Chapter 40
She hated Iruka-sensei. And not just a little, she despised him with all her heart. Simply because he was the only one who could not only dismiss her like she was nothing but a spoiled child, but also tell her off and insult her.
No one had ever done so to Ino. Her parents treated her like she was a princess. Other teachers adored her, since she was smart and talented. Her classmates all liked her. But not Iruka-sensei. Every time he looked at her, it was with those damn dark and cold eyes.
"Ouch." Ino rubbed her head as a pebble hit her.
"You are too distracted," Iruka-sensei said. "Another ten laps."
She could run hundreds of laps around the training grounds, but only if they were normal. It was disgusting how she had to put her foot into this mud that reached her ankles. And all the laps were in a similar state.
Sometimes, there was even a pit hidden under the mud. If one's foot were caught in it, they would fall. Ino was careful to remember the places the others had fallen. She didn't think she could take it if she were covered completely in mud.
And although it was probably her imagination, Ino could swear that she smelled something foul in it too. She hated this. But not more than she hated Iruka-sensei, who forced her to do this. And now she had to do another ten laps.
"Ha! I win!" Naruto, completely covered in mud, proclaimed. "I finished first!"
"Good job," Iruka-sensei commented.
While Ino hated Iruka-sensei's expressionless and cold face, she was terrified of his smile. That man didn't know how to smile; it never reached his eyes. Even an idiot like Naruto had realized that. Though he still acted idiotically around Iruka-sensei, that's why what was coming to him was deserved.
"It seemed like it was too easy. Another twenty laps for everyone, and Naruto can do another thirty."
The laps weren't long. And after being trained in similar ways the past year, not only by Iruka-sensei but also by Hayate-sensei, their stamina could handle it. But these weren't normal laps they were used to. Every step they took here was exhausting.
The mud stuck to their feet. And if one fell into the pits hidden somewhere under it, it would be even harder to get up. Though it annoyed her that somehow no one had twisted their ankles yet. Somehow, those pits were made so as not to hurt them, and Ino wasn't brave enough to fake an injury to get away from this.
So they continued to run. By the end of it, all of them were dirty and dead tired. Ino would complain to her father if she hadn't tried it before. But all he said to her was that she should try her best and that there was much to learn from Iruka-sensei.
After cleaning up, they were at least given time to rest. Ino lay down on the ground. At this point, there was no need to even consider how dirty it was. She just wanted to close her eyes and never open them again.
"There, Ino." Sakura brought a bottle of water for her.
"I can't take this any longer," Ino complained as she drank it like it was the source of life itself, oh, right, it was. "I can't even think properly anymore. This is nothing but brutality and abuse. We have to do something."
Ino wanted to scream, but was too afraid that Iruka-sensei would overhear her. So, she could only whisper to Sakura while clutching her head in frustration. She didn't deserve to be treated like this.
"I don't know," Sakura replied. "As much as it is hard, I can see results. Look how muscular my arms are. And my stamina definitely increased. And even though Iruka-sensei does give a lot of homework to read through, at least it is something interesting, and I learn something new every day."
Ino hated how Sakura was right. But that was still unacceptable. Hayate-sensei also taught them well, and he was better-looking too. Hayate-sensei's smile was real and cute, and he never looked at them with cold eyes like they were already dead meat.
"You are such a teacher's pet," Ino told Sakura. "We are only nine years old. How can he treat us like this? Especially us, the cutest girls in the village. And do you think boys like muscular women? He will make us all bulky and disgusting."
This seemed to have gotten through to Sakura. They both knew that they were pretty and did a lot to look so pretty. But Iruka-sensei didn't even give them a second glance and had to ruin their image with this dirt and mud. How could Sasuke look at them when they looked like this?
Soon, her lean body would become bulky from all this training. Then no boys would even look at them. This had to stop before it was too late. She would make Iruka-sensei regret ever taking the job of a teacher in this academy one way or another.
She wouldn't let her past humiliation stop her any longer. Every day would be the worst day he had ever experienced. Before long, he would quit this job. Then normal life would finally return to them, and she wouldn't have to suffer so much.
…
As bloodied and tired as they were, Iruka wasn't satisfied with their progression. He would be the first to admit that he wasn't that great of a teacher. He just threw children into a pit and told them to learn how to climb out of it by themselves.
So far, he had only directed them toward what he thought was the right path for them to follow. He believed that the best way to learn something was through experiencing it firsthand. Yet lately, he started to doubt himself and his methods.
Was the stagnation in their progress his fault? The Academy's last year's students were pretty talentless. But they worked even harder than Iruka demanded of them. Their stamina was quite impressive right now, but that was pretty much the end of it.
"Historically, there isn't any right or wrong way to teach someone," Daikoku, the big history teacher, said. "Though there are methods that others would disagree with, it is hard to tell if they are wrong or not. Only the people from the future who will look back on this day will be able to tell."
"As usual, you are of no help," Iruka replied as he finished his lunch. "Still, can't you look up some tactics that were used back in the warring times that would be helpful to me?"
