A semi-serious Iruka drabble.
It was just another random day in the mission room handing out yet more missions to bored nins. He should have remembered bordom never leads to good things in the hands of Kohona's finest.
"How did that happen?" Anko asked out of the blue as he handed her a simple find and fetch well below her ability level.
He blinked, what on earth was she talking about this time? "What?"
"The scar on your nose. It wasn't a mission." came the reply with certainty. Of course it wasn't a mission. He had had it so long he generally forgot it was there. His parents had made a couple jokes every now and then about it making him look like he really was a dolphin with a beak and all. They would always follow those laughing remarks with bone crushing hugs. There was never any doubt they loved him and were greatful for his survival.
"No, it wasn't." his voice was flat. He didn't like to remember that. It wasn't pleasant. The tone should have been repressive enough to forstall her, but now he had caught the attention of the other nins in the room. If she pushed he would have to answer or they would never leave him alone.
Anko wasn't a jounin for no reason. She knew she had him. All it would take is a little push, "So, how?"
"The Purge," the capitals were obvious even to the ones who had never heard the man teach. He immediately went back to his work refusing to answer further by focusing on the papers on his desk.
"Huh?" came from a couple of the younger ninja while most of the older ones just looked confused. The older ones knew about a couple different purges. Various people and places for various reasons were purged over the history of the elemental lands. None of them could place how Iruka, chuunin of the Leaf could be connected to one.
"Geez, did none of you pay attention to the history sections when you went to the accademy?" Iruka sighed. He had nightmares about every other time he taught that section. The official histories were incredibly dry compared to the reality of it.
"No offense, sensei, but not really." Udon answered over by his teacher Ebisu. Ebisu didn't even have to frown, Kohonamaru bopped his friend upside the head and told him to speak for himself.
"I know you slept through them too Kohonamaru so don't hit him again." Iruka snarked at the genins. "You people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher." he griped and dry washed his face.
Iruka gave Anko a cold glare far removed from his usual pleasant expressions enough to startle some of the gennins. Even with their worst antics, they had never been on the receiving end of that look. "The Bloodline Limit Purge of Water country erradicated the overwhelming majority of the bloodline limits in the Hidden Mist. They also took out several clans that didn't have bloodline limits, but rather famillial tallents. Uminos were sailors. We didn't have a bloodline, but a few clan jutsus that made sailing easier."
He sighed, he didn't want to remember this. They needed to hear it though or they would never understand. The older ones knew war. The younger had never seen it, but no one, no one in Leaf knew genocide. "My grandfather summoned a hurricane. It savaged the land that had once given us safe harbor. Catagory five, I think. The eye was more then a mile wide. I lost conciousness after that. The houseboats sailed away harnessing the power of the hurricanes winds pulling up as many survivors as they could. All the clan scrolls of any real power went down with the main ship along with most of the family. They had a bunch of idiots chucking things at the ones in the water. I think there are only a couple dozen of us left out of a clan that included hundreds. Hurricanes are dangerous even for experienced sailors as good as we were. Between the winds and the shinobi actively working to take out the boats, most didn't make it."
He made eye contact with Ebisu. They had never particularly cared for each other. They drove each other to distraction when they were younger. "My father sailed due west full out. My mother kept as much tension on the sails as she could to maintian the speed. They burried my uncle at sea the second day, they couldn't even stop for a full funeral. Another cousin went on the third. By the fourth we had beaten every speed record in existance for passage from Water country to Fire. I don't remember much of that. I know Toro was alive when we arrived."
He paused to gather himself and dropped his gaze back to the papers. "The next thing I remember I was in the hospital. I still couldn't breathe through my nose, but the shiriken was gone. I knew something was wrong when I saw both my parents in the same room and no Toro. My parents had done everything they could, even the amputations of his legs in an effort to prevent it, but he caught an infection and it killed him. Despite having sailed so hard and so fast for so long, we didn't make it in time. Sandaime-sama offered us a place here. We stayed since there really was no where else to go. And that is how Umino Unagi set the East-West speed passage record between Hidden Mist and Hidden Leaf and how your dolphin got his beak."
No one spoke. No one knew quite what to make of that answer. "Next time pay attention in class." Iruka snipped and called out the next ninja on his list to hand the next mission in the log. Slowly, conversations started up again. Things came back to normal in the mission room, but no one ever dared ask about Iruka's scar again. The kids spread the story well enough that there wasn't any need. Anko had learned a hard lesson, some questions do not have simple answers after all.
