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He should have kept going. Kept his eyes on the escape route ahead and focused on getting a dar from Konoha as possible
Kakashi had told him to get the injured shinobi out of there while he took care of Pein, and he hadn’t hesitated to listen because he knew that fighting pein was a death sentence. He didn’t have the skill to fight a shinobi like that. Someone who’s managed to take down Jiraiya, one of the three Legendary Sanin.
He’d reached the group of evacuating civilians and helped to guide them. Lead them out of the village through the escape tunnels that lead into the forest of death and taken up a defensive position along with the other chunin and Genin tasked to aid in evacuation in the event of an attack on the village.
They were just about out of the forest when an explosion rocked the ground.
Everyone stood still, too afraid to look behind them and see the damage that had been done to their village. No one said a word, or even dared to breath as the dust settled. Iruka could feel his heart hammering inside of his chest, but that was nothing compared to the painful weight that engulphed his chest when he thought about all of the people in the village.
Shinobi who had stayed back to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.
Warriors willing to give their lives without a moment's hesitation if that mean others would live.
And here he was, running away.
Turning on his heel he sprinted back toward the village, Izumo’s voice calling after him to come back. He paid no heed, though.
Konoha was in danger.
His friends were in danger.
Most importantly, Naruto was in danger.
Even if there was nothing that Iruka could do to stop Pein, he could still be there to make sure nothing bad happened to Naruto.
It might cost him his life, but that was a price that he was willing to pay.
It’s worse than he could have imagined.
As soon as he steps out of the escape route and back into Konoha his heart drops. Everything is destroyed. Shops, homes, tree’s, gardens. It’s all gone, wiped off of the face of the planet as if it had never existed at all.
He wanted to mourn, but there was no time.
Turning his attention toward the centre of the village, where the crater that used to be Konoha sat the deepest, he took one cautious step forward, and then another, and another until he broke into a sprint straight for the middle of the fight.
Right where he knew Naruto would be.
“Iruka-Sensei! Where are you going? It’s dangerous over there!” Ino’s voice reached his ear, but he paid her no heed. His mission was a simply one and there was nothing that could distract him from it.
He had to make sure that Naruto was safe.
“Why did you come here!?” Naruto’s voice pierced the air just as Iruka reached the edge of the crater. Coming to a hard stop he peered down and bite down hard on his lower lip, drawing blood.
There, in the centre of the village, Naruto was laying on the ground with long black poles piercing through his hands, arms and legs, pinning him to the ground. They were the same poles that Pein had threatened him with when he’d refused to divulge Naruto’s location to him.
The same pole’s he’d stared down until Kakashi had shown up and saved him from certain death at the risk of his own life.
In front of him stood Hinata, her body positioned into the Hyūga style stance, preparing for a fight. Using her body as a shield to protect Naruto from the person who’d destroyed their village in an instance, with no regards for her own life.
“Get away, quickly!” Naruto continued to scream as he struggled for his freedom. “You’re no match!”
Unclenching his jaw, Iruka chuckled.
It was all so true. She wasn’t a match for Pein. Neither was he. None of them were, but they’d still come to the same conclusion completely separately.
No matter what the cost, they had to protect Naruto.
Not wanting to waste a single second more, Iruka jumped forward and landed directly behind Naruto with a slight grunt.
Naruto’s head whipped around to examine the newest intruder. “I-Iruka-Sensei!?” his eyes widened, panic and fear the only emotions that Iruka could see when he looked into those soft blue eyes that had always regarded him with such unbridled joy.
He’d never thought about how he’d feel if Naruto looked at him with Fear, but now he knew the answer.
It made him feel sick.
“Don’t even try it,” he warned as he reached out and grabbed hold of the nearest pole. The one piercing through Naruto’s left shoulder. Earlier he’d watched as Kakashi had snapped the pole Pein had planned to kill Iruka with in half, but he knew that wasn’t a feat that he could achieve.
All he could do was try and pull it out of Naruto’s body. To give his student, the boy he’d come to see as a little brother, a chance to continue the fight against pein.
He was the only one who stood a chance at winning, and Iruka would make sure that he got a second chance at burying the bastard who’d dared to attack their village.
“Iruka-Sensei, please!” Naruto pleaded. “You can’t face him! You both need to run!”
“I don’t plan on facing him,” digging his feet into the ground, he began to pull. “As much as I’d love to protect you, to keep you safe from everything dark and ugly in this world, I know I can’t. I’m not Kakashi, or Gai, or even you. I’m just an Academy Sensei,” he could feel the pole coming out of the ground, but before he could yank it out of Naruto’s body an invisible force struck him, sending him flying backwards.
Hitting the ground, he gasped as the air was pushed out of his lungs with the impact.
“Iruka-Sensei!”
The sound of something breaking echoed through the air. Lifting his head, Iruka struggled to breath as he focused on the scene, a small smile pulling at his lips when he saw two of the poles busted in half and Hinata’s leg extended through the air.
In two seconds, she’d done more than he could.
“Enough,” Just as he’d done with Iruka, Pein used his powers to knock Hinata back, sending her tumbling off to the side.
“No,” every breath he took felt like glass shards scraping down his throat, but Iruka forced himself to his feet and made a bee line back to Naruto’s side. As soon as he reached him, he jumped upward and kicked out at the poles extending from Naruto’s legs.
They snapped like twigs under the weight of his kick.
“Iruka-Sensei, please!” Naruto continued to please, but Iruka simply ignored it in favour of reaching out to grab one of the now broken poles and starting to pull. “Leave! He’ll kill you!”
“I don’t care!” He snapped, his fingers aching as he continued to try and pull the pole free from Naruto’s body. “I can’t stand by and watch him take you! You’ve already lost so much for this village! Given up so much for me and everyone else! If all I can give is my life in the hopes that you’ll have a chance to keep fighting,” the pole released, and in a moment of victory slide free from Naruto’s body. Holding it in his hands, he smiled down at his student. “If it means there’s even a small chance of saving you, I will give my life without hesitation.”
For a second time an invisible force struck him, sending him flying backward. The pole he’d been holding fell beside Naruto with a clatter and the world spun around him as he hit the ground, but it didn’t stop him. Even as those painful breaths became even more unbearable to take, Iruka knew he’d get up again.
And again.
And again.
As many times as he had to until Naruto was free.
No matter what the cost was.