wraithvault

C2

The next morning, Iruka came prepared. He had read through the textbooks from his years at the academy and thought he had gotten a pretty good picture of what he was meant to teach. Then he realized that those textbooks weren't used anymore, because the Hokage had once more changed the curriculum and felt a little bit like throwing up (it was becoming a familiar sensation), but it was still a good place to start.

With the textbooks contents memorized, he arrived at his classroom a little more than an hour ahead of time. He took this opportunity to grab some more notebooks and pens, as well as erasers, from the storage room and repeatedly going through what he had read the night before.

It was half-an-hour before the school day was officially to begin that the students began trickling into his classroom. One after another, they crept in through the window, settling into their seats like tiny shadows. Pretty soon, they started talking amongst themselves and showing off their skills with the leaf chakra control exercise. More and more of them arrived and Iruka finally had to give up on his own studying in favor of keeping an eye on them.

Once they were all present, he stood up from his seat and took roll-call. With no absences, he announced, "We will be continuing our reading lessons for now."

The following hour went by fine, even if it took all of the control Iruka had to keep what he had memorized in his mind, until he decided that it was time for another lesson when they started looking bored. He cleared his throat and coughed to get their attention.

" ... "

Exactly what had he memorized again? It had had to do with history and the shinobi rules. He had gone over it countless times in his head since classes began, so why couldn't he remember it?!

Blinking rapidly and trying to think of something to say before he lost all of his students respect, Iruka grasped desperately for something to teach them, some knowledge he must surely possess. There must be something! Come to think of it, what was his last mission about? There was an corrupt headman and a suffering village and Iruka had been there to deliver something? No, to sabotage. Right, he had been sabotaging the... windmill? Somehow that didn't sound quite right.

Thirty-one small children stared out at him with large eyes, all of them staring right at him. He could feel his breath coming faster, his heart thundering in his chest. This wasn't good. And he had made that promise to do better until he could finally get an appointment with Hokage-sama and quit. It would be better for everyone. But, until then, he had a duty to perform.

He just had to remember what that duty was.

He turned to the blackboard, so he wouldn't have to look at those trusting faces. His very existence was letting them down. If he hadn't applied to this job, they would have gotten a proper teacher, someone that actually knew what they were doing. With his mind occupied, his hands were moving on their own, drawing something on the board. When he gathered his wits again, he stared at the flower that he had drawn with white chalk. A ricinus communis. Well, at least now he had something to say.

"This," he began and turned back to face his class. "is the Ricinus communis, the most poisonous flower in the world."

Immediately, he saw the students sit up straighter. Their attention was evidently caught.

Iruka smiled, pleased that he was finally able to pass on knowledge, the way he had wanted to when he had decided to become a teacher. "All parts of the plant are toxic, and its beans contain alkaloid ricin and toxalbumin ricin. A single milligram is enough to kill an adult."

Watching the students so enraptured, he couldn't resist drawing another plant on the board and continuing with, "Another poisonous plant is the Aconitum, of which there are over two hundred and fifty species, a traditional tool for killing wolves in the past, giving it the more popular name wolf's bane. In addition to this, we also have Nerium oleander, a highly toxic beautiful flower whose even sap is harmful. It contains numerous toxic compounds, and a single leaf is strong enough to kill a young human adult. It will kill animals within days of ingestion."

"Then we have Abrus precatorius, also known as the crab's eye, a plant which seeds are the most dangerous. The seeds contain abrin, an extremely poisonous chemical that causes damage by attacking the body at the cellular level. That is, a level that can't be seen with the naked eye. The rosary pea isn't dangerous if consumed whole, but if the seed is damaged or scratched, its deadly. There is also Conium maculatum, otherwise known as poison hemlock. It causes death mainly by the alkaloid coniine, that paralyzes the respiratory system, effectively killing the victim within days of consumption by oxygen deprivation. That is, they suffocate to death. It's a popular old assassination plant that has been used for centuries by shinobi."

Iruka was proud to see that most of the students were copying the drawings down in their notebooks, but they didn't have the skill necessary to take notes. Frowning in thought, he wrote the names of them in hiragana next to their pictures to help them along.

Still, despite how enraptured they were by the idea of poisoning people, they were still kids, and sitting still for too long made them fidget and pay less attention. Iruka called for a fifteen minute recess with a fervor when he noticed how many of them were tapping their pencils and looking out the windows periodically. With a cheer, the students rose form their seats, and exited through the already opened windows.

When they were all gone, Iruka put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that he had made the same mistake again. Was he just not destined to be a teacher? Was there some divine force out there working against him?

