Mostly, I'm updating this because it has now been an entire month since I submitting anything to you guys! My most sincere apologies! kow-tows

This is it, everyone! The Final chapter..... HOWEVER... it kinda grew a bit too long... In fact, it's now about 20 pages and still growing so I had to seperate it into three parts, with the third part still growing. uu;;

Gotta love the Hibiki school of fictional writing...

Anyway, I'm only submitting part A because it's the only chapter that had been fully reviewed by my pre-reader, Yanslana (who is currently in vacation at the moment, so the other chapters are still unrefined.) We'll probably have the rest by the end of this week or by next week at the most. Alright?

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who had stuck with this fic for so long. Extra huggles and stuffs to my reviewers who have motivated me to continue. I would also like to dedicate this story to all those authors out there who wrote their stories centered on Iruka! You guys are my inspiration, my idols, and my reasons for procrastinating too much! XD

Now, enough with the Oscar Moments, and on with the fic!

Midnight Confessions

Chapter 7a

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They came back home safely today.

For Umino Iruka, that had been the best news he received in more than a week. Initially, he had tried not to worry himself; it wasn't uncommon for a mission to up itself in rank overnight. According to his sources, what was originally a C-class mission had suddenly turned into a B or an A- class within a few hours.

The fact that this was a team, fresh from the academy, with barely only a few D-rank missions under their belt, and consisted of a motley group of individuals didn't help his nerves much. What had helped him quell some of his worry was the fact that a highly elite jounin had been supervising the team.

For those few days of Team 7's mission to the Wave Country, Iruka had tried to busy himself by finishing grading his papers, teaching at the academy, then using whatever spare time available to assist the Hokage in assigning missions to other shinobi of the village.

He had also volunteered to work at the assigning room to, hopefully, gather some new information about Team 7; however, hardly anything had came regarding their status. All he knew was that the infamous Zabuza, a missing nin of the Hidden Mist, had also been involved.

Still, his surfeit amount of work made him exhausted enough that he was blessed with dreamless sleeps those days, rather than the shifting worrisome nights he knew he'd have if he gave the matter another moment's thought. Of course, those dreamless nights didn't help him feel well- rested in the mornings, but rather made him more lethargic than the days before. It was as sacrifice he was willing to make if he wanted to maintain his sanity.

Shaking his head, Iruka took in a deep breath to gather back his wits after allowing his mind to wonder. Thanks to his "devotion" to working overtime, he was booked solid with report filing for the next few hours. He had been placed at the recording office, so it was in his best interest to concentrate on his task.

Inwardly, Iruka had been hoping to have greeted Kakashi when he and his group returned, but they had, instead, went to the Hokage themselves to give their report. And afterwards, all four had left to their individual homes to take the rest of the day off. Not that the action surprised him, though he was slightly disappointed that they didn't stop by to at least say 'hello'.

Iruka paused in his wonderings, internally ruminating over as to why was he "disappointed" when he had no right to. It was most likely that the team was exhausted from their travels. There had also been the rumor that Kakashi had been bed-ridden for a few days due to injury during the mission. The mission had been successful, and Kakashi himself gave the report himself to the Hokage, so it couldn't have been that grave, could it?

But the matter still disturbed Iruka slightly. Just how bad was the mission that Kakashi managed to get himself wounded? Was it guilt that Iruka was feeling? Although it wasn't him who personally gave the team their assignments, and add to the fact that the upshot of the mission was of a complete surprise to everyone... there was a little nagging voice, in the back of Iruka's head, that lamented that he had been indirectly responsible for their wellbeing. That little voice was strong in its own sense, for it seemed to have torn a hole into a dam of "what if..."s to swarm within Iruka's mind, many of them trailing with them grave and morbid images of the beloved team.

"Enough..."

