A/N: Hello, people! COVER ART BY: Niyuu_Trickster_Kat!

I don't own Naruto.

I have no beta.

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TAGS for this Chapter: SWEARING and QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES.

I'm writing Ch. 20 right now.

5 Ryo = about $0.50.

-This was posted late because I didn't have time earlier to edit the draft.
My sister had an assignment due in 10 days, assigned only on 11/15. It
was on the phases of mitosis and labeling them creatively. She had until
11/28.

We had planned a really fancy set up for when mom got paid, but then
teacher just up and moves the due date to 11/19 at 11:59 PM. It was 2
PM on 11/18 when we got the news. We had to nix the original plan and
go for the cheapest method which still took a lot of work. We started on
the project, relieved that she'd have until 11:59 PM the next day to get
it done and there would be time still.

It was 12 AM 11/19. I and my sister were already in bed when my mom
got an email from the teacher. He moved the due date up again to 2:59
AM 11/19. So she had to wake up my sister who woke me up asking for
help. We eventually got it in on time with 10 Minutes to spare. If online
schooling is always like this I can see why people avoid it so much.

"Iruka-sensei, where's Mizuki-sensei?"

The question made the entire class go quiet out of curiosity. Yuuki had no idea who asked it either, but she was equally interested when Iruka's face became closed off from all emotions. The dead serious air that filled the room was concerning as usually it was such an open and bright place.

After a few moments of silence, Iruka leaned against the edge of his desk and said, "Mizuki has been arraigned on charges of treason and child endangerment, among other existing convictions and possibly future convictions as well."

And just like that, the temperature in the room dropped considerably as everyone processed his words. An innocent inquiry had lead them all into a discussion on treason.

"We had wanted to break this to you much more easily when the investigation came to a close, but it's been revealed that Mizuki had joined the Academy staff with the sole purpose of sabotaging certain students." Iruka sighed and shifted so he could cross his arms. "It has also been revealed that four students he worked closely with in the past year, dropped out of the Academy and within a month, went missing and haven't been found yet. Another who dropped out as well, turned up dead a month later, missing her organs."

Well that was dark! Yuuki had just thought he was being an ass to an orphan but the guy was literally kidnapping and killing kids and taking their fucking organs?

That was messed up!

Pineapple, who would usually be conked out or barely present, was sitting up straight. Though considering the situation, she wasn't shocked. A traitor had been working undercover in the Academy, influencing students for however long he'd been working there. And five civilians - as they couldn't be anything but civilians because the disappearance of clan kids wouldn't have been ignored by anyone with that much money and influence on their hands - were gone because of him.

There was a calculating gleam in the boy's normally tired eyes. Choji's hands were shaking around his fourth bag of BBQ chips. A look across the room showed Hinata curling in on herself in fear.

"We have been going through the list of students he taught personally and assessing their skill sets. They've all confessed to being taught the same lies and misdirection. One from each class in First and Second Year. The motive is yet unclear as the children in question all showed promise even if they were the worst in their classes," Iruka explained. "And they were only the worst because of Mizuki's interference."

Almost as one, everybody turned to look at Loudmouth, who had been uncharacteristically silent that day. The blond was staring down at his desk, face set in a grim frown. It wasn't hard to see that he was the one being sabotaged as he was declared the 'dobe' and considered to be the worst at everything. Most people didn't believe he'd ever actually become a shinobi. It was sad.

"Extra time will have to be spent on the remaining children Mizuki had contact with, to bring them up to their class' level. I ask that you be patient with Naruto-san. He was being sabotaged but still managed to keep up his grades enough to stay in this particular class and not be relegated to a lower one nor did he drop out."

And that was that because not enough information was known yet and they as students didn't need to know more about Mizuki's situation unless it pertained to them specifically.

Yuuki never knew shinobi school could be this dramatic! Though objectively of course there would be traitors or people with treasonous thoughts among the populace. It was just human nature. She just hadn't thought it would be so easy for such people to infiltrate the base of learning for Konoha's shinobi. Very easy mistakes with long-lasting, disastrous consequences.

"You live here?!"

The sound of Loudmoth's voice made Yuuki look around in confusion. She found the blond standing on the railing outside her door while she was trying to get inside without dropping anything her arms were barely holding up.

It was shopping day. That meant like ten bags of stuff that all weighed way too much, and her taking the lazy route by carrying all of them at once. She seriously needed to buy a personal cart but every time she went by the shop that sold them, they were sold out. She'd be damned if she ever made more than one trip though! Yuuki didn't have the patience for that back and forth shit. She didn't like food that much.

"Uh… yeah. I was moved here- 'cause there's no way I'm staying in the orphanage... if I don't have to," she told the boy, shifting two bags to the other arm to get a more firm grip on her house key.

"I live at the very top apartment with the balcony."

