Another ANBU fic.
Title: Call to Arms
Author: ashgray_kitsune
"...ANBU is a secret squad of powerful jounin who have undertaken the village's most dangerous missions, and lived to tell the tales to the Hokage. Most ANBU live double lives; you'd be amazed at the range and variety of people the squad hosts, and its membership varies from year to year. It is a very dangerous position, but without ANBU, our little village of Konohakagure would not have many of the comforts we often take for granted."
"Iruka-sensei, does anyone ever get out of ANBU?" Iruka smiled at Sakura, nodding strongly and leaning against his desk. He wasn't sure when the topic of the day had turned over to the mysterious group of nin, but he didn't mind too much; they only had a half hour left of classes, and he supposed it couldn't hurt, especially when the mini-nins were actually paying attention to his lecture. Rather than scare them, or mystify them with the rumors, he chose to go with the Fourth's explaination of ANBU, a simple, easily understood message of protection and highest honor. Naruto already looked like he was going to jump out of his seat in excitement.
"Occasionally, a nin will choose to leave, and after a short releasing ceremony, often times a genjutsu is used to erase any truly vital information an enemy might try to get out of the former member, but from what I've heard, it's nothing terrible, just a routine procedure to protect both village and individual nin."
"Can anyone become an ANBU?!?" Iruka almost threw up a deflecting jutsu, but stayed himself. Barely. Naruto was a force to be reckoned with on a good day, when he was quiet and withdrawn, prone to bursts of pranks and clowning. But on days like today...Kami-sama, whatever little deity had thought up ADD needed to be strung up by a chakra wire and hung for a few thousand years.
"Not necessarily, Naruto. It takes an incredibly high degree of strength and cunning to make it into jounin status, not to mention a great deal of experience from extremely high-risk missions. Shinobi who gain that strength, and show a talent towards leadership, oftentimes join the running for the future Hokage, but not always. Some do their work, and go home at the end of the day, preferring rest and family to fighting. Others fight non-stop, and youngsters like yourselves will have never met them because of it. Everyone copes with it differently...and on that subject, we'll end today's class. Now!" He held up a hand and managed to get the class to pause. "When we come back next week, we're going to start in on basic coping mechanisms for post-mission traumas. It's time all of you learned what you'll be facing in the real world. I want a paper on three specific traumas, injury, illness, and poisoning, due Monday; anyone without a paper completed gets to go through a second lecture with me after school. Now, everyone have a nice weekend!" He called over the groans, and as he ushered the last child out the door, he slumped against the wall.
"Friday, I both loathe, and love thee. Now, to go get some dinner before the shift tonight..."
"Konbonwa, Iruka-sensei." Iruka had his back to the window when the voice sounded, and he startled badly, his papers and folders scattering across the floor as he drew a kunai and spun, only to find himself face to face with an amused gray eye. The Copy Nin towered over him, lips twitching into a faint smile underneath that ubiquious black mask, his body set in a comfortable slouch with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. For a change, Icha Icha wasn't planted in front of his nose as he watched the teacher regain his bearings.
"Kakashi-sensei! You scared the hell out of me!" He blushed slightly as he relaxed, huffing a little at the mess of papers he now had to clean up. "Please don't do that. It's hard enough with Naruto diving into me at any given moment in class." He bent down and started collecting the essays.
"Maaa...Gomen, sensei. Didn't mean to give you a scare..." Kakashi joined him, his eye apologetic as he crawled across the wood floor, shooing papers back to the chuunin with a tiny wind jutsu. Iruka smiled a little as the papers fluttered neatly into a stack in front of him, and he scooped each one up, filing as he went to keep himself organized.
"It's alright. So, what brings you here on a Friday night? I thought it was jounin-drinking night at the bar."
"It still is, but the Third asked me to come escort you to the Hokage's Tower." Iruka paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"If this has anything to do with Naruto's graffiti-ing of the hospital, then you can tell him that I want no part in the punishment this time." Kakashi laughed a little, settling in an easy crouch, handing him a forgotten folder, complete with homework. His eyes grew somber, though, as he watched the teacher sort everything into a neat cube of paperwork. He didn't envy the younger man's workload in the least, and he kept his sigh back, knowing that it would only confuse, and possibly upset the chuunin all the more.
"No, no..." He reached into his vest, and pulled out a small scroll, tied with a bright red rope. "This has nothing to do with Naruto." Iruka gaped at the scroll, his heart stilling as his mind crowded with questions...that was an ANBU scroll. More than that, it was an initiation test. He harbored no illusions that he would ever make the jounin squads; he knew his place, and it was right here in the classroom. The gods knew he'd been told that enough...but this...this was different. ANBU selected it's members on entirely different criteria than the elders...And for Sarutobi to send Hatake Kakashi to deliver it...Iruka swallowed with difficulty, and his hands trembling, gently took the scroll from the jounin. He could barely undo the knots, but finally, the rope fell away, and he unwound the paper. It told him everything he needed to know; why he was being chosen, what his purpose would be within the squad, his codename, his new classification...Iruka sucked in a quick breath, brown eyes catching one lone gray.
"This is really..."
"...Yes, it is. They...they wanted new blood, so to speak, if what I heard was correct." He stood, red rope in hand, as the chuunin...no, jounin now, got to his feet and set his work on the desk, absently rolling up the scroll. Kakashi handed him the tie, then waited patiently for the summons to be hidden in Iruka's own vest. "Are you alright, Iruka-sensei?"
"I...yes, yes I am. I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei. So...uh...we need to go now, right?"
"Iruka-sensei..."
"Yes?" Kakashi drew close to him, sighing a little. He didn't like the way this had been handed out so casually by Danzo; he'd never been fond of the arrogant elder nin, but least of all in his assessment of the potential candidates for ANBU's newly developed amphibious squad... However...he caught Iruka's shoulder, all but forcing the younger man to look up at him, and meet his gaze squarely.
