Naruto Fic Recs: [1] [2]
Fic Masterlist here for full list.
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through the dark, reaching for me now by callaina
Word Count: 5,341 (1/1)
Summary: The first time Iruka meets Hatake Kakashi he is decidedly not awestruck.
Comments: KakaIru. Fuuinjutsu Master Iruka. First meeting. Strangers to Lovers. Iruka being amazing and Kakashi realizing it and then lots of fluff.
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Making Amends by Jubokko, LazarusII
Word Count: 31,381 (5/5)
Summary: It had been months since Kakashi and Iruka last spoke to one another for anything other than business—and over two years since their mutual breakup. Terrible, painful, lonely years filled with nothing but shitloads of paperwork and enough politics to make Kakashi want to gag.
But his days in office were numbered.
That, he could deal with.
Iruka, on the other hand…
Comments: KakaIru. Hokage!Kakashi, ANBU!Kakashi, BAMF!Kakashi, BAMF!Iruka. Undercover Kakashi, lots of action and fight scenes, and lots of missing-nin. A part of the Umino Undercover collection on Ao3, which is full of really good Iruka-centric fics
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Taking A Break by ohmygoshwhatascream
Word Count: 47,699 (8/8)
Summary: With Naruto gone, Iruka finds himself left with nothing but loose ends. Lonely, but not quite willing to admit it, life goes on. He takes more shifts at the mission desk, avoids his friends and tries to convince himself that the shadows in his apartment are not growing larger and larger with each passing day.
It doesn't help that Hatake Kakashi, a man who Iruka tries to avoid at all costs, is suddenly lingering in each and every corner of his life.
No matter what he tells himself, there's something about Kakashi that makes it impossible to stay away. The remnants of an age-old crush that never quite faded offer the promise of something he'd promised to forget and, even when it burns, Iruka finds himself captivated.
His back bears the cruel memory of weakness and he knows that this can't last.
Comments: KakaIru. ANGST OH MY GOD. Dadruka. Basically slowburn where Iruka is struggling to get over what Mizuki did to him (they had been together) and trusting someone else after that kind of thing is hard.
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** The Proposal by BC-Brynn
Word Count: 8,176 (1/1)
Summary: ...or how Naruto got platonic-married to one of his friends and in the end didn’t regret it at all.
Comments: Shikamaru/Naruto. Marriage of convenience trope, which when you think about Shikamaru for a second it makes perfect sense. Perfect oneshot with a sprinkle each of fluff and angst, has a very slice-of-life feel to it.
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Love Reveals The Paradise by cuupid
Word Count: 13,425 (1/1)
Summary: Tsunade spread her arms wide, the smile on her face stretched large enough to match. "You two are getting married. Congratulations!"
Or
Recovering from war, Kirigakure and Konohagakure have decided that the best way to unite their villages is a marriage between someone of Kiri birth (Iruka) and someone of Konoha birth (Kakashi).
Comments: KakaIru. Arranged marriage. Iruka being the best dad to Naruto.
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don’t piss off a seals master by stupidbadgers
Word Count: 1642 (1/1)
Summary: perhaps it was a little petty of iruka to almost completely dismantle the warding protecting hokage tower, but could you really blame him?
Comments: Fuuinjutsu Master Iruka. Implied established KakaIru. We get to see how important Iruka is to the village in this one. I like it when ppl realize that they’ve made a huge mistake underestimating him.
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To Go Hand In Hand by megyal
Word Count: 50,025 (20/20)
Summary: Iruka and Kakashi have to join forces...as parents, for Naruto.
Comments: KakaIru. Partners to Lovers trope. Marriage of Convenience. Lots of Dadruka and Dadkashi.
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Pillow talk for fake lovers by Dunloth
Word Count: 10,845 (7/7)
Summary: Kakashi and Iruka go on an undercover mission as civilian diplomats. They would be okay with it, if only they didn't have to pretend they're married too. Also, Kakashi is crushing like a teen and Iruka can't stand the sight of him. Or can he? Warning for unwarranted fluff and a bit of angst.
Comments: KakaIru. Undercover as married couple trope. Enemies to lovers kinda. There was only one bed. This one is also in the Umino Undercover collection on Ao3.
if not too late... iruka/kurenai/asuma going camping? and maybe a slightly too small tent lol :D
;) oh no. Whatever will they do?
Asuma sighed, lighting up another cigarette. He didn’t know what those chuunin at the assignments desk were thinking when they assigned this team. Two jounin and a chuunin, one of which was basically a babysitter, to go and appease the daimyo. It didn’t make a lick of sense, especially when they were told to head out today and arrive in three days, which is thrice the time it would take to actually get there.
On top of that, they were barely given enough resource permissions for one fully grown shinobi, let alone three. They were given half a normal ration- enough for the half a day trip that it usually took to get to the daimyo, but pathetic for the three required days- a tent that could pretty much only fit Konohamaru in it, and three whole kunai. It was lucky that they’d been able to keep whatever they already had on them or else they’d be completely defenseless should they be attacked.
And Asuma hadn’t even mentioned his companions.
He didn’t mind working with Kurenai- she was sharp of mind and held sharper genjutsu, almost up there with the cultivated talent of a Sharingan, so he felt safe in her presence. Iruka... was a different story.
Asuma did really like the man, but... more in a “I’d trust you with any future children of mine and maybe i’d let you sleep on my shoulder” way, not a “I’ll let you guard me while I sleep in dangerous territory” way. Hell, he didn’t even trust Kurenai like that.
But travelling with Iruka did have it’s perks. He seemed to have been a bundle of anxiety ever since leaving the village, and had offered to scavenge for dinner food as soon as Kurenai said they should make camp, and then had made a rather delicious mushroom and meat stew. He’d set up camp, built the fire, carved a wooden pot and lacquered it with more speed Asuma thought truly possible, and was now diligently washing dishes in the nearby stream.
“It’s like having a ninja-housewife. Or a maid.” Asuma commented quietly to Kurenai. She snorted, shaking her head.
“He’s feeling guilty that we were put on the same team as him. I heard he’d asked for vacation for a little while, three days to be exact, and the Hokage saw fit to put him on a “vacation” mission instead. And then got put with two jounin, who, in his mind, have better things to be doing.” She said, low voice soothing a bit of Asuma’s irritation- and then it was his turn to snort.
“Better things to do... like what? Babysitting the royal brat? Take on a genin team? Wrangle the village children? Or risk our lives to assassinate someone? If they hadn’t given us such shit rations and parameters, I would be having the time of my life!” Asuma exclaimed, chortling along with Kurenai. They fell silent as Iruka came closer, washed dishes in hand and looking no less nervous than he did when he’d found out about this mission.
“Uhm, I know it’s getting late n’ all, but the tent is kinda small. I’m gonna try and weave something out of the branches and stuff to add onto it a bit, but it might take a while so just go to sleep for now and I’ll let you know when it’s done.” He said meekly, fidgeting with the pots. It occurred somewhere in Asuma’s mind that jounin, being as rare in the public eye as they are, probably intimidated Iruka to a large extent- especially when he hung around jounin like Kakashi, who could be erratic at best. In Asuma’s silence, Kurenai spoke up.
