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Curiosity is a funny thing. Before, Kakashi had not thought about that little chuunin that tutored Noriko as anything beyond a shinobi with too little strength and too much knowledge. But now…
Now with the strange reaction to his mask and the sheer gall of refusing to answer a direct question from the Great Copy Nin, the chuunin Umino Iruka is now registered within Kakashi's radar. Every day he made it a point to send Noriko right to the doorstep of her classroom just to catch a glimpse of the curious young man. Every day, when he could, he would lingered and try to catch the sensei's attention. It was really amusing to see the thin eyebrows start spasming at his presence. It was as if the sensei was allergic to him.
Fu fu fu.
How fun! Noriko seemed oblivious to the game both adults were playing. Kakashi didn't really think the chuunin was holding any security risk secrets. He was just having fun poking around where he was not wanted. The psyche nin were concern about his mental welfare, but deemed his current past time to be 'acceptable'.
Currently, they were at the field near the Academy, having an after school lunch. Noriko was busy picking flowers with Sakura at one end of the field while Kakashi was enjoying the presence of the good sensei at the picnic mat, presumably getting an update on Noriko's academic achievements.
"Noriko-chan's basics are very good, outstanding actually, so is Sakura's. We're only focussed on katas and basic stances for now, no formal fighting yet,"
"Oh? Why not?"
"I don't have the authority to supervise a fight, not yet,"
"Mmm,"
"Her kunoichi skills are getting better, she's learning how to cook at Sakura's place and had developed an interest with knitting,"
"Knitting," Kakashi gave the sensei a bland stare.
"Well, yes, it is a bit strange, but she would knit all kinds of things during classes," Iruka was getting a little defensive, "when I called her on it, she proved that her… recreation does not impede her consciousness at all," In other words, her situational awareness is great enough that it did not impede her when it comes to doing a few things simultaneously.
"What about Sakura?" It's always good to check out the competition.
"Sakura-chan pays a lot of attention in class, she's better at memorizing information and working out logic puzzles," Iruka remembered by rote, he'd just written out a report on both students, Kakashi was Noriko's guardian and Sakura-chan's de facto caretaker so it's okay to share it with him. "They kept a lot to themselves, so I'd recommend for them to be integrated to regular classes soon in order to socialize a bit more before
Kakashi nodded, he knew what it was like to be a so-called 'genius' shinobi. He wanted something better for Noriko, it would do her good to have more friends her age. Kakashi had had Itachi as his subordinate for a while, and truth to tell the boy was a little too creepy in his professionalism.
It reminded Kakashi a just a tad too much of himself.
A tug on his pants reminded him that Noriko was still around and it was lunch time. Oh, right, he was here to annoy the very intriguing sensei. Curving his eye, he smiled at Iruka, "Yo, sensei, would you like to come with us for lunch?"
He had brought reinforcements today, today is the day the sensei crack under his diligent efforts. He watched as Iruka visibly steel himself, and dropped the stuffed teruterubozu with one blue eye into Noriko's arms. Iruka flinched from the cute attack.
Aww- erk, cough cough
Kakashi stepped closer into Iruka's personal space, "What do you say, sensei?"
Just then, a door opened and a female person poked her head out, "Ah, Iruka-san, if you could please come to the staff room…"
"Yes! Please! Er, sorry Kakashi-san, work, I have work, very busy you know, bye!" with that, he whooshed out of the room with a smattering of leaves.
Noriko frowned behind her scarf, "Why are you mean to Iruka-sensei, Kaka-san?"
"Naah hahaha," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, "I was just joking with Iruka-sensei. It was all good fun,"
The frown did not go away, "Please don't do it again, that was mean," there was no particular inflexion to her voice, but Kakashi knew she was unhappy about the matter.
Scrubbing the short hair, Kakashi smiled, "Fine, fine, I'll leave the good sensei alone, just for you, my little peaches,"
Noriko tensed so much that her body seemed to have frozen under Kakashi's hand, "Noriko?"
