Okay... Iruka's behaviour here may be a bit OOC, but that's cause he's young here, and a bit quite immature but most of all.. he's a prankster.
Since not much is said about Iruka's past, so I've decided to make it up as I go while having fun at the same time.
I kinda like this mischevious Iruka, how about you all? XD
Anyway, reviews are always appreciated, and again, this fic is dedicated to all you Iruka authors and artists out there!! We need more of the dolphin luff!
Now, on with the fic!
Midnight Confessions
Chapter 7b
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"Hurry up, Mizuki! He's catching up with us!" Hopping semi- gracefully over random people, animals and merchant stands, a young boy of 16 joyfully made his way down the summer-baked, paved roads of Konoha. Allowing his hitai-ate to slip down his slightly charred features and rest comfortably on his neck, the young boy, known disreputably through the village as Umino Iruka, laughed gleefully, his mischievous, brown eyes blazed with excitement over their latest antics.
Trailing behind the notorious prankster was Iruka's best friend, teammate, and partner-in-crime, Mizuki. Similar to Iruka, the silver- haired boy's features were littered with burn-marks, smoke, and ash... all reminiscent of a prank gone awry.
"I swear, Iruka! If Ebisu doesn't kill you for this, I'll gladly finish the job!" This only caused the scarred genin to laugh even harder at the situation. Turning his head back he gave a smirk to his companion.
"What? Mr. Elite-wannabe? Old four-eyes couldn't catch me if he had me tied to him with a five-foot rope! He's just so high-and-mighty right now because he's already a chuunin. Just you see, Mizu-kun! I'll make him eat his words! This year I'll become a chuunin and then I'll show him who's the 'top ninja' heeaaaAAACK...!"
Having been unaware of his surroundings, Iruka found himself tumbling harshly against the paved streets, twirling in circles as his momentum carried him to impact relentlessly against one of the buildings. Apparently he had tripped over something, or someone. After suffering a few moments of vertigo, Iruka finally managed to push himself away from his vertical landing and collapsed onto the ground away from the wall. Shaking his head to clear away the slight ringing in his ears, Iruka looked up to see if anyone else had been harmed in his careless blunder.
"Is everyone okay?" Wearily Iruka glanced about to search for any more casualties. Inwardly, Iruka didn't care in the slightest if he got hurt, it was all part of being a ninja... he just knew he couldn't live with the guilt if he indirectly harmed any innocent bystanders due to his carelessness. His eyes first trailed towards Mizuki and the brown-haired genin couldn't help but blink in confusion at the expression on the silver- haired boy's face. The usual soft, serene expression was twisted horribly to one of chilling disgust. Mizuki couldn't have been THAT angry with him, could he? No, his friend wasn't directing that horrible stare at him. Following Mizuki's glare, Iruka was able to get a clue to what had caused him to stumble.
Haphazardly sprawled against one of the booths sat a child, no older than three, or four years old at the most. The boy was a ragged and pathetic looking thing if Iruka ever saw one. He wore some plain, oversized and overly frayed clothing that were draped over his small lithe form. The spiky blonde hair was dark with caked mud and now dripped with fruit that had unfortunately landed on the kid's head. The only things clear and bright about the kid were his sparkling cerulean eyes, which were now wide with fear and apprehension.
Quickly dusting himself off, and ignoring the scrapes and the newly forming bruises on his limbs, Iruka jumped to his feet and made his way to Mizuki.
"Hey... what's going on?" The boy in question did not remove his cold glare from the scene, which was now escalating into chaos as the owner of the fruit stand began to yell mercilessly at the blond child.
"It's him...." Iruka couldn't help but wince at his friend's tone, those two words were dripped with such venom, contradicting to Mizuki's gentle face. Turning back to the developing chaos, Iruka was finally able to observe the situation in its entirety.
In his recklessness, he probably tripped over the young boy, causing the kid to stumble back and crash against the fruit-stand, causing some of the merchant's wares to fall and spoil onto the ground. Iruka was about to step up and apologize for the situation when something about the boy caught his eye. What he had previously categorized as perhaps being dirt-marks earlier, Iruka could now distinguish them as whiskers protruding from the boy's cheeks.
