Chapter 7: How the Academy Teachers Began to Expect Genma coming around for all Parent-Teacher Conferences: Genma found out that if he did not tread carefully, the kids would all end up as spoiled brats. Then, the seeds of a rather interesting idea are unknowingly planted in the minds of the children by Genma's horrible friends. And, as if that hadn't been enough, Genma ends up becoming the go to person for all parent-teacher conferences.
..~..~..
The parents had been more than just angered at the kids having deceived them all. None of them had found the situation even marginally funny, even though Raidou had used such humor inducing words when he first appeared with the kids accompanying him.
"Where did you kids go?" Tsume growled as she ran up to her son, scooping him up with a stern glare on her face.
The young Inuzuka only smiled up at his mother, then pointed over at Raidou. "We were getting Rai back to normal. It worked!"
The injured man rolled his eyes at the boy's words, although he allowed himself to be pulled into Genma's apartment by them. Hinata was clinging to him much like she liked to do with Genma, all the while Tenten held onto his hand with a determination the senbon enthusiast had never seen in the dark haired girl before.
"Neji, Hinata!" Hiashi turned to both of the Hyuga children with a stern glare of his own, which made both of them shirk away from him.
"What in the world did you kids think you were doing?" Shikaku sighed as he looked at the kids with a mix of fondness of worry, all the while Hiashi glared at him for interrupting the scolding he was about to give.
"Kiba already answered, pineapple dude." Naruto answered with a haughty crossing of his arms, "We were getting Raidou back to normal. I don't understand what you're all so upset about. We're back here, Raidou's back, and nobody got hurt."
Genma couldn't believe the nerve of the blonde boy to speak up against a clan head. But he was left even more dumbfounded by the way the parents all turned to look at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation before nodding in unison.
"Just don't do anything stupid like this again." Shikaku sighed, then motioned for the kids he had been sent to fetch an hour ago. "Make sure Genma is with you at all times if none of the parents can be. We don't want any of you getting kidnapped."
Genma blinked at the man as the kids began to agree to his terms, then looked over at Hiashi and Tsume to find that they weren't glaring anymore.
Where were the shouts? Where was the scolding and the threats about never going off like that ever again? Where were the punishments that would need to be dished out to make sure the kids didn't do something this stupid ever again?!
"Can we stay over with Rai and Genma?"
Okay. They were being soft on the kids. Most probably because this was the first time they did anything as stupid and dangerous like this. But there was no way that any of the parents would actually agree to let the kids stay-
"... Sure. And I don't think Inoichi or Chouza will have a problem with that."
"You're going to have to clean out the kennels once you get back home, pup. But I'll go ahead and fetch your clothes for you and tell Fugaku, Takeo, and Shibi their kids will be staying over as well."
"I will allow it. But you two should have in mind that as soon as you return to the compound, it is back to training and learning."
... These kids would be the death of him...
They never actually got around to Raidou explaining what the hell had been up with him when he'd thrown Genma out of his hospital room. And Genma didn't really push because he was terrified of losing his best friend to anger again.
Raidou wasn't usually a secretive type of person. But when he kept secrets, it was for a reason. It hurt Genma beyond belief to have had his best friend scream at him to get the fuck out of his hospital room. Even more so when he ended up having to stay away from him, which ended up affecting his whole life. But when Raidou wanted to keep something hidden, he was an expert at avoiding all conversations about it. Even more so than Genma.
Time went on, though. Even though the wounds in their friendship were fresh, Genma and Raidou somehow managed to make it work. The kids were an extremely good buffer between any awkwardness that built up between them. Running after them was a full time job and since Raidou was busy recovering, he was not sent off on any missions and helped Genma out. Which meant that apart from eleven hyperactive kids, one Itachi and sometimes even Iwashi and Hana, Genma ended up having to deal with crass best friends that didn't know how to keep their damned mouths shut.
"Who would have thought he'd be the mother out of all of us!?"
"I mean, like, seriously! I never knew he'd even swing that way!"
"Damn it, Kakashi! Shut up about that!"
"What? Is your husband going to attack us?"
The silver haired bastard merely smirked at Genma with a dastardly twinkle in his eye, all the while Raidou and Iwashi snickered close behind them.
"What do you mean 'swing', Scarecrow? Like batting? Do you guys play baseball?"