Or was he just not good at it?

He breathed in deeply and opened his eyes again, this time with determination burning in his gut. He had, after filing a lot of papers, managed to get an appointment set up with the Hokage in eight months. That meant that he needed to do his best to teach his students during that time, no matter how poorly he did. He needed to give them a solid foundation to leave to his successor, who would undoubtedly do a better job. And if it was just foundation, surely Iruka could teach it. Surely, he knew this.

Iruka's forgetfulness, his panicking and his fumbling for things to teach had already proven that he just wasn't cut out for this, but the least he could do was teach the kids how to read and write. He owed it to them for his failure.

It wasn't fair, that they were the ones being hurt by his incompetence, so he owed it to them to do his best, no matter how useless he privately thought it was.

He would teach them how to read and write, how to control their chakra and get their physical condition up the minimum requirements. It wouldn't be nearly enough to atone for his mistakes, but it would be a start. Until he could talk to the Hokage, it was the best he could do.

It would have to be.

The kids returned to the classroom once recess was over, dirtied from their playing and with rosy cheeks from laughter. It warmed his heart, that despite the injustices that had been served to them, they were still so innocent, so kind and happy. Iruka was determined that they not learn of his failure as a teacher. It would just be another disappointment of many for them, and he didn't want to do that to them.

They deserved so much better.

So Iruka was going to do his best during the next eight months to make sure that they didn't catch on to his mistakes and mishaps, and hopefully, they would learn something useful.

No matter how insignificant, if he could just teach them one helpful thing... well, it wouldn't fix anything, but it would help. And that was all he wanted, to help them achieve greatness, to teach them how to survive in the cutthroat world they were aiming to become a part of.

Once they were all seated once more, Iruka walked between them and dropped off pencils and notebooks. "These are for homework, to practice writing at home. Just repeat the characters, try writing names, anything you want as long as you practice. If you're unsure what to write, you can always ask for help."

The kids beamed at him, their tiny faces lighting up in pure delight.

How could homework make them this happy? Iruka had always hated it, he had done it and done it well yes, but he hadn't enjoyed it. Even after his... even after the Kyuubi's attack, he hadn't found anything nice about it. But these kids, they looked at him as if he had given them gifts, as if he had purposely lent them pieces of joy. How did that make any sense? How could kids so young equate homework with happiness?

Why did they trust him so much, when he had done nothing but let them down?

Pushing away the despair he could feel closing in on him, he returned his focus to his class. The one useful thing he had managed to do and not forget since yesterday was copy a sheet of paper with all of the hiragana characters, which he now passed out to all of the students. He handed them out and pushed his worry away. He had reached out to all of the people he could and he would neither be getting a copy of the curriculum any time soon, nor be meeting with anybody that might be able to fire him from his wrongful position. He owed it to the village he loved and the kids whose education now depended upon him to do his very best. Better, even.

There was no room for regret. He would do everything he could to teach these kids how to survive, to give them a working foundation, and it would be up to his successor to fix any mistakes he made. Until such a time that he was relieved of his duty, this was his job.

As he watched the kids begin fidgeting yet again, he sighed and said, "Time for physical training outside."

The kids didn't hesitate to throw themselves through the windows. Shaking his head at their energy and feeling the urge to hit himself for his stupidity, he followed along outside and, once he had herded them all to one location, said, "Today, we will be learning how to fall safely. After, of course, that we have gotten warmed up. Start by stretching like I showed you yesterday and then run around the tracks for ten laps, at your own pace."

See, Iruka could learn from his mistakes. He just wasn't entirely sure what other mistakes he had made, because he couldn't remember what he was supposed to teach them. He had never had this problem on any missions or training. In fact, he usually had a pretty good memory, but somehow, the idea of actually standing up there and teaching just made his head go blank. All of the knowledge he had worked so hard to learn just flew away, as if he had never even known it. Yet, when he was home and away from the pressure, he could think again. He could remember what he was supposed to have done.

But as soon as he was back in the classroom and opening his mouth, it left him again. Was this how all teachers felt, or was it just him? Was there something wrong with him? You'd think that after killing people in their own homes, he would be able to actually talk and convey his knowledge to the next generation.

Once all of the kids had finished their laps — nowhere near as tired as yesterday — Iruka climbed up to a branch in a tree and fell in a properly controlled manner. He called up one of the students and began the arduous task of giving each one individual attention to make sure that they all did it right. The last thing he wanted to do was give them bad habits on top of everything else. Well, any more bad habits, because it seemed like the window thing had really stuck. Now they looked at him funny any time he tried to mention it.

