Kuraku

Chapter 2:

When rain falls

The next day Iruka stood up, showered, dressed up and had breakfast before going back to the playing field. When he got there only a few bigger kids were playing there, so he decided to wander around the village a bit. It was just to get to know the village a little better.

He first walked through a narrow alley and came upon a big main street. Everywhere he looked he saw little shops and stands. It all looked really cosy and inviting. The street was very busy and crowded and all over the street happy laughs could be heard. Iruka slowly walked through the crowded street and looked through about every shop-window. There were shops that were selling antiques, or clothes, although most of the stands were selling food and candy. Above the laughter he heard salesmen shout out their products and more advertisement about other articles.

He had already been walking for a few hours or some when he suddenly heard his name. He first ignored it, nobody but his parents knew him, he must've heard it wrong.

"Oi Iruka-kun, wait up!" he finally looked up and saw Kakashi run up to him

He had already totally forgotten about him, of course Kakashi knew his name, they had introduced each other yesterday, how stupid of him to forget.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" he asked as he came to walk next to the younger boy

"I was looking around the village a bit, I don't even know where the school is yet" Iruka answered happily

"If you like, I'll show it to you" Kakashi offered

"Yeah, that'll be great" Iruka got exited, but his stomach disagreed with it by letting out a loud grumble, wanting everyone within earshot to know that Iruka was really hungry

Kakashi chuckled. "Hehe, I think it'll be better to give you a tour after lunch. We can get something to eat at one of the stands" he pointed towards a few stands were they could get some food

"But… I don't have any money with me…" Iruka told Kakashi sadly

"That's okay, I have, it's my treat" he said generous and already began walking towards a little ramen stand

"Alright, but I'll pay you back" Iruka quickly followed

They ate slowly and talked much. When they were finished they began walking towards the school. Iruka was told that there was only one elementary-school in the village so he didn't had to explain to Kakashi which school it was.

They first took an alley left from them, which ended in a long and narrow street, with old decorated houses. They walked a few hundred meters and took another left turn, then a right, another left and that was when they stood before a huge building.

A big sign was placed on right of the entrance gate with the words 'Elementary School Sakaki' on it. ((sacred tree))

"This is it, The Sakaki" Kakashi said and looked at the huge building "I'm being taught here too"

"Cool… in which grade are you going to be?" Iruka asked, when the summer vacation would be over he would be in the third grade.

"In the fourth grade, I'm seven now, but on fifteenth of September I'll turn eight. What about you, how old are you?"

"I've just turned six on the twenty-sixth of May, so it'll be my third year on an elementary school"

"How was your last year anyway?" Kakashi asked

"Good, I had a lot of friends and I learned much" Iruka looked down a little sadly, he still had flows of homesickness sometimes.

It had been a little more than a month since he had moved from his former home. His parents thought a big city wasn't good for his health, both physical and mental. It was always so stressed, busy and chaotic there. His father found a nice full-time job in the neighbourhood, and so did his mom and it wasn't long before movers stood in front of their door to load everything in their truck. His father's new job contained much paperwork and he said he had to sell large amounts of clothing to big marketing companies. His mother had found a part-time job at the local florist's. She had a natural talent in ikebana and mastered the art when she was still very young. ((the art of flower arrangement))

The family Umino wasn't really rich, nor were they really poor. They didn't really cared about it anyway, they were really happy and they thought that that was all what mattered.

Kakashi's parents on the other hand were completely different. His father was only interested in money and his job. He had a job as one of the managers of a really big company, which dealt in expensive cars and trucks. They were quite wealthy, but Kakashi didn't cared. He could go and buy right about everything, but just the one thing he couldn't buy was the love and company of family and friends and that was what he really wanted. Kakashi's parents had gotten into a major argument about their money, with the rest of his family and he saw them very little. His parents were busy people and he had little contact with them. Most of his friends also weren't real friends; they just stayed with him for he was the heir of a very wealthy family. It had saddened him many times before, but maybe this boy would be different, just maybe…

It was already late noon and Iruka came up with an idea.

"Hey let's go to my place to have some tea!" he said excitedly.

"Um, okay, sounds good" Kakashi answered as he smiled lightly.

They walked back to the main street and from there Iruka lead the way. When they got there, Kakashi looked up at it. The simple house was one floor high with an old fashion roof on top. The neighbourhood was coloured in happy colours; red, blue, green and yellow decorated the walls of the houses. The house before him was in light shade of yellow and looked very peaceful and inviting.

"I know it doesn't looks like much, but we're pretty simple people, we don't need much" the boys said happily.

"I think it looks nice and cosy, you must be very happy too live here" Kakashi said with a sad undertone.

His house was big and full of expensive things, but it lacked the snugness and warm touch of a happy family living in it. The gates of his house were always closed, except when he, his parents, or important guests needed to enter.

Iruka walked up the little path through their little front yard, opened the door and kicked his shoes out.

