Gohan awoke the next day once again in a hospital room. He shook his head to clear a bit of fogginess out of his vision and looked around. This time instead of just Sakura he also had a silver haired man with one visible eye in his room. After looking at him a moment Gohan deduced him to be the man whose hospital room he'd broken out of the day before. He recalled Sakura calling him Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi saw him looking around and greeted him with what could only be seen as a smile, though it was only visible through his one eye.
"Yo." Gohan tried to sit up but found himself to be bound up in bandages. He twitched an eye in irritation at not being able to move.
"What happened?" Gohan groaned through a pounding headache he'd just realized he had. Sakura spoke up since Kakashi only had a minimum amount of information on the fight.
"You and Gai-sensei beat those four strangers up but both of you were beat up quite a bit so you're gonna have to spend some time in here, probably a week at least." Gohan grunted in frustration before he remembered the beans he'd brought with him for just such an occasion.
"Sakura, could you look through my gi and bring me the brown pouch that's in it? It should be in one of the pockets."
"Sure, just give me a minute." She got up and walked over to the closet and disappeared for a moment as she checked Gohan's gi for the pouch. "Found it." She closed the closet behind her and walked over to Gohan and handed the pouch to him. Good thing for him that his arms weren't bandaged. He untied the string that kept it closed and reached into it. Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at the green bean that was taken from the pouch.
"You know, I'm sure Sakura wouldn't mind getting you some food if you're hungry, and the hospital food here isn't as bad as most places." Gohan chuckled a bit in amusement. Of course, he didn't really expect anyone out of his dad's group of friends to know what a senzu bean was. He ate the bean and retied the pouch before jumping up and stretching his body out enough to rip the bandages apart. He threw several practice punches and kicks to show his guests that he was already healed. Sakura hadn't really payed enough attention to that and started to freak out at seeing him move around so much.
"Gohan! You've got to rest your body so you can heal properly. Your body was badly strained from that fight you had." Gohan grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm fine now, really. That was a senzu bean I just ate. Senzu beans heal any injury aside from lost limbs and completely restore your energy, plus you'll be full for five days." Sakura's eyes widened at the prospect of such a thing. She knew a lot about medic nin and their techniques and knew that no such thing had been discovered in the ninja world. Such a miracle could make a huge difference in battle. Sure there were soldier pills but they didn't heal injuries and they only worked for three days and three nights, after which the user may very well pass out from severe chakra exhaustion.
"Where do you get them?" Gohan winced at the hopeful expression on her face. Even if anyone around here could fly, Korin would kill him if he were suddenly flooded with people wanting senzu, especially since he couldn't grow too many at once with the limited space in his tower.
"Heh, sorry but they only grow in one spot on the planet and unless you can fly it'll take you days to get there." Sakura remained hopeful, not knowing that he meant that they'd have to climb. After all, many missions required shinobi to travel for sometimes several weeks before reaching their destination, and even then some missions took longer.
"Well that shouldn't be a problem. A couple days' walk won't be much of an obstacle." Gohan shook his head.
"What I mean is that it'll take that long to climb the tower. From here it would probably take a month or two just to get there on foot." Sakura visibly paled at this and Kakashi was clearly surprised, though their reactions were for different reasons. Sakura had now realized just how daunting of a task it would be to go after these beans and Kakashi was surprised that this boy had managed to get some. Of course, that was assuming what the boy said about them was true... Gohan wasn't quite done yet though. "Besides that, Master Korin doesn't like a lot of company and would get mad if I told a bunch of people where he lived. Anyways, Can I leave now?"
"Just let the doctor give you a once over and if he says you're ready to go then sure." Sakura stood up and left the room to go find the doctor assigned to Gohan, leaving him alone with Kakashi. Kakashi stayed quiet for a moment, thinking through some questions to ask the boy. The only thing he knew for sure was that he'd saved Sasuke from certain death at the hands of his traitorous brother Itachi.
"I wanted to thank you, for saving Sasuke." Gohan blinked in surprise, not really expecting this.
