Chapter 2
If you have ever tried to coordinate an outfit, put it on the right way, and examine the job you've done in a mirror about the size of your head, you know what Naruto felt like. It's not that he liked small mirrors, disliked large ones, or took joy in presenting complicated situations for himself; it's just that he'd never had a need for a full-length mirror. Sure, once in a while he'd brush his hair or attempt to murder an over-sized pimple before heading off to school, but it never really mattered. Before he became a part of Team 7, the only people who noticed or cared about how disgusting and filthy he was were his neighbors, and they were old. More importantly, however, they weren't Sakura. Since graduation, he'd tried to keep up with his appearance in hopes of winning over his fair lady's heart, but something in his brain never told the young boy that wearing the same clothes every day was a deterrent to his love life.
A rough, calloused hand raked through the mess of blonde hair, trying in vain to part it at the side, or at least keep that cowlick down.
"Naruto… your hair…" Iruka pressed firmly down of the boy's head, frustrated. Naruto jerked away from the oppressive fingers of his teacher and shook. The beginnings of a nice, All-Konoha Boy hairstyle were, once again, subjugated by the hair's malice towards All-Konoha Boys… like Sasuke.
"Don't touch my doo!" He cried, giving the older man a disappointed look, and of course… "It took me hours to get it this way!" …lied. Naruto made up for his lack of hairstyling techniques with the mastered art of deceit. No, petty lying. Naruto made up for his lack of hairstyling techniques with the mastered art of petty lying. Lying was easier than looking good anyway. You couldn't pretend to look good, but you could pretend not to have thrown that rock.
Iruka sighed, fiddling with the other imperfections in the boy's outfit. The collar, for one, was all wrong. Missed a button, this shirt is much too short to tuck in… don't you have another one? That belt could be tighter, and for God's sake tie your shoe…
"I'm sorry, it's just…" He smoothed out the last of many wrinkles on Naruto's shirt and smiled. "I'm nervous about her meeting you."
"Well it was her idea in the first place, she asked for it." Naruto's hands rose to his forehead, stopped, and went back down when they realized nothing was there. He always played with his headband when he felt he'd done something noteworthy, and to be quite honest, it made his achievements less spectacular without it. "Besides, she's used to kids like me." Iruka gave a reluctant nod. Okami Inuzuka was a sweet, kind, wonderful girl, but she sure knew how to raise a delinquent. Often times her brother Kiba had received the blunt end of a punishment from him, right along side Naruto and Shikamaru. But considering the poor girl had to raise him by herself, Iruka thought she'd done a fine job.
It was actually kind of weird, Naruto never meeting her. The two of them spent enough time pulling pranks together, and they seemed to be in the hospital at the same time, all the time. It was a miracle the boys could pay for it all. But even after all that, all he'd ever seen of the girl was in pictures. However, this did not bar him from passing a much defined judgment on her. She was an ugly hag, as all women over the age of sixteen were, the fox boy said the first time Iruka mentioned her name, and much too young for a twenty-four year old, when he'd mentioned their dating.
She wasn't that much younger than him, I mean, only by five years. But it did feel kind of wrong dating someone under twenty. Dirty is the more appropriate adjective. Almost scandalous. Quite possibly Come Come Paradise material, only without the kinky sex. Not that Iruka doesn't like kinky sex, but that's getting a bit off topic.
It stopped raining. The packed dirt roads had become marshy. A boy's only pair of good black shoes sank into the spongy ground up to the suede, excess water, seeping through the fabric and swirling around his feet. Naruto crunched his toes together. There was life in the ground now, and he missed his sandals. All he had with shoes was warm water and a really cool sucking noise when he walked, but with sandals, he had fun. He imagined the mud curling up over the edge of his feet, filling in the spaces between his toes, and providing a pleasantly smooth natural sock. He could practically feel the heartbeat of the earth, the grass that sprouted beneath his feet and the little creatures that lived off it. He was faced with the overwhelming urge to just lie down and take it all in. Naruto really changed; he really lived when he was closer to nature. His fingers grew into dull points, his gums ached with the itchy sensation of a child getting its first tooth. They grew too. Everyday smells became more acute, more real than they had ever been as his nostrils flared, an unnaturally long tongue reaching up to lick the tip of his nose. Miso ramen mixed with the sweet decay of the dirt beneath him penetrated his senses, taking his mind off the shocking revelation that he could see, really see past the sky, into a calmer, deeper blue. The leaf that lands symbolically on his forehead is zoned in on. The intricate system of veins and cell walls are the most interesting thing eyes that act as though they'd never been opened before. The wonderful sinking sensation becomes reality as the mud creeps up his neck. His already unruly hair bristles with excitement, and his ears twitch at the sound of it. He can hear the planet growing, and it is so much more than he could have ever asked for.
"Naruto?" A confused, paternally saturated voice broke through the awesome fantasy. Iruka stood before his former student with a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?" Naruto blinked, nodded, and continued walking, the details of his daydream already slipping away from him. It was going to be a long day.
AN: Yeah, I don't remember if they ever mentioned Kiba's sister's name, but I couldn't find it anywhere, and no one seemed to know what it was. If you know, by all means, inform me.