Chapter 30
His new house was quite nice. Worth the month he had to stay in the hospital until he could finally walk. It was spacious, two stories, and built nicely. A nice kitchen, three bedrooms. It was more than anything he could have wished for.
The build quality also seemed quite good, and he even had a basement where he could store stuff he didn't have. It was more than spacious enough. It would be his home from now on, and most importantly, he won't have any annoying landlord that would annoy him anymore.
Iruka wondered what had happened to him. Maybe he was close by and got blown up, too. That would be nice. But probably too much to ask. Well, as long as he didn't need to see him again, that was fine, no matter what happened to him.
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Iruka felt a sense of accomplishment. Finally, things had fallen into place for him. Relaxing, he took a cup of coffee that Sai presented to him. He didn't even mind the smell of poison in it as he took in the aroma of his new home.
"Usually, this kind of poison doesn't have any scent or taste, but using it in hot beverages alters the original's smell, so it's best used in water or alcohol," Iruka explained to Sai, who took a notebook to write down what Iruka said. "I'll let it go this time, but next time I'll feed you whatever you give me if I catch poison in it."
"Understood, master," Sai didn't seem disturbed by it even for a moment. "I will try to do better next time and take your lessons to heart. I am sure I will manage to kill you very soon."
Iruka wasn't even a bit disturbed by Sai's words. He expected as much from him. In the couple of weeks those kids were with him, they already tried to kill him a dozen or so times. At this point, he had no other choice but to get used to it.
"Don't use weapons in the house," Iruka said as he turned to Shin, who tried to sneak up on him with a sword in hand. "I don't want any damage to the new furniture. And rather than trying to sneak up on someone while revealing your intentions, you should just act normally and approach your target before striking unexpectedly. You'll have a better chance of catching them unaware."
"Understood, master," Shin put away his sword. "I will learn from today's mistake and prepare a better plan. I will make sure to kill sooner than Sai will."
Iruka didn't mind their little games. It was good to keep him on edge since he was still regaining his strength. And it was quite boring to do nothing. He couldn't even drink for another month. Definitely not before he put some mass back on his bones.
Well, there were also a lot of things he needed to buy, but he couldn't just bring himself to. He had kind of blown up all his clothes and equipment with that apartment. Of course, if anyone asked, he had no idea how it blew up. It definitely wasn't his fault in any way.
Though Iruka suspected that the Third Hokage knew, since he explicitly told him not to put any explosive tags or traps in this house. Well, he still needed to make some seals and place them; he only needed to be more creative now.
But first, he needed to buy groceries and, most importantly, junk food. They might have forbidden him from drinking, but they didn't say anything about his diet. He was way too sick of the protein diet he had been subjected to for the past month.
It was nice to take it easy, but Iruka didn't know how long he could keep doing that. In the end, he was still a broke-ass shinobi, and he had no intention of going back into the field. So, he needed to return to his job as a teacher as soon as possible.
The problem was that he was weak as shit. How could he teach others when he could barely move himself? Looking weak in front of his students would be the worst mistake. He only needed to look at Sai and Shin to confirm how that would turn out.
Those little devils were trying to kill him just because he couldn't do anything about it right now. He will need to find hobbies to do rather than trying to kill their guardian. He was worried they wouldn't be able to grow up to be normal.
But then again, he will be busy trying to regain his strength before he returns to the academy, so he might let them do as they wish. Iruka didn't want Naruto to challenge him to a fight. He'd probably have to kill himself if he lost to one of his students.
And damn did he miss drinking. Just thinking about a good bottle of sake feels so tantalizing right now. But those little gremlins would probably report to the Hokage the moment they smelled alcohol.
"I told you two to stop smiling; it's creepy." Even to Iruka, it felt unsettling to watch them just stand there, still and smiling at him. "Go prepare a bath for me. And no funny business this time. Or you won't be able to rest for the rest of your lives."
It was even more disturbing to see how well they listened to him, though he suspected they would still do something funny. He knew those two would be the end of him. But it was nice to have a couple of servants taking care of him, especially when with them, he had to stay on his toes, for who knew what would happen next.
Without them, he'd probably just sleep all day, as he was always tired and didn't have much motivation to do anything. But knowing that they wouldn't give up so easily made him move his ass and train his body all over again from the sorry state he was in.
…
"You're not eating until every corner is spotless," Iruka glared at the two servants as he said that.
Those little bastards couldn't control themselves and had put itching powder in his bath. Now he was itchy everywhere, and it didn't stop easily. He'd thought he could take it easy today and start training earnestly tomorrow.
He had warned them, and now they wouldn't even be able to sleep. Even if Iruka had to give up his own rest, he'd make those guys' lives miserable. First came cleaning this house. Then he sees about repainting the walls and weeding out the backyard.
He would have let it go, but since they wanted this, Iruka was more than happy to make them clean every corner of the house until it was completely spotless. And they would do it with nothing but a piece of cloth that they had to clean afterward, too.
"If I find even a particle of dust in the air, don't expect to eat for the rest of the week."
They were shinobi trained to be ROOT elites; they would survive that much. The bigger problem was that he had to scratch his arms and legs without stopping, so he couldn't even make himself anything to eat.
Only after they finished and Iruka found no fault with their work did he make them cook dinner. Though he suspected once again that they would try something funny. So, he prepared some cup ramen just in case.
Still, he should have expected this much, but it was still worse than he thought it would be. Iruka knew that from now on, he would have to make them so tired they wouldn't even think of doing something like this again. And that didn't seem very feasible considering their training.
