Chapter 4
“So.” Iruka laced his fingers together. “How did he do?”
Shino ducked back inside his collar like a turtle. Iruka couldn’t see his eyes but if he could he thought they would be wide in fear. Anko slapped a hand on his back, making the young man jump.
“He did great”, she announced cheerily, “I’m proud. Apparently we make great teachers of teaching.”
Iruka raised an eyebrow, looking towards Shino. “Is that so?”
Anko nodded. “He’s good. But still too quiet, and not strict enough.”
The trainee lowered his head modestly, shuffling his feet. He probably wasn’t used to the vast emptiness of the classroom this early, before the children had all arrived. It had taken Iruka a while to get used to it, himself, but now the echoing of his own tapping and the scratching of pen on paper, combined with the weak dawn light cutting through the windows in ribbons, calmed him in a way.
He looked Shino over. He stood awkward and silent. Iruka wondered if he had been the same as a trainee; although, of course, training had been different back then.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"Hey! Anybody want to go for drinks on Friday?"
Ebisu's head poked around the corner and, inch by inch, his entire body, dressed all in black, came into view.
"Ebisu, we're having a meeting", Iruka scolded, frowning at the interruption.
“Oh, stuff the meeting”, scoffed Anko, “Shino is doing fine, and you know it.”
“Actually, Anko”, Shino spoke up, voice low and monotone, “I would appreciate any advice you could-”
“Great! We’ll be heading to Kyuubi no Kitsune. You know, the new bar?”, said Ebisu.
Iruka thought that he knew it: With a name like that, it was hard to miss it, after all. It was not far from where Sakura’s house was. The one now standing empty and unused.
Anko looked back and forth between the others. “Are we celebrating something? You know, besides Shino’s natural talent for teaching?”
Shino opened his mouth: “I-”
“Not really.” Ebisu shrugged. “Genma and Gai and I just decided to go out for a few drinks. We still get together sometimes, with Choza, usually for a meal.”
Of course they did. Spreading his hands in front of him, Iruka began; “Well, we don’t really want to crash your squad reunion…”
Ebisu laughed a short, sharp laugh. “You wouldn’t be crashing anything, trust me. Genma is inviting Kurenai and Raidou, and Gai said he would bring a couple of people, so it could be a fun evening.”
Anko sighed and leaned back on one of the desks. “I’m up for that. I haven’t been out anywhere with Genma since that one time with the shuriken. Gods, that was a few years back.”
A silent collective agreement was made by everyone else in the room not to ask.
“I’ll go”, a quiet voice said out of nowhere, and Iruka started; both because he’d momentarily forgotten that Shino was still standing in the corner, and because it was always a shock to him to be reminded that the kids, his kids, were old enough to drink now, even though many of them were having kids themselves.
“What about you, boss?”, Anko asked, leaning forward. He could hear the light teasing in the final word but deigned to ignore it.
Iruka deliberated. For one, drinking with Shino would be strange. Still, it couldn’t be stranger than he, Naruto, and Shikamaru drinking together at Chouji’s wedding a few months before. Iruka didn’t think it could get any weirder than that. So maybe he should go. He liked Gai, and never got to see him enough. Then he thought of all the paperwork.
“I shouldn’t…”
“Oh, come on”, wheedled Ebiau. “Just for a little while?”
Shino was giving him what he thought was a pleading look. Laying his palms flat on his desk Iruka sighed, relenting.
“Fine. I’ll go.”
Anko shot him a smile that reminded him of when they were both children, a genuine smile devoid of her usual playfulness. “We’ll have fun. You’ll see.”
Iruka wondered why he still didn’t have much faith in her assurance.
*
Time waited for no man, and even less so for Anko; if anything, it seemed to speed up to her will. The more she talked about Friday evening, the closer it seemed to draw. Iruka knew it would only be minutes before she appeared in his classroom. He stared down at the page in front of him as he jotted notes, frantically trying to finish his lesson plans for next week: If he got them out of the way he wouldn't have to spend his weekend worrying about them. He didn't exactly have time in the week to do it, between keeping an eye on the kids and marking work and meetings with parents and teachers alike.
