Chapter 22
"Tea?"
"Coffee," Iruka replied, though he would rather have had something stronger.
The Third Hokage looked at him, sighing. Interrogating someone without explicit permission wasn't something Iruka should have done. But in the end, it yielded results, so the Hokage could only let it pass.
Well, it wasn't like he did much anyway. After scaring the Principal a bit, the man spilled all the beans on his own. He gave out every dirty secret he held onto and even provided proof of it. And Iruka only needed to have some polite words with him for him to realize the error of his ways. Well, if Iruka didn't already know most of it, the Principal would feign his ignorance, then things would have gone messy.
Still, if there weren't other things more important to think over, the Hokage would probably not let it go so easily. The fact that someone managed to interfere with the Academy's teachings under his watch probably gave the Third quite a headache.
And then there was Madam Shijimi. There was no simple way to deal with her. If it were up to Iruka, he would just go to see her, give her the experience of meeting a shinobi, and what comes with it.
"With this, I guess your job in investigating the personnel is over," the Third said. "Well done. I will take care of the rest."
"If I may, since you need someone to take the position of Principal, I have a recommendation."
Hopefully, Suzume wanted the job because Iruka gave a glowing report about her to the Third. About how knowledgeable she was, he didn't hold back compliments about her teaching skills either, making it quite an easy choice for the Hokage.
And since half of the staff of the Academy was one way or another involved in this mess, none of them could be trusted to take the position. So, unless the Hokage thought of someone from outside the Academy, there was no better choice.
"Your coffee, sir." Iruka took the hot mug as the Hokage's assistant delivered it to him.
"Thanks," Iruka replied, taking it.
He had already finished his report, but it seemed that the Hokage wanted to keep him for longer. Observing him with his damn wise eyes. Then, sighing to himself, like he was disappointed or something.
It sure annoyed Iruka, and he couldn't even take a sip of his flask, since he still had some shame to not drink in front of the Hokage. He really hated to be looked at with those eyes. Eyes that held some kind of hope towards him.
"I still have work to do, so I will be leaving first." In the end, Iruka couldn't take it.
"Don't push yourself too much."
Well, since this was over, and the Academy could finally return to the right path, it was time to plan out next week's lessons. There was no time to lose in teaching those idiot kids. Since nobody was now going to complain and get in his way, he would finally be able to go all in without any hesitation.
…
After he had had time observing his cute little idiots over time, he pretty much knew what he needed to do. To bring out their strength and potential, he would need to give every single one of them some special lessons.
Even if all this debacle with the Academy was finally over, it didn't mean he couldn't continue Shikamaru's training. That kid had a special talent for observation. Though it would take years for it to fully blossom, Iruka knew that once it did, there wouldn't be anything he couldn't learn just from observing others.
Weaknesses of his enemies. Strengths of his allies. In a battlefield, information was the most important thing. Unlike Iruka, who lacked intelligence, Shikamaru would be a great commander one day. Preferably sooner than later, though.
Somehow it suited him well. And somehow, it was something Iruka was confident in teaching. Still, it didn't mean he could just halfheartedly do it. There were a lot of things to prepare and plan. And Shikamaru was just one of his students.
"Umino!"
"Urgh." It really was hard not to drink while annoying people continued to annoy him. "Coming!"
Iruka took a long swig of his flask, finishing what was left before he opened the doors to his home. The landlord stood there waiting for him. If it wasn't in the unholy hours of the morning, it was late at night that he had to come and annoy Iruka.
"Rent's money."
"Rent's money," Iruka spoke at the same time as the landlord.
"Don't be cheeky with me."
"Don't be cheeky with me."
Iruka continued to speak at the same time. At this point, he knew exactly what the landlord would say. So, before he could annoy Iruka to death, he threw the rent money at his face and slammed the doors in his face.
Iruka swore that he would blow up this damn place one day. He would love to see the face of the landlord when it became nothing but rubble and ashes. It sure would be fun and something to look forward to.
Too bad the housing economy was fucked up in the village. It would be pretty impossible to find a good place to stay any time soon. So, he had no choice but to hold off his plans of mass destruction for another day.
For now, he would have to be satisfied with putting down ROOT. Though he wasn't that confident in his skills yet. Even with Might Guy sparring with him every week, Iruka still couldn't do anything once he opened the Fifth Gate.
No matter how much he trained, he didn't get any closer to mastering something that Shisui could do as easily as breathing. Damn, the gap between their talent was as big as he thought it was. It was quite unfair.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time he found out that he was quite pathetic, so he already knew how to deal with it. Get drunk and forget it all for a moment before letting it all return tomorrow. Then repeat it again and again, until he was dead.
