Here's chapter 03! Enjoy.

A Day at the Academy

Kakashi picked up the book he had left on the coffee table, and opened it where he had stopped the previous night. The jounin lay down on the couch, marveling at its softness. He brought his forearm behind his head and used it as a pillow. He felt much better to be wearing his own clothes again, especially a whole mask again.

The silver-haired shinobi was starting to nod off as he continued reading and around noon he fell asleep with the book open and sprawled his face. He was slipping into a comfortable sleep when loud knocking, or rather banging woke him up again. Kakashi sat up, the book falling into his lap. He felt groggy and stiff. The jounin got off of the couch, laying the book onto the coffee table again.

He took his time walking to the door. Kakashi knew he was supposed to be expecting someone at noon, but it could not have been lunch time already. Could it? The jounin unlocked the door and pulled it open. Tsunade stood at the doorstep, looking at the silver-haired man expectantly. "Ah, Hokage-sama."

The said woman looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Are you going to just stand there or invite me in?"

Kakashi gave a nervous laugh, sidestepping for her to enter the apartment. Tsunade looked around, ignoring Kakashi like a doormat. She was interested to see how the chuunin lived, especially after she had read his file. It was a simple apartment, it was home. She realized that this was the one place where Iruka had no need to worry over children or reports, but Tsunade doubted he let himself relax that far.

The jounin was about to sit down on the couch when the Godaime caught his ear. "What do you think you're doing?" Her grip tightened on his sensitive flesh.

He was really hoping it was a rhetorical question, but the look in her eyes told him otherwise. "Uh… Sitting?" Really, what else was he doing? But, obviously it was the incorrect answer. Tsunade pulled him upright, pain running down the jounin's neck.

The blonde folded her arms under her chest. "Gather all your things!"

"Eh?" Now the Copy Nin was really confused. Didn't his current disposition require rest? Tsunade was tossing him about like a rag doll. To make things worse, she was in a fowl mood to begin with and the last thing she wanted was lip from the silver-haired brat. "Look, I don't want you loafing off of Iruka-sensei, even if I gave him orders to care for you."

Kakashi let his mouth hang open for a bit. It wasn't like the Hokage could see it anyway. "Loafing? Maa, Tsunade-sama, who says I don't repay him in kind?"

Tsunade grabbed Kakashi's collar and reeled him in to have him face-to-face with her. "Don't you even think about it Hatake!" He's not just some common fuck for you to play around with." Anger seethed from her words as she spat them out at the jounin.

Kakashi didn't even dare to breathe. The jounin held perfectly still, the words still ringing in his ears. He knew the chuunin was pretty much liked by the entire village, but for Tsunade, the Hokage to react like this. The brief moment of shock faded and was replaced with a calm demeanor. The silver-haired shinobi had his dark eye fixed on the Godaime's hazel ones.

Tsunade sighed and released her hold of the other's shirt. "Look, Iruka doesn't need complications in his life right now," she said, averting her eyes for a millisecond. "Just go and get all your things and then we'll head off to your apartment." The Godaime walked over to the window and look out to the rest of the peaceful village.

Kakashi wanted to ask what she had meant by it, but let the question go unanswered. He went to the guest room and took out a duffle bag he had seen lying in the closet earlier. The jounin started to casually pack his clothes and pulled the bag shut. He thought that Iruka would not have a problem with him borrowing the man's bag, plus it gave the jounin another excuse to see the man.

The jounin left the room and stood in the middle of the chuunin's cozy apartment. He didn't want to leave, but the Hokage's word was final. Tsunade noticed his presence and motioned towards the door. The two left the apartment and walked down some of Konoha's older, quieter streets. For that Kakashi was grateful. He didn't want anyone to see him lagging behind Tsunade, a fifty year-old woman.

The blonde woman stood at the jounin's apartment and took out a key from her pocket. "It was in you flak jacket," she said, before the Copy Nin could ask. "Your clothes have all been cleaned and are in your apartment." Tsunade walked into his place and looked around with mild interest. "Iruka-sensei told me that you asked after particular items." She took out a bright orange book from her obi belt.

Kakashi closed the door behind him, not really listening to what she had said. He scanned his apartment out of habit. The walls very freight crème colour and his dark wooden floors were due for a polish. To his left was his lounge; a large black couch with two similar arm chairs on either side of it and s low coffee table in the centre of the three A little beyond that was a corridor leading to two bedrooms and a bathroom. To his right was his kitchen. It was so sparse and clean that hinted to the fact that he rarely used it. A dinner table was near the furthest right-hand corner of the room, and that too look unused. Lastly there was the wall which Tsunade was facing. It was a wall equipped with four bookshelves, of which one was entirely dedicated to his Icha Icha collection. All in all, the entire place seemed impersonal.

