Synchronization

Love Naruto and thought I'd try my hand at a few stories with these amazingly rich and deep characters. I hope you enjoy and will review to let me know your opinions good or bad. I do not have one problem with yaoi, but this story will not contain that genre. I am only stating this for those that do not understand that love is simply love.

I own nothing. Nothing.

Chapter Two

Kakashi nearly groaned aloud as the Hokage and the Mizukage verbally spared over the facts of the case involving Iruka Umino. Three months of listening to this drivel was getting ridiculous. The whole mission had been a catastrophe from the onset. The parameters had been clear and Umino had taken it upon himself to rewrite the rules. Fool of a nin!

"You had no right to turn one of my shinobi over to Sand," the Mizukage growled as Tsunade stood to glare angrily at the other, "I should have been allowed to investigate into the last surviving member of a unit that turned rogue!"

"Rogue?" Kakashi snapped as the two kages turned in his direction, "What do you mean rogue? I saw the scroll detailing your shinobi's mission myself."

"May I see this scroll?" the Mizukage questioned as Kakashi blinked his one eye open in surprise, "I didn't send that unit on any mission. My staff have no evidence that anyone was on a mission at that point. The Village Hidden in the Mist was in the middle of planning for the water festival at that time. That is a major event in our village and no shinobi go out on missions during the festival."

"Interesting. Kakashi, get the scroll for me. Maybe there is more here than we original thought," Lady Tsunade ordered the jonin as he nodded and left the office.

The Copy-nin arrived in the file room to find himself with Iruka Umino once again. Iruka's frame looked fuller recently, but his face was still gaunt and darkened circles made his eyes seem even bigger than usual. Kakashi found it odd that the younger shinobi had not sensed his presence.

"Ano," Kakashi called as Iruka whirled and gasped loud, "Chunin should be more aware than this, Umino. Getting slower off of active duty?"

The words were said to remind Umino of his duties, but the flash of pain in Iruka's eyes made Kakashi blink once again. This man was too soft. He needed to toughen up some more.

"You have need of me, Jonin-sama?" Iruka asked, bowing to Kakashi as the older shinobi wanted to growl at the chunin's lack of fight or backbone.

"I need the scroll taken off the Mist shinobi from your botched mistake," Kakashi bit out before slouching against the wall as Iruka turned to get the required item.

The Copy-nin grumbled under his breath as Umino stumbled slightly before righting himself and hurrying to the back of the filing room. A shinobi should be surer on his feet. The chunin's weaknesses just kept piling up the more he saw Umino in action. However, it didn't escape his notice that Iruka seemed paler than earlier as he walked hurriedly towards the jonin. The observation of this made Kakashi frown beneath his mask. What was up with Umino? Was he scared about what would be found out after the investigation was over?

"Here you go, Hatake-sama," Iruka breathed, placing the scroll in the other's hands before gasping as the hand was grabbed in a tight grip, "Hatake-sama?"

"Why is your hand so cold?" Kakashi demanded as he stared at the chunin, trapping the younger man since he still held the freezing hand, "It isn't cold in here."

"It is in the back, Jonin-sama," Iruka mentioned as he pointed to a far off window, "The scrolls I've been filing are near a chillier area because that window leaks air."

"Then you should use more chakra to warm your hands. Even a genin can figure that one out, Umino," Kakashi snorted, letting go as Iruka drew his hand back with a blush and nod.

The Copy-nin turned and strode away, but stopped as he glanced behind for a moment to see Iruka sigh softly and walk back to his work. There was no flare of chakra to warm the chunin's fingers. In fact, Iruka seemed even more tired as he slumped dejectedly for a moment when he thought he was alone. Kakashi frowned softly again, but hurried back to give the Hokage the scroll. He couldn't be held up by stubborn chunin who refused to listen. Kakashi was surprised to be dismissed a moment later and strolled away to try and find Yamato to tease. Soft coughing reached his ears and the Copy-nin glanced into the filing room to see Iruka coughing into his hand.

"Ah. Umino is coming down with a cold," Kakashi thought to himself as Iruka's coughs subsided and he returned to his work while the jonin continued down the hall, "That is why he is so chilled. Probably from training the brats at winter survival. Makes sense."

