Summary: Iruka's parent make an abrupt stop before heading back to Konohha and Iruka meets up with an old friend.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.
In the Middle of a Festival
Brown eyes widened and fingers twitched as a young individual stepped closer to the booth. With a quick lick to dry lips the youngster reached out his hands and cringed.
"And don't let me catch you around the fireworks booth!"
Umino Iruka stopped, the razor edge warning from his cater-wailing mother drifted through his head as he took a step back from the booth decorated with fireworks, each in different sizes and shapes to entice the lil' bastard of a prankster inside of him. Honestly he was a ninja... academy student; they were trained with handling exploding objects.
The eleven-year-old shook his head as he wandered down the busy streets of a town wrapped up in a celebration. Iruka had never attended a festival outside of Fire Country, heck he had never been to a festival outside of Konoha and it seemed his family had just landed in a village that was still ripe in a week long festival dedicated to some event of days long past.
He and his parents were on their merry way back home, back to Konoha when they had received word from a very tired and hungry little carrier pigeon that another Wave Country big wig had been assassinated, some feudal lord of the area. With his parents blurting quick apologies to him they had roped around and headed to this village he didn't catch the name of yet.
With a small flush Iruka felt out of place in the festivity, most of the people and the children his age were dressed in stylish yukatas while he was draped in blacks shorts and a sleeveless white top that was much too big for his frame. His outfit made his mum laugh and his dad tell him kindly he'll grow into it soon enough. 'Ah well at least I don't have to worry about keeping my clothes clean.' Iruka thought with a relieved sigh as he saw from the corner of his eye a dolled up girl splash in mud and have her mother drag her away kicking and screaming.
"It's all in the timing." a voice from the shadows mocked.
"Mothers." the boy snorted and with a bit of a skip to his steps he made his way to a dart booth, ignoring the sign of 'no ninjas'. Sadly he wasn't even a full-fledged genin yet so this didn't count as cheating... did it? With a flick of a coin to the shopkeeper, Iruka gathered his darts attracting a bit of a crowd with his cocky attitude as a few of the older men and boys also gathered darts to put him in his place. "Fire."
"Now... take this you brat."
Iruka growled as he tromped heavily down the streets. He had wasted half of his money on that damn dart game. "It must have been rigged or som-- some sort of trick." the boy grouched as he cut rudely between a group of children playing with spinning tops. The Umino brat had missed each and every target while his competitors at least got one hit. The eleven-year-old was too riled up to take the time and think that each of his darts was neatly intercepted with a stray shock of chakra, quick as a blink.
"Hey." Iruka chirped as he made his way towards a goldfish catching stand, paying the shopkeeper Iruka picked up his net and looked down at the pretty fish. 'They'd make a nice treat for Momo.' Iruka thought as the way the tiny fish twirled their bodies reminded him of his loveable but very temperamental pet shark who was given the order of a diet because it was growing at an alarming rate... he wished Kisame would have left information of when it would stop growing.
The brunette crowed as he could feel the slight weight of the fish hit against the net.
"... no jutsu."
Iruka stiffened as a large burst of water hit him directly in the face, "Ahhh," the boy yelped and stumbled backwards while the people scattered around the booth began to laugh not wondering in the slightest how that happened. With a sniff Iruka coughed out the goldfish that had lodged into his throat back into the tank and stalked away not noticing the cloaked figure clutching his stomach and chortling with laughter.
:p:
'Leave it to something sweet.' Iruka thought as he licked one of the two blue popsicles he held. The cool treat was chilly and sweet enough to soothe his anger as he hopped away from the bustling crowds. The tiniest of prickles erupted on his back with the less and fewer people he saw and the less noise he heard. "What?"
The Konoha child tore his mouth away from his treat as he surveyed the environment. His face broke out into a grimace as he realised his dire situation. "A genjutsu." the boy breathed softly as he quickly dashed to hide behind a tree fully aware that his pursuer must have already seen him. With Iruka's senses becoming more heightened the increased sense of smell, the sharper vision his paranoid mind seemed to have run off... for a second he thought the crazy idiot that his parents were after was hunting him. "Nonsense!" the boy growled and regretted it when he realised he spoke too loud
With a grunt Iruka shoved the two popsicles into his mouth if he was going to di... he at least wanted to finish his treat despite the pain of a powerful brain freeze. The academy student fingered the straps attached to his waist covered by his large shirt, thanking his father for trusting him enough to give him spare kunai or two.
