AN: Hey guys, I know it's been a very long time since I have updated, but things have been rather difficult for me in terms of writing. This story is still on HIATUS, but with what time I do have I was finally able to finish a chapter I had started a long time ago. This isn't long at all compared to normal, but it's still something that should have been out by now. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 13
"He is going to be pissed."
The boy and girl hurried quickly down the road. Both in their pre-teens, they were young enough children to always add "and a quarter/half" at the end of their current age. Merchants and commoners alike dodged back and forth as the youngsters proceeded quickly down the busy path. It was surprisingly packed this early in Konoha, something both children now dreaded as they continued to weave in between the growing number of people on the city streets.
"Iruka-sensei is going to be soooo pissed."
"I heard you the first time baka!"
The boy's head shot towards his companion as he continued running.
"You don't have to yell at me Amaya chan! I'm just saying-"
"I know what you're saying Haru baka, or have you forgotten that I'm the one who was throwing rocks at your window to hurry you to hell up."
"But-"
"And don't say 'Chan" like were so familiar! People could get ideas," she said, shaking her head as though dizzy from the prospect. Haru quickly looked away, his face flushed from far more than just their running.
"Pssh, I just feel sorry for you-you and your flat chest."
She stopped running, halting instantly at his last word. His sprint accelerated astronomically as he bounded around the corner, the academy coming into view over the hill ahead. He started his mental "Amaya-Anger" stop watch.
'One'
'Two'
'Three'
'Fo-'
"YOU WILL REGRET SAYING THAT HARU BAKA!!!"
'Ahh, a new record.'
'Shit.'
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"Good morning class"
"GOOD MORNING SENSEI!!!"a choir of voices chimed in return.
Iruka winced. He looked over his students and waited for them to all settle their attention on him, something he learned was very hard for a select few in his current class. After another minute he reached behind the chalk board, picking up his clip board and began reading down the list, marking names with a pen as he checked attendance. As the village grew, the Academy also began to fill with more and more Genin hopefuls, some classes packed with over forty students. As his eyes scanned the names on his attendance roster, he noticed that this class had to be the biggest class he had ever taught since he started at the academy; The Chunnin hated reminding himself he was getting old. Finishing the attendance, he found two names that had not arrived as of yet. One of the missing students was quite predictable, but the other was a different case. He pondered what might be the cause as he put the list back behind the board, turning to his class of would-be shinobi.
"Okay class, today I would like announce some changes to our curriculum that have been made over the last week."
He was answered by a few groans, though luckily, only a few.
"I know that this is graduation year for many of you, so you shouldn't be surprised if things get moved around a bit. Finally entering into the shinobi world as members of our village is an honor that many seek out in their youth, though many often fail. It's because of this that we as shinobi must always be prepared for what may be coming, regardless of the outcome being good or fatal."
He paused as the class seemed interested in what he was talking about.
"With our village growing bigger every year, and without any war to take our loved ones from us, hopefully for a long time," he took a breath and continued.
"It has become a concern here at the Academy and we need to face the fact that our staff just isn't large enough to accommodate the increasing number of students who register for shinobi training."
"Because of this, I feel as though you all have learned as much as you can from me as your sensei."
Collective gasp.
Silence.
Silence.
"For tha-"
CHEERING!!!
Many a High Five and other forms of celebration were exchanged as the class whooped in victory, though there were at least some who seemed more worried than excited about the news. Iruka waited a minute before engaging his classic 'frown until the class shuts up' technique, and sure enough, everyone began to quiet down; many still discretely whispered to their friends.
"I will be getting reassigned to teach a fresh class a semester early in order to alleviate some of the stress on the other staff here at the Academy. So in other words, I will no longer be your sensei after today's class."
To his surprise, many of the former cheerers lost their smiles at that knowledge. He had to hide his own smile, for he wouldn't let them think he would so easily forget they just cheered at the idea of his own departure. No sir, it wasn't like he would miss this class. Nope.
"So without any further delay, I would like to int-"
"I WAS JUST PLAYING!!!"
The classroom simultaneously turned heads toward the sound of the outburst. Iruka frowned to himself, knowing exactly whose voice it was. They watched as the classroom door rattled ever so slightly. The shaking came to stop moments later, the students silently waiting in anticipation for what was to come.