Harsher coughing erupted before Kakashi could take another step.

"Hmm," Kakashi thought as he turned and saw Izumo and Kotetsu peek into the filing room, looking a little worried, "So I'm not the only one that is seeing that things seem off. Good. Those two will sort things out with Umino."

oOo

"Umino?"

Iruka turned and saw Izumo and Kotetsu looking at him from the door with frowns on their faces.

"Hai, Izuma-san?" Iruka asked, reaching for the mug of water he'd brought with him to help his coughs settle.

"Are you sick?" Kotetsu demanded as Iruka blinked at the usual bluntness of his former friend.

"No, Kotetsu-san," Iruka denied, placing his mug back down, "The air in here is dry and dusty from all the scrolls and files."

"True," Izumo replied, glancing back to Kotetsu before sighing softly, "Why don't you take a break, Umino? Your coughing is getting loud enough to hear from the mission room."

"Oh," Iruka gasped, blushing hot before bowing deeply, "I did not mean to disturb you, Chunin-san."

"Umino, you are not disturbing anyone, but you have us worried," Izumo admitted as Iruka looked up in surprise, "Look, what you did is unforgivable, but that doesn't mean you should work yourself into an early grave just to prove something. You look horrible. When's the last you slept?"

Iruka swallowed and turned away sadly. The word "unforgivable" echoed repeatedly in his head.

"The academy is very busy right now," Iruka sighed before pausing to cough a couple of times into a fist, "With training, grading assignments, and my work here…I haven't had a lot of time to myself and I think that is keeping me from sleeping well. I don't think I'm sick, but I will take a break away from this dust and I'm sure my coughs will stop. My apologies."

Izumo and Kotetsu nodded as Iruka stepped past them to get to the breakroom. Angry eyes looked up at the chunin when he stepped into the room. Genma and two other jonin sat in the room and didn't seem to appreciate being disturbed. Iruka hid his discomfort and walked to refill his mug at the sink with some water. The smell of fresh coffee and the pastries set out for the staff teased him horribly. He was not a part of the staff any longer. Iruka knew he had no right to the snacks so he refused to take what was not his by right. He eyed the food hungrily and then quietly slipped back out of the staffroom besides a couple of coughs he couldn't restrain.

"Perhaps I am getting a little sick," Iruka admitted to himself as he gazed out the window from an old bench he perched upon in a random hallway and sipped on his water to try and get rid of the tickle in his throat that tortured him at the moment, "I think it is time to use some of my emergency rations."

The chunin sighed when he reached into his flak jacket to retrieve a soldier pill. This was highly unwarranted. Soldier pills were for missions and only used for extreme reasons, but he was so tired and hungry that even using a bit of chakra these days wore him out. Not to mention his joints ached like he had worked out incessantly which he knew from experience was from the lack of proper nourishment so it truly was time for the soldier pills. He swallowed the pill quickly and washed it down with the rest of his water. The quick spread of energy and chakra was welcomed and even the tickle in his throat seemed to subside.

"Okay," Iruka nodded out, "Let's get those files finished up. I'll never break."

So Iruka continued moving forward as he promised himself. Another month crept by and finding food on his foraging trips was getting harder and harder to accomplish. Iruka despaired when he realized that he was getting more and more irritable and impulsive and had to push his natural temper down repeatedly when he was purposely bumped into or tripped by his fellow shinobi to show him that they hadn't forgiven him for what he'd done. It irritated him that he bruised so easily these days, but the lack of proper food had taken a toll since his ribs were pretty visible and the constant knocks and jostling just didn't seem to have an end in sight anyway. He would just have to deal with it, but biting his tongue was getting harder to do.

"Bastard," Iruka growled in his mind when a jonin had purposely knocked him into a snow drift as he walked towards his home, "God, Iruka. Grow up and just let it go. Fighting back will only make things worse."

"Ano…Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka looked up to see Hinata looking at him with worried eyes.

"Hello, Hinata-san," Iruka greeted as he stood and dusted the snow from his pants, "Are you well? Do you have need of me?"

