Past the End of His Nose

Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters created with him belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

He was numb having cried himself out of all emotions hours ago. Sitting mutely in the makeshift field hospital, he tried not to rub at the bandage across his face that a nurse had hurriedly changed a few minutes ago. The ointment itched, but the nurse gave him stern instructions not to touch the bandage.

Listlessly, he lolled his head to look around the triage ward. He had heard the medical staff say that they were the lucky ones. The thought prompted a light snort as he certainly didn't feel lucky, and the small spike of pain reminded him that was a bad idea. Naturally, he knew it wasn't his first bad idea of the night. That distinct honor belonged to following his parents out that night when he overheard them preparing for a mission just outside of Konoha. He should have known better than the follow them. He DID know better, but... Feeling tears threatening again, he sighed and rested his head against his knees as the scene replayed in his head. They had not noticed him following until the monster's attack began. One of his parents' teammates had just grabbed him and started to run back behind the lines when the tree close by exploded! He saw it all as the massive splinters tore through the ninja in the area, including his parents. His own nose being slashed in the process as his rescuer dexterously dodged shrapnel. A small sniffle escaped his control as he recalled seeing the bodies of his parents with his father unmoving and his mother weakly calling for her teammate to save their son.

Despite the warnings, he rubbed his nose.

Class was just starting as he put his hand back on the desk. It had taken nearly two weeks after the attack to get the village back to anything resembling normal life, and the village was still rebuilding nearly a year later. The boy slouched in his seat trying to be the picture of boredom and nonchalance as the instructor entered the class room after the lunch period. A slight, sly grin tried to tug at his mouth, but he ruthlessly suppressed it trying not to give himself away.

Slowly, he learned to live without his parents, but the ache never truly went away. There was always that hole and need to be around other people who cared for him. Of course, he'd not really found many, well any, friends in his classes. So, he'd started being the class clown just to get some attention. It began simply enough with a silly stumble during a routine training exercise that somehow ended with a bucket of water over his head. The class had all laughed, and the instructor actually came over to get him back on his feet. Sure it was not the best attention, but it was something! From there, he started goofing around more just to see how much of the class he could get to laugh from his antics. Then, he had discovered the "holy grail" of attention seekers, the prank!

He had started small with a few greased seats in the restroom and slowly worked his way up. There had been the dye in the teacher's coffee, which had all the staff's mouths turned blue for a week! Of course, no one would forget the time where he had wedged the door to the teacher's lounge shut just after the principal had entered. The memory of the staff having to use an exploding tag to get him how was priceless. Of course, he caught the backlash from the pranks he pulled. There probably wasn't a detention, disciplinary exercise, extra project, or chore that he hadn't done around the school. Still, a lot of the guys in his class often would come around to shake his hand and pat him on the back for each prank he pulled. It felt good, but the feeling never lasted more than a short while before the hole opened wide and tried to swallow him whole again.

Finally, the teacher finished looking around the class room before going to sit down at his desk. Ah, the classics are the best, the boy thought as the whoopee cushion let forth it's tell-tale sound of flatulence. The class seemed to hold its breath for a moment before erupting in laughter as the teacher's face turned red, first from embarrassment and then from anger as he knew who had set it up. The boy's face said it all.

"IRUKA!

"Iruka! Iruka! Come on, get up! It's your turn on watch" His teammate whispered trying to get his attention quietly. Blearily, Iruka looked at his teammate. They were all in the second Chunin exam; and he did not want to think about how badly they did in their first one, nor how close they all came to dying all because he taken it too lightly. Still, he would not give this life up for the world. For the first time in years, he had friends and people that were nearly family to him. For them, he would strive to become more than now and better than he had been.

The rest of the day passed unremarkably before Iruka woke his team. "Come on," he said, "We have what we need. It's nearly dusk, and we're close the finish. It's harder to see since eyes haven't had time to adjust."

"Listen to the teacher," quipped one of his teammates causing Iruka to suppress a grin as he scratched the back of his neck in some embarrassment.

Silently, they broke camp and made their careful trek to the finish line. Iruka had point, but he repressed the urge to sprint. The eyes followed movement, so Iruka had learned not to rush the group. He would not betray the trust of his friends and jonin mentor again.

Finally, they arrived and opened their scrolls. Their jonin mentor popped up in front of them with a rare smile of pride on his face. "Well done, all of you. You've passed the second part of the Chunin Exams. I am proud of you, and I look forward to your future successes."

Iruka grinned sheepishly at the praise as he rubbed at the scar at his nose.

"No, Iruka, I mean it. Why would a chunin with a successful record like yours want to come teach at the academy full time? I mean, from what I see here, you could become a jonin easily in a few years; and if you still want to teach, you could apply for a jonin mentor position after that," the principal stated.

Iruka then scratched behind his neck. "Um, well sir, I really enjoyed working with the children when I was rotated through the academy. It really felt... like I was where I should be, sir. It felt right like I needed to be there."

The principal nodded solemnly seemingly in thought before reaching for his stamp to approve the transfer papers in front of him. "Well then, Iruka, welcome to the Konoha Academy."