"Well, it's just what I do. No need to thank me." Kakashi eyed him for a moment, trying to see if there was any deception in the boy's apparent modesty. He could find none and thus came to respect him a bit. Modesty was not something found often in a fighter, especially one who could survive a fight with Uchiha Itachi. That fact alone spoke of the caliber of fighter this Gohan must be. The next moment the door opened and in stepped Sakura and the doctor, who was astonished to see Gohan standing on the bed and moving around freely. He showed no signs of his surprise though and asked Gohan to sit down on the bed so he could take a look at him. After poking and prodding Gohan in several places the doctor, though immensely surprised at his already being healed, said he was fit to leave. Sakura and Kakashi left the room for Gohan to change. He came out a moment later, relieved that they still didn't want him to undergo a psychological exam. He was ready to leave, but he still wanted to find something out before he decided what to do next.
"How is Gai? Did he make it out okay? I know he beat those guys, but I think I felt him pass out right before I did." Sakura shrugged.
"He'll be fine. He pushed his body pretty hard so he'll be in here for at least a day, but other than that nothing's wrong. There's one thing that I'm curious about though."
"What's that?"
"Well, those four guys you were fighting disappeared after the battle. There's no trace that they were ever fighting you aside from the damage to the surrounding area."
"I can answer that one. Even though those guys came to fight me and make me go back with them they're not really my enemies. My mom just intimidated them into trying to get me back. Before I passed out I asked Piccolo-Sensei to come and take them back so they couldn't just wake up and come after me again." Kakashi was left wondering just how he'd managed to get someone to come and take other fighters away when he'd been about to pass out. Gohan seemed to read his mind and answered his unasked question.
"You're probably wondering how I was able to get someone to come and get them huh?" A slight nod was all the answer he needed. "Piccolo Sensei has some telepathic powers and has a bond with me that we can communicate through over very long distances. I just spoke to him through our bond and he came to get them."
"I see. That means you must be very close to your Sensei. I've heard about such bonds. From what I understand they can only exist through two individuals who have the closest of friendships, and even then at least one of them must be telepathic, a very rare trait indeed."
"Yeah, Piccolo-Sensei is more than just a friend though. He's like a second father to me."
"Yes well, all of that aside, what do you intend to do next?" Gohan creased his brow in thought. He really wanted to catch up to Naruto and Jiraiya but it would probably be best for him to learn as much as possible about this foreign world he'd found himself in. Perhaps there were some techniques he could learn that would be useful to him and would make it easier for him to learn whatever it was that Jiraiya had promised to teach him.
"I was going to catch up with Naruto and Jiraiya, but I think I'll stay here for a little while and learn as much as I can about you ninja." He took on a hopeful look. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble that is."
"I think that can be arranged. You will be escorted by an ANBU guard at all times though. After watching you I don't believe that you would be any threat to us, but it wouldn't be prudent for us to just blindly trust someone. You've seen the devastation we've recently undergone haven't you?" Gohan nodded his head solemnly.
"I would like to know what an ANBU is though."
"ANBU is a special unit of elite ninja that excell in stealth and assassinations. They are also charged with protecting the Hokage at all costs. Do not worry, you will only be followed from the shadows so as not to arouse suspicion or hostility towards you."
"Alright, I can agree to that. But could you teach me some techniques? Sakura told me that you might be able to help me in that area."
"Hmmm...I could probably help you, but I do believe that you only have a minimal understanding of the ninja world, am I correct?" Gohan nodded and briefly wondered how he could know that so easily but then remembered that all of the ninja he'd seen so far had that headband that had a leaf symbol on it. "Then I believe that one of the instructors at the academy would be better suited to your purposes."
"Alright, but Sakura said something about an Iruka-Sensei?" Kakashi smiled under his mask and briefly though of Iruka. He'd been the first person aside from the Sandaime Hokage to both recognize Naruto and treat him like a normal human being instead of something to be despised and tossed out like garbage. Iruka was one of, if not the best teacher at the academy and would probably be the least likely to be suspicious of someone like Gohan.
"Yes, Umino Iruka. An excellent choice for an instructor. I'll take you to meet him." Gohan bowed his head in thanks and respect.
"Thank you sir. I appreciate your assistance." Kakashi just shrugged.