Whiskers...? The Kyuubi!
Iruka felt his insides grow cold with dread upon looking at the cursed boy and a brief flash of anger ran down his spine causing him to stiffen slightly. Just as the dark feeling had had come, however, it was then soon drenched with a heavy blanket of sadness and grief, leaving the boy feeling tired and yet slightly bitter. Biting his lip, Iruka now knew why Mizuki had directed so much loathing towards the scene... that... monster was there! Couldn't it just have done the village a favor and go away! No one needed a constant reminder of that horrible day a few years back.
Iruka was about to turn away from the scene, to escape the source of his nightmares, when the merchant's voice rang sharply in his ears, halting the older boy in his tracks.
"You damn brat! Now you asked for it! It's high time someone beat some common sense into you."
Despite the hate, despite the anger Iruka turned, shocked at the big blurry man. The oversized, hairy vender was now wielding a bamboo practice- sword, one that had been used to ward off potential shoplifters, and swung it over his head, ready to swing down at the young child.
Looking up, Iruka saw the owner of the fruit stand swing down the shinai, only to miss the boy as the child hastily dodged to the side. The boy was quick and had pretty good reflexes, the genin idly mused. In fact, the little kid seemed to grin widely as he himself had observed that he had the upper hand over the slower and fatter old man. Using it to his advantage, the boy laughed merrily as he nimbly dodged the bamboo stick, protruding out his tongue and giving out taunts at the frustrated old man as each swing was met with disappointment.
Of course, the boy's arrogance proved to be his downfall as the child did not notice a glop of crushed tomato under his foot until it was too late. The kid comically fell back, which caused him to slam his back harshly onto the pavement. Iruka had to wince at the sound of impact, knowing that the child's breath had been knocked out of him at the very least. The vendor, however, seemed pleased at this sudden turn of events and grinned wickedly at the small, dazed child.
"Hah! Let's see you dodge this!" The vendor gripped tightly at the handle of the shinai and held the training weapon over his shoulder like a baseball bat, intent to swing at the kid, who was now trying to scramble away. Just one swing at the boy, just to teach the young brat a lesson: never mess with his elders. And to set an example to all the shoplifters and troublemakers out there, it was the perfect opportunity.
The old man paused slightly and grinned as he began to fantasize over the results of his "heroic deeds". He could just see it now! He was standing victoriously over a cross-eyed chibi of the young child. The punks of the town would come to grovel at his feet, begging for forgiveness for their wicked ways. Soon, the rest of the merchant community would praise him! Heck, even the Hokage himself would thank him! People, from surrounding villages, would travel just to buy the wares of the man responsible for cleaning up this town.
"Um... excuse me?"
SMACK!
Iruka could almost say that he didn't know what hit him, but he wasn't a genin for nothing! The question was... why? He had been watching, slightly with amusement, the previous scene between the old man and the kid. After a while, however, he felt that enough was enough and decided to intervene, especially since this had been his fault to start with. When the old man had paused in his actions, Iruka felt that was the best time to approach to redeem the situation. However, just as he tapped the larger man on the shoulder, to get the vendor's attention, he was "tapped" back in the face with the bamboo stick, the force sending him staggering back a few feet.
Looking up, he was met with three pairs of wide-eyes staring back at him; Mizuki's, the kid's and the vendor's. He was about to ask what had just happened when he had to instantly quell the sudden urge to vomit. Something foul and metallic was beginning to fill his mouth; blood. Spitting out the coppery substance, Iruka then brought his hand up to wipe away the remaining substance from his lips... then winced at the action. So that had been where the stuff was coming from, he had split his lip. Humorously, Iruka was glad that he didn't loose a tooth or anything. How could he intimidate his enemy, much less get a date if he lost any of his front teeth?
Shaking his head out of that ridiculous notion, Iruka then turned back to give a fierce, serious glare at the vendor. Inwardly, Iruka did not know who he was more furious at. Was he furious at the vendor who attacked for no particular reason? Or, was he furious at himself? The vendor did not have any training that Iruka knew of. The way he held and swung the weapon was proof of that. Yet, this untrained, unfit, pigheaded idiot managed to catch him, Umino Iruka, aspiring chuunin and number-one prankster in all of Konoha, by surprise?