Inwardly, that one word had been shouted loudly, echoing into deepest caverns of Iruka's psyche, outwardly it was rendered as a small hiss of breath, drawing the attention of his co-workers. At the moment Iruka cared not for the curious looks the shinobi within the room, he was just too distracted with his own thoughts. However, perhaps it was due to his "audience" that the chuunin teacher restrained from slapping himself to break free from his disheartening thoughts.

'Enough,' Iruka repeated quietly to himself. 'It does me no good to worry about something that has already passed. They're fine now, and that is all that matters.' Idly shuffling the paperwork together, Iruka refocused his attention back to his work. He was almost done with his tasks, and it appears that, for the first time this week, he'll be leaving earlier than usual. Of course, it would still be an hour after everyone's shifts were done, but for him, it would be early.

When the paperwork had been reviewed, signed and filed away, Iruka blissfully leaned back in his chair and gave a tired, but content sigh. With a smile, the chuunin relaxed his shoulders and allowed the day's stresses to seep away from his tired limbs. Tilting his neck to the side, he stretched his taunt neck muscles and reached a heavy arm to squeeze his shoulder, easing the soreness away. Scooting away from his desk, Iruka stood and stretched his legs, trying to re-circulate blood back into them.

Whoever said "office-work" was easier than being in the field, hadn't craned over a pile of documents, while sitting on a stiff, posturepedic, wooden chair for more than ten hours straight.

In a few moments, Iruka had cleared his stuff from the surface while pushing the chair under the desk with his foot. Making his way towards the door, he flicked off the lights, and then exited the room, humming lightly to himself.

Stepping out into the evening air, Iruka took in a deep breath and smiled at the sunset-tinted village. Idly, he wondered if he would meet up with Naruto on his way home and perhaps invite the boy for a bowl of ramen. If not, he could always make something quick at home. A few days ago, Iruka had taken a trip to the Ichiraku to enjoy a bowl during Naruto's absence. However, it just wasn't the same without Naruto's loud character to accompany the meal. Even the owner had noticed the slight change of the atmosphere.

"Hmm," Pausing in his march, Iruka began to rummage through the pockets of his vest, searching for his stash of funds. "I need to make sure if I have enough in the first place." As he emptied one of the inner pockets within the sturdy green fabric, a piece of paper fluttered down to the ground. Suspending his search, Iruka leaned over to pick up the fallen object and let out a tired sigh as he recognized the item: Kakashi's picture.

"Well, it looks as if the ramen will have to wait. I should give this back to Kakashi-sensei." Iruka's fingers played with the frayed right corner of the photo. He did not want to give the photo back, but he had remembered the conditions in which he would be allowed to keep the photo. Only if he answered a few questions, Kakashi had stated, would he be allowed to possess this treasured item. Unfortunately, they were interrupted before the jounin had a chance to ask anything from the chuunin teacher. Iruka sighed and looked up at the lightly-speckled purple sky above. A deal was a deal, right?

"Of course, now I only need to find out where Kakashi lives." With another sigh, Iruka carefully stuffed the picture into one of his pockets, looked down towards the pebbled road and began his way back to the record's office to look up the address for Team 7's instructor. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he felt a cold shiver run up his spine, followed by an all-to-familiar low and bored voice rumbling over his left shoulder.

"Oh? Planning to stalk me? Never knew you were the type, Iru-kun." Startled, the chuunin turned his head to face the owner of the voice, and immediately staggered back a few steps as the close-up view of a single- eyed jounin filled his vision.

"Ka... Kakashi! What are you...? How did...? How many times have I told you to never call me that?!"

The man merely let out a soft chuckle as he raised his hands up defensively towards the angered teacher. Iruka responded with a harsh glare and turned away, intent on storming his way home to get away from the impudent man. He managed to stomp away a couple of feet away from the still amused jounin, when he remembered that just a few moments ago he was adamant to find the older man. Bringing a hand over to cover his face in self-pity, and to ward off the oncoming migraine, Iruka let out a sigh to vent out his earlier frustration. Why did Kakashi always bring out the worst in him?

