Betas: ashcat (here at fanfiction[dot]net ) and txilar (at livejournal[dot]com).

AN: Thank you very much for your awesome comments! I really appreciate each one of them.

Chapter 5: The Measure of Changes
Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis.
-Martha Beck

As usual, Iruka was at school early the Monday after he found out he was carrying a... it... the child. He had to train himself to think that way, but his mind seemed to wince gingerly at the words. Even though he tried to be upbeat, the children were solemn, as if they were little mirrors of Iruka's mood. He couldn't stop thinking about Kakashi's astonishing reaction. The majority of Iruka's mind was caught up in rage and disgust... but there was a part that he refused to acknowledge, a section that was completely devastated.

The children didn't complain when Iruka gave yet another written test. He knew he wasn't doing his job to the best of his ability and a distant part of himself was mortified by this, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care. However, he still managed to smile when the students peeped at him now and again as they scribbled industriously, and they smiled back, unsure.

Coward, Iruka thought to himself grimly when the children weren't peering at him.

...maybe he had some reason to be angry with me? A tiny thought tried to assert itself. Maybe I should have--

Iruka sliced that thought to pieces quite neatly.

There was a crisp knock on the door to his classroom and Shikamaru Nara came in at Iruka's call.

"Iruka-sensei, the Hokage requests an audience with you," Shikamaru said, delivering this formal message in apparently the most bored way he could manage. His lazy regard tracked over the students before fixing on Iruka, who nodded and rose from where he was sitting at the table. Shikamaru took his seat without a word, but Iruka could feel his gaze boring into his back.

He walked slowly to the Hokage tower, hands in his pockets, barely responding to the salutations of acquaintances. He probably had to undergo more tests, he surmised; over the weekend they had drawn blood, taken urine samples and even scraped some cells from his tongue... and all through it, he was limp with unhappiness. He hadn't expected that at all... but he didn't really know Kakashi, to be quite honest. They had never had an argument and their short relationship had been mostly physical. He should have known better than to let Kakashi into his heart, and he felt... he felt awful. On top of that, Blue had spent all night in his dreams searching for Silver, and had mourned when the air-dragon could not be located, curling unhappily in its lonely nest. Iruka had woken up in the morning with tears in his eyes, which he had wiped away angrily.

Toshiaki told him that they couldn't say much about the baby right then, but it had a very steady chakra-level, which was good. The medi-nins had given him one large vial that was filled with vitamins and another that had a potion specially made to help balance his chakra. That night, staring at the vials in his palm as he sat on his sofa, he mentally stumbled through his options (what few they were) and how he would work through each one; he even pondered getting rid of the thing while it was yet small. He knew that Tsunade-sama would veto that thought, though. He wasn't stupid; a child that was part water-dragon and a descendant of the Hatake line would be a wonderful asset to village, and she would definitely block any attempt on his part to discard it.

After a few hours of turning this over in his head until he was sick and had to go to the bathroom, he had decided that at the very least he would make the choice to keep it. He loved children. He looked after hordes of them everyday. He would manage without Kakashi, just fine. After all, hadn't he been on his own since childhood? He had done very well by himself then, he would get through somehow with this.

When Iruka was finally granted entry to the Hokage's office, he took a seat in front of Tsunade. She had her elbows up on the table, fingers steepled in front of her face. Behind her tall chair, Shizune gave him a quick smile.

Iruka nodded in return and greeted the Hokage with the usual deference: "Hokage-sama." He bowed to Shizune and Toshiaki as well, before taking his seat.

"Last night, Kakashi came to me with a request for a mission." Tsunade went right into it; she doesn't hold back her punches, does she, Iruka thought wryly. "He said he didn't care what rank it was, as long as it took him away from Konoha for a reasonable amount of time."

Coward. That uncharitable thought once again flashed through Iruka's mind with a mental sneer. Behind that wall of disgust, though, Blue was mourning; its mate had obviously rejected it. Blue was very sad and lonely. Iruka caught Toshiaki's gaze and looked away quickly from the sympathy in his old friend's eyes.

"I told him that his presence was more useful within the village at this moment," Tsunade continued, placing one hand on the surface of the desk to fiddle with a pen. "He implied that he would rather go rogue than stay here for now. Kakashi is..." Tsunade lifted one shoulder. "Confused. This is always how he's dealt with an influx of emotions, according to his file. He's never--"

"I'm confused as well," Iruka cut in and bit his lip as they all blinked at the harsh note of his voice. "But I'm still here. I haven't run away."