"It's the least I could do. You did save one if not two of my students after all. Just follow me and I'll lead you to his house. The academy is presently not holding any classes because it sustained damage in the attacks, so Iruka should be able to devote a significant amount of time to training you. Just follow me, it's close by." Kakashi began walking at a casual pace, not knowing if Gohan would be able to keep up with him if he were to choose to run. They walked quietly, Sakura following behind them since she had nothing else to do at the moment. They'd entered the shopping district, which despite broken windows, walls with holes in them and potholes in the ground was bustling with activity. They were walking past a sushi restaurant when they heard a yelp and a thud as someone hit the ground. Gohan turned to his left, towards the source of the cry and saw a young girl sprawled face down in the dirt, apparently having tripped over her own feet. Gohan walked over to her and extended a hand to her. She took his hand and he helped her to her feet and picked up a bag that she'd dropped, giving it to her.
"A-arigatou." A quiet voice spoke to him from a lowered head. Gohan could feel an angry spike of energy from behind him and whirled around to see a rather imposing man with pupil less eyes glaring at him.
"Is there a problem sir?" The man scowled at him.
"Of course there's a problem. You, a commoner, dared to touch the heir of the Hyuuga clan." Gohan arched an eyebrow at the obvious hostility in the man's voice and tried to explain the situation.
"I was just helping her up. She fell and I wanted to make sure she was okay." The man looked at the girl behind him and, if possible, his glare intensified.
"Well, it seems you've managed to further embarrass the Hyuuga name by your inability to even act proper in public. I shall deal with you once we return to the Hyuuga compound." He brushed past Gohan and roughly grabbed the girl behind him, but Gohan forcefully grabbed his hand as he walked past. The man whirled on him and attempted to backhand him but Gohan brought his arm up to block it.
"That's quite enough. This girl didn't do anything wrong so there's no need to treat her like that." The man's scowl deepened into a snarl and Gohan could feel his energy spike even further.
"Don't presume to tell me what is necessary and what is not! Hinata is my daughter and future head of the clan and therefore I shall do whatever I feel is necessary to prepare her for that." Gohan's anger quickly began to rise at the man's words and treatment of his daughter. He gave the man the most intense glare he could muster and allowed his eyes to flash teal, causing the man to raise an eyebrow. Those who mistreated people weaker than them were nothing more than scum who needed to be taught a lesson, and this man was about to learn that lesson very quickly. Well, he would have had Kakashi not chosen this moment to step in and diffuse the situation.
"My apologies Hiashi-sama. Gohan is new to this village and does not yet know of our social order. Please forgive his rudeness so that we may continue on our way." Hiashi huffed and stormed off, dragging the girl with him. Gohan saw her steal a glance at him and then lower her head to stare at the ground once more. He clenched his fists in anger and made ready to charge at Hiashi and give him the beating of his life, but Kakashi's hand on his shoulder calmed him down.
"It would not be wise to incite the wrath of a Hyuuga, most especially Hiashi-sama. The Hyuuga are Konoha's most talented and powerful fighters and also its most prominent and noble clan. To be a guest and earn his displeasure may very well end up getting you ejected from the village, especially with our current lack of a Hokage." Gohan grit his teeth and growled.
"But it's not right the way he was treating that girl!" Kakashi shook his head.
"While it is unfortunate that he treats Hinata-chan so roughly, it is not our business or responsibility to interfere." Gohan sighed and relaxed, though he would not forget this. The next time he met up with Hyuuga Hiashi would not be so pleasant. Sakura walked up to Gohan and put her hand on his shoulder as they continued their walk.
"That was very brave of you to stand up to Hiashi-sama like that. Most people would have just walked away or frozen in terror." Gohan chuckled, embarrassed at the praise he was receiving.
"I'm not easily intimidated. My Sensei toughened me up a lot." They left the business district and as they continued their trek they passed by a seemingly abandoned section of the village. "What's that?" Gohan pointed to the empty buildings. Kakashi smiled at his curiosity and explained that it used to be the Uchiha compound.
"Used to be? Where are they now? Are they another clan?"
"They used to be another noble clan of Konoha until a few years ago when Uchiha Itachi slaughtered the entire clan except for his little brother, Sasuke. That is why Sasuke wishes to kill his brother so badly. To get revenge."
