Chapter Text
Kakashi sighed as his feet found the ground.
He looked up, squinting as the breeze brushed past him. He’d been standing on the branch of a huge oak seconds ago, and before that, the edge of a cliff; but before him now was a sea of blue and yellow, split against the horizon. Among a seemingly endless field of sunflowers, a pair stood on the path before him. A youth and a child, whom he knew for certain had crossed his seventh year.
The squirming boy tightened his grip on his guardian’s hand and stared at Kakashi warily, a living reflection of their surroundings with a head of blonde, and eyes as blue as the skies above them.
Really, Kakashi couldn’t have made a better clone of his former mentor if he tried.
He shifted his scrutiny to the lanky youth before him. There wasn’t much to note, though he felt the nagging of something familiar; tanned skin, dark hair in a ponytail, wearing the standard blacks and sea-green drop earrings. He had a stark scar across the bridge of his nose that looked more deliberately placed than the typical battle wound, but for demon slayers, a facial scar or five was nothing to write home about. This one in particular seemed almost decorative compared to the damage he’d seen in his years as a Pillar.
Upon seeing Kakashi, the stranger broke into a wide grin.
“Hatake-dono! I'm glad you've made it. We were getting a little worried so we came to get you, didn’t we, Naruto?” The youth said, dipping his head towards the child beside him, who merely shrugged in response. There was a slight teasing tone to it; a greeting that was a little less reverent than he was used to receiving, but Kakashi didn’t mind.
“Yes, well, finding the entry points took a little more time than I expected.” He didn’t let the irritation he’d felt leading up to this point seep through. This bounded field was already two days travel from their headquarters, and Kakashi understood and at certain points, even grudgingly admired the security measures that had been put in place. The journey towards the first barrier was routine, but he didn’t expect it to take hours to find his way through the rest of them. The annoyance he’d felt was at himself really, for having taken so long to break in.
“Ah, I’m sorry about that,” the youth smiled sheepishly, scratching at his scar. The gesture seemed to imply that Kakashi’s delay had been his doing, but he couldn’t say for certain yet. “but now that you’re familiar with the paths, I don’t think you’ll have any issues for your next visit.” he explained.
“You must be tired from your travels, please follow me. We aren’t too far from the school now.” The young guardian then kneeled down and offered his back to Naruto, who climbed on enthusiastically.
A few minutes later, the pair were singing a butchered rendition of a local farming song as they continued on the path. Kakashi followed, silently amused.
“I didn’t get your name.”
“Oh!” The youth turned back to him, beaming. Almost as if being asked for it was something of a pleasant surprise.
“I’m Umino Iruka. It’s my great honor to meet you, Hatake-dono.”
It turned out that Umino Iruka had been in fact, the person responsible for his delayed arrival to the school. He’d surmised as much when one of the youth’s fellow teachers, another silver-haired fellow who introduced himself as Mizuki, had come up to him, apologising profusely with feigned sincerity for the perceived inconvenience caused by his colleague. Kakashi however, never one to be impressed by boot-lickers, felt the need to correct him.
“It only means the barriers are effective. If you’ll be teaching them at the school, they’ll be appreciated on the field, I’m sure.” It was a comment that had left both Iruka and Mizuki flushed, though for entirely different reasons. Naruto, who was now standing next to Iruka, nodded approvingly, though Kakashi doubted he’d understood the deeper meaning of their conversation.
A request was then made for accommodations to be prepared for the Lightning Pillar before Iruka led them deeper into the school.
Even though they called this housing facility a school, considering the majority of its inhabitants, it may as well have been called a Slayer orphanage, Kakashi mused. He’d spent a short stint in a place like this. Most of those housed here didn't do so under fortunate circumstances, but he did end up meeting some of his closest comrades, Obito and Rin, even Gai, so he could not say his days here were not entirely without merit. While not every person in the care of the school would become a warrior of repute, much less a Pillar, those who passed the Final Selection would go on to be at the very least, part of the support corps.
They paused at the entrance to a smaller room, and Iruka turned to kneel before the boy behind him.
“Naruto, could you go play with Lee for while? Hatake-dono and I have some things to discuss. I won’t be long.” He smiled as he mussed the boy’s hair. The child tried his best to sound petulant with feigned annoyance, but took his instructions and ran off to find a playmate.
Iruka then motioned Kakashi into the room, and after drawing the shoji doors closed behind them, attached a ward to their combined frames. There would be no unwelcome observers here.
“You seem to be rather good with those.”
Iruka smiled as he settled on the tatami floor before him, placing his sword to the side as he did so. He started a flame in the small hearth between them and began to make preparations for tea.
