Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shinnen ❯ Kennin ( Chapter 5 )

"It used to be that I was afraid of dying alone. Now, more than anything else, I fear living alone."

Thomas Anthony Perez, Sr.

Chapter 5: Kennin

They left the academy, walking at a leisurely pace, one's strides matched by the other. The morning had dawned pleasant, chilly as the first inklings of autumn crept over the country and the cool breezes came in over the sea. As the day evened out to evening, the gray clouds that had been hovering off in the distance were beginning to cover the skies, in forewarning of approaching rain. The pair walked in silence, their eyes trained forward, and occasionally discreetly towards the man next to them, in a comfortable silence, as they had the night before. But silence never lasted long between them for some unknown reason. As before, Kakashi was the first to speak.

"That was impressive." He said. He was lazily twirling a kunai around one of his fingers, then deftly throwing it up into the air and catching it on another finger to continue the whirl in a sort of pointless dangerous dance. It was amusing to watch.

"Who, Hattori? He has a little trouble, but he's got a lot of potential--" Iruka began, but was cut off when he saw Kakashi shaking his head in mute denial.

"No, not him" Kakashi said, "I meant you." The kunai began to whirl faster now, up into the air and down again, cutting the air with that almost casual hum.

"… me?" Iruka asked, surprised. He was really beginning to wish that Kakashi would put the kunai away, because it was getting to be distracting. He found himself paying more attention to the kunai than what was coming from the Jounin's mouth, and he had the distinct feeling that what the Jounin was saying was very important.

"That was really impressive. The way you showed him how to do it, made it so he understood. Not many people can do that. You're a good teacher, Iruka. I can see why Hokage-sama chose you over everyone else." Words of flattery, but they didn't come out that way. They were genuine words, but there was always that undercurrent of something Iruka couldn't quite put his finger on.

"It's not like there was a mad rush to be an Academy instructor when I was hired. There wasn't that much competition." Iruka half-heartedly argued.

Kakashi's stance shifted. Iruka registered vague annoyance. "You shouldn't downplay your victories." He said, not as soft as before, but a little bit harder.

"Why do you care so much?" Iruka countered. He felt defensive when he knew he shouldn't be.

"Who says that I do?" was the reply.

The question was like a slap in the face. Iruka blinked, then turned away, a hollow echo of the response playing once in his mind, as if to reassure himself that he had in fact heard it. But the response wasn't going away, and it suddenly occurred to Iruka in a flash exactly what the words implied.

"Look, you're the one who dragged me out here when I didn't want to." Iruka said in return, the first tinges of anger lapping at the edges of his words, hurt in a way that he didn't quite understand.

Kakashi didn't seem to be backing down. Instead, his voice grew harder. "With good reason."

"A reason, maybe. A good reason, now, that's debatable." Iruka quipped back.

Unexpectedly, Kakashi laughed.

Iruka, who had been formulating some kind of biting response to whatever he though Kakashi had been going to say, lost his train of thought.

"Huh?" He asked, more to himself than Kakashi.

"No, really. I'm impressed. You're one of the best teachers I've seen and I've seen a lot. I'm not just saying that either, I mean it."

This totally new change of pace completely threw Iruka off the tracks, leaving him wonder where he had lost the trail. It was almost as if Kakashi had jumped back and completely disregarded the last five lines of conversation.

Iruka ground his teeth together, then slumped his shoulders in defeat. He smiled painfully, slightly. "Thanks, that means a lot to me."

"Why'd you want to be a teacher? You could have taken the Jounin exam." Kakashi asked curiously.

Iruka pursed his lips in thought. "I wouldn't go as far as to say that there was a concrete reason for my perusing a teaching career. Suffice to say that I thought it would be, simply, something I would enjoy doing."

Iruka's eyes flicked briefly away, to the left. Kakashi briefly entertained the idea that Iruka wasn't being as forthcoming as he could be, and decided the idea had enough merit for him to take Iruka's words in a way other than what was presented at face value. Even people lying always weaved truth into their words. Or, at least in his experience, people like Iruka did.

The eyes shifted back to Kakashi almost as if they had never left in the first place. "The Chuunin Exam was easy enough, all things considered. It was challenge enough for me, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't pass. That was an easy year, or so I was told." A wry smile twisted his lips. "And as I am constantly reminded. But I passed, with only a few scars, and a few less friends."