"He's always been a loner," Tsunade continued after a weighty pause. "I think this is a shock that he cannot assimilate. And when we spoke, I got the impression that he felt betrayed for some reason. His true logic is really something I can't fathom right now, Iruka-sensei," she finished rapidly, when Iruka opened his mouth again. "Kakashi is an enigma, even to me. I hope you don't mind, but I took it upon myself to give him a relatively time-consuming but not difficult mission. Give him some time to properly think... and come to his senses. Hopefully."

"I don't mind at all, Tsunade-sama," Iruka told her. "I can handle this by myself. He can stay away as long as Konoha can spare him." In fact, I really don't care what he wants to think about. He can stay away forever, Iruka thought coldly. Deep inside his mind, Blue let out a low dismayed sound; it rumbled through Iruka's mind and nearly passed out through his mouth. He had to press his lips together to prevent it from escaping.

Tsunade raised a delicate golden eyebrow. "Iruka-sensei. Remember you have the support of your Hokage. I hope that you will allow me to call upon our resources to protect you."

"To protect the baby, you mean." That sounded so rude, but Iruka couldn't help it. Luckily, Tsunade simply nodded; at least she was being open about the whole thing. Iruka found that he appreciated that.

"Yes. You will have an ANBU detail assigned to you during your pregnancy, and I have decided on a cycling guard for up to four years after. Toshiaki has been researching and he has found that typically, water-dragons have a fairly quick gestational period when in the wild: twelve weeks."

Iruka couldn't catch his breath. Twelve weeks?! That was only... three months!

"But," Toshiaki continued as Iruka had an internal melt-down. "You also have a human component, which might affect the time-line. The Hokage and I have estimated that, for you, it might be closer to six or seven months."

Iruka didn't know if that was better or worse. He had more time to prepare, yes... but that was also more time to wait. Blue didn't seem particularly put-out about that fact, which was good. Sad.... but not overly worried.

"At the time that you begin to show, Iruka-sensei, we must pull you out of school and place you under the full protection of the ANBU. We cannot afford to have something of this import revealed to any spies. As it is, I would have preferred that you stop teaching now, because of the danger in the classroom from your own students. But Shizune insists that you will need something familiar in your life, if only for a short while longer." She rolled her eyes towards her assistant, who gave Iruka another small smile. This time, Iruka smiled back to show his gratitude.

"Afterwards, you will be placed on the Hatake compound for your protection. A bit too far away from the hospital for my taste, but I could make it out there in a matter of minutes--"

"No," Iruka answered instantly and then looked down at his lap when Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him; the Fifth Hokage did have her limits, after all. "I... Please, I don't want to be near anything that belongs to him."

"Iruka-sensei," Shizune cut in with a soft voice. "Kakashi-san requested that if you were to be placed in a protected area, that we should consider his family home for the best level of safety."

Iruka felt his brow furrow in confusion. Kakashi had asked that?

"There are specially designed wards on the Hatake compound that will only allow persons of the bloodline to enter or to give access to visitors. Because of the baby," and here Tsunade jerked her chin in the direction of Iruka's stomach, "the wards will accept and protect you."

"Or they'll slice me to pieces because of the water-dragon heritage," Iruka suggested dryly. Shizune shook her head.

"Kakashi was sure that they wouldn't. The Hatake compound is well-built and it is fairly close to the boundaries of the village... but very private. Please accept the decision of the Hokage." She gave him a quick bow that left Iruka speechless for a long while.

"I..." he cleared his throat, which seemed to have dried out completely; he really didn't understand Kakashi at all. The man was nowhere near him right now and yet he still managed to confound Iruka. "If it is the will of the Hokage, it is my will as well," he finally murmured and Tsunade nodded decisively. Iruka had an idea that even if he had flat-out refused, she would have found some way to drag him to the Hatake household and possibly tie him to a support post.

"Good!" She stood up and rubbed her hands together in an unsettlingly excited manner; she looked like a small child about to play with a new toy. "Now, Iruka-sensei. I believe it is time for another check-up?"

