Bab 4: Chapter 8: 0-8: Discovery
Disclaimer: Being neither British nor Japanese, it should therefore come as no surprise that I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto, nor anything from their respective franchises.
Now that he had both a wand and a grasp of the English language, Iruka's magical education began in earnest. When not training or sealing, he would often spend much of his time immersed in books on a variety of magical subjects, though focusing primarily on Charms, Runes, Arithmancy, Enchanting, Occlumency, and (briefly) Divination. Both adult Lovegoods, Pandora especially, could often be found teaching him spells or clarifying points that he had read about but not entirely grasped. Of course, Pandora also tended to loan her wand to her daughter during times that Xeno was teaching, since no one present considered it fair to shut the precocious girl out of learning. Both child and chuunin proved able students, with Iruka frequently spending the extra effort to learn his spells silently as quickly as possible.
At one point, Iruka took a break from a particularly dry volume on Elder Futhark runes and their uses to read the latest issue of the Quibbler, now that he actually had enough knowledge of the language and context to grasp some meaning from it (he did read the Daily Prophet regularly, though he agreed with Xeno that their journalistic standards would make it best suited as lining for the Inuzuka kennels). Three pages in, it was everything he could do not to burst out laughing. He knew from his times eavesdropping and people-watching around Diagon Alley that most considered the Quibbler to be a silly heap of nonsense and insanity, and to be fair that was what it appeared to be initially. Reading deeper (or as the Sixth called it "looking underneath the underneath") revealed that it was actually sprinkled with carefully-constructed and well-hidden political commentary and satire. Once you grasped the loose 'code' in which the articles were written, it became clear that Xeno was directing biting commentary at various influential parties. Given the Ministry's rather blatant corruption, it seemed likely that open and meaningful criticism would likely result in serious bureaucratic or even legal troubles. Disguising the comments allowed both the publisher and the readers to poke fun at those in power while using their targets' narrow-mindedness as a shield against reprisal.
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As the 26th of May approached, Iruka asked for a few specialized ingredients, as he intended to cook a special meal for the family. "I know a shop that carries imported foods; I can stop in tomorrow while I'm out shopping." A bemused Pandora agreed. "May I ask what the occasion is?"
"Well," the scarred chuunin rubbed the back of his head in a gesture reminiscent of his favorite former student, "the 26th is actually my 43rd birthday, and I wanted to celebrate by cooking one of my favorite foods for everyone. I know ramen isn't exactly fancy cuisine, but it's part of a lot of fond memories for me."
He was rewarded with a sly smile. "Then I'll have to make sure we have everything we need to celebrate!"
After his birthday dinner, the Lovegoods 'surprised' Iruka with birthday presents: An large illustrated bestiary that listed all known magical creatures, current and extinct, with at least basic information about each, and a set of fancy stationary and quills to use for business and other formal correspondence. He spent the evening poring over his new volume with Luna eagerly reading over his shoulder, occasionally commenting on her favorite entries.
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The glen in which Iruka trained every day was incredibly peaceful. Several days after his birthday party, it turned out to be a little too peaceful, as the chuunin ended up so deeply immersed in his watertop meditations that he neglected his situational awareness.
"How are you doing that?"
A simple question, asked in a tone of calm curiosity in the voice of a child, sent Iruka's system from relaxed meditation to full combat alert in a fraction of a second. By the time he had fully registered his situation, he had already flipped through the air to land in a ready crouch across the pool from the speaker, who turned out to be Luna Lovegood, watching him with her head tilted to one side and her expression no more surprised than it usually tended to look. "Luna?" he managed to croak out, "What are you doing here?"
"You were out longer than usual, so Mummy sent me to let you know that dinner will be ready soon. I've never seen someone sit on top of water before without getting wet, unless the water was frozen. It was very impressive how you threw yourself in the air like that, too. Were you using something like a Featherlight Charm? Mummy said you couldn't put that charm on a person, but I'm sure there could be something that works on people rather than things."
Taking a moment to parse Luna's typical stream-of-consciousness style of speech, Iruka sighed as he relaxed and stood up. "No, Luna, it's - well, it's something from my homeland. We learn to walk in places that we shouldn't be able to, like across water." He demonstrated by crossing to pool to stand in front of the girl. "The jump was part of my physical training. I'd really appreciate it if we could keep this between us; I'm not sure how people would react to some of the things I can do, and besides that I just prefer to keep it a secret."
"I don't see why it's anybody's business what you can do unless you're doing it for them. But..." Here Luna's posture turned somewhat uncertain and she looked down briefly, "can you teach me?" As the girl's face turned back up towards him, Iruka was treated to a blast of puppy-dog eyes that surpassed some actual puppies (and he'd heard the Inuzuka ninken even trained their puppies from an early age to maximize their effect).
