Maaa... every time I upload this, it always shows up either in the second
page or sometimes not at all.
But I won't take the hint! I'll continue writing just to tick them off!
Oh! I just received another complaint. I'm too wordy. I disagree... I'm... er... uh... descriptive. Yeah! That's it. XD
Okay, so maybe I am a bit wordy. My apologies... u_u
Same warnings and disclaimers apply, see previous chapters for details.
Midnight confessions Chapter 4
~~~***~~~
There were some days in which he would regret his decision, other times he would appreciate the thought behind his actions. Today, however, today was one of the few days that Iruka would curse himself for placing his futon to face the sunrise.
With a loud, frustrated moan, Iruka shifted his head to face away from the window, but the sun still relented; dutiful in its mission to wake the teacher up, despite it being a free day for the young man. Sighing in defeat, Iruka rolled himself over to lie on his back, allowing the early summer sun to warm his nightly-chilled body. He couldn't help but blearily think that it felt sorta nice. Perhaps for today, he'll categorize the decision to face the sunrise under "mixed blessings".
Pushing himself up, he folded his legs under him and took in a deep breath in only to slowly let it out. It was time for his morning ritual. Closing his eyes, he brought up both his arms across his chest. Breathing in, he tensed his muscles in one arm and slowly stretched it out to his side, feeling the muscles from his forearm to his shoulder and back stretch and strengthen. Once his arm was fully extended, he held his breath and kept his muscles taunt for a few seconds then relaxed, breathing out the oxygen held in. Bringing his arm back to his chest again, he repeated the process, but for the other arm.
After completing a few sets of this exercise, Iruka crawled away from his futon, and rolled it to the side, leaving a huge empty space in the middle of his room. Standing in the spot where his futon once lay, Iruka aligned his feet till it was at the same width of his shoulders. Twisting his hips slightly to the side, he crouched down and leaned back a little, placing most of his weight on the right leg. The left was perched on its tip-toes just before him, facing forward, mainly to be used as balance. To martial artists, this was called the "cat stance," however Iruka did not know the name of the term. All he knew was that this was a pose he had seen his father perform countless times as well as some of the actions he was about to do.
He would do a few punches, knife blocks, upper hand blocks, alter his position and do a few forward thrusts, backward thrusts, snap-kicks, side kicks and roundhouse kicks. Once done with that set, he would switch the weight to his other leg and repeat the process. The tasks he had done were basic in form, but they were done correctly. Whenever he performed an attack he would snap his hips to add momentum, tighten the muscles to add strength just before the appendage was fully extended, hold, relax, and then snap his hips back quickly to his original position.
He had once attempted to perform a kata which, when he was younger, he thought was just a silly dance. Sadly, he could only remember a few steps of any kata before having to stop his actions, causing him to go into despair. His depression would worsen when he would soon realize that there wouldn't be anyone else who could show him how to perform the movements. When asking the elders for help, they would simply chuckle and patronize him, explaining to him that ninjas were known for long-distance attacks, and although martial arts (which they had dubbed as being taijitsu) was useful in some instances, it was still inferior compared to genjitsu and ninjitsu.
Still, despite their cruel mockery of martial arts in that time, Iruka would spend a half an hour to a full hour dedicated to his father's techniques. These were the few things that his father had taught him when he was a child, and every morning, without fail, he would try to attempt to complete his exercise, despite sickness or injury.
Today, however, his body refused to go beyond forty, or so, minutes of the rigorous training and since it was over the minimal thirty minutes, Iruka felt satisfied with that. Wiping his hand across his drenched brow, Iruka tiredly stumbled his way to the bathroom to refresh, only to stop as his face looked upon the mirror before him.
He brought a hand up to hover over the swelled purple bruise on his cheek. With delicate motions, he lightly tapped his finger over the tender area, only to wince and pull back as a sharp pain registered in his head.
"Ii-ta-ta-ta-taaii..."
This wasn't good. Although painless unless provoked, the bruise was considerably large. For a moment Iruka couldn't help but wonder, in awe, how Kakashi hadn't knocked a tooth out in the process. Still, was he really planning to go out looking like this? For another moment Iruka entertained that idea. Growing up, each bruise was more like a badge of honor from having survived and able to walk away another fight.