Groaning, Iruka removed his jacket and long-sleeved shirt, going to lie down on the table that was hidden in a wide closet until Shizune slid open the doors and slid it out. Notwithstanding his reluctance to be examined by the Hokage and Toshiaki, he began to feel a little better about everything. A sense of purpose bloomed within him.... and with it a strangely fierce sensation of protectiveness for the life that was growing inside. Some obscure reference in one of Toshiaki's Books of Wild Nature pointed to a theory that water-dragons were gender-fluid, able to become inwardly male or female if their surroundings or circumstances dictated this. Iruka wondered if it had been Blue that had wanted a mate and brood so badly that his body had changed to accommodate this.

In any case, it was done. He still felt male, mostly; on top of that, his practical side would not allow him to continue moping for much longer. If he had to take care of the baby, he would do it as best as he could. No use in crying over absentee Copy-nins.

He made a face as Tsunade's chakra seemed to pinch under his skin.

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei," Tsunade said but her tone was absent. "Hmm. Toshiaki?"

"Hmm," Toshiaki said in the same manner as he did his own inspection.

"Toshiaki-san and Tsunade-sama seem to say hmm a lot," Iruka muttered aloud to himself.

"The baby's chakra... " Toshiaki let his own chakra fade away and stepped away to let Iruka get dressed again. "It's very muddled."

Iruka took a deep breath as he zipped up his flak-jacket. "'Muddled'. What does that mean?"

Tsunade made a see-sawing motion with one hand. "It's still very early yet. It seems steady enough, which is fine... right, Toshiaki-san?" The two medi-nins shared a satisfied nod. "But... we can't seem to get a fix on it. But that's not too unusual. It was the same thing with Kurenai's brat."

"If it makes you feel any better, you can talk to Kurenai-sensei about what to expect," Shizune suggested. "I'm sure she'll be happy to share her experiences with you."

Iruka doubted that he would want to talk to Kurenai about any of this craziness, but he simply kept his council and nodded.

Sitting behind her desk again, Tsunade stated, "I think this is a fine time to introduce your ANBU detail." She reached out and picked up a slender metal rod, tapping it against a tiny glass bell suspended in its own frame on the desk. By the time the high, clear note faded away, there were four masked ANBU standing near the wide window; dressed like shadows, their masks were a secretive gleam below the hoods of their cloaks.

"Haru. Natsu. Aki. And Fuyu," she introduced and then grinned at Iruka's slight smile. "I got a little bored with all the animal names. I thought seasons would be nicer!" She craned her neck to peer at Shizune as her assistant cleared her throat. "Alright," Tsunade muttered ungraciously. "It was really her idea."

"Thank you, ANBU-san," Iruka said politely, bowing to each of them in turn; he wondered if they had been briefed on his 'condition', and then decided that Tsunade had probably told them all they needed to know. "I am grateful for your care and attention."

Only the ANBU called Natsu, whose mask had a warm yellow and orange swirls, nodded in response. The rest of them regarded him solemnly from behind their concealment.

"Well then, off you go," Tsunade said, as if she was speaking to the children in Iruka's class. Iruka bowed once more and then took his leave. As he made his way back to school, he could feel the watchful presence of his four ANBU guards. Iruka squared his shoulders, and went to claim his class from Shikamaru.

*

It seemed that once Iruka gained that sense of purpose towards his child, he began to better deal with the feelings of loss... at the very least, in the daytime while he was working (and he had managed to sharpen again, thank goodness. The children had been getting weary of tests). At nights it was a different thing. He thought he would be grateful that his general tiredness continued, and that he had to go to bed earlier to get more rest, but that only meant that gave Blue more time to watch the mouth of its cave hopefully, as if by virtue of its staring, Silver would be drawn back to Blue's side, as if by magic. Nearly two months jumped forward with sprightly ease, and one day Iruka looked down as he was brushing his teeth and blinked at the secretive curve of his belly, the skin stretched smooth. It wasn't apparent at all when he had on his uniform, but Iruka was always so aware of how his body was changing... without his express consent, of course, but he couldn't help that now, could he?

At his next examination, Tsunade had said, "It's time, Iruka-sensei," and he had nodded in resigned agreement.

Iruka was so surprised when his current batch of pre-genin wept bitter tears on his final day of school. Actually, 'wept' might be a bit of an understatement: they wailed. They bawled. They hung onto his clothing and he had to dole out tight hugs to each of them, giving them gentle smiles and kneeling to wipe away their tears.