Genma growled at his three supposed friends as they broke out into raucous laughter, then looked down at the children looking up at them with unrestricted wonder. These kids were just too curious.
Even though he had never been one to particularly stress over his sexuality, he knew for a fact that the Hyuga and Uchiha both valued conservative values and lifestyles. Although from what he knew about the Inuzuka, they were about as free as a couple of demonic, hyperactive birds flying through the air... With dangerous weapons at their disposal...
He still wasn't sure why Kakashi kept giving them that stuff.
And then there were the kids he had no idea what to think of their parents. The Yamanka, Nara, and Akimichi clans were all rather tolerant, but he didn't really know Shikaku or Inoichi's thoughts on things like these. Choza, back when he had been Genma's teacher, had never given him a reason to believe he could ever possibly be angry with people that weren't enemies, but there were some lines one did not cross with kids that weren't one's own. And Sakura and Tenten's parents were as much mysterious.
He wouldn't get in trouble for Naruto... But the kid was as immature and foolish as Kiba.
With an irked smile, Genma diverted the conversation away from what the phrase could mean. "Would you kids like to go to the zoo today? Scarecrow, Rai, and Iwashi will all accompany us because they're such awesome friends."
The one good thing about kids was that they were predictable. Dangle a golden carrot, they'd chase after it. At the mention of a zoo, all of the kids immediately shouted out in excitement.
Time passed rather quickly in a placid and extremely comfortable pace. Days blurred together into weeks and months. Even though he wasn't sent on many missions, Genma managed to keep a steady income by not wasting too much money, budgeting, and using the kids' allowance whenever they decided they wanted to buy something new.
It was suspicious how they always seemed so keen on buying things for the apartment. When he needed things like toilet paper, soap, shampoo, or even tooth paste, they found a way to buy some for him. They always used the excuse that it was because they used up all of his supplies. But Genma found this rather hard to believe, seeing how they barely cared at all about their personal hygiene.
When Naruto's birthday rolled around was the only time he was allowed to go on an out of village mission. But he'd only been allowed to go on it by the Hokage after having explained by Iwashi had missed his shift at gate duty and giving a brief on Naruto's behavior while around all of the children.
Genma knew that Naruto's safety was one of the Hokage's greatest fears. But he couldn't look at Minato's clone on the day of his death's anniversary. He may be healing, but he wasn't strong enough to face that yet. So he'd gone off on a mission with Anko Mitarashi and Daichi Inuzuka (Kiba's somewhat level headed yet still extremely Inuzuka father) to recover a stolen scroll.
From what he'd been told, the kids had still thrown a birthday party for their blonde friend. Scarecrow and the parents had all attended. Although Iwashi and Raidou were both unable to for different reasons.
Months bled together and soon enough a whole year had passed. It was August again, all of the kids had celebrated at least one birthday with him, and Genma had been forced to share yet another birthday with Neji and Kiba. Although this time, Sasuke and Itachi had both joined in as well. And the Uchiha had been pleasantly surprised by the bandannas they received, Itachi's sporting the metal plate with Konoha's symbol he now wore on most days.
Neji was six and beginning the Academy on this very day. Itachi was nine and was off on another mission. And Sasuke was accompanying him with the rest of the kids as they walked both new Academy students to their school.
The streets of Konoha were filled with people bustling about their daily lives, although they made a wide berth to allow Genma and the kids to walk without getting separated. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, there were fluffy and white clouds speckling a light blue sky, and Genma could tell today would be a good day.
"And you'll be able to teach us everything you learn!"
"Yeah! More kunai and senbon tricks!"
Kiba and Naruto were more than eager to start in the Academy, even though they were still a year away from it.
"Do you think you'll get all the best grades, Neji?" Ino asked curiously, which made the Hyuga smile softly at her.
"That is what Lord Hiashi wishes."
Genma didn't really like what Neji said. But he understood that he couldn't change family dynamics, no matter how weird he thought it was that Neji seemed to have so much weight rested on his shoulders. He understood the boy was a prodigy... But... Well... He didn't like the idea of pushing little kids so much. There was a reason they were still kids, after all.
"Tenten, I'm counting on you to behave." Genma murmured as he patted the young girl's head, which made her smack at his hands and pout up at him.
Because she had grown, Genma had seen himself forced to buy her a brand new bandanna to wear on her head. This one was red with dark red stripes and matched pretty well with her outfit. Neji's own was a new yet simple blue bandanna.
