Title: Fading Tags
Words: 2,262
Characters: Iruka, Naruto, OC's
Timeline: Naruto age 6 (Civilian school), Chunin Iruka
Pairings: Gen
Two years after Iruka met Naruto for the first time his team passed the Chunin exam. In reality they had probably been ready for years to take it, but sending a lot of teams to exams held by the other nations wasn't a good option. They had waited, instead, for the second exam held in Konoha during their tenure as genin. It wasn't as if they hadn't already been taking the occasional B rank along with their C's anyway. If it had been wartime they would have received field promotions some time ago.
But, even with the lack of ninja due to the Kyuubi attack, it wasn't wartime and his jounin sensei hadn't felt the need to rush them through the process of growing up. While it was true that many of the academy students at the time of the attack had been graduated early to enable more experienced ninja to take the higher ranked missions that many of those killed would normally have taken, most were not prodigies and there was no need to lose the younger generation before their time.
Only a select few of those that graduated with or after Iruka had already graduated to chunin. The genin ranks were huge compared to the jounin and even chunin—an oddity as historically most people made chunin and stuck with the rank for years. Those that didn't often went into ANBU. The average age for someone to attempt the jounin trials was mid-twenties. In the first few years after the attack a lack of jounin and ANBU had caused the remaining chunin into taking the trials earlier. Training had been upped—especially when it came to weapons and elemental jutsu. Genin were taking over administrative and guard duties (those that didn't require ANBU), and even assisting at the academy to fill the void.
Iruka was out of the village on a mission more often than not. That didn't stop him, however, from meeting up with Naruto several times a week or so, depending on his schedule. The now six year old, who had been attending the civilian school for year and half, often ran around Konoha after his classes—seemingly alone, but everyone but the very youngest generation were aware of the ANBU that followed him. Even if very few could locate the guard.
Naruto always seemed to be able to find him and his teammates and he always knew which ANBU was around as well. It had taken Iruka about six months to realize that the kid was a natural sensor (not that anyone who knew him was going to broadcast that information—born sensors were rare) and that was only after he had dragged Iruka two blocks and into a rather annoyed shopkeepers store to Sumiko.
In hindsight it might have been better if Iruka hadn't told the kid he needed to find his teammate. Although, he was pretty sure Naruto's teachers and future academy instructors would thank him one day.
Naruto wrinkled his nose and bit his bottom lip as he traced the thick lines again and again. He was getting better at this. It showed in his regular handwriting as well. He sat back after a moment and glanced up at Iruka.
"Looking pretty good . . . be care on this stroke though," Iruka tapped one of the lines that thickened and hooked towards the bottom. "Remember any little mistake could cause a seal to blow up in your face."
It was Sumiko's fault, really, the kids interest in fuinjutsu. She was going to have to teach the kid about them if Naruto's interest waned before them. Iruka didn't have enough in-depth knowledge on the subject and he didn't want to confuse Naruto. Calligraphy, on the other hand, was something he didn't mind supervising. While Naruto was writing, he spent the time studying theory for the skills chunin were required to train in.
Each rank had their own requirements—both in order to achieve the rank and in order to move up in rank within it. Chunin who chose to remain at that rank for life didn't sit idle in their skills. In fact many of the older chunin's skills rivaled that of jounin. Being jounin wasn't just about skill level. It was also about command ability and ambition. While jounin-sensei lead three man teams, chunin taught at the academy and handled the training of genin that weren't mature enough within their ninja skillset and mindset to be settled immediately onto three man teams upon graduating from the academy. Two thirds of graduates, usually, were trained not by jounin, but by lifetime chunin.
Some considered this to mean those graduated by jounin's were superior, when in reality there was little difference other than speed and order of skills learned, and publicity. After all, those teams, like the Chunin exams, weren't just designed with learning in mind, but also in order to 'show off' to the other nations. Those who studied under chunin's were generally also taken as apprentices more often in specific fields after the first two years in specific weapons, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, T&I, codebreaking, or ijutsu for a few examples.
Iruka wasn't interested in becoming a jounin, at least not for now. Neither of his parents had been, both preferring their duties and rank among the chunin. His mother, he knew, had spent three years in the ANBU before his birth.
"Iruka-niisan," Naruto frowned, eyes glued to his paper. "Do you think Maya-obaasan will get better soon?"