They begged him not to leave; Iruka had told them in the days before that he was assigned to a very long mission (this had some truth to it; Tsunade had written an official assignment of 'protection detail' and had it filed), but he would try his best to return to them soon. Nonetheless, the majority of the children were absolutely distraught. They wrapped their hands around his neck, squeezing him tightly. Iruka had to hold them away from his body, just a little bit, so that they would not press on the small rise of his stomach under the loose material of his uniform.

Chitose, in particular, was inconsolable. "Tell them you have to stay with us!" he cried, clutching Iruka's legs in desperation. "Don't go!"

"I'm sorry, Chitose-kun," Iruka told him and his heart broke at the sight of tears rolling down the little boy's cheeks. He hoped that their new teacher would take his notes seriously, about each of his children. He had spent hours writing down each of their quirks and learning habits, and outlining the best ways to deal with them. As he had ordered his files, it suddenly struck him that one day he would have a child this age, ready to learn and probably on their way to becoming an ninja themselves. Would they be a genius.... like Kakashi? Would he have to choose between letting them be normal children or fulfilling their duty as shinobi? Would he make a good enough parent?

Don't presume they were perfect, he heard Kakashi's voice echo in his mind. He shoved it away, scowling internally.

"Children," he said, finally rising to his feet and looking around at their faces. He straightened his back as best as he could and nodded his head sternly, as if they were soldiers on a battlefield and he their general. They still sniffled, but straightened up as well, trying to be brave for their teacher. "You will do your best," he told them in his softest but most implacable tone. "Please remember me as you work hard."

His class nodded. "Yes, Sensei."

Naruto, who had dragged Sasuke along to assist Iruka with moving a few boxes from school to home, now had a funny, stunned look on his face when the children finally filed out, rubbing at their tear-stained faces; they were so upset, they didn't even stop to converse with the two young jōnin who were waiting for Iruka-sensei. Sasuke, a chakra-monitor still wrapped around his ankle, stood off to one side and watched them go with his typical cool stare. Iruka sometimes wondered what Naruto had done to drag Sasuke back home, but Naruto had not chosen to share that information with him as yet.

He would in time, though.

"Wow!" Naruto turned his shining blue eyes towards Iruka. "You still got it, Iruka-sensei!"

"The ability to make small children cry?" Iruka quipped and grinned when Naruto tipped his head back and let out a loud laugh; the corner of Sasuke's thin mouth twitched.

Of course, Naruto chattered as they made their way to Iruka's apartment, pondering loudly about Iruka's upcoming 'mission'; Iruka wondered if he could feel the ANBU detail's presence, lurking close by, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. Sasuke's eyes, on the other hand, flitted from side to side watchfully.

When they deposited most of his school-related boxes, stacking them neatly in a closet, they lifted the small wooden trunk Iruka had packed, carrying it downstairs quickly to a waiting motorized cart that Iruka had rented from a merchant. He hadn't felt like running across roof-tops with a trunk strapped to his back, even though he had been quite prepared to do it. Tsunade and Toshiaki hadn't liked that idea at all; they had given him nearly identical stares of shocked negation when he had proposed such an action. The driver of the rattling little cart was an old man who was nearly completely deaf, so much so that Iruka wrote down the directions of where he was going instead of shouting out their destination.

Despite his disability, or perhaps because of it, the driver manoeuvred briskly through the town, stopping at the main gates so that Iruka could hand over an exit-copy of the mission-scroll to the shinobi on duty. Iruka was glad that his neighbours hadn't seen him leave, and that Izumo nor any other of his closer acquaintances were manning the gate, for they would have been overflowing with questions. Iruka would have enough curious nin-friends to deal with soon enough, not to mention astonished villagers when the real reason for his departure seeped out into the community. He had no questions that it would; it was just a matter of when.

However, as they drove along the well-packed road, Naruto seemed to lose all power of speech; his uncharacteristic silence stretched out as the little cart rolled smoothly towards the Hatake familial compound. Sasuke, who was seated on the opposite side of the covered wagon, fixed his black stare on Naruto unblinkingly.

"Don't," he suddenly snapped and Naruto, who was sitting close to Iruka on the other side, let out a strangled sound.

"I can't hold it in any longer!" He turned towards Iruka with unhappiness writ large in his eyes, even as Sasuke reached a hand across the small space and clamped his fingers over Naruto's arm. Naruto didn't react to the tense hold; he just stared at Iruka's face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked plaintively.

"Naruto," Sasuke warned, but once Naruto got it into his head to do something, there was no stopping him. He was like a train in that regard.