Times had changed, and reluctantly he had noticed, so had he.
Shaking his head, Iruka returned to his former task of heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. He still had responsibilities that needed to be attended to; he just needed to think up a few good lies in case anyone's curiosity got the best of them.
The warm shower had felt like a little slice of heaven and he pouted childishly when it was over. Patting his hair and his body dry, he hung the towel over his shoulders and slipped on a clean pair of sweatpants. He needed to do laundry soon or else he'll find himself teaching class with something borrowed from Naruto's closet.
Finding a fine-toothed comb within the medicine cabinet, Iruka began to delicately detangle the knots within his hair, for the umpteenth time that month contemplating the idea of chopping it all off.
Iruka felt a presence nearby his home before he heard a knock on his door. Wondering who it might have been, Iruka let down the comb and cautiously approached his apartment entrance. He had figured that Naruto would have simply stormed in whenever he was around and Kakashi wouldn't have probably bothered with silly things such as doors, knowing him. An enemy wouldn't have been so polite as to knock before attacking, but that last one could still have been a possibility.
Just as he was about to reach the door, the entry slammed open and Iruka found himself tumbling backwards as a force slammed into his chest.
"IRUKA-SENSEI! Man, sensei, what took you so long? We kept knocking and knocking and you wouldn't answer! I told the guys we could just come on in but they said it was rude! Is it rude? You said I could just come over anytime and I didn't haveta knock! Isn't that right?"
Iruka let out a chuckle as he ruffled the bundle of blond energy currently latched around his waist. Pushing himself up to a seating position, he glanced up to see that Naruto wasn't alone in today's visit. Naruto's teammates, both Sakura and Sasuke were accompanying him this morning. Sasuke had his constant brooding expression, mumbling under his breath that they had only knocked once, and then mumbled something like "dead last". Sakura was looking away with her face seemingly blushed with embarrassment. Looking down, Iruka could understand why. He was only wearing his sweatpants as his only form of cover. The towel around his shoulders had been knocked off in the tumble. Realizing his predicament, Iruka chuckled sheepishly and raised his hand to scratch idly the back of his head, feeling the still drenched tendrils of hair cling to his hand.
Man... he must have looked like a drenched rat or something.
Iruka's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Looking down he saw Naruto give his former teacher a confused yet slightly distressed look while bringing his finger to poke at his face.
"Anou-sa... what's with the bruise, sensei?"
Lying to adults was one thing; however Iruka couldn't help but wince at the thought of lying to kids, especially these three. Looking up he saw the other two stare expectantly for his answer. Sakura's expression was that of surprise and worry, Sasuke's face was darkened even worse than before. Iruka also noticed the slight clench of the boy's fist.
"Oh it's nothing... a mosquito stung me last night. It must have swelled up as a reaction." It was the truth... somewhat. Kakashi's name could have been interpreted as either "scarecrow" or "mosquito and an un- commissioned soldier". It just depended on the style of kanji used. Iruka had preferred to use the latter since it was more believable than saying a scarecrow jumped him or something. Ironically, that sounded like something Kakashi would say. Still, Iruka hoped that it would help placate the three's curiosity.
If anything, it just made their reactions worse.
Naruto began to grow fearful, wondering out loud, over how huge the bug may have been to leave a bruise that big. Sakura had excused herself to find some ointment and some ice to reduce the swelling, occasionally giving Iruka curious glances as to affirm if what the teacher said was true. If Naruto had been at one end of the scale by misunderstanding the predicament, and Sakura had been in the middle by giving the teacher the benefit of a doubt... then Sasuke was at the opposite end, fully understanding the meaning behind the teacher's words. Sasuke glared at his teacher, dark eyes blazed in furry as the boy entertained thoughts of making the jounin's life a bit of hell.
It wasn't the anger that surprised the teacher, but the fact that the boy was even angry in the first place. Although Iruka hadn't shared the same bond with Sasuke as he had with Naruto, the teacher couldn't help but feel slightly touched that he had affected the Uchiha boy enough to have provoked such a reaction. Still, how he had known that Iruka was accompanying the Jounin was anyone's guess.