"Ano…I'm good, Iruka-sensei. I just got back from a rather long mission so it is good to see you again," Hinata replied, "Are you okay? You fell pretty hard just now. I don't think that shinobi-san saw you or realized he'd bumped you so hard. He must have been in a big hurry to not notice."

"I'm fine, Hinata-san. I'll just be a little sore tomorrow," Iruka reassured even as he realized that the hip he fell upon ached pretty sharply, "I think you're right. That shinobi-san didn't see me. Thank you for your concern."

Hinata blushed dark and bowed before sprinting away as Iruka watched her leave. This is why he stood by his decision. He could also look Hinata in the face without feeling shame. Sighing, he limped forward. His hip was screaming at him now so he didn't notice the figure in the tree watching him as he left.

"What the hell is this?" Kakashi snapped as he leapt down to watch Iruka's back.

oOo

"Respect goes both ways!"

Genma growled as he turned away from Kakashi's poignant glare. The other jonin at the same table in the bar watched the interchange with interest.

"Umino is getting what he deserves, Kakashi," Genma snorted as the Copy-nin growled, "It's his fault for his treatment now. Look how he disrespected us on that mission."

"So we show the rest of the shinobi in our village to not respect one another?" Kakashi pushed as Genma frowned, "We, the jonin of Konoha, are going to set the example to bully ones who make mistakes? Is that it, Genma?"

Genma remained silent as the Copy-nin slapped a hand on the table.

"Umino made a mistake. That is a given," Kakashi growled, "But the hit I just observed could have damn well broken that man's hip and he made not a sound nor protested the treatment. Umino has been nothing but respectful since coming back here from that mission. Hell! The man doesn't even talk anymore unless spoken to and only to answer a question. I won't stand by and allow physical bullying, Genma!"

"Calm down," Asuma urged as Kakashi turned his glare on him, "I agree with you, Kakashi, so don't look at me like that. I've seen a few moments of roughness aimed at Umino that was unprovoked and uncalled for. Plus, you're right, Kakashi, that kid didn't even defend himself. How can anyone ask for respect when none is being given in return?"

"Genma?" Raidou pressed as Anko leaned forward, "What do you think? I've got to tell you that I agree with Kakashi and Asuma.

"Yes. They're both right," Genma sighed as Anko nodded, "So what now?"

"You do nothing," a voice stated as all turned to see Ibiki leaning in the shadows, "Umino's case has left the door open for certain shinobi to treat others they see as inferior with terrorizing and bullying behaviors. Umino is not the only one that has been bullied recently, but he is the only one that hasn't complained. Konoha protects our own regardless of mistakes in the past. I've already addressed this with the Hokage. Lady Tsunade will issue a formal proclamation on the morrow and this ends or the culprits deal with Anbu. Am I clear?"

The group nodded and watched as Ibiki wandered away to break up a spat in the corner between two chunin.

"So that will end it," Kurenai stated as eyes turned to her, "Kakashi, how goes the investigation into Umino's case?"

"The Mist scroll was a forgery," Kakashi began as eyes turned to him in surprise, "There is more to this than we all expected. The Mizukage did not approve that unit's mission and now we are all waiting to see what turns up on the investigation within the kage's village. We can only wait and see now to know in what direction to go next."

"What about Umino?" Anko demanded, leaning practically into Kakashi's face, "Does he know anything?"

"Was cleared from the beginning," Kakashi sighed, leaning away from the kunoichi, "He just wanted to save a child. Anko, get out of my face."

"That sounds just like him," Anko muttered, sitting back before narrowing her eyes and drawing a kunai on Genma as the shinobi blinked, "Call off your damn thugs, Genma. I know you mentioned things to the right shinobi who like violence. Leave Ru-chan alone! I've had enough!"

The group gaped as Anko poured her drink over Genma's head and stomped out of the bar after she had smashed a table on the way out.

"I didn't call in any thugs, thank you," Genma pouted, wiping his face as he stood before sighing, "I did gossip though and know of at least three culprits involved in bullying."

"Tell me now," Kakashi ordered, "I will be watching things more closely."

"As will we all, my esteemed rival," Gai interjected, turning to Genma, "Tell us what you know. Anbu will deal with what they see, but more eyes watching will keep everyone safer."

To be continued…