Hmmm … I like this chapter. I like Iruka and Genma here – they're so sweet! Anyway, a big thank you to my nice and sweet beta-reader, Ravenshaelo! She's real great man! Clap, people, clap!

About GenIru – I have decided to write a fic about them. It would be a totally different fic, not related to this one at all. The point is, it's a fic about these two. I shall be posting once my beta-reader has sent me the beta-ed part 1. I call it Faint! To those who are amused about this pairing, check it out will ya? I'm having a blast writing it and I can't keep the giggles down for some reason. I really, really think they look cute together. Ravenshaelo thinks so too!

Anyway, enjoy this chapte because I enjoyed typing it! Ja, minna!

WHY NOT 25

Genma had dropped Iruka off at the hospital and then left to attend his gate watch duty. Iruka found Naruto still asleep, as always. But Iruka never let this bring him down. He knew that one day Naruto would wake up and he'd have his 'little-brother' back – or son. Iruka reached out and brushed a lock of hair off Naruto's face. Naruto's hair had grown longer over the months he'd been asleep and was now past his shoulders in uneven steps. His breathing was regular, so was his heartbeat.

"What's taking you so long, Naruto?" Iruka asked and pulled out a genjutsu book that he had promised to get a hold of for Naruto months ago before the incident with the grass-nins.

Flashback

"A book?" Iruka blinked, looking up from the dinner that they were having on his small four-person dining table.

"Yeah. I've heard of darkness-based genjutsus. I only know how to do one. One of the guys on the team said that there are lots of them and that it could be found in the restricted section in the staff library. You think you can find it?"

Iruka had resigned his position at the academy and was an active chuunin. "Well, I'm no longer a teacher."

"Ugh." Naruto whined and poked at his steak with his chopsticks. "That sucks. I wanted to learn some new genjutsus because I only know a few." He clicked his chopsticks in the air before taking a piece of steak in to his mouth. At least now the boy was eating other things besides ramen.

"If you really want it that bad, I'll try to get my hands on it." Iruka said, not able to stand the little frown and crease inbetween the eyebrows on Naruto's face.

"Really? You will?" Naruto's face literally lit up.

"Well, you want it that badly. I can't make any promises though." Iruka said, and smiled when Naruto got up from his chair and hugged him hard.

"You're the best Iruka-sensei!"

End Flashback

Iruka stared sadly at the book and found the cover blurring slightly. A light plop sounded and he found one of his tears had landed on the cover. He had remembered the book the day he started teaching again. But it hurt him so much that he only got it when Naruto wouldn't be able to read it. Giving a light sniff, he wiped at his eyes and smiled at Naruto's sleeping figure.

"I got you that book you wanted." He flipped open the first few pages and scanned it quickly. "It sounds fairly difficult, but knowing you, you'll find a way to make it easy. Let's see what it says." Iruka scanned for a nice paragraph. "Ah! Darkness-based genjutsus are a lot more difficult to execute than light-based genjutsus. Usually, a great amount of chakra is needed by the user in order to execute one-hundred-percent of most darkness-based genjutsus. The majority of the users of these particular genjutsus can only use up to seventy-percent of their power due to its consumption of chakra quickly."

Iruka continued to read out passage after passage to Naruto until he felt his eyes go dry. His voice broke several times in the middle of reading and he stopped because he couldn't take the emotional pain. He knew that Naruto would have been jumping up and down and quite literally dragging him to either the Ichiraku or Creamo (the most popular ice cream parlor in Konoha) in order to celebrate his accomplishments. He would be yammering excitedly, telling Iruka what he'd done – most of the time making the poor chuunin stop breathing because of the extremes the blonde boy went through – while slurping down bowls of ramen or licking away cones of ice cream. But now? He was just lying there immobile.

"Oh Naruto." He whispered and grasped one of his hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Oh lord, Naruto." He dipped his head, shoulders trembling from the silent sobs that escaped him. He never cried this hard up till now. And Genma wasn't anywhere near at the moment.

