Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from the original series! Okami Etsu and the Onizuka's are mine however - so please ask nicely before borrowing! Any characters and situations herein are purely fictitious, and any similarity between those and persons living or dead is coincidental.

Cakes

The day passed slowly, having nothing whatsoever to do was absolute purgatory for the normally busy Iruka. He amused himself for a time by opening the envelope Kotetsu had bought him previously. The letters and drawings from his students cheered him greatly, though he was still railing against the idea of two more weeks away from the academy. He'd gone back to staring wistfully out of the window by mid-afternoon, when the door to his room rattled open.

'Well, don't you look bored?' Asuma chuckled as he stepped in and closed the door.

'Nnnnnn. Asuma-sensei...' Iruka managed to raise half a smile at the jonin.

'That bad huh?' Asuma let out a cloud of smoke and walked across to grab the chair Etsu had left by his bed earlier. 'You're looking pretty good for a man who got his half dead arse dragged back to the village only four days ago.'

'Dragged back to the village by a kunoichi you mean.' Iruka replied bitterly. The reaction of his colleagues to that titbit of gossip was not one he'd been looking forward to.

'Eh? Oh, you mean Etsu-san?' Asuma grinned broadly. 'I don't think you'll get ribbed for it. She's quite the kunoichi.'

'Why is everyone saying that?' Iruka frowned trying to remember who else had praised Etsu recently. Kotetsu... He'd said something very similar.

'That disturbance we thought was civilian in origin? Turns out it was rogue shinobi stirring up trouble. I don't think anyone could have got out of there, unscathed, on their own - not even the jonin.' Asuma leant back and regarded Iruka thoughtfully. 'Everyone's amazed you survived; even more amazed Etsu-san killed them.'

'They're all dead?' Iruka felt inexplicably sick. How on earth could Etsu have killed all of them?!

'Most. Kakashi, Ibiki and I were sent out to capture or kill the enemy. Lady Tsunade was hoping Ibiki might get information on why they were so near the Village. Etsu-san's report stated that a few were alive when she left and she believed there were more out there.' Asuma paused. 'The only ones we found were dead. Some had obviously been killed by Etsu-san; others had been killed by their own comrades.'

'The others weren't captured?' Iruka stiffened. That was potentially worse than them all being dead...Whatever intelligence they'd gathered about Konoha would now be in enemy hands.

'No. We tracked a small group to the border. Our orders only permitted us to go that far.' Asuma fiddled with his cigarette. 'You didn't overhear anything? I know your mission was reconnaissance, but anything may be a clue.'

'I didn't get close enough.' Iruka sighed. 'I was expecting a civilian force with a few possible guards, not an entrenched shinobi band with skilled sensory types on lookout. They were on me before I got within a mile of the main camp, it was quite a shock to find they were ninja...'

'Entrenched?' Asuma latched onto the word with interest. 'Why entrenched?'

'Well...' Iruka thought for a minute, trying to pinpoint what had been wrong with the whole situation... 'It's not like they'd set traps and I didn't even see the lookouts. There was just something about the area... When I realised they were there and I hadn't noticed them... They'd hidden in the way a Konoha shinobi would have done . They knew the lay of the land, where to hide and where to try and corner an enemy. They nearly had me a couple of times. And like I say, I didn't even come close to their camp...'

'Interesting. We didn't search for a camp.' Asuma looked thoughtful.

'I'm probably wrong.' Iruka muttered darkly.

'Forgive me if I choose to doubt that last statement Iruka-sensei.' Asuma smiled warmly. 'You're too good a ninja to jump to conclusions just because you had a fright and got injured.'

Asuma went quiet, seemingly intent on his cigarette for the time being. Iruka sighed. He was glad it was Asuma asking the questions. He was somewhat startled when the door opened and Izumo poked his head into the room.

'You done yet Asuma?' The chunin queried.

'Eh? Oh, yeah. Iruka-sensei was most helpful.' Asuma nodded as he stretched his legs out.

'Ok. I'll tell the others.' Izumo disappeared.

'Others?' Iruka asked suspiciously.

'Come now Sensei... You didn't think your comrades weren't worried? I know you don't really remember much, but we've all been here quite a lot these last few days. And today you're finally awake!' Asuma chuckled and extinguished his cigarette.

'Iruka-sensei!' Ino called enthusiastically from the doorway.

'Yo.' Shikamaru strolled lazily in past Ino as Choji waved heartily over Ino's shoulder.

'Will you two move?!' Sakura's voice enquired sharply from without. Ino and Choji joined Shikamaru by the window. Iruka gaped as Izumo, Kotetsu, Genma, Kurenai, Sakura and Shizune squeezed into the room. As Shizune closed the door an exclamation announced the arrival of Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata. Iruka could feel his cheeks reddening.

'Sorry, we all wanted to see you Iruka-sensei.' Choji laughed.

'We won't stay long.' Shizune fixed a glare at the room in general; nobody apparently took much notice.

