Chapter 5

***A/N: Eath's thoughts will be quoted by //....//

Kyomi yawned as she walked down the hallway of the Academy. She had stayed up late last night working. "Today's the day," she thought to herself, reaching for the doorknob to her office.

As she opened the door to her office, she immediately sensed the presence of someone else in the room. She was in her fighting position in an instant, ready for a fight. "Who's there?" she demanded, observing her surroundings.

Several objects appear in mid-air, falling down to her. She instantly cut them apart with her kunai. BANG! BANG! 'What was that?' Kyomi stared at the torn balloons that she had just popped. Confused, the female ninja sensed a person behind him. She threw a kick at whoever was there, and sent him against the wall.

"Surprise!" he greeted in pain, hands on his stomach, where he just got kicked. It was Iruka.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously. //Does he know the relationship between Eath and Kyomi?//

"Happy Birthday," he said, leaning against the wall. That was when Kyomi noticed the ruined cake that landed beside Iruka.

"Happy..birthday...?" she repeated the words, staring at the cake.

" I still remember. I never had the courage to give you a birthday present when we were young. Now's my chance again," Iruka was rubbing the back of his head again, laughing at himself. He stopped when he realized that the birthday girl was crying. "Kyomi? I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I shouldn't have come."

Worried, Iruka stood up. Before he could react, Kyomi hugged him as her tears pour down her cheeks. "No one...*sob* ... no one has g-given me a birthday present...since my parents died."

"What do you mean?" Iruka held her. His eyebrows knotted. "Did your stepfather not throw you birthday parties?"

"Please. Don't. Don't talk about that man," Kyomi shook her head against his chest. "All he wanted...was..." She grabbed onto Iruka's green uniform vest tighter. "...was to sleep with me." Iruka was completely stunned. When Kyomi had been adopted twelve years ago by a wealthy foreign man, every orphan in the village envied her, including himself. At the same time, he had been happy for her as well, because she had found another home, a second chance. He had never dreamed of what horrible things could have been happening to her after she had left with her new family. He held her tighter, as if she wouldn't be hurt anymore if he held her tight enough.

"He acted like the best father on earth before we left the village....but...." her voice trailed off. Her sob took over her sentence.

"I will not let anything happen to you again. Ever." Iruka assured her, holding her tightly, while blaming himself for not being able to be at her side when she needed help the most. "I love you, Kyomi."

She froze. She hadn't heard that phrase for a long long time. She didn't even remember when the last time she heard someone telling her that was. She missed it. It was so nice to be loved again. It would be even nicer if she could to return the love.

Iruka had tears in his eyes as well. Tear of anger. Tear of love. Tear of all the emotions combined. "I'll be at your side from now on."

//Sorry, Iruka. That won't be happening.//

Kyomi pulled herself away from him and wiped her tears. She looked up and smiled at him, then turned her attention to the mess on the floor.

"I'll clean it up," Iruka offered and gave her a nice warm smile. "I'll buy you a new cake later tonight. We'll actually eat it this time."

//Or not.//

As Iruka shut the door behind him as he left Kyomi's office, one of his colleagues walking down the hallway was looking for him, "Iruka-sensei, Hokage-sama wants to see you."

* * *

"Naruto!" Iruka knocked on the boy's door. "I'll bought you some ramen!" Right when the the word 'ramen' came out of his mouth, the door swung open.

"Iruka-sensei~!" Naruto gave his teacher a big hug. "I love you, Iruka-sensei! Did you buy my favourite kind?" He was already looking through the bag Iruka brought.

"Iruka-sensei, I thought you said you had to celebrate Kyomi-san's birthday tonight," he asked as he took out the cup ramens from the bag. "What happened?"

"Something came up," he simply replied, as he poured hot water into their ramen.

"Did you get rejected?" Naruto teased with a grin. Iruka blushed and laughed it off. "Let's just eat our ramen, Naruto."

As Naruto pick up his chopsticks, and place his nose above the rising steam. He sniffed. And frowned. He sniffed. And frowned more. "Something's wrong with this ramen, Iruka-sensei," he complained to his teacher, who was already eating. "What do you mean? It tastes perfect! Start eating or it'll get cold."

"Hey, hey, remember I possess some fox power. My nose is extra sensitive! Especially when you are talking about ramen!" Naruto argued. Iruka's expression darkened. "Umm.. I think you should stop eating too. They could be expired. Are you feeling sick already, sensei?"

"So you are not going to eat it? I bought them especially for you," Iruka looked disappointed. The boy looked at his teacher for a moment, then looked at the ramen. He then touched his chin and closed his eyes to ponder, looking as if he were trying to make an important decision. A knock on the door interrupted his thought. Naruto's eyes snapped open. "Who could it be?"

"Open up! Naruto!" the voice behind the door called out. A familiar voice that both Iruka and Naruto recognized it - Iruka's voice. The two exchanged glances.

Iruka-sensei? Naruto wondered. But he's right here eating ramen with me. Is this a fake one? Or is the one at the door fake?