Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shinnen ❯ Sessei ( Chapter 4 )

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us."

Herman Hesse

Chapter 4: Sessei

Having fallen asleep for only a few hours, Kakashi still woke up before everyone else. The light from the sunrise, now just emerging on the horizon, fell across his face. The wonderful feeling of warmth spread over him as the sunlight slowly filled the window and fell over his resting body. The first thing his eyes came in contact with was the bonsai tree that had replaced his bed. Kakashi was now aware of a dull ache in his back from sleeping on the floor. He ignored it, having been very used to the feeling, as most shinobi in the field were.

The Academy didn't start until the afternoon, so Iruka would still be in the house. Kakashi debated whether or not he should just leave through his bedroom window, in typical Kakashi style, or if he should spend the morning with Iruka. Though the previous day had been very educational to Kakashi about Iruka, he still didn't owe the man any overwhelming loyalty. He liked the teacher, to be sure. Who wouldn't? He was an intelligent, engaging man with a hidden twisted humor. Kakashi didn't make friends so quickly or easily, and didn't trust himself to surrender completely to someone he only knew a fraction about. Iruka's integrity wasn't in jeopardy; Naruto would vouch for him. In actuality, it was purely for Naruto's sake that Kakashi decided to meet with Iruka. He wanted to see the man who had so drastically changed and influenced the young Genin. He wanted to speak with Naruto's precious person himself.

The Wave Country had changed his team, he knew that well. Sakura had come to an inner realization, that shinobi die in the line of duty, that the path of a ninja is harsh and filled with bitter loss. That the people she held so close to her heart could be torn away, and she was helpless to stop it. There was a change in her eyes now, a certain hardness that hadn't been there before. She had steeled her heart, as best as she could, and was trying to come to terms with the life she had chosen for herself.

Sasuke was still Sasuke. He was still a power-hungry vengeful young man with brilliance flowing through his veins. The only thing that Sasuke realized was that, while he had a dream, that dream would not keep him alive. His will alone was not enough to sustain his dream, to keep it alive. He had to fight, to work, to become more powerful. The world did not care about someone's dreams. The world only cared about someone strong enough to protect their dreams. Haku could have killed him, and all the vengeance in Sasuke couldn't have prevented it. Sasuke knew this, and if he pushed himself twice as hard now as he had before, it was because he had realized that genius wasn't enough.

Naruto had changed the most, yet at the same time it seemed as if he had changed the least. There was no outward change in him. He still appeared to be the number one loudest ninja, still lagging behind. What had changed was on the inside, the same steel being forged as in all other young shinobi. The hardships of the profession were slowly becoming aware in his mind. He was the realizing that while Haku did not deserve death, that he was not a bad person at heart, the laws of the shinobi could never allow him to live. He fought for his precious person and because of that, he was dead. It put a fear in Naruto, a small portion of his heart was now reserved for people like Haku. A part of him was slowly steeling himself for the next time he came upon a shinobi like Haku, or even Zabuza. A shinobi must always see underneath the underneath. Many that deserve to live, die. It is a sad thing in life that shinobi are the ones that deal in death, but is a necessary path in life that someone must fulfill. And Naruto realized that if he were to follow his goals, to become Hokage, he must go through whoever stood in his way, whether that person be Haku or even Iruka. Inside, Naruto was a different, harder person, but his dreams never faltered.

Kakashi stretched lazily, but the laziness was a sham. He couldn't recall a time where he had woken up still drowsy, still in a haze of sleep. He was a former ANBU, an elite Jounin, Copy Ninja Kakashi. The moment his eyes opened, his entire body was awake, alert, all traces of sleep vanished. If he appeared lazy, it was by choice. The laziness was more a habit than anything else. A trademark, an expected appearance, nothing more. So he performed his lazy stretches, dimly trying to call forth a memory of a time when there had been true laziness. But there was nothing in his memory of such a thing. Even as a child, he had been a shinobi. There was nothing to miss, however, if you never had it to begin with. Just a whim, a passing thought.

I'll stay, Kakashi thought. After being so generous with me I suppose it's the least I could do. Kakashi reached down and picked up his flak jacket and his hitai-ate and put them on. Lastly, he tugged up his face mask in a smooth fluid movement. He had the mask ever since he was a child, and the task of taking the mask on and off was done almost without thought, just a necessary thing like breathing. Performed repetitively, so often that you almost lose track of it happening.

Kakashi left his room, moving silently, because he knew Naruto would never be awake early. But he abandoned all silence when he saw that Naruto's door was open, and when he passed the doorframe he looked inside, seeing that it was empty. Iruka's door was still closed, so he assumed that the teacher was still asleep. That notion also proved to be incorrect, for when he passed into the living room, Iruka was laying on the couch, a red pen in one hand and a stack of papers on his knees, and a fresh cup of coffee sitting on the table. His hair was still down, though, and his flak jacket was no where to be seen, and he had the look about him of someone who woke up, tried falling back asleep, failed miserably, and had to occupy themselves against their wishes. Kakashi could tell, because Iruka's face still had vestiges of sleep written across it, yet the pen was moving actively across the paper, and he was lying down on the couch, almost as if he were trying to make himself tired again, but the coffee on the table led one to believe that Iruka, while wishing he was asleep, resigned himself to staying awake.

"Couldn't sleep?" Kakashi inquired. Iruka's head turned to glance at him, a wry smile on his lips.

"How perceptive of you." Iruka replied. "I tried and I failed."

"Where's Naruto?"

"He left earlier to train. He wanted to practice tree climbing."

The Jounin smiled underneath his mask. Kakashi walked over, and studied the couch, trying to see if he could squeeze in. But alas, Iruka was taking up the whole couch, and Iruka had one eyebrow raised as if saying `this is my couch and I ain't moving'.