"You coming or not?" Iruka asked smiling

"You bet!" Kakashi happily ran up to Iruka also kicked his sneakers out and entered as Iruka closed the door behind him.

"Mom, I'm home and I've brought a friend" he called to wherever his mom was.

"Great honey! Wait I'll come down in a minute, I think you guys would like some tea" she called back from upstairs.

"Okay."

"Come, in the meantime I'll show you my room, don't mind the boxes, we still have to find a way to get rid of them" he pointed at one of the piles of boxes, which were spread throughout the house.

The house only had a ground floor and a staircase that let to an attic. This is where Iruka lead them. When they got upstairs, they stood in a little room that apparently was being used as a room to wash and dry all the laundry. The stairs ended in the middle of the back of the room, with a railing that went along both sides.

They walked across the tiny room and entered the room that lay next to it.

The room was pretty bright, because there was a large window on the left side of them. It was still a crowded by a few boxes but aside from that it looked really nice. On the windowsill were little plants and flowers placed and even a little bonsai tree decorated the blue-painted wood. The right side of the windowsill was empty, wider and a big soft pillow was placed there, indicating it was meant to be a window-seat.

Across the room from the window, on Kakashi's right, there was a big bed placed and on the side of it was a little wardrobe. The wall with the window in it was painted cobalt blue, the side of the bed was fire red, the wall with the doorway in it was yellow, the ceiling was green, the remaining wall across them was orange and the carpet was black. It make the room very alive and Kakashi almost got jealous of this boy's normal life, which he knew he would never have.

Further a little table and chair where in the room, probably meant for homework.

"So what do you think?" Iruka asked as he had seen Kakashi look at every inch of his new room.

"It looks great!" Kakashi said in enthusiasm.

"Thanks!" Iruka said and his cheeks reddened as he had done every time before when he smiled, it made him look very cute Kakashi admitted to himself.

Iruka would probably do well with the ladies, he knew almost for sure. Kakashi never knew when girls really had a crush on him or when they just wanted to be with him for the money. Even though he was still young he knew that his friends were only with him for money. They always sucked up to him. When he liked something, they immediately liked it too. He first couldn't believe that the kids were like that, but after a year he didn't trusted any of them anymore. In the village were also two boys, both a year older than he was, that didn't use sweet talks to get to his families money. They had threatened him more than once and even beaten him up three times before. All the times when he was beaten up, his 'so-called-friends' were there to witness it, but did nothing to help him and most even ran away. Sure he told his parents many times before, but they didn't listened to him. They were always too busy with work and it made him so angry. He wondered if Iruka-kun would become one of his 'so-called-friends'. He hoped not, he really liked the kid.

"Iruka can you come down! Tea's ready!" Iruka's mother called from downstairs, interrupting Kakashi thoughts about the boy next to him

"Coming!" Iruka called back and ran down the stairs, and Kakashi was fast to follow.

When they entered the kitchen a peaceful scent reached his nose. He felt so at home here.

"Ah so you must be the boy Iruka was talking about last night" the woman said friendly.

"My name is Umino Takichi, but you can just call me Taki" she held out her hand, which he took gently.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi" he shook it carefully.

"Well Kakashi, please to meet you" she smiled and he nodded.

Iruka had already sat down at the table and now Kakashi and Taki joined him.

They drank tea in silence, once in a while stealing a few glances at the others around the table.

When they had finished they placed their cups on the table and as Taki washed the cups, they heard the front door open and close. Iruka and Kakashi went to look in hall and they found Iruka's dad pulling off his thin jacket and hanging it on one of the hangers.

"Dad!" Iruka ran up to his father and got a firm hug.

Then he saw the silver-haired boy in the back of the hall.

"I see you brought along a friend" he said in his deep voice.

"Yes he's the boy form yesterday on the playing field" Iruka said.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi" Kakashi introduced and bowed his head a little.

"I see, I'm Kurai, Iruka's dad, but I guess you already figured that out" the huge man said smiling friendly. ((dark; think about his hair, eyes and tanned skin))

The sun was already slowly setting and Taki called from the kitchen. "Kakashi, would you like to stay and eat with us?"

"Um, well, I don't know if my parents thinks that'll be okay" he said hastily.

He really liked the idea of staying and he was sure that his parents wouldn't even miss him, but just felt awkward to stay in a household of people who he didn't even knew too well, but wanted to be a part of so badly. To be honest he had dreamed of such a life, but he just couldn't live that life in the household of someone else. He liked Iruka's parent much, but he wanted his own parents to be like these people, not to have his parents replaced. Now he knew that one dinner was nothing compared with living a whole life like this, but still while having those dreams and thoughts it just felt awkward.

Just as Taki was about to agree, a downpour broke outside. Lightning flashing first and not even a few seconds later hearing loud thunder.

"I was already wondering when it would finally fall down" Kurai said as Iruka looked confused up to his dad.

"I say the dark clouds on my way down here" he explained

"I think you better call your parents and ask them, because I have a feeling you'll be stuck here for a while" Taki appeared in doorway of the hall.