"Welcome, students, to the Konoha Academy," Iruka intoned solemnly as he surveyed the group of students that he was to instruct for the next few years. "I hope you all apply yourselves to your training and studies diligently over the next few years, so that you all will become fine shinobi for Konoha. My name is Iruka, and I will be training you in both ninjutsu as well as our other academic subjects." He noted several kids roll their eyes or look completely bored as the mention of anything not seemingly ninja-related. "Mizuki, to my left, will be instructing you on physical fitness and basic taijutsu in your stay here." He then picked up a stack of papers from his desk and handed part of them to Mizuki. "I know it's only the first day, but I'm going to have you all take a short quiz." The class erupted at that point with complaining kids, but Iruka quickly quieted them down. "Now, now. This quiz is not for a grade. We're using this to find out where the class is and where each of you are individually. That way, we, teachers, will know how best to help you reach your true potential. Now! Pencils out and ready. You'll have 10 minutes to answer once I say to start."

It was definitely an interesting 10 minutes. Of course, Iruka and Mizuki took this time to look over the class and assess them. Iruka looked at the children assembled all ranging from ages 6 to 7 and noticed that they were heavy with the local clans. Actually, this class had probably the highest number of clan heirs in Konoha history with the Hyuga, Nara, Aburame, Akimichi, Inuzuka, and Yamanaka all represented. Even the second son of the Uchiha was also in the class! Of course, there were a smattering of non-clan children present comprised mostly of low-class civilian children and orphans looking to better their lot in life. He felt a smile tug at his lips as he thought about it all until his eyes landed on a blonde-haired, blue-eyed child that about made his blood freeze in his veins.

It was the container of the Kyubi sitting at a desk apparently trying to balance his pencil between his upper-lip and nose. Iruka caught himself quickly trying to remembered to breathe. The night of the attack suddenly danced so vividly in front of his eyes that he nearly checked for a genjutsu. Giving a short, quick shake of his head trying to dispel the illusion, Iruka looked at the boy again. He knew about the sealing, and he knew what it meant. Unfortunately, what his head knew and what his heart felt were totally at odds. Even worse, the Hokage had personally come to him and took his vow that he would not play favorites and not allow anything to influence his job as a teacher. However, his heart felt the long repressed ache of loss as if it had just happened causing the scarred chunin gaze to harden at the sight blonde boy.

Of course, the boy noticed nearly instantly as the pencil clattered to the desk, and the look on his face reminded Iruka of a startled deer. Iruka recovered quickly realizing what had happened and quickly pointed at the paper in front of the boy as if he was trying to get the child to do his work. Rather unexpectedly, the child's face scrunch up and his arms crossed before he stuck his tongue defiantly out at the teacher. Iruka felt a few veins in his head throb as he leveled the Teacher's Glare on the defiant pupil, which has the rather immediate effect of getting the child to pickup his pencil and start scribbling away at the paper.

The time for the quiz concluded, and Mizuki had taken the children outside to "put them through their paces." That was naturally teacher-speak for running the children as much as possible to tire them out enough, so they didn't bounce off the walks during lectures. With a small smirk, Iruka went through the papers grading them. A please smile crossed his face as he found a good deal of the children had been taught a lot of the basic knowledge already, but that smile faded to be replaced by a ticking under his eye as he came to Uzumaki Naruto's paper. Instead of answers, there were several crude, unflattering pictures of some unpleasant pranks being played on Iruka. He knew that this child was going to be a handful. Though, he idly wondered where the child thought he could get a tank full of sharks in the middle of Fire Country.

With a sigh, he shut his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to stave off the impending headache.

He looked up at the struggling blonde boy that currently sat lashed to a chair as Iruka seemed to be making up his mind on what to do with the boy. The child's latest prank apparently had somehow set loose a rampaging cat in the teacher's lounge during their break. If that was not enough, somehow Naruto had gotten the Daimyo's wife's cat "Tora-chan," which traumatized that feline so badly that it nearly tried to eviscerate the blonde child when it passed him. Fortunately, Mizuki had a very good grip on the cat.

Naturally, something had to be done, but Iruka could not devise a proper plan of action! Pop quizzes and tests did not seem to faze him as he blew them off as "not worth his time." The blonde menace could keep doing laps until sundown and still not be tired. Iruka had tried that once too and had to go on high prank alert for the rest of the week. He scowled as yelling at him did not work as the boy was too stubborn and would simply sit there and pout until the yelling was finished. He could not just have him stand out in the hall and try to balance a leaf on his head with chakra as the brat would simply take off and cause more mayhem elsewhere. Detentions were not even worth considering as the boy simply had nothing else to do and no one waiting on him. Plus, most teachers had heard about that teacher that had tried to keep Naruto in detention. The poor guy still walked a bit funny…

This line of thought stopped Iruka for a moment in his contemplation as he seriously looked in Naruto's eyes for what seemed like the first time trying to find some answer to his quandary.

'Notice me.'