Kakashi grabbed the mug of coffee on the table in a gesture that screamed `well screw you!' and sat on the armrest.

Silence prevailed for a length, except for the sound of a pen scratching across paper. Iruka looked up once, his gaze switching from the stolen mug of coffee in Kakashi's hand to Kakashi's face. There was a definite smirk on Iruka's lips. As long as the Chuunin stayed, Kakashi couldn't pull down the mask to drink the coffee.

Somehow, Iruka seems to keep getting the one up on me, Kakashi mourned to himself.

"So how does the future of Konoha look?" Kakashi asked.

"Grim. Very grim. I weep for the future. Aside from Konohamaru and a few others in the Academy, the rest of them are pretty hopeless."

"Well, Naruto's generation will keep it alive, then." Kakashi said blandly.

Iruka snorted. "That goes without saying. There seems to be a streak of genius running through those kids. No, not kids," he corrected himself, "they're adults now. Still can't stop thinking of them as those children I had to reprimand every day. Shikamaru. Choji. Kiba. Naruto. Troublemakers, all of them. Shikamaru didn't care, Choji just did everything Shikamaru did, Kiba wanted to rebel, and Naruto was acting out. Then there were geniuses like Sasuke, which was no problem. Ino was too busy chasing guys to really care about her school work. Sakura and Hinata were no problem either, they were both intelligent hard working girls. But all of them, when put together…" Iruka trailed off and a small smile lit his face. "Our future, I think, is intact."

"So there's no hope for Konohamaru's generation?"

Iruka grinned, his teeth flashing in a surprisingly feral way. "I haven't failed the village yet. I'll manage to churn out something productive." His gaze went back to what he was correcting, and the pen continued is way down the paper.

Kakashi yawned, and stared down mournfully at the cup of coffee. With a sigh, he leaned forward and set it back on the table.

"I'm hungry. Feed me." Kakashi commanded.

Iruka pointed towards the kitchen with his pen. "There's the kitchen. Feed yourself." The pen came down and continued to dance its way across the paper.

Kakashi sighed. "You're a horrible host."

"Say that again. Maybe I'll care the next time around."

The Jounin winced. "Remind me never to talk to you in the morning."

"Duly noted."

They sat there, Kakashi staring at the ceiling at first, then getting up to wander around the house, while Iruka lay on the couch correcting papers. This carried on through the morning and almost to the beginning of the afternoon. When the sun was streaming merrily through the windows, blasting Iruka in the eyes with it's brilliance, Iruka finally set down the papers, and turned to Kakashi, who had gotten bored and was now hanging upside-down right behind Iruka's head, staring over the Chuunin's shoulder at what he was doing.

"I'm hungry. Feed me." Iruka commanded.

Kakashi snapped off a salute. "Yes, sir!" He flipped down off the ceiling and bounded towards the kitchen.

Iruka called after him, "And don't destroy anything!"

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Kakashi set off down the road, Iruka's house shrinking away in the distance. He had one goal in mind: The Ninja Academy. The idea had struck him while making breakfast… or lunch, whichever one the meal fell under, (the making of which resulted in damaged property quite accidentally, which in turn resulted in Kakashi being kicked out), and he decided that now was a good time to act. Iruka kept getting the upper hand for some reason, and Kakashi vowed to even the playing field.

The Academy loomed up in the distance. He had to be quick. Classes generally got there before the teachers, but not the ones that he wanted. He wanted the troublemakers, the slackers, who would show up only moments before Iruka arrived. Everything had to be timed just right.

He entered the building and stopped a random person and asked where Iruka's classroom was. He was pointed in the right direction, and Kakashi found the place easily enough. The Academy had a simple design, and contained only four large classrooms. Being a shinobi wasn't an overwhelmingly popular occupation, and not many parents would permit their children to join, and that resulted in a small, manageable number of Academy students. Rarely were all four classrooms filled. To find Iruka's classroom, it was simply a process of elimination if he wanted to do it the man's way and not ask for directions. However, that would have been a stupid thing to do, so he asked the first person he encountered and found the right classroom, and quickly mapped out his battle plan.

He stood outside the door, looking in, noting that only a few kids, probably the serious ones, were already seated. Kakashi looked at the clock in the hallway. Iruka should be there in a matter of minutes.

Ok, I walk in, make an announcement the kids, and jump out of the window just as Iruka walks in the door. Simple, yet effective.

Kakashi stood next to the door, looking as if he was just standing around, and kept glancing from the clock to down the hallway. Sure enough, two minutes before the beginning of class, a small group of children raced past him and into the classroom. He heard a chorus of greetings, and when the child-like voices reached a quieter pitch, he stepped into the classroom.

The effect was immediate. Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at him. There was hope on a few of their faces, but Kakashi held up a hand to stall the questions.

"No, I am not a substitute. I'm here early to talk to you guys on behalf of the village."

There was interest on the children's faces now. A low murmur swept through the classroom.

"I'm here to talk to you about troublemakers." Kakashi said cheerfully with a twinkle in his eye. There was a fairly loud groan from one section of the room, while the rest just sighed dejectedly and leaned back in their seats.

Kakashi glanced at the clock on the classroom wall. Two minutes and counting. "I'm sure you're all aware of the legendary scandal of the Academy."

One boy in the back, obviously one of the troublemakers by the lazy way he had his feet propped up on the desk and his manner of speech when he spoke, called out, "Everyone knows about that."

"So you all know of the time an Academy student got a hold off," here, Kakashi eyed the students severally, "illegally, a set of explosive scrolls from the ANBU armory and proceeded to hold the Hokage Monument for ransom."

