***
Chapter 6: :Ni tsunagatta chūshin-bu
Center that led to The
***
One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don't come home at night.
Margaret Mead
***
Present Day
: :Hattori Gates, Konohagakure: :
Whatever Konohamaru had been expecting to happen today, this was not it.
He'd expected a few laughs.
Some yelling.
Maybe some eye-rolls and detention if anyone was really paying attention. Not that anyone had been lately.
Not running into one of the most feared missing-nin in the world.
And some weirdo with bandages over his eyes that seemed to think the entire situation was way more amusing than it actually was.
Naruto-nii-san might not think Itachi of the Sharingan was scary, but Konohamaru was comfortable disagreeing with his chosen brother just this once.
Moegi and Udon had long since abandoned him.
The guards were nowhere to be seen.
Or maybe they were, and this whole thing was just an illusion spun through Itachi's eyes.
"Kai!"
"What was that?"
"I have no idea."
"I was breaking your genjutsu, idiot!"
"Ah, I see. It's broken now."
"Well done."
They were laughing at him, and Konohamaru seethed as he hung upside down in the weirdo's grip.
No amount of struggling was enough to free him. Weirdo didn't even seem to notice he was trying to escape, and for someone who was wanted by the whole world, Itachi didn't seem all that concerned about standing out in the open.
"What are you even doing here? You know you'll be killed as soon as someone finds out, right? I will be avenged!"
"You're adorable."
"DIE!"
"Come on, Iruka will know what to do with him."
Iruka?
His Iruka?
Naruto's Iruka?
***
It's amazing that relationships can form and last under the constraints of never fully knowing. Never knowing for sure what the other person is thinking. Never knowing for sure who a person is.
Iain Reid
***
Present Day
: :Land of Iron: :
Minato blames himself for the Uchiha Massacre when Kikyo tells him about it.
There are others who carry blame as well. He knows that. It's not some self-sacrificing tendency he's got that makes him want to be responsible for everything.
But he knows he played a role and helped put them in that situation.
It wasn't his death.
It was the favor he'd asked of Fugaku in defense of Kakashi.
And he prays Kakashi never finds out. He's far too kind-hearted to take it well.
He had known that day when they'd left that he wasn't going to bring his entire team back.
Had woken up with a knot in his stomach and dark thoughts in his head, and that was rare for him.
He'd snuck out to meet with Fugaku before they'd left and spent a few minutes playing with Iruka and Itachi as he tried to work through what was scaring him.
"What exactly do you think is going to happen, Minato?"
"I don't know. It's just a feeling."
Fugaku had huffed at that. They were a clan driven by instinct, and they put powerful faith in gut feelings.
The Namikaze put their faith in common sense and logic.
Minato had found truth lay somewhere in the in-between.
Shinobi were people, after all, and people rarely did what made sense.
"Not all of us are coming back."
"Ah, I had forgotten your bloodline came with the ability to see the future."
"Haha."
"You cannot let fear guide your actions."
"Have you ever known me to do that?"
"I've never known you to be this worried about a feeling, either."
"I'm their teacher. I'm supposed to keep them safe."
"You are training soldiers to protect your people. You are supposed to send them into battle."
"I hate it."
Fugaku had looked sympathetic then, a rare thing as the years went on. He'd just started training Iruka, and Itachi would start next year.
He trusted Minato with Obito every day, and every day, a part of Minato held its breath, terrified of the day he'd have to come back and tell his friend that he had lost his son.
"Obito has decided that he and Kakashi will be best friends."
"Ah, has he told Kakashi?"
"They would be good for each other."
And then Iruka had made a face because even back then, he and Kakashi only ever argued when they were around one another, and it had made Minato laugh.
Minato had gathered Obito and left after he'd said goodbye to his brothers.
Eight hours later and that knot in his stomach came true as Obito lay bleeding, and Rin's hands shook as she cut out his remaining eye.
Kakashi had frozen at Obito's last words, and Minato had left them to take care of the enemy nin still in the area.