Iruka blinked at some mental voice in his head that sounded much like his own, which causing him to look again.

'Notice me!'

Indeed, Iruka could see it clearly in Naruto's eyes now that he truly thought to look. Idly and without thinking, Iruka rubbed the scar on this end of his nose and passed judgment.

"Say, Naruto, if you get this done before dark, how about some ramen?" Iruka asked.

Vibrant blue-eyes snapped up and held him in their astonished gaze. "Do you mean it, Iruka-sensi! As much as I want?" Surprised and disbelief colored Naruto's voice, yet Iruka thought he heard a bit of hope.

"Sure, but you have to get the Hokage Monument all cleaned by sundown," Iruka reaffirmed.

It would be later when Iruka learned that "as much as I want" with Naruto meant "enough to put an Akimichi to shame." Naruto feverishly worked on bowl number# 6 showing no real signs of stopping, so Iruka did the only thing he could to slow the progress of getting his wallet cleaned out. "Say, Naruto, why did do that to the Hokage Monument? Don't you know who they are?"

"Of course I do! They're the strongest ninja in the village! Everyone looks up to and respects them! AND I'm going to be better than all of them!" The blonde boy bellowed boisterously before switching verbal gears. "Say, Iruka-sensei, could I ask a favor of you?"

"More ramen?" Iruka replied as if he had not expected it.

"Well, no." Naruto seemed to be hedging a bit which made Iruka very curious. "I don't suppose you can let me wear your headband just this once." Naruto folded his hands in a pleading gesture, though the chopsticks he still held marred it slightly.

Iruka smirked in amusement. "I was wondering why you took your goggles off before eating." He fiddled with the headband as he toyed with the idea of complying when an idea struck. "Unfortunately, Naruto, I can't. You see, this headband represents all the hard work and dedication that shinobi put forth. It's a symbol that he is now an adult and ready for the responsibilities that lie ahead." He grinned inwardly as he had often seen adult shinobi often put their own children. This chance, however, was too good to pass up.

"Meanie!" Naruto declared without too much heat as he crosses his arms and looked away sulking. Still, the atmosphere was amiable, so Iruka did not worry too much. Well, at least until Naruto called out for another bowl.

'It's worth it, but this is gonna hurt,' Iruka thought.

'Ok, this definitely hurts,' Iruka thought as he hauled himself up against the tree as he looked at where a massive gaggle of Naruto clones pummeled Mizuki. 'But this is so worth it,' he thought with a grin.

Perhaps, it was the hectic night or the final declaration of trust in Naruto which Iruka made to Mizuki that suddenly lifted the weight from Iruka's chest as Naruto turned to him with a sheepish grin and mirrored Iruka's own habit of scratching the back of his next when embarrassed.

"I think I overdid, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said just before a clone delivered a last swift kick to Mizuki's ribs before dispelling.

Iruka smiled as he looked at the boy. Thoughts began to churn in the back of his mind as he quickly reviewed the night's events. Naruto had learned the harsh truth of why he was hated, but he had not broken because someone had faith in him. He had been confused, but he had snapped out of it to help a friend in dire need. He had faced an enemy many times his skill without flinching and won. So much raw potential had just awakened in Naruto that Iruka was not certain that he could properly teach Naruto. The boy seriously needed a Jonin to truly draw out his strength, and the only way to ensure that...

"Naruto, come here and close your eyes," Iruka said, and Naruto complied with complete trust evident on his face. Slowly, Iruka untied his headband before reaching up to remove Naruto's goggles and tying the mark of a true ninja onto the boy's head. "Congratulations, Nartuo. You pass."

Even as the dawn shone through the leaves, it could not blot out the brightness of Naruto's smile before he grabbed Iruka into a bear-hug while crying tears of joy. Iruka muffled a yelp of pain as he accepted the boy's jubilant hug and put an arm around him.

With a free hand he rubbed at the scar along his nose and thought, 'It doesn't hurt as much now'

Through the crystal ball that he kept, the old Sandaime Hokage allowed himself a truly heart-felt smile as for the first time he saw true happiness blossom on Naruto's face. "Well, Iruka, I hope you are the first of many that finally see past the end of their nose."

A/N: This is another story that I wrote a couple of years ago that has lurked on my computer before I did a final read through and was satisfied with it. The concept originally occurred to me shortly after I had posted "In All Things Give Thanks." It's a line I remember first hearing when watching "Mary Poppins" many, many years ago.

The phrase "can't see past the end of his nose" means someone who simply cannot see what's truly in front of him because he's too caught up in his own affairs. I knew that I wanted to do something with Iruka, since I love him as a big brother character. This phrase came to mind, and I started considering the elements that made up Iruka. It seemed to fit very well.

I consider this a more thought-out piece thank "In All Things Give Thanks," which I view as more of an inspired piece. I sat down and purposefully wrote it, and I chose to try some different things like the scene changes being a bit fuzzy. Of course, this work assumes that you know a bit of the beginning of Naruto's story from the manga or anime, since I wanted to focus on Iruka.

Thanks goes out to Novus Ars for a beta read on this.