A few eyes widened. "We only knew that an Academy student held the Hokage Monument for ransom. We didn't know that other stuff!" the boy responded incredulously. "Nobody will tell us anything about it."

"Well… uh, what did you say your name was?" Kakashi asked the boy.

The boy stared at him defiantly. "Shuichi."

"Well, Shuichi, I'm sure you know of the crack next to Sandaime's head on the Monument, correct?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, that was a direct result of the recklessness of the Academy student's actions. I'm sure it goes without saying that the ransom attempt failed and the student received his due punishment."

"What was the punishment?" someone asked.

Here, Kakashi smiled maliciously behind his mask. A glint of it must have shown in his eye, because suddenly he had the undivided attention of the entire class. "As punishment, Hokage-sama decreed that the Academy student would forever be bound to the Academy. The student graduated, was forced take the Chunin Exam until he passed. From then on he was qualified and forced to be an Academy teacher until the end of his days."

There was a silence. Kakashi stood there, checking the clock, noting that he had a little under a minute left. He waited patiently for a student to ask the question that he knew had to be asked. They just needed a minute for all the facts to sink in.

Finally, a small voice called out. "You mean… the legendary troublemaker… is a teacher?"

Kakashi beamed. "Yes, he is."

There was another pause. Then the same voice said, a little louder, "A teacher… at this Academy?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Finally, Shuichi burst out. "Well, who is it?! Which one of the four teachers is the legendary troublemaker?"

Kakashi tried to stop himself from laughing. He had to build the suspense. The children were now dying to know the mysterious identity of the legendary troublemaker. Iruka's generation, of course, might have fair chance at guessing who it was, since he was quite known back in his day for his troublemaking antics. The newer generations, however, were left to guess.

Kakashi shrugged. "Sorry, I can't say."

This response was met by an immediate wave of protest, dozens of childish voices rising in anger, demanding to know who it was. Kakashi smiled, because it felt like a self-righteous anger, and their faces looked as if they felt they had a right to know. So Kakashi raised his hands to quiet them, and the voices fell into a restless silence, their eyes eager.

"I'll tell you what. I'll give you guys some hints if you promise not to tell anybody I told you. Alright?"

Kakashi made sure everyone nodded their heads before beaming at them. "First, he is a teacher at this Academy. He should be arriving here in…" he glanced at the clock, "a matter of seconds."

Already a few faces were looking at him in disbelief. Kakashi continued gleefully. "He has a bandage wrapped around his head, and a rather unique feature to his face. In fact…" Kakashi cocked his head to the side, listening, "I do believe that's him I hear coming down the hallway. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Kakashi bowed, feeling laughter threatening to escape from his chest, and quickly made his exit. His form, still bowed over, seemed to disappear. He had dashed out of the window faster than their eyes could follow. There were scattered gasps throughout the class at the mysterious departure of their prophet, yet most of the students seemed too dumbfounded to do anything other than stare at the spot where the Jounin had been standing moments before, mouths hanging open and their eyes wide. Shuichi, staring incredulously forward with a look of abject shock on his face, seemed the most effected of them all.

All heads turned towards the door as Iruka strode in, and all eyes locked onto his forehead, where a bandage peeked out beneath the hitai-ate. They all stared, silently, as Iruka walked, oblivious to the looks he was receiving, towards his desk, where he set down the stack of papers he had been carrying. Finally, he looked up at his class, which he noticed was being strangely silent.

The students were all trying to assimilate the information that had just been given. The teacher, the no nonsense teacher who dealt firmly with all troublemakers, the teacher that didn't take crap from anyone, the teacher who was firm, yet fair, their favorite teacher, was THE legendary troublemaker. It just didn't seem possible. People like Shuichi were busily piecing together pieces of a puzzle they hadn't even known was there. All those times, all those pranks they had tried to pull, the ones that had always failed, because Iruka seemed to see right through them, his nearly god-like ability to know their prank before they had even planned it through. Suddenly it all made sense. Shuichi was filled with anger. No wonder his pranks always failed miserably. Against a legend, he had never even stood a chance!

"Is there something wrong?" Iruka asked the class, puzzled. His eyes drifted over their faces, which all looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Shuichi shrieked.

Iruka looked taken back. "Y-yes?"

"Y-you..." Shuichi sputtered. "You're the Yuuku no Kokei!"

Iruka's jaw dropped down. "WHAT?! Who told you that?!"

Shuichi continued as if Iruka hadn't said anything. "I can't believe you, Iruka-sensei! All this time, and it was you all along! You're the legendary Troublemaker and you never told us?!"

Iruka held up his hands defensively, but now the other children were yelling too, sounding angry and betrayed.

It was the start of a long, long day.

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"Class dismissed." Iruka said, and the words had never sounded better or more welcome to his ears.

The students shuffled their papers together and stood from their seats, a baleful look on their faces. The normal chorus of `Sayonara, Iruka-sensei' was more lack-luster than usual. The students filed out of the classroom and Shuichi walked stiffly past Iruka, keeping his eyes pointedly forward. Iruka sighed.

Kakashi chose that moment to jump in through the window. A few of the students who had not already left saw him, and their eyes widened in recognition. They didn't call out to him, remembering the promise of not saying anything, but Iruka noticed the looks the students exchanged with each other, and it didn't take a genius to realize who was responsible for leaking Iruka's `secret identity'.

Iruka glared at Kakashi. The Jounin merely waved cheerfully in response, the look in his eyes reading something akin to triumph.

Iruka had to suppress the urge to leap forward and attack Kakashi with his pen.

"Ready to go?" Kakashi asked innocently.

