Naruto isn't mine... too bad...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A couple of days later Lee showed up in Iruka's classroom first thing in the morning.
"Lee-kun! Don't you have class with Gai?" Iruka looked up in surprise.
Lee pouted. "Aren't you starting projectiles today?"
"Oh, yeah..." Iruka blushed. "I kinda forgot..."
Lee smiled. "It's okay. What do you need me to do?"
"Well, I already did the morning preparations, so we just wait for the kids."
Lee blinked. "So we have an hour?"
"Pretty much, yeah. You want to play some checkers today?"
"Okay... but if you have so much time, why do you leave so early?"
Iruka set up the checkerboard. "Well, I used to grade papers in the morning before you started to help."
Lee started the game. "If I help enough, why do you still show up?"
"Well, I don't know really..." Iruka thought for a moment. "I guess habit. Plus it gives me a little time to wake up before the kids come in."
Lee sighed. "Do you really need that time?"
"No, not really... But what else am I going to do for the two hours after Naruto leaves?"
"I dunno... Take a nap?" Lee shrugged.
"It's hard for me to take naps. I never really have... I usually read."
"I guess you at least do something, though why don't you read at home?"
"It feels kind of empty after Naruto leaves. I don't spend much time at home anyway."
Lee looked up from the game. "Why not?"
Iruka paused in his play. "I don't know. it just seems kind of empty, like I'm alone."
"Then what do you do after our grading?"
"I go eat somewhere, then walk around the village until it gets dark. I normally go straight to bed when I get back." Iruka shrugged. "It's what I do."
Lee stared incredulously at Iruka.
Iruka looked up. "It's your turn."
"Oh, right. Sorry." Lee moved his next piece. "Don't you have people you spend evenings with?"
"Occasionally I spend them with Naruto, but he has missions often. He also drags Sasuke around shopping and such." Iruka smiled. "It's kind of cute, actually."
Lee looked at Iruka. "No one else?"
"Not really.. Sometimes I go with the teachers out to drink, but I don't drink much."
"Then... Then do you want to eat dinner sometimes with me?" Lee looked hopeful.
"I wouldn't mind at all." Iruka smiled.
"Great!" Lee grinned.
Iruka watched Lee celebrate with a confused look on his face. Lee stopped when the first if the students came in.
"Good morning Iruka-sensei!" The cheery little girl greeted, then looked suspiciously at Lee. "Who is he?"
"This is Lee-kun. He's going to help me teach you projectile weaponry."
Lee smiled and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
The girl eyed his hand warily then cautiously shook it. "I'm Sao." She leaned in close. "Don't cross Iruka-sensei. He can get mean!"
Lee smiled conspiratorially. "Thanks for the information."
Sao grinned and skipped off to her seat. Most of the kids had shown up by now, and it was almost time for class to start.
Iruka looked at Lee. "What did she say?"
Lee smirked and mimicked Sao almost perfectly. "That you can get mean!"
Iruka laughed, causing most of the class to go silent. Iruka rarely laughed out loud like that unless something really good had happened to him. A few of the kids started taking quietly together, occasionally glancing at Lee.
Lee and Iruka traded quizzical glances before Iruka spoke up. "Class!" They quieted down. "This is Lee-kun. He will be helping me the next few days with teaching you the projectile weapons. Now, lets all go outside!" The class cheered and filed out the door.
The class re-assembled outside at the throwing range set up for the beginners. Iruka started the class with the shuriken. "Now, the shuriken isn't too hard to throw, nor does it rarely bounce off of it's target, but you need to learn how to aim it properly." Iruka continued the lesson with demonstrations by both him and Lee, showing that there were different throwing styles. Iruka went on and demonstrated a few other styles, though not the one he used.
"You can pick what you feel is the best one for you to try, though the styles are similar enough if you try for one type, you may end up doing another. Just try to aim for the center of the target. Lee and I will be walking around if you need help."
The students started to throw the shuriken down range, most if not all missing their mark. Lee and Iruka started at opposite ends of the line, asking about styles and correcting where needed.
By the end of the day, the students we getting better at aiming, and many of them could at least throw how they wanted to. Lee and Iruka felt a little tired, but happy with the work.
"Alright class, you're done for today! Great job!" Iruka dismissed the students, sending them home. He turned to Lee. "Since we did outside work today, I don't have any papers to grade. What do you want to do?"
"Ummm… Well it's too early for food, so maybe we could play a game or something?" Lee suggested.
"Okay… What game?" Iruka started to walk back inside. Lee followed. "I got cards somewhere, and there's the checkers board, and the Go board… I can't remember if I have anything else though."
Lee perked up at the mention of cards. "How about a simple game of war?"
"That'll take a while."
"Well, we got time, don't we?" Lee smiled.
"That sounds fine to me, let's play." Iruka agreed and got out the cards.
They played cards, talking a little, though mostly just sitting in contented silence. They took a break for food, then walked to Iruka's apartment to continue the game.
Lee again looked at the clock. "It's about time for me to head back home."
"We're not done with the game yet."
"We can continue it tomorrow. I'll come over for breakfast too if you don't mind." Lee grinned.
"I said you were always welcome." Iruka offered.
Lee stood up and walked to the door. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Okay then." Iruka watched Lee walk off, and he started to feel his usual feeling of alone, but also a touch of missing Lee. He shook it off and went to bed, since he needed to get up in the morning to cook a little more. Especially since Naruto had been regularly bringing Sasuke to breakfast recently. The past days had been nice in his opinion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A couple of days later Lee showed up in Iruka's classroom first thing in the morning.