It was a wonder she hadn't heard his loud voice through the walls or anything. The damn things were so thin that she could hear the breathing of her neighbors, and other activities they decided to get up to in their free time. If she hadn't known about sex already, that would have been her first exposure to the whole process of sexual anything.

Finally, after much fiddling with the keys because the key refused to get in the lock, the door opened.

"Do you- well… wanna go train?" Loudmouth asked, staying out by the railing even though she'd left the door wide open instead of kicking it shut to cut him off.

She turned back and said, "Are you going to stand out there the whole time and just let the flies into my home, or are you comin' in?" before hobbling further into the kitchen.

Loudmouth blinked twice, before cautiously stepping inside and shutting the door. He looked out of place in the pristine environment as his face and clothes were all dirty and her apartment was all clean. Mess was gross and as her kitchen also doubled as her lounge, she refused to have it looking gross at any time if she could help it.

The bag were set down and her biceps burned in relief. She couldn't feel her fingers though and shook them out to try and regain full mobility.

"You need to bathe," she told him as she began putting the produce in the fridge. "You got all that crap on you and it's going to cake on in layers if you don't get it off soon. It'll then take multiple washes which is a waste of money for various reasons."

"Eh…" he shrugged. "Water's always cold."

"Boil some." It wasn't difficult even if it took some time. "And be grateful you have water pressure at all. You recall the orphanage having shit like every day or none at all. When you're poor, you take what you can get. Even if what you can get is very low and slow, it's better than nothing."

The boy groaned.

"Or learn Fuinjutsu," she suggested. "Maybe there's a seal you can put on your shower-head to make the water that comes out hot." She doubted the lady in charge of the complex would do anything about their woes. Especially since they were kids and adults rarely took their concerns seriously. It was why she liked Iruka so much. He listened.

"I don't get it," the boy confessed, a derpy look on his face that make him kind of look foxy. And she just truly noticed the weird birthmarks on his cheeks that looked like whiskers. Where the hell did those come from?

The fridge was closed and she moved on to the cupboards. "Down the hall is my room. There is a stack of books on my desk. Grab the bright yellow one. It's about Fuinjutsu. And then come back here and sit at the table and begin reading it."

Entry Level Fuinjutsu was the title of the book. She'd gotten it at the library. As she was not a Genin yet, she was only allowed to take three books at a time, and couldn't take any books from the shinobi sections. That didn't mean she couldn't go in the Genin section, there was no rule against that. She could also take notes of things she found interesting. The book she had was from the Civilian section though since not everyone who used low-level Fuin was a shinobi. Some were blacksmiths for example and would need to know Fuin to make hauling loads much easier.

"Where is this from?" he asked we he got back.

"The library." She certainly wasn't going to be wasting money on books she could borrow for free. It was cheaper to take notes than to purchase the book itself since it was several thousand Ryo.

"I can't go in there. They won't let me."

Weird how Loudmouth was being sabotaged from multiple sides. Kind of suspicious to be honest. It was a right to all citizens to make use of the library. "So they're denying you your basic rights according to Konoha's Charter?"

"Huh?"

She sent him an unimpressed look. "By law you have a right to enter the library. As you go up in rank, the knowledge you're allowed access to will grow with you. Unless there is a sworn statement dated and signed off by the Hokage himself, no one can forbid you entry during opening hours."

The bottom lip began to quiver and she wondered if he was gonna cry. She wasn't the most maternal person. Never mind being on the cusp of nine already. In the orphanage, the girls were encouraged to be empathetic and to take care of the younger kids. Yuuki hadn't ever been capable of handling crying kids without getting annoyed. Also, why were only the girls encouraged to develop empathy? That was some bullshit. In her experience, boys could do with some damn empathy too!

Loudmouth sighed and said, "I'm not surprised. I doubt they'd stop if I told them they were denying me my rights."

"And you don't have a single adult that you can go to? I'm the one who told Iruka-sensei that the kunoichi classes were holding back the shinobi forces, and that class got revamped days later. Then Hinata and I told him about Mizuki teaching you wrong and Mizuki was removed quickly, so maybe he can do something about it if we tell him."

The idea had obviously never come to him before, but he looked a bit excited. "You'd come with me?"

"Sure." It would be a bit of extra work, but it'd be worth it in the long run. "Did you eat yet?"

He nodded. "Three instant ramen cups!"

Yuuki waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "That's it? Nothing healthy?" At all? No healthy food at all? Not even a smidgen of something healthy?

"Ramen is healthy!" the boy insisted quite loudly.

"No," she disagreed. "Especially instant ramen as it's friend in lard which is overall bad for you in excess. Fresh ramen is far healthier as it tends to come with meats and veggies and is less fattening."

Loudmouth sagged in his chair. "I can't afford to go to Ichiraku every day though I'd love it. I'm saving that coupon you gave me for a day I don't have any food or money left."

"And… how often does that happen?"

"Usually the last few days of the month."

"How much is your stipend?"

"An even 5,000 Ryo a month."