Iruka ground a curt "Sure." It had been a long, long class that day. After the initial roar of indignation after Iruka had admitted that he was, indeed, in infamous legendary Troublemaker who had held the Hokage Monument for ransom, the class was spent half in a sullen mood and half in a quiet self-righteous silence. Some of the kids, mostly Shuichi and his friends, seemed as if they couldn't decide if they should regard him with awe or if they should stay angry at him for keeping his identity a secret. The other kids seemed to be trying to accept this new view of their teacher. The only plus of the situation was that now he seemed to command their undivided attention no matter what he did. The down side was that what he said went in one ear and out the other.

Kakashi tilted his head to the side, his posture screaming boredom, and his voice drawled out a "Then let's get going." And his eye, which locked with Iruka's, seemed to be brimming with pent up laughter.

Iruka threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine, you win!" As one, they both turned towards the door, but it was then that Iruka felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see what was grabbing at him.

He met the gaze of a young boy, Hattori. Not one of Shuichi's friends, but one who was his own crowd, the sort of kid that had friends, but at the same time didn't have any. Smart, but not smart, quiet, but always talking. The best way to describe him was ordinary. Plain features, average height. He looked like everyone else, a face you would pass on the street and your gaze would slide right over him.

Hattori was in the middle of the class. He was good at some things, bad at others. His grades were average. Hattori was a young boy who would be nothing more and nothing less that what he was.

So Iruka made sure to look the student in the eyes, because he knew how important it was to a child for an adult to treat him as if they were equals. And for people like Hattori, just one smile could be all the motivation he needed.

"Iruka-sensei?" Hattori asked, and his voice seemed shy, but held an undercurrent of the same streak of an out-going personality that had always been shining through, but went unnoticed.

Iruka ignored Kakashi and turned his complete attention to Hattori. "Yes?"

Hattori fidgeted nervously. Iruka smiled encouragingly at him. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice showing his concern.

The child stared at his feet. His hands clenched and unclenched, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I can't do it." He mumbled, so quietly that Iruka barely heard what he said.

"Do what?" Iruka asked gently. He's intimidated by me now, Iruka mused to himself.

"Use my chakra right. I don't get it." The little boy admitted. Hattori raised his palms and stared at them, his eyes narrowing into a glare as if he could see the chakra in his hands and they were the source of his problems. Iruka stared at him thoughtfully.

"That's nothing to worry about. It just takes some practice. Which technique are you having a hard time with?"

"Bunshin no Jutsu."

Iruka nodded knowingly. "Difficult for someone your age. In fact, I had a hard time with it myself."

Hattori stared up at him with wide eyes, showing the same disbelief that most people showed when their teachers fall just shy of perfect.

Iruka couldn't help but laugh at the look on the young boy's face. "To be honest, creating a person who looked and sounded just like me gave me the chills. I had a hard time doing it because it scared me so much. I couldn't quite grasp the idea of re-creating something as complex as myself. When I made it, did it have my memories? Did it know what I was thinking? Was it really me in there, did I give it a little bit of my soul? Was it wrong to copy myself, use it, then just throw it away? Was the copy an actual person? Was it just an empty shell that I commanded? I didn't really understand what I was supposed to be doing."

There was an almost comical look of shock on the young boys face. "That's exactly what I meant, Iruka-sensei! It's like you're reading my mind!"

Iruka flashed Hattori a lop-sided grin. "Don't worry, I can't read minds. What you're thinking is actually rather common. I haven't taught you students Bunshin yet because you're not ready. You still don't understand your chakra that well."

Hattori looked disappointed. "Does that mean you're not gonna show me how to do it yet?"

Iruka flashed Kakashi a brief look, his eyebrow raised in a question of `would you mind?'. Kakashi shifted into a posture of disinterest and waved him on with a hand, his silent way of saying `do what you will'.

Iruka turned back to Hattori. "Are you sure you don't want to wait? It's a hard jutsu to learn at first. It would be easier if you waited until you learned more about how to use your chakra."

Hattori shook his head back and forth fiercely, his eyes shining with determination. "No, I want to learn now!"

Iruka was suddenly reminded sharply of himself. Hattori was so much like him. Iruka's earlier thoughts drifted back, he remembered how he thought of Hattori as ordinary, destined to go farther than some, but would always remain behind in the well-traveled paths, never going beyond because he lacked the skill and motivation.

So it was with great seriousness that Iruka paid very close attention to what he was doing. It was almost like he was teaching himself, or maybe it felt like he was correcting a past mistake. Would Hattori go farther than he did? Perhaps a little push was all he needed to find out.

"Show me the hand seal." Iruka commanded.

The young boy obliged and put his hands together, the inexperienced fingers having difficulty finding the right position. They fumbled a few times, the fingers awkward at having to bend a certain way. "My dad showed me how to do this." Hattori declared proudly as he worked to put his hands together. They eventually slid into position. "Like this?" he held his hands up for Iruka to see. Iruka inspected them, the words `my dad showed me…' repeating once in his head. There was a tiny, almost imperceptible jump in his chest when he heard those words, but the impact of them had worn off over the years, and it didn't bother him so much anymore.

"Almost. Just take this finger… and put it here. This finger should be above the other one, not next to it." He said, molding Hattori's hand into the correct positions.

The boy nodded, more to himself than Iruka. He was staring at his hands curiously, his eyes obviously memorizing the way the fingers looked and felt when in the correct position. "Now what?" Hattori asked.

Iruka was silent for a moment, seemingly thinking of the best way to start explaining. He narrowed his eyes slightly, thoughtfully, and stared strait ahead, as if looking strait through Hattori and staring at something distant. The look was held for only a moment, before Iruka blinked a few times and smiled as if he had come to a conclusion. Kakashi watched him intently from his position by the door.

