Hi! This is IlHaK or Aki reporting! I have a new story and it's kind of on a whim. I'll pretty much write it like my really old stuff on my Quizilla account: writing whatever comes to mind and hardly any planning. I hope you enjoy it! Here's a little fun fact about this story: I came up with the first situation before the pairing and it led to all this. Isn't that cool?

"From this day forth, I dub this flower Maya's flower!"

I felt a little embarrassed at what he said. "But, isn't that flower called a camellia?"

He grinned widely. "I don't care! It reminds me of you and I don't ever want to forget you!"

I giggled a little. "I never wanna forget you either! So, I'll name a flower after you too! Um..." I looked around a little bit and grabbed something green. "Here! I dub this Iruka's flower!"

He pointed at it and rolled over laughing. "That's a weed! A nutgrass!"

I looked at it and started laughing. This is so silly!

How I missed this place. The sway of the trees, the softness of the breeze, this feeling in my heart... All of it. I just wish it wouldn't be under these circumstances.

For the third Hokage's and my father's funeral.

At least, I'd get to see you again, Iruka...

I brush aside the crimson hair that had blown in my face and sighed.

"Maya, aren't we going?"

I look at my uncle. "Uncle Yuji, can't I at least be able to look at the town from here? For a few more minutes?"

"No. You've seen it before, you don't need to see it again." He turned to leave. "Now we go."

I reach for him but to no avail. I pull my hand back to me and sneak one more glance at the town I loved. I wish I still lived here.

I followed my uncle to the hotel we were staying at while watching every person I passed by. Some were people I don't recall from my childhood but many of them were kids from the academy, teachers, my fellow villagers, and my neighbors. I don't know if they remembered me but I remembered them.

"MAYA!"

I immediately look at my uncle.

"I said 'you can leave, I can't stand the sight of you.'"

I gulped and nodded. Whether he knew it or not, I gratefully left and explored the old town.

I was amazed at how much Konoha changed these past 9 years. The Yamanaka's flower shop was still there and so was Ichiraku Ramen. I walked into the flower shop and looked around.

"Welcome!" a young voice called.

I nodded at the young blonde girl and looked at a flower to my right. It was a camellia.

"From this day forth, this flower with be Maya's flower!"

I giggled and picked a bunch.

"Do you need assistance?"

I looked at her. "Yes, do you have any nutgrass?"

She looked at me with a strange look and snickered. "You know this is a flower shop, right?"

"And wouldn't a flower shop have nutgrass?"

"Um...Nutgrass is a weed."

I scratched my head and laughed. "Oh yea, sorry I forgot. I'd like to buy these."

She took the bunch of camellias to the register and wrapped them in some cellophane.

"So, you're from the Hidden village of Sand?" she asked, pointing to my hitai-ate around my arm.

"Yes," I answered. "I used to live here so I came for the Hokage's funeral."

I exchanged my money for the flowers. "A lot of people have come in to buy flowers for the Hokage today, you're lucky that the camellia isn't that popular today."

"Thanks. By the way, do you know an Umino Iruka?"

She smiled. "Yea! He taught us at the academy! I think they don't have class today because of the funeral. What's your name anyway?"

"It's Yamaki Maya and you?"

"It's Yamanaka Ino. Have a nice day!"

"You too, and thanks again!"

I walked out and continued wandering around. Iruka's a teacher? I giggled at the thought. I didn't think he would become one. I wonder how he's-

I collided with someone bigger and fell back. I rubbed my back and looked at who it was. At the sight of this person, extreme happiness overtook my heart and compelled me to embrace this familiar stranger.

"Iruka!"

My best friend went through many changes after 9 years. For one, he was bigger. I was about an inch taller than him the last time we saw each other. From the looks of it, he was ahead of me by 5 inches. He wore his leaf headband on his head and the vest adorned his torso. His brown hair was tied in the back, as always, and the scar on his nose remained.

He looked at me bewildered then rubbed his eyes.

"Maya? Maya is that really you?"

I nodded happily.

His face lit up and he held me closely. "Maya, it's been so long! I missed you."

I was surprised but hugged him back. "I missed you too, Iruka."

"Um...Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka and I looked up and saw a pink-haired girl. It seems a small crowd had been forming around us.

"Iruka-sensei, people are staring," she added.

My cheeks grew warm as I swiftly grabbed my flowers and walked away with Iruka. It took me a few seconds to notice that the girl was following us.

"So are you Iruka-sensei's girlfriend?" she asked.

"Ah! No! We're just friends from a long time ago," I explained.

She got a really sneaky look in her eye. "I see. Who is she Iruka-sensei?"

A light blush came over his face. "She's my old friend, Yamaki Maya. She moved to the Hidden Village in the Sand about 9 years ago and became a sand ninja. By the way Maya, this is one of my former students, Haruno Sakura. She graduated with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

Those two names were very familiar to me. Uchiha Sasuke was from the powerful Uchiha clan. I heard everyone was killed except for Sasuke and Itachi, the one who killed them. Naruto was the name of the boy the fourth hokage sealed the Kyuubi into. I had some dislike for the boy for killing Iruka's parents but then again, it was the Kyuubi, not the boy himself who killed Iruka's parents. I pitied the life this boy must have lived through.

"I'm gonna get going Iruka-sensei," she informed him. "Have fun with miss Maya!"

"Bye, Sakura!"

"See you later, Sakura-chan!" I called back. "Oh that's right!" I could feel Iruka's gaze as I offered a flower to him. "Here's a camellia for you!"

He accepted it and smiled.

"I remembered you said the red camellia reminded you of me," I said, a little embarrassed. "I would have gotten some nutgrass but then Ino-chan told me that they didn't sell nutgrass."

He burst out laughing and hunched over. "After all these years, you still forget that nutgrass is a weed?"

I pouted at him. "Well sorry for not seeing the difference between plants! They all look alike!"

Iruka managed to suppress his laughter and continued. "So, what have you been doing these past 9 years?"

That question hit me hard. I couldn't tell him about all the difficulties I had to overcome. All the pain that I went through. I couldn't let him worry about me.

"I've been training to become a shinobi."

"But..." He looked at me a little surprised. "I thought you said that you didn't want to become a shinobi? Didn't you want to become a doctor or a medic-nin?"

I shook my head. "Well, I changed my mind. I want to become a shinobi now." That's not true. I still want to become a doctor. "What about you? I couldn't imagine it when I heard you became a teacher. You were always the one to cause trouble for our teachers."

"That is... Well... That's a different story." He looked a little embarrassed.

I nudged him a little. "Come on! I want to hear it!"

He stuck his tongue at me. "Maybe I don't want to tell you?"

I started chasing him down the street. "Ira-kun!"

Maybe some things haven't changed after all.

Note: Maya calls Iruka "Ira-kun" instead of "Iru-kun" and "Iruka-kun" when they were children.