Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto! It belongs to the amazing Masashi Kishimoto, without whom life would be so boring.
Warning:Solo writer here! No editor or BETA whatsoever! Mercy, please! Oh, and there might be a few OOCness along the way but I'll try to avoid that although I have a plot in my mind so I won't stay too true to the original character. This is a heads up so if you want to flame about the OOCness, please do it elsewhere, thank you.
Reynard
Prologue
Tsunade clicked her tongue in annoyance as her gaze kept on shifting from the pile of paperwork she still had to go through to the document currently in her hand and finally, to the door where she expected her requested sake to pass through as soon as whoever was meant to deliver it got their damnably slow ass to its destination.
The door suddenly burst open and Tsunade leapt up in excitement. Finally! Her sake was already within reach-
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune exclaimed as she ran towards the Godaime with a small piece of paper in her hand. Tsunade obviously sagged, depressed, at the absence of sake but Shizune ignored it. "This came by a messenger pigeon just a few minutes ago. I think it's urgent."
Tsunade almost sighed in frustration. Plenty of shinobi were always paranoid and would label something 'urgent' when it really wasn't. Really, if this was one of those times, someone's head is going to roll-
The Hokage instantly sobered up as her eyes travelled across the piece of paper.
"Bring me file 11TK0 from the Red Vault now," she barked to her assistant. Shizune quickly departed to do as commanded. Tsunade bit the tip of her thumb as she read the note once again.
Sandaime, for all his greatness, for all his compassion, for all his power and for his whole long tenure as Hokage, could not fix and finish everything during his reign. He had left many unresolved issues with her but she could never – and would never – blame him for it. Everyone knew that their Sandaime Hokage had already gone far and beyond the people's expectations of him; there was nothing else they could ask of him. But this was one of those things that Tsunade wished had been taken care of long before her tenure.
When Shizune finally returned and handed the file to her leader, the Hokage had another command for her.
"Bring me Hatake and be discreet about it, Shizune. This is more than just a secret mission. This is a very highly classified mission from the Red Vault."
"Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei!"
The brown-haired Chuunin Academy sensei suddenly jerked to attention and looked down to see the highly annoyed look of one of his youngest students, Naoki. The boy's brown eyes were narrowed as he tapped his foot against the ground impatiently. Iruka scratched the back of his head and he laughed nervously.
"Ah, were you saying something?"
"You were day-dreaming again, Iruka-sensei!" Naoki yelled in outrage as he pointed a quivering finger at his sensei. Really, the boy was reminding him more and more of Naruto and Konohamaru. "You were about to teach us that awesome new technique that you were going on and on about!"
Iruka's apologetic stance disappeared and he gave his student a strict look. "That 'going on and on about' is called a lecture. Did you even truly listen?"
Naoki had the shame to look down and shift uncomfortably. "Well, I listened to most of it. But I heard enough that it sounded cool!"
Meaning he probably only heard the last part when Iruka had told them how Naruto had difficulty with that jutsu at first before the more powerful and advanced variant of it became his signature jutsu.
Everyone knew about Naruto now and his heroic and awe-inspiring exploits. Iruka would swell with pride whenever he heard the adults admit that Naruto had come such a long way – that he was finally seen as someone beyond the vessel for the Kyuubi. Iruka would smile with happiness whenever he would hear the younger generation aim to be like Naruto – to grow up to be a shinobi like Naruto. Iruka knew that Naruto's dream of being Hokage was already almost – if not already – within his grasp.
And when he's Hokage, he'll probably be too busy for his old Academy sensei, Iruka mused sadly. He had accepted long ago that Naruto had surpassed him beyond reach. He had accepted that he's already been left behind for years now. Yet none of those things diminished his love for his former student and he only wished that he felt the same way.
"You're daydreaming again, sensei!" Naoki yelled as he punched Iruka on the hip, which was the highest he could reach his sensei. Iruka was startled out of his thoughts and he gave his class another apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry again," he told them sheepishly. "Now form straight lines and I'll teach you the Bunshin no Jutsu."
As the students either slowly or hurriedly obeyed, Iruka thought seriously about Naoki's accusations. He was right. Iruka was 'daydreaming' more and more frequently.
But Naruto wasn't the sole reason.
His gaze became distant once more. Although he faced the Hokage Monument, his eyes focused beyond it.
Umino Iruka has been left behind long ago...
...Maybe it was time to finally catch up...
A/N: A more serious Naruto fic, you say? And multi-chaptered instead of a mere two-shot? Ah yes, this is my humble attempt at a hopefully adventurous fic... Please review and tell me what you think! Hopefully, the next chapters will be longer...
Ceil Scheherazade