Title: Life
Series: Naruto
Author: Miali
Summary: Drabble about what it means to live as a shinobi, and why Iruka teaches. Iruka-centric
A/N: All right, this story and a bunch to follow are from a livejournal 30-topics thing. Unfortunately, I can't join the community, but I want to use some (possibly all) of them anyway. So here's number 17, life.
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Iruka was happy to be alive, he loved it more than nearly anything. The only thing that replaced his love of life was the love for passing the feeling along, and that is why Iruka taught.
Iruka sat in the shade of a large oak tree, the sunlight filtering softly through the leaves onto him. The schoolteacher had decided to take a break, giving his students recess and he followed after, suddenly not in the mood to sit inside and grade papers. His deep eyes watched the children run about, chasing each other and playing their favorite game: ninja.
A few of his more clever students had gotten their hands on some of the training shuriken and kunai, made of rubber and plastic and they threw them at each other, occasionally getting hit and falling over "dead." However the young shinobi didn't stay down for long, quickly tiring of playing "fresh corpse" and getting up to join the ranks of the other nin.
Iruka smiled sadly, the children played as if they weren't one day going to stay down forever. As if one day they weren't going to leave behind lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends, or die in the arms of a comrade. Because not all ninja were as lucky as Iruka.
A chuunin and a schoolteacher were a good combination. He'd been through enough to know what he was going to get from his students, and should something happen, he was trained enough to make it all better. He'd live longer than most jounin, only getting sent out in times of desperation, so the village could always have someone to rely on, someone who would always be there.
"Iruka-sensei!" The teacher was startled from his thoughts by a slightly tanned, very loud boy with spiky hair the color of summer.
"What is it, Naruto?"
"C'mon! You're on my team!" Iruka smiled and hauled himself to his feet, pulled off by the tugging of the child. Each student (and teacher) were handed the amount of weapons they were allowed and the game began once again.
A piece of rubber bounced off of Iruka's chest and Sakura laughed as Iruka died dramatically before quickly rising from the grave and chasing after the pink-haired girl. She squealed and ran darting through the other children until Iruka found another victim to tease.
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The game ended pretty quickly, the children growing tired and sitting in a clump on the grass, chattering and fussing over who had won the game. Iruka disappeared inside to get juice boxes and snacks, returning quickly to find the children in a heated discussion.
"Yeah," Sakura shouted, "Well I killed Iruka-sensei!" She stuck out her tongue and blushed when she realized she had the attention of a dark-eyed Sasuke.
"No, you didn't!" Retorted Naruto, "Iruka-sensei can't die! He's the most awesomest ninja ever!" The other impressionable children nodded their assent and Iruka smiled softly, handing out juice and cookies.
His students weren't going to stay down forever, at least not yet. They still had time to laugh and play, and wish they were grown up, just like the people they admired. Iruka knew his students wouldn't live as long as many but he did know he could help them to live a full life, and to know what it means to cherish it.