Still, it wouldn't do well for the team to be at odds with their silver-haired teacher. It would have been a nice form of revenge to have these three take out their fury on the other man, and it might have even helped with their combative training to tell the truth, however, it wouldn't do well if the students lost their trust and respect for the teacher.
Plus, Iruka felt that he had an equal share of the blame as well. He had said too much last night, and the other man may not have been ready to hear those words. No... it would be better if he simply defused the situation now before it got out of hand.
"So, what brings you three here? Shouldn't you all be training right now?" Taking the ice-pack from Sakura and giving her a small thanks, he watched amusingly as Naruto jumped from his position on the floor and began pacing around.
"It's all that pervert sensei's fault! We got tired of waiting for him so we decided this time we'd go looking for him. We haven't found him yet, but then I got hungry and I saw I was near your place so I told the guys we could stay at your place for a while since you didn't have to teach today."
Iruka chuckled when Sakura smacked Naruto upside the head and turned to the humored teacher with an apologetic expression.
"We're sorry, sensei. We didn't mean to barge in like this, really. I told Naruto it wasn't nice to bother you on your day off, but he wouldn't listen. We'll leave if you want us to."
Shaking his head, Iruka rose back to his feet and ran his hand through his now drying hair. His other hand, which held the ice-pack to his face lowered to his side.
"It's alright, Sakura-chan. Naruto does this all the time, I've grown used to it to tell you the truth." Iruka chuckled good-naturedly as Naruto couldn't help but give a prideful and smug grin at the girl. "I told Naruto he could come over anytime, even when I'm not around. The same goes for you three."
"Three?" Sakura blinked then turned towards Sasuke before turning back to the teacher. Suddenly a jovial voice rang from somewhere behind the protruding wall between the kitchen and "dinning room".
"Maa maa... seems I've been found out! You're pretty good, Iruka- sensei."
Iruka's smile turned slightly forced as he saw the team's jounin teacher emerge from the dark kitchen. Although slightly sedentary, being a school teacher did have its benefits. For one thing it raised your awareness level if only to prevent the students from daydreaming or passing notes when your back was turned or when you weren't looking. That and the fact that the kitchen tile was basically a decorated sheet of plastic covering, and Iruka had heard a familiar shifting of the air-bubble, between the sheet and floor, that gave away the jounin's position earlier.
Iruka watched cautiously as Kakashi came into full view. Childishly Iruka thought he could use the melting ice-pack as a weapon should the jounin try anything, however he somewhat felt it wouldn't be necessary.
"You give me too much credit, Kakashi-sensei. There isn't much space to hide in this apartment." Oh how Iruka wanted to bring the jounin's pride down and play how the other man had been to careless on Iruka's home territory, still, that wouldn't have set a good example for the kids, and frankly the less words he had with the man, the better.
"...you should look into that..."
Iruka raised a brow at the Jounin. If he didn't know better, he could swear he could hear regret and a sense of an apology in that tone. Was it in regards to the apartment, or was it because of something else? Looking up to the silver-haired man, Iruka gave him a curious glance, almost wordlessly asking for an explanation. Feeling the curious eyes upon him, Kakashi gave a casual stare back at Iruka, and then flicked his eyes down to the chunin's side, right to the hand that held the melted ice-bag.
So that's what it was.
Iruka couldn't help but smile at the conflicting emotions within him. On the one hand, he was inwardly jumping for joy for having the other give in first, claiming him to be the victor. On the other hand, he was wincing in regret for not having apologized first, thus proving himself to be the better, and more mature adult. Hmm, actually, both options were quite immature, come to think of it. Oh well, it didn't matter. He knew he would've forgiven anyway, especially when he had a role in it.
Looking back to his former students, Iruka noticed that Sasuke seemed to comprehend the underlying conversation between the two teachers and had now calmed himself from his previous furry back to his casual, brooding mode. Sakura just looked at the two adults in slight confusion, trying to determine if there was any underlying hint between the two's conversation to further support whatever she had been thinking. Again, Naruto seemed to be at the opposite end of the spectrum and simply took the conversation at face value and commenced with yelling at his instructor about being late.