"So what makes these clans so powerful and influential?"
"That would be their kekai-genkai. The Uchihas had the Sharingan and the Hyuugas have the Byakugan."
"What's a kekai-genkai?"
"A kekai genkai is a special technique that is passed down only along a specific bloodline and can only be used by those who are members of that bloodline." This brought an idea to Gohan's mind about what he could do in case he was forced to transform into a super Saiya-jin. Due to the general nature of this kekai-genkai he could very easily explain his transformations away as different levels of that. It wouldn't really be lying either, since only those with Saiya-jin blood could transform, though the Saiya-jins were far more than just a mere clan, nobody would have to find that out. He was interrupted out of his thoughts when Kakashi announced their arrival at Iruka's house. Gohan looked up, his eyes having diverted to the ground while he was thinking. He saw a modest looking two-story house that was just a bit smaller than his own home. They walked up to the front door and Kakashi knocked three times. After a minute of waiting the door opened and a man that was about five foot seven opened the door and smiled warmly at his guests. Gohan noticed that he had a scar running across the bridge of his nose that started below both eyes. Gohan winced at the thought of the injury that must have caused said scar.
"Hello Kakashi-san, Sakura-chan. And I see you have a stranger with you. My name is Umino Iruka, what is yours?" He looked down at Gohan and smiled at him as well. Gohan bowed respectfully.
"I'm Son Gohan. It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine. Why don't you guys come in for some tea." All three said their thank yous and accepted his invitation. After they'd entered his house and were seated at a table in a cozy living room, Iruka left for a moment and returned with a pot of tea and four cups. "I'd already made the tea, so you guys showed up with perfect timing." They thanked him for the tea and began sipping it. "So to what do I owe the honor of this visit Kakashi-san?" Kakashi waved a hand dismissively.
"No need to be so formal Iruka. Just call me Kakashi. Anyways, we came to ask you if you were willing to privately tutor Gohan here in the basic knowledge and techniques of a ninja. Iruka looked at Gohan and took an extra long sip of tea as he pondered the question and what his answer would be. He decided that he wanted to find out a little more before he accepted this.
"I'd like to have a few questions answered before I make my decision. Is that okay with you?" Gohan and Kakashi nodded. "Good. First thing. I know that Gohan is no regular civilian, otherwise you wouldn't even bother with a request like that. Am I right?" It was only Gohan that nodded this time. "Okay, number two is that I'm guessing that you have shown at least some small ability to fight or at the very least you learn very quickly. Am I right in this assessment as well?" Another nod from Gohan. "Very well, I suppose I'll ask my last two questions simultaneously. The first question will be for you again Gohan, and the second will be directed at Kakashi. Why is it that you want to be taught these things? Why do you recommend for him to be taught?" Since Gohan's question came first, he decided that he would be the first to answer.
"Well, I want to learn this stuff because for one thing I just like to learn new things, especially techniques. Another thing is that I want to become stronger so I can better protect my friends and family when they're threatened." Iruka nodded, seemingly satisfied with these answers and turned to look at Kakashi.
"And what do you have to say?"
"Well, actually I also have two answers, though the second answer is somewhat for both you and I." Iruka gave him a questioning gaze so he just decided to answer. "Number one is that I've been watching this boy and have deemed him to be trustworthy, and you know that I don't just trust anyone. I think that this boy, Gohan, would make an invaluable ally to Konoha after some of the things I've heard, which leads me to answer number two. What I have heard is that he saved two of my students, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about, and that he survived a battle with an S-class missing nin, namely Uchiha Itachi, in order to do so. In other words, he saved Sasuke from potential death and Naruto from abduction by a certain organization that we've been keeping tabs on for some time now." Iruka's eyes were now as wide as dinner plates.
"You mean...them?!" Kakashi nodded. "And they're after Naruto?!" Another nod. "And Gohan kept, or at least aided in keeping them from reaching their objective and also from eliminating the only Uchiha left to Konoha."
"That about sums it up. So, what do you say? Will you do it?" Iruka nodded fervently.
