Chapter 12: Comfort

Kurenai and Asuma arrived at Iruka's house to find Sai sitting on the couch and Naruto desperately hammering on the bedroom door, asking his teacher to come out and talk to him. Asuma and Kurenai exchanged glances before the kunoichi sighed and walked over to the pale boy.

"Sai-kun, Sakura is waiting downstairs for you. You should go back and get some rest. Leave us to talk to Iruka. You can come and see him tomorrow if you like." Kurenai smiled kindly.

Sai nodded and stood from the couch. Then he turned and threw a glance towards Naruto's direction.

"We will get him to go as well. You can wait for him downstairs." Kurenai answered the unasked question. Sai shrugged and made his way out of the door.

"Naruto, stop that. You are going to tear down the entire apartment." Asuma scowled.

The blond boy stopped and turned around, as if noticing the guests for the first time. Then he resumed what he was doing.

"Iruka-sensei, please come out. Talk to us. I will kick that bastard's ass and make him come and apologise to you!" Naruto pleaded as he pounded on the bedroom door.

"Naruto, will you stop that?" Asuma frowned. "You are going to disturb the neighbours."

"I don't care! If Iruka-sensei is not coming out, I don't care even if the whole building collapses."

"Naruto, let us talk to him. Come on now, your teammates are waiting downstairs for you." Kurenai coaxed.

"No! I'm not leaving Iruka-sensei." The teen was adamant.

"Naruto, if you are not going to leave, there's no way for us to talk to Iruka and make him come out. Now, will you just leave us alone, so that we can sort out the problems and decide on how we are going to best handle it?" Asuma was getting irritated.

"There's only one way to settle it! And that is to get Kakashi-sensei to come and apologise to him. If not, I will get Tsunade baa-chan to make him apologise!"

"Naruto!" Asuma's voice was firm. "By no means can you go to Tsunade-sama for this."

"Why not?" Naruto folded his arms and challenged the older man. "I know it! You are going to protect Kakashi-sensei! That's so unfair to Iruka-sensei."

"We are not siding with anyone. Iruka is our friend too. We will not let him suffer any injustice. We are not letting you go and talk to Tsunade-sama because you will just make a mess out of the whole thing." Kurenai sighed. "We will talk to Hokage-sama ourselves once we have sorted this out with both Kakashi and Iruka."

Naruto turned silent as he considered Kurenai's words.

"Really?"

"Yes." Asuma said exasperatedly.

"You won't side with Kakashi-sensei?"

"No." Kurenai shook her head.

Naruto looked away. "Alright. But can I come and see Iruka-sensei tomorrow?"

"If he's ready to. We will let you know." Kurenai smiled. Naruto nodded.

"Please take care of him."

"Of course. Now will you just go, so that we can start talking to him?" Asuma snorted.

"Alright. Goodbye, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei."

The two jounin nodded and watched Naruto walk out of the apartment and closed the door behind him. When they could no longer sense his chakra, Kurenai walked up to the door and knocked on it gently.

"Iruka, it's me. I'm with Asuma. The kids are gone. Can you come out?"

There was no reply.

Kurenai tried again. "Iruka? Are you in there?"

No response.

Kurenai was getting worried. "Iruka, answer me. I know you are there. Come on; don't make me worry for nothing. At least give me an answer."

Nothing.

Asuma was getting impatient. He pulled Kurenai aside.

"Asuma?"

"If he's not coming out, then I will have to force my way in."

"But –"

Asuma did not wait for a protest. He took two steps back and then moved forward swiftly and kicked the door open.

The wood cracked from the impact. Asuma grinned smugly.

"Who's going to pay for the repairs?" Kurenai frowned.

"That's not the point now. Come on. Let's go in." Asuma stepped into the dark room. Kurenai followed.

There was no Iruka.

"Where is he?" Kurenai whispered, trying to see in the dark room with the only source of light flooding in from the living room.

"Bathroom, I reckon. The tap is running." Asuma sighed.

The two approached the closed bathroom door. The distinct sound of water gushing from the tap could be heard. Kurenai pushed the door gently and was surprise to find that it wasn't locked.

She slid the folding door aside and looked into the dark area. "Iruka?"

Asuma flipped the switch on and light flooded into the small room. Kurenai gasped. Asuma hurried over to her side to see what had gotten her so shocked. His eyes widened at the sight.

Iruka was sitting in the bathtub, the shower head gushing water down on him. He was fully clothed and totally drenched. He had his face buried in between his knees and his arms hugged them tight to his chest. The usually neatly-tied brown hair was plastered to his neck and arms.

"Iruka!" Kurenai hurried over and turned off the water, which she realised was cold. Asuma cursed and went back into the bedroom, rummaging through the wardrobe for a towel.

The lady sat on the edge of the bathtub and gently pulled Iruka's arms away. The chunin flinched at the touch.

"It's me, Iruka. Don't do this. You are going to fall sick."

Iruka finally brought his face up from his knees to look at the kunoichi. Kurenai felt her heart going out to him when she saw the tear-streaked face and the red-rimmed eyes. Iruka's body was wracking from the sobs. An angry bruise formed on his right cheek, and small cuts decorated the area around the bruise. Kurenai had to admit that Sakura had done a pretty great job in healing the chunin. The bruise would most probably be gone in another two days.

"Kurenai……?"

"Oh my god, Iruka. What did you do to yourself?" Kurenai reached over to pull Iruka to his feet and struggled a little with the weight. Asuma came into the bathroom and stepped into the tub, helping Kurenai to steady the chunin, before wrapping a towel around the wet frame.

"Come on, Iruka." Asuma said quietly and pulled Iruka out of the tub, keeping a firm grip on the dazed man. Kurenai followed quietly into the bedroom.

"Kurenai, wait for us in the living area. Iruka needs to change." Asuma sighed. The kunoichi nodded and retreated from the room.

Asuma looked grimly at Iruka as the damaged door was being pulled shut. He would have to have a good talk with the chunin.

=-=-=-=