AN: At the beginning of this Shino and Hinata are 8, the rest of the rookie nine are 7 and Iruka is about 17. For the sake of this we're going to pretend that he has always been their sensei. This takes place prior to the Uchiha massacre. All characters within are canon. Please note: Kakashi makes a very late appearance in this fic.

~begin story~

Friday, March 15th: We began our lesson on basic chakra today. Sakura seemed to take to it right away. I think some of her classmates may be becoming jealous of how bright she is, Ami especially. Sasuke and Ino also seemed to pick it up quickly. My problem students were the same as always. Naruto and Kiba both tried to sneak out on separate occasions, Shikamaru slept through most of the lesson in spite of my tossing chalk at his head, and Chouji was more interested in his chips than anything I had to teach. So help me, I think this class may be the death of me.

Saturday, March 16th: I spent most of today grading essays, but I did manage to make it to the market for some groceries. Rumors were flying, as always, but today they seemed to center more around the Uchihas than usual. It looks like something is happening in that camp, and the rest of the village is beginning to trust them less and less. I can only hope that, whatever happens, Sasuke and the rest of my students will be ok.

Sunday, March 17th: Sunday is, without a doubt, my favorite day of the week. No class, no papers to grade, lessons are planned and all I have to do is relax. Peaceful as today has been though, I've noticed that more jounin than usual seem to be around the village. Not only that, but I could swear I sense an unusually large number of ANBU lurking in the shadows. Hopefully it's just my imagination playing tricks on me.

Monday, March 18th: We were about to head out to kunai practice when the alarm sounded, 'Attack Imminent-Origen Unknown-Seek Immediate Shelter,' every teachers worst nightmare. Most of the teachers took their students to the shelters in the Hokage monument, but myself and a few others decided to hunker down here in the academy cafeteria rather than risk getting caught in the attack. We waited all day, but no explosion or sounds of battle reached us. The children are beginning to get anxious and were quite unhappy when we told them that they would have to spend the night here. I can't help but wonder, could the warning have been wrong?

Tuesday March 19th: Someone tried to get in last night, we could hear them rattling at the doors but they couldn't get through. Whomever it was I doubt they were friendly. They never announced themselves, and we certainly did nothing to make our presence known. The children who were awoken by the would be intruders are still feeling a bit shaken, and their unease has spread to their peers. The other teachers and I are doing everything we can to calm their fears, even as our own escalate. Why haven't we received word of what's going on yet? Why is what appears to be an invasion taking place so quietly? Were we right in our decision to stay here? Whatever the answers, it seems we have no choice but to stay here now.

Wednesday, March 20th: We decided today to do a thorough check of how much food and water we have. It looks like we'll be able to hold out here for two months on what's kept in the school's store rooms. We've stopped drinking water from the tap, just incase it's poisoned. The rattling at the door is becoming a frequent occurrence now, happening every few hours or so. It's just often enough that the students never truly get rowdy. I don't know whether to be grateful for that or not. Sakura asked me tonight, as I tucked her in to one of the blankets we had found stockpiled in the nurses room, when she would be able to go home and see if her mother was alright. It nearly broke my heart to tell her 'I don't know.'

Thursday, March 21st: There was groaning today in addition to the usual door rattling. It sounded like dozens of injured shinobi were lying out on the academy's lawn. The other sensei's and I discussed it and Suzume decided that she would go out and check if there was really anyone out there that needed help. Several of the girls cried when she left the gym, sad and frightened to see their kunoichi instructor leave. I went with her to one of the fire escapes that led up to the roof. We had decided that using this would help keep the children safe from whatever is out there, and we were hoping that having her take that way would attract less attention just in case it was a trap. She winked at me just before I pulled the hatch closed and locked it. She hasn't come back yet.

Saturday, March 23rd: Suzume still hasn't come back and I'm beginning to doubt that she will. My friends Izumo and Kotetsu came banging on or doors today and I was so happy to see a friendly face, to hear something besides groaning from beyond the doors, that I almost forgot to tell them to go to the roof to get let in. But as happy as I am to see them, the news they brought is anything but good. What's happening to the village isn't an attack at all. They say it looks like some kind of infection, but on a level they've never seen before. They whispered horrid tales to me and the other teachers, stories of shinobi and civilian alike going mad with the disease, attacking and cannibalizing anyone they can find. One of the other teachers accused them of spreading enemy propaganda in an attempt to scare us. I have to admit that if I didn't know the two so well I would be tempted to believe it myself. But Izumo and Kotetsu are as loyal to Konoha as I am. I would trust them with my life, and this just scares me more. The other teachers may be able to doubt their words, but I don't. I know they're telling the truth. I asked them about the students and teachers who left but the news was bleak. It looks like they may have never made it to the shelters. Ko overheard a pair of ANBU talking about the shelters being overrun with those who are infected. I feel completely helpless. How am I supposed to relate this to my students? How can I possibly prepare them for what waits for us when we finally get out of here? How many of their parents have already been lost to this disease? I can't help but feel sick about this. The children can sense the shift in their teachers mood. They're starting to have nightmares, and I'm dreading going to sleep myself tonight. How are we ever going to make it through this?