"Lee-kun! Don't you have class with Gai?" Iruka looked up in surprise.
Lee pouted. "Aren't you starting projectiles today?"
"Oh, yeah..." Iruka blushed. "I kinda forgot..."
Lee smiled. "It's okay. What do you need me to do?"
"Well, I already did the morning preparations, so we just wait for the kids."
Lee blinked. "So we have an hour?"
"Pretty much, yeah. You want to play some checkers today?"
"Okay... but if you have so much time, why do you leave so early?"
Iruka set up the checkerboard. "Well, I used to grade papers in the morning before you started to help."
Lee started the game. "If I help enough, why do you still show up?"
"Well, I don't know really..." Iruka thought for a moment. "I guess habit. Plus it gives me a little time to wake up before the kids come in."
Lee sighed. "Do you really need that time?"
"No, not really... But what else am I going to do for the two hours after Naruto leaves?"
"I dunno... Take a nap?" Lee shrugged.
"It's hard for me to take naps. I never really have... I usually read."
"I guess you at least do something, though why don't you read at home?"
"It feels kind of empty after Naruto leaves. I don't spend much time at home anyway."
Lee looked up from the game. "Why not?"
Iruka paused in his play. "I don't know. it just seems kind of empty, like I'm alone."
"Then what do you do after our grading?"
"I go eat somewhere, then walk around the village until it gets dark. I normally go straight to bed when I get back." Iruka shrugged. "It's what I do."
Lee stared incredulously at Iruka.
Iruka looked up. "It's your turn."
"Oh, right. Sorry." Lee moved his next piece. "Don't you have people you spend evenings with?"
"Occasionally I spend them with Naruto, but he has missions often. He also drags Sasuke around shopping and such." Iruka smiled. "It's kind of cute, actually."
Lee looked at Iruka. "No one else?"
"Not really.. Sometimes I go with the teachers out to drink, but I don't drink much."
"Then... Then do you want to eat dinner sometimes with me?" Lee looked hopeful.
"I wouldn't mind at all." Iruka smiled.
"Great!" Lee grinned.
Iruka watched Lee celebrate with a confused look on his face. Lee stopped when the first if the students came in.
"Good morning Iruka-sensei!" The cheery little girl greeted, then looked suspiciously at Lee. "Who is he?"
"This is Lee-kun. He's going to help me teach you projectile weaponry."
Lee smiled and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
The girl eyed his hand warily then cautiously shook it. "I'm Sao." She leaned in close. "Don't cross Iruka-sensei. He can get mean!"
Lee smiled conspiratorially. "Thanks for the information."
Sao grinned and skipped off to her seat. Most of the kids had shown up by now, and it was almost time for class to start.
Iruka looked at Lee. "What did she say?"
Lee smirked and mimicked Sao almost perfectly. "That you can get mean!"
Iruka laughed, causing most of the class to go silent. Iruka rarely laughed out loud like that unless something really good had happened to him. A few of the kids started taking quietly together, occasionally glancing at Lee.
Lee and Iruka traded quizzical glances before Iruka spoke up. "Class!" They quieted down. "This is Lee-kun. He will be helping me the next few days with teaching you the projectile weapons. Now, lets all go outside!" The class cheered and filed out the door.
The class re-assembled outside at the throwing range set up for the beginners. Iruka started the class with the shuriken. "Now, the shuriken isn't too hard to throw, nor does it rarely bounce off of it's target, but you need to learn how to aim it properly." Iruka continued the lesson with demonstrations by both him and Lee, showing that there were different throwing styles. Iruka went on and demonstrated a few other styles, though not the one he used.
"You can pick what you feel is the best one for you to try, though the styles are similar enough if you try for one type, you may end up doing another. Just try to aim for the center of the target. Lee and I will be walking around if you need help."
The students started to throw the shuriken down range, most if not all missing their mark. Lee and Iruka started at opposite ends of the line, asking about styles and correcting where needed.
By the end of the day, the students we getting better at aiming, and many of them could at least throw how they wanted to. Lee and Iruka felt a little tired, but happy with the work.
"Alright class, you're done for today! Great job!" Iruka dismissed the students, sending them home. He turned to Lee. "Since we did outside work today, I don't have any papers to grade. What do you want to do?"
"Ummm… Well it's too early for food, so maybe we could play a game or something?" Lee suggested.
"Okay… What game?" Iruka started to walk back inside. Lee followed. "I got cards somewhere, and there's the checkers board, and the Go board… I can't remember if I have anything else though."
Lee perked up at the mention of cards. "How about a simple game of war?"
"That'll take a while."
"Well, we got time, don't we?" Lee smiled.
"That sounds fine to me, let's play." Iruka agreed and got out the cards.
They played cards, talking a little, though mostly just sitting in contented silence. They took a break for food, then walked to Iruka's apartment to continue the game.
Lee again looked at the clock. "It's about time for me to head back home."
"We're not done with the game yet."
"We can continue it tomorrow. I'll come over for breakfast too if you don't mind." Lee grinned.
"I said you were always welcome." Iruka offered.
Lee stood up and walked to the door. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Okay then." Iruka watched Lee walk off, and he started to feel his usual feeling of alone, but also a touch of missing Lee. He shook it off and went to bed, since he needed to get up in the morning to cook a little more. Especially since Naruto had been regularly bringing Sasuke to breakfast recently. The past days had been nice in his opinion.