Chapter Seven: Staccato
Iruka woke the next morning to find an envelope from the Hokage shoved under his front door. Yawning, he dropped it on his kitchen table and left it there while preparing breakfast. He knew it wasn't an emergency, since someone would've woken him up if it had been. He did wonder about the envelope's contents, but his growling stomach was a more pressing need.
Once he was done cooking, Iruka broke open the envelope and read the note inside while chewing thoughtfully. It was another summons, asking him to come by the Hokage's office at some point during the day. Once breakfast was eaten, the kitchen cleaned, and Iruka showered and shaved, he dressed in his everyday clothes and left his apartment to see the Hokage.
Upon reaching the Hokage's office, Iruka realized he hadn't been the only one summoned, as a rather hung-over Anko sat waiting outside. Iruka took the chair next to her and inquired how she was feeling.
"Like a herd of horses have been stampeding in my head," Anko grumbled. "Do you have any idea what this is about?" she continued, gesturing toward the Hokage's closed door.
"Not a clue," Iruka said, truthfully, though he had a sneaking suspicion that last night's revels had something to do with it.
Just then the Hokage's door opened and Shizune poked her head out. "Oh, hello," she said cheerfully to Iruka, "Tsunade-sama will see you just as soon as she's done with Anko."
Iruka simply nodded and noted with interest as Maitoh Gai stepped out of the office behind Shizune. Shizune motioned for Anko to enter, and closed the door behind them when she did.
Iruka eyed Gai, who eyed him back. "How did it go with the waitress last night?" Iruka finally asked, in lieu of anything else to say.
"Incredibly well," Gai grinned broadly, giving Iruka a thumbs-up. "We have a date for later tonight."
"Congratulations," Iruka said honestly, a little surprised. He didn't understand what the waitress saw in the very strange man before him, but she'd seemed awfully enthralled the night before.
"And how did it go for you and that pretty little blonde," Gai grinned even wider, eyes gleaming with curiosity, "She seemed exceptionally fond of you last night."
Iruka flushed unconsciously and lowered his eyes. "Nothing much happened," he said, "I just wanted to make sure she got home safely."
"I see," said Gai, thick eyebrows raised in curiosity. Fortunately, Shizune's re-emergence interrupted any further questioning the Jounin had planned to inflict upon Iruka.
"The Hokage will see you now," Shizune said, smiling at Iruka. From behind her, Anko shuffled out of the office, hand pressed against one temple, looking as if she had the worst headache in history.
Iruka rose, somewhat nervously, and followed Shizune into Tsunade's office. Shizune shut the door behind them and motioned for Iruka to take a seat in front of Tsunade's desk. The Hokage herself was seated behind her desk, a writing ledger, inkwell and brushes in front of her.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Iruka said, clearing his throat.
"Good morning," Tsunade responded, with a half-smile. "You're probably wondering why I called you here?"
"I assumed it had something to do with the outing with the Sound refugees last night," Iruka stated, "Since Gai and Anko were also here."
"You're very clever," Tsunade said with a smile, "And also correct. What I'm doing is gathering information. Alcohol has a tendency to loosen tongues and I was curious if any of the Sound ninja let anything slip last night."
At the mention of 'tongue' and 'slip', Iruka could feel a blush rising again, but he did his best to fight it down. "There's nothing I can think of, Hokage-sama," he said, honestly, "They didn't seem to be hiding anything as far as I could tell."
Tsunade nodded, "You can't think of anything at all suspicious?"
"The Jounin in their group was missing, that was about it," Iruka said, with a shrug. "Although he could've been watching the children."
"I see," said Tsunade, clearly not satisfied. Leaning back in her chair, she sighed, "That's pretty much what the others have told me as well. I was hoping that someone would've discovered something more substantial. The most I've gotten was personal information about a few of the Sound ninja, which doesn't help us at all."
"Personal information?" Iruka was suddenly curious.
"Oh this and that," Tsunade shrugged, "The dark haired woman had a husband who she says was killed by Orochimaru. The youngest male's fiancée was also killed. The children were found in a school. The oldest boy was an orphan before the attack. Things that, although interesting, aren't remotely helpful in determining whether they're really on our side or not."
Iruka nodded, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."
"That's all right," Tsunade waved dismissively, "I wasn't expecting much. I may have to devise some sort of plan to discover more information about them. In the meantime, just keep doing what you've been doing and we'll hope for the best."
"I understand, Hokage-sama," replied Iruka. "Is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment," Tsunade said, "You're free to go."
"Thank you," Iruka said, rising and making his way to the door, "I'll try to keep you informed on any future developments."
Tsunade just nodded as Shizune showed him out.
Making his way back to his apartment, Iruka turned things over and over in his head. His gut said that the Sound refugees weren't spies, but he had to admit that it wasn't impossible. It worried him slightly, in fact, especially since the pretty blonde ninja had been so… affectionate.
It wasn't that women didn't find him attractive. Iruka had gone on a number of dates, but none of them seemed to pan out into anything more. He had a problem letting people get close to him, perhaps because he'd been alone for the majority of his life. The distance he put between them, though it wasn't something he was doing consciously, put off most of the women he'd attempted to date. Or they found him too boring, as compared to other shinobi.