The kids had all needed new bandannas after a year. Be it from growth or ruining the pieces of cloth, Genma had decided that from now on until they left him, the only birthday gifts they would ever receive from him would be bandannas for their heads.
... Maybe he could gift them bandannas with forehead protectors once they became genin... He'd already done it with Itachi, after all...
"I'm plenty well behaved, Farmer man!" The girl growled up at him, then huffed. "I don't see you telling Neji to behave."
The young Hyuga looked up at him, curiosity clear in those pale eyes, which made Genma smirk down at him and pat him on the head. "I don't need to tell Neji to behave because he does so. You, on the other hand, are the most dangerous kid I think I've ever met in my life-"
"More than me and Naruto?!"
Genma just ignored the question with a suppressed roll of his eyes, "And need to be reminded to not to try and kill any of the kids that'll be with you in class. These kids aren't used to you, Tenten, and you're kind of terrifying."
"Just kind of?!"
Naruto was clearly insulted by this, just like Kiba, but the senbon enthusiast didn't pay any attention to them as he continued walking down the path to the Academy. The kids were all walking beside him, clearly enjoying walking their good friends to their first day in their school.
Hinata, though, was holding onto Neji's hand with fear clear in her eyes. This would be the first time she would be anywhere outside of the Hyuga compound without her cousin and protector.
"As long as you don't end up injuring any kids, I'm sure you'll be able to become a genin in a few years, though." Genma finished with a small shrug, then smiled softly down at both kids. "I know you'll both make your parents proud."
They both smiled up at him with determination shining in their eyes and nodded. "We'll make you proud too, Genma-nii-san!"
Genma almost keeled over at the title.
But the children continued walking as if there were nothing different or new about what he had been called by Neji. And Genma had to follow quickly after them to make sure that Tenten didn't end up trying to choke Naruto or Kiba when they insisted she was a monster capable of murdering ten thousand enemies with just a single whine.
Over the years, Genma had been forced to deal with just about every single situation he never, in a million years, would have thought he'd be forced to deal with. Mostly because the parents of the children he took care of seemed to have decided that he was a good substitute for them whenever they couldn't attend parent-teacher conferences.
The first time he was forced to meet with a teacher at the academy was because Tenten had gotten in trouble for throwing a kunai at a fellow student during target practice. Neither of her parents were in the village at the moment, her father was off on a mission while her mother went to visit a sick family member in a nearby town, and she had been staying with him during that time.
The call made to Tenten's parents had somehow been redirected to him and Genma found himself having to leave the rest of the terrible tykes (all of whom were mostly five years old and finding out about the wonders of getting to places faster with their longer legs) with Kakashi and Raidou. They really did like having their Scarecrow around. And Raidou had really melded in pretty well to their routine, helping keep the kids calm when they tried to go too far.
"Huh? Shiranui-San?" Her teacher, a chunin by the name of Himawari, questioned as soon as he walked into her classroom, all the while Tenten gasped and ran up to him with a broad smile.
The classroom was a bit different from what Genma had remembered his classroom having looked like. The colors were bright, there were toys and childish looking decorations all around, and a green board behind the teacher's desk with 'ABCD stand for Attack, Brain, Concentration and Defense!' and a smiley face beneath the rather cheesy message.
There was a lightness in this room that hadn't been there when Genma had passed through this very building. And the paint on the walls was now a subtle cream, no longer a dull gray.
There was even an apple on the teacher's desk.
"I told you Genma was going to come here! Quick, Genma, throw a senbon at her neck so we can make a speedy get away!"
She had been spending too much time with Kiba, apparently, even though she spent her days at the Academy.
Genma just patted the girl's clothed head, sat her down, then sat down beside her and in front of the teacher's desk. And after listening to the woman tell him about Tenten's attitude in class, the man shrugged. "Quite frankly, these are all signs of a smart kid. Acting out in class, answering to teachers, getting revenge when students are being stupid: It's all normal."
"She should not be disrespecting her superiors, Shiranui-San."
Quite frankly, Genma could not completely understand just what was so wrong about Tenten making her thoughts be heard. The only reason he had not been a problem child back in the Academy was because he hadn't really cared enough to cause trouble. But he'd passed with good grades because he had been smart enough to understand everything being taught, even though he never paid attention.