Iruka exhaled softly, almost a sigh. One hand raised into the air, gesturing vaguely to emphasize his words. "I never had a Haku to show me what being a shinobi was. But I did have the Kyuubi to teach me that it means nothing to the world for a shinobi to die in the line of duty. The only place it matters is in the heart of very few people, and after the incident I became very comfortable with the idea of expendable people. Being expendable, and…" here he paused for the slightest of moments, "and teaching people to be expendable."

Iruka shrugged, and Kakashi was a bit bothered by how nonchalant the gesture was. Somehow it didn't seem to fit into the view he had of Iruka, to be so cold to something.

Iruka shifted his weight, and in that split second Kakashi realized how fundamentally troubling it was to Iruka. Kakashi was well beyond used to recognizing body movements for what they truly are. It took no stretch of the imagination on his part to realize that Iruka wasn't nearly as indifferent as he seemed to be. But still, the coldness was there, in his eyes and in the stiffness of his posture and the hard edge to his words. Kakashi knew the look intimately. He was a teacher himself, though it had been quite some time since he taught any young genin. Nartuto, Sakura, and Sasuke were the first once he ever allowed to pass, and so they were the first young children he had grown attached to. He didn't have the proper viewpoint to judge Iruka in the context of teaching students, since their experiences were too vastly different.

"You enjoy teaching?" he instead asked.

Iruka shrugged. "There are good days, there are bad days. It's often times hard work, and can be dangerous work in times of war."

Here Iruka spoke a practiced line, in a hollow mimicry of Kakashi the night before. "A shinobi must always dedicate his heart to his village and none other. A secret shall never pass from his lips into the hands of the enemy. A shinobi will chose death over betrayal."

Kakashi nodded wisely. "Yes, I can understand that. It's a burden sometimes. So you took job, no qualms?"

Iruka smile. "Qualms-a-plenty." Again, his voice evened out into the monotone of quotation. "The will of a shinobi never hesitates. The feet of a shinobi walk forward without pause, and the eyes of a shinobi never look back. In all things, a shinobi is sure even when he is not."

Kakashi smiled in understanding. "So you walked forward as if that's what you truly wanted, and it grew to be just that."

"Exactly." Iruka agree, and was relieved that Kakashi understood.

The next question caught him off guard. "Ever wish you had something more?" Kakashi inquired. The question sounded like it had a hidden meaning, but Iruka couldn't think of what it was.

"Sometimes… I miss the thrill, you know? I miss the challenge. Back then I used to fight a lot, with anyone that I could find, sometimes regardless whether they wanted to or not. The only thing I have to fight now is a group of children and I've had my fill of that. Though they seem to have the upper hand on me lately." He said, smiling wanly and rubbing his chest.

Kakashi laughed. "Indeed they do." Then without warning Iruka caught a dangerous flash in Kakashi's color and his instincts screamed at him. Before he was even quite aware of what he was doing, his body had taken control and jumped backward, barely missing being impaled with a kunai.

"Kakashi what--" he yelled, but quickly shut up as Kakashi threw a handful of shuriken at him. He knocked them away with a kunai he had yanked out of the holster, only to have Kakashi charge towards him. He was still adjusting to the suddenness, and he barely leapt out of the way in time, and felt the cloth on his vest tug slightly. A quick glance showed a tear in the fabric. Wasting no time, Kakashi dropped to his hands and used his leg to sweep Iruka off his feet.

He hit the ground with a dull thud. Kakashi leapt on the fallen teacher, a fresh kunai glinting in the sunlight as a sped towards Iruka's head. Iruka gasped slightly and lunged to the side, feeling the kunai brush past his face. He punched upward with his fist as he rolled, automatically pouring chakra into the strike, and caught Kakashi in the chest, sending him flying backward. Kakashi simply landed on his feet and came charging back. Iruka jumped onto his feet, a kunai in each hand. Iruka ground his teeth together and narrowed his eyes. Kakashi slashed at Iruka's left arm, but Iruka twisted out of the way, his own kunai whipping at Kakashi's unprotected side. Kakashi quickly whirled around, grabbing Iruka's wrist with his hand.