"Anyone willing to help Naruto and who manages to also gain your trust is worth it as far as I'm concerned. I would like to know where the boy is staying though, in case I need to find him at home." Gohan grinned sheepishly and let out a nervous giggle while rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, actually I don't live in this village. I was actually planning on sleeping out in the forest until I decided to go home." Iruka looked at him oddly.
"How did you get into the village then? They don't let just anybody waltz in here you know. You have to have either a pass or an escort by one of the village's ninja, namely a chuunin or higher. Konoha is much too vulnerable at this point in time to just let anybody in"
"Well that's because in a way I did have an escort. Someone named Maito Gai took me to the hospital with Sasuke because of an attack on my mind by that Itachi guy."
"Alright, I will help you, on one condition."
"What's that, Iruka-Sensei?" Iruka chuckled. Gohan must be really serious about this if he's already calling him Sensei before even knowing what the condition is.
"I want you to stay in my house while you're here. It'll be much easier for me to do this than if you were to stay out in the woods, not to mention less trouble for you." Gohan smiled and bowed his head in thanks and respect.
"I appreciate your hospitality."
"Don't worry about it. We'll start tomorrow so you can take some time to get to know the village a little bit. Just follow me and I'll show you to your room." Iruka led Gohan out of the room and out into a small hallway that was in the back of the house and turned right. Being close to the end of the hallway already meant they reached their destination quickly, and Iruka opened a door to their left. Inside was a nice sized bedroom with a comfortable looking bed, a small table next to the bed with a lamp on it and a dresser with a mirror above it. The walls and ceiling were colored white and the floor had a fuzzy brown carpet that looked almost as comfortable as the bed. Gohan set his backpack on the bed and followed Iruka back to the room that they'd left Kakashi and Sakura in.
"Alright guys, why don't you show Gohan around the village a little bit so he doesn't get stuck here all the time. I'd do it but I've got some things I need to do." Kakashi shrugged.
"Whatever. I've been ordered to take it easy for a couple of days so I really don't have anything better to do. What do you want to see first?" Gohan furrowed his brow in thought but before he could come up with anything there was a loud rumbling that echoed throughout the house. Kakashi, Iruka and Sakura immediately tensed up and had kunai out. Gohan chuckled a bit in embarrassment and blushed.
"Well, I think maybe some place to eat would be good. I'm starving!" There were sweatdrops all around and Gohan, Kakashi and Sakura once again headed out on the road.
It was nearly night when Gohan finally returned to his new temporary home. Sakura and Kakashi had shown him most of the village, including where he could eat, buy supplies and also where the Hokage's tower was. Gohan had really enjoyed his time with the two ninja and hoped that he could spend more time with them tomorrow, not being used to company from people he didn't already know. What he was looking forward to the most though was learning about how to be a ninja. He entered Iruka's house and made his way to his room where he promptly plopped into the bed and fell asleep. Today had been rather stressful for him and he really didn't feel like changing first.
Gohan awoke to the enticing smell of food coming from somewhere in the house. He hadn't really bothered to take a tour just yet so after changing into a spare gi he'd packed he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and followed his nose to the source of the smell. Immediately out of the hallway he was in the living room which lead to either the front door or another room to the left. Gohan could tell that the smell was coming from the room to his left so he casually made his way to what could only be the kitchen. Iruka sensed him enter the room and turned to smile warmly at him before returning his attention to the bacon he was cooking.
"Good morning Gohan. I hope you're ready for your first lesson today." Gohan couldn't hide the grin that made its way to his face. He loved to learn. Hopefully he'd not only learn some techniques but maybe some of the history of this place as well. Certainly a shinobi village would have an interesting past. Iruka set two plates down on the table and Gohan had to inwardly wince at the, for him, measly amount of food. Luckily he'd brought his own food with him, as there was no way it'd be fair to expect this man to provide him with enough food to support a growing half saiya-jin boy, even if he didn't know the reason for his voracious appetite. A worrisome idea suddenly struck Gohan as both he and Iruka sat down for their meal. This caught Iruka's attention so he studied Gohan for a minute, trying to decide if it would be best to ask the boy if something was troubling him. Gohan relieved him of that slight burden however when he decided to voice his concern.
"Ummm...can I ask you a question Iruka-sensei?" Iruka gave him a comforting smile, hoping to convey to Gohan that he could trust him.