Iruka sighed inwardly. He really didn't know and wasn't sure how to explain to the child that Mayu was old and sometimes illness was relentless. Naruto's caregiver's health had declined so suddenly that it had sparked an investigation. She hadn't been poisoned, though; rather she had developed a very rapid and relentless cancer that the medical ninjas had been unable to do much for. It had spread too far by the time symptoms had forced the stubborn retired kunoichi to the hospital for diagnosis.
Looking at those bright blue eyes, filled with worry for the woman who had cared for him most of his life, Iruka tried to steel himself. Standing, he moved around the small table to kneel next to the boy's chair. Naruto turned to look at him.
"Naruto," Iruka began, "Mayu-san is very, very ill. Sometimes it takes a really, really long time for people to get better . . . and sometimes they don't."
Naruto scrunched up his nose and squinted.
"Mayu-san is really old and her body is tired."
"She should sleep more!" Iruka couldn't help the small quirk of a grin at the edge of his lips for a second.
"Her body doesn't need sleep . . . not really. It's old and eventually a person's body reaches its . . . limit." Iruka glanced at the calligraphy set in front of them. "Like the explosive tags Sumiko-chan showed you."
"It blows up?" Naruto had a funny look on his face and Iruka wished that the situation warranted a chuckle.
He sighed. "No . . . remember how she talked about leaving tags in the sunlight?"
The little boy squinted again. "Like when she yelled at shopkeeper-baka?"
Sumiko had yelled at the shopkeeper—a civilian who had decided to sell simple seal tags along with his calligraphy supplies—for improperly storing the tags facing a window with direct sunlight. But she'd been harsher than usual due to the glare he'd been sending Naruto's way.
"Eh, yeah." Iruka nodded. "Remember how she explained that leaving a tag out in the sunlight would cause it to fade?"
Naruto nodded.
"What happens when an explosive tag fades?"
"The boom is small," Naruto made an upset face. Of course a six year old boy wouldn't be happy about diminished explosive power. "Or it doesn't explode."
"Right . . ." Iruka ruffled his hair and then rested his hand on the kids shoulder. "Well, humans work kind of like that . . . only without the explosion." Usually. There was that annoying clan in Iwa. "We're like tags that sit outside in the sun, slowly fading. One day we fade too much and we . . . die."
"Can't you fix them? Sumiko said you can sometimes fix tags!" Naruto was chewing on his bottom lip. Sumiko had shown him what to do with expired tags. They were disposed of in a special manner to make sure chakra remnants wouldn't have reactions. In some cases they could be revitalized though.
"Sometimes," Iruka smiled sadly. "When a person is young or the injury or illness isn't too bad . . . but Mayu is old and she's really, really sick." Seeing that continuing the metaphor might be a good idea to explain, he continued, "She was really faded before the illness, Naruto."
Naruto's eyes were wide and wet with tears, a few already sliding over scarred cheeks. "Where will Mayu-baasan go?"
"She'll get to see her family and friends that have already died again in the afterlife." Iruka didn't want to go in too much depth about the subject. "and one day, far, far, far into the future when you're old and wrinkled you'll see her again, too."
Naruto made a face at the old comment around his tears. His mouth opened for second before snapping shut and he turned back to look at the desk.
"Naruto?"
"Iruka-niisan? Could you help me write a note?" Iruka blinked at him. "I want to show Mayu-obaa what I've learned." Naruto turned to look at him, determination in his eyes. "She was looking forward to seeing my call—calligraphy."
She had been, in fact she'd been really surprised the child was able to sit still long enough to practice it. Everyone hd been. Naruto was nothing if not determined to learn calligraphy in order to be able to make explosive tags.
Iruka smiled and nodded, ignoring the slight wetness clinging to the edges of his eyes and lashes, blurring his vision slightly. "Of course." He pulled the chair he'd been sitting in earlier around the table.
The worked for a while, silent while Naruto traced out the correct symbols for each of the words Naruto wanted to say.
"Do you think Mayu-obaasan will meet my parents?" Naruto asked suddenly, a long while later.
Iruka blinked. Naruto was an orphan and while Iruka wasn't sure who his parents were (although most of his generation who dared to think about it could guess), he'd been told they were both killed during the Kyuubi attack. After a few moments he nodded. "I bet she will . . . she'll want to tell them what a good kid you're growing up to be."