Finally the jounin looked to Tsunade, who he saw was holding up his newest edition to his collection. Kakashi snatched the book out of her hand and hugged it lovingly to his chest.

Tsunade frowned at the sight. She briefly wondered if he was the fearsome shinobi called the Copy Nin. "There was also that note that was found in a hidden compartment inside you jacket. I put the note inside the book."

Kakashi blinked. He had completely forgotten about it. He opened the book and there it was, those three black letters mocking him. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

Tsunade had noticed how his mood had changed once he saw that note. The Godaime knew what was on the paper, but she had no idea what it could have meant. "So brat what do those numbers mean?"

The jounin sighed and ran his hand through his silver hair. "I wish I knew." It was all he was going to tell her. There was no way he was going to tell her how he had found it, that would just give her reason to torment him. "Well, just lie down so I can get your check-up down with. Shizune probably found more work for me to do."

Kakashi was complaint and answered when necessary. Satisfied with what she had seen, Tsunade stood up. The jounin gave a sigh of pure relief and proceeded to sit up when his body spasmed half way and fell back into the soft cushions of his couch. Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down when he tried to get up again.

"Don't push yourself brat. You know moving around will only make it worse. But I also know that you never really listen to me so I'll make you a deal." She said, looking to see if she had his attention. "I'll let you roam around, only if you stay right next Iruka-sensei at all times. Understood?"

Kakashi let out a small whine. "But, Tsunade-sama, he only goes to the Academy and then had shifts at the Missions Office afterwards."

"That's exactly why I'm going to make you stick to him like glue. He rarely moves about and he can keep a close eye on you at all times –"

The jounin let out another whine, but in his mind he was rejoicing. He now got to spend the whole day with his favourite chuunin-sensei. Kakashi knew that the Godaime was still speaking, but he was so happy about the turn of events he just tuned out her voice entirely.

"I'm sorry; did you say something, Hokage-sama?"

"That's it!" Tsunade grabbed his arm and pulled him in the general direction of his room and threw him in. "Get dressed!"

XxxxX

Iruka was watching as his class started to file in from recess and too their seats. They just spent twenty minutes screaming and running about and they still made a ruckus in his classroom. The chuunin massaged his temples with his forefinger and thumb.

"Okay, quiet down now!" The chuunin raised his voice and the children looked at him attentively. "Iruka-sensei, can we do some shuriken practice today, pleeeeeeaaase?" Iruka sighed, wishing he had some of that boundless energy that his students possessed.

"No, I have an important lesson to teach, but if you all behave yourselves, I might consider it." The children cheered, now motivated for the lesson. "Today we will be looking at the purpose and meaning of nindo – the way of the ninja."

The class gasped, looking at their teacher with wide, glossy eyes. "Now before I begin, I want to know what you all think it is." A dark-haired girl raised her hand. "Yes, Yui?" She cast her doe eyes to the desk in front of her. "I think that it is to protect and serve the village."

"Yes, that is one of the possibilities, but nonetheless important," he said, smiling at his students.

"But, Iruka-sensei isn't that what a ninja is supposed to do?"

The chuunin let himself smile happily. "Yes, that is only the foundation. There are many means to an end – that end being a shinobi's service and loyalty to Konoha." Now the children were utterly confused as to what their sensei was trying to get to. But, it was easier to teach them that way.

"Okay, let's start off with a simple question: Who founded Konoha?" Iruka had moved over to his desk and sat down on the edge of the wood, placing his arms at his side against the desk for support.

"The Shodai and Nidaime." The class answered in practiced unison.

The chuunin pushed himself away from his desk and stood in the middle of the classroom. "That's right and what do you think their way of the ninja was?" Iruka waited and watched as blank faces looked right back at him. "They wanted to protect everyone that was precious to them and who believed in them. They wanted to protect Konoha – their family."

One child in the back rows raised his hand. "But that way don't people die?" Another child started to speak soon after the previous. "But jounins and ANBU go on missions all the time, killing people. Doesn't that cancel out what you just said?" The entire class decided to bombard the poor sensei with one question after the other, eventually completely leaving the original topic.

"Quiet!" The class of pre-genin stopped immediately, hoping not to anger their sensei further. "Well, I guess you are all too young to understand the concept fully, but I'll try to make it simple." He said. "There is a difference between hurting or killing someone to protect others and just plain blood-lust. ANBU, jounins and even chuunins kill to complete the mission and do so for the betterment of the village. Killing others and sacrificing oneself for the mission and Konoha is what is expected of a ninja."

