markings. He took a step closer to the boy, who shriveled back in fear.
"I ran away. She was c-cruel. F-f-forced me to j-join her." His tears spilled over. "Please don't kill m-m-me. I haven't d-d-done anything. I swear. I swear. I just want to go home."
"You swear, you aren't working for anyone?" Iruka asked in a calming voice, getting closer to the boy.
He nodded furiously. "I swear on my mother's grave."
Iruka gently patted the boy's hair as the boy looked up at him with his tear-filled expression. "I believe you," Iruka said gently. The boy looked hopeful and unexpecting when Iruka grabbed his hair and decapitated him in a swift motion.
The boy shouldn't have listened to Iruka's words but noticed the expression on Iruka's face. It had been cold and unfeeling the entire time. Iruka had held no sympathy for the boy's pleas.
"You should have waited to get more information out Uchihaof him, Iruka. He could have been lying." Kakashi searched the area for any evidence that someone had visited or lived with the boy or if the boy had killed someone without their knowledge. He had found some bones, but they were either extremely old or animal bones. No fresh kills.
"He told us everything we needed to know," Iruka said, cleaning his weapon. He stepped over the body, not giving it another look or caring when he stepped on the hand of his victim. He just continued the search the shrine for evidence with Kakashi. "Someone brought him here. With the Uchiha problem, would it be unreasonable to assume he was testing to see how long it would take for us to track a stray down?"
"If that's the case, he would have brought someone better at blending in. Not a child who hasn't been a ghoul long. He would know animal carcasses would not feed the hunger." Kakashi dropped a bone he was holding and went to the cliff, looking over its edge to inspect it. Nothing caught his trained eyes, but they would need to go out and give a thorough look with a familiar later tonight. "It's not the first time vampires sent unsuspecting ghouls or fledglings here. It was probably the same in this case. With our current situation, it can't be helped."
Iruka joined him on the ledge, looking out into the water. There was not much to see. A few lights in the distance from ships or ferry's but even Beppu was too far away to see from where they stood. "The clans really have shrunk over the years hasn't it," Iruka said quietly. "I'll probably be the last one of mine."
A long time ago, when shinobi had first moved to this island, the entire island had been made up of hunters, but as the years passed, the bloodlines had thinned, losing their chakra controlling abilities or becoming too weak to be useful. A few had had enough of their hunting life and had left, disowning their families in order to live a normal life. As a result, clans had vanished, their descendants now normal citizens, like the Asuma clan and the Inuzuka clan, unaware of the things their ancestors once hunted. The school and downtown area brought in profits to keep the island running on its own as their existence was slowly fading from the world, bringing in less work to sustain themselves. In a few more generations, it was possible only the large clans would be left and even they would feel the pressure.
"What do you think will happen to the world when the hunters are no more?" Iruka asked quietly. "Who do you think will protect everyone from the monsters that prey on human life?"
"We will just have to make sure that we destroy them all before then."
The new voice had both Iruka and Kakashi turning around and dropping to a knee. "Elder Danzo." They said together, a fist over their chest and their head bowed in respect.
"I see you caught the culprit," Danzo said in a gruff, weathered voice. He had a slight limp when he walked, gained from years of fighting taking a toll on his body. Even so, he kept his back straight and head held high. "Did you gather any information on it?"
"It was transported here by someone. It claimed it didn't know who," Kakashi answered.
"That is unacceptable work. Surely, you could have found more information than that." His voice was sharp, but not screeching. Elder Danzo had once been one of the strongest hunters in his generation. The number of battles he had been involved in over the decades were both admirable and frightening. Even in his withered state, he demanded respect, like a general from his subordinates. He expected results and perfection, but nothing more than what he expected from himself.
"It was an abomination that needed to be eradicated from our island. Any second it continued to live was just another second of it contaminating our way of life." Hatred underlined Iruka's reply as well as matched the burning emotions in his eyes. Iruka believed every word he had said.
Elder Danzo's eyes landed on Iruka as he assessed him. "Your commitment is something a lot of your generation lacks. I wish they shared your understanding of the blight that is spreading across our country but remember that your eagerness should not interfere with your chance to sever the root of the problem. If they can lead you to something bigger and more powerful, sometimes leaving them alive to obtain a greater goal is a necessary evil."
"Yes, Elder Danzo. You are correct."
Approving of Iruka's answer, he looked at the body of the ghoul that still laid a meter away. "Clean this up and turn in your report. The sooner the investigation of how this thing arrived here, the better off we will be."
They stayed bowed until they could no longer sense his presence. "Iruka, why don't you head back. I'll clean up here."
Iruka let there be a breath of silence before he answered, "Why would I do that? You promised to treat me to dinner, remember?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Figured I couldn't get out of paying."
"You're such a cheapskate." Iruka smiled, the dark look on his face finally disappearing.
"I'm living on a teacher's salary," Kakashi said.
"And I'm not?" Iruka replied.
They cleaned up the body, conversation flowing naturally between them once more. No matter what Kakashi said, he wouldn't have been able to stop Iruka's hatred for the supernatural. He was worried it was one day going to be his downfall.
"Are you okay, Kakashi? Should we do a raincheck?"
He could feel Iruka's concern. The kind, gentle Iruka was back for now.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."