“Oh, but Sensei, this was supposed to be your vacation, was it not? It would be incredibly rude of us to deprive you of a good sleep in such a time. Just join us for now, and tomorrow morning you can do that. We have three days to kill, after all.” She purred, and Asuma pondered at what she implied. ‘Join us’... sneaky, cheeky bastard. Asuma wasn’t wholly opposed to cuddling up to this cute little sensei though, especially when he made such an expression at the prospect...
Fuck. He pinched his arm in a futile attempt to see if Kurenai had caught him in a genjutsu. He was not getting a crush on the glorified babysitter, no way. But Kurenai had other plans.
“Come now, it’s practically midnight already. Let’s call it in for a night- I’ll take first watch.” She said, non-too-kindly pushing Asuma toward the tent and grabbing Iruka on her way. The poor sensei looked more distraught than Asuma thought the situation was really worth, but then again, the prospect of cuddling up to the cute man in that small tent was becoming more and more pleasing as they walked. In a feat of surprising strength, Kurenai tossed the two men inside and climbed in after them.
“Hmph. I thought you were keeping watch?” Asuma said, definitely not pouting.
“The ravens are watching for me, plus it’s cold out there. I think it would be much warmer in here, don’t you?” She said, mischievous light dancing in her too-red eyes. Iruka let out an adorable squeak as Kurenai sandwiched him between Asuma and herself, Asuma taking the opportunity to innocently wrap his arms around the smaller mans shoulders. He was so cozy to hold on to, and smelled like fresh flowers- gifts from the Yamanaka no doubt, for tolerating their children all these years.
Asuma startled when he heard soft snoring, and looked down to see that Iruka had fallen asleep right there in his arms, uncaring for the cigarette smoke he was right underneath. He couldn’t help but grin, and watched as Kurenai cuddled up closer to the sensei.
Summary: Iruka didn't realize that a baby (6-year-old) joining his class was the herald to the end of his pranking days in the Academy. But when their teacher assigns Itachi and Iruka a group project, it becomes clear that Iruka's going to have to learn how to cooperate with the little smarty-pants Uchiha. The only problem is, he's not sure Itachi's willing to cooperate with him.
Read it on AO3
Group Project
Sharingan-Stealer Iruka - Part 1
There was a new kid in class, Iruka noted absently as he eased his hand under his desk, pressing a small wad of what looked like chewing gum there, fighting to keep a straight face. At the front of the classroom, Aki-sensei was scribbling on the blackboard and babbling about this… Iruka paused, doing a double take. They were getting a baby in their class!
Okay, not a literal baby, but he might as well be! He was barely half the size of everyone else in the room, with big dark eyes, soft black hair, and chubby baby cheeks. Iruka fought not to laugh - what was this kid doing in their class? They were going to graduate in a few months, why on earth would they be moving this kid into their class now?
“I hope you will all be welcoming to Itachi. We have high hopes for him - for all of you -” here Aki-sensei paused to glare at Iruka, “to pass your upcoming assessment and graduate to Genin-rank.”
Iruka didn’t bother to hide his scowl at that. He’d been held back during the last assessment because of his poor written marks. And his poor practical scores. Also probably because he’d skipped the first half of the test to try and drop water balloons on the ANBU standing outside Hokage Tower. The real trap had actually been trying to corral them into tripping a wire that would send a ink-filled balloon at them from a completely different direction, but, like all the other times he’d tried to pull one over on the ANBU, it hadn’t succeeded.
He had been scolded pretty soundly by two of them, and then frog-marched back to the Academy, only to realize that Aki-sensei hadn’t reminded them about the test the day before, so he hadn’t known to show up on time. Or maybe she had reminded them, and Iruka had slept through it? Anyway, he’d missed most of the graduation exam, and Aki-sensei wasn’t about to let him forget it. Other than harassing him about tests, though, she had precious little to say to him that wasn’t critical and honestly just obnoxious, and Iruka got enough of that at the orphanage, so was it any wonder that he tended to tune her out?
“Hey Iruka,” Mizuki whispered, “check out the new kid. He’s an Uchiha.”
Iruka rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I noticed.” It was hard to miss the fan shape on the kid’s shirt, after all. Did Mizuki really think he was that dumb? He may not be great in school, but he knew the clan crests! At least, the important ones. Mostly. Anyway, Uchiha was an easy crest to recognize because it looked like a fan.
“No, idiot, I mean,” Mizuki shot back with an irritated grimace, “He’s an Uchiha. I heard they’re the ones responsible for… you know.”
“I don’t know,” Iruka replied, frowning. “Responsible for what? They’re the military police, I’m sure they have a lot of responsibilities.”
Mizuki glanced back and forth like he was going to tell Iruka a secret, and then whispered very loudly, “They’re the ones who caused the Kyuubi attack.”
Whispers rippled across the room as eyes turned to land on the new baby in their class. They didn’t have any Uchiha kids in their year, or hadn’t, but Iruka had seen a couple of Uchihas around the academy in some of the lower classes. They didn’t seem like the sort of people to be letting nine-tailed demon foxes loose in the village, but what did Iruka know? The Uchihas mostly stuck to their own compound, except when they were in school, and Iruka couldn’t recall ever meeting one outside of school. He scowled down at the kid. If his family was responsible for that night… Iruka swallowed hard. It had been two years since that night, but sometimes his throat still burned like he’d never stopped screaming.
Slowly, he forced his eyes away from the tiny kid in the front row. What his family had done wasn’t his business, anyway. As long as he didn’t bother Iruka, he didn’t have a problem with the little kid.
Itachi Uchiha was starting to get on Iruka’s nerves. It wasn’t like the kid was
trying
to annoy him necessarily. At least, that didn’t seem to be his intent. But his very existence felt like a splinter stuck under Iruka’s skin that he couldn’t seem to dislodge, setting him on edge. And then,
then
he’d started to actively get a rise out of Iruka. It wasn’t just the way that this
tiny baby child
had waltzed into their classroom and
immediately
risen to the top of the class in test scores, or even the way he managed to
always
master everything in their practical skills work. It wasn’t even the way he was
always
raising his hand in class to answer questions, or
worse,
ask
questions, which would lead Aki-sensei on a tangent when Iruka just wanted to
go outside
and not sit at a desk and listen to a boring teacher blather on about boring rules. No, the thing that made Iruka genuinely irritated was the fact that Itachi kept
ratting him out.
It had started on the very first day. After Mizuki had made his not-so-subtle announcement about the Uchiha clan and their supposed connection to the disaster from two years ago, Itachi had taken a moment to turn and glance back at the rest of the room, his gaze sweeping over the class before frowning at Iruka. Or, more specifically, the ‘gum’ under Iruka’s desk. Then, he raised his hand.
“Yes, Itachi?” Aki-sensei said, pausing mid-lecture. “You have a question?”
“Not exactly,” Itachi answered, his dark eyes drifting back over his shoulder to peer at Iruka. “Are exploding tags allowed in this classroom?”
