Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Here's chapter four for all my wonderful readers. Thank you again to everyone who reviewed, especially... Heck, you all deserve to be named. So thank you to wisdom-jewel, Tachaun demon of the leaf, Lylac, Rose Tiger, Okazaki323, Dragon Man 180, Cassa-di-di loves NaruHina, Echo Uchiha, miner249er, Gravity The Wizard, infiniteternity, KantonKageX, The Gandhara and Yuriski-1st. It means a lot to know that people are reading, since I figured I'd get like five hits and that's it or something.
My email keeps telling me that people are adding this to their story alerts. Guys and gals, I'd love to hear what you think. Even if it's just "this story is such a trainwreck that I alerted it because I couldn't look away." Although if you say that please tell me why as well!
Yuriski-1st: You are right of course. However, I always figured that the Hokage was an old man past his prime, who spent most of his time doing village work that he no longer really had the energy for, and hence didn't always have enough time for Naruto, or at least that's how I'm gonna use him for now.
Anyhow, enough chit-chat, down to the story.
Chapter Four
By the end of the first day of the academy, Naruto had the impression that Iruka didn't like him much. By the end of the first week, he had the certainty that Iruka hated him. That didn't bother him that much, not like it was new, right? The only person in the school who he really spoke to at all was Hinata, and she was so shy that conversations with her never lasted very long. Most of the other students were ok, even if a few of them clearly despised him. The biggest surprise was Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had initially been put off by him. He was very friendly, but he was also a complete know-it-all and wasn't afraid to demonstrate that he already knew everything the teacher was teaching them and more.
Still, when they had sparred on the first day it had been one of the best moments Naruto could remember for a really long time. It had gone on for several minutes longer than it should have, and it was awesome. There was exhilaration in being constantly on the edge. The feeling that one false move or accidental slip-up would spell the difference between victory and defeat somehow took all the fear out of him. He could concentrate a hundred percent on it, and everything else went away: the hatred, the fear, the knowledge that once it was over everything would be back to normal.
He couldn't help but ask to go again once it was over. Naruto had never formally studied anything resembling taijutsu. He had seen older ninja practicing it against each other before, and he had tried to replicate what he saw when he was alone. He had often had light-hearted scraps with other orphans (and, often, not so light-hearted scraps) and he had tried to put what he had seen to use, but most of the time he would forget what he was doing and just go with the flow, relying on his natural speed and stamina to make up for lack of training. Against Sasuke it had worked.
Later on that day he had caught Sasuke looking at him with bright fire in his eyes, and a face that said "We're gonna fight again". Naruto had nodded his assent. Other than Hinata, he would describe Sasuke as his closest friend, and the two of them had barely spoken to each other at all.
If fighting with Sasuke had been one of the best things to happen to him, then Hinata was the best. That day, he had been nervous about what he was going to do. He tried not to let on at all, but he couldn't help it. So when he had tagged her and ran away, he was expecting her to be too shy, or too prim, or even just unwilling to play with him. But play she had. The two of them had raced all over Konoha, breathless with the effort of it, tagging and re-tagging each other. It had only lasted a couple of hours before she had said that she'd better go home or her father would be mad.
The next day she had been her usual, distant, shy self again, and Naruto was devastated. For the first half of the day she merely squeaked one word answers back at anything he might ask her, and even when she opened up a bit she was still timid. He wondered if something had happened at home, but even he had the sense not to ask that. He'd asked her if she wanted to play tag again, but she said she had to be home early and so she couldn't today.
Still, it had happened once, and Naruto was sure that it would happen again; he just had to keep working at it like he usually did.
So why, if children like Hinata and Sasuke could be his friends, could someone older and wiser like Iruka-sensei not see the same potential in him? It was so unfair.