In a trembling voice, Noriko implored, "Please, Kakashi-san, don't call me that,"
Aww
Unable to help himself, Kakashi scooped up the little girl and rubbed his chin over the peachy fuzz, "Aww, but you're my precious, precious Peaches. See? All yellow and pink and red, so cute!"
By now a group had gathered to watch the Copy Nin make a fool of himself. The Anbu had dropped in to take Noriko to her doctor's appointment, and much to everyone's relief, Kakashi decides to go with them too.
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The day they rejoined the regular class for lessons was the day Sakura first saw Noriko lost her cool. The cheerful girl stopped dead in her tracks at the door, clenched her fists and walked out abruptly. Mizuki-sensei stopped in the middle of his greeting for them when both girls suddenly retreated from his sight. He stepped cautiously into the corridor to find the girls crouching at one corner. Noriko was coughing into her scarf while Sakura was trying to convince her to get it off for better breathing.
"Is everything alright?" the calm voice of the sensei was a contrast against the tensed agitation of Noriko's shoulder under her hands.
"Are you sick? Noriko?" Sakura whispered, getting more anxious by the second. She'd never seen her unflappable friend like this.
"Sakura? Noriko?" Mizuki-sensei's voice was getting closer.
And then-
And then what happened was something Sakura could never fully describe. There was a sensation of wind whipping past her face. A high pitched scream tore along the walls scraping against her ears. Then, fire. Searing heat built up behind her, Noriko was no longer couching against the wall in front of her. A man's scream freeze the blood in her veins. Frightened, but irresistibly drawn, Sakura turned to look.
Fire.
Fire was everywhere.
Burning bright orange and dangerously within reach. There was heat, enough that Sakura felt uncomfortably hot, but not threatened despite her proximity. Through the bright orange, she could see the outline of a small figure.
"Noriko?"
The flame shimmered.
"Nori-chan?"
The figure turned its head. There, within the heart of the orange curtain was a ball of fire that burned brighter then the sun. The image brought to mind stories about ghost fires and hell creatures with fiery eyes…
Through the dancing flames Sakura finally realized what she had been staring at. The ball of fire was Noriko's hidden eye.
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When Iruka felt the sudden surge of chakra, his first thought was to cringe under his desk and never come out again. The ninja in him swiftly kicked out that thought by replacing it with images of frightened students. Half a second later, all that was left of his presence was a lone piece of paper fluttering to the ground.
He followed the chakra on swift feet, cursing Kakashi for being on a mission the very day he may well be needed. He then proceeded to curse himself for his insensitive and unreasonable thoughts. With all the chakra lashing around, he didn't dare try to use teleportation. He pounded along the corridor, dropping stealth for speed. He skidded past a bunch of people gathered to stare at the curtain of fire blocking up the pathway to Mizuki's class. Little Sakura-chan was kneeling in a corner and there was a similar figure in the centre of the flames.
"Sakura-chan!" he cried out against the roar of the flames. "Sakura!"
Sakura turned tear streaked face at him, "I-ruka, sensei?"
Her face was bright red from the heat, but despite her proximity to the fire, nothing seemed burned. Even her hair didn't look singed. Some sense of relief entered Iruka, "Sakura-chan," he said urgently, "you have to move over here, come here slowly,"
"No!" and to Iruka's horror, she actually inched closer to the fire.
"Sakura!"
"No, no! They will hurt Noriko," she was on all fours now, facing the growing crowd, "I won't leave her!"
"Sakura-chan," Iruka said helplessly. It was true, the killing intent was faint behind him, but it was there. If there was any great opportunity to get rid of the Container, this was it.
A hand landed heavily on his shoulder.