Iruka was going to strangle him. He’d planned this out to the letter, and now this tiny kid was going to ruin it? He gripped his pencil so hard it almost broke, widening his eyes at the little Uchiha as if to say “don’t you dare,” but the little kid seemed totally unmoved.
“No,” Aki-sensei said, her eyes drifting from Itachi up to where he was staring: Iruka’s desk. “They are not. Iruka?”
Desperately, Iruka tried to salvage the situation, lifting his hands in the air. “Look, I don’t have an exploding tag, my hands are empty-”
“He was sticking it under his desk while you were writing on the chalkboard,” Itachi interrupted. “I saw him hide it under the gum.”
“It’s not an exploding tag!” Iruka barked back, irritated.
“Oh?” Suddenly, Aki-sensei was across the room, standing beside his desk. One of her eyes twitched as she stared down at Iruka, a dangerous gleam in her stare. “And if it’s not an exploding tag, then what is it?”
… he should have seen that one coming. Iruka glared furiously at Itachi, who had already turned around in his seat and didn’t seem to notice the enraged look Iruka was tossing in his direction. If Iruka knew how to radiate a killing intent, he would have, because what was this kid’s deal? It wasn’t like he was going to be personally affected by a little stink-bomb, especially not one as weak as the one Iruka had thrown together this morning by modifying a stolen exploding tag from the training grounds. It was set to go off at a specific trigger, specifically exposure to chakra, which would probably be when Aki-sensei peeled the gum off the desk at the end of class, because he’d used some chakra to stick it right at the edges, and Aki-sensei wasn’t one for finesse, so knowing her, she’d just blast the whole thing with chakra to peel it off, and then… boom! The room would be filled with the smell of rotten eggs. It wouldn’t have bothered anyone else, just smelled up the room and probably also Aki-sensei. To match her stinking personality, because she hated Iruka and never bothered to hide her disdain, so why should anyone care if she smelled as stinky as her attitude?
“...it’s just a stink-tag,” Iruka groused.
Aki-sensei scowled down at him, folding her arms over her chest. “If it’s just a…” she made a small confused face, “…stink-tag…” she shook her head at the unfamiliar phrase before continuing, “then, I suppose you know how to remove it without setting it off?”
Iruka nodded slowly, his mind already spinning as he re-evaluated his options. He fought to keep his expression neutral as an idea occurred to him. Really, Itachi had brought this on himself with his meddling. If he hadn’t said anything, the only person who would have been affected was Aki-sensei and her nasty attitude.
Aki-sensei was watching him with her sharp gaze. “Honestly, Iruka, sometimes I wonder why you even bother coming to class at all,” she snapped, “if all you’re going to do is make trouble, you might as well not be here.”
Iruka agreed, in a general sense. He didn’t want to be in Aki-sensei’s classroom any more than she wanted him there. But he wanted to become a ninja, a great ninja, like his parents, and that meant he had to graduate from Ninja Academy, even if it meant putting up with mean people like Aki-sensei. “Yes, sensei,” was all he said, reaching under his desk and minding his own chakra, making sure to keep it well away from the ‘gum’, peeling the sticky substance away from the desk to reveal the small tag he’d altered that morning. Then, with a smirk, he turned to face the front of the classroom, and shouted, “Hey, Itachi! Catch!” and pushed a tiny bit of his chakra into the tag as he threw it at Itachi’s head. The tag exploded before it reached the kid, really almost as it left Iruka’s hand, but it was the thought that counted, Iruka decided. The odorous smoke trailed across the room, covering mostly Iruka and Aki-sensei, but also quickly filling the entire classroom with a horrible stench.
Despite the urge to gag, Iruka had to admit the tag had worked well. Next time, he’d have to figure out a detonation timer, or distance trigger for it. It worked basically the same as a regular exploding tag, but with less concussive force and more smell, so he was fairly confident he could get it to work. He grinned, even as Aki-sensei grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard, scolding him about whatever. He wasn’t listening. Instead, as their classroom was being evacuated, amidst the coughing, choking, and streaming eyes, Iruka caught Itachi’s cool, dark gaze, and winked at him. The Uchiha looked away. Heh. Score 1: Umino Iruka.
Iruka’s detention after school to air out the classroom and scrub it top-to-bottom was worth it, he decided. Maybe next time Itachi would think twice before selling him out.
…he did not.
~~*~~
In the weeks that followed, Iruka discovered a few new facts about Uchiha Itachi.
Fact one: Itachi was a rules guy.
He didn’t particularly care what the retaliation would be, if he saw Iruka breaking a rule, he would say something and it would suck. Iruka was usually able to get away with a few pranks here and there just because Aki-sensei couldn’t prove it was him, but with Itachi’s eagle-eyes following him everywhere, it seemed like he was getting detentions nonstop. At this point, Aki-sensei had taken to making Iruka stand in the corner of the classroom and stare at the wall for a few hours after every prank. Then she had the audacity to get mad when Iruka would come in the next day without his homework! He was an older kid in the orphanage, he had chores to do, and he was spending detention staring at a wall! Maybe if she let him do his homework instead of standing around doing nothing, he’d actually be able to finish it! Not that he bothered saying as much - she would have just accused him of making excuses.
Another fact about Uchiha Itachi: He was a genius.
It was more than just how good at everything in school he was, he was also good at catching Iruka when Iruka was trying to pull a prank. He was better at that than his teachers, even! In a way, Itachi reminded Iruka of the ANBU around Hokage Tower, able to somehow spot every trap he was setting up and avoiding every piece of it as if it was nothing. Itachi seemed capable of effortlessly noticing, dismantling, and alerting the adults whenever Iruka tried to pull something, and he took it as a personal challenge. Iruka stopped caring so much about pranking Aki-sensei, who at this point had taken to ignoring him all over again. Instead, he started trying to get Itachi.
A lot of the classic pranks didn’t pan out, and Itachi just reported him to Aki-sensei, who had him stand in a corner until after dinnertime, which usually meant he’d get back to the orphanage late and have nothing to eat and still an hour or two of chores before lights-out. So after a few failed attempts, Iruka moved on from that, but he didn’t give up on the idea. As much as it sucked to go without dinner for a night here and there, he had Itachi’s attention, and he felt like maybe this was a prime way to practice his ANBU traps without alerting any actual ANBU to his early attempts. As he took his time coming up with new pranks, part of Iruka even wondered if Itachi might be enjoying himself, too. It was hard to tell.
This tied into fact three about Uchiha Itachi: He reacted to basically everything in a calm, methodical, mild manner.
Since he never seemed to respond to anything, his lack of reaction to the pranks seemed fairly normal to Iruka. Itachi never seemed especially surprised or angry, and he only really smiled when he was talking about his baby brother, Sasuke. But Iruka thought that maybe Itachi enjoyed the challenge of spotting his pranks, of reporting him to Aki-sensei, almost as much as Iruka enjoyed trying to think up new ways to get him. If he didn’t, then why would he keep doing it? Surely it was easier to just let Iruka do what he wanted.