The chuunin teacher never missed an opportunity to punish or scold Naruto for any minor misdemeanour he might commit, and he would often do so in front of the entire class to really rub salt into the wounds. Frequently he would ignore Naruto's questions, even if he had he hand up like he was supposed to, or mock him for not knowing the answer to such a simple thing. He never did that for anyone else. Even in taijutsu, where Naruto was one of the best students in the class, he never had even one word of praise for him. Most of them time he wouldn't even look at him.
Naruto knew he needed to be patient. He knew he needed to give them time to come around. He had seen it before. The other children in the orphanage were all older than him, and none of them had really liked him either until recently. Now most, although by no means all, of them had warmed up to him, even if he really couldn't call them friends. He knew that if he pressed on regardless and proved himself, Iruka would come around.
It was so unfair though. Why should he have to prove himself to anyone? No-one ever worried about proving themselves to him. He was sick of giving other people a chance when no-one would ever give him one, but he knew that he could do nothing about it but stick it out. He wouldn't change anything by whining about how unfair it was.
He told himself these things every minute of every day, until it was ingrained to his very core. Must try better, must work harder, must prove to them that I'm worthy of their attention. Sometimes that helped him get through a day of Iruka's taunts, sometimes it didn't.
One morning, about a week after he'd started at the Academy, he was awoken early by a knock on the door to his room. Recently several of the orphans had left the orphanage to be moved into the subsidised apartments that Konoha provided for older students and ninja, so there were currently enough bedrooms free that Naruto didn't have to share, and he was loving the freedom it gave him to be messy.
He tripped over three toys, a t-shirt and some underwear that had been left on the floor before making it to the door. He opened it a crack. One of the assistants, a young medical ninja in training, was standing outside the door.
"Naruto-kun." She said. "There's someone in the entrance hall that's come to visit you." She turned on her heels and strode away down the corridor. Naruto like Ami-san. She was always sharp with him and never talked to him much, but she was like that with everybody there. It was just nice to be treated the same as everyone around him. He quickly got dressed and made his way downstairs.
The only visitor Naruto ever got was the Hokage. Still, he entertained ludicrous fantasies that perhaps it was Hinata, or Sasuke, or maybe even his parents (who, it turned out in his imagination, were not dead after all but returned from some super-secret incredibly important ninja mission to take him to live with them). He'd had these thoughts before, and they always fizzled out just as he was getting to the good bits where his parents taught him a kick-ass top secret S-rank jutsu.
He tried hard not to be disappointed when, as he suspected, he saw the Hokage waiting for him in the entrance hall. The old man was smiling kindly.
"How are you, Naruto-chan?" He asked, with a friendly smirk on his face.
"Jeez, old man." Naruto laughed. "I told you, have to call me Naruto-san now, or Naruto-kun, or maybe The Almighty Naruto-sama. Get it?" The Hokage laughed along with him, but Naruto was sure he saw a glint of sadness in his eyes.
"I thought we might go for a little walk around the village, if you like." The old man said. "I have a break in my schedule that needs filling with something more interesting than paperwork." Naruto's face brightened.
"I'd like that!" He replied. "But I'll need to go and get my school stuff first, and then I can go straight to the Academy afterwards." The Hokage nodded his assent, and Naruto tore upstairs again.
It was a wonderful, sunny morning, of the kind that the Land of Fire often got. There had been rain the previous night, so the sunlight sparkled over everything it touched and there was an invigorating chill still in the air. It was still early, and very few people were about. As they walked they made small-talk for a few minutes before Naruto noticed a dark look come across the Hokage's face.
"And what do you think of the Academy, Naruto-kun?" He asked. Naruto tried to conceal the twinge of distaste that crossed his face, but he knew the old man would have seen it, he saw everything.
"Well…" He began. "It's great! I've made loads of friends, and the teachers are all really nice, and everyone accepts me…and…and…" He trailed off, despairingly trying to come up with more lies.
"Is that really how it is, Naruto-kun?"
"Well…" Then Naruto started talking, and did not stop for ten minutes.