When you could have a dashing guy who was out on dangerous and exciting missions every night of the week, why would you want a dull schoolteacher who wiped snotty noses all day, Iruka mused. Even the women who found him attractive never seemed as quite as enthusiastic as Suzu had been the night before.
Iruka shook his head. No, he couldn't believe Suzu was up to something. It just didn't seem to be in her nature. She was too blunt, too straightforward. 'And maybe', he admitted, 'it was the alcohol in her system and not her acting upon any particular attraction last night.' Maybe he had simply been in the right place at the right time.
At that thought, Iruka flushed unconsciously. 'How embarrassing,' he thought, 'I bet she was mortified when she realized what happened after the fact. Maybe I should just pretend that nothing actually happened and leave the ball in her court?'
Nodding in response to his thoughts, Iruka climbed the stairs to his apartment and let himself inside.
The next morning, Iruka glanced up in anticipation every time the door to his classroom opened. He wanted to pretend that he wasn't looking for Suzu, but he'd be lying to himself if he did. He was dying to know if she'd really been attracted to him, or if it had just been the alcohol talking. He rather hoped it was the former, instead of the latter.
Thus he was somewhat disappointed when it was Keiji, not Suzu who entered with Taya a few moments later. 'That's right,' he remembered, 'Keiji's the only one who hasn't brought the children by yet, so it's finally his turn.'
As Taya joined her classmates, Keiji barely said a word to Iruka, and his grave and quiet demeanor seemed to have returned in force. He didn't even say goodbye before leaving the classroom, which irked Iruka somewhat.
'Well,' Iruka thought, 'if Keiji's the last of the five to bring the children to and from school, that means the cycle will start again tomorrow, which means that Suzu should be the one to show up with Taya.'
However, the next morning it was Eriko, not Suzu, who brought Taya to Iruka. The two exchanged small talk, but Iruka was left wondering what had happened. Were they going out of order for some reason? Was there an order or was it just random? Was Suzu avoiding him, perhaps, embarrassed by her behavior a few nights previous? When would he see her again?
His questions remained unanswered yet another day when Renjiro brought the children by, and then the next day when it was Juro, not Suzu, at Iruka's classroom door. Finally Iruka's anxiety and curiosity got the better of him.
"Juro, can I ask you a question," Iruka said, somewhat hesitantly, as the two of them watched Taya run off to play with Moegi.
"Sure, go ahead," Juro replied, looking at Iruka curiously.
"It's about Suzu," Iruka hesitated. "Is—is she avoiding me for some reason? I mean, you guys usually have an order in which you pick up and drop off the children, but I noticed she seems to be missing from that order recently."
"What? No," Juro laughed, "She's not avoiding you, Iruka, she's been sick."
"Oh," Iruka's face burned, "I thought maybe Friday night… I mean, um…."
"Trust me, bro, you've got nothing to worry about when it comes to Suzu," Juro grinned, eyes sparkling with humor and mischief. "She's just been feeling under the weather lately. She'll be back up on her feet in no time."
"Oh," Iruka said again, "I'm sorry to hear she's not feeling well. What does she have?"
"She just wore herself out training," Juro shrugged. "Overdid it with forcing chakra control. She's on bed rest for a couple of days while she regains her strength."
Iruka nodded in understanding. "Hey Juro," he said, an idea suddenly coming to him, "Can you tell me the name of the hotel where you're staying?"
"Oh Suzu, look how beautiful," Eriko gushed as she carried in the flowers that had been delivered to the hotel lobby in Suzu's name. "Do you know who they're from?" she asked, setting them on the table next to Suzu's bed.
"There's an easy way to find out," Suzu smiled, plucking the card from the bouquet. "They're from Iruka," she said, pleased and surprised, as her eyes scanned the card which read:
'Suzu,
Sorry to hear you've been ill. I hope you feel better soon.
Sincerely, Umino Iruka
P.S. – I'd like to see you again. Let me know when you're free.'
"How sweet of him," Eriko said knowingly, while Suzu blushed fiercely. "Be sure to thank him properly the next time you see him."
"I definitely will, Eriko," Suzu said. "I definitely will."
"Tonight."
The next morning Iruka looked up to see Suzu leaning over his desk, eyes sparkling.
"I'm sorry," he said, pleased and surprised to see her up and about so soon.
"I'm free tonight," Suzu repeated, "That is, if you're still interested."
"I'm definitely interested," Iruka said, before realizing that he sounded a little too eager. It didn't seem to bother Suzu, fortunately.
"Great," Suzu said, with a huge smile.
"Meet me at the base of the stairway leading to the top of the Hokages' monument at eight," Iruka said, thinking quickly.
Suzu cocked her head to one side and looked at him curiously.
"Trust me, you'll like it," Iruka chuckled, but would say no more.
"I'm sure I will," Suzu smiled again.
With that, she departed and Iruka stood and made his way to the blackboard to begin class.