The brunette resisted the urge to fling each and every weapon he had frantically in any direction. He mustn't give away his cover. He had to wait to see a flicker of the enemy. 'School does come in handy.' Iruka vowed that if survi-- when he returned home that he would never skip another class lecture... for at least two days.
His heart was beginning to pound so hard in his chest Iruka thought his pursuer would hear it as he hooked his fingers into the kunai. 'There.' he saw it a flashy distortion of space and perhaps his ticket out this trap. Iruka flung his weapon hoping his aim would hit his mark unlike his tries at weapon practice at the Academy.
Nothing.
The kunai landed in the dirt, no scream or yelp from his pursuer, but with a wry smile Iruka noted that his aim was true. And that goes for the cloaked figure that slammed his fist on Iruka's head. With a gurgle the boy sunk to the ground his frame being caught in sturdy arms.
With a snort the stranger removed the popsicles from Iruka's mouth and tossed the eleven-year-old on the ground. "Told you, you were gonna get it." Kisame grunted as he took a look at the half-eaten popsicles and shrugged. It was a hot day and his cloak was sweltering but he couldn't afford to take it off there were too many people after him. 'A couple of brat germs are the least of my problems.' the shark boy concluded as he released the genjutsu and slurped away at the treat.
:p:
Iruka never thought he would be waking up again, thinking for sure his fate had been sealed when he felt the blow against his head. The eleven year old blearily opened gummy eyes and noticed that the genjutsu had been called off but that was the least of his problems with the cloaked figure standing before him.
The Umino brat gasped and began to skitter backwards as he felt for an extra kunai. The stranger snorted and grabbed the boy's ankle pulling him forward and then sat on the boy to hold him still. "I thought you said," the figure drawled, "That you weren't a ninja." the voice clicked as Iruka blinked and began to squirm away from under the cloaked man.
And with a snarl the eleven-year-old boy gripped the stranger's hood and tugged and was not surprised with who he saw. "Kisame what the hell... my popsicles!" the brunette cried as he saw the two barren sticks jutting out from the teenager's mouth. Before Iruka could give the older boy an earful of complaint the grey skinned ninja spat the sticks out at Iruka. "Hey!"
Kisame tugged on the boy's ponytail and was rewarded with a very heated look, "Quiet, don't act like you didn't deserve it, didn't I say you were gonna get it." Hoshigaki barked and pulled on the boy's hair again just for the hell of it.
The scarred nose boy stiffened as he thought over his recent bad luck and Kisame's words, "It was you at the dart and fishing stand, it was you... who was making me look like an idiot." Iruka growled as the fourteen-year-old nodded his head a smirk stretching across his face.
Kisame was fully prepared for Iruka to do something stupid or wild, like scream or hiss at him and come charging at him with wild ambition and wounded prided. He flexed his fist he liked the idea of giving the kid another bop on the head. 'If there's a bump I can kiss... or better yet bite it better.' the teenager thought hungrily and waited and waited for a response and finally allowed his fist to relax.
With a nod Iruka tilted his head to side hooking his arms behind his back. "Those were... pretty good tricks." Iruka began with a bashful grin while Kisame could only raise his brow questionably; "I guess you did get me." the boy smiled a bit impressed and winked in the shark-faced youth's direction. "But my trick was funnier... wish I could have seen your face." the brunette crowed while pointing at his companion.
Kisame flushed a darker hue of grey staining his cheeks as he tugged the boy closer and smacked the eleven-year-old on the head. "Say that one more time I dare you." the older of the two boys, warned as Iruka rubbed his head and snorted but wisely did not test Kisame's patience.
"It was just a joke you heartless shark." Iruka wailed and rubbed his head exaggerating his pain while Kisame merely grunted and rolled his eyes. "Hmph," the brunette huffed, glaring at his companion. With a sniff the academy student finally took in the older ninja's appearance. He had to say away from the water and on dry land Kisame looked a bit odd and out of place and his choice of clothing was questionable on such a hot day. "What's with the cloak, you on the run or something?" Iruka joked while Kisame cringed.