Iruka paused before knocking at the door to the Hokage's office. He had been dreading this moment, ever since a note was left on his desk asking him to go directly to the Hokage's office after school was finished. He could guess straight away what it would be about. He had seen the Hokage walk Naruto to the Academy gates that morning. When he became an instructor, he had known that there was a chance that Uzumaki Naruto would end up in his classes, but there was a difference between knowing it might happen, and it actually happening. He needed to compose himself. The Hokage was sure to be angry when he heard what Iruka had to say.
He finally pulled himself together, and knocked lightly on the door. It swung open by itself, and Iruka stepped through. The Hokage was sat behind his desk, scrutinising Iruka closely even before he was fully in the room, and there were two chairs facing that desk, one of which was already occupied by another man, who had swung around to look at him.
The man was old, although maybe not quite as old as the Hokage himself. A stout walking stick sat next to the chair, but he proudly wore a Konoha forehead protector and ninja garb. Iruka was sure he'd seen him somewhere, but couldn't place him.
Iruka walked slowly and mechanically over to the other, and gently lowered himself into it. For a minute no-one spoke, before the Hokage broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Iruka, have you met Hozuki-san?" He asked. "The director of Konoha's orphanage." That was it. That only confirmed Iruka's suspicion. This meeting had definitely been called to talk about Naruto.
"It's a pleasure to meet the teacher of so many of my children." Hozuki said, but the tone of his voice was cold and distant.
"It's likewise a pleasure to meet you, Hozuki-san." Iruka replied. Hozuki nodded curtly.
"I'm sure you're aware of why I have called you here." The Hokage said, measuring each word softly.
"Uzumaki…Naruto." Iruka said, staring at the floor.
"It might surprise you just how much I see of him." The Hokage said. "I suppose I feel some sense of responsibility for his predicament."
"Hokage-sama, I thi-" Iruka began.
"Don't interrupt me, Iruka." The Hokage cut him off. "I'm not ready for you to talk yet." His voice was ice cold. He showed no outward signs, but Iruka was pretty sure that this was as angry as he'd ever seen the old man.
"I spoke to Naruto this morning, and he told me a very interesting tale." The Hokage continued. "A tale of a boy, who tries his best at everything he does, who always aims to please others, even if maybe he sometimes goes a little far." Here he paused, letting it sink in.
"And maybe this boy can be tough to deal with, maybe he values attention more than is healthy, and maybe sometimes he lacks certain social graces." Iruka noticed that Hozuki was supressing a small chuckle.
"But in this story the boy is met with nothing but scorn, nothing but derision and hatred, even from those people, like his teachers and classmates, who should be more understanding. In this story he was telling, the boy cannot for his life understand why that should be so. He cannot understand why, no matter how hard he tries, his teacher seems to hate him. Do you perhaps see the moral of the story, Iruka?" His gaze was piercing, and Iruka could not meet it. He nodded dumbly.
"It so happens that I told Naruto a story of my own." The Hokage went on. "A story of another boy, much like the first, who had also struggled with the same problems, and also acted the fool to try to get people to notice him after losing those closest to him. And I told him how the boy stuck at it, and how he eventually won the respect and admiration of those around him. I went as far as to say that I would be proud to call the second boy a shinobi of Konoha." The meaning was not lost on Iruka, and he stifled a cry.
"Naruto heard this story, and I believe he took hope from it that perhaps the boy from the first story might have a similarly happy ending, if he just kept working as hard as he could in the same way. Iruka, it would disappoint me if I were to find out that my story was just a lie." He stopped. There was silence for another minute or so. Iruka could hear the clock ticking ever so slowly. The Hokage was right of course, he always was, and yet…
"Now Iruka, having heard and considered my story, are you quite sure that there was something you wanted to ask me?" The old man said, never breaking his gaze from Iruka.
"Hokaga-sama…I…I wish to request that Uzumaki Naruto be transferred from my class." He didn't think he had ever seen the old man look so disappointed. His expression was heart-breaking, and Iruka felt shame to the depths of his being.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you after all, Iruka-san." He said. Iruka directed his gaze to the floor, and didn't look up.