"Just...remember one thing. No matter what they may say, you don't have to join if you don't want to. You know the risks possibly better than anyone, and that's why I'm-"
"Blabbing about things you shouldn't even be thinking about, Kakashi-kun." The older jounin turned, his eye emotionless as he stared at a certain Mitarashi Anko. She sat on the window sill, cleaning her fingernails with a kunai, smirking through an easy glare. "C'mon, Iruka-kun, come play with the big kids now, and let Kakashi-kun go worry with his dogs over a bone or two." Iruka bristled at that, and Kakashi kept a smile back as the dark-skinned new jounin stepped forward, his brown eyes flashing. He picked up his stack of paperwork and set it neatly into his side bag, tying down the straps to protect his students' work from the winds outside.
"Thank you, Anko-san, but I believe that Kakashi-san was going to take me to the Tower. Kakashi-san, if you would? I'd like to take the homework and essays with me, so that I have one less thing to worry about over the weekend. Anko-san, please close the window when you leave; certain pre-genin like to sneak in over the off-hours." He replied sharply, giving her his best teacher's glare in addition. Iruka turned back to the silver-haired jounin, who was fighting a smirk and losing easily, and motioned for the man to follow him. Kakashi did, with pleasure, and sauntered after the irate brunette, drawing even with him as they left the Academy and turned toward the Tower.
"I'm sorry that Anko was so rude, Iruka-sensei." He said gently, his eye softening as he glanced at the new jounin. He'd never really had a chance to get to know the teacher before all of this; he'd paid attention to the jinnchuriki's sensei, of course, but never in any lengthy capacity. Well, you'll have plenty of time now; he's your trainee for the next six months. Iruka shook his head and smiled, chuckling.
"You don't need to be, Kakashi-sensei. I'm kind of glad she showed up; I needed to vent. So...this is a bit of a shock to me, I will admit..."
"You do know that you can back out, right?"
"...I do. But...I don't want to." Kakashi stopped at that, and surveyed Iruka, who gazed back up at him with calm eyes. "You want to know why."
"I would, yes."
"...Everyone knows that I'll never make jounin. I love to teach too much, and I don't have quite the stamina to take on so many missions, one after another...and I don't want to do that. But...this..."
"Is different?"
"...Very. This is...an honor, and a chance to protect my home on a level that as a regular jounin, I could never do."
"...That's why you teach, isn't it? So you can do the same for your students?"
"Exactly."
"Huh..."
"Surprising that a chuunin would feel that way?"
"Not really...just, surprising that someone from another country could feel so strongly about a place he wasn't born in." Iruka chuckled slightly, and started walking again, Kakashi following alongside at a light lope.
"Mm...I may have been born in Wave, but we moved here when I was barely a babe. I was raised in Leaf, and it's more my home than Wave was. Though, it is interesting, considering what I'll be doing..."
"Ah, I'm afraid we'll have to wait until we talk to the Third. No public discussion, Iruka-sensei." The new jounin rolled his eyes and clucked his tongue, but smiled nonetheless.
"Hmph...Well, we're nearly there-where on earth are you going?" Iruka looked completely nonplussed as Kakashi leapt into one of the trees at the Tower's base, and the Copy Nin poked his head out, upside down in front of the teacher, his eye curved in a smile.
"Up my usual route. The guards know me. I'm afraid, though, that you'll have to go through the front door; they do chakra checks nowadays after hours." Iruka sighed heavily and sidestepped the hanging nin, making his way up to the large doors still thrown open to allow for a cooling night breeze. Genma and Raidou were lounging against the doors, and the senbon-sucking jounin lifted his hand in a wave as the teacher approached.
"Konbonwa, Iruka-sensei. What's your business with the Hokage tonight?"
"Just some paperwork that he called me in for. I'm probably on the list, ne?" As Raidou checked him in and got his signature, Kakashi reappeared at the end of the hallway, his spiky hair lightly dusted with bits of leaf.
"Maa, what's the hold-up?"
"You know the rules, Kakashi."
"Yeah, yeah..." But patiently, the older jounin waited, supressing a yawn. He wasn't used to being up this late without alcohol in him, and he certainly wasn't used to running errands like this. But...he didn't mind looking after Iruka. He was a mature adult, quite used to thinking for himself, and used to being creative in the face of danger. And besides that, he wasn't so unhappy with six months of living with, training with...showering with the attractive brunette. It was probably a good thing that his mask hid his lower face; there was no mistaking the smirk on his face, no matter how cheerful his eye looked. Of course, Genma had sensed it; but then, Genma was also gay as a three-yen coin. Not that he himself was much different...
"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka's voice was softer now, and Kakashi found himself falling a little into those perfect brown eyes...
"Hai?" His voice had come out huskier than he'd planned, and he couldn't help towering, just a little, over the teacher, curving his body...before snapping out of it when he realized what he was doing. Damn... "Ah, gomen. C'mon, let's head up to visit the Sandaime." As he turned and led the way, he brought one hand up to his mask, wondering idly why he hadn't kept his guard up as high as usual. Was it something Iruka was doing? Or...was it the way Iruka was, that kind, stern, yet understanding soul brushing aside his barriers as though they were little more than veils. He'd done it at the last exams, standing up for all of his students, though it was clear that Naruto had wiggled his way into the jounin's heart, and he'd done it again when he'd seen Kakashi eyeballing the young jinnchuuriki. As they started up the stairs, however, he pushed those thoughts to the side for the time being; right now, his biggest priority was to his new trainee, and since he had led the Root...it was Iruka's turn to learn to lead the Wave.