:p:
Hoshigaki Kisame did not know whether to be disgusted or amused but he could say one thing, 'The brat LOVES ramen.' he concluded as he saw the boy wolf down his second bowl of miso ramen chewing on a particular rubbery piece of pork. Seemed like the kid had a bit of a shark in him as he tore the meat to pieces and swallowed.
"Aren't you hungry?" Iruka mumbled with a mouthful of food as he interrupted the teenager's thoughts. "You've barely touched your bowl."
Kisame wanted to shrug him off with a glare but gave the Konoha child a very plain look. "I'm fine."
The brunette nodded as he hailed over the shopkeeper. "Okay, then I hope you don't mind me have another bowl." Iruka whistled while patting his stomach.
Hoshigaki cringed as he glared hard at the boy, "Why should I mind... oh wait I'm paying for this meal." the teenager growled wondering how such a small body could eat so much. "You really do like this stuff... careful your name doesn't turn from Iruka to Ino, you little porker." Kisame laughed as he crowded a bunch of noodles into his mouth.
The scarred nose boy ignored the insult. "Ramen is the best, in K-- where I'm from they make the best ramen." Iruka gave the grey skinned youth a very sly look; "You should try the shark fin it's to die for."
The fourteen-year-old nearly choked on his boiled egg and pinched the boy on his left arm. "Oh, do they serve brat nosed dolph--" Kisame was cut of from his rant.
"No, course not just big fat juicy shark." the boy grinned at the cloaked teenager and grinned even larger when his third bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. "Speaking of sharks," Iruka began munching on a fishcake. "My little Momo, is it a girl or a boy?"
Kisame tilted his head to side. "Momo... who's Momo? Wait you named it Momo?" The shark-faced youth inquired a wry smirk curling upon his lips as he clicked his teeth together.
Iruka shrugged and slipped down a stringy piece of noodle, "I couldn't think of a better name, my mum suggested Jaws but that's just dumb." the eleven-year-old grunted and continued to shovel his meal into his mouth.
The older of the two ninjas shook his head at the display. "I see did you even bother to properly check the shark to see its gender." the teenager laughed as he saw his companion nod his head furiously.
"I did or well you see I tried picking it up and checking down there," the boy started a flush staining his cheeks and quickly gave his head a shake. "But it bit me of course, wouldn't let go for a minute and I got the scar to prove it, almost flattened if I didn't calm down in tim-- it's not that funny." the brown skinned youth growled sputtering on his broth of ramen.
Kisame tugged on the boy's ponytail. "Yes it is. It seems like you've been up to more trouble since we last saw each other but to answer your question it's a girl." Kisame answered and stirred his meal clicking his chopsticks. "And for future reference instead of picking it up, like an idiot, check the pelvic fin for a clasper, only males will have them." the grey skinned youth explained with a snort.
Iruka drained his bowl and offered Kisame a very dry look, as if he were they idiot. "Yes, yes the clasper... I don't even know what that is." the brunette grunted and plopped his empty bowl on the stand and narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "You sure know a lot about sharks, I guess looking like one wasn't enough, huh." the boy joked and shifted his head to the side to avoid a swat. "So tell me when will my cute little Momo stop growing? She outgrew her bowl in just a few days."
The shark faced youth finished his bowl and turned in his seat to face the boy. "How big is she now?" he questioned as the kid gestured with his palms a length of at least thirty centimetres. Hoshigaki snorted as he scratched his cheek somewhat sheepishly. "Now before I tell you when I found her I thought she was just one of those runty miniature sharks but with the speed of her growth and her colouring I'd say it's a runty great white shark." he mumbled quickly.
Iruka blinked and smiled with pride his little Momo was a 'Great White Shark.' "Okay, so she's a great white shark how big do those get... should I get one of those big aquarium tanks?" the boy laughed the reality of the situation not sinking in.
"You could but she'd just outgrow it, she'll grow to around four to five meters long, of course being female she could get bigger." Kisame explained pleasantly with a chuckle as the eleven-year-old stiffened in his seat with a squeak. "I suppose you weren't aware that females could grow larger than the males... or is it the growth overall bugging you." the teenager laughed and coughed when Iruka did not reply to his jibes. With a sigh the grey skinned youth hailed over the shopkeeper for the bill.