"You like swimming, don't you?"

Hattori looked briefly surprise at the question, then nodded vigorously. "I love swimming! I do it every chance I get! My family likes to take a trip to the ocean villages in Konoha no hantou. We have family down there, and they always let us go swimming when we want to."

The teacher part of him filed that information away for future reference. "Maybe this will help. Remember, you'll have to concentrate really hard so you might not get it on the first try."

Hattori nodded eagerly.

"Now, I want you to imagine water. You can do that, right? Imagine the feel of it when you're in the ocean, how it feels to stand completely in the water, how it brushes against your skin, how it pulls at you." Iruka paused briefly, giving Hattori a chance to picture it. He watched the boy's face very carefully. Hattori's eyes narrowed as he tried to picture it. There was no immediate change, but Iruka saw the hair begin to stand on end on Hattori's bare arms. Iruka took this as a sign that he was on the right track, and continued.

"Now imagine something a little bit different, that there's an ocean of that water inside of you. It's just the same, only now the water is brushing against the inside of your skin, it's pulling very gently at you. Think of it as a current continuously flowing through you, like blood through your veins. It's a part of you, it's always there, you just have to feel it. Do you have it so far? The feeling should be there, faintly. Just remember the feeling of the flowing water in the ocean. It's just like that."

Hattori's eyes were still narrowed in concentration. Iruka waited patiently. Kakashi had seated himself on the floor and was watching the pair with a sort of detached interest, as if he was only watching because there was nothing else to watch. His eyes, however, followed Iruka's movements very carefully, belying his air of boredom.

Hattori jumped slightly. "Iruka-sensei, I can feel it!" he said excitedly. Iruka smiled.

"Very good! That faint feeling inside of you is the flow of chakra in your body. As you learn more, the feeling of your chakra should get stronger, you'll be able to notice it more, control it more. For now, a faint feeling will work just fine. Remember how I wanted you to think of an ocean? The ocean part of it is very important. You must think of an ocean inside of you. An ocean is huge, vast, and one must wonder how all of it fits inside of you."

There was a pause after Iruka's words where Hattori let the words sink in, and soon his eyes widened, and ever so slightly, Hattori began to tremble.

"Iruka-sensei, how do I keep it in? I can feel it, an ocean just like you said, but I don't know if I can hold it. I want to let it out, it's too much-"

"No!" Iruka said, his words cutting over Hattori's sharply, and Hattori fell into a silence. "Listen Hattori, you must not let the chakra go. That's very dangerous, you could hurt yourself or someone else. I had said this would be hard. You've been doing great so far, well beyond my expectations, but here's where it gets tough. You have to be strong Hattori, and you must listen to me very carefully. Alright?"

Hattori's head bobbed up and down, and his trembling slackened a little bit. His face still showed his uncertainty, but he straightened his shoulders in determination.

Iruka was going to ask Hattori if he was ready, but he snapped his mouth shut. That wasn't the way to do it. He had to make Hattori feel confident, he had to do it in a way that showed Hattori that Iruka trusted him the entire time, that he knew Hattori could do it. So instead of asking Hattori if he was ready, or giving him a moment to collect himself, Iruka launched into the explanation.

"Alright, listen very closely. We started this off with water, so now we must finish it with water. You've got the ocean inside of you, and it's hard to contain. You must remember something, Hattori, and you must always remember it. You can never forget. The chakra inside of you is yours to control. It's not some wild rebellious thing that can't be forced. It's an extension of yourself, it's just like your arms or your legs. A muscle to be flexed, something that should respond on command. The chakra is easily tamed, it can flow at your will, and it can be something as thoughtless as blinking. So you must never be afraid of it Hattori. Understand?"

"But Iruka-sensei, what if I can't make it do what I want? What if I let it slip away?"

"It may escape, Hattori, but think of it like crying. Sometimes you can't control it and it just falls from your eyes against your will and you can't do anything to make it stop. You just have to remember to calm down, to fight against whatever fears you have. You have to wipe away the tears, you have to tell yourself that you're in control, that you need to stop crying. This is your body, Hattori. To command it, all that you need is a fierce will. This is all in your mind. Just believe it to happen, and it will."

Hattori took a deep breath, and let it slowly out. Iruka watched with satisfaction as determination grew in the young boy's eyes. What Iruka was saying was getting through.

"Ok, now we're going to use that ocean inside of you to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu. You're going to create a copy of yourself. But before we do that, I'll answer some of those questions for you."

Iruka's voice trailed off, and the teacher sat there, mulling over in his mind what he wanted to explain. For once, he didn't know how to word what he wanted to say. The ideas and thoughts were there, but when it came to explaining it to a little kid, he had no idea how to present it. It always helped to put things into context, relate it to things that the students already understood, but this wasn't something you encountered every day. There wasn't anything like this that they could have experienced. It was something totally new, an original idea that they had never known. But he somehow had to tie it all back into the original context, that the chakra was a vast ocean inside of you, controlled like cupping your hands underneath the faucet and throwing a handful of water at someone.

Hattori was staring at him expectantly, and Iruka stared back at him. He stared deep into Hattori's eyes, which were a rich brown color, clear. He stared into those eyes, and something deep within himself saw something he didn't normally notice. He caught himself thinking of things, comparing things that just kept popping into his head, like someone was throwing him ideas, or he was cycling through a photo album that didn't belong to him, but one he somehow put together. It was a weird feeling, but suddenly he knew just how to explain what he had moments ago lacked the words to say.

