Chapter Ten: Crescendo
The following week passed without incident. There were no summons from the Hokage and no crises to fret over. Iruka's class was progressing satisfactorily, and Taya seemed to have adapted to the new setting flawlessly.
On Monday, Keiji reappeared to walk Taya to and from school, and despite Iruka's best efforts to get the young man to open up, he remained brooding and mostly silent. On Tuesday, Iruka chatted warmly with Eriko who, more and more, reminded him of a young mother. She seemed to have the type of personality that drove her to want to care for everyone. Iruka decided that he liked her.
On Wednesday, however, Iruka was surprised when the normally polite and refined Renjiro seemed to be… glowering at him for some reason. Conversation with the red haired Jounin was tense and choppy, and Iruka got the idea that Suzu's former sensei had taken a dislike to him. Iruka was completely stumped as to why, however.
On Thursday Iruka joked around with Juro, whose company was always entertaining, and on Friday….
Suzu entered the classroom, Taya in tow. Releasing her charge, who ran off to whisper with Moegi, Suzu came to stand next to Iruka's desk.
"Good morning Iruka-sensei," she said softly, a slight flush coloring her cheeks.
"Good morning Suzu," Iruka responded in turn, his face breaking into a huge grin.
The two stayed like that for several moments, just drinking in the sight of one another, before Iruka blushed profusely and continued the conversation.
"How has your training been going?"
"Oh much better," Suzu nodded vigorously, "I seem to have leaped forward. I guess that week of rest did me a lot of good."
"Congratulations," Iruka said, earnestly. Then, dropping his voice, "Are – are we still on for tomorrow?"
"Absolutely," Suzu whispered, eyes sparkling.
"Great! I was thinking… there's a fall festival going to be held in Konoha. Does that sound like something you would like to do?"
"Sounds good to me," Suzu grinned, "Pick me up tomorrow morning at ten?"
"I'll be there," Iruka nodded. Then, louder, "It was nice talking with you Suzu. Good luck with your training and I'll see you later."
"See you later Iruka-sensei," Suzu responded, and with a wave she slipped out of the classroom door.
Iruka watched her go, completely unaware that all eyes in his classroom were focused on him. The moment the door shut behind Suzu, his students broke into uncontrolled giggles.
"What's so funny?" Iruka's attention snapped back to his class.
"Does --," Moegi could barely get the sentence out, she was so overcome with giggling, "Does Iruka-sensei have a girlfriend?"
At that Iruka turned bright red and his students burst into laughter again. "Moegi," he began, trying to sound rational and calm, cheeks still burning, "That's not a polite question to ask somebody."
"But he does," squealed Taya, no longer able to contain herself. "Mr. Renjiro said Iruka-sensei kissed Miss Suzu in front of the hotel."
With that the girls in his classroom let out squeals of excitement while the boys made retching noises. Iruka flushed the red of a cherry tomato, a scowl creasing his brow. "Everyone in your seats," he barked abruptly, "Time for another pop quiz."
Amid the moans and groans of his students, Iruka wondered: Renjiro saw him kiss Suzu good night? Could that be the reason why the red haired Jounin was so harsh with him earlier? But that didn't make any sense. Suzu was an adult and Renjiro was not her father. Aside from that, how many people had seen him kiss her. First Kakashi and now Renjiro. Iruka was starting to wonder if there was any sort of privacy in Konoha whatsoever.
Sighing, Iruka pulled out one of his tactics textbooks and began to choose which questions to inflict upon his students during the pop quiz.
The next morning Iruka woke bright and early. He dressed comfortably in a loose, copper-colored yukata, dark blue sash, and the same dark blue hakama pants he'd worn on his and Suzu's last date. He hoped she wouldn't mind. He didn't have a lot of clothing outside of what he normally wore on an everyday basis. Tying his forehead protector in place and slipping into his sandals, Iruka opened his front door to bright morning sunlight.
Walking the few blocks that separated Suzu's hotel from his apartment, Iruka could already see decorations going up for the festival that day. While he walked, he mused over whether he should take Suzu out to breakfast, since it was still a little early for the festivities began. He was so lost in thought that he reached the front of Suzu's hotel almost without realizing it. Looking up, Iruka was greeted by a sight that almost took his breath away.