Besides, that kid had deserved that kunai to be thrown at his head. Where did he get off on insulting Tenten? Why wasn't he hearing about the kid getting in trouble for being such a prissy little shit?
"No, she shouldn't be." The man conceded with a sigh, then looked at the little girl. "But I thought we were here because of the kunai she threw at the little shi-jerk's head."
The kunoichi glared at him at the close call with the crass word. But, really, Genma just didn't care about what she thought. He knew for a fact that all of the kids he took care of had a good head on their shoulders. Especially Tenten. Even with all of the lip she gave him, all the fights she may start, and all the grief she may cause, the girl was smart and caring. He knew this with complete certainty. He'd watched her grow up before his eyes, after all.
He'd just have to wait for her teachers to see her true potential. These Academy teachers were smart and it was only the beginning of the term. They'd figure it out. He was sure of it.
~/~
The second time he was forced to go to a parent-teacher conference as a substitute for a parent was when he had been asked by Hiashi to take his place. The clan head was extremely busy, Genma only took care of hyperactive five year olds, and Neji really needed someone to go as an adult for him.
Genma had not expected much of anything when it came to the young Hyuga. He certainly had not been called in for the same reason he had been forced to go in for Tenten a week ago. And when the young teacher that had scolded him for his indifferent attitude towards Tenten's 'horrible' (independent) attitude told him the Hyuga was excelling far beyond anyone could have foreseen, Genma was barely taken aback.
"We wish to move Neji to the seven year old class. He already has an unbelievable amount of knowledge for a six year old. We believe he would be better off with those older than him."
"Uh..." Genma blinked at the woman as Neji sat rigid on the chair beside him, "I don't think I'm the person you should be asking."
"But Lord Hiashi sent you in his place." The woman huffed, clearly still somewhat haughty after their first encounter. "He knew what this meeting would be about. Clearly he trusts you with Neji-kun's education."
Genma turned to look at the young boy, narrowing his eyes. In his opinion, Neji was too smart for most of the kids in his and Tenten's class. Just like Tenten was too smart. But he wasn't here for them both. Just for the clan child.
This left a somewhat bitter taste in Genma's mouth. But he soon stamped his disgust down and turned to look at the young boy beside him.
"What would you like, Neji?" Genma questioned softly, which made the boy's eyes widen in slight surprise.
"What I think?"
Neji was just too adorable when he looked like an actual kid. Smiling softly at him, Genma ruffled the boy's head softly. "Of course, kid. This is you we're talking about, after all. If you feel you're ready to move up a grade, I'll believe you. But I won't fault you for staying where you are."
The boy looked at him with wide pale eyes. Then he turned his head to the teacher, who kept a carefully emotionless expression on her face. Then Neji looked back at Genma, uncertainty clear in his whole body.
"I... I like being in the same classroom as Tenten-Chan." He murmured, "But I believe Lord Hiashi would like me to-"
The man leaned forward and placed a steady hand on the boy's shoulder. "I didn't ask what your uncle wanted, Neji." Genma interrupted softly, "I asked what you wanted. No matter what others want, there's nothing wrong with being a little selfish. You must be your own person, you know."
The beaming smile the Hyuga gave him was enough to make up for the fact that Genma was forced to see this hard assed kunoichi again, even though he never wanted to see her again.
Neji decided to stay in his class. And Genma decided he would need to have a conversation with all of the parents before they decided to make this a pattern.
He never did get around to having that conversation. While Tenten and Neji were busy learning how to be proper ninja, he found himself having to chase after the rest of the nine little devils left behind.
Hinata didn't really like the fact that she didn't have her cousin around anymore, but she seemed to have a good enough time when with Shino and Chouji. Naruto and Kiba both clearly missed the endless arguing with Tenten, but they managed to find a good substitute in Ino and Sasuke. Sakura came around only once a week like always, and when she was around, she usually glued herself to either Ino or Hinata's side. And Shikamaru spent most of his days either sleeping or cloud watching, which meant he didn't really cause any trouble for him.
"Hey, no! Kiba, no biting!" Genma scooped the growling boy up into his arms, then flicked Naruto on the nose. "Just what has gotten into you kids lately?"
They had seemed even more out of control than usual. Which, really, didn't make any sense! There were less of them now! Why did it feel like there were twenty kids rather than just nine?!
