-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka’s eyes snapped open, desperately trying to dispel the lingering dream. He shut his eyes for a moment-

-Mizuki leaning over him, hands bound to the headboard, pounding on the door, he was trapped, they were all going to find out-

He forced his eyes open again, taking deep, shaking breaths. He tensed, feeling a hand above him before it lowered to his shoulder, rubbing gently and reassuring. Iruka looked up, meeting Kakashi’s eyes with a bit of surprise. It was unusual for the man to admit he was awake, Iruka must have been tossing in his sleep pretty badly for such a reaction.

Do you want to talk about it? Iruka never did, but Kakashi always asked . . . Iruka stiffened slightly, several things clicking into place at once. Kakashi was saying nothing, he’d admitted to being awake, his mask was rumpled around his neck. The teacher moved forward, burying his face in the man’s chest and breathing his scent deeply. The smell was right, the feel was right. But something was very wrong with the situation. Iruka forced his body to relax and drift back towards sleep as he would if nothing was out of place.

Kakashi was trying to warn him about something, Iruka was positive now. But he was being subtle, clearly he wanted Iruka to continue to act normally. The question was why. What was wrong, what was he trying to tell him? And far more important, why couldn’t he simply tell Iruka out loud? There were several possibilities from being monitored to being under a jutsu to – Iruka repressed a shudder, turning it into a snuggle instead – to this man not being Kakashi at all. Regardless of the reason, Iruka had to play dumb for now, at least until he better knew what he was dealing with.

After his scare, Iruka wasn’t quite able to get back to sleep, managing only a light meditation to help his body rest. Because of this, he felt when his bed shifted, Kakashi moving slowly so as not to wake him as he got up. Iruka’s alarm hadn’t even gone off. Kakashi often woke before the teacher, usually running off to the memorial stone or the training grounds, but never right after a mission and never if Iruka had a nightmare. The teacher forced himself to feign sleep, not giving the slightest indication he was awake until the door clicked shut behind the fleeing jounin.

Iruka sat up slowly, a yawn tearing its way from his lips as his eyes darted around the room. Nothing seemed out of place, but if Kakashi was being watched, the device would be on him anyway, not his home. Why would someone want to watch him? Iruka frowned as he stood to dress. It certainly didn’t seem likely, but it was possible. Enemy ninja may be using Kakashi to learn about Konoha and its citizens.

Something was going on and Kakashi either wouldn’t or couldn’t tell Iruka about it. There were several jutsus that could bind a person from talking about a specific subject, at least for a time. If that were the case and something was wrong, Kakashi would definitely try and tip Iruka off to it. Except that unless he was being watched at the same time, he would do something far more drastic than simply sleeping with his mask down.

Everything came back to an imposter. Someone skilled and strong, getting most of the details right but not everything.

Iruka shook his head, bounding out the door without breakfast. It was far too soon to be thinking along those lines. Not until he had more to base his suspicions on. With his luck, it was going to be some sort of training mission – see how quick the schoolteacher figures things out.

But if it was an imposter . . .

Iruka hurried along the streets to the missions’ desk. Kotetsu was reclined in the seat, his feet propped on the large piece of furniture, yawning at the empty room. Almost no one came in this early and certainly not teachers with class starting in less than an hour. He blinked at Iruka before carefully sitting up straight. “Help you?”

Iruka put on his best smile, pretending again that nothing was bothering him. “I’m checking on Kakashi. He has turned in his mission report, hasn’t he?”

With a frown, the chunin dug through recently received files before pulling one out. “Yeah, right here.” Iruka welcomed the tiny bit of relief that brought and started forcing his mind away from the issue. Kotetsu frowned though, thumbing through the report. “Iruka, the Hokage’s gonna have your head, you know.”

The teacher didn’t have to try to look confused, but also shrugged it off slightly. “Kakashi’s reports are always a little out of sorts,” he said softly.

“That doesn’t mean you can finish them for him, Iruka. You worked here for years, I know you know how bad they can be, but it’s better to deal with the mess than have to explain why he’s suddenly following procedure. Tsunade’s not going to be happy when she sees this.”

Iruka was struggling not to blink like a stunned goldfish. “I didn’t . . . I mean . . . I just . . . just didn’t think . . . I’m sorry.” This was bad, this was so incredibly bad. He bowed his head to the other man, smothering the suspicions that all suddenly sprang to mind. “If you get pinned for it, just rat me out, all right?”

Kotetsu smiled, putting the report away again. “Like I’d take the fall for you two. Have a good class, Sensei.”

Iruka tossed a cheery wave over his shoulder as he left, but his face was dark, his worst fears all but confirmed. It was such an incredibly long shot that such a lapse in his normal lazy behavior would raise alarms, but combined with everything else the teacher had noticed the last day, he was certain now that Kakashi had yet to return to the village.

Again the question was why, with a good bit of who thrown in this time. But what truly scared Iruka was that this man was convincing, almost enough that he was fooled. It meant Kakashi wasn’t dead. The thought sent chills down Iruka’s spine. Dead he was prepared for, dead he could deal with. Certainly not happily, but a good number of ninja died on missions or made it home so injured they were forced into retirement. Alive meant a host of things that weren’t so easy to accept as Iruka pictured what they must have done to get so much information from his love.