Suzu stood in front of the hotel, awash in a spill of sunlight. The indigo ao dai and loose white pants she wore intensified the extreme blue of her eyes. Her white-blonde hair was pulled over one shoulder in a long braid, and sunlight reflected off its strands, surrounding her in a soft, golden halo. Her ivory skin practically glowed, and a soft flush colored her cheeks.
'She looks like an angel,' Iruka thought helplessly, as he walked forward to greet her.
"Good morning," Suzu murmured, smiling unabashedly.
"Good morning yourself," Iruka replied, overcome with the sudden urge to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless right then and there, not giving a damn if the whole world was watching.
"That's a gorgeous color on you," Suzu said, fingering the sleeve of Iruka's shirt, admiring how the red-orange fabric lent a radiance to his caramel colored skin.
"I was about to say the same for you," Iruka smiled, "But then, you always look beautiful, so I realized I'd just be stating the obvious."
"Nice one," Suzu chuckled, shaking her head. "You clever schoolteachers and your way with words."
"Words aren't even enough," he murmured, taking her arm, and Suzu blushed prettily.
"So where to?" She asked, enjoying his closeness.
"Well it's early yet," Iruka began, "And I'm not exactly sure what time the festivities are going to start, so I thought maybe we could go out to breakfast."
"Sounds like a good idea," Suzu agreed, "I ate already, but I could maybe do something light."
"Hmm," Iruka said, thoughtfully, "Well there's this little ramen stand Naruto and used to go to all the time."
"Naruto?" Suzu asked curiously.
"One of my former students," Iruka said as they walked. "He grew up without a family – like me – and I felt sorry for him so I used to buy him ramen. He's… he's actually sort of like a son to me," Iruka concluded, smiling fondly.
Suzu just shook her head at him, wide-eyed.
"What?" Iruka asked, wondering if he said something wrong.
"It's just – you're almost too good to be true," Suzu laughed at his worried expression. "Keep it up and you just may restore my faith in humanity."
Iruka grinned, "Nah, I'm not that great." He shrugged his shoulders depreciatingly.
"I beg to differ," Suzu smiled.
By that time they'd reached Ichiraku and Iruka pushed his way through the awning, leading Suzu to the bar.
"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," the owner of the ramen stand and his daughter greeted him as one.
"Good morning," Iruka replied, sitting down. "What would you like?" he then said to Suzu, handing her a menu.
Suzu scanned the menu, finally settling on a small bowl of seafood ramen. "Two please," Iruka told the shop owner, and the man hastened to fill their order. Just as the bowls had been set in front of them, and as Iruka was in the process of breaking apart his chopsticks, Naruto burst through the awning, almost as if drawn by the smell of the ramen.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto threw his arms around Iruka's waist. "Somehow I knew you'd be here. Have you come to buy me some ramen?"
Next to Iruka, Suzu choked on her noodles and had to pound herself on the chest to dislodge them. "Naruto, I presume," she said, laughing, when she finally caught her breath.
"Yes, I'm Naruto. Who are you?" Naruto said, with a frown, studying the strange woman with Iruka-sensei. "Wait, you're one of those Sound ninja!" he cried, suddenly recognizing her. "But what are you doing here with Iruka-sensei?" He then turned his scrutinizing gaze upon Iruka, "And why are you dressed funny?"
Iruka just looked at Suzu, who looked back at him helplessly. It was then that Naruto put two and two together. "Hey… are you on a date?" he asked, slowly.
"Um… yes?" Iruka blushed slightly, sounding almost unsure if he should be answering.
"But Iruka-sensei, why are you on a date with a Sound ninja?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowed, studying Suzu with some scrutiny.
"Because Suzu's a very nice woman," Iruka offered, lamely, eyeing his young friend warily. "I know you've had some bad experiences with the Sound in the past, but I can assure you Suzu's nothing like that."
Suzu gave Iruka a grateful little smile but stayed out of the conversation for the time being.
"It's like --," an idea came to Iruka suddenly, "You remember how people used to treat you because they assumed things about you without taking the time to know you? It's kind of like that. A lot of people don't trust the Sound refugees because they assume things about them without getting to know them first. Well, I've gotten to know them and found out that they're pretty nice people… Suzu especially." Iruka grinned openly at his date.
Suzu blushed again and murmured a soft, "Thank you," under her breath.