By the time he'd returned, Rin had transplanted the Obito's eye into an unconscious Kakashi and had succumbed to hiccuping sobs as she realized she didn't know what had gone wrong.
Minato had felt the poisoned chakra before he'd ever reached the clearing.
"Rin! Rin, what did you do?"
"I do-I don't know. I thought I did it right! Just like they taught me."
They couldn't risk staying in the area, and it only took a cursory exam to realize that Kakashi's chakra and his body were reacting badly to the transplant. The Sharingan was spinning wildly in a way Minato had never seen, and while Kakashi's chakra was fueling it, Minato got the sense that Kakashi had no control over what was happening.
Fugaku had warned him once when the sake had gotten to Minato, and he'd gone on and on about how impressive the Sharingan was.
Fugaku had beaten him in a sparing match earlier that day, giving Minato his first up-close and personal experience with the Mangekon.
Fugaku had warned him that the Sharingan was not meant to be worshipped. It was meant to be feared.
It took as much as it gave, even from those who didn't bear it.
The first Uchiha had struck a deal with some demon to get it, they said, had promised away every Uchiha that came after for the power, and every time a new one gained the Eye of Truth, more generations were pledged away.
Minato had been very drunk and very confused.
He'd also met Kikyo, albeit briefly, and the idea that she'd struck a deal like that seemed ridiculous.
You had to give to get, Fugaku had said, and Minato understood that in theory, but a dojutsu wasn't push-pull.
Except when it was. The Sharingan wanted a body, wanted to live, and it didn't often care about what the person carrying it wanted.
The Uchiha had evolved over generations to survive alongside it. Larger chakra reserves to feed them and the eye, physiological changes that made them more resistant to injury and temperature, quicker to develop strength and flexibility.
The Sharingan wanted a warrior, so that was what they had become.
It had sounded to Minato like the Sharingan had a mind of its own.
"It does. The Byakugan is a dead thing. A memory of what came before. The Sharingan is the next step. The living heir clawing its way into life. It's like a parasite, living in a host, taking what it needs and giving just enough back that it's not worth cutting out."
"Could you even cut it out at this point?"
"No one has ever survived."
"Does it…does it talk to you?"
"No. It doesn't have a voice, just a…presence. A part of you but not. A living weapon that you weren't born with but becomes so familiar with it may as well be another limb. Only this one requires a constant sacrifice, fuel, and it may one day decide that you are no longer worth fighting alongside."
Fugaku's father had attempted to use his Sharingan against Fugaku in the civil war.
It had refused.
His father had died burning, and to this day, Fugaku doesn't know if it was his Sharingan or his father's that had summoned the flames.
The Sharingan required blood.
The Sharingan needed the blood of the Uchiha. No one else had the strength to support it for a lifetime.
It was a horrible, terrible, beautiful thing.
Minato wonders if Kaguya ever truly understood what she had brought into the world when she ate the God fruit.
A dojutsu smart enough to worry about its own survival.
And he knew, that afternoon in the clearing, a war raging around them, that there was no way to save Kakashi here.
His salvation lies lands away, in the Land of Fire and the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Minato is fast, but he is not that fast.
He's only human.
Gamabunta was powerful, but no faster than Minato really, and he may not be willing to carry a bearer of the Sharingan. He has odd feelings about Obito and his clan that he won't speak to outright, and Minato has always been careful not to ask.
But the Uchiha have their own contract, and though Minato knows it's practically unlawful to call on a summons when you're name is not on the contract, he thinks if there was ever an exception, this is it.
He knocks Rin out before he cuts his finger, dipped in Obito's blood.
There's a good chance Moro will simply kill them all.
There was a reason so few sought out contracts with the old gods.
They were not known for being merciful or kind.
And as the great white wolf emerged from clouds of red smoke, towering over Minato and the surrounding trees, the world shook.
"You have some nerve, infant."
"I need your help."
"There is nothing to be done for him."
"Not, not for Obito."
She'd sneered then, lips pulling back to reveal teeth twice Minato's size.
"The dog child. Is this a joke? Pakkun will not be any more amused than I am."
"It's not, he can't carry him."