"Step aside, sensei. It's time to finish this,"
Iruka gritted his teeth, for a moment, his body tensed, as if to fight against the person holding him back. It took a while before he relaxed quite deliberately and allowed the hand to propel him back. Under Sakura's disappointed eyes, Iruka took one step back and another. There was no warning when his next step propelled him forward, breaking past the chuunin teacher that had held him back.
Umino Iruka was not a suicidal man, he may never make it as an elite fighter or even a jounin, but if there's one thing Iruka could always count on is his mind. The fire had felt unnaturally hot even at the distance where he had stopped to observe the situation. Sakura-chan was sitting almost on top of the flames, but looked only slightly sunburnt where the other teachers had singed marks on their clothing. He was taking a chance here. It would seem that the fire is actually less hot the closer it is to the core. Maybe.
And…he swallowed. It would seem that Noriko is at the centre of the core.
He thought about Noriko's sweet, eccentric ways and how she would frown adorably at a knot in her knitting, and scowled whenever Iruka tried to quiz her about ninjutsu theories. There was no doubt about it, he had to try and save her. Ignoring the screaming commands behind him, Iruka gave little Sakura a smile, doing his best to convey reassurance. Sakura clutched at his hand, her skin felt hot to the touch, he would have to get a medi-nin to look at her to make sure she wasn't suffering any side effects from the heat.
"Please save her, Iruka-sensei,"
Iruka swallowed, "I'll do my best," and stepped into the fire.
It was hot.
Like lying on a tin roof in the middle of the afternoon. Painful, unbearable but not impossibly so. He had expected to see his skin peel off in the flame, had waited to see if he would actually die at this place. At the Konoha Academy. At the tender age of sixteen. There was pain, excruciatingly painful sensation tore at his face and hands where his body was not covered by cloth. The fire whipped across his body like hot wind, reminding him of missions to Wind Country.
"Noriko?"
She was just within his reach now. Her back was against him, vividly bright hair tossing in the unnatural winds.
"You shouldn't be here, Iruka-sensei,"
Her voice was faint in the roar of the flames. Iruka had to strain to hear it. "Please, Noriko-chan, stop this now. Sakura-chan's worried about you." He took another step closer, "I'm worried about you,"
Noriko turned just a little. The scarf was long gone, thick lines marked her exposed cheek. So that's why she hid her face.
"You know what I am, Iruka-sensei, this," she gestured before her, "Do you think this is a forgivable act?"
At first, Iruka thought Noriko was just pointing out the flames to him. A closer look revealed a shadowed figure just a little beyond five feet. A man shape shadow.
"Noriko," Iruka swallowed, "What have you done?"
Noriko seemed to pause to think, "He will betray Konoha," she answered finally.
"He will-" Iruka choked, "Y-you little- He's a ninja of Konoha! He's your teacher! He's my friend and you-" he sank to his knees, "How could you do this," he hissed.
For once, something like awareness entered her eye, "Are you upset, Iruka-sensei?"
"Don't!" he cried, "Don't call me that! I'm not your sensei, I'm no sensei to a- a mere unfeeling monster!"
Noriko turned fully to stare at him, Iruka finally saw her other eye, or rather, a writhing ball of fire that made up a mockery of an eye.
"You're upset," she frowned, pulling the marks on her cheeks, "I'm sorry,"
"Sorry? You're sorry?" Iruka did not care about his position now. He didn't care that he was now probably facing the Kyuubi. Mizuki had been his best friend and now- now, "You just killed my best friend and all you can say is sorry!"
The girl seemed to waver under his words. The fire in her eye dimmed and closed. The fiery curtain fell. Sakura dashed towards Noriko, latching around her neck and crying. Iruka clenched his fist, the ninja behind him advanced, but none of them dared to touch the girl marked by Kyuubi and was able to burn a man to shadows with her eye.
Masked shadows leaped in to secure the perimeters before taking both girls away. Noriko, because of the danger she posed, and Sakura, because she would not let go of her friend. They would have tried harder, maybe, if the shadow of a dead man had not been so closed, and the voices of children reminding them that their all inside a building full of Konoha's future generation.