He had just managed to get to his third class on Friday when the easily recognizable and immediately ominous footsteps of Anko drew closer in the hallway, shadowed by Shino's dragging, timid gait.
“Come on Iruka”, Anko announced as her indomitable figure appeared in the doorway, “we’re going.”
“Ah, okay.” He ducked his head back down towards the desk, hoping they may leave without him. “I just need ten more minutes. I’m not finished with the lesson plans.”
‘Just tell them you’re giving a demonstration and then make some shit up”, she told him. “That’s what I do when I forget to plan.”
Iruka paused in his scribbling to raise his eyebrows at her.
“What? It doesn’t happen often.”
Shino gave his head a small shake in the doorway behind her, just a slow left to right and center again movement.
Iruka sighed and arranged his papers on his desk. He would just have to return- probably Saturday morning if he wasn't too hungover- to finish them.
Anko let out an excited whoop and all but pushed him out the door.
*
They were the last to arrive at the bar. Genma, Raidou, and Kurenai were sitting at one table, looking at a photo Kurenai held, of Mirai. Anko immediately pushed away from the rest of the group to join them; most likely to share stories of the little girl who had become one of her favorite students.
Iruka and Shino made eye contact and, as if by unanimous vote, turned to sit at the next table along, with Gai, Ebisu, and two men who had their backs to them.
“Hello, my esteemed colleagues.” Ebisu waved one hand. Iruka nodded, attempting to dodge the wave of alcohol-tainted breath that floated in his way as he dragged a chair over.
Shino pulled another chair over to sit opposite Iruka, and Iruka looked slightly to his left, his mouth falling agape when he spotted the faces of the two men. One was Aoba: A man he knew vaguely from around the village and a few missions together when they were younger. And the other was Yamato.
Yamato’s face was familiar enough to him now, although they also didn’t see each other often. Iruka had caught glimpses of him about the village and in Kakashi’s office, but that was about it.
Leaning in as though he were about to share a secret, his cheeks bright red, Gai muttered; “I brought Aoba and Yamato because they’re part of the Boat Squad.”
Staring back at the bowl-cut sporting man, Iruka realized three things: That Gai, like Ebisu, was already drunk; that he had seen Iruka staring at the two of them, for Gai may have been silly but he wasn’t stupid and he would have noticed that; and that the ‘Boat Squad’ was an inside joke that he would not know.
“Have you met Aoba?”, Gai pressed on, still eyeing Iruka as he gestured to the man with the spiked hair and dark glasses.
Aoba nodded so vigorously his glasses slipped askew on his face, revealing a glimpse of beady eyes. “Sup.”
Iruka nodded in return, less dramatically.
“And this is Yamato.”
“We’ve met”, Iruka told Gai.
“Oh, really?” Ebisu tightened his bandana. “When?”
“We’ve met a few times, actually”, Yamato said with a small chuckle, meeting Iruka’s gaze with pitch-black eyes. He didn't seem so intoxicated as the others at the table.
Iruka racked his brains for the last time they had spoken and eventually remembered: In Sakura’s house, about a year before.
“Well, Kakashi had already told me that before, of course”, Gai responded, grinning. He leaned over to mutter something to Ebisu, who rolled his eyes. Iruka elected to ignore them: He had learned that was likely the best option when Gai started talking.
His gaze drifted about the table, only for him to realize that Yamato was looking at him, his hands folded neatly on the table in front of himself. Iruka quirked an eyebrow.
“I think the last time I saw you was before Sakura went traveling”, the man said.
“Hm.”
“You’re not happy about it, are you?”
Iruka sighed. “I’m happy for her. Of course, I wish she were still here, but I understand that at some point you have to let them go.” He hesitated, feeling that he was speaking too much from a parental perspective. “I’m glad she’s with Sasuke, though.”
“Really?” Yamato drained the last of his glass. “I would have thought it would’ve been the opposite.”
He had largely avoided this topic since the beginning of the war. But here was Yamato, who likely knew as much if not more than he did. So he said; “I heard about what he became. I saw it, too. But I think deep down he’s still just the boy who misses his family. And maybe being with Sakura can provide some semblance of what he lost.”