Naruto smiled a bit and then glanced across the room. "Tsuru-san too?"
Iruka blinked at the new ANBU name. He knew the animal code names of most of Naruto's usual guards and few that subbed in lot. Risu and Raion were the most common, but Uma, Kawauso, and recently Inu were around from time to time. Naruto referred to them occasionally in his childlike way. On a few occasions they made themselves visible to him and whoever was guarding him.
"Mayu-san will have lots of good stories for him and your parents," the soft, deep voice of Raion answered. Iruka caught sight of him for a few moments before he disappeared again.
It never ceased to startle Iruka when one of the ANBU actually popped out of nowhere. He knew that Naruto always knew where they were—at least when they were nearby—even if he usually ignored their presence. The boy had been learning about the ANBUs duties since he was born. He might not have a lot of academic knowledge, but he had quite a bit of practical knowledge from his interactions with his caretakers and guards.
Naruto didn't seem to notice, though, how different his home life was from the kids he did socialize with, from what Iruka had seen the few times he'd taken the boy to the park. He did know that he was an orphan whereas the others had parents; but he was very accepting of the status quo.
Naruto obviously remembered the people in his life and knew that things changed over time—the ANBU and his babysitters came and went, some showing up more often than not. None of the adults in his life were there all the time like a parent would have been, even his caretaker had days off before her illness. Iruka himself wasn't around a whole lot.
For a moment as Naruto focused intently on a new word, Iruka let his mind ponder that. He wondered if that was why Naruto's sensor abilities had developed so strongly at such a young age. Without a true parental figure in his life, Naruto was likely constantly looking for the chakra signatures of those he'd become attached to. Perhaps that was also why Naruto sought him and his team out so often around town. The ANBU had, as Iruka knew from Naruto's babbling, impressed upon him the need for their masked lives to be separate from their unmasked. Iruka was one of a handful of people Naruto could safely seek out.
"Is it good?" Naruto peaked up at Iruka, a bit nervous.
Iruka blinked and eyed the paper. He pretended to take long time scrutinizing every detail before ruffling his chosen brother's hair. "Yep! You're getting really good at this! What else do you want to tell Mayu-san?"
Naruto beamed up at him, whiskered cheeks crinkling cutely around his gap-toothed smile.
Fin
Notes: Well, that was a bit awkward for me to write . . . honestly I hope Iruka and Naruto's discussion is somewhat realistic.
Naruto wasn't going to have a caretaker forever . . . I didn't intend to go in depth on how I see the ranks working, but apparently my brain wanted to flesh that out. This also wasn't terribly long . . . I'll probably have another part up in the next 48 hours. I'm visiting family while taking an exam for an apprenticeship program so no promises however.
Risu – squirrel
Raion – Lion
Tsuru – Crane
Uma – Horse
Kawauso – Otter
Inu – dog
In this !verse these are most of his guards. Naruto has an abstract knowledge of what death is from being around Shinobi and being an orphan. His parents are dead, he knows this as his guards and caretaker knew them and wanted him to know they didn't abandon him to his fate (even if he doesn't know he has the Kyuubi sealed inside him yet). He doesn't know who they are, yet.
Tsuru, who was one of his guard as an infant/toddler, died on a mission (the ANBU are rather interactive with him due to his age and chakra sensor abilities so his absence was explained kinda to the boy). Risu and Raion will be his main guards until he joins the academy. Until he graduates assume, whether I mention it or not, that he has an ANBU tail. At this point he's down to one or two guards at a time unless security is amped in the village (ie a foreign delegation in town), depending on time of day and who is with him. The only guard from canon at this point is Inu—Kakashi who due to his knowledge subs as a guard when he doesn't have other missions. He doesn't interact with Naruto outside of ANBU for the same reason Jiraiya didn't take Naruto in.
The ANBU are there to protect him, but not to interfere on the playground/school/social interactions unless there is great physical threat. They do report everything to the Hokage. While shopkeepers my not be 'happy' to have him around overcharging would be reported and selling spoiled/damaged food to him wouldn't make sense as no self-respecting restaurant owner would keep such around on the off chance Naruto would stop by. Plus that does fall under physical threat as spoiled food = illness that could possibly kill a normal person in some cases.
Thanks for reading my slightly rambly tale and notes!