Iruka leaned back and watched amusingly as both teacher and student bickered. Although he didn't know the jounin that well, he was somewhat distraught over the fact that he may have had ruined a potential friendship with the silver-haired man last night. Not that it mattered anyway. Hadn't he promised himself not to let anyone affect his feelings this way, especially after the whole ordeal with Mizuki?
The truth was... was Iruka *really* willing to allow Kakashi a chance to hurt him like every other friend he had tried to make? Sure it was a jaded viewpoint, but it was also quite realistic. Then again, he had to remember he also took that chance when he befriended Naruto, and now look at the bond they both shared now. Still, he could feel Naruto unconsciously distancing himself from the chunin teacher, which was reasonable when the boy was now hanging around kids his same age. Like hell was Iruka going to deny the boy that. He was Naruto's teacher, that was that, and he would cheer him on from the sidelines if he had to rather than by his side.
As Hyuuga Neji would profess, that was fate.
~~~***~~~
I'll stop here for this chapter. If it feels like a "filler" chapter, I'm sorry but that's what it is. No worries... it's a relevant filler. The next chapter would explain why I put this crap up.
I've come to realize that despite any preplanning, jotting down ideas on paper, and trying to maintain a fixed storyline.... It will never happen!
This story is starting to divert from my original idea, but it's actually becoming better than what I had in mind! (If that is true, can you imagine how horrible the original must be? x_x ) It still has some of the main ideas that I had thought up for the original storyline, but the method is a bit different. For one thing, this story isn't supposed to have gone this long. O.O;;
Ah well, I'm glad people are enjoying this fanfic, and your kind reviews help this unworthy one continue to entertain you. ^_^
I'm currently writing the next chapter, so it'll be out soon. However I'm starting to get into a bind. I'm not sure if I should follow the trend and make this a slight shounen-ai fanfic. (If I do that, I'll run the risk of making them slightly OOC and just add this to fic to the plethora of yaoish fics in this category u_u;; ) or should I break from the norm and do a non- yaoi and just tease and frustrate everyone (including myself... yes even I'm getting frustrated with the two. I just want to stick them in a closet and lock the door on them! ARGH!) Being a fanfic writer is harder than it seems people! Please tell me what you all would think... I would like to get equal reaction to both sides.
Thank you!
Oh! I just received another complaint. I'm too wordy. I disagree... I'm... er... uh... descriptive. Yeah! That's it. XD
Okay, so maybe I am a bit wordy. My apologies... u_u
Same warnings and disclaimers apply, see previous chapters for details.
Midnight confessions Chapter 4
~~~***~~~
There were some days in which he would regret his decision, other times he would appreciate the thought behind his actions. Today, however, today was one of the few days that Iruka would curse himself for placing his futon to face the sunrise.
With a loud, frustrated moan, Iruka shifted his head to face away from the window, but the sun still relented; dutiful in its mission to wake the teacher up, despite it being a free day for the young man. Sighing in defeat, Iruka rolled himself over to lie on his back, allowing the early summer sun to warm his nightly-chilled body. He couldn't help but blearily think that it felt sorta nice. Perhaps for today, he'll categorize the decision to face the sunrise under "mixed blessings".
Pushing himself up, he folded his legs under him and took in a deep breath in only to slowly let it out. It was time for his morning ritual. Closing his eyes, he brought up both his arms across his chest. Breathing in, he tensed his muscles in one arm and slowly stretched it out to his side, feeling the muscles from his forearm to his shoulder and back stretch and strengthen. Once his arm was fully extended, he held his breath and kept his muscles taunt for a few seconds then relaxed, breathing out the oxygen held in. Bringing his arm back to his chest again, he repeated the process, but for the other arm.
After completing a few sets of this exercise, Iruka crawled away from his futon, and rolled it to the side, leaving a huge empty space in the middle of his room. Standing in the spot where his futon once lay, Iruka aligned his feet till it was at the same width of his shoulders. Twisting his hips slightly to the side, he crouched down and leaned back a little, placing most of his weight on the right leg. The left was perched on its tip-toes just before him, facing forward, mainly to be used as balance. To martial artists, this was called the "cat stance," however Iruka did not know the name of the term. All he knew was that this was a pose he had seen his father perform countless times as well as some of the actions he was about to do.