The door flew off the hinges.
The battered form of a boy rolled from the impact, smacking right into Iruka's desk with a resounding thud. The aggressor made her entrance seconds later. Her face was colored crimson as she huffed for more precious air, all the while keeping her unforgiving eyes focused on the boy in question. The class remained silent, too shocked and too afraid of the latter classmate to risk making her any angrier.
"THAT…should remind you not to speak out of line again, baka" she said through her teeth. Her head spun towards the class as though she just suffered whip lash; everyone was instantly very interested in the table top they were sitting at.
"You're late! And you both owe me a new door!"
Haru grabbed the edge of the desk and slowly hoisted himself to his feet, his arms wobbling for strength. He looked up at his sensei with bleary eyes.
"Sensei you're too harsh! I paid for the last door!"
The scarred Chunnin shook his head. He hated whiners, especially chronic ones. Iruka looked the boy dead in the eyes and then entered "lecture mode."
"You should know by now how easy it is to set Amaya off with that loose tongue of yours. Next time you get thrown though the door, or through the window, or though the ceiling…it could be damaging to your career as a ninja. You have no excuse for being this foolish, Haru."
Haru looked down at his feet, wishing desperately he could disappear from the planet. As Iruka reprimanded Haru, Amaya began to smile in what she considered a "victory". Iruka saw it. It made him angry.
"And as for you, Amaya, I'm deeply disappointed in how you handled this situation. Not only did you disrupt this class by your outrage, but you could have also seriously injured Haru when you threw him through the door. Haru may have said something that offended you, but that by no means warrants such lethal force. A ninja can't allow emotions to cloud their judgment. Don't plan on graduating from this academy unless you learn some self control"
Iruka looked down and suddenly regretted being so frank with the child. Amaya may have a seemingly rough exterior, but the unshed tears in her eyes reminded Iruka that even the strongest surface can have brittle layers on the underneath. He motioned them towards the other students.
"Both of you just take your seats, I was just about to introduce your new sensei."
"Yes! Finally no more Iruka-sensei!"
Haru wasn't fazed for very long it would seem. Iruka was about to employ his "Glare of Death technique" until he noticed Amaya's face. Haru was too busy with his victory pose to notice his close friend smiling directly at him, the tears no longer visible in her eyes.
Iruka was happy he wasn't that young anymore.
He too shared an emotional ignorance when it came to the fairer sex's feelings when he was Haru's age, another fact that Iruka and Naruto shared besides being class clowns in their Genin days.
"I would like you all to welcome Uzumaki Naruto."
Everyone looked to the broken doorway, waiting for their teacher to walk in.
"Hello class…"
The class turned back to Iruka.
Iruka's body was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke, his entire figure obscured by the dark clouds.
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The sun parted behind the white afternoon clouds as two figures made their way to the sacred realm of all children.
"Can I play on the swings when we get there Kaa-san?"
Kurenai looked down at her little munchkin of life and couldn't help but smile, an effect she hoped her daughter would never loose on her.
"Of course sweet heart"
They walked hand and hand down the sodden road, the rain finally quitting in the last hour to allow their trip to the Konoha playground. Kurenai wasn't too pleased with the prospect of allowing Cho to play on the recently drenched playground, but there was no deterring her daughter of a plan once it was set in stone; she took after Kurenai too well.
"Just no jumping off the swings today cause' mommy doesn't want you to get your knees scraped up again,' she said sternly.
Cho smiled pouted innocently, something that worked too well on Kurenai's will to be a nagging mom.
"Fine, but if you get hurt I'm going to make you eat your favorite vegetable for dinner tonight"
Cho gasped in horror.
"I will not eat Brushh-Ulll sprouts mom!"
'You are too cute for your own good Cho-chan' she thought as she smiled at her daughter's words.
"Ohh cool! Other kids at the playground!"
Kurenai followed her daughter's excited gaze to the playground ahead. A man stood off to the side watching his son play in the sand box, someone she didn't recognize surprisingly. The boy smiled broadly while his father took a snap shot from a camera, something she noted as a good idea for the next trip to the playground. Her eyes traced to a lone girl sitting on the swings, moving with the breeze to and fro ever slightly. The last visible person sat on a bench to the side of the swing set, a tall man wearing all black and blood red hunter-nin mask.