Things continued on in this way for about a month. Iruka would set a trap, Itachi would spot it and report him to Aki-sensei, Aki-sensei would make him stand in the corner, and Iruka wouldn’t turn in his homework the next day. It became almost routine, until Aki-sensei told the class they would be doing a group homework project. Instantly, everyone started trying to grab their friends and pair up - but Aki-sensei cut them off, saying that everyone would be drawing names from a bag, instead. Starting at the front of the room, she had the students pass the bag to the student beside them, writing down the student pairs on the blackboard as they went.
At least, that’s what she did until Itachi fished out the name of his partner and read it aloud. “Umino Iruka.”
Whispers danced across the classroom. A few of the more dedicated students in the front rows whispered variations on “ouch,” and “tough break!” and “glad I’m not you!” to Itachi, who, as usual, didn’t seem to react at all.
Pressing his lips together to keep from yelling at the other kids about how he was glad he wasn’t them, Iruka clenched his fists. He knew he wasn’t a good student. He knew nobody wanted to be paired up with him when it had to do with studying. He knew that. But it still hurt to hear them say it.
Aki-sensei, meanwhile, was standing at the blackboard, her chalk hovering over the spot where she should have been writing Iruka’s name next to Itachi’s, verifying them as homework partners for the project. Instead, she was frowning. “I don’t normally do this,” she said, “But, if you’d like, Itachi, you can pick a different partner.”
Iruka felt his stomach clench. If he’d like? Of course he’d like! No one wanted to be paired up with Iruka for homework, even Mizuki had scooted over to ask someone else to be his partner before Aki-sensei had brought out the name bag. Iruka stared down at his desk, willing his face to stay neutral, not to show emotion. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to work on this project anyway, so it didn’t matter that no one wanted him. They were right not to want him, it’s not like he wanted to work on this project with anyone anyway.
“No,” came Itachi’s soft, measured voice, “I’m fine with Iruka.”
Iruka hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until it escaped in a whoosh. His head jumped up and he stared at Itachi, baffled. Why would Itachi agree to work with him if he had another choice? If it hadn’t been Itachi, Iruka was pretty sure that Aki-sensei wouldn’t have offered, but she liked Itachi, and hated Iruka. She looked even more shocked than Iruka, still standing in front of the blackboard, chalk in hand, the space next to Itachi’s name still blank.
“You’re sure,” Aki-sensei said, reluctance clear from her tone of voice.
“I am,” Itachi answered, passing the bag of names to the student to his right. “My partner is Iruka.”
And despite the fact that Iruka couldn’t stand Itachi, he felt a small bloom of something warm in his chest. Itachi hadn’t tossed him aside, even though literally everyone else in the class wouldn’t work with him unless they were forced. But Itachi had not only not been forced to work with Iruka, he’d chosen to work with Iruka even when given the alternative - encouraged to take the alternative!
Iruka, who had up to this moment intended to do nothing on the project, found himself wondering if he could clear up some time after school to work with Itachi. He’d probably miss dinner again, the orphanage was pretty strict about mealtimes. But he wanted to do something to show Itachi that he was glad not to be tossed aside, for once. It felt nice. He knew, intellectually, that Itachi hadn’t specifically requested Iruka, but after two years of being avoided, ignored, and actively rejected by most of his classmates when it came to academics… well, he didn’t want to give Itachi a reason to reject him next time.
Slowly, painfully, Aki-sensei turned and wrote Iruka’s name on the board next to Itachi’s, making a face like she’d taken a big bite of raw lemon, rind and all. Iruka grinned. He’d show her. He and Itachi would make a great team.
~~*~~
“Hey! Itachi!” Iruka called, chasing him down after class let out. “Hey,” he puffed, slowing to a walk, moving more sedately than usual to account for Itachi’s shorter legs. “When do you want to start on that project?”
Itachi blinked, turning to look up at Iruka. “What do you mean?”
Iruka frowned. “The group project. The homework assignment. The one Aki-sensei assigned today?”
A hint of red dusted Itachi’s cheeks, and his eyes dropped away from Iruka’s to gaze ahead. “Oh. I’m sorry. I wasn’t planning on working with you at all.”
Iruka felt his chest clench sharply at the words, and he froze in place, his feet seeming rooted to the ground. “What?”
Itachi stopped too, turning to look at Iruka with a vaguely baffled expression. “You never do your homework,” he explained slowly, “and I’m perfectly capable of finishing the project on my own. You don’t need to do anything.”
Iruka felt his face growing hot. “Just because I don’t turn in my homework doesn’t mean I can’t do it!” he protested. “This is a group project! I can help!”
Turning, Itachi continued walking. “I have no way of knowing that based on your current record.” He waved a hand dismissively as he continued, “It’s fine, Iruka. I’ll take care of the project, and we’ll both get a good grade for once.”
Iruka gaped at his receding figure, unable to find words amidst the maelstrom of emotions clutching him. All he could do was stand there and watch as Itachi walked off, probably heading home to his mom and his dad and his brother and all of the other things that Iruka didn’t have that Itachi probably took for granted. He didn’t need Itachi’s help to get a good grade for once, he just needed time. Furious, Iruka spun on his heel, stomping toward the orphanage with so much force that his feet were hurting by the time he arrived.
He got there in time for dinner after all, only to find that he wasn’t hungry.
~~*~~
The next morning dawned bright and early, and Iruka was peeved. It was the weekend, and usually he used his free time to dream up a prank or two for the following week, gather supplies, and run a few preliminary tests to make sure everything worked out the way he expected. Instead, as he lay on his lumpy futon in a room too full of kids that nobody wanted, he grappled with the fact that he wanted to do his homework.
He wanted to do it. He wanted to prove to Itachi that he could do it, that just because he didn’t usually do his homework didn’t mean he couldn’t. He had a copy of the instructions, how hard could it be to just do it?
Several hours later, one bout of frustrated tears, an ink-filled water balloon and some angry shouting later, Iruka realized that homework was a lot harder to finish than he’d anticipated. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t have any reference materials! He’d lost library permission for probably the rest of his life after using one of the library books in a prank that had gone vastly underappreciated, so he couldn’t look up any of the information he needed. And he didn’t have the money for notebooks, he always borrowed paper from Aki-sensei when they needed an extra sheet of paper, so he didn’t have any notes from class to look over, either. Even his prank supplies came by way of his sticky fingers, and he had a feeling that if he tried to steal reference books from the bookstore they might not like that, so much.
So, he’d cried a little, filled a water balloon with ink, snuck out, and dropped the ink bomb onto an unsuspecting passer-by on their way into Hokage Tower. Of course, the ANBU on duty weren’t entirely pleased, though one of them did tell the Chunin who’d been entering that he needed to be more aware of his surroundings, if someone like Iruka could surprise him like that. Iruka took a bit of offense at that - he was pretty good at hiding and catching people off guard, the ANBU were just even better at noticing things.
After the angry Chunin had marched off to wash the ink from his hair and the ANBU on Iruka’s left had finally let him stand up instead of holding him folded over at a 90-degree angle to ensure his apology appeared more or less sincere, Iruka turned to leave. He didn’t feel any better, and his homework still wasn’t even close to finished. He dug into his pocket, pulling out the assignment and glaring balefully at it. Maybe he could hide in the back of one of the bigger bookstores and try to read a few books before they kicked him out?