From his position on the floor by the door, Kakashi found his attention caught by Iruka's eyes, which were shadowed by the sun shining in through the window. He experienced a sudden, strange feeling, like staring at Iruka's eyes made him feel as if he were slowly moving towards Iruka, as if everything around him was almost imperceptivity drifting forward, being pulled by some unseen force. And Kakashi found himself thinking of things he hadn't thought of in a long time, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking of the one time the Fourth had taken them to one of the ocean villages for a short vacation, and he remembered staring down at himself on the water, and throwing pebbles down to mar the smooth surface and watching the ripples grow bigger across the waves. The memory was brief, however, and it soon died away. Iruka had looked away from Hattori, and the feeling of movement ceased.

"The Bunshin no Jutsu creates mirror images of yourself." Iruka began to explain. "They aren't solid, like you and I, but they have a body that is sort of like a very dense fog, like a ghost. It's merely an illusion, not a flesh and bone copy. It's a jutsu designed to trick your opponents, not fight them. The moment the Bunshin copy comes into contact with an enemy, the chakra is dispelled and the copy vanishes.

"What some people wonder is what exactly is created when a copy is made. They have no solid bodies, but they can speak, move, and think just as if they were the real deal. So are they alive? The answer is inevitably no. The copy that is made is exactly that: a copy. It copies your looks, your thoughts, and your actions, but it can't make any of them independently. The copy you create acts as if it were you, because it knows exactly what you would do in any given situation. So if the copy is attacked by the enemy, the copy would do exactly what you would do in the situation, and nothing different. For all intents and purposes, it might as well be you fighting, because there really is no difference between you and the copy other than you have a flesh and bone body, and it does not. It may not make sense that first, but you will come to understand it. You don't control the copy directly; it moves independently from you. All you have to do is create the copy. After that, the copy will move and act on its own. But it will always do what you want it to do, because it is you, and therefore knows exactly what needs to be done and will do it, in just the way you would have done it yourself. It's just like a ghost, a sort of imprint of yourself. It doesn't have everything you have, like your memories, but it has your personality, sort of like left-over pieces of you, all the things that make up you, but it discards the unnecessary parts. Do you understand, Hattori?"

Hattori had been listening very carefully. "I think I understand Iruka-sensei." There was uncertainty in that voice, and Iruka knew Hattori had only begun to grasp what Iruka was saying. Iruka had been trying to make it very clear exactly when a Bunshin was, and he wondered if he had succeeded. Of course, it wasn't something you learned with just one explanation, but he was sure that Hattori got a good grasp of the idea none the less.

"Good, because now that you have a basic idea, we can begin. Do you still feel the chakra?"

"Yeah. It's not so bad now, but it's still hard to hold inside me. I keep grabbing it, but it keeps slipping away."

Iruka nodded in understanding. "That's why this is the hardest part, especially for someone not used to handling their chakra. What I want you to picture now is your reflection on the water, and only that. Your image of the water must be calm, without any waves or ripples. A flat surface, almost like a mirror. And right in front of you is a perfect image of yourself in the water. That's what you want to create, that perfect image of water. You don't have to imagine it down to the tiniest detail. Just know in your mind what you want, remember that all you have to do is will it, and let the chakra go. It should leave your body through the seal you've created and create the shape your mind gave it. It's important to remember that this is the combination of mind and body. Your body is the container, you hold the chakra, and you create an opening through the various seals you create for the chakra to be released, and your mind gives the chakra shape. So picture that image of yourself in the water."

Iruka didn't know if Hattori could do it. He wondered if perhaps Hattori had been given too much information to absorb. Iruka had explained the fundamentals of what the young student was trying to accomplish, in the simplest way he could think of. It wasn't a simple process, and that's why he waited until later in the school year to start teaching it. Normally, students gradually learned all they needed to know to create the ninja arts like Henge and Bunshin. Iruka had just lumped it all together for Hattori, and now all he could do was hope that Hattori had heard and understood everything and could put what he had just been taught to together. It was unlikely he would produce a good copy on the first try, or even anything at all. But Iruka always had high hopes for his students, so he waited with patience and confidence that Hattori would work it all out.

Hattori stood there, his average face shining with effort, his hands still clasped in the appropriate hand seal. He was still trembling slightly, but it was barely noticeable. Iruka watched as his student tried to grasp everything he had been told. He watched the war going on behind the boy's eyes, as common sense battled with what his teacher told him to be true. Iruka could feel the spark of chakra ignite in him, small at first, wild even, but it was slowly calming down as Iruka assumed Hattori was trying to picture the calm water. A minute passed, and then another, and finally Hattori looked up and whispered,

"How do I let it go?"

Iruka cocked his head to the side and stared at Hattori thoughtfully. "You're releasing the chakra through the hand seal you've created. You should just try to image that the seal causes the chakra to be released. Remember, this is all in the mind. If you think the seal will allow the chakra to leave, then it will. Ok?"

"O-Ok, I'm going to try Iruka-sensei." Hattori said, and there was a tremor of nervousness in his voice. He had never done something like this with his chakra before.

"Remember you have to picture a lot of things at once. You've got to picture the clear, calm water, your reflection in that water, the chakra leaving through your hand seal, and the chakra taking the shape of that image. Try it now, but go slowly."

Hattori stared at his hands, the index finger pointed upwards in a steeple, his hands intertwined together, his remaining fingers in between each other and pressed against the knuckles, the thumbs flat against the hand and facing upwards. He stared at his joined hands, his eyes unconsciously focused on the tip of his steepled fingers, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. Slowly, he began to think of all the things Iruka had told him to picture. He started with the first one, the image of himself staring at calm water, seeing his reflection. He was having trouble with that one, because he had done it before, stared at his reflection on the water, but he had always thrown in pebbles and watched the ripples it created. He tried to banish the image, to picture the calm water just like Iruka told him to, but he kept coming back to the pebbles. He made a frustrated noise, and thought to himself, what would dad think if I couldn't do something as easy as this? He closed his eyes and pictured a calm lake, because he couldn't imagine the ocean as calm. He imagined the calm water, almost like it was a mirror. He made sure he had a firm image of it, just like Iruka had said, before moving on to looking at himself in the water. This one came surprisingly easy. He had a perfect picture of himself somehow standing right on the water, which was now starting to appear like a mirror, and he was staring down at the perfect image of himself, and he smiled, and the image smiled back.