"About you being part water-dragon or whatever," Naruto said quietly and Iruka let out a slow breath. "Don't you... don't you trust me, Iruka-sensei? I--" Naruto glanced down at Sasuke's hand, as if just realizing that it was there. "I wouldn't have treated you any different, y'know. I kinda love you." His tone was deceptively offhanded at this point; Iruka wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. "You didn't treat me any different, even with Kyuubi."

"Did Kyuubi tell you?" Iruka had always wondered if the fox-demon had ever whispered to Naruto about their encounter. Naruto blinked at him in confusion.

"No? Granny Tsunade had to tell us all about you when--ow!" Naruto snatched his arm from Sasuke's hold; he had dug his blunt fingernails into Naruto's skin to quiet him forcibly this time, but it was already too late. Iruka's mind was making the connection; Natsu, with the summery colours of their mask and the way they had responded to him was enough information.

"You're Natsu," he said very quietly; Naruto's expression cycled through dismay and pride. When Iruka glanced at Sasuke, he looked as if he had swallowed a lemon whole. "And you're Fuyu?" That would fit; Sasuke was the wintry foil to Naruto's bright nature. "How are you ANBU when you're under probation in the village? You still wear the chakra-suppressing anklet."

Sasuke looked away and scowled, but Naruto answered for him: "Oh! Well, as long as he's my partner, I have the authority to vouch for him and he only wears the anklet within the town... right, Sasuke?" He beamed at Iruka in delight, barely hearing the reluctant grunt from Sasuke. "Isn't that awesome! I have authority over Sasuke! So, we get to go on missions together, but this is the best mission we've ever had, since we'll be watching you and the baby. We'll rotate with Aki and Haru, though, if we have to go on any outside missions but don't worry, there'll always be someone watching over you! I promise! And..." he trailed off his passionate speech, appearing sheepish. "Yeah, you're not supposed to know about us, by the way."

"Reason," Sasuke intoned, "always hits you ten minutes too late, doesn't it."

Naruto made a playful face and Sasuke sighed.

"You everything, then... about the baby, I mean. Of course you do," Iruka finished, almost to himself. He gazed down, suddenly aware that he placed his hands over his stomach in a shielding manner. Naruto's gaze slid down to look at his lower torso, as if he could see everything.

Naruto nodded. "I know, yeah. That's... that's so weird, Iruka! But I'm gonna be a big brother! That makes me really happy, you know." His eyes held nothing but earnestness; there wasn't even a hint of uncertainty.

Iruka knew that there wasn't an insincere bone in Naruto's body. What one saw was what one got; he was one of those rarely pure, optimistic souls and Iruka wondered how he balanced that with the shadowy duties of ANBU. Knowing Naruto, he would find a way.

All of sudden, Iruka wanted to hug him and so he did, raising his arms and wrapping them around Naruto's neck. "You're going to be a very good brother," he murmured as Naruto's arms slid around his waist and held him carefully. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," he admitted. "I couldn't. And I was... afraid."

So afraid... of being shunned and despised for being what he was. He could admit that.

Naruto's arms tightened around him. Iruka remembered those days when Naruto would greet him exuberantly, flinging his arms around Iruka and jumping around with excited shouts. Now, he was a strong young man, an asset to his village, and Iruka loved him so much. Then, a thought flitted across his mind: had Kakashi felt as Naruto did? Had he been upset when it seemed that Iruka did not trust him enough to share everything? After a few moments, Iruka discarded that idea. Kakashi carried around so many secrets for himself, and yet he would begrudge Iruka this one.

That's not fair, a part of his mind spoke up reproachfully. Kakashi shared lots of things with you. Every day, don't you remember? You would rest your head in his lap and listen to him speak. He told you about a few of his missions. He even told you he was ANBU, although you've always suspected.

Iruka breathed out slowly and just held Naruto even tighter.

When Naruto and Iruka finally let each other go and the cart began to slow down, Naruto said, "One more thing: does this mean you're... um. Sexually active? With Kakashi-sensei?"

"Oh for crying out loud," Sasuke grumbled.

"Yes," Iruka answered seriously, ignoring the twinge in his chest at the mention of Kakashi's name. Iruka wasn't 'sexually active' with him any more, in any case.

"Wow." Naruto nodded. "I guess Kakashi-sensei is gonna make a good dad. He's really weird, but he's okay overall, I guess." He grinned at Iruka, who smiled back as normally as he dared.