“Hey kid,” said one of the ANBU who had made him apologize to the ink-covered Chunin, “What’cha got there?” The other ANBU elbowed them in the side and hissed something, but it was too low for Iruka to hear.
“...homework,” Iruka answered the first ANBU, ignoring the second. “But I can’t go to the library, and I don’t have any books or paper at the orphanage.”
“What about your textbook?” the ANBU asked, cocking their head to the side in a manner that implied genuine curiosity.
“When I’m in class I just borrow one of the classroom books, but after I… uh…” Iruka shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Anyway, I’m not allowed to take the textbook out of the classrooms anymore.”
The second ANBU snorted at this, and the first ANBU turned to look at them with what Iruka imagined was a withering stare, although the mask did somewhat disrupt the effect. After a moment, the first ANBU turned back to Iruka. “Lemme see what you’ve got to work on,” said the ANBU, extending a hand. They unrolled the assignment, straightening up a little as they read. “Oh, well, you’re in luck, kiddo. This is a group project, so you can probably just share materials with your partner.”
Iruka wanted to sink into the ground. He swallowed hard, willing himself to lift his eyes to meet the dark space behind the bright white ANBU mask. “My partner doesn’t want to work with me,” he said, his face heating as he explained. “He said that, since I never turn in my homework, he’ll just do it all himself. But I don’t want him to do all the work! I can do it! I just wish he’d given me a chance…” Iruka said, trailing off. He swallowed hard, feeling a prickling at his eyes. Oh no, no, he was not going to cry in front of these ANBU.
“Hmm,” said the ANBU, considering the scroll. “I bet if you asked Sandaime-sama, he might let you use some of his reference books.”
Now it was the second ANBU’s turn to stare pointedly at the first. The first ANBU did not seem affected whatsoever by this reaction.
Iruka blinked, considering the suggestion. Usually, he only visited the third Hokage when he was invited over for tea, about once a month. He’d never considered asking for anything else, or stopping by when it wasn’t their monthly tea time. “You think he would let me do my homework up there?” Iruka asked, pointing to Hokage Tower.
The ANBU nodded slowly. “What do you say we head on up together and find out?”
“This is ridiculous,” the second ANBU protested, “I’m sure the Hokage is-”
“Deeply invested in the education of our new generation of shinobi, yes, I agree,” the first ANBU interrupted sharply. “It can’t hurt to ask.”
The second ANBU sighed, and returned to their post at the door. “Fine. You go on up. But for the record? I think this is-”
“Thank you for your opinion,” the first ANBU interrupted again, one hand on Iruka’s shoulder as he guided him through the door. “I’ll be back out shortly.”
The second ANBU huffed, but said nothing more.
Iruka and the ANBU walked in silence for a few moments before Iruka felt compelled to say, “You didn’t have to interrupt ANBU-san back there. I know nobody wants me around.” He forced a grin even as his stomach twisted uncomfortably. He glanced up at the ANBU, whose grip on his shoulder had tightened incrementally at the words. “I’m a nuisance. Everybody says it, it’s no secret.”
“You’re a kid,” the ANBU replied, their grip loosening slightly as they continued walking, “All kids are nuisances at one time or another. Nothing to worry about.”
Iruka had a feeling most people would disagree with that assessment, but he liked the thought that maybe it was okay to be a nuisance, at least sometimes. He’d never felt that way before, or at least, no one had ever bothered to say as much to him. “Do you really think the Hokage will let me use his books to finish my homework?”
“I don’t know,” the ANBU said honestly, “but it’s worth asking.”
Iruka nodded, and the two of them continued down the corridor in comfortable silence.
~~*~~
As it turned out, the Hokage was not only willing to let Iruka use his books, he also told him that if he ever needed reference materials, he should go to the Sarutobi residence and request access to the clan library.
“You’re welcome to use those resources any time you need them,” the Hokage told him seriously, “...so long as you don’t draw funny moustaches on all of the pictures in the scrolls,” he added with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
Iruka agreed, face heating as he realized the Hokage had heard about how Iruka had ended up with a probably-lifetime ban from the community library. After the two of them looked over Iruka’s assignment together, the Hokage sent him off to the Sarutobi residence with a list of four or five references to find and bring back. “We’ll work together,” he said. “I’ll do my paperwork, and you can do your homework. When we’re done, we can have lunch together.”
Accustomed to a five-finger-discount lunch on the typical weekend, Iruka brightened considerably at the idea of a hot meal. “Great! Thanks!”
“If you wouldn’t mind accompanying Iruka to the Sarutobi compound, ANBU-san?” the Hokage asked, turning to raise an eyebrow in the direction of the ANBU that had brought Iruka up to his office.
The ANBU bowed. “Yes sir.”
Iruka grinned as he followed the ANBU back down the stairs and across the village towards the Sarutobi compound, clenching his fist tight around the assignment. He’d show Itachi! He’d walk into the Academy on Monday with the best homework assignment of the whole class!
~~*~~
When Monday rolled around, Iruka strolled into the classroom like he owned it. Grinning wide, he walked right up to Aki-sensei’s desk and set his assignment beside the small pile of assignments that several other students had dropped off on their way into class.
Aki-sensei glanced down, her nose wrinkling slightly as she looked at Iruka’s submission. “What is this?” she asked, lifting her eyes to stare at Iruka with suspicion.
“My homework,” Iruka replied belligerently.
“But Itachi already submitted your homework,” Aki-sensei said, glancing at the dark-haired, dark-eyed boy who was in his usual front row seat, staring at them like Iruka had grown a second head overnight.
“He submitted his version,” Iruka clarified with a grin, feeling almost excited. “This is my version.”
Now Aki-sensei looked downright worried as she picked up his assignment using only the very tips of her fingers. “Is that so?” she sneered. “So if I open this, it will contain your research project, and not, say, a stink bomb?”
Iruka scowled. “No, there’s no stink bomb.”
“Some kind of dead animal?” Aki-sensei prodded.
How uncreative! As if Iruka would do something so obvious. “Of course not,” he scoffed, insulted by the very idea.
“Of course not,” Aki-sensei repeated, her eyes narrowed. She didn’t seem particularly convinced. “What did you do to this?” she finally demanded. “Where’s the punchline?”
“There is no punchline,” Iruka said, the sick feeling crawling back into his stomach as more and more students were walking into class, dropping their assignments on the desk, and heading to their seats. What was the big deal with his homework? Why did she have such a problem with it?
“Right,” Aki-sensei scoffed. “Well, I suppose, if there’s no prank, then you won’t mind if I do this,” she said, crushing the paper between her palms before throwing it into the wastepaper bin.
“No!” Iruka cried, taking an involuntary step forward.
“Iruka,” Aki-sensei said sharply, “This was a group project. I will only accept one submission for the assignment. Did you really think I would take yours over Itachi’s?”