"He wouldn't have to. The boy is dying."
"There's still time."
"You are not fast enough."
"I know….but you are."
"How bold, Sunshine."
"Obito loved him. He died protecting him."
"The eye will kill him."
"Not if we get him to Fugaku in time. Please."
"Even Fugaku may not be able to save him."
"I understand."
And then she'd picked up Kakashi with her teeth so, so carefully and vanished. Leaving Minato with the unconscious body of one student and the dead body of another.
It took him three days to reach Konohagakure, pushed far beyond his own limits.
But by then, the damage had been done.
Mikoto had told him when he'd finally made it to the compound that Moro had arrived within hours of leaving him in Rock.
Kakashi had still been alive, just barely, and Moro had used her own chakra to keep him that way. She'd only had enough energy to deposit him on the steps of the Hantahoru before disappearing. Thankfully, Itachi and Fuu had been nearby and summoned the elders.
Unfortunately, Kakashi had been too injured to treat just at the compound, and the Uchiha had been forced to take him to the hospital. Because they couldn't explain what had happened to him and there were dangerous parties watching so closely, they'd been forced to cast a genjutsu over the hospital and anyone who entered it.
To say that Hiruzen was not pleased was an understatement.
They had refused him entry while they stabilized Kakashi and again when he had been strong enough to bring back to the compound.
It had taken another two days of Fugaku and the clan elders working on him to stabilize the Sharingan and stop it from draining Kakashi completely.
They'd struggled to find a solution beyond binding the dojutsu entirely or giving Kakashi a large transfusion of Uchiha blood, which would cause serious problems of its own, but eventually, they had found a way to imbue a hiate with a store of Fugaku's chakra.
It wouldn't prevent the eye from drawing on Kakashi completely, but it would buy him time. And the hiate could be replaced once it had been drained completely.
They had kept Kakashi unconscious for all of it until he'd been stable enough to return to the hospital.
Minato had checked on him briefly before heading straight to the Sandaime. Kakashi had no memory of what had happened after Obito had died, and Minato would have to thank Mikoto for that later.
But he'd already known by then that it was too late.
He had never seen Hiruzen that angry before, and no amount of Minato explaining it had been his request, that it had been necessary not only to protect Kakashi but to save him, had swayed him.
He had said the right words, nodded along, and looked terribly tired, but the fear had already taken root, and nothing Minato said could dislodge it.
He couldn't find the man Jiraiya had thought so highly of, and maybe Kikyo was right. Too long in power changed people, and not for the better.
All of Hiruzen's years, heartbreaks, and triumphs weighed him down now and had left open a door that would never have been there a decade before.
It had just been enough to let the fear take root, and once it had, there had been no going back.
Minato had saved Kakashi and doomed the Uchiha in one fell swoop.
Even in his more fatalistic moments, he'd never imagined what would come.
The clan gone.
Iruka on the streets.
Itachi exiled.
Sasuke abandoned.
And they'd left Naruto, too.
Minato had died for them, Kushina, Fugaku, and all his family, and they'd left their children to starve.
For the first time, rage took hold of Minato.
***
Present Day
: :Hyuga Compound, Konohagakure: :
For a long time….
A long, long time, Asuma had been so angry he hadn't been able to stand the sight of the village.
Of the mountain with his father's face carved into it.
Of the man himself.
He was a disappointment, he's aware, a replacement for a favored child that had never lived up to the dream.
A favored child that had been as rotten as the piles of garbage in the landfill.
Asuma has mourned a lot of people in his life, and now that he's back, he'll likely mourn a lot more, but he's never mourned her.
Mari.
Precious princess of the Sarutobi Clan.
Apparently, even death hadn't quelled the anger that came whenever he thought of her.
Thinks of the sister she was supposed to be.
Holds her the standard that is Iruka and his siblings.
Hana and her precious baby brother.
Why was Asuma the one who got stuck with her?
Being confined to the Hyuga Compound left Asuma with nothing to do but dwell on all the loose ends he'd left behind.
Kurenai, though she'd already passed him a note through an ANBU, that she was ready and waiting, and his daughter wanted to meet him, and wasn't that terrifying?