"Of course. Ask me anything Gohan." Gohan blushed a bit, embarrassed that he hadn't thought of something like this before, but asked anyways.
"I was wondering what I could do for money. I can't expect you to feed me all the time and I'd at least like to pay you a little bit for letting me stay in your home." Iruka laughed and reached across the table to rest his hand on Gohan's shoulder.
"Don't worry about such things Gohan. Just the fact that you saved Naruto is more than enough payment as far as I'm concerned. As far as money is concerned though, I'll see what I can do about maybe getting you instated as a ninja of this village after I've given you some basic training. How does that sound?" Gohan's face brightened considerably at the thought. The idea of being a ninja, even if temporarily, appealed to him.
"That'd be great!" He beamed and looked down at his food.
"Itadakimasu!" Iruka could only gape in shock as Gohan managed to down all of his food at speeds that he'd only ever seen Naruto eat. If this boy had an appetite like that...He suddenly felt depressed and slumped in his chair at the thought of spending that much money on food.
"Why me?" He remembered his food and straightened up in his chair so he could eat before his food got cold. "Well Gohan, I've only ever seen one person eat like that, and if he's anything to go by I'd say that you're probably still hungry right?" Gohan couldn't help but smile sheepishly and rub the back of his head.
"Yeah. That's why I was asking about money. Don't worry, I brought my own food though, and I know how to get food out of the wild if I have to." Iruka let out a sigh of relief, his wallet no longer feeling desperately empty.
"That's good to hear. You know, Naruto has an appetite just like yours." He'd expected Gohan to laugh or have some reaction similar to that, but what he got was totally unexpected. Gohan suddenly seemed extremely tense as though he'd just been given his death sentence and he had a horrified look on his face.
"Tell me something. When Naruto was born, do you know if he had a...tail?" Iruka looked confused but shook his head.
"What about his parents? Did either of them have tails?" Again he shook his head. What was he asking such an odd question for?
"Is something bothering you Gohan?" Gohan snapped out of his shock and shook his head.
"No, I'm fine." Iruka was waiting for him to explain, but it quickly became evident that it wasn't something he wanted to talk about, so Iruka just ate his food and took care of the dishes. Once he was done he left the room for a few minutes and came back with a few books.
"Now Gohan, before I teach you any techniques I'm going to teach you some history on Konoha and shinobi in general. It will be easier for you to understand many things that way. Iruka cupped a hand over his chin in thought for a moment, trying to decide where to begin.
"The first thing I will teach you is the basic idea of what a shinobi is. Shinobi operate in similar ways to mercenaries, except that mercenaries work for their own personal gain where shinobi perform missions to bring money to their village. Also, where mercenaries only kill people, shinobi perform a variety of tasks, from weeding a garden to retrieving stolen top secret scrolls. Shinobi fight with many different techniques. There is hand to hand combat or taijutsu, ninja techniques or ninjutsu and illusion techniques also called genjutsu. Let's go outside so I can show you a few examples. They walked out into the front yard and turned around to face the house. "Alright, take a good look at the house. Take in every detail." Gohan did as he was told and nodded when he was done. "Good, now, keep watching as I activate a genjutsu. Gohan suddenly gasped in shock and made to run towards the house to try to put out the fire that he now saw consuming it. A hand on his shoulder however quickly put a stop to his charge.
"Aren't you going to do something? Your house is on fire!" Iruka chuckled at his obvious lack of experience.
"Are you sure about that? I want you to look at me for a second." Gohan quirked an eyebrow and turned to look at Iruka.
"Dispel!" He tapped Gohan on the head with two fingers and motioned for him to turn back around. Gohan was surprised at what he saw as the house was not only no longer on fire, but didn't even seem the least bit scorched.
"That is a genjutsu. It is a technique used to alter the victim's perception of reality. What you just saw was only a simple genjutsu. There are genjutsu so powerful that they could trick a person's mind into dying, or just deal out so much psychological damage that there would be no recovery. Now I'll show you a basic ninjutsu." He formed his hands into a chakra molding seal. "Henge!" There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared Naruto was standing where Iruka had been only a moment before." Gohan walked around Iruka and looked at him from all angles, trying to see if he could find a discrepancy in the technique, but this was an exact duplicate of Naruto.