Kakashi was trying to warn him though and now it was even more vital that Iruka not raise suspicion. He had to go to class and continue his section on weapons, smile and laugh with the children while he tried to think of a plan.

Someone was rounding the corner and Iruka froze seeing the pony tailed boy. Shikamaru. On his way to the missions’ desk it looked like, but Iruka smiled at him and reached for one shoulder. “Shikamaru-kun! I have a favor to ask of you, I could really use a helper in class today.”

The boy frowned slightly, looking wary. “What can I help you with, Iruka-Sensei?”

Iruka beamed at him, already leading him away. “We’re covering weapons, letting the children get a feel of the different types and start developing preferences.”

Shikamaru still looked hesitant, but followed without protest. “Wouldn’t TenTen be better suited to this sort of thing?”

Iruka made a thoughtful noise at that, the girl would certainly be more of a help in his current section. “She’s too diversified,” Iruka muttered after a moment. “I’m trying to encourage specialization. Besides, it would be far more helpful to have someone there that can freeze a child in place if a fight breaks out. We’re using real blades today.” He hadn’t planned on it, but if it made Shikamaru’s help more plausible, Iruka was willing to be a little flexible. Besides, the kids would be thrilled when he told them.

An hour later, Iruka had finally managed to calm the children down after the news and he was calling them up one at a time to select from the weapons cabinet. Blunt weapons first – bos, tonfas, escrima – more than one child was close to tears when he didn’t have enough nunchukus, but Iruka promised they’d all get a chance to use everything to avoid any undue trouble.

“I really do appreciate your help, Shikamaru-kun,” Iruka said as the class began testing their various implements of minor destruction. “Please help me keep an eye on fights, and if you want to take notes on anything, please feel free. We can compare thoughts.” Iruka already had a notebook in his hands, writing without looking at the page, his eyes trained instead on his students.

After a moment, Shikamaru leaned over to him, casually holding his own pad of paper where Iruka could read it and speaking in his ear. “Hanabi seems to like the tonfa, makes sense with what she’s learning at home, I suppose.” His paper held a rather different message: ‘Why am I really here?’

Iruka nodded, keeping up the charade as he scribbled out an explanation. “I doubt she’ll take to a weapon, but it’s good to see her trying.” ‘I don’t know if I’m being watched. Something’s wrong.’

“How troublesome,” Shikamaru muttered as he glanced at Iruka. “I’ve never really cared for the Hyugas. Always watching you no matter what. Can’t hardly speak freely with one of them around.”

Iruka grunted his agreement, knowing that Shikamaru understood the situation now. He lapsed into silence, seeming to take notes on his kids as he wrote quickly for Shikamaru to read. ‘Kakashi’s in trouble. The man that came back isn’t him. Or if it is then something’s very very wrong regardless.’

“How can you notice so many things at once, Iruka-sensei? Too many kids, if it were me, I’m sure at least a few would lose some fingers.”

Iruka frowned at the shadow user for that comment, even if it was not only true but an effective disguise for his real question. “That’s why you’re not a teacher, I guess. It’s the little things, the things you learn about them over a year or two.” ‘Mask, name, report, sleep, words’ he listed on his paper. “Like the way Konohamaru is looking at Udon and holding the hem of his shirt. By themselves, the two things are meaningless, but I’ve known that boy long enough to know he’s about to try and take those nunchuku.” This unfortunately was true and Iruka darted in to prevent a concussion.

When he returned, Shikamaru had his notebook dangling again so it would be easy for Iruka to glance at it. ‘Alive? Ransom? Spy?’ He was frowning slightly and Iruka knew he’d made the right choice for help.

“I don’t know,” he said aloud, turning back to the kids. After a pause he added, “Sometimes it’s kind of scary being the only one that knows these kids. The only one watching out for them.”

Shikamaru’s frown deepened, but he moved away from his teacher slightly, putting himself in a corner. He crouched, steepling his fingers between his knees and Iruka let him think. He needed to focus anyway, now was time for the sharper toys.

-o-o-o-o-o-

“Sensei, hurry, I can’t hold this much longer.”

Kakashi appeared on the windowsill, gazing rather bored at the scene before him. Thirty small children, several with bumps and bruises and cuts, were standing perfectly still while Iruka darted between them, gathering weapons from desks and floor and grubby little hands. Shikamaru was at the front of the room, standing perfectly still, hands at his sides, his shadow stretched along the floor.

After another moment, Iruka started for the front of the classroom. “Thanks, that’s everything.”

One child whined loudly, “I wanted to play with it at lunch though!”

“We get to do more when we come back, right?”

Shikamaru released his jutsu causing more than one child to stumble. With a sigh, the chunin went to his corner and crouched again, watching as Iruka put away the weapons. “Go have lunch, we’ll see about more training when you get back.” Iruka glared at the miniature stampede as they rushed to the door. “Behave yourselves or we’ll have a quiz instead!”

