Chapter 28
Iruka didn't want to open his eyes. He already regretted waking up, as the worst hangover hit him. And that said a lot, considering he still remembered his first-ever hangover. This was worse than he could have imagined.
The beeping of the machines around him made it worse; it was one of the worst tortures he had ever gone through. He could give up anything to just pluck his ears off for the sound to stop. With each beep, he felt his head splitting apart.
Moving was impossible. His muscles screamed in pain with every breath. He could feel his wounds burning, and he didn't like how his stomach felt; it was like something evil was churning inside him. He couldn't do anything to stop the machines.
Why the hell did he have to wake up now and not days later, after his body had time to heal? So damn annoying, especially since he was already prepared not to wake up to begin with. And now he had to endure this; he must be the unluckiest man alive. Anko will have to pay back for this hell he was in.
Well, he was alive. And from the way he could feel every inch of his body, he wasn't a cripple. He had feeling in his fingers and toes, although he couldn't move more than an inch. Hopefully, it was something he will recover fully from.
Though, judging by how the machines around him beeped, he didn't think his body was all that good. The worst part was that he could tell that himself, without these annoying machines monitoring him and warning him with this damn beeping.
He tried to sleep but couldn't. The pain and discomfort kept his mind active. So, he meditated. He was never good at it, just like he wasn't good at anything at all, but it still helped a bit. Clearing his head lessened the noise from outside and made him more capable of ignoring the pain.
Time passed, and at some point, he didn't even know if he was sleeping or not. But gradually, he could feel his body recover. He had no idea if hours passed or days. Still, when he opened his eyes, he was greeted with an empty hospital room.
The pain was almost completely gone, or more likely, he was able to almost completely ignore it. Yet, he couldn't move much. He felt so damn tired and weak. Even turning his head came with difficulty. So, he observed the situation with his eyes only, as the machines around him blocked any sound, and the breathing apparatus covered his nose and mouth.
Maybe it was for the best, as Iruka hated the smell of hospitals, and it was better he didn't smell it. The cleaning chemicals always made him nauseous. Still, he wasn't a fan of so many things attached to his body. But there was nothing he could do.
When a nurse finally came to check on him, she was shocked to find him awake. He wanted to ask many things, but it was impossible to speak right now. He could only watch and do nothing else. At least now he could tell how time passed from the light coming from the window.
Doctors came to explain how messed up his body was, but he was lucky, and with a proper diet and exercise, he would recover. However, it would take time before he could even think of returning to his job as a shinobi. Years, if not more.
They had flushed his body of all the medicine and alcohol he had injected into himself and managed to dilute his blood before the toxicity settled in. It wasn't difficult, since he had already bled too much and needed a blood transfusion either way.
He was once again lucky that some of his wounds had been burned shut; otherwise, he would have bled out before reaching the hospital. Though Iruka wouldn't call it luck, as the burns weren't pretty.
Once again, if the burns were even a bit worse, he would have lost nerves in at least one of his arms. But his chakra persevered just enough for the flames not to damage them. Again, the doctors said he was lucky. Iruka was tired of hearing that word.
Nobody came to visit him; the doctors said he wasn't ready. Any stress at this point could damage his body even further, even though they had managed to get through the most critical moments. He was far too weak to get any visitors. He couldn't really complain, as he still couldn't even talk.
One by one, the machines were taken away as days passed. Fewer and fewer things went into his body. And finally, after what felt like eternity, he could feel his energy return. He was even able to breathe without the machine's help.
"How are you feeling?" Anko was the first to visit once the doctors allowed visitors.
"Like hell itself chewed me up and spat me out, as it didn't like the taste of me," Iruka replied. "It's already been two weeks, and I still can't get out of this damn bed."
"Well, I also stayed in the hospital for a day," Anko said. "How could you punch me so hard? I didn't even know you had that kind of strength."
"You idiot, if I could, I'd knock you out again. Seriously, what the hell did you get into to cause so much trouble?"
"Oh, shut up," Anko replied. "I just followed a lead and then fell into a pit of secrets and cover-ups. But now it's all good, the Hokage himself is taking over. And since the person responsible is dead, there's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, easy for you to say while I'm stuck here, and even the doctors don't know when I'll be discharged."
"You survived worse."
"No, I didn't," Iruka said seriously, killing the joking mood they were in. "I shouldn't even be alive right now. I got lucky at every turn. And this is the best result of that luck. If only once I hadn't been so lucky, I'd be dead by now. I did my best, and I think that's enough."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm quitting being a shinobi, for good this time," Iruka replied. "No more missions. No more killing or almost getting killed. I'll stick with teaching and watching others do the job I was never good at."
"I'm sorry," Anko said, bowing her head.