:p:
"Uhh, you could continue feeding her fish, and no you brat leftover pieces of sushi aren't what you should give her." Kisame grunted as he continued to prattle down the things a young shark should eat. It turned out Iruka was so excited of having a very large predator for a pet his mind overloaded. He kept laughing about how he couldn't wait to bring her home, something about feeding her some teacher.
The younger of the two ninjas skipped in front of Kisame as they trudged down the streets sprinkled with people as the festivities really grew rambunctious as the sun began to set. "Okay, what else?" Iruka asked stopping by the fish catching booth.
Kisame scratched the black slits on his cheek. "You can also feed her stingrays and other sharks. When she reaches adulthood you can give her seals, otters, turtles and also small toothed whales... like dolphins." the shark faced youth grinned dangerously but let it slip when he realised Iruka wasn't paying attention and was focusing on the goldfish darting back and forth in their tank. "I'm wondering how do you plan to take care of your little Momo, never mind where you keep her but how do you plan on getting her those animals?"
The brunette tore his eyes away from the gold fish and gave his companion a very cheeky grin. "I'll play it by ear and besides I can call in a few favours and schedule a lot of fishing trips." Iruka replied as he turned back to the tank, pulling out money from his pocket. "Now I think I'll win a goldfish or two for my Momo, this time with no interruptions." he snarled with a reproachful look cast in the fourteen-year-olds direction.
Kisame watched Iruka eye his little net as he began to dip the device into the water. The grey skinned teenager huffed as he nudged Iruka out of the way and snagged the net. "Watch and learn brat." Hoshigaki snubbed while Iruka only blinked in amazement as the older boy quickly and neatly caught all the goldfish, not a drop of water landed on his cloak and not a drop of chakra was used to complete the task.
The Umino brat could only say one thing as his companion shot him a very smug smile. "Show-off." Iruka snipped as he contemplated dumping the tank full of water on Kisame's fat head.
:p:
Ever since the moon had begun shinning in the night sky Iruka had contemplated while shifting the stuffed toy octopus (that an out of character Kisame had bought for him) and a bag holding three goldfish in his arms of saying a quick goodbye to Kisame. However when he saw his companion bringing him a stick of dangoes he changed his mind. "Thanks." the boy chirped as the shark-faced youth plunked the treat into the brunette's mouth.
"Best way to shutting you up." Kisame laughed as Iruka glared while he led them away from the shops and towards the Town Square where street performers juggled flaming torches, danced with silky ribbons and dazzled the crowd with acrobatic routines. Finishing his treat Kisame stretched his arms at least thankful that Iruka persuaded him to hand the extra fish to some group of kids at least he had his arms free unlike his companion juggling a stuffed animal and a bag of fish.
The brunette began to bob his head as the performers struck up a soft rhythmic tune filled with flutes, chimes and the soft taps of wooden sticks. He returned the smile of a pretty and young flute player and felt his knees buckle when Kisame elbowed him in the rib. Iruka shook his head and allowed his eyes to travel and blushed when they found a resting point. It was a couple, probably had too much to drink and forgetting they were in public as they wrapped their bodies around each other.
"What's with you, you're turning redder than a lobster, you sic-- oh." Kisame caught on as he also eyed the couple. He smirked at Iruka tugging him away from the square and into a more secluded street, just a few stragglers walking off and taking a breather from the festival. "Your eleven, brat, don't look all bashful and doe-eyed just because two people are in the mood." the shark faced youth teased a wicked smile perched on his lips.
Iruka winced. "I-- I was not, just surprised is all and besid--." the scarred nose boy ceased his rant as a stray arm wrapped around his waist and he was tugged closer to a sweat smelling cloak and hard chest.
"You left yourself wide opened." Hoshigaki breathed as he bent his head and gently pressed his smirking lips onto Iruka. He was pleased to note that Iruka at least didn't shut his eyes like some blushing girl but kept them open if a little dazed. With a snicker Kisame bit Iruka's bottom lip causing the boy to yelp and giving him the perfect chance to slip in his tongue.
The brown skinned boy gasped at the feeling of smooth foreign flesh touching his tongue and felt the stuffed animal and bag of fish slip from his grip. Kisame thankfully caught the fish with his free hand as he pulled away from the boy watching him sag to the ground. "Definitely wide open." the shark faced boy teased as Iruka slowly began to collect himself. "Don't tell me that was your first kiss?" the teenager asked intrigued at the idea of sharing a first with Iruka.