"That's it..." With an evil gleam entering his eyes, thoughts of revenge already forming and refining within the young teen's mind, Iruka spat out the last dredges of blood-mixed saliva and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "... No more Mr. Nice-guy."
To those who knew him in the present time, they would claim that Umino Iruka, the Academy chuunin teacher, was a patient and forgiving man. However, that had not always been the case, especially for those who really knew him. In fact, there had only been a few times in this calm, logical and reasonable man's life when he allowed his immaturity and his quick temper to take over and damn the consequences.
This was one of those times.
Using everyone's shock to obtain the time he needed to fulfill his vengeance, Iruka reached out and grabbed the surprised kyuubi by the arm, yanking the boy to collide to the teen's chest. As he wrapped his arms around the confused boy, he harshly whispered into the younger one's ear with a threatening tone.
"Play along, and whatever you do... stay quiet and stay hidden, got it?"
Not waiting for a response, Iruka looked up to observe as the merchant stood rigid in confusion. Pleased that he wasn't getting any protests yet, he turned to look at his friend Mizuki, who had looked at him with an expression of curiosity but mostly with a severe look of utter dread. Giving a mischievous grin to his partner-in-crime, Iruka then took in a deep breath, preparing his lungs for what he was about to do next.
"PERVERT!"
Oh yeah... that got everyone's attention. With his smirk hidden within the dirty (literally) blond hair, Iruka continued his theatrical display. Twisting his expression to one of agony, the brown-haired genin convincingly wailed to his growing audience of passer-biers as he pressed the boy's face lightly against his cream-colored shirt to hide the child's identity.
"That bastard! How dare he do such a thing? Don't worry kid, I won't let that bad man touch you anymore, I swear it on my headband, I won't allow those fat, dirty fingers shame you anymore!"
One of the lessons on being a ninja was to "know your surroundings." If one was current with the behavior of the people within the village, one would have known that about this time was when most of the patrons of the village, whether they be single men or women, mothers, fathers, or elderly folk, the majority of them had now perhaps ventured out of their homes to buy food and supplies to take back to their homes and prepare for their nightly dinners.
With that in mind, it wasn't surprising that instantly, just as Iruka finished his words, a growing group of angry and highly offended villagers had gathered threateningly around the flustered and now protesting vendor. Using it to his advantage, Iruka stealthily sneaked away from the oncoming melee, tapped the shocked Mizuki away from his blank state, and then dragged both silver-haired and blond-haired boys towards the outskirts of the village.
---
A snort from the jounin had caused Iruka to pause in his narration. With a half-lidded glare, the chuunin could only flush as the other man had lowered his head slightly, his shoulders shaking in mirth from the teacher's antics of old.
"Are you done?" Iruka snapped, not appreciating the teasing that came from the older man. Kakashi, in turn simply held a hand up then stood up straight, his eye still shining in amused merriment.
"I'm fine, go on! What happened next? I suppose Mizuki wasn't happy about the whole thing."
Iruka looked down and allowed a small, reminiscing smile to grace his lips.
"No... In fact, he was downright livid."
---
"Of all the idiotical, absurd, foolish... down-right STUPID things to do, you had to do THAT?"
"Aww, you're just sore you didn't come up with it first." Iruka teased his friend, laughing in the memory of what would be recorded as his greatest prank yet.
"That's not the point! That's not even near the point I want to make. The point is you wasted all that just to help... Arrrgh!" Mizuki twirled to his side, speechless with aggravation, and glared down at the blond child, who merely cringed back from his anger.
Stepping between the two, Iruka gave an apologetic smile towards his best friend and comrade.
"C'mon, Mizu-kun. It was my fault he was involved in the first place. What else could I do?" Iruka stepped forward to place a reassuring hand over his teammate's shoulder, only to have the tanned hand slapped forcefully away. Shocked, the brown-haired genin blinked questionably at the paled haired ninja.
"You could've just let him get what he deserved, that's what!"
With his lips twisted in a scowl, Iruka folded his arms before him; his stance was both defensive and offensive towards his stubborn associate.