…
Even the most basic exercise was quite difficult for Iruka right now. But he still did it. He did as many push-ups and pull-ups as he could before taking a short run. He felt like he did during his first year in this world. Everything was hard and brutal for him, but unlike then, he was now used to it.
And yet it was doubly annoying when the two kids did the same exercises as if it were nothing but a warm-up. The way they tilted their heads and smiled, as if asking if that was all, was so irritating that he couldn't take it and pushed himself past his limits.
Now he was on the ground, completely exhausted and unable to move, with Sai and Shin poking him like he was dead. He didn't have any energy to say anything. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep until the pain went away.
"You'll catch a cold lying here, master," Shin informed Iruka.
Iruka regretted accepting those little bastards under his wing. They were way too good at annoying him and making him riled up. And no matter what he told them to do, they did it without any complaints, and then would use it to try to kill him, making it completely useless to order them around.
"Bring me my water," Iruka instructed them, and Sai quickly did that.
Iruka took the bottle and, before gulping it down like he was dying of thirst, smelled it first. There was no unusual odor, then he shook the bottle and looked for any residue. Only after finding nothing did he take a small sip to taste the water, then spat it out.
"Good job, Sai, I can't detect anything," Iruka praised the little lunatic. "Even most experienced people wouldn't be able to differentiate it from normal water. But you made a mistake."
"What was it, master?" Sai already had his notebook ready to write whatever Iruka said. "Like you said, there was no smell, taste, or visible change to the water. I kept my expression neutral so it wouldn't give anything away. So how did you know?"
"I didn't," Iruka replied, spilling the water over the little murderous maniac's head. "You just told me."
He thought he could use them as his servants, but all they did when he asked for food or drink was poison it. Iruka believed they'd give up soon enough, but they only got better at it. In the end, he could only bring his own water.
There was no benefit in having them with him. But somehow, he suspected the Hokage wouldn't take them back. Iruka should have known the house was way too good. He'd been totally scammed.
"There you are," Iruka stiffened for a moment as he heard a familiar voice, a voice he hadn't heard for years. "I've been looking for you all over the village."
"Little Asuma!" Iruka looked at his sensei's little brother.
"Hey! I told you to stop calling me that. I'm older than you."
"You sure are, little Asuma."
"Seriously, stop it before I beat your ass."
Asuma was five years older than Iruka, but age didn't matter. Iruka, like the rest who studied under Asuma's brother, had picked up calling him "Little Asuma." And there was no way they would ever stop.
"Yeah, yeah," Iruka laughed. "You sure grew up quite a bit over the years. Does the capital treat you nicely?"
"Tch, you're as annoying as ever," Asuma sat down in front of Iruka, took out a cigarette, and put it in his mouth. "Anyway, I need a report about what happened to Danzo. The Daimyo isn't very pleased with the news of Danzo's death."
"What a sneaky guy you are," Iruka replied. "Let me guess. You went straight to me rather than the Hokage. Am I right?"
"I'm here to do my job, Iruka," Asuma replied as he lit his cigarette.
"Sai, Shin, leave us," Iruka instructed the kids and didn't say anything until they were gone, at least until they seemed to be gone. "I killed Danzo."
"I suspected as much, but I want details."
"You really did grow up," Iruka slowly stood up. "Look at me. All the details you want are written on my body. Do with that as you will."
"Don't be like this."
Iruka sighed at Asuma's attitude. He sure had grown up. After all these years since they'd seen each other, Asuma had become unrecognizable. But he was still just the brat their sensei doted on. Sensei's death had hit Asuma even harder than it had Iruka.
Not only was Sensei Asuma's older brother, but he was also like a father to him. After his death, Asuma couldn't take it any longer and left the village to serve as one of the Twelve Daimyo guards. Even if he was still from Konoha, he only listened to the Daimyo's orders.
But Iruka wasn't too worried. This tough act wouldn't fool him. To Iruka, Asuma was still the little brat who only wanted attention from his father. And he would never do anything that went against Konoha, no matter how loyal he thought he was to the Daimyo.
"Hokage-sama will supply you with all the information you need," Iruka said. "All I can say is that it was long overdue. Danzo reached too far and tried to take too much; it just so happened that I was in his way, and I had to get rid of him. This is the aftermath of it."
Asuma looked surprised at Iruka's condition. And although he tried to hide his worried expression, it didn't escape Iruka. The little brat was still too nice, still too worried for his brother's stupid students.
"I see. I'll be going then," Asuma replied.
Iruka sighed again as he watched Asuma leave. He hadn't had the heart to stop him from leaving the village back then, and he didn't have the heart to convince him to stay now. It still looked like Asuma needed time to heal.
Hopefully, he would stop trying to replace his pain with hatred. Unlike Iruka, who blamed himself for their sensei's death, Asuma blamed the Hokage. There was nothing that could be done to change that. Both Iruka and Asuma were equally stubborn and equally stupid.
But since he'd come back, it probably wasn't as simple as investigating what happened to Danzo. Iruka felt something was going on in the capital of the Land of Fire. Something that shouldn't be happening.
"I told you to leave, didn't I?" Did these brats really think they could hide from him? "Either way, let's go; there are things I need to buy."
"Yes, master."
Now Iruka wondered if they were calling him "master" as a joke. They sure didn't act like servants. Well, with time, they might start being more useful. For now, it was up to him to feed them and make sure they learned properly.
There was no need to worry about Asuma. Iruka was sure that in a couple of years, he would be able to heal from his loss. And whatever he was doing wasn't any of Iruka's business. The Hokage could deal with it.
A.N. This chapter should have been uploaded a few days ago, but because of the blizzard in my area, I have lost electricity for almost the entire weekend. So, I dind't had a chance to upload it, sorry for the wait.
As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 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.