"This is henge no jutsu, one of the basic techniques required to pass the genin exams and officially become a shinobi." Gohan was utterly shocked. Not only did Iruka look like Naruto but he also sounded exactly like him as well. It didn't seem possible for such a technique to exist, and yet here it was.
"So are you gonna teach me that technique sensei?" Iruka smiled and released the transformation, returning him to normal.
"Yep, that and Bunshin no jutsu as well." He once again performed a molding seal and with another puff of smoke there was an exact copy of Iruka standing next to the original. The bunshin smiled and waved at Gohan before Iruka dissipated it. "That is a bunshin, it is an exact replica of the user. It is however, only an illusion and cannot harm the enemy. Almost immediately Gohan began going through several practical uses of those techniques in battle and also possible combinations in his head. He grinned at the thought of using those techniques in his next sparring match with Piccolo, or even Vegeta. Heck, he was now more than ever excited about learning new techniques from the people here. If techniques like these were basic, who knew what else was possible? So, in order to get to that part faster, Gohan sped back into the house and got to work studying the books Iruka had set down on the table. For the next eight hours, Gohan digested information about shinobi, their techniques and the several shinobi nations that existed. He couldn't believe that such powerful people existed right under the noses of his dad and all of his friends. Gohan had become concerned at a particular name he'd noticed was repeated quite often during his studies, so he called out for Iruka who promptly appeared in the kitchen with him.
"Do you have a question Gohan?" He nodded his head as he stared at a picture of a giant fox with nine tails.
"What is the kyuubi? It's mentioned a lot in these books but none of them really explain what it is." Iruka visibly tensed at having to explain the demon. No doubt some rather...unpleasant memories would resurface. He wasn't going to deny Gohan an explanation though, he was not one to refuse to answer genuine curiosity when one of his students showed it.
"Well...nobody is entirely sure what the kyuubi is. All we know is that it's the most powerful of nine destructive creatures called bijuu. The kyuubi was so powerful that it was said that with the swipe of one of its nine tails it could level a mountain or create a tsunami, and it used those powers against this very village about twelve years ago. The demon was defeated, but our village had suffered many casualties. We still haven't fully recovered from that tragedy." Iruka clenched his teeth in anger as he remembered how the villagers treated Naruto for so long. A few of them had realized that he wasn't so bad, however the majority of them still sent those spiteful words and hateful glares at the boy whenever they got the chance.
"Are you okay Sensei? You look mad." Iruka shook his head, clearing out the angry thoughts and cleared his throat.
"No, I'm fine Gohan. Just some bad memories is all." Gohan just nodded. He could understand that sentiment a hundred percent. Most nights he relived the Cell games or even the occasional battle on planet Namek against Frieza. He shuddered at the thought of the icy tyrant. He thanked Iruka and returned to his studying.
Eight hours later, Gohan astounded Iruka with the fact that he'd just learned in a few hours what most people took several weeks to learn.
"I'm impressed Gohan. You've managed to beat every study record in the village. Nobody has ever learned that much in such a short amount of time." Gohan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, that was actually pretty light stuff compared to what my mom usually gives me." Iruka almost fainted at the idea of that much work being considered light.
"J...just how much studying is normal for you Gohan?" Iruka asked that against his better judgement, being sure that he wasn't going to like the answer.
"Actually, I never really did much else. I went out fishing with my dad sometimes but usually I stayed inside and studied. My mom even had earphones that she put on me at night so I could study while I was sleeping.
"What about friends? Weren't you ever allowed to just go out and play with other kids your own age?" Gohan just shrugged.
"We live in the middle of a mountainous area that's surrounded by forest. There isn't anyone living within several hundred miles of us." Iruka's face fell. Sure learning was very important, but even a person's brain needed rest every once in a while, and he couldn't even begin to imagine living life without friends. Of course, he hadn't had any parents either, no thanks to the Kyuubi, but still...
"I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends here Gohan. Anyways, I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow I think we'll go over Shuriken and kunai throwing. How does that sound?"
"It sounds great! I can't wait."
