Every Song, Another Scene
By: White Rain
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Title is also shamelessly stolen from 'Every Mile A Memory' by Bentley Dierks because the song is stuck in my head and I felt it fit.
Pairing/Characters: Iruka and Naruto gen. Stuff that can be read as Naruto/Sasuke? Oh yeah. Naruto/Sakura? Uh-huh. Gaara/Naruto. OTP of course it's there. NaruSasuSakuish? All my team seven fics end up that way. Kakashi/Naruto shippers may be happy if they squint and tilt their head. I had some Naruto/Hinata too, but it didn't work in context of the fic.
Summary: In which Naruto and Iruka eat ramen together and bond.
-
"You passed the gennin test," Iruka said when Naruto came rushing over to him in the streets. He was holding a bag of groceries and planning to go to the post office and looking into taking up side mission.
Bills and all.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah. I aced it. Sasuke would have failed so badly without my help. Sakura-chan will like me best soon!"
Iruka shot him a look.
Naruto's grin turned into a smile. "Okay, so we did it together."
"Want to get so some ram - "
Iruka didn't finish his sentence, Naruto grabbed his wrist and pulled him to Ichiraku's. Other things could wait and Iruka didn't buy any meat or milk so his groceries wouldn't go bad.
-
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto declared, hitting his hand roughly on the counter as he waited for his second bowl of ramen (and cringing sightly at Iruka's disapproving look), "is a jerk."
Unsure if he should side with Naruto or if he should scold the boy just yet, Iruka said, "Why?"
"He keeps paying more attention to that stupid Sasuke," Naruto said, narrowing his eyes to slits. "Training him more." Suddenly, he smiled though, "Probably cos he's stupid. And Kakashi-sensei is always lecturing him." He let out a small laugh, "He's just a big baby."
Iruka didn't bother to get more information. Naruto was probably blowing things out of proportion.
Still, he filed it in the back of his mind, just in case.
-
"Sakura-chan smiled at me today!" Naruto said, and Iruka wouldn't have been surprised if Naruto began to bounce off the walls soon. "Course she hit me when I pulled Sasuke into the water after I tripped, serves him right for laughing at me and Kakashi-sensei had to go and make us train for an extra hour - that's why I was late sorry 'bout that - because we weren't acting 'ppropriately -- "
A plat of ramen was put in front of him and Naruto seemed to lose all coherent thought as he yelped happy and gobbled down the noodles as if he hasn't eaten in a month.
It occurred to Iruka that Naruto was happier than he'd ever been. He knew, as it was in life, even more so for a ninja, that that would change. But he couldn't help but hope it would last.
-
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Naruto asked.
He hadn't been able to talk much about the mission gone wrong. But there was something in the back of Naruto's eyes when he spoke about Haku, about Sasuke's almost death, and about how it ended that betrayed how he promised he'd find his own ninja way (the only hint of a smile on his face was when he said how Kakashi had smiled at him), so Iruka wasn't surprised. In fact, he'd been expecting it since Naruto first started talking.
"You can stay as long as you need," Iruka said.
-
"Sasuke," Naruto declared after finishing off three bowls of ramen without saying a word, to Iruka's worry and shock. "Isn't that great at all and that he has Sakura-chan so fooled makes me sick."
There was something in his tone, something hard and needy that Iruka knew right away it wasn't the usual rivalry that ran between them.
He didn't know all the details, and Naruto didn't let him get in a word at all, because he began a full-fledged rant on all of Sasuke's flaws, to the way he fought, to the clothes he wore, to his attitude, his stupid hair and how his skin was nothing like the moonlight, no matter what Sakura-chan said (he said the last part with so much haste and forgot to sugarcoat it so that Sakura came off as helpless victim to Sasuke's dark whims that Iruka wondered if he was lying about that) but he understood right away that Naruto wasn't telling him the entire truth about how he felt about Sasuke.
There was nothing he could do about it though, so he had to wait and worry. He wasn't sure what was worse.
-
Naruto was stabbing at his ramen, to angry to even eat. Iruka knew it was serious, because anything that came between him and eating ramen had to be epic.
"What's wrong?" Iruka asked, giving Naruto a small smile.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said. "Had to go a train that stupid Sasuke without me."
If Iruka hadn't heard Naruto's babblings over the last few months, he would have been filled with righteous anger. So he was able to speak, knowing the facts, unlike the last time he confronted Kakashi.
"Naruto, you know that Sasuke doesn't have a family like you, right?"
Naruto stopped stabbing the ramen, even if he didn't look up. "Yeah. I do." His voice was slightly hoarse.