Affording produce and meat would be difficult on that amount. That was 5K for the whole month and that had to cover food, clothes, school supplies, hygiene products, cleaning products, and enough to save for emergencies. It was doable to an extent but she doubted he knew how to budget. And he'd be fucked come graduation.

"What do you buy?"

"Ramen. Sometimes cereal and milk. It's really expensive though so I just stick to cup ramen."

It wasn't that expensive though. It was 5 Ryo for a single cup of instant ramen. She did the math in her head, thankful that it was one of her best subjects.

"For 510 Ryo you could buy a month's worth of cup ramen if you have only one cup per meal time. That would leave you 4,490 Ryo afterward. Cereal and milk would be upwards of 500 Ryo, which still leaves 3,990 Ryo. Is that really all you're buying because you should have enough left over for other things."

Loudmouth frowned. "It costs 100 Ryo for a cup of ramen."

"No it doesn't!"

"Yeah it does!"

"No, it really doesn't. I was just shopping, I saw the prices. It's not that much."

"Well it is for me when I shop!"

She went deathly still then.

More sabotage? Weird how he gets it from a school teacher, a librarian, and now a shop owner? And she remembered Rin hated him as well so he'd had no love in the orphanage either. What the fuck had happened with this one kid for so many adults to go to such illegal lengths to make his life worse? It didn't make any sense since he didn't seem like a dick. And if it was something his parents did, then that was even more fucked up. She was never one to lay the sins of the father at the feet of the child. Grudges passed on to family members of those who did you wrong made no sense!

"Sudden inflation just doesn't happen and then stop," she told him plainly. "If they're only doing this to only you, then it's calculated and illegal. We should tell Iruka-sensei this too. Someone owes you a lot of money and you need to get it back. Do you keep receipts?"

"I don't get any."

"They legally have to give you a receipt, at least in this village. I don't know about others but here it's a law." Something about lowering chances of plausible deniability and such and stuff and things and such.

Loudmouth became even more quiet and she sighed. How she got involved in this she had no idea, but it had to be handled. It wouldn't be right to just ignore it all. Excess work involved or not.

Seeing Yuuki in front of his desk at the end of a school day was becoming something of an expectation. It was starting to feel like a habit. Though he was touched that she felt he was capable of handling whatever problems she'd discovered. He hoped it meant that he was being a good teacher.

What he didn't expect was for her to have Uzumaki Naruto with her. The blond looked downtrodden all day and his mood was even worse now than earlier. Yuuki was holding his hand in a tight grip, probably so he couldn't run off.

"Loudmouth has some problems and needs help but we don't know what adult to go to since so many apparently can't treat a kid with basic human decency," the girl told him.

He took a deep breath. What could it be now? He hoped it wasn't extremely terrible but judging by her choice of words, it was bad.

When Naruto didn't speak up, Yuuki took control entirely. "So he's not allowed into the library despite not doing anything wrong. Hokage-sama didn't sign off on such a decision so they legally can't keep him from going, but decided breaking the law over some childish hatred of a single kid was more important.

"He experiences overpricing when he shops with the excuse of 'inflation'. He's being charged 100 Ryo for a cup of instant ramen when it really costs 5 Ryo in all shops in the village. He only has a 5,000 Ryo stipend each month and goes without food in the last week. They also don't give him his receipts which is against the law. I found out because we apparently live in the same apartment complex."

Of course. Of-fucking-course. Sometimes Iruka just really hated people.

He held out a hand to Naruto. "We need to bring this to Hokage-sama's attention immediately. Thank you for coming forward about this, Yuuki-san."

The girl shrugged. "Seemed the right thing to do really."

"Sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing to do," he told her softly.

They'd have to look into the situation and send some shinobi under Henge as Naruto to scout the places in question and record their observations. He hated having to tell the Hokage terrible news! He hated that people just could be decent.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had never expected this year to be filled with so much activity. Things had been cooling down in the village and it had been looking to be just another year of dull paperwork.

But then corruption, deception, and treason had to all rear their ugly heads at once and he found himself pulled in many directions trying to deal with everything. And Umino Iruka just had to come and dump more on his shoulders because Naruto was facing even more injustice than previously assumed.

When did he become such a poor threat that people in his own village weren't scared of breaking his laws? Had he truly become so soft? Danzo's accusations seemed to bear some sort of merit even if he really hated to admit it.

He'd tried his best to give Naruto a normal childhood, but he couldn't control everyone. While the hidden villages were run on a dictatorship of a sort they still answered to the Daimyo. There were checks and balances put in place to make certain the Kage didn't become tyrants to their own villages. Most of Danzo's practices were tyrannical, which was what Hiruzen strove to avoid.

Yet in doing so he'd become so lax that he couldn't even trust his own shinobi to follow his laws, let alone civilians. It was an uncomfortable realization.

Having one's shortcomings thrown in their face was one of the worst things that could happen.

A/N: Another chapter is done!

How was it? Let me know.

Ja ne! :D