Hattori opened his eyes and looked at the seal of his hands. His eyes, after picturing exactly how his hands looked, grew unfocused, and he was back to standing on the calm lake, and now he was performing the seal exactly as he remembered it, and his image in the water did the same thing and made the seal as well, so now he was staring at himself with the seal in that water. Next, he had a difficult time imagining what Iruka had told him to think of. He was supposed to release the chakra through his hand seal. He tried thinking of that, but for some reason, nothing happened. He couldn't feel the chakra leaving or anything. He drew all of his attention to his hands, trying to make the chakra leave through them, but he couldn't even feel his chakra. So he kept his gaze narrowed at his hands and brought all his thoughts back to just his chakra and thought of what Iruka had originally told him. His chakra was a vast, moving ocean inside of himself, and Hattori thought of the ocean he loved to swim in, and suddenly Hattori could feel the chakra again, but now panic began to set in, because he could feel the ocean, and his body began to tremble, trying to keep it in. It was too much for him to hold, and he needed to get rid of it, and in a panic he thought of his hands, and the chakra leaving, and suddenly it did. But he had forgotten everything else he was supposed to be picturing, and the chakra leapt out of his grasp.

Iruka's eyes widened a moment before it happened. He felt it, but before he realized Hattori hadn't done it correctly, it was too late. The chakra leapt wildly from Hattori and with nowhere to go, it struck Iruka in the chest, who had been kneeling in front of Hattori. The Chuunin was caught by surprise, and the chakra knocked him off balance, and he tumbled to the floor, where he landed with a dull thump. The chakra wasn't powerful enough to actually harm him, but it knocked the breath from his chest and he was forced to lay there until he could breathe normally again.

Hattori was staring wide eyes at the spot where Iruka had fallen. His hands fell to his sides, breaking the seal. He felt empty, and his eyes were riveted on Iruka, who had laid still for a moment before sitting up with a groan. Hattori's eyes began to water, and he ran forward, tears tracing their way down his cheeks.

"Iruka-sensei, I didn't mean to, I swear!" Hattori said quickly, his words stumbling over each other. Iruka locked eyes with his panicked student, and placed a calming hand on Hattori's shoulder.

"It's all right Hattori, I'm fine." Iruka said calmly, making sure Hattori was looking at him and could see his sincerity. "I was just a little winded." As if to prove his point, Iruka picked himself up off the floor and smiled encouragingly at his student.

Kakashi had half risen from his spot by the door when Iruka got hit with the chakra, but relaxed when he saw Iruka pick himself up off the floor only moments after. He hadn't thought Iruka had gotten hurt. Winded, perhaps, but Kakashi doubted that an Academy student could seriously harm a Chuunin. Kakashi grinned to himself, and watched Iruka to see what he would do next. The kid obviously couldn't control his chakra very well at all, and chakra control was something children needed more than a few minutes to learn. Kakashi was curious to see if Iruka could pull it off.

Hattori bit his lip. "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei. I didn't mean to do that. I let my chakra go, but I forgot about everything else."

Iruka smiled wanly at him. "Don't worry, that happens all the time. I'll tell you, I've been knocked on my back by a student more times than I can count. Trust me when I say you are not the first."

Hattori's look was incredulous, which was understandable. Iruka had recently been elevated to near-god status when his students discovered his secret identity as the Legendary Troublemaker. To hear that Iruka frequently got knocked down by mere students would, of course, be met with surprise and probably disbelief.

Looking at Hattori's eyes, Iruka could tell that the young boy didn't wholly believe him. It didn't matter, really, but Iruka foresaw future teaching problems because of it. And all because of one troublemaking Jounin.

Iruka threw a brief glare towards Kakashi, who stiffened in surprise to be on the receiving end of it. Iruka held the glare for a moment before he looked away and fixed his stare on Hattori, leaving Kakashi momentarily confused. What's he glaring at me for, he thought, then realized that Iruka could be mad at him for several very good and plausible reasons.

"We're going to try this again, Hattori."

Hattori shifted restlessly from one foot to the other. "Are you sure Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka flashed Hattori an encouraging smile. "Of course I'm sure, and you should be to. It's your doubt that's holding you back. Never doubt yourself, alright? That's only going to keep you from accomplishing your goals. It's doubt that made you loose control of the chakra, wasn't it?"

Hattori nodded ashamedly. "I had it all pictured, just like you told me too, but I forgot about feeling my chakra. So I thought of my chakra, and the ocean came, and I didn't think I could hold it in, so I let it go, but I forgot about everything else you said, and it didn't do what I wanted it to."

"It's good that you can realize where you made your mistakes, and learn from that. That's a very adult thing to do, and I'm proud of you."

Hattori beamed. "Really, Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes, and now we're going to try it again. I want you to remove all doubt, and I want you to go slowly, make sure you don't leave anything out. Be aware of your chakra at all times, that is the most important thing to keep in mind. Now try."

Hattori slowly brought his hands up into the proper seal, this time not needing Iruka's help in getting all the fingers in the right positions. Iruka watched as Hattori stared at his hands, his eyes taking on that unfocused look as his student thought about what he was going to do.

