Hey, it's been a while! And—shocker!—it's a Naruto story. Drabble. Whatever.

I hope you enjoy my take on our favorite chain-smoking sensei.

People have asked me a lot of question in my life. Stupid ones , like "How does it feel to have the Hokage as your dad?" (How do you think it feels? My dad is my dad first, to me, Hokage second. He's my dad. The Hokage isn't my father, my father is the Hokage.) Smart questions too, of course, but those are somehow a lot less memorable. Some people ask rude questions ("What's it like, getting to ride the coattails of bigger and better men up through the ranks?") while others ask innocent ones ("Uncle, when are you going to stop smoking?"). those are always the hardest to answer.

Conversely, I would have to say that the easiest to answer, though possibly the most complicated, was, "Why do you teach those kids?" It was such a sincere question that I was taken aback for a moment. I wondered to myself, Do they really not know? Can anyone who has met them truly not understand?

I teach because someone needs to pass on the Will of Fire.

I teach because these kids need to feel validated by someone outside their family.

I teach because someone has to do it, so why not me?

I teach to ensure that what I was taught lives on.

I teach because Ino needs an authority figure to call her on her mistakes. Because she needs to be shown what is right and what is harmful, and taught how to tell the difference—and act on it.

I teach because Chouji needs to learn; it is one part of what makes him feel like a worthwhile human—accomplishing things, I mean. And because no matter how many times his father tells him to accept himself the way he is, he needs a few more people to accept him first.

I teach because I don't want to see Shikamaru waste his life idly away, day by day and cloud by cloud. To see for myself every step of his development, because it is quite possibly the most interesting process I have ever seen. And because I just can't beat him at Shogi. Or Go.

I teach because seeing these kids learn to be good, strong, mature adults—and Shinobi—is one of the most inspiring things in the world. I continue to learn, just so I have something new to teach. Just so I can see them struggle and fight with it and themselves, and learn from their mistakes, and help each other and then, finally, achieve their goals.

I teach for a hundred more reasons that I can think of right now. But mostly…

"Because I love those kids."

Yeah, this one's pretty self-explanatory. If you want to know who's asking any of those questions mentioned in the first paragraph, feel free to ask! Or guess. Yeah, geussing's good. and I'll let you know how you did. :) Seem fair? I hope so.

Ja na!