He would do a few punches, knife blocks, upper hand blocks, alter his position and do a few forward thrusts, backward thrusts, snap-kicks, side kicks and roundhouse kicks. Once done with that set, he would switch the weight to his other leg and repeat the process. The tasks he had done were basic in form, but they were done correctly. Whenever he performed an attack he would snap his hips to add momentum, tighten the muscles to add strength just before the appendage was fully extended, hold, relax, and then snap his hips back quickly to his original position.
He had once attempted to perform a kata which, when he was younger, he thought was just a silly dance. Sadly, he could only remember a few steps of any kata before having to stop his actions, causing him to go into despair. His depression would worsen when he would soon realize that there wouldn't be anyone else who could show him how to perform the movements. When asking the elders for help, they would simply chuckle and patronize him, explaining to him that ninjas were known for long-distance attacks, and although martial arts (which they had dubbed as being taijitsu) was useful in some instances, it was still inferior compared to genjitsu and ninjitsu.
Still, despite their cruel mockery of martial arts in that time, Iruka would spend a half an hour to a full hour dedicated to his father's techniques. These were the few things that his father had taught him when he was a child, and every morning, without fail, he would try to attempt to complete his exercise, despite sickness or injury.
Today, however, his body refused to go beyond forty, or so, minutes of the rigorous training and since it was over the minimal thirty minutes, Iruka felt satisfied with that. Wiping his hand across his drenched brow, Iruka tiredly stumbled his way to the bathroom to refresh, only to stop as his face looked upon the mirror before him.
He brought a hand up to hover over the swelled purple bruise on his cheek. With delicate motions, he lightly tapped his finger over the tender area, only to wince and pull back as a sharp pain registered in his head.
"Ii-ta-ta-ta-taaii..."
This wasn't good. Although painless unless provoked, the bruise was considerably large. For a moment Iruka couldn't help but wonder, in awe, how Kakashi hadn't knocked a tooth out in the process. Still, was he really planning to go out looking like this? For another moment Iruka entertained that idea. Growing up, each bruise was more like a badge of honor from having survived and able to walk away another fight.
Times had changed, and reluctantly he had noticed, so had he.
Shaking his head, Iruka returned to his former task of heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. He still had responsibilities that needed to be attended to; he just needed to think up a few good lies in case anyone's curiosity got the best of them.
The warm shower had felt like a little slice of heaven and he pouted childishly when it was over. Patting his hair and his body dry, he hung the towel over his shoulders and slipped on a clean pair of sweatpants. He needed to do laundry soon or else he'll find himself teaching class with something borrowed from Naruto's closet.
Finding a fine-toothed comb within the medicine cabinet, Iruka began to delicately detangle the knots within his hair, for the umpteenth time that month contemplating the idea of chopping it all off.
Iruka felt a presence nearby his home before he heard a knock on his door. Wondering who it might have been, Iruka let down the comb and cautiously approached his apartment entrance. He had figured that Naruto would have simply stormed in whenever he was around and Kakashi wouldn't have probably bothered with silly things such as doors, knowing him. An enemy wouldn't have been so polite as to knock before attacking, but that last one could still have been a possibility.
Just as he was about to reach the door, the entry slammed open and Iruka found himself tumbling backwards as a force slammed into his chest.
"IRUKA-SENSEI! Man, sensei, what took you so long? We kept knocking and knocking and you wouldn't answer! I told the guys we could just come on in but they said it was rude! Is it rude? You said I could just come over anytime and I didn't haveta knock! Isn't that right?"
Iruka let out a chuckle as he ruffled the bundle of blond energy currently latched around his waist. Pushing himself up to a seating position, he glanced up to see that Naruto wasn't alone in today's visit. Naruto's teammates, both Sakura and Sasuke were accompanying him this morning. Sasuke had his constant brooding expression, mumbling under his breath that they had only knocked once, and then mumbled something like "dead last". Sakura was looking away with her face seemingly blushed with embarrassment. Looking down, Iruka could understand why. He was only wearing his sweatpants as his only form of cover. The towel around his shoulders had been knocked off in the tumble. Realizing his predicament, Iruka chuckled sheepishly and raised his hand to scratch idly the back of his head, feeling the still drenched tendrils of hair cling to his hand.