"There are a long line of people who sacrificed themselves to protect the people they loved. The Sandaime and Yondaime are the people who sacrificed the most to save the village."

The children started to whisper amongst themselves. "Iruka-sensei, what is you way of the ninja?"

Iruka looked at his students, smiling knowingly. He was waiting for that question to pop up some time or another during the lesson. A shout from outside his classroom distracted the chuunin. He looked expectantly at the door, wondering what was going on. The door flew open and a silver-haired jounin was thrown into the classroom.

Kakashi regained his balance with a rather feline grace. He looked to the shocked teacher. "Yo," he said. The jounin put up his hand in greeting and smiled, closing his eye in a crescent curve.

"Kakashi-san?" Iruka frown, wondering what he was doing in his classroom of all places; the jounin was supposed to be resting, but lo and behold, he was standing in front of the chuunin dressed in full uniform no less.

Tsunade stepped into the classroom, her eyes ablaze. "He's your problem now!" she shouted. "Don't let this brat out of your sight. Understood?"

Without thinking, Iruka bowed his head. "Hai Hokage-sama." With that said, she left in search of a drink.

Whispers began as the class of pre-genin watched Kakashi like a hawk. They could hardly believe that the famous Copy Nin was standing in their classroom. Soon, their whispers turned into chattering as they told each other what they had heard from their parents about the jounin's adventures.

The chuunin sighed and looked to the jounin who was busy reading his Icha Icha novel – as was to be expected. "Kakashi-san please put that book away. You are in front of children."

Without taking his eye off of the page he replied, "But I've been dying to know what happens next and they're old enough to know how the world works."

Iruka felt his eye twitch. One of the children stood up, seeing one of the first signs of their sensei on his way to exploding. Everyone tried to avoid angering the chuunin, because the last time it happened the class was buried with assignments and lectures non-stop.

"Hatake-san, what is your way of the ninja?" the student asked feverishly, hoping spare the silver-haired jounin from the on coming storm.

The question was one Kakashi did not expect from a pre-genin. He looked to Iruka. "What on earth are you teaching them?" he asked. "Is it wise to teach them something like nindo? They seem too young to be able to grasp the true meaning of it." It was the truth, Kakashi told himself, even if it seemed somewhat like a harsh remark.

"I beg to differ. Naruto was only a little ways older than them when he learnt its true meaning and they are this year's senior class." Iruka said, holding no grudge against the jounin for criticizing his teaching. "True that they might not know the true meaning just yet, but I believe that each student will discover it in their own way – it is not something that can be taught."

Kakashi sighed, admitting defeat. If someone had told him five years ago that he even had his own way of the ninja he would have told them off, but his genin team had taught him many valuable lessons. He would never have admitted to even having a nindo, much less speak to anyone about it. The jounin stood a little straighter and buried his hands in his pockets.

"My parents are the heaven and earth,

My home is my body,

My power is my loyalty,

My magic is my training,

My life and death is breathing,

My body is control,

My eyes are the sun and the moon,

My ears are sensitivity,

My laws are self protection,

My strength is adaptability,

My ambition is taking every opportunity with fullness,

My friend is my mind,

My enemy is carelessness,

My protection is right action,

My weapons are everything that exists,

My strategy is one foot in front of the other,

My way is ninjutsu." *

Kakashi let out a long breath. The entire classroom was silent. The jounin looked up at the students and most had their mouth open in sheer awe. "Ah, Iruka-sensei, I think I might have broken them." He gingerly pulled his hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his head, closing his eye.

Iruka stood there, a similar expression gracing his face. His mouth did not hang open but his eyes were wide with… well, he didn't even know himself. The chuunin had read about shinobi that had followed that particular principle. It was believed to be a dead order, but it seemed that one stood in front of him now, very much alive.

The silver-haired jounin continued to ruffle the back of his head in a way that was almost second nature to him. "Did I say something wrong?"

Iruka returned to reality, and found Kakashi staring at him. His tan cheeks heated up in a light blush. He couldn't help it, it was a defence mechanism. The chuunin shook his head and turned his attention back to his class.

"Okay, I want everyone to file out the classroom in an orderly manner for some weapons practise," he said. The class cheered and did as instructed.

The two shinobi followed after the pre-genin. Iruka quickly slipped into the supply room and took out bagful of shuriken for the practice session. The chuunin led the children through the door and to the field like a Shepard with his flock. Iruka walked around the Academy building and stopped at the training area. Wooden logs were lined up by a wall to their right and a bench sat to the left for the sensei.