"Hokage-sama…it is for him as much as me." Iruka said. "I…I can't teach him. It is not fair for him to wallow in my class when he might do so much better in another!" Even as he said them the words rang hollow.
"You're making excuses, Iruka-san." The Hokage said.
"Hokage-sama…please…" Iruka wasn't even stifling his tears now. Tears of shame mixed with bitter tears of long-buried grief. "Whenever I see him…I see them…" The Hokage said nothing.
"Whenever I see him sitting there, with his grin permanently slapped across his face…it's like the monster who murdered my parents is sitting in the back row mocking me!" Grief turned to anger. How could the old man not understand this? There was another pause.
"Iruka…do you truly believe that Naruto is a monster?"
"How could I not?" Iruka yelled. "I was there that night! I fought the beast alongside hundreds of my friends. Many of them were freshly graduated genin like myself, and yet they were cut down without mercy. My mother and father…" He trailed off.
"Iruka. Naruto is not the Kyuubi, merely its vessel." The Hokage said sternly.
"I know!" Iruka retorted. He took a deep breath. "I…I know that. But every time I see him I can't help but think of them all. I have to teach knowing that, somewhere deep inside him, that…that THING is there." He had gotten to his feet without realising it. Again, the Hokage said nothing, merely letting Iruka vent his feelings.
"And even if Naruto can't help it, it's still sitting there in him, staring out through his eyes, mocking me with his grin, taunting me with his laughter." He slumped back down.
"Iruka. Do you know why I picked you to become an Academy Instructor?" The Hokage asked. "Even though you're only seventeen, and there were many who felt you were too young and inexperienced." Iruka looked up sharply. Of course he'd thought about this. He was the youngest teacher that the Academy had had since it was founded, and he had heard many whispers that said he should never have been picked.
"No. Hokage-sama." He said.
"You have a gift, Iruka." The old man replied. "You understand people. When you look at them, and talk to them, and get a feel for them, you know what they need and how you can help them." Iruka reflected on what the Hokage was saying.
"It's a dangerous gift on a battlefield, a double-edged sword. To empathise with the enemy can help you determine their weak points, but it can also lead you to hesitate when you should strike hard." He paused, giving Iruka some time to absorb this.
"But as a teacher, it is ideal." He continued. "You can see how you can best help each student to maximise their potential. I placed Naruto in your class because of this talent of yours. Indeed, I pressed for you to join the Academy staff so young largely because of him. I was hoping that my trust would not be misplaced." Again there was a hint of disappointment in his voice, and Iruka's shame welled up again. "I hoped that you would see past the Kyuubi, that you would see the brilliant, troubled, mischievous and well-meaning child who desperately needed the attention and support of a teacher who understood him." Iruka could take it no more, he burst into tears. The Hokage was right, of course he was right, he always was.
Why had he not seen? Hinata had confidence issues, he had seen it and designed his plan for her around it. Sasuke had the opposite problem, overconfidence, and he had designed lessons focused on teaching him that he could not do everything alone. Shikamaru was lazy, so he had given him exercises that engaged his creative thinking. With every other student he had seen their weakness and worked with it, but with one he had allowed his feelings to get in the way, and he hated himself for it. He wanted to turn in his resignation right then and there.
"Iruka." The Hokage said. "I understand your feelings. Everyone in Konoha lost people they cared about and loved that night." His eyes flicked down to a photo-frame on his desk, although from where Iruka was sitting he couldn't tell who or what was in the picture. "Give Naruto a chance. That is all I ask of you. If, after a few more weeks, you still find that you can't teach him, come back to me and perhaps I will consider your request, but I don't think it will be necessary." How was it that the Hokage always knew exactly what to say? Perhaps Iruka was not the only one with a gift. He nodded silently.