That was probably the best plan he could have had, as it was the only one that truly worked. Too bad he had just finished the last of what was in his flask, and he wasn't feeling any better yet. Why did he always buy too little to drink?
In the end, he had to go and refill his flask. He could already tell that tomorrow would be an awful day, and if he didn't have anything to take his mind off it, he might lose it completely.
Or maybe he should mix things up and go beat up Mizuki. Iruka knew he would feel a lot better if he could break a few legs, and Mizuki was asking for it anyway. It was clear he was provoking him to get just that kind of reaction. So, he should be nice and not disappoint him, right?
…
"Looking at you, people around here suddenly can find a reason to stop drinking," the bartender said with a disgusted look.
"Ugh," Iruka replied, slumping even further down into the counter.
"Yeah, I gathered as much."
Iruka nursed another glass of his drink. He knew he was pretty finished for tonight. And this was probably the last drink he would have before he completely blacked out. So, he had to decide to drink it now and not even remember how he got home the next day, or if he should first go home.
Life was full of tough decisions. There never seemed to be a right one or a wrong one, just a decision that should be made. Drink or not to drink, that was a tough question he didn't have an answer to. He wondered if anyone did.
"Fuuuuck." Iruka put down his drink. "Why does life have to suck so much? Can't we just play nice with each other and stop fucking up each other every fucking time?"
"True, true," the bartender replied, cleaning the spilled drink. "It is all fucked up, but then again, it could be worse. At least it is peaceful times right now, though it doesn't go well for my business."
"It must be good to get rich off depressed fucks like me."
"Well, without you, I probably wouldn't be able to keep this place open. Who else comes to fill up their flask in the middle of the night and then start drinking without a care in the world?" the bartender replied. "Still, as much as I love your money, Iruka, I think it is time for you to go. I would like to have at least some sleep tonight."
"Fine, fine." Iruka fell off his stool and rolled to his feet. "I won't bother you anymore. Go have some sleep. I am a nice guy after all, right?"
"You sure are. Please, don't go and die on your way back home. I would go out of business without you."
Iruka just flipped him off as he stumbled over the exit. It was sure quiet so late in the night. No one was around, and no one was there to bother him. It was quite weird, so he decided to bother someone else for a change of pace.
He already wanted to visit Mizuki in the first place. So, he turned around and started walking in a different direction. It was really a good night to beat something up. Hopefully, the Hokage would forgive his sudden lapse of judgment while he was drunk.
Though it might be bothersome, as the Hokage would probably forbid Iruka from drinking, at least for a while. Oh well, who was he to think of the future? He was just an idiot with no talent and no future to begin with.
"Fuck, why am I already smelling blood when I still haven't arrived?"
Iruka looked at Mizuki's apartment and jumped straight through the window, only to find the room splattered with blood. And dead Mizuki lying in the middle of it, in his own pool of blood, with Anko standing over him.
"Iruka?" Anko looked horrified at the scene, eyes hazy and hands trembling. "I swear it wasn't me. Someone took control of my body."
"Anko, why does it have to be you?" Iruka could only sigh.
Well, at least now he knew why Mizuki was provoking him so much. He just didn't expect that his next target would be Anko. Did he really think that he would come out of this mess alive after getting involved? As he lived pathetically, he died the same way, too.
"Iruka, what do I do?" Anko looked for answers, and Iruka could only give her one. "Ugh."
"Sorry, but this is for the best," Iruka said, retrieving his fist from her stomach as she collapsed to the ground. "You tried to stop me. But I wasn't acting like myself and couldn't be controlled. In the end, you couldn't save Mizuki, and I got away."
Iruka found the realization in Anko's eyes as she collapsed to the ground. Everything inside Iruka twisted as he also realized what was going on. The pieces fell on their own. Mizuki was never here to watch over Iruka; he was only here as bait.
It was no surprise that they waited until he got drunk, and not so long ago, Mizuki already provoked him. But why was Anko here? Probably because she started digging into this mess too and just got herself too deep for Danzo's liking, so he was forced to act.
Using mind transfer, he forced Anko to do what Iruka should have done. Damn him, if he was ready to go this far, it meant he had finished what he needed to. But Iruka wasn't even half as prepared. He still hadn't mastered the new jutsu. He still couldn't surpass Might Guy's Fifth Gate.
And there was Danzo, who had made all the preparations. Well, since Danzo was going this far, who was Iruka to deny him this game? He wanted to tie up loose ends, well, if that was how he wanted to do things, Iruka was just going to burn it all down.
Looking outside at the countless shinobi waiting for him, he wondered if his vision wasn't doubling them over and over again. Good thing he was just drunk enough to do this shit.
A.N. As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want more 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.