It was faster this time, and Hattori had no trouble picturing the things he needed to. Every couple of seconds he would stop and make sure he could feel his chakra. Finally, when it came time to release the chakra through the hand seal, Hattori sucked in a trembling breath, and his eyes came up to meet the soft brown ones of Iruka.

They stared at each other, teacher and student, and in the face of the smiling Iruka, who was kneeling before him, Hattori found all doubt sliding away.

"Bunshin no jutsu." Hattori said, and the words came out clear and strong.

Iruka felt the chakra leave Hattori. The Chuunin was kneeling in the exact place he had been before, so if the jutsu went wrong, the chakra would strike him again. Iruka didn't move, and hadn't even thought of moving. He knew, without knowing how, that Hattori would get it this time. He had an inherent faith in his student, like a small voice whispering to him that the boy could not fail. There was nothing to base his faith on, but the faith was there, as clear and strong as Hattori's voice.

So it was with a knowing smile that the chakra halted in front of Iruka, and a copy stood between the teacher and the student.

It wasn't a perfect copy, but it was a copy none the less. It was the same size and shape as Hattori. The colors were paler than they should be, and the image of it seemed off somehow, as if the lines and contrasts were wrong. The face of the copy looked remarkably like Hattori's.

Hattori's hands fell to his sides and he gaped at the copy in shock. Iruka was sure that to Hattori, the copy was absolutely perfect.

"I… I did it!" Hattori said, and his voice clearly mirrored his disbelief. Iruka watched Hattori's eyes as they traveled up and down the copy. The boy's eyes seemed most interested in the copy's face. While it wasn't a mirror image, it was close enough. Iruka could tell the boy was slightly unnerved at having the copy there.

Hattori reached forward to touch it, but Iruka said "There's nothing there. Your hand will pass right through it, and the copy will disappear."

Hattori withdrew his hand in a disappointment, and settled for keeping his eyes on the copy's face. Hattori stood there, almost like he didn't know what to do with the copy. He stared the copy in the eyes, and slowly a smile crept onto his face, a smile of triumph.

The copy mirrored the smile, stiffly, as if it didn't know how. Hattori's eyes widened in shock and he took an unconscious step back in shock.

Iruka hadn't thought the copy could move. Obviously, he had been mistaken, and it only took one look at Hattori's face for Iruka to decide that his student wasn't ready for something like this. Swiftly and discreetly, Iruka reached forward and passed his hand through the copy's back, and the copy disappeared in a small flash of smoke.

"Hattori." Iruka said, and the boy's head whipped in Iruka's direction. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open.

"It smiled." He said, and his voice was disbelieving.

"Hattori." Iruka repeated, firmly, and Hattori's gaze traveled up to meet Iruka's. Keeping their eyes locked, Iruka said, "I think that's enough for one day. Your dad is probably waiting outside."

At the mention of his father, Hattori visibly brightened. Suddenly, he leapt forward and collided with Iruka in a fierce hug. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei! Wait until I show my dad!" The hug was broken as suddenly as it had begun, and Hattori turned and raced away, past Kakashi and out the door.

There was a silence as Iruka looked after him, a soft, sad smile twisting his lips. Kakashi was also staring at the door the boy had run through, and remarked "Spontaneous, isn't he?"

It was the first time the Jounin had spoke in quite a while, and Iruka had almost forgotten he was there. Iruka stood up from kneeling and stretched, noticing wryly that his stomach pulled slightly when he did.

Kakashi picked himself up off the ground and stepped away from the door and walked over to stand next to Iruka. There, Kakashi set one hand of Iruka's shoulder, looking like he was about to say something, but whatever he had been going to say was lost in gales of laughter, which suddenly erupted out of the Jounin and echoed achingly loud across the previously quiet room.

"What's so funny?!" Iruka demanded crossly.

"You… got your…ass… kicked… by a little kid!" Kakashi said between laughs. Iruka scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, a red tinge lighting his cheeks.

"I guess I did…"

Kakashi let out a few more laughs, almost as if for good measure, and attempted to stop. He had straightened and looked like he was about to say something, but the Jounin found himself doubled over laughing again in spite of himself. It wasn't really that funny, but for some reason, whenever Kakashi looked at Iruka, he had the urge to laugh. It was ridiculous, he knew, and irrational, but something about the entire experience seemed to strike some sort of feeling that caused him to laugh. Kakashi was impressed, to say the least, and had wanted to tell Iruka that, but he kept laughing instead. Finally, when Iruka was starting to look slightly annoyed, Kakashi managed to choke down his laughter.

Iruka could still see the twinkle in his eye and knew he was still laughing on the inside. But somehow, it didn't bother him and he was almost inclined to start laughing himself.

"You ready to go?" Iruka asked, directing attention to anything but himself. His cheeks were still red.

Kakashi nodded. "Hokage-sama is waiting, and I dare say he would be upset with me if I were to arrive late again." He said. He gestured towards the open door. "After you, Kokei no Yuuku."

Iruka graced him with a vicious glare, and stalked past him and out of the classroom.

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~*~

.Just a normal teaching day for Iruka. But yeah, the chapter just got seven thousand extra words. ^_^* I just kind of started writing and didn't stop until I looked at the clock and realized it was 6 in the morning. Whoops >.>

My rationale for this chapter: "Oh come on. If Elite Jounin Copy Ninja Kakashi can get decked in the head with an eraser, then Lowly Chuunin Iruka can certainly get pwn3d by a student. It's just logical."

Oh, and I WAS going to write the breakfast scene at the beginning of the chapter, but that's when my writing muse was falling short, so I just skipped ahead to the Academy. Maybe I'll go back and write it if I get the chance.

~*~