The chuunin's mind raced. Having someone to train with would certainly not hurt his regimen, but training a foreign child in shinobi arts without her parents' knowledge and permission didn't sit well with him at all. Then again, he considered, he didn't have to teach her anything particularly dangerous - basic chakra usage and physical conditioning, maybe some simple taijutsu to help her protect herself - she was too old to ever likely reach the capabilities of a full shinobi, even with the level of training that tended to come with green spandex bodysuits, but she could still be able to keep herself safe. Coming to a decision, he addressed Luna. "I may, but I will want your parents' permission first. If I do teach you, though, I will be expecting you to work hard."
Luna's excitement was palpable, as her broad grin seemed to brighten the small glen like a miniature sun. She immediately grabbed an amused Iruka's hand and dragged him off back towards the Rook as fast as her short legs could take her.
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It was obvious during dinner that Luna couldn't wait for Iruka to ask her parents, and equally obvious that said parents were aware that something was up. "Luna saw a bit of my training today," Iruka began, "and wanted to ask if I could teach her a bit of what I can do. I responded that I would consider it if you two gave your blessing."
Xeno seemed about ready to agree immediately, but Pandora put a hand on his forearm, halting him, before addressing their houseguest. "Perhaps you could give us some idea of what you'd be teaching her, and what this 'training' entails?"
Iruka nodded; he had expected this question. "At first, it would largely consist of physical exercise and meditation, the latter partially with the intent of helping her learn to access the same form of energy I use for my techniques. If she gained reliable access, that portion of the training could then progress to teaching her some basic uses of this energy. Finally, once she reached a satisfactory level of physical conditioning, I'd teach her some basic techniques for self-defense. You are both welcome to accompany me to the glen on Saturday to see a demonstration of the kinds of things Luna could eventually learn."
This sounded good to the Lovegood parents; physical fitness was hard to argue against, and all parents want their children to be able to protect themselves. There were still concerns, however. "And what precisely is this energy you'd be teaching our daughter to use? What is its source?" They certainly didn't want Luna unknowingly tapping into some form of Dark magic, after all.
"My people call it 'chakra', and it's produced by blending energies native to one's own body. When people uses magic, they are combining two energies - spiritual energy from within themselves, and natural energy from the world around them. At least, that's what I believe to be the case based on my tests thus far. In chakra, the spiritual energy is still used, but the other component is physical energy, drawn from one's own body. This is part of the reason for the physical training: While spiritual energy grows with one's mind and experiences, physical energy grows through strengthening the body. It is possible to combine all three energies, but only for those who have undergone special training, as ordinarily the power of nature can easily overwhelm the internal energies of the user, usually with fatal results. I could count the number of humans I know of that can do that safely on one hand."
"With chakra, the only real risk comes from overuse leading to exhaustion, something which I understand is equally possible with magic. Of course, mishaps carry a risk as well, but that seems to be another common trait. The major differences come in how the two energies are used: Magic is most easily used in external manifestations like charms and transfigurations, whereas many of the more universal forms of chakra usage are either internal or self-focused, such as temporarily boosting one's own strength, speed, and durability."
Xeno took this opportunity to show the incisive mind behind his writings. "Physical conditioning, self-defense, bodily reinforcement, garments that seemed as if they might be a uniform of some type, first-aid training with extensive supplies for a schoolyard class - a picture begins to emerge. I haven't felt a particular need to pry before now, but I'm sure you can understand why I ask: You gave your profession as 'teacher', but what is it you teach, and towards what kind of careers does it lead?"
Knowing he was caught, Iruka gave a resigned sigh. "In terms of subject matter, I teach a broad range of topics; I'm essentially a general-education teacher for the profession my students are pursuing. That profession, the same in which I was trained, is that of a shinobi - a ninja."
Pandora and her daughter clearly did not recognize the term, but the increased tension in Xeno's frame showed that he was familiar with it. "Luna, dear," Xeno said calmly, "perhaps now would be a good time for you to catch up on your reading? This discussion may cover topics you shouldn't be dealing with." The girl was clearly confused and slightly worried, but with reassuring nods from the adults in the room, made her way reluctantly upstairs. Once her footsteps had disappeared into the upper reaches of the Rook, Xeno motioned for his guest to continue.
Iruka gathered his thoughts, trying to summarize the shinobi lifestyle to a couple of civilians that had never even heard of the Elemental Nations, being honest while at the same time framing things in as positive a light as could be managed; it would have been a mess, had he not pondered the possibility of a discussion like this occurring and considered what to say weeks ago. "The simplest way to describe the role of shinobi in the society of the Elemental Nations would be as an elite kind of soldier, but that doesn't fully encompass what we do. While we do serve as the primary form of defense for our nations, each Hidden Village also supplements its government funding by hiring out shinobi for missions. These missions need to be approved by the village's government, so that they don't go against the interests or values of their village or country, and can include things like apprehending criminals, eliminating bandits or problematic wild animals, guarding travelers, bodyguard duties, hostage rescue, and even chores and errands like babysitting and grocery shopping. Admittedly, these missions can also be of a less positive nature, such as espionage, theft, or even kidnapping or assassination, though only some villages have been historically willing to accept the nastier contracts, and Konoha, my village, is not one of them. Often, the worst jobs are done by deserters and renegades from the villages, who are desperate or amoral enough to do anything for money. Stopping or at least thwarting such renegades is a focus of many missions for more skilled shinobi."