Iruka didn't know if it was out of shame or true remorse. He could tell she had a hard time seeing him like this. She had been his teammate for a long time, and they could always trust each other to watch each other's backs. So, when one was incapable of doing that, it probably felt lonely and vulnerable.
"Stop it."
"No, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this situation."
"I would still be a drunk fool who can't let go of his past," Iruka replied coldly, cutting her nonsense off. "Maybe because I've been sober longer than I ever was before, I understand things far better now. You did your job, you were just unlucky that it involved far more dangerous people than you could've predicted. And I did my job as your friend. I was just unlucky that it involved far more dangerous people than anyone could've predicted. That's all there is to it. And in the end, we won. We did your job. So don't be sorry. Not for me."
If there was anything he hated most above everything else, it was people feeling sorry for him. He was already sorry enough for himself as it was. There was no need for others to butt in on that, especially the few people he could call friends. All they needed to do was be there for him, to see that they were alright, no matter what.
"Don't worry about the academy," Anko said, changing the topic after seeing Iruka's expression. "Hayate and I have taken over as instructors. I'm teaching ninjutsu, and Hayate took over as combat instructor."
"What the fuck? Are you trying to steal my job?"
"I thought you said you were quitting?" Anko replied.
"Yeah, but I still need to work. Do I look like someone who can retire and live well from my pension?" Iruka asked. "I don't even have a place to go back to once I'm discharged."
"Don't worry," Anko smiled. "I'm sure the new principal will gladly accept you as a janitor or something."
"If I could, I'd kick your ass, you know," Iruka threatened, but it fell on deaf ears as Anko ignored him.
All jokes aside, Iruka knew those kids were in good hands. Though he didn't think either Hayate or Anko were particularly good teachers, they knew their stuff, and they wouldn't take shit from those kids either. They knew better than anyone how the shinobi world really was.
Iruka had to worry about where he would live from now on. After all, he did kind of blow up his apartment. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to pay for the damages. Well, he could always pretend he didn't remember doing it and blame it on Danzo's men. He was a shinobi through and through, so deceiving others was just part of him.
…
"I can't do this, sir." The Third Hokage looked at the tired and defeated man before him. "They are evil. One night while I slept, they sneaked into my bedroom and put a kunai to my neck. To test my alertness."
The Third Hokage sighed. He knew this man; he was a good shinobi who had retired a couple of years ago. So, Hiruzen thought he should've been more than capable of taking care of those two and reintroducing them to the world.
"Sai, Shin, what do you have to say about it?"
"He wasn't alert at all; he didn't even feel our murderous intent," the younger of the two answered first.
"And there was no difficulty infiltrating his room. No traps nor alarms to worry about," Shin, the older one, added. "We could've killed him, and he wouldn't even have realized he was dead."
"With a quick slash on his neck artery, he would've bled out in seconds before he even felt anything," Sai nodded in agreement with Shin. "He would've slept through his death."
"See!" The man exclaimed, while Hiruzen could only sigh. "Don't bring them anywhere near me ever again."
With that, Hiruzen was left with nothing but those two kids once again. It was already the third time. He could have let them live by themselves, but he feared for their mental damage that would only get worse if they were isolated from other people.
The orphanage was out of the question. It took only one day for them to turn it over as they tested the security of the facilities. Hiruzen already had Inoichi working on the employer's mental health after that night.
The other former ROOT trainees weren't as difficult as these two, so they'd been able to find places in the village. But since Hiruzen didn't want to force them back into the shadows by accepting them into the ANBU, he was running out of options.
"Well, it seems there's no other choice." In the end, as the Third Hokage, he knew very well who was most suitable to take these two in, but he didn't even want to imagine what that man would make of them.
Just imagining what kind of monsters they would grow to be, living under the same roof as Iruka Umino and learning from him, gave Hiruzen a headache. Sometimes he wished everyone were like Naruto, who radiated so much brightness that no matter how dark his life was, he'd always find a path to walk.
In what kind of world was he living when Naruto was the role model for how others should act? It sure made him concerned for the rest of the world when those kinds of thoughts entered his mind. But what could he do?
Sai and Shin were way too talented and skillful to return to the academy. But they were still just kids, with no family and no path to follow. And letting them live normal lives seemed out of the question, since they had no idea what normal even was.
Although Hiruzen didn't want to put more on Iruka's shoulders, especially since he was still recovering, he couldn't think of anyone else. Only Iruka would be able to handle those two and give them a bit of normalcy in their lives.
Well, Hiruzen was a shinobi through and through, and deceiving people was part of him. So, rather than letting Iruka take care of these kids, Hiruzen would make it seem like those kids were there to take care of him, since he was still recovering, after all.
A.N. 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.