He had a daughter.
Iruka. And there were so many things Asuma had to tell so many people that he never had before out of respect for the man he chose as a brother. Justice was coming, and as painful as it was, Konohagakure would come out for the better on the other side.
Kakashi. Another man Asuma owed truths to, but that was so tangled up with Iruka that Asuma wouldn't be able to say one without the other.
Shikimaru, Ino and Choji. Kurenai's note had accompanied one from Iruka assuring him his students were living up to everything Asuma had wanted for them and that if he could figure out a way to get Shikimaru off his ass now that he was back, that would be appreciated.
It had made him laugh. Which was apparently a rare thing in this compound if the surprised looks were anything to go by.
No wonder Iruka wasn't a fan of the Hyuga.
He keeps both notes in the breast pocket of the shirt Hiashi lent him but refused the offer to send a response, confident he'd see them soon enough.
He has no doubt they'll be waiting outside the compound gates when he's finally released.
Attempting not to dwell on the bad, he's had plenty of time to study Neji. Gai's prodigy is something else, and Asuma feels bad for not really paying attention before.
He's oddly sad, the way most prodigies are. Why other people can't see it, he has no idea. It seems terribly obvious to him.
Even Shikamaru was like that when Asuma first met him, lonely because even as lazy and laid back as Shikamaru was, it was hard to find peers willing to stick around when they couldn't keep up.
Even children had pride, and shinobi children were worse.
Itachi had always been terribly sad as a child. Too much wisdom too early, and no way to do anything about it.
Kakashi….Kakashi was still fucking sad unless something drastic had changed while Asuma had been dead.
Chalk another hash mark under Hiruzen and the Council's fuckups.
Thank god Konohamaru wasn't a genius. Asuma would have likely had to kill some of his clan to get him away if he had been.
As it was, Neji felt like someone who'd been coming out of the silence but was falling back in. Trying and failing not to look like he was looking for someone specific every time he turned around.
Whoever it was wasn't there, and each time he couldn't find them, he seemed to shrink a little.
Asuma had taken to sparing with him in a desperate attempt to distract the young man -boy really, because physically he might be legal, but it took a lot longer to grow up-.
Another child soldier who hadn't gotten a childhood.
The longer Asuma lives, the less he finds redeeming about the shinobi way, and he wonders if this was what it felt like for Iruka when his faith was finally broken.
Hiashi appeared at the edge of the training field and Hanabi, who'd been watching from off to the side, quickly joined her father as he crossed to them.
Asuma wondered if they recognized the painfully hopeful look on Neji's face. He was more versed than most outsiders on the tensions in the Hyuga clan, courtesy of Kurenai and her ringside seat, and it had always struck him that for a clan who said they saw so much, they missed even more.
Hiashi's fondness for his nephew was obvious every time he looked at him, and it reminded Asuma of something Shibi had said to him once. Not long before he'd died, on one of the rare occurrences of Asuma being willing to talk about his parents.
Parents damage their children no matter what they do. Even when all they're trying to do is protect them.
Funny how it was easier to accept that when looking at someone else instead of himself.
"Uncle. Cousin."
"Nephew."
"Cousin. Your form is excellent." Because that was what Hanabi thought mattered more than anything.
No wonder Iruka had fought so hard to keep her in the Academy.
There was a moment of silence, Neji and Asuma struggling with whether or not to ask when the answer had always been no. Hiashi trying to decide how to word their freedom.
"The Hokage has made a ruling." A small private smile stole over his face then. "Welcome home."
Chakra flared at the gates of the compound, and Asuma was heading for it before the others had even turned.
So determined to get there, he barely registered the footsteps on his heels, but it would come back to him later, with regret.
There was a crowd waiting.
Tsunade front and center. Her assistants and Shizune. Kotetsu threw Asuma a wink the rest missed.
Kakashi, Gai, Genma, Raido, and the dozen ANBU who had been guarding the compound. Yamanaka Santa and Shun in their finery.