“I think that’s an optimistic take on that relationship. But then, I don’t really get that kind of thing. My work never allowed for it.” Yamato glanced about. “Speaking of which, I need to go soon. I have to work in the morning.”
“What is it that you do, exactly?”, Iruka took the opportunity to ask. He had been curious since their last meeting, especially since Kakashi had always been guarded with not revealing the missions he had Yamato doing.
“Whatever Kakashi asks of me.” He spread his hands wide in a shrugging gesture, and then gave a chuckle- an unnatural, stilted sound. “No, the easy answer is that I do what needs to be done to protect the village.”
That was a rather vague answer, Iruka thought. He watched unhappily as Yamato stood. The way he was standing was unnatural, too: Half-stooping in on himself, not looking in Iruka's direction, his hands tucked into his vest.
Across the table, Gai raised his thick eyebrows. “You’re leaving already?” His voice boomed across the entire room like a crack of thunder, and several people at other tables turned in their direction.
“I’m tired.” Yamato threw him a tiny, apologetic smile. “Sorry, Gai.”
From where he was half-slumped on the table, Aoba heckled; “Boo. Boo.”
Yamato shook his head. “I’ll see you next time.”
He waved as he left, and Iruka’s head was filled with thoughts on how Yamato always seemed to be leaving as he was arriving; how they never shared a space for long; how the nature of their way of life was that nothing lasted for very long, except maybe the will of fire.
He took a long gulp from his drink and let his head droop towards the table. He hadn’t been here very long at all, and he already felt drunk.
Somebody taking the empty seat Yamato had recently vacated had him glancing up to see Shino’s shadowed face, blank as ever. He must have escaped from Ebisu and Gai’s conversation.
“Shino?”, he asked, as the boy- no, man- continued to look down at him. He raised his head and attempted to appear composed.
“I wanted to ask you something”, Shino said slowly.
Iruka rubbed one hand over his forehead. “Fire away.”
“Are parent-teacher evenings always so… Daunting? I went to one with Anko, and well…”
Iruka nursed his drink and thought it over. Remembered the evening he hid in his office listening to Inoichi, Choza, and Shikaku, all formidable clan heads, chatting as they waited to be called in; all of the times Hiashi Hyuuga stared straight through him, occasionally literally, as he spoke; and, of course, the unforgettable incident where Tsume ended up vaulting the table between them. But then there was the time Hinata had shyly smiled and told him he was her favorite teacher before following her father away; the times Sakura’s parents had marvelled at his every word as they had little experience of the shinobi world; the one year Naruto had marched in, all by himself, demanding that Iruka give him a parent’s evening because off of the other kids got one, and how they had gone for ramen after Iruka was done with everyone else.
After a beat, he told Shino; “Yeah, you have good and bad ones.”
Shino dipped his head, as though that was the answer he had been expecting.
The drinks continued to come. Iruka watched Shino’s glass with interest, as the alcohol there seemed to be disappearing at a rate far slower than his own. At least Shino was responsible, he supposed. He shouldn’t have worried about him. And it wasn’t entirely Iruka’s fault that he was getting even drunker; Gai was very liberal in buying drinks for all of his friends.
Iruka found himself in Shino’s place, drawn into conversation with Ebisu and Aoba. It was a bit of an unsettling feeling: It was weird talking with two people whose eyes he was unable to see. Especially when he could see his own ruddy face reflected back at himself in their glasses.
“I heard you asking about Yamato’s role earlier”, Aoba said as he leaned in towards Iruka. He was holding tight to his glass with one hand and there was alcohol on his breath; even in his addled state Iruka knew that, when it came to Aoba, that was a bad sign. He was known among the chunin and jonin alike for being a loudmouth, especially after a few drinks.
Iruka froze.
“I was just curious. Kakashi is always sending him to do things; he clearly trusts Yamato a lot.”
“Those two practically grew up in the Anbu together.” Aoba waved his nearly-empty glass. “He’s one of Kakashi’s most loyal and highest-ranking operatives now. I heard Kakashi sends him to assassinate people.”