“Indoor weapon training?” Kakashi asked, sliding into the room. Iruka shot him a glare, grateful for the excuse to let it go unconcealed, even if it was something his Kakashi would say. The silver haired man shrugged. “Just saying you’re asking for an awful lot of parent meetings.”

Iruka huffed, jerking his head at Shikamaru. “I have an aide today, it’s nothing we can’t handle.” He turned around, giving the younger boy a significant look followed by a smile. “It helped more than I expected, thanks.”

Kakashi tilted his head at the chunin as well. “Yo.”

Shikamaru nodded and then yawned. “Hey.” He stood and stretched, heading for the door. “I’m going to grab a bento for lunch, you want one, Sensei?”

Iruka nodded. He hadn’t eaten any breakfast, after all. And he knew the boy was leaving for a reason, even if he wasn’t sure why. Once he was gone, Kakashi leaned toward the teacher, wrapping his arms around his waist tightly. Iruka put thought into acting just as he would if Kakashi did this under normal circumstances. He pushed on his shoulder and when that didn’t work, he jabbed the masked man in the ribs. “I’m at school, Ka-kun. You shouldn’t be here at all, let alone two days in a row!”

The man had released him, though reluctantly. “Sometimes you are no fun.”

“You’re plenty of fun for both of us,” Iruka bit out. Slowly he went to the weapons cabinet and began removing individual weapons, one of each. For a much needed break from the noise and danger, he’d have the children write an essay as they did the day before. Behind him, Kakashi was fingering a rope dart thoughtfully. Iruka didn’t let it bother him, but he kept his eye on the tall scarecrow. “Don’t you have missions?”

The man smiled wide beneath his mask. “I just got back from a mission! They wouldn’t send me out again so soon.”

“So you haven’t been to the missions’ desk,” Iruka deadpanned.

The man’s hands flew up. “All right, all right, I’ll see if they need my help. There’s usually a good number of C and D ranks the Hokage wouldn’t mind dumping off on me.” He held up one hand as if to say goodbye and moved towards the door.

Just as it slid open, revealing another teacher, large scar quite obvious on his neck. Iruka blinked, but quickly smiled and bowed slightly. “Hello, Tohiro-san.”

Tohiro smiled as well before bowing his head at Kakashi. Kakashi returned the grin and the little bow. “Tohiro-kun.” Then he was gone, disappearing down the hall.

After a moment, Tohiro ‘poofed’, dispersing in a cloud of smoke until it was Shikamaru standing beside Iruka once more. “That man is not Hatake Kakashi,” he stated plainly. “And he has been watching you, but we should have a while now. Stroke of brilliance sending him to the missions’ desk.”

Iruka nodded, moving to the door and sliding it closed. He slipped the lock in place and then repeated the process at the window before going back to the front of the room and dissolving. With a somewhat startled sigh, Shikamaru wrapped his arms around the teacher’s shoulders while Iruka shook. “I don’t know what’s happened to him!” The teacher whimpered quietly. “I don’t know where he is and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“No,” Shikamaru whispered to the distraught man. “No, there’s a lot you can do. You have to make him think he’s won, try and find out what it is he’s after. You’ve already done a lot, we know Kakashi is alive somewhere.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Iruka admitted, scrubbing at his eyes. He needed this release, but he also needed to teach when the children came back, he had to calm down and make sure he looked all right. Even if his soul was unraveling inside.

Shikamaru rubbed the teacher’s arms. “No, it’ll be okay. Kakashi’s a jounin, former ANBU. If he’s alive then he’s all right.”

“Define all right,” Iruka sniffed miserably.

Shikamaru frowned. “Able to be rescued.” He sighed, making sure to watch the time himself. “Look, we know several things for sure, right? Kakashi is alive, so this guy isn’t working alone. He probably has some way of staying in contact, so you can’t let on that you know anything. Now if they were after secrets or if this were an assassination, he wouldn’t be hanging around, right?” Iruka nodded, the logic of problem solving calming him down gradually. “No, he’d be out there completing whatever goal he has. Kakashi can be imitated fairly easily as long as the person avoids certain people; Gai, his ANBU friends, the bookstore owner. But even they can be fooled fairly easily . . . well, maybe not the ANBU, but Gai and his other casual friends for sure. It has to be taking a lot of extra effort to fool you.”

Even with fairly close friends like Genma and Raidou, certain things could slip, scars didn’t have to be right, his face beneath the mask could be slightly off. But with Iruka, this imposter had to be obsessive about physical detail as well as mannerisms, it was the only way even things like scent would be accurate. It was a lot of effort, far more than simply slipping into the village to steal or kill would be. “I’m the target,” Iruka whispered with sudden, horrible certainty.

“It’s the only reason they’d go through all this. And he clearly doesn’t intend to kill you, so what?”

The teacher looked at him, somewhat startled. “You don’t have a guess?”

Shikamaru waved one hand airily. “I’ll figure it out, I just gotta think. Now come on, eat up before the brats get back.” He gestured at the desk where two bento were quickly growing cold, unnoticed.

-o-o-o-o-o-