Chapter 125: Ordinary Lessons

Togekei and Anko had spent much of the previous year traveling through the Land of Fire between missions. They called it an extended field holiday whenever Hiruzen asked and a honeymoon whenever they wanted to annoy Tonbo.

"You are not married," he said.

"Technical detail," Anko replied.

"A honeymoon traditionally follows the marriage."

Togekei scratched his cheek. "We were testing the route."

"For a year?"

"Thorough testing matters. You taught me that."

Ayame returned from Ichiraku in time to hear the exchange and welcomed them before Tonbo could improve his interrogation. She accepted a packet of regional spices from Anko, examined the labels, and asked questions that turned the journey into places and meals rather than Togekei's embarrassed summary.

Tenyu and Maki listened for several minutes before deciding the important issue was whether Anko and Togekei intended to have children.

"Not soon," Anko said. "First your father's student must learn to plan a week without converting it into a patrol grid."

"Routes prevent wasted time," Togekei protested.

"Getting lost found us the best dumpling shop on the trip."

"We were not lost. We temporarily lacked confirmed position."

Tonbo looked at the twins. "Remember that phrase. It is what shinobi say when ordinary people would admit the truth."

The visit continued through dinner. They spoke of missions safe enough to describe, the Analysis Team, Togekei's special-jōnin duties, and Anko's refusal to let Orochimaru's history define what she did with the rest of her life. No one mentioned marriage again after Ayame observed that commitment did not become more sincere when friends treated it as entertainment.

Anko helped close Ichiraku after the meal and proved faster at washing bowls than Togekei, who attempted to organize them by size before cleaning. Tenyu and Maki performed the chakra-control chore they had accidentally requested after Tonbo's match with Kakashi. Their task was simple: hold a soap bubble between two threads of chakra without bursting it.

Tenyu lasted six seconds. Maki lasted eight and celebrated loudly enough to break her own bubble.

"This is not dishwashing," Tenyu complained.

"It is preparation for handling fragile objects while distracted," Tonbo said.

"You always call chores preparation."

"Because complaining has not yet made them disappear."

Togekei advised the twins to accept that lesson early. Anko burst his bubble with one finger.

At the Academy, Iruka confronted a less subtle form of entertainment.

A blackboard eraser waited above the classroom door. Naruto sat with exaggerated innocence while several classmates failed to conceal their attention.

Iruka stopped before crossing the threshold. "Naruto."

"Yes, Iruka-sensei?"

"Remove it."

"Remove what?"

"The trap you attached with a knot you learned yesterday. The knot is correct. The target selection is not."

"How did you know it was mine?"

"You used orange cord. You are staring at the eraser instead of me. And Kiba has been trying not to laugh since I entered the hall."

Every face turned toward Kiba.

"I didn't help," he said. "I only gathered intelligence."

"Failing to warn someone of a harmless prank is not a disciplinary offense," Iruka said. "It is still evidence that you valued the spectacle more than your classmate's judgment. Consider whether a future Hokage should do that."

Kiba's smile vanished. Naruto looked offended that Iruka had transformed his trap into someone else's lesson.

Naruto climbed onto a chair and retrieved the eraser while the class laughed. Iruka could have ended the matter there. Instead, he noticed that Naruto enjoyed being the center of even negative attention and that half the class had silently accepted the prank because they wanted to see it succeed.

"Outside," he said. "All of you."

On the practice field he explained Eightfold Flavor. The whistle around his neck carried a sound pattern that could connect a prepared genjutsu to a target's sense of taste. Tonbo had designed the original for combat and Iruka had adapted a mild, short version as an immediate classroom consequence.

"It causes no poisoning and ends when I release it," Iruka said. "You will still dislike the experience. Naruto, you set the trap. You may refuse the demonstration and complete cleaning duty instead."

Thirty faces turned toward him.

Naruto crossed his arms. "I'm not afraid of a taste."

"That was not the question."

"Do it."

Iruka blew one note.

Naruto's face turned green. He gagged, dropped to his knees, and spat into the grass though his stomach remained unharmed. The sensation resembled vegetables boiled into bitterness and left beneath the sun—an invention of his own aversion rather than any real food.

Iruka released the technique after three seconds. He checked Naruto's pupils and chakra flow before allowing the class to crowd closer. The adaptation could provoke nausea, but it did not affect digestion or continue after release. Iruka had reduced its intensity twice since first learning it. A teaching tool that became a contest of endurance would reward the wrong lesson.

"What was that?" Naruto demanded when he could speak. "Who creates something so horrible?"

Sasuke recognized the description. Itachi had once warned him about Tonbo's taste genjutsu, though Sasuke doubted anything he disliked could produce Naruto's dramatic reaction.

A student whispered, "Eightfold Flavor. My brother says Iruka-sensei uses it on every first-year class."

The rumor grew while it traveled. By the time it reached the rear line, the technique could make victims taste death for an hour and had been invented by a faceless torturer beneath the Academy.

Iruka raised his voice. "It is a controlled genjutsu, not a legend. You also saw me obtain consent for a demonstration. Future misconduct will usually receive ordinary work, loss of privileges, or contact with your guardians."

Naruto pointed at the whistle. "When I'm Hokage, the person who invented it gets the first taste."

"When you are Hokage, you may file a policy proposal. Until then, return to the line."

"Tell me who it was."

"No."

Iruka was not protecting Tonbo from Naruto. He was protecting the lesson from becoming a hunt for someone else to blame.

He assigned Naruto and the students who had encouraged the prank to clean the classroom after training. The genjutsu demonstrated consequence; the work repaired the disruption. Naruto complained that receiving both was unfair until Iruka pointed out that he had volunteered for one and earned the other.

Because the prank and discussion had consumed part of mathematics, Iruka replaced the remaining classroom period with endurance training. The students ran around the field in pairs while he observed breathing and pace.

Chōji moved beside Naruto, eyeing him with fascination. "Was it truly worse than vegetables?"

"A hundred times worse."

"I did not know a taste could be that bad."

"You don't want to know."

Shino appeared on Naruto's other side. "Individual aversion is variable. Your description does not establish what another person would experience."

Naruto stumbled. "When did you get there?"

"At the beginning of the lap. You looked toward me twice."

"Are you in our class?"

Shino's pace did not change, but the insects beneath his collar became restless. "We have completed a month of lessons together. I sit two rows behind you. I participated in the shuriken exercise."

"Oh. You're the bug guy."

"That is an incomplete identification."

His explanation continued through the next turn. Naruto did not understand half of it, but neither Shino nor Chōji moved away from him. The realization made the lecture easier to endure.

Kiba ran ahead with Akamaru and listened to the rumors. Hana had mentioned a defensive exercise called Throat Guarding Technique, developed by older students to block taste-based genjutsu at the neck's chakra points. Kiba had no intention of earning Iruka's punishment. A future Hokage still needed to know how others escaped it.

Information, Tonbo had taught him, mattered before the emergency.

Kiba began planning whom to ask.