Okay, another challenge from Akima/Mika, but this was a little more well written. ^.^
Oh ya, I don't own Naruto, though I may have the outfits... ^.^
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Iruka was sitting quietly, trying to finish grading papers for tomorrow. He started to zone, getting quite bored with the whole thing.
A familiar bowl-cut peeked around the corner. "Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka snapped out of his daydream. "Yes Lee-kun?"
"Do you need any help with your paperwork?" Lee looked hopeful.
"Actually, I do." Iruka shoved part of his stack over towards Lee.
"Woah, that's a lot." Lee none-the-less sat down and started on the stack.
Iruka was grateful for the help. Lee had slowed down a little since he had been injured. Iruka remembered how pitiful he looked. With the loss of his movement, he seemed to have lost a reason to continue. Iruka had offered up the idea for him to train as a teacher to give him an option, but Lee seemed to grab a hold of it as if it was his only choice.
It had been a few years, and Lee was fitting into his niche wonderfully. He had opted for a black version of the green body suit, and black shoes to match, but he looked none the different from before except being taller. He was sixteen while Iruka himself had hit twenty-nine.
It had almost been a ritual for the past few years. Lee would help Gai teach the taijitsu, then come and help Iruka with paperwork. Sometimes Iruka didn't have any, so they would talk or play Lee's favorite new pastime, Go.
Lee was pleasant to talk to, and even when not talking he was pleasant to be with. The paperwork went so much faster for Iruka with Lee helping.
"How are you and Sakura doing?" Iruka glanced up at Lee.
Lee blushed slightly. "We broke up. We didn't get along as well as I thought we would."
"You don't seem very broke up about it."
"Well, I kinda like someone else anyway." Lee blushed again.
"Ah." Iruka was glancing between Lee and the paperwork, trying to multi-task.
Lee snickered. "I think you mis-marked that last one."
Iruka looked down at the paper. "So I did." And corrected what he wrote.
"Here, I'll do more since I'm done with this stack." Lee took some of Iruka's stack and started working on it.
"Thank you. You're getting faster at this."
"It's the left, not my right that got damaged." Lee's grin was a little sad.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it." Iruka looked down at his paperwork.
"No, it's alright." Lee lightly touched Iruka's shoulder. "It's been awhile, I should be used to it."
Iruka smiled. "Ya... Are you done? I finished what you had left me."
"Last paper...there." Lee handed his stack to Iruka who piled them all on his desk.
Iruka stood up. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Lee looked up and grinned. "I'd love to! Where to?"
"What would you like to eat? Something other than ramen. I ate lunch with Naruto." Iruka shrugged sheepishly.
"Hmmm... any place with good lemon chicken?" Lee looked up at Iruka.
Iruka thought. "There is this one place, but I don't remember the name..."
"Do you remember where it is?"
"Yeah..."
"Well then the name doesn't matter." Lee grinned.
"True, but it's nice to know. Well, lets go!" Iruka walked out the door with Lee following close behind.
"This is it." Iruka pointed out a small, homely shop with the name Keiniku. "I go here occasionally for a snack on the weekends. My apartment is just across the street." Iruka gestured towards an apartment complex nearby.
"It's kinda small..." Lee eyed the shop.
"Ya, but it has good food. Come on." Iruka walked up and ordered himself some sesame chicken and got Lee his lemon chicken. He walked back over and handed Lee his food. "Let's go eat in my apartment."
Lee blushed slightly. "Sure."
"Great. We can play some Go afterwards. I used to play go with Shikamaru or Asuma, but both of them beat the crap out of me." Iruka unlocked his door. "Come on in."
Lee followed Iruka in, looking around at the simple, but lived-in look the place had.
Iruka gestured to the kitchen table. "Come, sit." What do you want to drink?"
Lee sat. "Water would be fine."
Iruka was looking through the fridge. "Just water? I have tea, white grape juice, apple juice, Cream Soda, Root Beer, Ginger Ale... Hmmm, when did I get Tab?"
Lee grinned. "Actually, I'll have that Tab."