Iruka bit back a cry as he felt the claws of a shuko bit into his skin. Enraged, he brought up his leg and kicked Kakashi solidly in the gut. Kakashi doubled over and Iruka took that opportunity to hit the back of Kakashi's head with the butt of the kunai. The Jounin fell to the ground and Iruka stepped back, dropping into a wary fighting stance and panting slightly.

Kakashi slowly climbed to his feet, rubbing the back of his head and looking slightly dazed. "Ow." he muttered, before attacking once again. Iruka was ready for him this time, and blocked the swipes of Kakashi's kunai with accuracy. He was beginning to get a feel for the way Kakashi moved. He noticed, as with every time he fought, that Kakashi's color was clearly visible. If he watched it and knew what to look for, he could predict Kakashi's attacks and possibly defend against them, if he was fast enough. He saw a minor flash and quickly parried a jab at his thigh, and returned it with an attack at Kakashi's left forearm, where the color was slightly darker. He scored a hit, cutting into the skin and ripping off a shred of his shirt. Kakashi paused and stared at it mournfully.

"I liked this shirt…" he said and threw a punch. It caught Iruka in the jaw and he fell to the ground, seeing stars. Kakashi then dropped down on Iruka, the deadly metal aimed at his unprotected neck. Iruka saw this coming at caught Kakashi's shoulders as he fell and used his leg to push Kakashi up and over his head. He had a brief flash of understanding- He's just playing with me- andKakashi landed with a thud on the ground. The two Shinobi lay on the ground, panting more with adrenaline than anything else.

"Well… that was fun." Kakashi said.

Iruka frowned and whipped his hand back, catching Kakashi in the chest, causing an `oof' sound to fly out of the Jounin's mouth.

"…What was that for?" he demanded, breathless.

"For… attacking me! What the hell did you do it… for?!" He demanded, winded himself.

"You said you… wanted a challenge!"

"Yeah but you've got to… give me more warning!"

"Then… it wouldn't be a real… fight. Admit it! You enjoyed it."

Their breathing returned to normal. "You still went easy on me. It wasn't a real fight." Iruka accused.

Kakashi wanted to say that Iruka had caught him completely by surprise at the very end, and that he had been totally unprepared to counter such accurate counter-attacks. But Kakashi was a prideful man, so he simply nodded.

Iruka growled and sat up, nursing his wounded and bloody hand, muttering something about `crazy one-eyed scarecrows'. He glared at the bleeding appendage and began to wipe the blood away with the edge of his shirt. He reached into the pack on his belt and pulled out a length of cloth, wrapping it around his hand.

"Here, let me do that for you."

Iruka jumped in surprise to find the Jounin kneeling next to him. He hadn't even heard him move.

Kakashi grabbed the bandage and began wrapping it gently around the wound.

"Sorry." He said softly.

"… it's fine." Iruka answered. "You know, Hokage-sama is probably wondering what's taking us so long."

Kakashi laughed and tied the bandage off, letting the hand go. Iruka pulled it back and inspected it absently, running a thumb over the fabric. "He's probably going to be wondering why we just looked like we got into a fight."

Iruka reached into his pouch and pulled out another length of bandage and waved Kakashi over. The Jounin obeyed, sitting Indian-style in front of him as Iruka wound the cloth around the shallow cut on Kakashi's forearm.

"If he asks, say we got attacked." Kakashi suggested.

"By what? Rabid dogs?" Iruka asked in a voice that clearly indicated that he thought Kakashi was an idiot. "And why do I have to tell him?" he added.

"Because he likes you better. You're like a son to him." Kakashi said smugly.

Iruka opened his mouth to make a come back, but decided against it and settled for giving Kakashi a death glare.

~*~

I'm so sore… I had a 6 hour paintball session on Saturday and I can't walk ;_; I've got bruises the size of your momma (ugh, I can't stop using that phrase) … what day is it today? Monday? Yeesh… Well anyways, I did a fight scene! O.o My first one ever… how did it turn out? I imagined the fight in my head and wasn't sure if I made it sound right. And Kakashi and Iruka were moving really fast ^_^ so the fight probably lasted a few dozen seconds… So… uh… until next time! *dramatic exit*