Iruka felt like he’d been hollowed out from the inside as he shook his head weakly. Of course not. Nothing he did would ever measure up to Itachi. Why had he even tried?
“Take your seat, Iruka,” Aki-sensei said sharply, “You’re holding up the class.”
Numbly, Iruka shuffled to the back of the classroom, sinking into his chair and staring ahead without really seeing anything. He didn’t fall asleep, but by the time classes were finished for the day he still hadn’t managed to focus long enough to recall a single thing from Aki-sensei’s lecture.
He moved like he was in a fog, slipping his worn school bag over his shoulder and shuffling out the door, barely able to remember to keep putting one foot in front of the other. What was the point? Why should he try at all, if it wasn’t even going to make a difference in the end?
He kept trudging his way across town, and was nearly back to the orphanage when he heard someone calling his name.
“Iruka! Iruka!”
He turned, expecting maybe Mizuki, or Anko, or one of the other orphans who stayed in the orphanage and just wanted some company as they headed in together. Instead, he saw Itachi jogging towards him, holding a crumpled piece of paper. Iruka’s heart sank. Perfect. The last person he wanted to see after today. Why was he here? What was he doing with an old paper, and why was he chasing after Iruka, waving it around like a flag?
“What do you want?” Iruka demanded, hating that he was losing to a kid half his age, half his size, and twice as good as him at literally everything.
“I wanted to apologize,” Itachi answered, not even a little winded from his run. Showoff.
“Apologize for what?” Iruka asked, frowning a little. For being so perfect at everything?
“I underestimated you, Umino Iruka,” Itachi said, his little face drawn into a look so serious that it just ended up looking cute. For a moment, Iruka almost forgot how much he couldn’t stand the kid.
“...how so?” Iruka finally asked, sticking his hands into his pockets and staring down at this nuisance of a kid. Well. Nuisance to Iruka, anyway. He wasn’t surprised that he’d been underestimated, that was pretty much his entire life story at this point.
“This is really good work,” Itachi explained, still with that adorable serious look on his face. He extended the crumpled paper in Iruka’s direction, at which point Iruka finally realized that it wasn’t any old crumpled paper.
It was Iruka’s homework paper. The one he’d slaved over for hours. The one he’d spent almost the entire weekend in the Hokage’s office working on. The homework that Aki-sensei had crumpled up and thrown out without even bothering to look at it. “Give me that!” he snapped, his fingers closing around the paper, tugging it out of Itachi’s grasp.
The kid let it go without a fuss. “It’s really excellent work,” he said. “If you submitted work like that every day, you could probably be near the top of the class.”
“If I had time to submit work like that, maybe,” Iruka snapped back. “Some of us don’t have that luxury.” he jerked his head in the direction of the orphanage. “I have to go feed some kids and clean the bathrooms now, so…”
Itachi tilted his head, a confused look crossing his features. “You feed kids? Are they your siblings?”
Iruka laughed at that. “Nah, but they don’t have anyone else to feed them,” he answered, thinking of little Nanako with the big brown eyes and frizzy black hair who hated vegetables, of Haru, who should be able to eat on his own now but still made a huge mess when he did, and even … Naruto … the living embodiment of his parents’ killer. It was awkward, sometimes, being that close to the vessel of a monster, but he was still a kid. It was weird, but Iruka didn’t mind it, not the way some people did.
“Oh,” Itachi looked surprised. “I feed my brother, sometimes. When mom and dad aren’t home.”
Iruka considered Itachi. “Sasuke, right? Your little brother?”
An actual smile bloomed across Itachi’s face at that. “Yeah,” he said. “Sasuke.”
“Cool,” Iruka said awkwardly, crumpling the homework assignment back into a ball and shoving it into his pocket. “Well, I’m going to go… feed. Kids.”
“Okay,” Itachi said, nodding. “Oh, and Iruka?” he added, just before Iruka turned to walk away.
“Yeah?” Iruka asked, feeling his shoulders stiffen almost involuntarily. “What?”
“Next time we have a group project…” Itachi’s gaze wandered, resting on the orphanage, the trees, the sky, anything but Iruka, “Maybe we could work together?”
Iruka felt something inside him melt at that, the tension he’d been carrying all day finally loosening as he felt a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Sure,” he said cautiously. “Thanks.”
Itachi nodded once to acknowledge he’d heard before turning around and gliding away, most likely heading for the Uchiha compound.
Iruka watched him go, not quite sure how to feel. Relieved that Itachi had acknowledged his effort? Frustrated that he hadn’t trusted him to do the work in the first place? Annoyed that Itachi was the one who got to decide whether or not they’d work together on a group project in the future? With a sigh, he decided it wasn’t worth worrying about. He had bathrooms to clean and toddlers to feed. Whatever else was going on in his life, he could worry about it later.
As he turned to face the orphanage, he frowned, considering the new homework Aki-Sensei had assigned today, crumpled up in his school bag. Maybe, after dinner, after his chores, he would head over to the Sarutobi library for an hour or two and see if he could at least get some of it finished by nightfall. Sure, it might be lights-out by the time he got back to the orphanage, but Iruka had gotten pretty good at sneaking past wards, and he was pretty sure he’d have no problem sneaking back into the orphanage after lights-out.
That decided, Iruka grinned and marched up the front steps of the orphanage. This time, it wasn’t a group project, so Aki-sensei would have to accept his assignment. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he handed it in.
Found the prompts thru Google so if you know the OP, feel free to tag! Also I saw a headcanon that Iruka is related to Hashi and I believe it. I’ve wondered about it for a while now, but when I saw someone else think the same I was v happy!
Words: 537
Pairings: None / KakaIru if you want
Warnings: None
“But I think it’s important for all students to feel that their hard work is being recognized, even if they’re failing their classes -”
“Your eyes aren’t brown.”
“Huh?” Iruka’s attention was ripped from the list of things he’d pretty much memorized. He blinked a few times, the unwavering stare of the Rokudaime making him nervous. “What?”
“Your eyes. They aren’t brown,” Kakashi said as if it were perfectly normal business to interrupt the principal of the Academy with a tidbit of information in regards to the younger man’s eyes.
Iruka’s eyebrows furrowed together, a mix of annoyed that he’d been interrupted when discussing something important and confused because, yes his eyes were brown thank you very much.
“What are you talking about? They are too brown. But as I was saying -”
“No, no, they aren’t,” Kakashi insisted.
“Yes. They are.”
“I mean, they’re brown, but that’s not it.”
“May I please continue? I’d like to get through this before I lose you to another appointment.”
Kakashi, clearly distracted, went on. “They are brown but … they have little flecks of gold in them. Around your pupil. And there’s a little bit of green. I’d never noticed before.”
Iruka huffed. “I’d never expect you to notice my eyes.” Though secretly he was impressed. He’d noted the green a few years ago, but hadn’t yet seen the gold. Maybe it was just the lighting. “Can I -?”
“Wait.”
Iruka grumbled as Kakashi escaped his desk to stand before the photographs of the previous Hokage. “Come here.”
The chunin reluctantly sidled beside Kakashi and looked at the photos. “What?”