"Hey, Farmer man, did you know that Scarecrow has a pretty cool scar under his forehead protector?" Kiba questioned with a broad smile as he turned in Genma's arms, managing to make the man look at him in shock.
"What do you mean, Kiba?"
Kakashi barely ever showed his face. Genma hadn't ever seen it completely, actually. Just both his eyes. The man didn't enjoy showing off his Sharingan, which Genma understood, seeing the unsavory circumstances under which he had gotten it.
"He's got a pretty gnarly scar!" Ino jumped away from Naruto and threw her arms up, asking Genma to pick her up like Kiba. "It's really cool! Although I'm still sure that Rai's scar will be much cooler once it's finally healed."
Genma picked the girl up and looked from the Inuzuka over to the Yamanaka, then sighed softly and shook his head. "You kids and your imagination." He murmured, then looked down at the still fighting Sasuke and Naruto. "Would you kids like to go out to the park?"
"Yeah!"
The third time he ended up in filling in for a parent at a meeting, it was a double duty. He ended up having to go for both Tenten and Neji.
"Okay... What did Tenten break this time?" Genma groaned as he passed through the threshold of the room, feeling both tired and somewhat annoyed with having to pull a double shift in parenting duties he'd never even wanted.
But as soon as his eyes fell on the teary eyed Tenten, the stoned faced Neji, and the less than amused teacher, all tiredness left and was replaced with worry. Both children were disheveled and there was a small cut beneath Tenten's eye, even though there was just a small forming bruise on Neji's hand.
"Tenten? What's wrong?" He questioned, only for the girl to begin sniffling, clearly close to tears. Then the man looked over at Neji, eyes going wide. "Neji, please tell me what happened?"
"Neji and Tenten got into a fight with four other classmates." The kunoichi answered bluntly, settling a serious and unamused glare on Genma, all the while the man moved to stand behind both kids. "I believed we had agreed that you would work on her defiant attitude, Shiranui-San."
No, they had never agreed on anything. Genma stood fast in his belief that Tenten was perfect just the way she was. The teachers in this Academy had to understand that a girl this bright needed to be paid attention to. She just couldn't be allowed to run loose.
Seriously, was he the only one able to see that she was a text book case of a kid just asking for some attention?
Upon seeing that Genma wasn't about to answer her, the woman continued. "Are you aware that Tenten has been bringing weapons into the Academy? Even though we have strict rules on the usage of kids younger than the age of ten carrying dangerous projectiles?"
The man suppressed the urge to sigh and roll his eyes in exasperation, then looked down at the young girl. She was struggling to keep from crying. And he couldn't bear to see her so broken hearted for so long. So the man merely looked back at the woman, schooling his features to show no emotions.
"I will have a talk with her about weapons and safety with them later today." He promised blandly, even though he didn't really care much about Tenten sneaking senbon or kunai into the Academy because he knew that she had been doing it from the beginning, then asked, "But what happened? What's this about these two getting into a fight?"
So Himawari told him of how Tenten picked a fight with the same kid she had thrown a kunai at a few weeks ago. And, against his better judgement, Neji had allowed himself to get roped into the fighting, which had wound up with the four children crying and blaming him for fighting too rough.
In Genma's mind, he couldn't see what the problem was. Tenten was clearly being picked on by a bully and stood up for herself, then Neji had helped her out like a good friend. The little shits that had picked said fight were undoubtedly blaming Neji and Tenten about the whole thing because they had gotten their asses handed to them and had decided to take the coward's way out.
Were these teachers really this stupid? Why weren't they able to see the picture that was more than clear to him?
"They are to spend the rest of the week in detention as punishment."
Genma had to stop himself from glaring at the younger woman.
"Now, wait a minute. These kids-"
"One is a Hyuga and the other a known trouble maker. No matter what you might try to argue, the punishment will not be revoked or changed." The woman hissed in warning, then glared down at Tenten. "Maybe she'll finally learn that her actions have consequences."
The man's jaw tightened at the unabashed display of disdain for a child, then nodded stiffly. "Come on, kids."
He pulled both children away from the room before the woman could think of some other scathing thing to say. And when he was outside with them both, he merely pulled them into a tight hug and patted them both on the heads.