"Alrighty then." Iruka tossed Lee the Tab and got himself a Cream Soda.
They settled down and began to eat. Iruka got the conversation going. "How's your teaching with Gai going?"
"The kids are great! But Gai-sensei..." Lee sighed. "He coddles me 'cause of my arm and leg. It gets so annoying.'
Iruka smiled. "Well, it shows he cares."
"I guess... I wouldn't mind helping you, if you don't mind..." Lee looked kind of shyly at Iruka.
"It would be nice to have help, but I've never had a help in all my years of teaching."
"Neither had Gai-sensei."
"True, but there's not much you could do in my class. I teach basics." Iruka thought for a moment. "Though... with the kids practicing the projectile weapons it would be nice to have someone to help. I'm going to be teaching that soon."
"can I help? Oh please can I help?" Lee begged.
Iruka laughed. "Sure, sure. Just check with Gai about those days. I'll be starting that next week."
"Great!" Some of Lee's old energy seemed to come back.
Iruka smiled at the enthusiasm. He stood up. "You done eating?"
Lee paused in his celebrating. "Oh yeah." He blushed. "Here, let me get it." He took the styrofoam containers and stood up. "Oh wait, where's your trash can?"
Iruka laughed, taking the containers and putting them in the trash can at the end of the counter.
"Oh..." Lee looked sheepish. "Sorry."
Iruka laughed lightly. "It's okay. You want to play some Go?"
"Sure." Lee followed Iruka to the living room where he pulled out a Go board. They played a few games, chit-chating during them.
Lee glanced up at the clock. "Oh man, it's late."
Iruka turned around to look. "You're right, and we both have to work tomorrow. If you want a place to crash, you're welcome to my couch." Iruka stood up.
"That would be great, thank you." Lee stood and slightly bowed in thanks.
"It's alright, I offered. Here." Iruka tossed a blanket and pillow at Lee. "Use these. Do you need any sleeping clothes?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you again." Lee set up the couch for himself.
"Well, if you need anything, my room is just down the hall." Iruka headed to his bedroom, and they both settled down to sleep.
Oh ya, I don't own Naruto, though I may have the outfits... ^.^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iruka was sitting quietly, trying to finish grading papers for tomorrow. He started to zone, getting quite bored with the whole thing.
A familiar bowl-cut peeked around the corner. "Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka snapped out of his daydream. "Yes Lee-kun?"
"Do you need any help with your paperwork?" Lee looked hopeful.
"Actually, I do." Iruka shoved part of his stack over towards Lee.
"Woah, that's a lot." Lee none-the-less sat down and started on the stack.
Iruka was grateful for the help. Lee had slowed down a little since he had been injured. Iruka remembered how pitiful he looked. With the loss of his movement, he seemed to have lost a reason to continue. Iruka had offered up the idea for him to train as a teacher to give him an option, but Lee seemed to grab a hold of it as if it was his only choice.
It had been a few years, and Lee was fitting into his niche wonderfully. He had opted for a black version of the green body suit, and black shoes to match, but he looked none the different from before except being taller. He was sixteen while Iruka himself had hit twenty-nine.
It had almost been a ritual for the past few years. Lee would help Gai teach the taijitsu, then come and help Iruka with paperwork. Sometimes Iruka didn't have any, so they would talk or play Lee's favorite new pastime, Go.
Lee was pleasant to talk to, and even when not talking he was pleasant to be with. The paperwork went so much faster for Iruka with Lee helping.
"How are you and Sakura doing?" Iruka glanced up at Lee.
Lee blushed slightly. "We broke up. We didn't get along as well as I thought we would."
"You don't seem very broke up about it."
"Well, I kinda like someone else anyway." Lee blushed again.
"Ah." Iruka was glancing between Lee and the paperwork, trying to multi-task.
Lee snickered. "I think you mis-marked that last one."
Iruka looked down at the paper. "So I did." And corrected what he wrote.
"Here, I'll do more since I'm done with this stack." Lee took some of Iruka's stack and started working on it.
"Thank you. You're getting faster at this."