"I myself come from Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, which has historically been one of the most pacifistic and moral villages. That's not to say our shinobi have never done missions like espionage or assassination, but we generally restricted such actions to valid military or political enemies."
"Generally?" Pandora interrupted with a raised eyebrow.
"There was, for a time, a faction within Konoha that disagreed with the village's general principles, and carried out unsavory and unscrupulous acts in secret, believing themselves to be acting for the good of the village. Their leader even briefly usurped the position of Hokage, Konoha's leader, until he was caught trying to use a mind-influencing jutsu on a foreign leader at a peace summit in an attempt to gain control over a newly-formed international alliance. He fled, and was killed soon thereafter." Iruka sighed. "Even over fifteen years later, we still occasionally come across evidence of yet another crime at his hand or his orders."
"This must all sound very bloody to you, but you must understand that the Elemental Nations have a violent history. Prior to the founding of Konoha, shinobi lived in clans, most of which were in a state of near-constant warfare with each other, each striving to raise their own prominence to gain access to more lucrative contracts and clients. Konoha, followed by the rest of the Hidden Villages, were founded in part to help promote peace by tying many previously-hostile clans together as friends and comrades. It worked, too - sort of."
"With clans grouped into villages and villages tying themselves to the governments of the countries in which they were located, there was no longer such fierce competition between clans for the missions which provided their income, but there were still grudges, many of them generations-deep, born of the blood spilled by both sides. Throw in rivalries and disagreements between nations, and there were still enough incentives for war that wars kept occurring. They were generally more contained and less frequent, but often larger in scale."
"It all came to a head around fifteen years ago. A tremendously powerful madman sought to cast a jutsu that would trap the entire world in an idyllic illusion, forever. Needless to say, we preferred freedom and reality to enslavement by a pleasant lie. All of the nations and villages pooled their military forces and confronted an army of creatures fielded by the madman, in what is known as the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Obviously we won, since otherwise I wouldn't be here, but the cost in lives was terrible; almost everyone alive today in the Elemental nations knew or is closely related to at least one, and often several, of those lost."
"Out of that terrible darkness, though, our leaders were able to forge an agreement that has left us in our world's longest and most complete period of peace in recorded history. Fighting together, sharing the fear and the pain and the triumph and the loss, has helped create bonds between groups that had been at each other's throats for generations. More than one of my former students are now married to ninja from villages that warred with Konoha within their lifetimes. The role of shinobi has shifted, somewhat, since the Fourth War. While each village's military power still stands as a deterrent against war, the shinobi of today mostly serve as peacekeepers and law-enforcers, protecting innocent people against those who would prey upon them or shatter our dearly-bought peace." Iruka stopped, here, to allow his hosts to process the vast amount of information he had dropped on them and to discover whether he would still be staying at the Rook come tomorrow.
"You have given us a great deal to think about," Xeno said after some thought, "and I believe it would be best if we all retired for tonight, so that Pandora and I can discuss this and sleep on the matter. We should be able to give you and Luna a tentative answer regarding instruction by morning, though a positive answer would be conditional on our approval of what you demonstrate."
Iruka nodded, and rose to prepare for bed. "I can only ask that the full nature of my training and abilities be kept confidential, as I don't want your Ministry deciding that I am some threat to be eliminated or a curiosity to be captured and studied or experimented on," he commented, receiving nods from his hosts. As he ascended the spiral stair, he saw Xeno wave his wand to erect a bubble of silence around the kitchen table, and the adult Lovegoods began a serious discussion of the evening's revelations.
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Breakfast the next morning was tense, peaking as Xeno laid his utensils down and addressed his guest: "We've discussed the information you shared with us last night, and have come to the decision that, assuming we find nothing objectionable in your demonstration, you may train Luna as you described." Pandora would later wonder if her daughter's squeal of excitement was audible all the way to the Burrow.
A/N: And so Iruka gets his first student.
In response to a recent guest review: Iruka will not be a powerful wizard - he'll actually be fairly weak power-wise. Were it not for his shinobi training, he'd be an outright Squib at best, possibly even a Muggle. Now, given the fact that his shinobi training means his magic is more powerful than it otherwise would have been, it does follow that those he trains will get a small power boost in their own magic (not enough to overpower Dumbledore or Voldemort, but not trivial either).
Given how many other authors are doing it, I have decided to cave to the non-existent peer pressure and begin recommending fics in my A/N! Each chapter prior to this one has had a recommendation added to its end A/N, though so far everything I've put is also on my Favorites list.
Fic recommendation: "Learning" by ashez2ashes - a short, fun, fluffy little story of romance between Naruto and Hinata, with some lines that definitely put me in mind of the style of Joss Whedon. Just a bit of light-hearted fluff.
Posted 30 July 2017
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
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