Man... he must have looked like a drenched rat or something.
Iruka's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Looking down he saw Naruto give his former teacher a confused yet slightly distressed look while bringing his finger to poke at his face.
"Anou-sa... what's with the bruise, sensei?"
Lying to adults was one thing; however Iruka couldn't help but wince at the thought of lying to kids, especially these three. Looking up he saw the other two stare expectantly for his answer. Sakura's expression was that of surprise and worry, Sasuke's face was darkened even worse than before. Iruka also noticed the slight clench of the boy's fist.
"Oh it's nothing... a mosquito stung me last night. It must have swelled up as a reaction." It was the truth... somewhat. Kakashi's name could have been interpreted as either "scarecrow" or "mosquito and an un- commissioned soldier". It just depended on the style of kanji used. Iruka had preferred to use the latter since it was more believable than saying a scarecrow jumped him or something. Ironically, that sounded like something Kakashi would say. Still, Iruka hoped that it would help placate the three's curiosity.
If anything, it just made their reactions worse.
Naruto began to grow fearful, wondering out loud, over how huge the bug may have been to leave a bruise that big. Sakura had excused herself to find some ointment and some ice to reduce the swelling, occasionally giving Iruka curious glances as to affirm if what the teacher said was true. If Naruto had been at one end of the scale by misunderstanding the predicament, and Sakura had been in the middle by giving the teacher the benefit of a doubt... then Sasuke was at the opposite end, fully understanding the meaning behind the teacher's words. Sasuke glared at his teacher, dark eyes blazed in furry as the boy entertained thoughts of making the jounin's life a bit of hell.
It wasn't the anger that surprised the teacher, but the fact that the boy was even angry in the first place. Although Iruka hadn't shared the same bond with Sasuke as he had with Naruto, the teacher couldn't help but feel slightly touched that he had affected the Uchiha boy enough to have provoked such a reaction. Still, how he had known that Iruka was accompanying the Jounin was anyone's guess.
Still, it wouldn't do well for the team to be at odds with their silver-haired teacher. It would have been a nice form of revenge to have these three take out their fury on the other man, and it might have even helped with their combative training to tell the truth, however, it wouldn't do well if the students lost their trust and respect for the teacher.
Plus, Iruka felt that he had an equal share of the blame as well. He had said too much last night, and the other man may not have been ready to hear those words. No... it would be better if he simply defused the situation now before it got out of hand.
"So, what brings you three here? Shouldn't you all be training right now?" Taking the ice-pack from Sakura and giving her a small thanks, he watched amusingly as Naruto jumped from his position on the floor and began pacing around.
"It's all that pervert sensei's fault! We got tired of waiting for him so we decided this time we'd go looking for him. We haven't found him yet, but then I got hungry and I saw I was near your place so I told the guys we could stay at your place for a while since you didn't have to teach today."
Iruka chuckled when Sakura smacked Naruto upside the head and turned to the humored teacher with an apologetic expression.
"We're sorry, sensei. We didn't mean to barge in like this, really. I told Naruto it wasn't nice to bother you on your day off, but he wouldn't listen. We'll leave if you want us to."
Shaking his head, Iruka rose back to his feet and ran his hand through his now drying hair. His other hand, which held the ice-pack to his face lowered to his side.
"It's alright, Sakura-chan. Naruto does this all the time, I've grown used to it to tell you the truth." Iruka chuckled good-naturedly as Naruto couldn't help but give a prideful and smug grin at the girl. "I told Naruto he could come over anytime, even when I'm not around. The same goes for you three."
"Three?" Sakura blinked then turned towards Sasuke before turning back to the teacher. Suddenly a jovial voice rang from somewhere behind the protruding wall between the kitchen and "dinning room".
"Maa maa... seems I've been found out! You're pretty good, Iruka- sensei."
Iruka's smile turned slightly forced as he saw the team's jounin teacher emerge from the dark kitchen. Although slightly sedentary, being a school teacher did have its benefits. For one thing it raised your awareness level if only to prevent the students from daydreaming or passing notes when your back was turned or when you weren't looking. That and the fact that the kitchen tile was basically a decorated sheet of plastic covering, and Iruka had heard a familiar shifting of the air-bubble, between the sheet and floor, that gave away the jounin's position earlier.