"Sure, sure." Daikoku was more than happy to dig up some old records to learn something from the past. "I am sure there will be something useful, though how useful it is is hard to tell."
"Suzume is quite busy, it seems," Iruka commented, changing the subject because he was curious, as he hadn't seen her in the last couple of weeks.
"And whose fault do you think it was?" Daikoku replied. "She has taken her new role as headmistress seriously. As biased and quite corrupt as the last one was, he knew how to get funding. I heard that the village will be cutting the academy's budget again next year, so she has to work extra hard to allocate it so it will be enough to run the academy."
Iruka didn't even want to listen to it. It was way too complicated for him to care about. And he didn't want to get involved. A low budget wasn't something he was surprised by. The clans relied on the academy only for general knowledge.
It was for the rest of the kids who came from non-Shinobi families that the academy was important. But sadly, they had no say in the politics of the village. Still, Iruka wasn't too worried. The Third Hokage wouldn't make it too hard for the academy to survive.
He knew of the academy's importance better than anyone else. It was a cornerstone of the village. It was the first place where the kids who would become shinobi made connections. And teaching general subjects to kids isn't so easy that just anyone can do it.
What he was more worried about were the last year's students. Daikoku said that their theory classes were going fine, and they should pass them with high grades. But it was just a small part of the examination, and grades didn't matter in the real world.
The kids had adapted to the terrain he created quite well. Their stamina was no longer lacking. But their combat capabilities were severely limited. The only way they could hope to survive in the shinobi world was for them to work in teams.
And Iruka didn't think that was enough either. So he hoped to teach them some tactics that could be used by larger teams. So when they were in trouble, reinforcements would mean more than just stacking up bodies.
"Anyway, is it me or does the food taste a bit different from what I remember?" Iruka asked as he picked up the last piece of his lunch.
"Can you even taste anything anymore after burning your mouth and throat with alcohol all the time?" Daikoku asked. "Even from here, I can tell how strong the stuff is in your flask. Just smelling it burns."
"For a big guy, you sure are a lightweight," Iruka replied. "It is just normal stuff you can drink every day."
"That's called alcoholism. Nobody with some brains in their head would ever drink the stuff you drink, and definitely not every day," Daikoku sighed. "And I was starting to think you were getting better."
That was just a misconception. Sure, he wasn't his lazy self anymore. He now had responsibilities aside from his job and himself. But nightmares don't just stop. The feelings don't just disappear. Pain doesn't get dull on its own.
And it was just normal by now. The taste of it, the dizziness after drinking, without them, he felt wrong. He knew very well that he was addicted. But he didn't care about it. He found no reason to stop, nor were there enough side effects to hinder him in his work and life.
Ignoring the worried gaze directed at him from Daikoku, Iruka left the cafeteria. He definitely tasted something different about the food, and he did feel something weird in his stomach. And he didn't like how Ino Yamanaka stared at him the whole time he was eating.
Oh well. Even if the food was spoiled or anything, it wouldn't affect him much. His body was used to poison from all the experiments he had done on himself. A little food poisoning wouldn't even make him rush to the toilet.
But it did give him an idea of what he could do to help train those little puppies who would soon be let out into the world. He hadn't considered it before, as it would be a bit of torture. But if he managed to hold himself back, maybe there wouldn't be too many complaints from their parents. Especially with a certain someone on his side.
"Master, we have observed the students." Damn, Sai was way too good at hiding; even Iruka was surprised when a voice spoke up from the nearest shadow.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Iruka asked.
"Not a single one of them will survive facing anyone higher than a genin," Sai reported.
Though Sai's perspective on the shinobi of this world was quite skewed, since he had only done missions that wouldn't even be recorded, he still had a good eye for a shinobi's overall strength. And Iruka's perspective was far more skewed than Sai's.
To him, a normal shinobi was someone like himself. But he knew that he wasn't very normal either. After all, not everyone could rise to become a special jonin. Even if there were stronger chunin than him in other aspects, in assassination, Iruka prided himself on being one of the best.
But genin, and those at the start of becoming chunin, mostly encountered direct fights. That was what Iruka wanted to prepare them for and teach them how to survive until their prospective talents and capabilities could shine and be used most effectively.
"Ah, fuck." And it seemed that his fear was well-founded, as Sai could also see the fate of most of them. "I have a new mission for you and Shin. Look for Lady Tsunade's whereabouts and report directly to me."
The only way he could see to improve those kids' likelihood of survival was through pain. If he couldn't find some miracle tactics that could help raise their team's overall strength, he would be left with no choice.
But the kind of training he was thinking of was far too dangerous. The only way he was confident would be successful and wouldn't leave any lasting injuries was to have the best medical shinobi on standby.
And he had long since started to think about bringing her back. She was something that couldn't be left alone, a wildcard that Iruka wouldn't be able to use, but others might. So at least he wanted to have her in his sight. Though he would have to have a talk with the Hokage first before anything.
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.