"Ami-chan," Iruka said as he repositioned a young girl on the ground. "I know you may want to fall straight to your feet because it looks cool, but without using chakra, you'll break your own bones landing. It's better to learn how to fall correctly without chakra before learning how to dampen it with chakra. That way, if you're ever low on chakra and on a mission, you can move without worrying about damaging yourself, okay?"

The little girl nodded with an adorably stubborn face, her unremarkable brown hair swinging with the motion, as she chirped, "Okay, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka smiled at her and ruffled her hair gently. "Good. Don't hesitate to ask me if there is something you need help with or are unsure about, 'kay?"

She nodded again, even more viciously this time, and climbed up to a low branch to try again. Iruka couldn't resist smiling. They were really so adorable, it was hard to imagine they would grow up and kill people for a living. Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Iruka turned abruptly and barked out, "Don't you dare jump from that branch, Kaito-kun!"

The boy, over three meters up in a tree, visibly pouted and whined, "But Iruka-sensei, I already mas-mastered the lower branches!"

"That doesn't mean you can do what you like! The point is to fall so many times it becomes a reflex! Now get down from there!" Iruka realized his mistake a second too late, and the boy jumped from the tree with a loud yell.

Automatically pushing chakra through his legs, and with adrenaline coursing though his veins, he took off from the ground faster then otherwise possible and only just managed to catch the boy before he landed on his face and broke something, probably his neck. Huffing at the unexpected workout, Iruka settled the boy down to his feet and bent down to look him in the eyes. By now, the other kids had surrounded them.

"Don't do that!" Iruka snapped at the boy, his hands still on his shoulders. "Do you know what would have happened?! You'd have broken your neck, and best case scenario, be completely paralyzed! You could have died! Not even a medic-nin can fix that!"

The boy's lower lip began trembling, and tears filled the corner of his eyes. He sniffled once and then started full on crying, his sobs shaking his tiny frame. "I-I'm so-sorry!"

Iruka felt his heart break at seeing such a sad vision. "It's alright now, Kaito-kun. Nothing happened and you won't do it again, right?"

The boy nodded, still crying and Iruka sighed, but hugged him regardless. He'd forgotten for a moment, but these were kids, likely too young to remember the Kyuubi's attack. They would have to learn caution in this, as they learned caution in everything. And it was Iruka's job to teach them.

"Kaito-kun, I'm not mad at you. I'm just worried. What you did was a very dangerous and reckless thing and you can't do anything like it unless I'm right there with you, understand?"

The boy nodded against his shoulder, which was now wet with his tears and snot. "Truly? Do you promise?"

"I-I pro-promise." the boy sniffled out and coughed against him. It was lucky that Iruka had long ago been desensitized of human fluids or he would have likely found it disgusting. As it was, he was just a little bit annoyed that he would have to wash it.

Smiling, Iruka leaned back from the boy and wiped his face with a convenient cloth. When Kaito's face was clean and he had finally stopped crying, Iruka stood up and looked out at the army of tiny children that had gathered around them. "Everything's fine now." he smiled at them and ruffled a few of the kids hair, those that looked the most unsure. "You can go back to practicing now. I promise everything is alright."

The kids lingered a few more seconds with him before they started smiling again and went back to climbing trees. It was amazing, how resilient children were.

Iruka spent the rest of the lesson outside catching several kids when they fell wrong to stop them from breaking bones. He had gotten way more exercise out of it then he thought he would, having to dash from one side of the training grounds to the other within seconds. Nevertheless, eventually, he deemed that they had all grasped the basics and herded them back inside after stretches to get back to reading and writing practice.

The rest of the day went by quietly and it had had the added bonus of increasing his confidence. Maybe he couldn't teach them what the curriculum said he should, but he could still give them valuable knowledge. He wondered if maybe he could sneak math into the physical exercises? It was a thought that bore worth considering.

As the final bell rang, Iruka called out, "Remember to practice your writing! You can copy signs written in hiragana if you don't know what to write. Continue practicing the leaf chakra control exercise until you're confident you have it mastered, and then show me. Once you all know it inside and out, we'll advance to a more fun chakra exercise."

The kids shouted confirmation back at him and waved as they left through the windows. Desperate to try to be a good teacher, Iruka called out, "Ask me if you're wondering about anything! Anything at all!"

He got happy smiles in response and once they were out the windows — not doors, oh god why? — they separated into groups and talked excitedly amongst themselves. It eased his conscience to know that, if nothing else, they were making friends and learning a basic skill such as writing.

It would at least help them with finding another job if they didn't manage to graduate and become shinobi.