Iruka wakes up on the floor of the Temple of Joe. Feeling more relaxed than he has since the nine tails killed his parents, Iruka sits up and looks around. Mei is gone. And so is the Sacred Scroll. Of course she took the scroll.
The last thing Iruka remembers is that while he was pulling his clothes back on, Mei said, "I'm sorry." and hit him over the back of the head. At least she didn't kill him. So what if she took the scroll and knocked him out? Iruka done got laid.
Better not mention THAT to the rest of the team. If anyone finds out what he and Mei did, he could be branded a traitor to the Leaf.
Well, it looks like Joe isn't the only one who done goofed.
Still, there are roughly 500 scrolls left in the temple. Iruka gets up, gathers up the scrolls and seals them away in a storage scroll. Once that is done, Iruka heads off to find his team. He finds them right where he left them, giggling over a grimy picture.
"What's that?" asks Iruka, leaning over to see what the picture is. "Hey that's my parents!"
"As I said," says Gai. "Youth prevails!"
"And that's me...wow I was an ugly baby," Iruka says, pulling a face.
"Wait, babies can't be ugly - it's like saying the sky isn't blue!" protests Hana.
"Do you want this?" asks Itachi, holding out the framed photograph to Iruka.
"Yeah," says Iruka, taking the photograph. He examines the ruin. "So, this is where I used to live. Funny, I have vague recollections of it being in one piece."
"Did you get the scroll?" asks Itachi.
"Ah, no." Iruka tells a tiny bit of the truth.
"During our tiny scuffle with the other shinobi - they basically turned on each other and we mostly watched - one of the Mist shinobi mentioned that their team leader has gone to the temple to get the scroll. Did you run into their team leader?"
Iruka knows he is blushing, "Yes, I did," he replies. Hopefully he can make them believe the blush is because he lost.
"Let me guess: you two fought, she came out on top - why are you blushing so badly? Honestly, anyone would think you are ashamed to have gotten your butt whooped by a girl," Hana finally stops talking.
Iruka is blushing so badly because Mei actually did come out on top, but not in the way Hana believes. Either way, Iruka was thoroughly whipped. Not that he minds - it was just the outlet he needed for all that stress. "She took the Sacred scroll," he tells his team. "But since she left the other 500 odd scrolls alone, I took them and sealed them into a storage scroll. Hopefully the Hokage won't be too disappointed we didn't get the Sacred Scroll."
"Hopefully," shrugs Itachi. "Let's go back to the Leaf."
The team sets out, making good time across the sea. The ocean has calmed enough that they can make the trip in under an hour. Once they are on solid ground, Iruka asks Gai a question that has been bothering him. "Hey, Gai?" Iruka begins
"Yes, my youthful team leader?" booms Gai.
Internally wincing because he wanted to have a private conversation, but underestimated the power of Might Gai's… well, Might Gai-ness, Iruka says, "How did you graduate from the Academy? I don't know anyone who graduated without ninjutsu."
"I graduated on a specialist pass," says Gai, holding up an informative finger. "Since you do not know what a specialist pass is, I will explain it -"
"Basically, you pick an area to specialize in and when you take the graduation test, they grade you on your area of expertise instead of the normal graduation test," interrupts Hana. "Your theory and stuff has to be up to par though," she adds. "There's probably a bunch of other boring rules you don't want to hear about-"
"Actually I do!" interrupts Iruka, before Hana can dismiss the topic as redundant. "Naruto is rubbish at ninjutsu, and will probably fail the graduation test, so I want to know-"
"Say no more, my Youthful team leader!" says Gai, putting a hand on Iruka shoulder and clenching his fist. "I shall fill you in on everything you need to know on the trip back to our Youthful village!"
"Did you find him?" Kazama asks Arashi frantically.
"No, I did not find Naruto," sighs Arashi. "Where could he possibly gotten to? He was just with Hinata - she's always been the responsible one. They've never disappeared like this before!"
"We need to find them!" says Kazama, pacing frantically. "Naruto could be hurt or lost or-"
"What happened to Naruto?" asks a voice Kazama really does not want to be hearing.
She takes a deep breath and turns to Iruka, who is standing by the door, looking tired, but...relaxed? "So you came back after all?" Kazama is relieved Iruka came back. She will never admit it to anyone but, despite her dislike for the boy, she does worry about him.
"Of course I came back," replies Iruka. "Now, what was that about Naruto?"
"He's missing," says Arashi. "He managed to switch off that dratted seal and ran off with Hinata. We haven't seen either of them since."
"When was this?" asks Iruka.
"About half past five this morning. They didn't even come back for lunch."
"Woah, woah, woah! You mean you let them go out to play without any lunch, or at least some lunch money?"
"They've always come back for lunch!" protests Kazama.
"That's because Naruto gets sick of that leash around lunchtime," says Iruka patiently. "Before he made that seal he stayed out from breakfast until dinner. Which you would know if you asked him. Which reminds me: I owe you an apology."
"I'm sure you don't need to-" Arashi starts to say.
"Actually I do," says Iruka. "I unfairly got mad at you for something that is my fault. If I had told you right at the beginning that Naruto has trouble trusting people, then you would have truly won him over by now. I didn't realize I needed to tell you - I thought you would figure it out, or Naruto would tell you somehow - I should've known I'd need to tell you myself. After all, before he came to live with me, Naruto's foster parents showed him no affection at all - they simply fed him, clothed him, shut him in his room and pretended he did not exist. He tries so hard to please you; he just wants you to love him." He grins embarrassedly and scratches the back of his head. "I suppose it was easy for me to gain his trust, since I had Ichiraku vouching for me."