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Sakura swung her leg as she stared at the man with long, long yellow hair in the exact same shade as Ino. Noriko is in a different room. At first, Sakura had refused to let her friend go. Something innate within her told her that leaving her friend exposed to strangers is a bad idea. Really, she had thought better of Iruka-sensei, but then he became angry and started yelling at Noriko. Although, if Mizuki-sensei is really Iruka-sensei's best friend… Well, Sakura knows how angry she would be if someone tries to hurt Noriko. She had bit the hand of one shadow person who tried to push Noriko's shoulder too hard, so what if the man had lifted his hand casually, nearly lifting Sakura off her feet.
It's just a warning.
The shadow people had rumbled a little, but let Sakura hung on to her friend. It wasn't until the hokage had arrived with a sour face doctor with him that Sakura allow them to take Noriko away. Now she was alone, and the fire inside her cooled a bit from being alone. When the blonde man came in, she felt almost relieve. Perhaps he would tell her about Noriko?
The man settled in front of her with a pleasant smile, "Well now, Sakura is it?"
"Yes," Sakura wondered if this is the 'terogator' they learned about at school and wondered if she would survive having bamboo sticks under her nails. She curled her fingers reflexively.
"Ah, Ino-chan has told me a little about you, you are friends with Noriko, right?"
"Yeah,"
"How long have you known your… friend?"
"…" Sakura paused to count the time, "…maybe, three months?"
"I see, and how did you two meet?"
"… we met at school," there was no way she was telling this stranger about her forehead, "I was sad and she cheered me up,"
"Do your parents know about this?"
"What?"
"Your… friendship with… Noriko,"
Sakura frowned at the pauses, "Noriko came to our house for a slumber party last week, we made cream puffs and put pictures on our aprons,"
"Pictures?"
"Yeah, daddy has lots of aprons and Noriko likes to sew, so we cut up some cloth and stitch them on the apron. I made sakura flowers."
"What pictures did Noriko make?"
Sakura gave him a look that questioned his ability to think, "Henohenomoheji of course,"
"Really?" the reply was sceptical.
"They're very hard to make," Sakura declared boldly, getting impatient with all the questions. "Where is Noriko-chan? I want to see her,"
"She's seeing her doctor now," the man declared smoothly, "now tell me about-"
"Who are you anyway?" Sakura demanded suddenly, "Mommy told me not to talk to strangers!"
"Ah, now, now, Sakura-chan-"
"I want to see Noriko!" Sakura started to kick the table, "I want to see Noriko-chan!"
The man slammed a hand on the table. Shocked, Sakura paused long enough to look up in fear.
"That's enough, the brat is now being held captive for the murder of Touji Mizuki. She will not be receiving visitors until the hokage is finished with her," his stony gaze did not soften, "Now I suggest for you to cooperate and help with the investigation. Is that understood?"
Sakura continued to stare.
"I said, is that understood!"
Sakura's lips trembled, "y-yes, sir,"
It was almost two weeks before she was finally able to see Noriko and it wasn't for the lack of effort. She had inquired everyday after school, had pestered the police that guarded that 'terogator' place. Had written long letters to the hokage office, requesting a meeting, had walked past Noriko's house few times a day to see if Kakashi-san is back from his mission. Her parents were worried, business was down as well, they had been eating baked goods from the shop for the second week now, that's how she knew. Ami had teased and jeered at her almost the very day she set foot in the classroom, but Sakura was too upset to let it get to her. Noriko-chan was missing! Noriko-chan had killed a chuunin sensei and might be put to death!
Sakura was so distraught she did not even notice it when Yamanako Ino brutally discouraged Ami and her group of friends from going after her. Nor did she perceive the pitying glance the blonde aimed at her. She did notice when Hatake-san dropped in front of her with a cheerful wave. Sakura took one look at the man whom she had been waiting for all week and promptly burst into tears.