Dear Naruto.

There are so many things I should have told you before now.

I suppose what spurred me into writing this to you was what you said earlier tonight. When we walking back from getting dinner, and you were bouncing alongside me and chattering about your newest mission.

Let me just say, above all else, I am so proud of you, Naruto. I don't tell you that enough. I am so proud of who you've become.

Anyway, then, you said something. You said "I hope I can grow up to be someone like Iruka-sensei. I want to be just like Iruka-sensei when I'm his age."

I didn't say anything. You shocked me too much. It just made me realise... you're not a little boy anymore, Naruto. Within a year you will outrank me. I'd be disappointed in you if you held off taking your exam because you want to be like me.

I know, you want to be Hokage. You can't do both, Naruto. You cannot be Hokage by being like me. And being Hokage is a far more worthy than being like me.

Oh, I can see the look on your face at reading that. Stop pulling that face and let me finish. Finished reading what I have to say to you before you argue with me.

You don't know a lot about me, Naruto.

My name is Umino Iruka. I am twenty five years old, which is eleven years older than you.

My rank is chuunin. It's nothing that I am exceptionally proud of. Once, I had dreams of a lot more, but I lack the skills and temperament for a higher rank. My docile and submissive nature leaves me better suited to the work I do.

I am a teacher. I teach students and give them the genin exam. I am good enough with my techniques for that.

Any of these things I suppose would be enough to make my parents proud. To make any parent proud. I do my job well, and it is a necessary job.

But it's not good enough for you, Naruto.

You have so much potential. You are not just the Fox, you are so much more in your own right. The Fox is simply something you have learnt to deal with.

You can be Hokage, Naruto. I firmly believe that. Nothing will change my mind on that point.

I settled for what I could do. Give an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on. Things you don't need to know about me. I am a caregiver, and that is what I do.

You could be a leader. You will be a leader. People listen to you. You may have to earn your respect, but you are earning it, Naruto. Gaara, Neji, Tsunade-sama, they will all tell you that they respect you.

The Hokage respects you, Naruto. Think about what that means. It means one day, you could lead this village, make people look beyond the Fox to who you really are behind those whiskered cheeks and oddly shaped eyes.

Please, never want to be like me. There are things I can't tell you, you've always known that, but listen to me when I tell you to be much more than I ever will be.

I know who you could be, Naruto. And like any parent, I want you to be everything you can.

Love, Iruka.