A hand landed gently on his shoulder and Iruka stopped immediately. "Iruka." Genma's voice was soft and understanding. He knew how much he loved the younger man and he too admired him ever since that chuunin exam long ago.

"He always wanted to learn new techniques in genjutsu. He asked me to get him this book." Iruka stared at the book in his hands. "Now he can't even read it." He choked and the book fell from his grasp and landed on the floor with a ruffling sound. Genma wrapped his arm around Iruka, while the other empty hand came up to rest on Genma's arm. Genma could find no words to bring comfort to Iruka. His mind was utterly blank. He'd had gate watch duty for only four hours. When he went home and found Iruka still not there, he knew he was still in the hospital. The trembling figure in his arms suddenly tensed and remained very still, a small gasp escaping Iruka's lips. "Genma!"

Genma released his hold on his love and stared at him in puzzlement. "What is it, love?" One thing about Genma was that he was a totally romantic person around Iruka.

"He – He –" Another gasp escaped Iruka's lips. "He squeezed my hand!" Genma's eyes widened.

"I'll get the Hokage." He said and in a poof he was gone.

Iruka got up from his seat, hand still holding Naruto's and sat on the bed, bent forward a bit and smoothing Naruto's forehead. "Naruto?" A slow creasing between his eyebrows occurred. Iruka gasped out and smiled with hope. "Naruto? Open your eyes, Naruto. Come on! You can do it." His hand was squeezed once more.

Dual poofs sounded behind him. Tsunade, clad in an over-robe, beneath it her light yellow yukata, approached the other side of the bed and felt for Naruto's pulse. A smile immediately lit her face. "Naruto!" She called out, excitement lacing her voice. Genma stood beside Iruka and was excited just like the other two.

A little groan sounded at the back of Naruto's throat and his lips slowly parted, sucking in a small shaky breath. Iruka smiled and Genma wrapped an arm around his waist. "Come on." Genma whispered.

"Naruto." Iruka whispered and squeezed his hand gently only to have it squeezed back. Iruka was feeling giddy.

Naruto's eyelids trembled and ever so slowly, clear blue orbs revealed themselves to the three witnesses. He stared blearily at Iruka and then a small smile came to his lips. "Yo. Iruka-sensei." He whispered, voice raspy and totally dry. He flicked his eyes at Genma and gave him a smile. He then turned painfully, since his neck was all cramped up and stared into Tsunade's eyes. No voice came out of his lips, but they moved pronouncing the infamous nickname he had given the fifth Hokage – 'Baa-san'.

"You arrogant little thing!" Tsunade chided him, a big smile on her lips and tears in her eyes. "Don't scare us like that again, or I'll kill you, you hear?"

Naruto spoke silently again, lips forming the word sorry. He then struggled to sit up and immediately, Iruka and Genma helped him. Genma went to fetch some water, which Naruto drank greedily. After downing half a liter of water, he rubbed his throat. "My throat hurts."

"You've been asleep for nearly five months." Tsunade said and quickly injected him with some sort of medicine to help his muscles. Naruto winced.

"Five months." He mumbled, voice still raspy. He rubbed his throat. "What's that thing you just injected me with?" Tsunade merely shook her head and began to give little presses with her palms on Naruto's legs. "Baa-san?"

"It's called a stimulant. Combined with chakra healing, your muscles that have been dormant for five months should be able to move." Tsunade took another few minutes of chakra healing and then took a step back, looking at Naruto proudly. "There! But you still need to do some physical exercises if you want your body to go back to normal."

Naruto turned to look at Iruka and Genma who smiled at him. "We'll help you, Naruto." Genma said, and slung an arm around Iruka's shoulder and Naruto immediately blushed.

He was then wrapped in a very tight hug by Iruka and he felt his neck get wet. "Oh Naruto. You scared me." Iruka whispered. "Good to have you back."

Naruto felt himself smile and he hugged Iruka back in return.

Outside, the snow began to fall.

TBC