“Hey! That’s not true!”
Iruka hadn’t even noticed Gai was listening to their conversation; neither had Aoba, it seemed, for he immediately looked embarrassed.
“He can use Mokuton, though”, Ebisu said musingly. “Only the First could do that. He’s powerful enough to be an assassin.”
“Kakashi doesn’t use Yamato as an assassin!”, Gai huffed. He appeared genuinely upset about the assumption, which was odd. Iruka had never thought Gai and Yamato were close; although he supposed, if Gai had invited him that evening, they must have at least been friends. Perhaps it was that Boat Squad thing, whatever that was.
Aoba snorted. “He uses him for something.”
Iruka wasn't sure whether he believed it. Yamato just seemed nice. Too nice to be an assassin. But then he knew that how nice somebody was definitely did not preclude them from being a soldier, a murderer. Even so, it didn't sit right with him. Yamato could be a little odd and creepy at times, sure, but that was before… Well, getting to know him a bit.
Gai leaned into Iruka’s space, on the other side from where Aoba was still doing much the same, and he felt trapped. “While it is true that Yamato is a highly capable and trustworthy young man, he doesn’t go on many serious missions anymore. Mostly because there really aren’t as many as there were before the last war. Now we have no need of assassins: The villages are truly united in peace.”
Iruka eyed him suspiciously. He wasn’t sure that true peace was something he really believed was possible.
“So what does Yamato do then?”, he asked.
Gai blustered for a moment before relaxing back in his wheelchair. "He serves as a guard. For dangerous criminals. War prisoners and the like."
Iruka settled back. Huh. War prisoners. He racked his brains for anybody he could think of who was taken prisoner; most of the aggressors in the last war were killed. Perhaps there were some low-level henchmen that they had captured who Yamato was watching. He has the feeling he’s forgetting someone, though. Someone impor-
He jerked around at the sound of a commotion and Shino’s pleading voice.
"Anko. Anko, please get off of the bar."
Rocketing to his feet, Iruka pivoted to find his colleagues; one attempting to climb on top of the bar, holding her skirt down with one hand, while the other tried to reason with her. Everyone else in the bar seemed to act as if this was a normal occurrence: Genma was asleep, his head nestled in his arms, and strands of hair falling across his face. Gai had rejoined Raidou and Kurenai to reminisce- loudly- about old times. Ebisu and Aoba were deep in debate about something.
He dashed over to help Shino, waving an apologetic hand to the bartender. Anko wailed like a banshee as he pulled her down, only to then sag in his arms. He hadn't been expecting that; he half-dropped, half-set her on the floor, and he and Shino swapped panicked looks before squatting and attempting to rouse her.
Once they realized what was happening Gai and Kurenai came over to help. Although, Gai's 'help' largely consisted of chattering about his rival and what a great job he was doing as a leader, which of course was a testament to Gai's own strength and amazing abilities that his rival was so wonderful.
They managed to get Anko back on her feet, supported between Iruka and Kurenai.
"I can walk", she muttered in protest, her breath coming warm against Iruka's cheek. "Let go of me."
“I’ll get her home”, Kurenai said with a nod. “I need to get back anyway, Konohamaru and his friends are babysitting Mirai.”
“I’ll come with you part of the way if that’s alright”, Iruka sighed. “I’ve got lessons to plan so I should go before my future hangover gets any worse.”
The three of them staggered away down the lanes among houses. After dropping his colleague off, Iruka made the short detour with Kurenai past her house, the two of them occasionally exchanging words about their mutual friends. It was early morning by the time they made it there.
Once she had closed the door behind her, Iruka stood in the doorway to Kurenai’s house, looking at the dawn creeping up on the sky. He stared left in the direction of his own home, and then right towards the school, and then decided to head left. The lesson plans could wait for a while. Taking care of himself was more important. And going to sleep running through memories of an entertaining evening was sure to guarantee him pleasant dreams.
Only, instead, he found himself sinking into nightmares, ones where Yamato, already at work, stood against the dawn that had stretched overhead. And stretching out before his feet was a pit, and it was filled with snakes.