"Deserved what? I couldn't just let the kid get blamed for something I did. You know it too! It doesn't matter who it is, I won't let anyone take the blame for my actions!" Both teens glared at each other, challenging each other with the stubborn force of their eyes, neither one relenting to the other. The quiet, harsh gazes continued for a few more moments before Mizuki turned away sharply.
"Maybe that fall knocked a few screws loose in you, but I can't deal with you right now, Iruka! You're supposed to be the intelligent one of the group. I just hope you come to your senses before our exam."
With that said the silver-haired genin hopped quickly to the nearest tree branch and vanished deep into the forest. Iruka, being the polite friend that he was, had smiled and waved a farewell with the back of his middle finger towards the retreating ninja.
"I'm sorry."
Twirling around in surprise, Iruka stared, wide-eyed, at the young being before him. Had the kyuubi just... apologized? Were demons capable of feeling remorse?
"Ah... Huh?"
"I'm sorry." The boy repeated, confirming Iruka's sense of hearing. "He's angry cause of me, huh?" Iruka couldn't help but wince from the large blue eyes that looked sorrowfully at the elder boy. For a moment he just stared blankly at the small child, wondering how something so evil could look so... so endearing. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the brown-haired teen decided to put these matters aside for now and deal first and foremost of trying to cheer the kid up.
"Mizuki? Nah, he's just sometimes naturally a bastard, other times he's a really great guy. Don't worry about him, he'll get over it." Seeing as his words had little effect, Iruka fidgeted slightly. Just how exactly did one deal with kids? Especially when this one was a "little demon" himself... literally! There were some things that he wished they'd teach you at the academy. Sighing in defeat, Iruka looked down again at the small boy and tried to show a disarming smile to the kid.
"So, where do you live? It's getting kinda late; your folks must be worried sick about you."
"Folks?" Iruka gave a heavy sigh at the clueless child before him.
"You know... your guardians? The people who take care of you?" If anything, the boy's saddened expression dropped lower, causing Iruka to pause in his breathing from the heart-wrenching image it produced.
"I don't... have any."
An orphan... Inwardly, Iruka thought it was a fitting punishment to have the kyuubi, the demon that had taken away his own parents, live his life now as an orphan... yet somehow... even he didn't believe his own words. Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Iruka glanced down at the pitiful child and sighed. No... no child deserved the pain of being an orphan, even if it was someone he deeply loathed.
Stuffing his hands deeply into his pockets, Iruka sighed again. Boy, children were a hassle to deal with. Fingering the coins in his pocket, Iruka grumbled lightly to himself. He just couldn't stand to see the boy look so sad... it just reminded him too much of... well... himself. Smiles were much easier to deal with. Sadness reminded Iruka too much of his own problems, and the genin didn't want to deal with those emotions; much less anyone else's who mirrored his own. That had been one of the reasons why he turned to pranks and jokes. It distracted the people away from their pitying looks. Those, in Iruka's opinion, were worse than any other scolding, teasing or any other derogative emotion Iruka had faced.
Opening his mouth, he was about to ask the young child a question when a loud rumbling surrounded the two. Startled, both had jumped slightly at the duel set of growls. Blinking slightly, both looked around, wondering where the noise could have come from when another growl was heard, this time in the direction of the blond boy... the sound was immediately followed by a growl coming from the pony-tailed genin. Realizing this, both boys blushed as they realized that they were the reason for the intimidating sound.
"Heh... I suppose all that running around made me a bit hungry." Iruka had given a nervous chuckle, trying to break the developing tension between the two. The young boy simply sighed and turned around to head back towards the village with his head drooped low.
Sighing loudly, Iruka shook his head at the sight. Kyuubi or not, as he stated before, he was just a kid.
"Hey kid.... Ever have ramen? I don't like eating by myself, and since Mizu-kun's being a jackass out there somewhere... not that the idiot likes the stuff. Sometimes I wonder how he became my best friend. Anyway, well, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a bowl."
Giving a confused glance over his small bony shoulder, the blond boy was graced with an impish grin, given to him by the brown-haired genin.
"Uh... what's ramen?"