"We're here," Sasuke announced; when Iruka turned to look at him, he was considering Iruka with a very direct stare. Sasuke must have picked up on the false note in Iruka's expression, but he didn't say anything else. He simply pulled apart the curtains that had hidden them so completely and stepped out, followed by Naruto. Iruka stepped out last, gazing at the tall wooden gates with the great solemn seal of the Hatake family carved into the straight planks. Wonderingly, Iruka approached the doors, reaching out to rest his fingers against the warm surface of the gates.

"There are some serious wards over this place," Sasuke noted, his Sharingan activated and spinning slowly. "Watch out, they're--"

Iruka glanced at him curiously, then went still as he felt a wave of energy wash over him. He gasped as a great quantity of curious chakra tingled over his skin and then centred on his stomach, warming and coalescing into a ball of visible, blue-tinged light.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto howled, darting forward. The chakra that had been inspecting Iruka seemed to mutate: it went from inquisitive to defensive in barely a second, crackling around Iruka's shoulders menacingly. Even so, Iruka remained completely unharmed.

"Wait, stop!" Iruka held out a hand and Naruto froze, one foot in the air. "It's not hurting me. I think it just wants to make sure I'm supposed to be let in here... or not."

Naruto and Sasuke stayed still, but their body-language indicated that at the slightest provocation, they would leap for Iruka and attempt to pull him back to safety. The wards went back to that tickling query and he felt it hesitate when it apparently came in contact with Blue. Then, it seemed to grow warm, as if it had found something that pleased it deeply; it must have encountered that tiny sliver of the baby's chakra.

The wards shimmered, making a sound like a tuneless little melody; the gates clicked open. Iruka watched them with not a little trepidation as they swung to reveal an overgrown courtyard with an empty stone fountain crouching silently among the tall grass. The U-shaped building around the courtyard was shadowed and still.

Iruka crossed the threshold of the gates and stood inside the courtyard properly, a small smile on his face. Iruka didn't have much experience with stringent family wards, but instead of foreboding and harsh, these seemed very welcoming. In addition, they must be extremely strong to detect the Hatake blood of the child Iruka was carrying, and gave him access as a result, just as the Hokage and Shizune said they would. He wondered if Kakashi had come here to adjust them even more, before he had gone on his mission to get away from Iruka; then he shook his head, trying to dislodge that thought right out of his mind. Really, he had promised himself that he wouldn't dwell too much on Kakashi... but that would be a task in itself, since he was going to be staying here in the Hatake compound, very likely surrounded by constant reminders of the Copy-nin.

"Iruka," Sasuke gritted out behind him and Iruka turned with a small smile which faded when he realized that the wards had wrapped themselves in tight loops around Naruto and Sasuke, tightening menacingly as they glittered with that same blue light. They had probably tried to follow him in and the wards had gone all protective again, locking them into a deathly hold once it was established that these two were not allowed. Sasuke was completely motionless, but Naruto was struggling mightily.

"Stay still, Naruto," Sasuke said. "I could undo them, but it would be quicker if you tell them to stop, Iruka. Idiot, what did I say about staying still?"

"It's squeezing me," Naruto complained. "It's gonna burst my chest or something."

"You'll heal," Sasuke dismissed and ignored Naruto's glower. "Sensei, do something quickly."

"Alright, I'll try." Iruka hurried back to the gates and placed his palm against the seal. He sent a little of his chakra into it, hoping that traces of the baby's chakra would go out as well. "Please. I'm authorizing these two to enter," he said in what he hoped was a firm but not too demanding tone. Naruto snarled as the wards tightened even more... then his expression melted into one of surprise.

"You did it, Iruka-sensei!" he cheered and pumped a newly freed fist in the air.

"Thank you," Iruka breathed and the wards seemed to press against his palm before subsiding, like a massive, half-spoilt pet cat. He let his hand fall away and smiled at his two young guardians; unbelievably, the deaf driver was snoozing in the high, exposed front seat, legs hanging off the edge in an amusing fashion. He hadn't seen a thing.

Iruka beckoned to his new guardians, grinning for the first time in what felt like years, but had only been a few weeks. The chakra-wards hummed around him pleasantly; he knew they were just impersonal manifestations of energy, layers of a family's legacy... but he couldn't shake the idea that they seemed to like him. "Well? Come in."

tbc

[Haru. Natsu. Aki. And Fuyu: Spring. Summer. Autumn. And Winter].