"Iruka-san." For the first time since the conversation had turned to Naruto, Director Hozuki spoke up. "I think you will learn to see the real Naruto. I was very much like you at first."
"How do you mean?" Iruka asked.
"Six years ago I was sitting where you are now, begging Hiruzen to allow me to place Naruto with someone else, even if it would have to be outside of the village." Iruka was shocked at his confession, and at how casually he addressed the Hokage.
"My wife and daughter were both killed in the attack, both fighting the Kyuubi, so when I was asked to look after Naruto it was like knife to the heart." He continued. "Every time the baby cried it was like the Kyuubi's roar to me, and every time he smiled I saw only a fox's malicious grin." He paused, and silence reigned.
"But you know…" He eventually continued. "Each passing day it was a little more difficult to see the monster. It's hard to see a monster in a toddler crying because he grazed his knee, or laughing as he played jump-rope with some of the other children. Although it's rare that they ever let him play with them." He paused again. "Give him a chance, Iruka-san. I'm an old man, as is Hiruzen, and we are not what the boy needs. But perhaps you are." For just a few minutes more, there was silence.
"I don't think we need to say any more." The Hokage said. "Iruka, you may go now." Iruka nodded and got up.
"It was nice to meet you, Hozuki-san." He said.
"It was nice to meet you as well, Iruka-san." The man replied, with genuine warmth this time.
"I would like to call on you at the Orphanage sometime soon to discuss Naruto, if it wouldn't be an imposition." Iruka continued. Hozuki smiled.
"I would have been disappointed if you hadn't asked." He replied.
Iruka left with a deep and humble bow.
In the evening Naruto hadn't wanted to go back to the Orphanage. A lot of the people he liked there had moved on, and there were a few people that remained that he really didn't get along with very well. He had wound up kicking a stone about the main street of Konoha, steadfastly ignoring the glares he was getting from passers-by. Let them glare if they wanted. He'd prove he was better than them by not rising to it.
He thought about going to the park, but found that he didn't really feel like it, or like going to his secret hiding place. So he wound up staying exactly where he was. At one point he spotted one of his classmates walking past, and invited him to come and play kick-the-stone as well, but the boy ignored him and walked on without a word. Oh well, he wasn't one of the nice ones anyway. In fact, Naruto told himself, he was probably too cool to play with that boy anyway.
He was surprised to see Iruka-sensei walk past as well, and even more surprised when the teacher saw him and stopped. He seemed to be hesitating, but after a few seconds of standing on the spot he actually came over to Naruto. The blond boy was stunned.
"Hey, Naruto…" Iruka-sensei began. Naruto said nothing, retaining a neutral expression.
"Umm…It so happens that I have a couple of coupons for bowls of ramen at Ichiraku." Iruka continued. "I was going to ask a friend of mine to go with me, but they're out on a mission."
Naruto didn't dare to hope that this was going where he thought it might be going.
"So if you fancy a bowl of ramen, we could go there now." Iruka said. "I need to talk to you about your progress anyway." The last bit seemed almost like a forced explanation, but Naruto didn't care.
He grinned widely, and the two of them walked up the street, towards Ichiraku Ramen.
A/N: So there it was. Again, if you liked it, please review and say why. If you didn't like it, please review and especially say why. I know there wasn't much Hinata in this one, but don't worry Hinata fans. She's crashing about in my head right now, demanding I write some scenes with her in them. Next chapter will see a lot more of her, as well as some of the other students.
As I was doing a bit of research on Iruka's background, I discovered that there was a filler episode in Shippuuden that had a situation very much like what happens here. However, thinking about it I think this is more or less the only way it would have happened. Iruka wouldn't have been able to deal with having the beast that killed his parents sat in his class, but he's compassionate enough that it wouldn't take too much to bring him around. Still, this probably won't solve everything between them, because where would be the fun in that? :D
I don't know if it's stated when Iruka became a teacher. The databooks say he became a Chuunin at 16, and I'm guessing a teacher shortly afterwards.