"Is that seriously all you have to say for yourself?" demands Kazama, crossing her arms and resisting the urge punch and hug Iruka simultaneously.
Iruka appears to think about that, then says, "I talked to another shinobi and he told me about this thing called a specialist pass. Basically, a student at the academy picks an area to specialize in, and when it come time for them to graduate, they are tested on their chosen area of expertise rather than taking the normal ninjutsu tests."
"Area of expertise?" Kazama rolls her eyes. "Like what? What kid that young would already need to specialize? Shouldn't they all be learning as much as they can about everything?"
"Well they do," says Iruka. "But the shinobi I talked to is all but unable to do ninjutsu and genjutsu. He graduated from the Academy with a Specialist pass in taijutsu. He still had to get good marks for the written test, but instead of taking a test he was incapable of completing, he was tested on the area he excels in. At the moment, Naruto cannot seem to grasp ninjutsu or genjutsu, and his taijutsu is below par. He nearly didn't get into the Academy. So what happens if his friends take the graduation test and pass it but he does not?"
"Yes, at the rate he's going he is not going to pass," nods Arashi. "I assume you are suggesting that when the time comes, Naruto should try to graduate as a specialist in fuuinjutsu?"
"How is that going to work?" asks Kazama, doubtful. "I looked at the Academy curriculum. They do not teach fuuinjutsu."
"By Hidden Leaf standard fuuinjutsu is a chunin level forbidden art," says Iruka. "For Academy students to learn it they need permission from the Hokage or their respective clan. Most who learn fuinjutsu don't learn it until they graduate, and out of those, over half wait until they are chunin. There are standard seals that most ninja know of course," he explains, "But they are so basic Naruto could do them in his sleep. The Hidden Leaf has not had a great fuuinjutsu master since the Fourth Hokage - well, a fuuinjutsu master everyone actually knew about. And the Fourth does not count as a master by Whirlpool standards since he failed the final test, but that is beside the point."
Kazama is about to demand to know what Iruka is going on about, when the gate crashes open and four children pile run through, followed by a phoenix and a unicorn. Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji and Naruto run wildly up to Kazama and Arashi and attempt to hide behind them, the unicorn starts grazing and the phoenix lands on Iruka's head and squawks.
A few moments later, a couple of Uchiha police men appear at the gate. "You!" one pants, pointing vaguely.
"Me?" asks Kazama.
"No, you!" the Uchiha points more specifically. "Control your brother!"
"What did they do?" asks Iruka like this is normal.
"They…" the Uchiha is panting like he ran a marathon. "We caught them painting mustaches on the...front door of the...station!" The Uchiha is bending over holding his side now, and Kazama wonders just how hard it is to catch a bunch of six year olds. Then both Uchihas fall to the ground. Surprisingly, they start laughing helplessly.
Kazama is sure she is missing something important, a feeling that is driven home when Iruka starts laughing too.
"You're not mad?" asks Naruto, peeking out from behind Arashi.
"No!" laughs the other Uchiha - the one who has been silent so far. "The Chief said to give you a warning: if you and your little posse pull any more pranks on the police department we'll have to get you to clean our windows as punishment! He also says you can paint mustaches on his office door as well if you want - just let him know first."
"Okay!" Naruto grins. "Who wants to help me paint the nice police chief's office door tomorrow?"
"You can't…" Kazama tried to tell Naruto that he can't paint tomorrow, because he still needs to do his homework.
"I'm in!" yells Hinata, throwing her arms up in the air.
The two Uchiha's turn and run.
"Where are you going?" yells Iruka.
"To get better padlocks for our lunchboxes!" one of the Uchiha yells back.
Hinata giggles. "Oh, yeah, Iruka san," Hinata says, turning her attention to Iruka. "Naruto has something to tell you!"
"Oh yes?" Iruka smiles encouragingly.
Naruto spins around and says, "I'm back on the ground!"
"Good job!" Iruka praises him. "So what have you learned about the seal?"
"It is controlled by the flow of chakra!" Then Naruto turns all shy. "Where did you go?"
"I went to the Temple of Joe to retrieve a sacred scroll," Iruka tells Naruto. "But someone else got it first. I did bring back 500 other scrolls for us to study together though. There are lots of fuuinjutsu secrets and Whirlpool history to learn!"
"Yay!" Naruto grins. Then he says, "What's the Temple of Joe?"
"It's the archive where the Hidden Whirlpool kept most of its important documents and knowledge, though there are other scrolls hidden in other locations - I mean, who would keep all their S Rank files in one place, anyway?" Iruka shakes his head in disappointment at anyone who would do such a thing. "When our ancestors were finished building the archive, they had a bit of trouble thinking up a name for it. Calling it an archive didn't seem to fit, so they named it 'The Temple of Joe' after Joe the Shinigami."
He's right, thinks Kazama. These Whirlpool people function completely differently to the rest of us.
Naruto giggles and says, "Joe is grounded because he done goofed."
"How do you know that?" asks Iruka, frowning.
"I tried to summon Joe, but I got some shinigami called Dave instead," Naruto explains flippantly. "He told me Joe is grounded, but since I didn't know Dave I un-summoned him and tried to find you myself. That's how I got stuck in a tree. Then Hinata yelled at me to get my ass on the ground and I did."
"Hold on," says Iruka. "Let me get this straight: you summoned Dave the Shinigami and dismissed him without anyone getting their soul stolen?"
"Yeah why?"
"Naruto, you passed the test. You are now a Level Two Fuuinjutsu student."