"Can I play with them mom?"
"I'm sure that's fine dear," Kurenai answered.
Cho beamed brightly as they entered the gate of the playground. Kurenai walked briskly to her designated observation point: the bench. Cho ran as fast as her little legs could take her, jumping into the sandbox without a moment's hesitation; Kurenai secretly wished she could put her daughter in a full body suit of armor.
"I never figured I would see you here of all places"
Naruto looked up from the swing set to his new guest.
"Yeah, neither did I"
Naruto turned back to the swing set.
"I'm here with her"
Kurenai focused back on the sandbox in time to see Cho dump a pile of sand on her own head.
'Bath time is going to be fun tonight' she thought.
"Who is she?" she asked.
Naruto began to explain the circumstances that lead to his new friend's arrival into his care, telling Kurenai how he found her on the street with no idea of her name or if she had parents. As he explained, Kurenai watched Cho continue to go wild in the sandbox, immersing herself in a land of dirt that Kurenai knew she would dread later that evening.
"So what's going to happen with her?"
Naruto leaned back into the bench as he released a long held sigh.
"I'm not sure, Hime-chan will hopefully speak when she is ready."
"Wait a second, you're calling her Hime-chan?"
Naruto turned to Kurenai.
"What's wrong with Hime-chan?"
Kurenai laughed quietly, trying her best not to offend her fellow bench-mate.
"There's nothing wrong with it, though only you could have came up with something like that on such short notice"
"And what's that supposed to mean?!"
Kurenai couldn't hold it in any longer as she laughed triumphantly at Naruto's expense, feeling relieved that she could still push people's buttons without trying too hard.
"What's your name?"
Kurenai almost jumped out of her skin; Cho had snuck up on her yet again.
That's ninja toddlers for you.
Cho was covered in sugar sand as she stood toe to toe with the sitting Naruto, looking curiously up at the hunter-nin's mask. Kurenai was intrigued to see how Naruto would handle talking to Cho, though she hoped it wouldn't become awkward. Naruto sunk down on the bench in order to be eye level with the child before him.
"My name is Naruto. What's your name angel?"
Cho smiled brightly, so much that Gai would almost be put to shame.
Almost.
"My name is Cho. Mommy calls me a 'minuss to sos-I-eat-e-'"
Kurenai blushed darkly as Cho laughed hysterically, waiting for Naruto to join in. The hunter-nin remained quiet until Cho's giggles began to evaporate into the air.
"Can I ask you something Mr. Naruto?"
Kurenai watched in interest as Naruto nodded slowly.
"Can I look at your mask?"
"Cho-chan don't be so rude! Naruto I'm sor-
"It's fine."
The hunter-nin reached behind the latch on the side of his mask, unlocking the mask. Pulling the mask from his face, he handed it to the child.
"I only ask that you don't put it on."
Cho nodded vigorously and ran down the path and sat on another bench. Kurenai remained quiet as she avoided staring at the blonde's face; the moment he removed the mask she forced herself to stifle a gasp. His eyes were completely bloodshot, struggling to remain open as he blinked the sleep away.
'Why is he so worn down? He has to sleep sometime right?' Kurenai thought.
"So are you still thinking about teaching at the Academy??"
"I actually had my first day of class today"
"Really………so how did it go?"
Naruto watched as Cho trampled towards Hime-chan, something he felt compelled to make interesting. Kurenai's eyes widened as Naruto created two shadow clones, both henged into teddy bears. Naruto made a swift chop through the air and both bears disappeared in a swirl of leaves; something Kurenai found "cool" yet very unnerving.
'and he didn't make any seals' she pondered.
"I think it went well, though I kind of freaked them out by pretending to be Iruka-sensei. It's just very strange now having a class of kids look up to me"
"Well, that is kind of the point of being their sensei," Kurenai replied.
"These kids look up to me for the wrong reasons, which makes me wonder how stupid I really was when I was at the Academy."
"It's only natural for them to think you're 'cool' because of the things you have done."
"They only care about me being a Hunter-nin"
"And what's so wrong about that?"