And behind the crowd, Kurenai, gripping Iruka's hand so tightly Asuma could see her knuckles were white from all the way over here.
Tsunade started speaking, or she might have, but Asuma wasn't listening.
The crowd parted in front of him, part respect, part confusion, and even Tsunade's voice faded as he made his way past them all.
Kurenai had never been a touchy-feely kind of woman, especially in public. There were too many people too quick to degrade Kunoichi as weak just because of their gender for her to ever allow that kind of weakness.
Iruka had always been too affectionate for his own good.
So when Asuma and Iruka clutched at one another like brothers separated for too long, Asuma was pleasantly surprised to find Kurenai between them both, her grip just as tight.
***
Tsunade had the uncomfortable feeling of voyeurism as she watched Asuma, Kurenai, and Iruka hold one another so tightly she vaguely worried about injury.
Shizune looked confused. "I didn't realize Umino-san and Sarutobi-san knew one another."
"They're practically brothers." Tsunade's spikey-haired assistant murmured back, and Tsunade wasn't the only one to glance at him in surprise.
It was one thing to hear rumors, it was another to see it was with her own eyes.
There was, however, one conspicuous absence in the welcoming party.
"Uncle, where is Hinata?"
Gai flinched. She's sent him to tell Hiashi's daughter her cousin was being released, whatever family strife among the clan, she'd thought the girl would at least want to be present.
Apparently, she'd been wrong.
***
Present Day
: :Hall of Records, Hokage's Tower, Konohagakure: :
Tsunade had left when it became obvious that Asuma wasn't going to listen to anyone but Kurenai and Iruka for the moment.
She'd welcomed Neji back and assured him he could return to service once she was satisfied he was fully recovered.
But even she'd seen the hurt as he glanced around and failed to locate his cousin. The anger rolling off Hiashi's younger daughter only served to highlight it.
She was beginning to doubt that Hiashi had as strong a handle on his clan as he claimed.
She'd dropped her assistants at her office and told them not to follow her.
When she'd reached the records room, she kicked everyone else out and sealed the door.
Iruka's file wasn't in the regular rolls.
It wasn't in the active rolls either.
Or the ANBU-only files.
It was tucked in a lone file cabinet, almost hidden in the back corner.
Hokage's Eyes Only, the label said.
Something else they hadn't bothered to tell her about when she'd taken this mantel. That list was getting long enough to make Tsunade honestly angry.
She understood it wasn't planned, that things had been rushed and chaotic, but it was getting to the point where it was patently obvious that some force was concealing things from her on purpose.
And she had a very good bottle of sake riding on who.
Tsunade may have been gone, but she had come back. They had chosen her to lead for a reason. She may have a fondness for games of chance and rice wine, but she was not someone to trifled with, and it seemed that even with the war, there were still some who hadn't learned that.
Well, they were going to, soon.
It took twenty minutes before she cracked the seal. Deceptively simple, it required her blood, but highly effective, it only worked with the blood of the person sworn in as Hokage, linked to the scroll that bore Tsunade's rights and title.
There could only be one name on that scroll at a time, which explained the cloud of dust that kicked up when she finally pried open one of the drawers.
She found Iruka's file in the second drawer.
Faded ink and crumbled edges.
Umino Iruka. Adoptive parents: Umino Ikkaku & Kohari. Birth date: Unknown. Birth location: Unknown.
On and on.
There were a lot of unknowns.
And what wasn't unknown was blacked out with thick lines that guaranteed there was no way to recover what had been hidden.
Even Kakashi's ANBU file contained more information.
It was also ten pages shorter.
There were a handful of notes written on scraps of paper. SS and MB making coded references to something Tsunade couldn't immediately recognize.
A second, smaller scroll was hidden in the back of the drawer, and her breath caught when she unrolled it.
Close Associates: Sarutobi Hiruzen (relation unknown), Uchiha Fugaku (Sensei), Hatake Sakumo (relation unknown), Inuzuka Tsume (godmother), Namikaze Minato (godfather), Senju Tobirama (relation unknown), Sarutobi Asuma (friend), Miturashi Anko (friend), Uzumaki Naruto (guardian of), Uchiha Sasuke (guardian of) and several more lines inked out.