The chuunin laid the bag down and the class gathered around him, waiting for further instructions. Kakashi observed how they waited almost overeagerly for Iruka to give them the shuriken. It was an amusing sight to see.

"Alright, I want to show you all something before we begin," Iruka said. "How many different types of shuriken are there?"

The students whined. There was no way Iruka-sensei would ever just allow them to have without teaching them something before hand. "Um… one?"

The jounin sat down on the smooth wooden bench, still watching the chuunin-sensei. Kakashi could not help but chuckle at the naïve answer. He watched Iruka, wondering what he had up his sleeve. What the Academy taught in terms of weapons only scratched the surface of the tools available to a shinobi.

Iruka sighed. He reached back into his pouch and left his hand there for a moment. "That is incorrect." The chuunin felt around for the desired object and withdrew it to show his class. Held between his forefinger and ring finger was a shuriken that had its four blades bent at a ninety degree angle, the tips under in a clock-wise direction. "This is a Mikazuki shuriken."

The children pushed and showed at each other to get a closer look at the shuriken their sensei held. Kakashi bit back a laugh at the childish display. The jounin wondered what else Iruka knew and hoped he would share more of his knowledge – not that he would out right ask him.

"There are nine known shuriken variations, can anyone name one other?" Iruka knew he was gunning a bit far but it never hurt to try. One time, Neji was able to name all of them and point out the advantages and disadvantages of each. It seemed that this year he was not graced with a genius.

"The nine would be*: the Mikazuki, the Happo star and circle variations, the Juji leaf and arrow variations, the Nademaji, and the Fuuma shuriken."

Iruka was stunned. He knew none of his students had said that. The chuunin turned around to look at the silver-haired jounin lounging rather casually on the bench, reading his book. "T-that's correct." Iruka thought he wasn't paying attention to his teachings.

Kakashi looked up from his book and to the blushing chuunin. Iruka noticed the jounin's gaze and turned to his students. They got to work quickly. The chuunin walked past them, correcting a stance of hand position along the way. Once they were all in an easy rhythm, Iruka retired to the bench alongside Kakashi.

The jounin shifted his position to make room for the chuunin-sensei. Iruka sat down with a sigh and watched his students attentively. Accidents were bound to occur and he preferred to avoid them when he could.

"Why did Tsunade-sama throw you into my classroom – better yet, why were you even waking around and dressed in full uniform?" Iruka didn't care if he sound like he was scolding Kakashi like a child, or what Naruto called 'mother hen mode'. The jounin's injuries may have been healed but he was a far cry from recovered.

"Maa, Tsunade-baachan came to your apartment around noon like you had said, but the next thing I knew, she was dragging me down the street and back to my place." he said. "She said something about you not needing complications in your life… or something to that effect." The chuunin raised an eyebrow. "After she did the check-up, she started roughing me about like a rag doll and then she shouted at me to get dressed. And here I am." The jounin gestured at their surroundings.

Iruka knew that the older man was leaving points unsaid, but let it be. "I take it she forced you back into your apartment for the duration recovery?" Kakashi inclined his head to one side. "Well, that just makes everything more troublesome for me." Iruka sighed, quickly glancing to the location a little yelp. Seems like little Yui got a bull's-eye.

Taking a glance at his watch, Iruka stood up and walked past his students again, checking on each of them. The chuunin-sensei ushered them back into the building when school ending for the day. He gave them a one page assignment to write about each of the nine shuriken they learnt about and expected it on his desk within two days.

Iruka was grading some papers at his desk while Kakashi was sitting in one of the front desks, entertaining himself. The jounin had stopped reading, for he didn't want to finish the book too soon. It was still another two months until the next one would be on the shelves. Digging around in his pockets, his fingers brushed past the note. With nothing better to do Kakashi decided he would at least try to figure out what those numbers would mean.

"Iruka-sensei, can I use that blackboard for a moment?"

The said sensei looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Sure, just clean it when you're done."

The jounin got up, and walked over to the blackboard, taking a piece of white chalk in hand. He wrote out the numbers that had been plaguing his mind for the last few days. Kakashi began writing out some words, writing down letters that allocated with the numbers. The word that came out was utter nonsense so he decided to try doing it by using the alphabet backwards and still the same result – nonsense. Kakashi was determined to crack the code and continued on.

