Exploring the Void
(aka Vanilla Chocolate Caramel Filling) subtitle will be explained in later chapters, if you can't figure it out
Iruka sighed as he lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was true he was with Naruto more lately as he treated his almost-little-brother slash almost-son to ramen. Even so Iruka was lonely and he knew it. There was only so much of the void in his life that the small boy could fill. What the boy had said to him really cut into him.
"So? It's not like anyone's waiting at home for me!" Naruto had said. It was a feeling Iruka knew all too well. Then he had saved Naruto, and the boy returned the favor, they were bonded forever from that moment. But still Iruka was alone, even if he had adopted the boy into his heart already. He neglected himself in favor of Naruto's well-being, considering his own case a lost cause. He fell asleep clutching his pillow in his arms, deciding he'd better get some sleep since the next day would be the true test of the new graduates. Would Naruto really become a genin? It all depended on the team he was assigned to.
Iruka read through his list of genin and jounin teachers at his table in the lounge. Kakashi was assigned to Naruto and the others. The Kakashi who had graduated from the academy when most of his peers could not yet read and write was going to test the Naruto who had failed the graduation test so many times; it didn't bode well. He caught sight of one of his jounin friends walking past.
"Anko-chan," Iruka referred to her familiarly to get her attention.
"Hm, what's up, Iruka-kun?" Anko stopped, noting the personal touch in his voice, it had nothing to do with business as usual she could tell.
"What do you know about Kakashi-sensei?"
"About as much as anyone else, which isn't much."
"As a teacher, what do you know?"
"Huh? Well I heard he's a rough one for the genin candidates to try with. I never met anyone who claimed to be a student of Kakashi's."
Iruka shook his head and stood, nodding towards Anko.
"I'll ask Hokage-sama when I see him tomorrow. Thank you for your time, Anko-san." Iruka reverted to his ever-so-polite manner of speech as he gathered his papers together, hoping it wasn't as bad as it sounded.
"Hey," Anko grabbed Iruka's arm as he started to leave. "All the teams should have met their sensei by now; do you want to go grab something to eat? I know you haven't had lunch yet."
"Anko, I don't think…" Iruka started to decline.
"Come on, you're buying me some dango," Anko laughed and started walking away. Iruka blinked and followed her merely to argue the point.
"Anko-san, you make more than I do, why do I have to buy you dango?"
"So would you come eat with me if I paid for it?" Anko grinned as she set her trap. "Or is it just that you don't want to be seen with me, Iruka-kun?" Iruka immediately shook his head, not wanting his friend to think he didn't like her.
"No, Anko-chan, I would love to join you for dango, but…" Anko never gave him a chance to finish his sentence.
"Great! Then it's settled, we're having dinner."
"I…oh, alright," Iruka sighed in defeat. He never could get Anko to change her mind about anything. The two arrived at Anko's favorite restaurant and began to order when Iruka caught something white out of the corner of his eye. He had never talked at length to Kakashi, but he knew him from sight as well as any other ninja that came through the mission room. "Kakashi-sensei?"
"Mm?" The jounin lifted his head from his book as his name was spoken. "Iruka-sensei."
"Did you meet with Team Seven already, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka ignored Anko's attempts at getting him to order something, causing the female jounin to smack him in the back of the head. When that didn't work, she shrugged and ordered for him.
"No, I haven't." Kakashi grinned with his solitary eye.
"What? But it's been an hour since lunch was over, the kids are probably still waiting…" Iruka turned and started to go back to the Academy.
"Only an hour? I've got time to kill. Really Iruka-sensei, from what I hear…those kids need time to chill out."
"I can't just leave them alone!" Iruka frowned.
"They'll be okay. Sit. Anko looks like she's started eating without you, and it's not going to last long with her."
"I heard that, Hatake," Anko smirked as she ate her dango.
"Actually, I followed you here, I wanted to talk to you before I met them," Kakashi explained as he stole away some of Anko's food and offered it to Iruka as a bribe.
"What did you want to talk about?" He ate the offering slowly. It wasn't his favorite, but he did skip lunch for his research.
"Naruto, he knows what he is now, right?" Kakashi whispered.
"He does…thanks to Mizuki."
"You're one of the few people who accepted him despite the burden he carries. How is he, really?"
"He's not as bad as people think he is…"
"Oh here we go, I'm out of here. Once you get Iruka talking about Naruto, it never stops." Anko finished her plate and paid, then left the two men alone.
"Naruto plays pranks to get attention…I can relate to that," Iruka rubbed his nose timidly. "He's a good kid, if people would only give him a chance. He's really not dangerous."
"Okay, I believe you, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi held his hand up to silence the teacher.
"Most people judge him as being a bad kid before they really get to know him…"
"Iruka, I don't give genin candidates any special treatment, for good or bad. I'm not going to mistreat him because of the fox. But I won't coddle him either."
"I understand, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka bowed to him submissively.
"Well, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Later, Iruka-sensei, I won't make them wait longer for today." Kakashi grabbed Iruka's shoulder and squeezed, then disappeared as quickly as it had taken Iruka to first notice his presence. Iruka's hand went to the spot where Kakashi's was and blinked. He still didn't know about Kakashi's methods, but at least the man had said he wouldn't prejudge Naruto based on who or what he was. Iruka decided he was still going to talk to the Hokage, but his first fear quickly subsided as he took Kakashi's words to heart. Naruto would have a fair chance like anyone else.