What the fuck?
***
What do we know of our mothers? I thought I knew her. But I'd seen her as a child sees a good mother--pure, transparent, incapable of deception.
Rhonda Riley
***
13 years ago
: :Streets of Konohagakure: :
Iruka's mother had always wanted to see him fall in love. Had teased him endlessly when he made disgusted faces and insisted he had no time for such a silly thing.
Kohari had loved to tell her own love story, with Ikkaku never failing to look adoring and amused from somewhere nearby.
They had met in the Land of Iron, only children of poor families with small fields that only ever yielded enough to get them by for another year. By the time they'd both turned fourteen, they were alone in the world. A fire had taken Kohari's family, a plague Ikakku's.
They had found one another on the streets of the port town nearby, scrounging for garbage in an alley behind one of the few restaurants that wouldn't chase them away.
Kohari had always said that the worst feeling she had ever experienced had been hunger.
Iruka hadn't understood until those first months after the nine-tails.
They had been together from the moment they'd fought over a moldy loaf of bread, and eventually, they'd managed to make their way to Konohagakure and a fresh start.
When he'd been younger, it had sounded more like a nightmare than the fairytale his mother spun.
The last week of his twelfth year, just two years after he'd lost them to the flames, he thought he'd finally figured it out.
He fell in love for the first time on a warm summer afternoon, to the endless amusement of Itachi, who was nine and couldn't be bothered with something that silly.
Her name was Kura Rei. She was elegant, mature (snobby, according to Itachi), and two years older than Iruka. Had already graduated from the Academy and joined a genin team.
When Iruka had finally worked up the courage to give her a wilting bouquet of wildflowers, she'd smiled and kissed his cheek.
And glared at her friends when they laughed.
She'd even agreed to let Iruka buy her dango some afternoon.
Iruka had been on cloud nine for days.
Unfortunately, his first love coincided with his first meeting with Naruto.
Sasuke was only three. Had been for just as many weeks now.
They still had two years before Iruka and Itachi would bury everyone they considered family.
Naruto was barely half his size, and Sasuke was not a chubby toddler.
His ribs were showing through the tears in the oversized rag acting like a tee-shirt.
Iruka hadn't clocked him at first, too distracted by Rei next to him and how nice she smelled as they waited for their dango.
It was the mocking laughter that made Iruka turn.
Itachi, high in the trees above the dango stand, hadn't been positioned to see what was happening, but he'd followed Iruka's gaze quickly enough.
A handful of shinobi, chunin based on their age and uniform, armed with sticks and boots, and Naruto curled up on the ground in the center, crying and covering his head with black and blue arms.
And, it's not like Iruka didn't know who, what, he was. Fugaku had made him memorize a picture of him every year, though he wouldn't tell Iruka why. Iruka could have picked him out from a mile away.
Rei had seen it, too, and she'd been so pretty and smelled so nice.
It was too bad she'd laughed. "He killed the Forth Hokage. The monster deserves what he gets."
Right up until the words left her mouth, Iruka was convinced he was going to marry her.
Now, a couple of decades later, he still can't be in a room with her without wanting to throw up.
He doesn't know which of them gets there first, but between Iruka's bellowed rage and fists and Itachi's silent blade, the group is bleeding on the ground before they realize what's happened.
They do try to get up and try to continue the fight, but Iruka's anger and Itachi's eye have never been easy to match.
Iruka maybe gets carried away, but Itachi, at eight, had already mastered the ability to alter weak minds with the Sharingan.
Even now, the few who have survived the years have no idea what happened in that alley.
***
Naruto remembers the first time he saw Iruka.
Which is weird because he can't remember much else from that time, except being hungry and sore.
He guesses now it's because of how monumental the moment was.
He'd been curled up so tight it hurt, the cold from the ground seeping through the only shirt he had left.
"Hey."
He was trying so hard not to cry because it always made them hit harder that he missed the entire fight.
"Hey, kid! Naruto, can you talk?"
Shock had made him open his eyes.