“Everything I know, Sarutobi-sensei was generous enough to teach me.”
That made Kakashi raise an eyebrow. The retired Flame Pillar wasn’t known to be a particularly difficult man, but he was notoriously picky when it came to students, more so than other instructors. To have received training from someone who’d lived to even retire as Pillar; it meant that Iruka was not a mere babysitter.
With a subdued gaze, Kakashi observed. A seemingly innocuous act; making tea, but one he performed without a single wasted movement. In his concentration, the flames flickered gold in his eyes, which were a tide of black and deep earthy brown. Despite his relaxed appearance, Iruka’s awareness of their surroundings even beyond the sealed room never faulted for a moment.
“I lost my parents in the Fox incident, and he was kind enough to take me in. He seemed to think it would be useful once he found out I'd been assigned here.”
His smile took on a tinge of sadness as he offered a filled cup to Kakashi, who accepted it gratefully. He then lowered his gaze again to the flame, allowing Kakashi a moment to lower his mask to drink unhindered.
A student of Sarutobi indeed, the tea was just as he’d been served the last time he’d met the esteemed ‘Professor’.
So Iruka had been assigned to the school...and to Naruto specifically, if he dared to guess. He’d seen firsthand how well they got along, but it didn’t escape Kakashi’s eye, a minute strain in his smile as the youth interacted with the boy. But his affections towards the child were genuine, that much he could tell.
His thoughts turned to Naruto. It had been an undeniable source of tension once it had been revealed that his mentor, the late Wind Pillar Minato, had fathered a child with an Uzumaki clan member. The Uzumaki clan had been few in number, and despite having fought alongside one another for generations, their existence had been merely tolerated by the members of the Corp, and that was putting it kindly.
Many of them were Marechi, and in their descendants slept the ancient Fox demon, Kurama. Unlike the deliberate maliciousness of Orochimaru who was, relative to humanity’s history, a recent plague, Kurama’s origin stretched back thousands of years, and its fury was more akin to that of a natural disaster.
It made the Uzumaki the very definition of a double-edged sword. Their blood would attract scores of crazed demons, but their innate power and vitality made them a trump card in their fights to repel them. Their skills were only witnessed in the abyss of night, such was their nature as vessels for demons, and their aversion to the Wisteria, while not as strong as full-blooded demons, also meant they were almost never seen at the Slayer headquarters.
That was part of the reason why Kakashi would be spending the next two months here.
If I’m even that lucky. He lamented.
The pillar placed his empty cup onto the floor.
“Hatake-do-”
A raised hand. “Kakashi’s fine.” The formalities were getting a bit tiring, and the constant reminders of his father were not going to be terribly useful.
“Um, well. Kakashi...san. Jiraiya-sama told me what he could before his departure. He said you’d be taking over his duties here to observe Naruto.”
Unfortunately, Iruka wasn’t mistaken. It seems that the old man had been needed elsewhere, and the sly toad had nominated him for his replacement, despite the fact it was well known that Kakashi operated alone.He considered himself more of an informant; roaming the country hunting for traces of demons together with his eight canine messengers.
His eye twitched as he recalled Pakkun delivering his mission details. As displeased as he was at the time, one simply did not question orders from their leader. Jiraiya was himself, a retired Pillar, and Minato’s former master. His nomination hadn’t been taken lightly.
“Between you and me, Iruka-sensei, Naruto’s existence has been an issue of contention back at headquarters for a while now. No one seems to know what to do with him.” Kakashi stated plainly. Now he was the one feeling awkward. Iruka was not only younger than him, but younger than any teacher would normally be. But a teacher he was, nonetheless.
“Naruto...he’s just like any other child. Maybe prone to the occasional outburst, and I'll admit he has some trouble concentrating in class, but it’s nothing unusual for kids his age. He’s shown no signs for concern so far.” The young teacher gently clenched the fists he had resting in his lap.
“That’s what I was told, and I believe you. But it's a matter of time before he makes a move. Naruto needs to be prepared for the worst.”
“...Orochimaru?”
“Ahh. They’re worried. Worried that Kurama might come under his control. If he ever does...it could spell the end of us.” It would be a quick end, at least, Kakashi mused.
Iruka’s complexion turned a shade paler.
“Then why isn’t he being housed at the Headquarters? Surely he’d be much more secure there...”