Kakashi motioned to the first Hokage, Hashirama. “Dark hair, dark skin … similar eyes … your jawline and chin are the same too.” He turned suddenly and surprised the younger man, his eyes closed in a smile. “Are you sure you aren’t related to Lord First Hokage? All the signs point to it. Maybe that’s why you have such a soft spot for Naruto … The Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines are connected. It’s your nature.”
Iruka now studied the photo of Hashirama carefully. He couldn’t deny there were similarities … But so what? Lots of people looked alike but weren’t related, like Gai and Lee. Though that was mostly stylistic similarities. He noticed Kakashi was staring at him again and he made a face. “What?”
“Nothing. Go on with your report.”
“Thank you. As I was saying about the children -”
“Actually -”
Iruka snorted and looked close to committing murder.
“You may not be related, but … you are the same.” Kakashi looked again to the portraits. “Kind, patient, a love for knowledge and spreading the Will of Fire to the next generation … A good shinobi, a wonderful teacher, a friend even to your enemies. It doesn’t matter if you’re related by blood or not. You inherited the traits befitting a Hokage. Maybe you should be sitting here instead of me …”
Iruka stared in stunned silence until Kakashi turned back, smiled and urged him to continue his request. He fumbled through his report and said nothing else as Kakashi gave him feedback and sent him off. He was fairly distracted the rest of the week, wondering how such a revelation could come from a simple comment over eye color.
A/N: So @shiranuigenma encouraged me to post the 1st (rewritten twice) chapter of my IrukaxOC fanfic on here. And @pyroinquisitor and I cried about Iruka a week or so ago. :’)
The first version was originally published in 2008 on Quizilla under the username aikalovesong. Forgive me for grammatical or spelling errors.
Also on ao3 and FFN
Chapter One: The Good, The Bad and the Dirty
High School AU - Iruka Umino x OC
Warnings: None
Word Count: 2.437
Akimi took up the sixth and final seat at the outside table for lunch, quietly greeting the group. Four others - Izumo, Kurenai, Hayate, and Kotetsu - returned her greeting but the fifth was concentrating on fishing out a piece of tofu from his soup. When Akimi sat down next to him, he glanced up and dropped the piece back into the broth, splashing himself in the face.
“Ah! Akimi-chan!” Iruka sputtered, setting his bowl down and reaching for a napkin to wipe his chin. “What are you doing here? I thought you were sitting over there.” He motioned towards another table where six others were sitting - including a brunette girl whose face was turned away. The other girl turned and he saw that it wasn’t a girl - it was Genma, who had similar shoulder-length hair as Akimi. Blushing hotly he muttered, “I-I meant over there,” and pointed towards a different table. Everyone turned to look and saw that the only person sitting there was another boy.
“Jeez, Iruka, I didn’t think she looked that much like a boy,” Kotetsu said teasingly.
“Nevermind!” Iruka replied, hiding his face behind his milk carton.
“Hey guys,” came a serious voice behind them. They turned to see Anko, a rather tomboyish and brazen girl with her dark hair pulled into a wild bun. She passed by them offering a playful smirk to the boys of the table before moving on to an empty seat across the patio.
“Did you see that?” Izumo said, turning to smack Kotetsu square in the chest. “She looked at me!”
“She looked at me,” Kotetsu replied, hitting Izumo in the stomach.
“Actually,” Kurenai cut in, her voice soft but very serious, “I think she was looking at Iruka.”
“Wh-What? No she wasn’t! I mean - she may have been. But we’re in different classes - I don’t think she even knows me! Why would she —?”
Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged looks before picking up the small bowls of mixed veggies and dumping it onto their rice.
“I’m only teasing, Iruka,” Kurenai said, throwing a glance at the boy beside her. “We all know what class she’s in. I’m sure she’s just trying to get a rise out of one of you, catch you off guard. You shouldn’t fall for it. Also, Iruka, did you have notes on today’s lesson?”
“Oh, yes!” the boy replied, grateful for the shift in conversation. “I have them in my bag. I can give them to you after school.”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
“Do you think I could borrow them too?” Hayate asked, raising his hand to his mouth and coughing violently.
“Of course! I can copy them for you if you want.”
“Hey - what’s this talk about copying? You guys aren’t cheating are you?”
The six of them turned to see the fourth year’s teacher, Jiraiya, standing over them. His mouth was pointed in a frown but they could tell he was joking. He eyed them suspiciously and pointed a finger at Iruka who shrunk back, his milk carton still in his hands.
“You’re the last person I would expect to be cheating! But I guess every student has their weakness. I’m surprised it’s you two that are the ones taking his notes too,” Jiraiya continued, looking at Hayate and Kurenai in turn. “I thought for sure you two would be the ones to understand my teaching! I mean, there are a few other kids in this class I could understand cheating …” He glanced around the outdoor seating and frowned genuinely this time. “There are so many … Oh! I’m sorry.” Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked at Akimi who was hidden behind Iruka, unsure of what was happening. “I didn’t meant to be rude. You’re not in my class. How do you know my lovely students?”
Before she could even open her mouth to answer, he made a face and said, “Wait, are you Iruka’s younger sister?”
Iruka whipped around, wide-eyed and sputtered, “N-No! She’s not my sister! Why would you think that!”
“Jeez, kid, lighten up - you look like you could related. Cousins? Distantly? You’ve both got pretty dark hair and you’re both pretty tan.”
“She’s kind of lighter than I am - a-and we don’t look that similar! We’re not related. You shouldn’t say stuff like that, you could start a rumor!”
“What? A rumor that you’re related?” Jiraiya deadpanned and the corner of his lip twitched, “Is that such a bad thing? It’s pretty harmless. I mean, there are plenty of worse things you could be upset about. Besides, she looks like a nice kid. You should take it as a compliment.”
Blushing slightly, Akimi sat up and gave an awkward smile to the teacher. “No, I’m not related - er, I don’t have any siblings or cousins, really. At least not here. I walk home the same way as all of them, so I’ve run into them a few times. Plus Hayate and I live really close to each other! We grew up in the same neighborhood.”
“Really? That’s nice.” Jiraiya paused, surveyed the group, and then raised a hand to his mouth to mimic whispering. “Tell me, whose your favorite? You have to have a favorite, right? I won’t tell them. Personally, I think Izumo and Kotetsu are really annoying —”
“We know you do,” Kotetsu interrupted.
“We think you’re annoying too,” Izumo added.
“— but they don’t know that. You don’t have to choose a favorite from this group. Do you know any of my other students?”
Akimi looked around the open area and spotted a few other kids she knew who were the same age as her friends - Anko, Genma, and Raidou were a few of them. She had seen them on her walks home from school as well, but she hadn’t talked to any of them much other than the one time during her first year at Konoha High School when she’d faceplanted on the front steps and accidentally vaulted her bookbag over the side railing, down into the grass. Genma had been walking behind her, talking with his friend Raidou, and they both tripped over her and fell over. Raidou ended up rolling down the steps and Genma was halfway between amused and annoyed at the whole situation, but he helped Akimi stand up and told her, “It’s okay, we all trip over ourselves sometimes. Just don’t do it again.” Anko was passing by when she saw the whole thing and helped pick up Akimi’s scattered papers and returned the bookbag to her. The first-year was so flustered and horrified that she decided she could never speak to those three ever again, even if they had been kind to her. But she had the feeling that every time they saw her, they only imagined a huge neon sign pointing down at her saying KLUTZ!