"If they only knew how much blood is on my hands"
Kurenai heard a familiar squeal of laughter and directed her attention back to the swing set, thankful for something to draw her away from the sudden awkwardness. She mentally kicked herself in the butt for being so callous. She watched as Cho pushed Hime-chan back and forth on the swing, accompanied by two teddy bears that frolicked around the swing set; it was a strange sight indeed. They sat together without saying a word for a good half an hour before the blonde broke the silence.
"Hopefully these kids will all follow the right path and become decent shinobi, but any one of these students in my class could easily become rogue when they get older, forcing someone like me to find them."
He turned to see Kurenai staring at him like he had grown a second head.
"I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this talking stuff anymore"
He tried to smile, but the effect just didn't seem right.
Naruto stood to his feet, brushing himself off.
"It's getting late. Perhaps we can talk again sometime soon."
Kurenai got to her feet as well, nodding the blonde's offer.
"Yes, though I have to ask: Do you ever sleep? You have looked exhausted both times I have seen you."
Naruto dispelled the teddy bears, taking a step towards the swing set.
"I can't remember where this quote came from, but I use it as my own motto now: I'll sleep when I'm dead"
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"It's time to go son!"
The boy got up excitedly, running quickly out of the sand box to the playground gate, grabbing his father's waiting hand. They walked together in silence as they descended down the grassy hill that lead to the training grounds. As night began to fall, the father stopped in his tracks to look down at his son. Without warning, the man savagely crushed the boy's hand in his grip.
The boy burst into a cloud of smoke.
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"I don't care what you say, we should just kill the fucking woman and get it over with!"
The entirety of Akatsuki fell silent, waiting for their leader to respond. It had been weeks since their spy had returned with any information regarding the Kyuubi's vessel, something that everyone felt nervous about. It was time for them to step up their plan, but how they could do this without proper intelligence would be something in its own
"We cannot be certain that will be enough; the boy may be psychologically weakened, but that doesn't mean his will is yet broken. This isn't something to be hasty about," Pein replied.
The cave chorused with agreement.
"The longer we wait, the better our chance is of succeeding considering his condition."
"What we need to do now-"
"Sir, someone is approaching the compound"
Everyone turned to the veiled announcer as he pushed his cloaked hands into the sides of his head.
"It's the informant."
Pein's eyes narrowed as the news both pleased him yet irritated him at the same time. He wondered if it was time to replace this spy with another he could count on. Plus he would have another body to use when he needed it.
"Let him through"
They all turned to the mouth of the cave as the rock entrance began to split, opening a rift to the outside ambience that had been muted moments ago. A lone figure walked though the entrance and quickly jumped to the meeting stones, kneeling before the members of Akatsuki.
"You have been gone for far too long. What have you been doing?" asked Tobi.
The man kept his face down, daring not to look at his questioner.
"I have been doing exactly as Pein-sama has asked."
Tobi suddenly appeared in front of the kneeling man, grabbing him by his throat and lifting him off his feet. The figure dangled like a puppet as Tobi squeezed tightly around his windpipe.
"You better have a greater explanation than that or I'm going to show you some real suffering, something a weakling like you cannot even fathom"
The man coughed wretchedly as he tried to speak.
"I have found a new target Pein-sama, this w-"
"We already have a target that we have been planning to use for years. Haruno Sakura is still our catalyst," replied Tobi
"Release him now."
Tobi dropped the figure to his knees, allowing him a chance to breathe before suffocating him. Everyone turned to Pein as he jumped to the cave floor, walking silently to breath-struggled informant. Pein bent down and grabbed the top of the informant's head with one hand, closing his eyes as he read his thoughts. Time stood still as Akatsuki waited in eerie silence for their commander to finish his mind read. Minutes passed before he finally released the man's mind, pulling his hand from the man's head and allowing him to hit the ground.
"He's right."
The cave began to fill with angry voices as Pein bent over, grabbing something from the informants nin pouch. With the equivalent of a psychic dog whistle, everyone suddenly stopped squabbling as Pein jumped back to highest rock in the chamber.
"So who will be our new target, Leader?"
Pein examined the picture he had taken out of the informant's pouch. He was surprised to say the least, but he knew now that perhaps this would be the right choice. How he could be this lucky he didn't know, but he was certain of one thing:
Children often make the best of martyrs.