Iruka lifted his red marker from the page. He was curious as to what the jounin was writing. He looked to the board and was shocked to find that there was hardly a hair's breadth of green left on that board. Mathematical formulas, letters and words were sprawled across the surface. Half of the letters were in a different language entirely. Iruka could tell that it was more than one foreign tongue.

"Uh, Kakashi what are you doing?"

The said man was too deep ion thought to register that Iruka had spoken. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he put the chalk down and took a step back to look at almost a half an hour's work. It was completely fruitless. Those three little numbers still made no sense. He ran a hand through his silver hair, pulling ever so lightly.

"I'm trying to crack this damn code," the silver-haired shinobi said, "and after using four different languages - including Russian - I still can't crack it."

Iruka leant forward a bit onto his desk to get a better view of the board and smiled at the cause of the jounin's problems. He kept quiet and continued his marking. "Maybe you are looking at it wrong."

Kakashi frowned at the tanned shinobi, almost daring him to try, but that would lead to questioning on how he got it and he was not really prepared to admit how he had come across it.

Iruka was stacking the papers neatly and placed them in the top drawer, and started packing his things. Sighing, Kakashi took the chalk duster in hand and started to erase all his hard work. By the lime he was done, Iruka was closing the last of the windows and motioned for Kakashi to follow him out of the classroom. Sighing, the chuunin locked his class and set off to go, saying good-bye to the janitor. For a moment he almost completely forgot about the silver-haired shinobi trailing slowly behind him. Almost.

"Would you like to have some ramen with me?" Iruka asked, looking the other way and habitably scratched at his scar, a pink blush spreading across his cheeks.

Kakashi thought it was the most adorable sight on earth. "I would love to." The two of them walked along side one another as they reached the Ichiruka ramen bar.

Iruka set his satchel down next to his seat. Kakashi sat next to him, observing him closely. The chuunin was sitting with his arms over the counter; his elbows propped up to support himself. A calm expression graced his tanned features as an aroma of deliciously cooked food drifted over them.

"Welcome! Oh, Iruka-sensei we haven't seen you in a while." Teuchi appeared from behind the counter, smiling at the patrons. "And I see you brought a friend. Speaking of friends, where is Naruto?"

Iruka smiled at the concern in the old man's voice. "He just came back from a mission and I suspect Sasuke is pampering him thoroughly at the moment – don't worry, knowing Naruto you'll see him soon enough."

"Good to know. What'll it be?" he asked, flapping a cloth over his shoulder.

"I'll have some pork ramen please."

Teuchiturned his head to the silent jounin. "I'll have the same." Kakashi never made a habit of eating too much heavy food, especially foods like ramen. The old man quickly disappeared behind a door leading to the back. "So, what you teach was never in the curriculum when I was at the Academy, especially the shuriken."

Iruka's face heated up for no apparent reason. "Well, those are just some topics I like to teach them, even if they never end up putting it into practice, they'll have the extra knowledge."

"So, weapons are a personal interest then?" Kakashi propped his elbow onto the counter and held his chin, looking at the chuunin from the side. He smiled to himself when the blush darkened over the tan cheeks. "You are full of surprises, Iruka-sensei."

This chapter just did not want to work with me. I guess you can call this a sort of filler-like chapter. If something seems disconnected at some point, I am sorry. It has been a hectic first two weeks of school. I wanna thank everyone that has reviewed, faved or alerted this story, and I am sorry that I did not say that in the previous chapter. *Oops, but please take a cookie as a peace offering.* I wanna thank Kick-Aft and Prescripto13 for the support they have shown since the first chapter.

I just had to kick 'Kashi out of Iruka's apartment, simply because I don't think that they'll get anywhere by seeing each other every other second. I could not go through with them eating the ramen, because of the simple fact that I am starving and would kill for a bowl of hot ramen right now.

I edited the previous chapters and shifted some things around, nothing major.

I hope I didn't make any one too OOC. If I did, I'm sorry. Oh, regarding an anonymous review... That was just uncalled for – I mean, I did say that I was going to be writing about pairings that I support. I like reviews, I accept constructive criticism, but to out right shoot down the story because you don't support a pairing it not nice. *Gosh I feel like toddler right now.*

*The quote that Kakashi said was from an anonymous Yamabushi warrior, monks who were believed to be the founders of ninjutsu. That info might be wrong, but meh, I have limited resources, and it doesn't affect the story in any way. I just thought it would be a nice piece of useless info.

*Regarding the shuriken, I did research and they all are actual shuriken variations, but I don't know if there are more in the Narutoverse like the Fuuma shuriken that I may have missed.

To the rest of you, I will try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Well, see ya next time people.