Iruka watched cautiously as Kakashi came into full view. Childishly Iruka thought he could use the melting ice-pack as a weapon should the jounin try anything, however he somewhat felt it wouldn't be necessary.
"You give me too much credit, Kakashi-sensei. There isn't much space to hide in this apartment." Oh how Iruka wanted to bring the jounin's pride down and play how the other man had been to careless on Iruka's home territory, still, that wouldn't have set a good example for the kids, and frankly the less words he had with the man, the better.
"...you should look into that..."
Iruka raised a brow at the Jounin. If he didn't know better, he could swear he could hear regret and a sense of an apology in that tone. Was it in regards to the apartment, or was it because of something else? Looking up to the silver-haired man, Iruka gave him a curious glance, almost wordlessly asking for an explanation. Feeling the curious eyes upon him, Kakashi gave a casual stare back at Iruka, and then flicked his eyes down to the chunin's side, right to the hand that held the melted ice-bag.
So that's what it was.
Iruka couldn't help but smile at the conflicting emotions within him. On the one hand, he was inwardly jumping for joy for having the other give in first, claiming him to be the victor. On the other hand, he was wincing in regret for not having apologized first, thus proving himself to be the better, and more mature adult. Hmm, actually, both options were quite immature, come to think of it. Oh well, it didn't matter. He knew he would've forgiven anyway, especially when he had a role in it.
Looking back to his former students, Iruka noticed that Sasuke seemed to comprehend the underlying conversation between the two teachers and had now calmed himself from his previous furry back to his casual, brooding mode. Sakura just looked at the two adults in slight confusion, trying to determine if there was any underlying hint between the two's conversation to further support whatever she had been thinking. Again, Naruto seemed to be at the opposite end of the spectrum and simply took the conversation at face value and commenced with yelling at his instructor about being late.
Iruka leaned back and watched amusingly as both teacher and student bickered. Although he didn't know the jounin that well, he was somewhat distraught over the fact that he may have had ruined a potential friendship with the silver-haired man last night. Not that it mattered anyway. Hadn't he promised himself not to let anyone affect his feelings this way, especially after the whole ordeal with Mizuki?
The truth was... was Iruka *really* willing to allow Kakashi a chance to hurt him like every other friend he had tried to make? Sure it was a jaded viewpoint, but it was also quite realistic. Then again, he had to remember he also took that chance when he befriended Naruto, and now look at the bond they both shared now. Still, he could feel Naruto unconsciously distancing himself from the chunin teacher, which was reasonable when the boy was now hanging around kids his same age. Like hell was Iruka going to deny the boy that. He was Naruto's teacher, that was that, and he would cheer him on from the sidelines if he had to rather than by his side.
As Hyuuga Neji would profess, that was fate.
~~~***~~~
I'll stop here for this chapter. If it feels like a "filler" chapter, I'm sorry but that's what it is. No worries... it's a relevant filler. The next chapter would explain why I put this crap up.
I've come to realize that despite any preplanning, jotting down ideas on paper, and trying to maintain a fixed storyline.... It will never happen!
This story is starting to divert from my original idea, but it's actually becoming better than what I had in mind! (If that is true, can you imagine how horrible the original must be? x_x ) It still has some of the main ideas that I had thought up for the original storyline, but the method is a bit different. For one thing, this story isn't supposed to have gone this long. O.O;;
Ah well, I'm glad people are enjoying this fanfic, and your kind reviews help this unworthy one continue to entertain you. ^_^
I'm currently writing the next chapter, so it'll be out soon. However I'm starting to get into a bind. I'm not sure if I should follow the trend and make this a slight shounen-ai fanfic. (If I do that, I'll run the risk of making them slightly OOC and just add this to fic to the plethora of yaoish fics in this category u_u;; ) or should I break from the norm and do a non- yaoi and just tease and frustrate everyone (including myself... yes even I'm getting frustrated with the two. I just want to stick them in a closet and lock the door on them! ARGH!) Being a fanfic writer is harder than it seems people! Please tell me what you all would think... I would like to get equal reaction to both sides.
Thank you!