The scarred nosed boy straightened his shoulders and with flare cockiness licked the blood off his lips from Kisame's little love bite. "You wish." the brunette snorted telling the truth he had already been kissed and kissed someone however... the boy wiped away the flush from his cheeks... he had never had another person's tongue inside his mouth nor did he do that to another person.
The fourteen-year-old shrugged feeling slightly disappointed as he resisted the urge to kiss Iruka again and give him a breath-stealing squeeze but instead handed him his bag of fish and the plushie octopus. An awkward silence engulfed the two as a firework streaked across the sky and erupted into a bang of red. Kisame was once again being nagged by a tiny voice to take the amusing boy with him and he told the voice to shut up.
"Hey bra-- Iruka," Kisame began the boy giving him his full attention when he called him by his name. "Are you enjoying life with your folks and with your village? How no one can take your jokes and them being so boring and serious." the shark faced youth began to stalk around the eleven year old. "You know you don't have to go back with your parents just because your a kid... you can break free, I did and I suppose I wouldn't mind a brat like you for the rid-- what are you doing?" Kisame questioned as he stopped his stalk and Iruka approached him.
Shuffling the objects in his arms the brunette reached for Kisame's pants and tugged them down. He quickly side-stepped to the left to avoid Kisame's punch after Hoshigaki quickly pulled up his pants. "Seems like you can't take a joke either Kisame." the scarred nose boy laughed and skipped around the grey skinned youth. "My village is pretty entertaining and so are my parents so I think I'll be staying there for a while... besides I doubt you would want me hanging around all the time." the boy chuckled as Kisame reached over to smack his head. "Although coming with you would be a fun ride, I wouldn't mind visiting you-- don't look so shocked, c'mon Kisame you are the guy who gave me a pet great white shark."
The fourteen-year-old stopped trying to hit the academy student and offered the boy a smug smile. "You're easy to please, offer you a viscous predator and it's that easy to win you over, next time I should get you a man eating cat." Kisame proposed with a laugh wanting the boy to come with him even more as another firework splattered across the night sky. "You should head back to your folks unless you want me to whisk you away." He purred dangerously.
Iruka nodded his head as he struggled to fish something out of his pocket. "Yeah I will," the brunette said not catching the seriousness in the other's tone. "But how about a farewell bang." he suggested pulling out a lighter and well-sized firework. His mother be damned he thought as he ignited the lighter.
"I should have known when did you have time to pick that up?" Kisame inquired as Iruka pounded the firework into the ground and lighted the end.
"I snagged it when you were being a big mouth and bragging to the people for getting all the goldfish... we better scram this thing is going to go off soon. Let's meet again Kisame." the brunette laughed as he ran off in one direction while Kisame the other as the firework snapped and zoomed up into the sky, bursting with a swirl of blue and purple.
Iruka took another glimpse of his fleeting compani-- no friend as he still felt the tingle on his lips from the surprise kiss. A sneaky grin crept upon the brunette's face as he thought over the perfect punishment for Kisame. Hailing over a trio of chattering local authorities he told them that a suspicious character was roaming around in a cloak and he was dashing off in that direction. The police quickly took after Kisame shouting 'hey you.'
Iruka really didn't understand why Kisame was running so hard, he was acting like he killed someone and was on the run. He really hoped Kisame didn't bump into that assassin while on his journey.
Author's Rant: This turned out a hell of a lot longer than I expected it to be but at least I got the KisaIru monkey off my back… for the moment anyway, I have plans for this pairing for the future. Now for the story itself, just to clear the air great white shark pups are at least 1.5 meter long at birth so little Momo can't be a great white however this is my story so I'm bending the rules a bit. I found all the minor information on great whites from a website so beware there could be false information.
Once again this story was only self-checked so I hope you lovely readers can bear with it. I've already found a beta for my NaruIru/IruNaru stories but is there anyone willing to beta stories featuring Iruka and any another person from Kisame to Jiraiya(not all relations will be sexual). Finally for the NaruIru/IruNaru fans, keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming multi-part story which will be located in the mature section on but to tide you over, check out my story called the Closet Cliché also located in the mature section. Thanks reading my story and my rant.