Kakashi paused. Perhaps Iruka already knew most of the answers to his own question. Firstly, it wasn’t known for sure if Naruto would survive the trip past the Wisteria fields. Even if he had, and he’d been compromised at their base, it would surely be an attack that would end the Slayers as they knew it. It was the very reason this outpost had been set up. Iruka, having been specifically trained to set up advanced misdirection barriers and then posted here, had to have known this. So, Kakashi grimly thought of one more answer to satisfy the young teacher’s question.
“I’m afraid, sensei, the majority of our comrades...if they knew about Naruto, would rather see him dead.”
“You’d think they’d-”
“I don’t just think, sensei. I know this for a fact.”
Iruka was stunned into silence, and Kakashi wondered if he had been a bit too honest for his own good. But it would do no one any favours to be in denial of their situation. His main job here was to evaluate Naruto, to see if he’d add anything to their efforts. His second job was to guard him, should it be necessary. What he’d spared Iruka the knowledge of at least, was that if Naruto were in any danger of being compromised while Kakashi was here, his duty would have been to -
A small cough, followed by a strained sound from across Kakashi prevented him from finishing that thought.
He looked up to find Iruka, bowed over. With a hand clenched at his chest, he tried desperately to control irregular, pained breaths.
“What’s wrong?” He crossed the room quickly and knelt at the teacher’s side. He was struggling silently, shaking his head. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder and ran a hand down his back, hoping to lend some kind of support. Now that he looked closer, under the uniform was a build slightly smaller than he’d expected.
“Thank you, Kakashi-san. I’m alright.” Iruka said, having finally managed to pull himself together.
“If you say so.” Kakashi slumped onto the tatami where he’d been kneeling beside the teacher, breaking any semblance of formality between them.
“Happens often?” he asked, looking idly at the ceiling.
“Runs in the family.” Iruka sighed. They sat in surprisingly comfortable silence for a few moments, before Iruka turned to him, his eyes filled with determination and sharp like flints.
“Kakashi-san, whatever your job is here...all I ask is that you give Naruto a fair chance.”
So the young sensei wasn’t completely naive after all, Kakashi thought with some relief. He patted his junior’s shoulder casually, trying to dispel some of the serious atmosphere that had been building up to this point. It resulted in a few surprised coughs from the sensei, but quickly turned into warm, quiet laughter.
“Well, you have my word, sensei. I have my reasons, but it’s not as if I came all the way here to see him fail.”
Naruto was, afterall, the last legacy of a mentor who had been dear to him.
“I’ve just realised that, yes.” Iruka sighed with humor, as if the last few minutes were something of a revelatory experience. He met Kakashi’s eyes and smiled, with none of the dissonance he’d observed earlier that day. The warmth he felt made Kakashi wonder if the stove had been going for a little far too long for a day like this.
A few seconds later, a voice outside the room called for their attention.
“Senseiiii! Are you done yet?” Naruto had obviously had enough of waiting.
“Time for work, Kakashi-san.” Iruka joked as he got up from his seat. He walked towards the doors and lifted the paper ward from the wooden frame. Turning back to the Pillar who was still seated, he smiled again, a bit more playfully this time. “I wouldn’t call the accommodations luxurious, but I hope you won’t find your stay here too unpleasant.” Iruka teased. With that, he slid the doors open, only to get tackled by a very noisy Naruto as soon as he stepped out onto the corridor.
Kakashi observed them for a few moments before a familiar presence reached his senses, and in trotted a rather pleased-looking Guruko, holding a piece of paper carefully in her jaw. After patting her head and giving her a well-deserved scratch, he took the letter from her, unfolding it carefully to reveal the written script of the person who’d gotten him involved in this in the first place. Judging from the last place he’d sent Guruko, he must have just missed Jiraiya by a couple days. Late as usual, he could hear Jiraiya laugh at him. That just meant he wouldn’t have the opportunity to voice his displeasure in person.
He started reading:
Yo.
Thanks for agreeing to this, I trust your judgement completely, as you know. I’m sure you’ll do fine. To be honest, it’s not the boy I’m worried about. There’s been some activity in the north, so I’ll be heading there to check things out. I’ll send a messenger once I’ve cleared it, though it may take a while. Thought it would do ya good to interact with something that wasn’t a dog for once, no offense!
Kakashi rolled his eyes. Even the one under the eyepatch. Offense taken. He gave Guruko another scratch behind the ear.
He’d read the letter in Jiraiya’s typical lackadaisical tone. He hadn’t written any names as a precaution, but it couldn’t be hard to figure out who he was referring to. It was the next line though, that gave him pause.
They’re good kids, really. You could even pick up a few things from the teacher. The monkey’s trained him well. It’ll be tough, but try not to get too attached.
Try not to get too attached.
A warning, he would later realise, that he should have taken a bit more seriously.