"I don't know what crawled up that woman's ass, but I know what happened. Neji, good job on protecting Tenten. Tenten, good job on standing up for yourself." He looked Neji in the eyes, then at Tenten, and finally nodded at them. "I'm going to have a talk with your parents about this. That woman's reign of tyranny is going to end if I have anything to say about it."
Tenten burst out crying right there. And he hugged her as tightly as he dared, all the while Neji patted her head softly.
"We have to speak, Lord Hiashi."
"I am aware you wish to speak about the latest misadventure my nephew managed to stumble upon, but I am a busy man, Genma." Hiashi brushed him off as if he were nothing more than a fly, rounding yet another corner in his much too big home with Genma following briskly after him.
"It's not just about your nephew, Lord Hiashi!" Genma hissed, "It's about his best friend and the fact that she is being targeted by a school teacher!"
"I do not see how that is my problem." The man answered in an emotionless manner, walking down yet another hallway as Genma continued to trail him. "The girl is a wild one. You are most probably over reacting because of your much too intimate connection with her."
Genma had begun to believe that Hiashi may be a somewhat decent man that could care for more than just his clan members. From the way he allowed both his first born daughter and only nephew to run around with a bunch of crazy kids, attended the birthdays, and even allowed a lot of their stupidity, Genma had actually thought the man could help him out.
He refused to believe he was wrong.
"That woman is blatantly playing favorites! She wanted to promote Neji to the next year, even though Tenten is at his same level of knowledge and made no mention of her. And, guess what? The kids those two got into a fight with? All clan kids. Lord Hiashi, she's playing clan favorites to earn favor within those clans!"
"You are over reacting."
It was beginning to bother him how many people kept insisting that. Why couldn't they see he was just doing the best he could by the kids? He couldn't just sit around while he knew that Tenten was being targeted because she didn't come from a clan.
"I am not!" He hissed at the man, then sped up his pace and cut Hiashi off from continuing to whatever much too far away destination he had in mind. "Lord Hiashi, I've never asked you for a single favor! I have never turned you or your family away, never given you a single reason to doubt me or my choices." He glared at the man, who's face remained stony. "But I am asking you for just one favor. One. Go to the next parent-teacher meeting with Tenten and Neji. And see how different she treats both kids."
The man's face remained stoic and unchanged as the seconds ticked by. And Genma began to truly wonder if he was such a bad judge of character.
"Fine."
But when Hiashi relented, Genma couldn't help the broad smile he flashed.
Tenten and Neji wound up in yet another fight with the same kids. And this time Hiashi accompanied him, although he remained hidden and unseen by the woman.
It was safe to say Himawari was quickly demoted and banned from being a teacher ever again.
After that, Tenten and Neji returned to him one day after class to tell him about the new and kind teacher they were now being taught under. One that allowed them to paint and draw during their breaks rather than just focus on their ninja training. One that had promised to teach them how throw a kunai properly by the end of the semester if they proved to deserve the lesson.
One night, as he cooked up food for all of the people staying over at his apartment, Genma was struck with how much his life had changed in the past few years. And it was all because of one lone child crying in a park.
After having seen that his dining table wasn't big enough to fit all of the children, Choza had gifted him with an 'old, ratty thing the family never used'. Which Genma called bullshit on because the table seemed to have been made out of only the finest wood and all of the chairs were about as comfortable as the new bed Itachi had found 'lying around'.
Genma was no fool. He knew that these supposedly unimportant things were these people's way of thanking him for putting up with the kids for so long. He didn't like accepting the help. But it was kind of hard to deny his old sensei of anything, especially with a broadly smiling Chouji offering to prepare a pie to break in the new table. And he couldn't have told the backwards bandanna sporting Itachi that he wouldn't accept the bed after the boy had seen him sleep through many restless nights on his couch.
"Hey, Farmer man," Iwashi suddenly appeared by the door to the kitchen, Itachi and Hana following behind him. "How much until we'll get food?"
It seemed that whenever Itachi or Hana were in the apartment, Iwashi appeared out of thin air. But Genma didn't mind seeing the fifteen year old around because of the fact that he actually smiled and talked with people that weren't just him or Raidou. It was a small kind of victory to see that he had managed to create an odd kind of friendship with both younger kids.
"Do you not see me cooking, young man?" Genma puffed at a strand of hair that fell over his forehead, then turned back to the pot of noodles. "It'll be done when it's done."
"Would you like any-"
"No."
Hana huffed and rolled her eyes, "You didn't even let Itachi finish asking, Genma."