With another sigh and shake of his head, Iruka dug into his pants pocket and pulled out the photo of a younger version of Kakashi, standing before the man Iruka knew as his father, and thrust the picture towards the now surprised jounin.

"Here. I believe this still belongs to you."

Kakashi looked down at the photo, then back towards the chuunin before him. All pretense of amusement gone from the silver-haired man's face, even his posture became slightly rigid in seriousness. Turning away from the younger man, Kakashi slowly tilted his head to glance at Iruka over his shoulder.

"Follow me."

Iruka allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and followed the rapidly departing jounin as he vaulted silently over the rooftops of the village. Nary was a sound heard by the two talented shinobi, as both made their way across the village and bounded towards the outskirts, away from prying ears.

Soon, the jounin paused in his tracks, allowing the lesser- experienced ninja to catch up and pause by the other man. Confused, Iruka blinked at the jounin, a silent question evident within his chocolate brown eyes. Where exactly did Kakashi want to lead him to? This spot was nothing special. They were only half a mile away from the center of the village; close enough to be able to return back to home territory if needed, but just far enough to distance themselves from any interruptions.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Almost as if ignoring the inquiry, Kakashi leapt down from the tree branch and sat himself against the sturdy trunk of the tree he was previously perched upon.

"This looks like a good enough place, don't you think?"

Following the other man's example, Iruka hopped from the branch and landed quietly in front of the silver-haired jounin. However, unlike the older man, Iruka did not sit down, but rather stood before the other man, giving Kakashi a questioning glare.

"Kakashi....Where is this place? Why did you drag me all the way out here?"

"Oh? Now it's just 'Kakashi', my my, aren't we being a bit forward? I know it's a dark and secluded place, but please try to control yourself, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi chuckled as a dark, embarrassed blush surfaced over the gentle teacher... however his mirth soon turned into nervousness as Kakashi felt the other's "killing intent" surface, brighter than the glowing tint on the younger man's face.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi paused with his laughter, and tilted his head up to glance up at Iruka. "Right... anyway, as I said before, if you wanted to keep the picture, all I asked of you was to answer some questions for me. Unless of course, you aren't feeling up to it, but then I'll have to ask for the picture back."

"Despite what you say... you're not exactly leaving me with much of a choice." Iruka sighed once more, slowly sitting down onto the grassy floor, facing the incommodious jounin. Would Kakashi be asking more about Iruka's father? The man whom he had loved and admired, yet, a part of him had remained a stranger in Iruka's eye. He was a wonderful father who cared for Iruka, but the chuunin could recall moments of darkness within the man that smeared his otherwise perfect childhood. Memories that he had wished to forget, buried away into the deep recess of his mind. Taking a deep breath, the brunette readied himself for whatever inquiry he was to face from the silver-haired one. "Alright, I'm ready... what is it that you wish to know from me?"

"Hmmm..." Kakashi looked up at the clear, night sky above and tapped his forefinger upon his chin as if in thought. "I guess my first question would be... what is your favorite hobby?"

Iruka fell forward slightly in surprise to the random and, what was in his own opinion, a quite pointless question. Looking at the jounin incredulously, he couldn't help but gape at the smiling man before him.

"Excuse me? You dragged me all the way out here so you can ask as to what my interests are?"

"Do you want the picture or not?" Kakashi's amusement rose as, with the assistance of the full-moon's light, he was clearly able to see the patient, respectable chuunin teacher fold his arms in front of him and give a pout big enough to rival Naruto whenever the boy was assigned another D- rank mission.

"If you really MUST know... I enjoy a nice, healing soak in an open hot spring. Are we done now?"

"What's your hurry, Iruka-kun? Don't worry, I won't ask any 'embarrassing questions'. Just try to relax." Folding his arms behind to pillow his head, Kakashi leaned back against the tree and curved his eye towards the frustrated younger man. "Next question; what is your favorite food?"

