Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 31

"It seems your old team finally replaced you Sasuke-kun." Kabuto smirked as he tossed the photos down. Sasuke sneered but picked them up to see his old team with an extra person. He looked a few years older than them, with messy dark hair and green eyes. There wasn't much else he could tell from the candid photo, the one who had taken it was too far away to get any more detail. He tossed the photos aside carelessly, it was about time the idiots gave up and accepted he was gone, why should he care that he had been 'replaced'? Though replacing him with a stranger, obviously from a civilian family, how desperate must they be?

Ibiki watched as the teens fought each other, he knew they would be sent out on a mission soon. Tsunade couldn't afford to keep them in the village for much longer. He was amazed by how quickly Hiro had adjusted to truly being shinobi but only a battle where it was kill or be killed would really show just how much he had accepted of their lifestyle. He knew the teen had killed before but that had been in war, how would he handle doing it for a mission? He could only hope they didn't get a mission with killing as the objective, because it wasn't just Hiroshi who he doubted would handle that well but Naruto. He'd read his file, the boy would avoid killing if at all possible. While he enjoyed training the three he did miss running T&I although he knew Anko would keep everyone in line while he was gone. He'd like to be able to hand the team over to Kakashi but he doubted that would happen, while he had made a remarkable recovery he still hadn't been cleared for full duty. Backing them up on that last mission had been a one off due to Itachi. He shook those thoughts off as Hiroshi collapsed beside him, smirking at the teen. "Tired?"

"Where does he get that endurance from?" he grumbled and Ibiki chuckled.

"Uzumaki were known for their stamina and power, add in his 'tenant' and he can keep going for a long time."

Hiro nodded, watching Naruto easily blocking Sakura. Naruto and the Kyubi had been explained to him when they had returned from Suna and saving Gaara though he had guessed a lot of it during the mission with the way Naruto reacted to Gaara's abduction. It also explained a lot of what he had seen in the village too although Kakashi had admitted reactions to the blonde had improved a lot since his childhood. It reminded him of how the people in Surrey had treated him and it made him mad. People were fickle sheep.

Kakashi lay with his arms wrapped around the still sleeping Iruka. The mission to save Gaara kept running through his mind. It had been the first time he had left the village since returning from the disastrous trip to the Outside. At the time he had been too worried for his students to allow fear but once they had safely reached Suna with Gaara alive and well it had been all he could do to not curl up in a ball in a corner. He just wanted to put what had happened behind him and be who he used to be. He was a liability now and he knew it. Sometimes he thought it would have been better if he had died in that cell but then he would look at Iruka and realise how his death would have affected his younger lover. There had to be some way for him to get his mind under control all of the time.

Iruka woke and smiled sleepily as he felt Kakashi's arms wrapped around him. He rolled over in his hold and frowned as he saw the expression on hhis lovers face. He reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "Kakashi?"

"Go back to sleep." He murmured, Iruka had school in a few hours and needed sleep. Instead he shifted to lean up on his arm and stare at Kakashi, looking worried. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Kakashi nodded so Iruka lay back down and cuddled even closer, hands gently stroking his back. Kakashi sighed and slowly relaxed under his touch. He closed his eye and let Iruka help him, ever so slowly drifting back to sleep.

Ibiki stared at the young chuunin sensei before smirking and nodding. Iruka swallowed nervously even as the older man settled into a stance. This had seemed like a good idea before but now he wasn't so sure even as he shifted into his own stance. They clashed seconds later, weapons locking for a second before he ducked away to avoid another attack. No, he had to do this, he had to get better to protect his family. Even if he never advanced in rank he needed to increase his skills. Since training to avoid magic his speed had increased, now his other skills needed to improve as well.

Ibiki had been surprised by the request but had accepted. It was always good to spar against new people and he understood the chuunin's reasoning. He would be quite happy to help him improve. He had never known why Sarutobi had taken such interest in Iruka but it meant Iruka knew some rather obscure jutsu thanks to the 'Professor', even if they were low ranked ones. When they finally stopped he could see the sensei was worn out. "You need to work on your chakra levels and learn some more higher level jutsu. You're very good for a chuunin though, ever thought of advancing."

"Sometimes, I enjoy teaching though." He fixed his ponytail since hair had come free in their fight.

"Do you know your affinity?"

"Earth."

"Not water?"

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Just because of my name everyone assumes that." He grumbled and Ibiki chuckled.

"I don't know, based on your temper you should be fire." He took a drink and then stretched to cool down. "Same time in three days?"

"Of course. Thank you Moirino-san."

"Ibiki sensei."

"Ibiki, thank you for the help." Iruka smiled slightly and then left to shower and get ready for school.

TBC….