He hadn't heard his name in months, not since the last time he'd accidentally run into the Hokage on the street.
And of the three voices he ever heard use it, this one was new.
He had a scar across his face and big, big eyes, and his skin was a color Naruto had never seen before.
There'd been another boy, a few years younger, with impossibly pale skin and dark hair and darker eyes watching over his shoulder.
"You okay?"
Naruto had just stared at him.
"Can you talk? Fucks sake, he can't talk, Tachi. What the hell?"
"He's just surprised, Ruka. Give him a moment." He leaned on the other boy's back as he leaned closer.
They existed in one another's space with ease, all the small touches that came with sharing your life with someone.
No one touched Naruto like that.
"We aren't going to hurt you, Naruto."
Iruka had reached out and sat him up then, perhaps realizing Naruto wasn't capable of it himself then.
"You hungry?"
It was a stupid question, of course, he was, but it had served Iruka's purpose.
It had distracted him from the fear and the pain long enough for Iruka to pick him up.
Naruto's stomach had answered for him, gurgling loudly.
It had made both boys laugh.
"How about ramen, pipsqueak?"
Iruka had groaned, but Itachi had winked, and Naruto had nodded shyly and tightened his grip on Iruka's shirt.
And that had been that.
***
Present Day
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
Nara Shikamaru prided himself on his laziness.
Nothing could surprise him.
Except, apparently, Uchiha Itachi.
Naruto was the one who burst into tears and threw himself at the older boy.
Sasuke just stared.
Shikamaru wondered how long it would take Iruka to get back so he could deal with this instead of him.
And was that Konohamaru he was holding upside down?
***
Present Day
: :Archives, Hokage's Tower, Konohagakure: :
Iruka hefted the last box onto the shelf and held his breath until the dust cleared.
He'd left Asuma to Kurenai and Mirai, laughing at the full-grown man's panic when present with a tiny version of himself. He'd been grateful Kurenai had been willing to share their reunion with him, but Iruka had enough manners not to overstay.
Asuma may have been Iruka's brother, but he was Kurenai's husband now and the father of her child.
Priorities changed, for better and for worse in life, at least this one was for better.
And there were still others that would want a chance to see Asuma. Kakashi and Gai had been at the gates, Genma, Raido, and a host of other shinobi who had served with him at one time or another.
The Sarutobi Clan.
If Asuma even let them in the door.
His apartment was a chaotic mess and Iruka only felt a little guilty trying to find a few minutes of quiet, getting ahead on work that would fall by the wayside soon enough.
The Hokage was god knew where probably a gambling hall.
She'd made the same mistake every Hokage and Senior Admin-nin had made before her when they first took position and made the filing a D-Rank mission.
One week in, and everything was a mess that Iruka was still cleaning up years later.
Mindless work that let his mind wander and sometimes turned up valuable information because Iruka wasn't that noble.
None of the shinobi who worked in the tower regularly bothered him anymore. He'd been there too long. They'd even forgotten his early days of mayhem when the tower and its grand occupant had been his main target.
Sandaime had even given him access to the Forbidden Archive. A bribe trying to buy Iruka's love back, even though it was pointless.
Iruka wasn't that cheap.
And he had access to a far more extensive library anyway.
The sudden force of chakra, simmering like water just before boiling, washed over Iruka.
He'd long since gotten used to them trying to sneak up on him. He made a point not to give them the satisfaction of a reaction.
"Something I can help you find, Koharu?"
"Think you're so clever, don't you, Iruka?"
He didn't bother to turn around. "You'll have to be more specific."
"Don't play dumb, brat." Homura had never had Koharu or Danzo's gift at subtly. The proverbial bull in a china shop or as much as a shinobi could be. "You're not getting the Hitsugaya boy."
"I don't recall that being your choice."
"This is a foolish hill to die on, Iruka." Koharu had always been good at the long game. Better than Danzo, and they'd probably have gotten farther with their plans if they'd listened more to her than him.
Unfortunately, they'd chosen Danzo, and he was no match for Iruka's teacher, who'd made plans that took place over the course of decades.