"How did that happen?" Anko asked out of the blue as he handed her a simple find and fetch well below her ability level.
He blinked, what on earth was she talking about this time? "What?"
"The scar on your nose. It wasn't a mission." came the reply with certainty. Of course it wasn't a mission. He had had it so long he generally forgot it was there. His parents had made a couple jokes every now and then about it making him look like he really was a dolphin with a beak and all. They would always follow those laughing remarks with bone crushing hugs. There was never any doubt they loved him and were greatful for his survival.
"No, it wasn't." his voice was flat. He didn't like to remember that. It wasn't pleasant. The tone should have been repressive enough to forstall her, but now he had caught the attention of the other nins in the room. If she pushed he would have to answer or they would never leave him alone.
Anko wasn't a jounin for no reason. She knew she had him. All it would take is a little push, "So, how?"
"The Purge," the capitals were obvious even to the ones who had never heard the man teach. He immediately went back to his work refusing to answer further by focusing on the papers on his desk.
"Huh?" came from a couple of the younger ninja while most of the older ones just looked confused. The older ones knew about a couple different purges. Various people and places for various reasons were purged over the history of the elemental lands. None of them could place how Iruka, chuunin of the Leaf could be connected to one.
"Geez, did none of you pay attention to the history sections when you went to the accademy?" Iruka sighed. He had nightmares about every other time he taught that section. The official histories were incredibly dry compared to the reality of it.
"No offense, sensei, but not really." Udon answered over by his teacher Ebisu. Ebisu didn't even have to frown, Kohonamaru bopped his friend upside the head and told him to speak for himself.
"I know you slept through them too Kohonamaru so don't hit him again." Iruka snarked at the genins. "You people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher." he griped and dry washed his face.
Iruka gave Anko a cold glare far removed from his usual pleasant expressions enough to startle some of the gennins. Even with their worst antics, they had never been on the receiving end of that look. "The Bloodline Limit Purge of Water country erradicated the overwhelming majority of the bloodline limits in the Hidden Mist. They also took out several clans that didn't have bloodline limits, but rather famillial tallents. Uminos were sailors. We didn't have a bloodline, but a few clan jutsus that made sailing easier."
He sighed, he didn't want to remember this. They needed to hear it though or they would never understand. The older ones knew war. The younger had never seen it, but no one, no one in Leaf knew genocide. "My grandfather summoned a hurricane. It savaged the land that had once given us safe harbor. Catagory five, I think. The eye was more then a mile wide. I lost conciousness after that. The houseboats sailed away harnessing the power of the hurricanes winds pulling up as many survivors as they could. All the clan scrolls of any real power went down with the main ship along with most of the family. They had a bunch of idiots chucking things at the ones in the water. I think there are only a couple dozen of us left out of a clan that included hundreds. Hurricanes are dangerous even for experienced sailors as good as we were. Between the winds and the shinobi actively working to take out the boats, most didn't make it."
He made eye contact with Ebisu. They had never particularly cared for each other. They drove each other to distraction when they were younger. "My father sailed due west full out. My mother kept as much tension on the sails as she could to maintian the speed. They burried my uncle at sea the second day, they couldn't even stop for a full funeral. Another cousin went on the third. By the fourth we had beaten every speed record in existance for passage from Water country to Fire. I don't remember much of that. I know Toro was alive when we arrived."
He paused to gather himself and dropped his gaze back to the papers. "The next thing I remember I was in the hospital. I still couldn't breathe through my nose, but the shiriken was gone. I knew something was wrong when I saw both my parents in the same room and no Toro. My parents had done everything they could, even the amputations of his legs in an effort to prevent it, but he caught an infection and it killed him. Despite having sailed so hard and so fast for so long, we didn't make it in time. Sandaime-sama offered us a place here. We stayed since there really was no where else to go. And that is how Umino Unagi set the East-West speed passage record between Hidden Mist and Hidden Leaf and how your dolphin got his beak."
No one spoke. No one knew quite what to make of that answer. "Next time pay attention in class." Iruka snipped and called out the next ninja on his list to hand the next mission in the log. Slowly, conversations started up again. Things came back to normal in the mission room, but no one ever dared ask about Iruka's scar again. The kids spread the story well enough that there wasn't any need. Anko had learned a hard lesson, some questions do not have simple answers after all.