This girl was a much more reserved, respectful, and composed clone of her brother. There was more of Kiba's father inside of her than her mother. But she was still a blunt, honest, and rather crude Inuzuka. And she didn't really hesitate calling him out on anything because, even though she never admitted to it, she cared a lot for the kids he had ended up surrounding himself with.
With a sigh, Genma suppressed the need to tell them to get out of his kitchen and go ahead and bother Kakashi with the rest of the kids, then relented. "Fine... Itachi, what were you going to ask?"
The Uchiha looked at him with a calm look about him, although he could see the worry inside the dark orbs. "Would you like any help, Genma-San? You are cooking for many and have a lot to accomplish before you can rest. If we worked together, we would finish much faster."
The boy was right. Genma knew it. But Genma hadn't really had much help cooking in his life and it didn't feel right to have people working in the kitchen if it wasn't just him.
But Iwashi was a chunin, Itachi seemed to be months away from becoming one, and Hana was really close to graduating and becoming a genin. They were all competent and intelligent kids. And they were a thousand times more respectful than some of the shinobi Genma was unfortunate enough to call friends.
"Quick! We're really close to grabbing his mask! Shino, throw the ants at his face!"
"No, Shino! No ants!"
Speaking about horrible friends... Genma sighed as he heard a crash coming from his family room, then nodded softly.
"Scarecrow over there hates anything fried or sweet." He told the kids, who shared a look before looking back up at him.
"So we're going to make something fried or sweet?"
"We're going to make something fried or sweet."
~/~
They were all seated at the large table for the dinner he and the three older kids had prepared.
Genma found himself sandwiched between Hinata and Neji, all the while Itachi aided his brother with his chopsticks, Iwashi snickered at Kakashi's clearly annoyed face, and Hana softly told her brother to not throw any food.
It was odd to see that all of the kids, including the fully ranked shinobi, Kakashi and Raidou had all been able to come tonight. It wasn't even an important day. There were no birthdays to celebrate, no new, outstanding news to tell, and certainly no pressing matters to discuss. But somehow they had all managed to get a leave from their shinobi duties at around the same time and had decided that a good dinner/sleepover at Genma's apartment would be a good way to spend their free time.
He had never had much a family before. His father had died young, his mother had barely been present until she ended up dying quietly a couple of years later, and his older sister had left him as soon as he had graduated the Academy. His childhood had been fractured and spent fighting a war. In all honesty, the only reason he knew what loyalty meant was because of Might Guy and Choza beating the meaning into him through years of hard work. Minato, Raidou, and Iwashi had all added to the definition after he'd left his genin team. And now, all of these people were expanding upon it.
He'd known Kakashi for quite some time. They had been good friends after the war had ended. But they'd never been as good friends as they were now. The teasing he was now subjected to was something Kakashi would have never dared even think of before. And the way the man actually did his best to stick around... It spoke volumes about the usually aloof and distant man.
But these kids... There was a different type of loyalty for them. He'd fight to the death for them, just like he would for the rest of those he called friends. But there was something else to this feeling of loyalty... A closeness and easiness he felt whenever they were around. And his heart clenched horribly, hurting him to no end, whenever he knew they were in trouble.
He'd never felt anything like this before. It was hard to pinpoint, much less describe. But from what he'd heard the few shinobi he liked and sometimes hung around with that had gotten married and had kids, he guessed he had some idea of what he felt.
Family.
He'd never had a family before...
"Hey, Genma?"
He was brought of his thoughts by Shikamaru's curious mentioning of his name. And when he looked at the Nara, he found the boy looking at him with a thoughtful expression.
"Yeah, Shikamaru?"
The dark haired boy thought on his question for a moment, then nudged Chouji's arm. The plump boy looked at his best friend for a moment before nodding, then looked over at Genma with an odd show of determination in his dark eyes.
"Why don't you have a girlfriend, Farmer man?"
The man just about keeled over at the question. And if he sent a senbon into a laughing Kakashi and Raidou's knees, it was simply because the chortling Iwashi was sitting too close to him to get the same treatment.
..~..~..
So I hope you all liked this chapter! It's very possible that the chapters become just a tiny bit shorter because I have begun university once more and the classes are not going to be easy. But I will continue updating for all of my stories! That is a promise!
Please review and make this struggling college student happy!