"I'm glad to see you're so excited Gohan. Not too many of my students show this much enthusiasm, and that's even with me giving lectures instead of just making them read it all out of books."
"Heh, well I prefer learning from books anyways. Anyways, I"m gonna go see Sasuke in the hospital, so I'll see you when I get back."
"Alright Gohan, but before I forget let me give you something." Iruka left the room for a few minutes and came back to give Gohan a key to his house. "Here, it's a spare key to the house. That way you can come and go without having to rely on me to let you in and out in case I'm busy or not home." Gohan took the key with a grateful smile and tucked it in his gi.
"Thanks, Sensei. I'm glad you trust me so much." Iruka nodded and put a hand on Gohan's shoulder.
"Anybody that's willing to risk their life for one of the people of this village, especially Naruto, is more than worthy of my trust." Iruka's speech left Gohan feeling a bit guilty about hiding so much information about himself, even if it was necessary. He didn't dwell on it too long though once he realized how Iruka had singled Naruto out for his last statement.
"What did you mean by that Iruka-sensei? Aren't there other people willing to risk their lives for Naruto?" Iruka sighed sadly and rubbed his temples as he sat down at the table and looked Gohan in the eyes.
"Naruto...is not well liked in this village. In fact, there aren't too many outside of the shinobi that don't outright hate him and wish that he'd just die. It's sad, but I never noticed until too late just how badly he was treated and it almost caused him to allow himself to be lured into a trap and killed just so he could pass the genin test and become a shinobi. Up until recently, Naruto only had one friend in this entire village, and that was me. Also, he has no family as his mother died on the day he was born and nobody really knows who his father is." Unshed tears shimmered in Iruka's eyes as he recalled what the third Hokage had told him about how Naruto had been treated by the villagers. Gohan somehow knew he wasn't going to like the answer he was going to get, but he had to ask anyways.
"W...what do you mean? How was he treated?" Iruka had to squeeze his eyes shut as he recalled the Hokage's words.
"Well, before Naruto was able to defend himself the villagers would often attack him at random times during the day. He was hospitalized several times and we had to place guards outside his room to make sure that nobody could sneak in and kill him in his weakened state. Then there's the many times that he'd return home from the academy to find his apartment trashed and his money stolen. Even on the days where none of that would happen, he always gets hateful glares, threats and insults from the people around him and they do anything they can to embarrass him and just make his life an all around living hell. Then there's the shop owners, most of whom won't even let him into their stores." Gohan lowered his head to look at the ground in sorrow and anger. Is this it? Is this what he fought to defend? Is this why he and his family and friends had to suffer fighting super powerful villains? Is this why his dad had to die? For people like this? Was Earth really worth all of the sacrifice? Gohan knew he shouldn't judge all of humanity by this, but from the things he'd had to study this type of thing was very common throughout the history of human kind.
"Why?" Gohan dared not look up as he knew at this very moment his eyes must be flashing between coal black and turquoise as he struggled to keep his rage under control. Even though he hadn't really spent much time around Naruto, he could tell that he didn't deserve treatment like this.
"I'm sorry Gohan, but it's forbidden by law for me to discuss it any further. Only Naruto can tell you, but I wouldn't count on it. He's never told anybody as far as I know. In fact, until his genin exams, even he was not to be told of it." Gohan shot his head up, not caring if his eyes were the wrong color or not.
"Why not? He should've at least been allowed to know why everybody hated him!" Iruka just shook his head sadly.
"I have no idea what the Hokage was thinking. What I do know is that anything he did was for Naruto's benefit. He cared for Naruto like nobody else did, but his duties as Hokage did not allow him to take Naruto in, so instead he gave him a weekly allowance and paid for him to live in an apartment, which he still lives in now."
"I see. Well, I'd better go see Sasuke. From what I've been told he might not be too happy with me for interfering with his fight, but I figure I should go find out for myself." Gohan stood up and headed outside, inwardly hoping that Sasuke wasn't as much like Vegeta as he was beginning to think.
Well, this certainly turned out much longer than expected. I just couldn't find a good stopping point for it, and I'm not even sure that I picked a good stopping point. Now then, how is Sasuke going to react when Gohan shows up in his room? Is Gohan gonna give him a senzu? Maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to wait and find out.