"It's the left, not my right that got damaged." Lee's grin was a little sad.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it." Iruka looked down at his paperwork.
"No, it's alright." Lee lightly touched Iruka's shoulder. "It's been awhile, I should be used to it."
Iruka smiled. "Ya... Are you done? I finished what you had left me."
"Last paper...there." Lee handed his stack to Iruka who piled them all on his desk.
Iruka stood up. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Lee looked up and grinned. "I'd love to! Where to?"
"What would you like to eat? Something other than ramen. I ate lunch with Naruto." Iruka shrugged sheepishly.
"Hmmm... any place with good lemon chicken?" Lee looked up at Iruka.
Iruka thought. "There is this one place, but I don't remember the name..."
"Do you remember where it is?"
"Yeah..."
"Well then the name doesn't matter." Lee grinned.
"True, but it's nice to know. Well, lets go!" Iruka walked out the door with Lee following close behind.
"This is it." Iruka pointed out a small, homely shop with the name Keiniku. "I go here occasionally for a snack on the weekends. My apartment is just across the street." Iruka gestured towards an apartment complex nearby.
"It's kinda small..." Lee eyed the shop.
"Ya, but it has good food. Come on." Iruka walked up and ordered himself some sesame chicken and got Lee his lemon chicken. He walked back over and handed Lee his food. "Let's go eat in my apartment."
Lee blushed slightly. "Sure."
"Great. We can play some Go afterwards. I used to play go with Shikamaru or Asuma, but both of them beat the crap out of me." Iruka unlocked his door. "Come on in."
Lee followed Iruka in, looking around at the simple, but lived-in look the place had.
Iruka gestured to the kitchen table. "Come, sit." What do you want to drink?"
Lee sat. "Water would be fine."
Iruka was looking through the fridge. "Just water? I have tea, white grape juice, apple juice, Cream Soda, Root Beer, Ginger Ale... Hmmm, when did I get Tab?"
Lee grinned. "Actually, I'll have that Tab."
"Alrighty then." Iruka tossed Lee the Tab and got himself a Cream Soda.
They settled down and began to eat. Iruka got the conversation going. "How's your teaching with Gai going?"
"The kids are great! But Gai-sensei..." Lee sighed. "He coddles me 'cause of my arm and leg. It gets so annoying.'
Iruka smiled. "Well, it shows he cares."
"I guess... I wouldn't mind helping you, if you don't mind..." Lee looked kind of shyly at Iruka.
"It would be nice to have help, but I've never had a help in all my years of teaching."
"Neither had Gai-sensei."
"True, but there's not much you could do in my class. I teach basics." Iruka thought for a moment. "Though... with the kids practicing the projectile weapons it would be nice to have someone to help. I'm going to be teaching that soon."
"can I help? Oh please can I help?" Lee begged.
Iruka laughed. "Sure, sure. Just check with Gai about those days. I'll be starting that next week."
"Great!" Some of Lee's old energy seemed to come back.
Iruka smiled at the enthusiasm. He stood up. "You done eating?"
Lee paused in his celebrating. "Oh yeah." He blushed. "Here, let me get it." He took the styrofoam containers and stood up. "Oh wait, where's your trash can?"
Iruka laughed, taking the containers and putting them in the trash can at the end of the counter.
"Oh..." Lee looked sheepish. "Sorry."
Iruka laughed lightly. "It's okay. You want to play some Go?"
"Sure." Lee followed Iruka to the living room where he pulled out a Go board. They played a few games, chit-chating during them.
Lee glanced up at the clock. "Oh man, it's late."
Iruka turned around to look. "You're right, and we both have to work tomorrow. If you want a place to crash, you're welcome to my couch." Iruka stood up.
"That would be great, thank you." Lee stood and slightly bowed in thanks.
"It's alright, I offered. Here." Iruka tossed a blanket and pillow at Lee. "Use these. Do you need any sleeping clothes?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you again." Lee set up the couch for himself.
"Well, if you need anything, my room is just down the hall." Iruka headed to his bedroom, and they both settled down to sleep.