"He's just as alone as you were in some aspects. And I believe Kakashi has seen that and is attempting to be there for him as a pseudo-parent."
"Like me and you?" Naruto said. But before Iruka could answer, he shook his head. "It's a little different, I think."
Naruto began to eat his ramen, and there was a contemplative look on his face.
Iruka never thought of Naruto like his son, but he couldn't deny the idea felt right.
-
The end of the chuunin exams changed Naruto.
It wasn't just the Hokage's death, but something else. Or, rather, someone else.
After the funeral, Naruto hugged Iruka, not in the happy and hyper way he normally did, but in a quiet way and he said softly in a voice that wasn't quite his own yet, "Thank you."
"For what?" Iruka asked.
"For making sure I didn't have have to face what Gaara did," Naruto said.
Iruka didn't know how how to answer the implication that 'even though I should have' that hung between them.
-
"Sakura-chan loves Sasuke," Naruto said, his expression blank. The words were oddly even in his voice, as if he wasn't sure of what he was saying exactly, or how he felt about it at all.
Iruka set one hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled down at him.
"But that doesn't mean she doesn't love you."
Naruto's face softened some.
-
Naruto's mood had shifted after coming back with Tsunade. Or to be more accurately, since Sasuke had woken up from Itachi's attack on his mind and heart.
He was angry.
It wasn't the type of anger he normally felt, the one that generally melted with the right words and some ramen, but one that was under the surface and sizzling, ready to explode at any moment.
"I'm just as strong as him. Stronger. I'm going to prove it."
Naruto leapt so quickly and rushed out of the ramen stand so quickly that Iruka sat completely still for a moment. He didn't even beg for seconds on the ramen and something in his tone made Iruka worry that Naruto meant it. In a bad way.
He felt foolish, because he'd been waiting for this to happen for the last week, but still was caught off guard. Iruka pulled himself together quickly enough, though, to catch Kakashi in the middle of the street just as Gai was walking away from him, muttering stuff about hip rivals under his breath.
Kakashi didn't a single word, in fact, he didn't even let Iruka finish explaining before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
-
"Sorry, Iruka-sensei, I can't eat ramen with you today," Naruto said hurriedly, "I have to go save Sasuke."
-
"Sakura-chan and I will get him next time," Naruto said and smiled stiffly. "Three years is probably too long, but the old pervert insisted."
"Three years..." Iruka said softly.
"I know it'll be a long time before we have more ramen," Naruto said quietly, "But - "
Iruka set his hand on Naruto's shoulders and smiled at him. "I know you'll be back and complaining about Sasuke soon enough."
Naruto's grinned at him and tackled him onto the ground in a fierce hug.
Iruka tried not to think about the fact it'd be the last time for nearly three years before Naruto would hug him again.
-
"First bowl of ramen, just with you," Naruto said.
He'd grown up so much during the years he'd been missing. He didn't look like a child at all. And there was something in the back of his eyes that spoke of something beyond his years.
"Um, though, I was wondering, though, can you lend me some money? It's the only way I can get Sakura-chan to go out with me and I'm out of money." His hand was behind his head and he was laughing nervously.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that Naruto was still Naruto and he hadn't changed so much that Iruka no longer knew him. He couldn't say anything right away.
"Please?" Naruto said and Iruka had a feeling he was about to become Naruko, and the boy was lifting up his hands.
"No problem," Iruka said quickly.
Naruto let out a happy yelp and jumped up and threw his arms around Iruka with glee.
-
Naruto's next hug was the same as it was three years ago, quiet and gentle.
"I was lucky with Gaara," he muttered, "I can't be lucky with Sasuke. I have to be strong. It's not fair."
Iruka knew Naruto didn't mean it wasn't fair that he had to do all this, but he meant that it wasn't fair that he had someone to hold, while Gaara never did and Sasuke's was torn away. He knew Naruto hated that he wanted and needed this and figured he didn't deserve it.
He didn't have the words to tell Naruto how wrong that was, so he just squeezed and tried not to cry. Naruto should have something that he didn't feel he had to save, something he can lean on.
-
The knock on the door in the middle of the night was Naruto.
"I'm going to train tomorrow," Naruto said.
Iruka knew about his failure to save Sasuke again. And he knew that Naruto would push himself even harder in order to get enough strength, no matter the cost to himself. Iruka had no doubt that Naruto would come through.
But Naruto didn't need to hear that right now, because nothing short of having Sasuke right here right now would make Naruto truly believe that.
He pulled Naruto into the house and into a hug. Naruto rested his head on Iruka's shoulders and tried not to cry.