If anything, Iruka felt he was going to just croak at that statement. Forget about what he said about not wishing anyone was born an orphan... that was tolerable; but to never know the existence of ramen? It was blasphemy in the elder-boy's ears!
"Why, it's just the best food in the whole world, that's what! I can't believe you don't know about ramen! What is this world coming to?" Pounding his fist onto an open palm, Iruka brightened from his melodramatic spiel. "That's it! Hey kid, what do they call you?"
"Uh... teme? Kisama?" Iruka twitched his left eye. Those weren't names, but rather they were derogatory associations.
"Nah, kid... I mean, do you have a name? For example, my name's Umino Iruka."
"Oh, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Naruto? Hah! With a name like that, I can guarantee that you'll love the stuff! Well, from now on, Naruto-kun... you are to address me as Iruka- sensei! I'm going to teach ya all there is to know about ramen! How does that sound?"
The boy, in question, responded by tilting his head low and staring up at the elder ninja before him, a questioning look on his face.
"You don't look like a 'sensei.' Aren't sensei's supposed to be smarter-looking?" The blond boy gave a toothy grin at the now twitching genin. Something within the boy told him he could learn to like this grown- up. It wasn't because he had saved him earlier, but something within the older boy's eyes made the toddler want to trust the teen.
Naruto never had a friend before, so he didn't know how to act to this new situation... but from the way he had seen from Iruka "sensei" and the other kid act, he supposed that name calling was acceptable? At least, that's what he understood.
"You little brat!"
Naruto flinched then took a step back as he heard those words. Instantly, flashes of angry faces swarmed his head, repeating those same words to him. Now he had done it! Because of his idiocy, he probably ruined whatever chance he had with making friends with the older boy. How was he supposed to know that wasn't a good thing to say?
Wincing, the small boy curled and clenched his eyes as he saw the other approach him threateningly... only instead of being hit as others had done to him countless times, he found himself having his hair ruffled playfully. Looking up, he blinked at the older boy and then furrowed his blond brows in confusion as the older boy chuckled down at him.
"C'mon. Just this once, it's my treat, okay?"
Turning about, Iruka began to slowly make his way back towards the village. Naruto, however, stood still in slight shock. No one had ever been so nice to him. Suddenly, Naruto felt his eyes burning slightly, tears forming slowly over his lids, blurring his vision temporary. He didn't know why he was crying. He wasn't hit, he wasn't hurt... but these tears were a mystery to him. Shaking his head, the boy brought his fist up to harshly wipe away the offending drops. He didn't want the other to see him as a crybaby.
"Hey! Are you just going to stand there all day? The ramen's getting cold!" Naruto smiled at the older boy, this new person who had showed him kindness... this new person who would now become his first friend. Grinning back at the older boy, Naruto leapt from his spot and ran up to catch up with the other, not wanting to let the other out of his sight.
---
Author notes-Mizuki, at the beginning of the Naruto storyline, was 27, Iruka was 25, however Iruka's birthday as in May while Mizuki's was in October, and thus was why Mizuki could be 16 during the time of the flashback. I'm imagining this scene to take place sometime in the summer. ((Thanks to ePuiChi for reminding me! I had forgotten to add this in to the previous chapter.))
And yes... Mizuki did indeed hate Ramen... uu;;
According to the NCDB, Iruka had graduated as a chuunin at the age of 16. The only person who also graduated around this age was Ebisu, (who, only being 3 years older than Iruka, graduated at the age of 17).
I thought it would be humorous to have Ebisu as Iruka's childhood "rival" since both ranked highly in the "intelligence" level for their ninja abilities. Plus, it is noted that Iruka has done more A-class missions (11) than Ebisu (1).
Other compairing factors include the following:
Ebisu has Iruka beat in Seal knowledge, genjutsu and ninjitsu.... They are both almost equal in taijutsu and intellegence ... Iruka kicks Ebisu in speed, force and chakara amount (stamina).
Iruka's mission report: D=285, C=177, B=73, A=11, S=0
Ebisu's mission report: D=98, C=284, B=115, A=1, S=0
Keep in mind that Iruka's just a chuunin while Ebisu's a specialized jounin.
As to what was the prank that Iruka and Mizuki played on Ebisu? Well, you'll just have to use your imagination. XD