Sunday, March 24th: I woke up this morning horrified with myself for not asking Izumo or Kotetsu how this thing spreads. They could have had it and I let them walk right in with my kids without even asking how it spreads! I sat down and talked it out with them first thing. They say that it spreads through bite wounds and even let me check them over to be sure they didn't have any. They also say the infection takes hold quickly, within a couple of hours, so I feel much more confident about having the two of them here now. But how could I have been so stupid! The rattling at the doors turned into banging sometime this morning and is now almost constant. I think it's too much to hope anymore that our presence here has gone unnoticed. We've decided to bar the doors to the cafeteria and stay locked inside here at all times rather than slipping out occasionally to other parts of the school like we had been doing. The guys say that a persons skill and intelligence takes a major blow once the infection sets in, but I'd rather not test that, especially if some of our ANBU have been infected.

Tuesday, March 26th: I woke to the sound of screaming today. I was up and ready to defend the students before I realized that the sound was coming from outside. It was the first time since this madness started that we were actually able to hear that something was wrong. The groaning and banging on the doors has been disturbing, but if we hadn't heard the warning alarm we probably wouldn't have thought anything of it. This though, this was terrible. It wasn't the kind of screaming you hear on a battle field, it was so much worse. It was one loud, long, terrified shriek followed by someone begging for help between anguished sobs. Then the screaming started again only to suddenly stop. I literally had to hold Naruto down, one hand clamped over his mouth, to keep him from going and trying to help. It nearly made me sick. At least now the other teachers are putting more trust in Izumo and Kotetsu's story of infection. But the children have been quietly crying all day, and I can't help but wonder how long we can go on like this.

Wednesday, March 27th: The children are getting restless. Even as scared as they are they're having trouble staying still and quiet. We've been forced to come up with make shift games and activities so that they don't make enough noise to draw anymore attention. Shikamaru is turning out to be very good at the strategy games. I wish he was a few years older so he could help us figure a way out of this mess.

Thursday, March 28th: It was Sakura's birthday today. If only there was something we could have done to make it a happier occasion for her, but I know that's nothing more than wishful thinking. She spent most of the day crying. It's the first birthday she's ever spent away from her mother.

Friday, March 29th: They got in today. We heard the glass of one of the classroom windows break and then the pounding changed from being on the distant academy entrance to being right on the cafeteria door. We have the door barricaded and reinforced but we know it won't hold for more than a few days. It's clear we can't stay here now. There's another fire escape to the roof located in the kitchen and we're going to be taking that to get out. We're going to split into smaller groups in the hope that this will give us a better chance of going unnoticed. The other sensei's and I gathered up and divided the food we had left. The kids are going to have to help us carry it when we leave. With the number of instructors, plus Izumo and Kotetsu who have each volunteered to take a group, we will each be taking eleven children. We will be choosing groups in the morning and setting out tomorrow in the hopes that the children will be able to get some sleep tonight. I know the instructors won't. We will be staying up to make sure that door holds. I swear I can feel it in my body every time one of those things slams against it hard enough to make it shudder. I only pray we have enough time.

Saturday, March 30th: I've decided to leave this journal here in hopes that someone will find it. Its not like I'll have any time for writing after this anyway. My group is going to be the third to leave, the first is already gone and we didn't hear any screaming so it looks like they made it off of academy grounds. The students I have with me are as follows: Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruna Sakura, Aburame Shino, Ami, Uzumake Naruto, Kota, Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke, and Akamichi Chouji. We will be leaving the school and Konoha and traveling North. I don't know how far this thing had spread but I plan to keep moving until I find a safe place for my kids even if it means we have to learn how to live on the top of some god forsaken mountain. If anyone finds this, if there's anyone left to find this, if it's ever safe to walk Konoha's streets again, please, find us.

Epilogue:

The Hokage looked up from the small journal he had just finished reading to the shinobi who had presented it to him.

"And am I correct in assuming, Kakashi-san, that bringing me this is your way of asking permission to go after them?" he asked.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," came the reply, "Umino-san and his student are not on any of our lists of known dead or infected. If there is still hope we should not abandon them."

"Well then," Sarutobi smiled kindly and handed the journal back, "You had best get moving then. The last entry in this is dated almost a month ago."

Kakashi simply nodded and vanished in a twist of leaves and smoke. The Hokage sighed and pulled a stack of shinobi record files towards him. Finding Iruka's he changed the man's status from 'Status Unknown' to 'Rescue Attempt in Progress' and added a list of student names to the bottom of the first page. He then closed the folder and walked over to a window that looked down on his once proud city.

"Bring them back Kakashi," he whispered softly, tiredly, "Bring us back our future."

~End~

AN: I'm considering doing a sequel to this. Same style, but from Kakashi's point of view as he goes to find them. Anyone interested? Also, I had to proof read this myself as my usual beta was unavailable to, so if you see any mistakes I missed please let me know. Thanks!