'Its fine, its fine! you can stay.' Iruka smiled. 'I'm just sitting here getting bored. Now I can sit here and talk.'

'Not for too long you don't Sensei. You're still weak.' Sakura chided fondly as she seated herself on a stool near the foot of his bed.

'Ah, but I have something to share with you all.' Iruka grinned at the puzzled faces the others pulled. 'Asuma? Behind you, on the cabinet there's a box - could you hand it round please?'

'Huh?' Asuma craned his neck round and lifted the box over. 'This box?'

'Iruka-sensei - where did that come from?' Shizune asked suspiciously.

'Etsu-chan was here earlier...' Iruka grinned at Shizune's startled exclamation.

'But visiting hours only just started.' Ino frowned.

'Then she must have come outside of visiting hours.' Shikamaru stated in bored tones. 'Meaning she knew where Iruka-sensei was and eluded the medi-nin to get here.'

'I wonder why...' Shizune sighed. 'Etsu-chan certainly is mysterious...'

'So what's in the box Sensei?' Choji asked expectantly.

'Some of Etsu-san's home baking no doubt.' Shizune muttered. The others looked expectant as Asuma opened the box. A low whistle escaped Asuma's lips; he helped himself to a cake and shoved the box toward the chunin and genin.

'Dig in.' Iruka grinned as he snaffled a cake for himself. Shizune sighed and shook her head before picking up a cake. The younger chunin fetched chairs from outside, Shikamaru elected to stay propped against the window sill and Izumo, Kotetsu and Genma settled onto the second bed in the room.

'Mmmmmm... I never knew Etsu-san was such a good cook!' Kurenai exclaimed after devouring her cake in three neat bites.

'You should try her ration bars...' Shizune trailed off at the others' stares. 'Heh, I've been on a mission with Etsu-san recently... Lady Tsunade sent the two of us instead of a team... She makes her own food as well as her own medicine.'

'What are they like?' Genma asked curiously as he reached for another lemon cake.

'Hnnnn. Hard to describe... I know she uses some kind of dried fruit in them. They're just good.' Shizune shrugged. 'Plus she has different types. Like she has an energy boost bar that is extreme!'

'Sounds like the food pills and ration bars we already have.' Shikamaru noted.

'No. Our current rations are quite bland - I also find they don't release energy as efficiently as Etsu-san's do. I'm not sure why.' Shizune frowned.

'Well, I reckon if her rations are as good as her cakes, I'm game to go on a mission with her anytime!' Genma licked his lips and winked at Iruka. Iruka looked blankly back at his comrade.

'Meh. It's not really my cup of tea, but for cakes they're not bad.' Kiba mused.

'Try these...' Asuma pointed at a cluster of small cakes covered in cornflakes. Kiba picked one up, sniffed suspiciously and bit into it. His eyes widened at the satisfying crunch.

'Better?' Kurenai chuckled.

'Yeah... I didn't know you could get crunchy cakes!' Kiba's eyes focussed on the few that were left.

'Hey!' Asuma swiped two more. Kurenai gave Shizune a look and they both started laughing. Iruka smiled faintly as visiting hours came and went, his friends and ex-students seemingly unaware of the passage of time. It was almost nine in the evening when Lady Tsunade swept into the room, her face clearly displaying shock and disapproval at the fact no one had gone home.

'Shizune!' The Hokage thundered. 'I said a short visit.'

'Aiiiii!' Shizune gulped.

'Our fault Lady Tsunade...' Asuma waved a placating hand. 'None of us have looked at the clock in ages.'

'I guess we should go.' Genma rose from his seat on the second hospital bed. 'We'll drop by your apartment Iruka-sensei.'

'I'd like that.' Iruka smiled. The others nodded confirmation to Genma's words.

'Ahhhh. But Iruka-sensei won't be at home.' Lady Tsunade remarked smugly.

'Eh? You're not sending him out on a mission?' Asuma enquired in shocked tones.

'Lady Tsunade?!' Shizune's eyes widened.

'Etsu-chan spoke to you then?' Iruka's cheeks coloured as the attention of the whole room was suddenly on him.

'She did. And I whole heartedly agreed.' Lady Tsunade beamed.

'So, Iruka will be staying with Etsu-san?' Kotetsu cocked his head on one side, looking at Izumo knowingly.

'Seems so...' Lady Tsunade smiled.

And that's chapter 9...

*Although you don't see the fight between Etsu and the enemy shinobi who attacked Iruka, I do try for realism on my fight scenes. Whilst Iruka may have escaped and evaded them, it's very unlikely either he or Etsu could have either killed all of them or driven them off effectively. There are fight scenes later! :D

*As for cakes with cornflakes - a recipe from my Nan! She called them melting moments, though the recipes I've seen usually describe them as biscuits... My Nan's recipe is definitely cake like, though not true 'cake'. It's weird, and like so many of her recipes I have no idea where she found it!

As always, read and review folks! ^_^