When Sasuke Met Naruto (SasuNaru)

- Chapter 22 -

Iruka Umino sat at his desk at Mizu Middle School that Wednesday, grading papers while intermittently checking emails. His current paper was covered in scribbles – grammatical errors, misspellings, and one paragraph that ended mid-sentence. He sighed and wrote a large "D" at the top of the page before moving on.

It wasn't that he didn't care about his job anymore – he wanted nothing more than to see these kids succeed. The problem was getting his students motivated. Teaching remedial English at a school that focused primarily on athletics didn't exactly give him much to work with, and in spite of Iruka's best efforts to teach the kids the wonders of reading and writing, they continued to turn in sub-par papers.

Turning back to his computer monitor, desperate to put off reading yet another terrible essay on Shakespeare, Iruka was surprised to find a new email sitting in his inbox. It's subject read "URGENT," and it had been sent by Principal Danzo himself.

"What does he want now?" Iruka asked, taking a sip of his coffee as he clicked open the email. " 'Meet me in my office. Now.' I suppose people don't say please when they ask for things anymore..."

Shoving the papers into his briefcase and shutting down his computer, Iruka started out of the room, turning off the lights as he exited. Locking the door behind him, the teacher headed down the empty hall grumbling to himself.

"He's lucky I'm still here. Most teachers leave almost as soon as the students do..."

Soon, Iruka was standing outside Principal Danzo's office, where he knocked once on the door. Almost immediately, a gruff voice on the inside called out, "Come in."

Tentatively pushing the door open, Iruka poked his head inside and forced a smile. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Have a seat, Iruka," the principal replied, motioning towards an open chair.

Iruka nodded and plopped down on the worn, leather seat, staring intently at the old man before him. He'd always found Danzo to be a disgusting person – not only did he have a grating personality and stubborn views on education, but he actually looked frightening. Children often ran as soon as they saw the old man limp along with his cane, his left arm dangling limp at his side. Half the man's face was covered with bandages, as well, giving him the appearance of a mummy. How someone like him had become principal always amazed Iruka.

"I think it's high time we discuss your future here in the Mizu school district, Iruka," Danzo stated flatly, leaning back in his chair. "Tell me, what have done in the past few years that sets you apart from the rest of the school?"

"Not as much as I would've liked, I'll admit," Iruka responded, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I have certainly tried to teach these kids English, but I get the feeling that they just don't want to learn."

"No child wants to learn, Iruka. You have to make a child learn, beat the information into their skull if you have to, so long as they remember it in the future."

"Principal Danzo, with all due respect, I feel it's more important for a child to have the desire to learn than to simply be able to regurgitate information..."

"That's enough!" Danzo snapped, pounding his right fist on the table. "I'm sure Principal Sarutobi taught you that nonsense back when he was still corrupting our youth, but now he's gone. He had a lot of influence, and we're very sad to have lost him, but I can tell you it's for the best. His ideals were weak – they relied too much on emotion, and not enough on hard facts."

"Principal Sarutobi was a great man, and our school greatly benefited when he was in charge."

"Coincidence! Sarutobi was a lucky man, but not much more. He let emotion cloud his judgment. The fact is, if our school is going to receive more funds, then we'll have to improve the average grade level of our students. That means we'll have to do away with this wishy-washy business of Sarutobi's time, and reintroduce disciplined education to our students."