"I don't think so."
"You never do. It's that bleeding heart. Exactly what doomed your father."
She grinned at the spike in Iruka's chakra that he couldn't control.
He never can when she makes that remark, and it's one of her favorites to pull out when they corner him privately.
"You still need to worry about Uzumaki and Uchiha." Homura sounds gleeful.
But he's not wrong. As much as he hates admitting it, and he never will out loud, they've had Iruka on the ropes for years with that.
They can't really threaten any of the others, taking them out would require a loss of life too significant to Root's forces to risk just yet.
And the others would never forgive if he put them before Naruto and Sasuke.
But Toshiro is only five.
And he keeps coming to school with bruises.
And Iruka had his father's bleeding heart.
Always wanting to save everyone.
He turned around and found them blocking him in. They always did that, backing their prey into a corner.
It was funny to watch them try it with Kotetsu and Izumo, who had made a game of inching around randomly, forcing them into some weird dance.
They'd once gone in circles for ten minutes before Koharu caught on and backhanded Kotetsu so hard he'd had a mark on his cheek for a week.
They had a special hatred for Ko and Zumo that Iruka suspected actually surpassed their hatred for Iruka himself.
"He's not a genius; I'm surprised you're interested in him."
"You haven't tested him."
"Because he wouldn't pass."
"He can still be useful." Homura sniffed.
Then why were they here?
They knew Iruka wouldn't drop it. They had a better chance of swinging Tsunade to their side.
"We assume the vessel and the traitor are still alive, of course." And she smiled when Iruka couldn't answer.
There was nothing to say that wouldn't confirm they were.
Iruka wasn't often capable of keeping his mouth shut, but he was getting there.
The lesson of a lifetime.
They studied him in silence, weighing what they thought they knew of him and the situation.
Someday, Iruka was going to take great pleasure in informing them of every single mistake they'd ever made, starting with his birth and ending with whatever it was that finally led to their deaths.
"Loyalty to the dead will get you nowhere, Iruka. You should reconsider where you stand. You might find yourself more welcome." Homura warned.
"I haven't moved in twenty-seven years, old man. I'm not going to move now."
"We blocked your promotion, Iruka. We can take away your position at the Academy in a moment. Don't forget that."
"How could I when you remind me every chance you get."
"Perhaps if you'd listen for once, we wouldn't have to. Your presence was the only thing that kept the vessel alive at one point. If you were gone…I'm sure there are those who fear the boy might become uncontrollable. A danger to the village."
"And you know what happens to those that are considered a danger to the village. Don't you, Iruka."
Koharu, Homura, and Danzo had considered the Uchiha a threat to the village, and the lengths they'd gone to see them destroyed had far surpassed even the evil Orochimaru and Kaguya had displayed.
"Not to mention, you're precious Sasuke is a missing-nin. How terrible for Hatake if he were forced to kill his former pupil."
Red started to bleed into the edges of Iruka's vision. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "What is it exactly you want me to do?"
"You are right about the Hitsugaya boy. There's no real use for him now. He could be ignored…."
"If?"
"The Hokage were to find the Hanta."
Iruka blinked. "What?"
Koharu patted his cheek. "You always were horrible at hiding your feelings, child. Hatake is investigating the Hanta for the Hokage. Make sure he finds them, or I will leave the carcasses of your beloved students hanging from Hattori Gate."
***
Present Day
: :Hokage's Tower, Konohagakure: :
Meanwhile, in the hallway outside the Archives Room, famed for its thin walls, Kurenai, looking to find Iruka to invite him to dinner, and Gai, who'd accompanied her for the walk, stared at the door.
"You always were horrible at hiding your feelings, child. Hatake is investigating the Hanta for the Hokage. Make sure he finds them, or I will leave the carcasses of your beloved students hanging from Hattori Gate."
Gai went for the door and Kurenai barely managed to drag him back.
Despite vibrating with fury, he turned to her and hung on when she formed the seals for teleportation.
***
One day, your parents picked you up, sat you down, and never picked you up again.
Unknown
***
~tbc~