Naruto nodded in understanding, "If you say she's a good person, Iruka-sensei, then I believe it." He then hopped up onto the stool next to Suzu; "Do I still get ramen?"
"Sure, why not?" Iruka laughed, ordering an extra big bowl for Naruto.
"So you're Suzu," Naruto said, once it had arrived, his mouth full of noodles.
"And you're Naruto," Suzu responded with a nod. "Iruka has a lot of good things to say about you."
"Really?" Naruto's eyes shone, "Thanks Iruka-sensei."
"No problem," Iruka responded, reaching for a napkin. "So what have you been up to lately, Naruto?"
"I just got back from my first mission by myself," Naruto said excitedly. "Well… not just myself; Sakura and Sasuke were there too – but Kakashi-sensei didn't go with us!"
"Really?" said Iruka, surprised and pleased. "You three must be getting really good at being ninja."
"We are, we are," Naruto nodded vigorously, noodles trailing over his chin.
"Missions sound like a lot of fun," Suzu spoke up, "Kind of makes me wish we'd gotten a chance to go on them when we were training."
"You never went on missions," Naruto was incredulous and even Iruka blinked at Suzu in surprise.
"Well, no," Suzu said, blushing once more, "The Hidden Village of Sound was founded to avoid political bloodshed, so it wouldn't make sense for us to participate in missions for other countries."
"So what exactly did you do?" Naruto gaped.
"Um… Hidden Village of Sound ninja were originally trained to act as a sort of… military police force. To protect the village and its occupants from harm. Our Kage was the head of the police force – kind of like the captain – and the lower levels of ninja acted as lieutenants, sergeants and peace officers." Suzu sipped the rest of her broth in silence.
"That's… different," Iruka finally spoke up. "How did they determine who was at what level?"
"We have our own tests," Suzu said, with a shrug, "Similar to yours. And we have an academy, although it's small and only admits children ten and up. Children younger than ten go to a regular school to learn the basics of reading, writing, math and history from the time they're five. Once they turn ten, they can decide to enter the ninja academy or choose to apprentice under one of the village professionals until they're an adult. Toshiro had just entered the academy when… when Orochimaru staged his coup."
Iruka nodded, "I wondered why Taya didn't seem to know a lot of the basics of being a ninja. But she seemed to pick them up so quickly I didn't worry about it."
"What she's learning, and what Minoru and Mitsu are learning, is completely new to them. Toshiro was… talented before he ever entered the Sound's academy, so he's been excelling even with the older students. Taya seems to be picking it up fairly well, as does Mitsu, but Minoru…" Suzu sighed.
"He's having difficulty?" Iruka asked, wondering why this was the first he'd heard of this.
"I don't think he's really cut out to be a ninja," Suzu frowned, "He doesn't seem to have the temperament for it and he certainly doesn't seem to like it. We'd pull him from the school, but we think it's necessary for him to be around other children to socialize properly. Right now we're not sure what to do."
"Let me talk to the other teachers," Iruka said, also frowning in thought. "I'll see if we can work something out."
"Thank you," Suzu gave him another grateful smile. "It's been hard enough on him, having his parents die and then being dragged halfway across the continent to settle in a new place. We don't want to push him too hard for fear of doing any more harm."
"His parents died?" Naruto asked, ordering another bowl when Iruka wasn't paying attention.
"Yes, all the children's parents did… well, except Toshiro. He was already an orphan. My parents did as well," Suzu said softly.
"Suzu," said Naruto, not sure if he should be asking this question, "What happened in the Village of Sound? How did you escape? How did you get here without being caught?"
"Well," Suzu began, "I'll have to explain a little history for you to understand how things played out…."
Author's Note: This chapter and the one that comes after it were originally one (extremely) long chapter. I broke it down into two parts to make it more digestible and also to maintain the tone of each portion. Thus Naruto gets an (albeit brief) extra scene, and I get another unexpected chapter in the story.
For reference, a "yukata" is a short informal kimono, about hip-length at most. "Hakama" are those really flowy-looking traditional Japanese pants that almost resemble a skirt. An "ao dai" is a Vietnamese dress/tunic very similar to what Sakura wears, with a mandarin collar and slits over the hips on both sides. It's meant to be worn with a pair of (normally white) baggy pants.