Giving a suffering sigh, Iruka dropped his hands to press his palms against the ground, allowing his fingers to grip tightly at the soft, moist strands protruding from the rocky soil. He supposed he should be counting his blessings that these questions weren't as 'torturous' as he first imagined. One thing was for sure, Ibiki-sensei wasn't the only jounin here who seemed to enjoy spitefully interrogating his subjects.

"For that, I would have to say ramen, specifically from Ichiraku."

"Aahh... So you're the one I should blame for his obsession with ramen?"

Iruka chuckled lightly, taking a playful guess at whom Kakashi was referring to. Turning his eyes down to the ground, Iruka mentally conjured several fond and amusing instances of his outings with Naruto at the Ichiraku, more specifically, their latest visit and Naruto's inquiry over that "special technique." He was startled out of his musings as Kakashi continued.

"Your bond with Naruto... it's more than a typical teacher-student bond. I'm mostly curious as how that came to be..." Kakashi looked up to the blinking chuunin and narrowed his visible eye at him. His expression was suddenly cold and sharp, almost like steel to coincide with the color of the pupil, causing the brown-haired man to shiver slightly from the intimidating look. "...Especially given your tragic backgrounds. One would expect you to hold the most contempt towards him."

Turning away from the cold stare, Iruka bit his lip to hold back the slight whimper that threatened to escape his lips. He knew what the man was indirectly asking. "Why did you hold such fondness over someone who held the creature that killed your parents?"

Iruka knew that explaining this to Kakashi would be much more difficult than it had been with Mizuki. Shifting uncomfortably, Iruka thought hard to come up with a delay tactic. He searched through his memory to come up with anything to distract the other, just so he wouldn't have to answer that question.

"If anyone needed to answer that question, it would be you, Kakashi- sensei, or did your pasts not coincide as tragically as it had for mine?"

If Kakashi really excelled in "finding the underlying meanings," it would have been clear to him that Iruka knew that the jounin had been taught under the late Yondaime himself. The chuunin had remembered back when he read over Kakashi's record with the Sandaime, when discussing over the jounin's track record. If anyone should have held contempt over Naruto, it was Kakashi.

Iruka's tactic seemed to have worked as Kakashi paused in his glare, his expression changed to one of wide-eyed surprise. However the victory over the jounin was short lived as the grey, steel-like eye closed in amusement and a wagging finger was thrust in front of the chuunin.

"Now now! I'm the one asking the questions here, remember? But nice try though."

Well, Iruka thought, it had been worth a shot. Heaving a huge sigh, the pony-tailed teacher shifted to a more comfortable position and tilted his head back to stare at Kakashi.

"Fine, I will answer your question. However, I believe I must start when I first met Naruto." Iruka gave the older man a soft, fond smile as he leaned back, propping himself on his elbows against the soft, plush grass. "It was a week before the Chuunin exams. I was sixteen at the time and Mizuki was seventeen at that time. We were both determined to graduate this time around, and believing so, we had deemed that this would be our final week as Genins. In retrospect, the two of us went out to cause as much childish mayhem as we could get away with..."

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Author notes:

Acquired from a translation of the Naruto Character Data Book (NCDB), these are certain facts about Iruka. He does indeed like Ramen from Ichiraku and his hobby/interest is soaking in onsens. How cute, eh? (I had once read from another source that he liked seafood ramen, but it's not official, so I didn't put it up. For those who are curious, his least favorite food is Random Mix Rice [Sliced Shoots, mushroom, carrot, etc over rice or mixed seafood over rice.])

I'm starting to believe this is becoming an AU on it's own (especially in the next part) despite my attempts to keep it as much In-Character as I can. Oh well, everyone has their own interpretations of what happened, and as long as Masashi Kishimoto-sensei comes out with the "truth" of their history, it's all speculation.