There was one other she knew shared the same grade as the others, but she didn’t know if Jiraiya was his teacher or not. Her cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink at the thought of him and she shook her head.
“J-Just a few!” she replied, realizing she looked quite silly saying nothing. “I couldn’t choose favorites … That’s not very nice!”
“So what? I have a favorite,” Jiraiya responded evenly, looking a bit proud of himself.
“What? Who?” Kotetsu asked, puzzled. “Should you even be telling us this?”
“You’re right - I shouldn’t. But I’ll give you a hint - it’s none of you!” He laughed and turned to leave before wheeling around again, startling the group. “Wait - I never got your name! What is it?”
“Huh? Oh! It’s Akimi - Kono Akimi.”
“Akimi, huh? What grade are you in, Akimi?”
“I’m a 2nd year student.”
“Just a 2nd year? I know a few of the 2nd years around here. Do you know that one kid - what’s his name? The kinda weird one with the eyes.”
“Uh - Gaara?”
“Yeah! Him! What do you think about him?”
“He’s …” She paused to look at the expressions of everyone around her. She gave a quick, breathy laugh and said, “He’s nice enough to me. Why do you ask?”
“With my luck, I’ll have his siblings next year, and him the year after that. I’m just wondering what I can expect from him. He’s very quiet.”
“Y-Yes, he is. But I don’t think it’s because - er, well, I suppose everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Some people are quiet. Uhm … but he’s a good student.”
“Huh … Did Hiruzen tell you that? I mean, the whole thing about everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Did you learn that from him?”
“Ah, yes! How did you know?”
Jiraiya smiled knowingly and shrugged. “I’ve been a teacher here for a while now. I know just about every teaching method there is - and I was once a student, too. I won’t admit how long ago because that’ll give away my age - and if I give away my age, I give away Lady Tsunade’s age too and she’d kill me! But let’s just say once upon a time, I was given the exact same speech by Hiruzen-sensei. I think we all were … Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the class before lunch is over. I’ll see you around!” He strutted off, his white hair swaying carelessly behind him.
There was a silence at the table as everyone poked at their food. Akimi pushed a piece of chicken into her bowl of rice with her chopsticks. “He seemed nice,” she said, not quite sure if it was the right thing to say.
“Yeah, nice enough,” Izumo retorted. He jabbed a finger towards the table across the patio and said, “You see those kids over there? Anko, Asuma, Genma and Raidou? They’re part of Lady Tsunade’s class.”
“Uhm … okay. Is that bad?” Akimi asked, looking over towards the table.
“Well, you see …” Kotetsu said slowly, “Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-sensei have a kind of long-standing rivalry. They each try to get their students to have the best grades on tests, best performances in sports, best looking too … They don’t want us really talking to kids from each other’s class, so that’s why we’re all sitting at different tables. That’s why it was kind of weird that Anko said ‘hi’ to us. I mean, not that I minded -”
“As if she’d go for someone like you,” Izumo huffed.
“Also,” Kotetsu ignored his friend and motioned towards the student with a silky bowl cut and thick eyebrows, “that’s Gai. He’s in our class - that’s why he’s not sitting with the others.”
“He looks so alone!” Akimi cried, seeing that Gai was sitting by himself. “Did I take his seat? I didn’t mean to!”
“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Kurenai cut in. “He likes to sit alone to study and, well, I guess to try to be the best. But he’ll join us sometime later.”
“That’s not the thing, though,” Kotetsu said. “Gai is in our class, but Lady Tsunade has a kid in her class and he and Gai have it out for each other!”
“Gai calls him his ‘eternal rival’,” Izumo said, rolling his eyes. “They’re always doing dumb competitions, seeing who is better. This means that our classes are even more competitive than usual. Not only are Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-sensei at each other’s throats, but so are some of their students! It can get pretty ugly.”
“Since you’ve already befriended us,” Hayate said through coughs, “and you’ve met with Jiraiya-sensei, it’d be best to stay away from Lady Tsunade and her class.”
“Unless you want to unleash the true fury of Lady Tsunade,” Kotetsu said. “Or of Jiraiya-sensei. Someone or another will probably accuse you of being a ‘spy’ if you befriend both classes.”
“What?” the girl exclaimed, looking bewilderedly at each student in turn. “So I can’t talk to anyone from Lady Tsunade’s class? How - How do I even know who all of them are? I’ve already met a few of them! I met them before I met you guys! I mean, not that I talk to them, but …”
“Just to be on the safe side, maybe you should only talk to us,” Izumo said, though his voice was teasing. “Tell you what - there is one person you personally should stay away from, and they also happen to be in Lady Tsunade’s class.”
“Huh? Who?”
Izumo glanced over towards Gai’s table. Everyone’s gaze shifted too and they saw Gai leap to his feet and point rigidly at the boy passing by his table, a stone-faced, silver-haired student who looked absolutely bored.
“Hatake Kakashi.”
Akimi’s face flushed red and she looked down at her milk - so he was part of Tsunade’s class. That meant she couldn’t talk to him? “K-Kakashi-san? But I sometimes see him too when I walk home! Am I supposed to ignore him? What’s so bad about him?”
Iruka huffed and set his chopsticks down on his tray. “I think I’m going to head back into the classroom. Kurenai, Hayate, you needed my notes right? I can start copying them and give them to you after school.” He stood, taking his tray with him. “I’ll see you around, Akimi.”
“Ah! Goodbye, Iruka —!”
The brown-haired boy scurried off, his eyes down and his shoulders slumped.
“We should probably head inside too,” Kurenai said, glancing towards the one-sided argument that had broken out between an exuberant Gai and a rather unfazed Kakashi. “Izumo, Kotetsu, you go get Gai and I’ll take your trays. Akimi, Hayate and I may be a little late if we’re getting notes from Iruka but you’re more than welcome to wait for us so we can walk home together.”
“I will,” Akimi beamed as the others stood from the table. “I’ll see you after school!”
Izumo and Kotetsu hurried to pry Gai away from an inexpressive Kakashi and back towards the classroom. As they passed, Gai shot Akimi a grin and a thumbs up.
“You’ve chosen the right people to befriend, young lady!” he bellowed, his teeth unnaturally bright and white, glistening in the afternoon sun. “A friend of Gai is a friend who doesn’t have to worry about anything! You just let me know if Kakashi - or anyone else from Lady Tsunade’s class - is bothering you and I’ll take care of it!”
“Uh - thank you?”
Izumo pushed Gai towards the school and Kotetsu followed close behind. Akimi looked over and blushed hotly when she saw that the kids from Tsunade’s class were staring at her. She hurriedly finished her own meal and rushed inside the school building, trying to pretend she wasn’t being studied by at least five pairs of eyes.
