(Author's Note: If you're reading, please remember to review! Warnings and disclaimers apply to all chapters.)

And the Beat Goes On
Chapter 11: Reunion

Iruka was called back from the fuzzy realms of sleep by a large crash, like the sound of the door slamming shut. He blinked, realizing he'd left the front door unlocked for Naruto. He sighed and clambered out of bed. "Naruto. . ."

The crash was followed by the sound of bare feet slapping angrily against the hardwood floor, then several thumps, issuing from the piano.

Iruka trod down the stairs and rounded the corner, walking into the living room. He hung back a moment, surveying the pitiful sight before him.

Naruto was sitting at the piano, his face turned away from the stairwell, his head resting upon his hands. His elbows were pressed against the white keys of the piano. The blond boy's shoulders were shaking slightly. The moonlight washed the scene out, making it an escapade of shadows and moonbeams, of darkness and the ethereal.

Iruka padded into the room. He didn't say anything, not even when he sat down on the bench with his adopted son. Naruto didn't say anything either, taking tight hold of Iruka's hand and wiping away tears with his free hand.

They were silent for a long, long time.

"Why is it so confusing?" Naruto murmured, sounding docile and drowsy after a silence that seemed to stretch for eternity.

Iruka didn't reply. It wasn't a question that demanded an answer. In fact, Naruto had probably only said it merely to break the silence and explain what he was feeling, although it left his problem very much cryptic.

Naruto sighed and pushed himself away. His face was contorted in a mask of anger. "I don't care if he thinks he loves me or not. I don't need him," he spat acidly, before rising from the piano bench and heading toward the stairs.

"I'm going to bed," he said, then ascended the stairs.

Iruka sighed and looked at the piano keys, stained with teardrops that glittered in the rum moonlight. "Don't be mad at him," he advised the darkness. He sat in the dark, contemplative, until the clock struck twelve.
- - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke walked Sakura home, but he ignored her. She tried to make him smile, tried to lighten his mood by chattering about anything, everything, but to no avail. His eyes remained distant and cold, focussed on some far away goal. She had the funny feeling that he wasn't even hearing what she said.

"Why do you do this to me?" she asked suddenly, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. She didn't sound angry, she didn't sound sad. She merely sounded curious. She watched him pause, then stop and look back at her, looking at her, really looking at her.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a gesture she guessed that meant he was frustrated. "I. . .I don't know," he said softly, and looked back at her, as if he had seen her for the first time.

They were silent for an awkward moment. Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence. "Sakura. . ," he said and his voice was gentle, with no trace of the sharp, cold tone he usually used. His voice was almost. . .almost warm.

"You're a beautiful girl," he said. "But. . .I can't. . .I don't. . .We. . ."

He sighed and looked away. "I don't know. I. . .just. . .can't. . .like you."

They were silent again. "I. . .just hope you understand what I mean," he finished finally.

Sakura felt her bottom lip tremble. Her long time crush was breaking her heart again. Gods, she was such an idiot! He'd crushed her once, what had made her think he'd change, that maybe the second time round would be different! She wanted to throw a tantrum, and scream and yell and throw something and hit something. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream that it wasn't fair. She wanted to beg Sasuke to tell her why, why she wasn't good enough for him!

Instead, she bit her lip and looked away. Somehow managing to keep the tears at bay and the emotions out of her voice, she looked back at Sasuke and said, "You really love him, don't you?"

Sasuke said nothing in reply. He threw his gaze skywards. Sakura looked down at the ground, realizing that was her answer.

"It's the ones we love the most that cause us the most pain, Sakura."

She looked up at the boy, and she almost swore she saw tears glittering in his eyes. She thought for a moment, thinking of all the times her parents had made her cry, of all the times Ino had made her mad, of all the times she'd crushed poor Lee, of how Sasuke was crushing her now.

"That's very true," she murmured.
"It's late," Sasuke said, the sharp edge returning to his icy voice. She looked up and discovered the mask was in place again and the real Sasuke was gone again. "You should get home," he continued.

She nodded and started to walk, albeit slowly, heavy thoughts weighing her down. She was surprised when Sasuke continued to walk with her. She'd thought he'd meant for them to part ways and return to their own homes.

She glanced shyly up at him. "Sasuke?"

"Hn."

She became very interested with a rock on the path. ". . .Does. . .we can be friends, right?"

She looked up at him, her eyes full of hope. She could at least be his friend! She understood him, she really did. Pain. . .She understood it, the torment of emotions.

Sasuke looked at her, then drew a sharp breath and said, "No."

Sakura felt herself deflate like a balloon that had just been popped. "What? Why not?" she cried, now struggling to catch up with him, as she had stopped in her shock, while he kept moving.

"Because."

For the first time in her life, she felt her blood boil in anger, anger directed toward Sasuke. She wanted to know why and 'because' was not a reason! She demanded to know why Sasuke would not be her friend!

She opened her mouth to begin a rant, but stopped short as she realized Sasuke had stopped in front of her driveway. She glanced toward the porch, her eyes making out the shape of a person slumped over on the wooden veranda. It was her mother, her face buried in her hands, sobbing bitterly. Broken dishes littered the front steps. She could only guess what her mother looked like - blood, cuts, scrapes, bruises.

She glanced over at Sasuke, realizing he'd been looking at her, waiting for her to say something. She couldn't think of anything to say. He nodded curtly and there was a brief second where his hand was on her shoulder as he began to walk away.

"Let's get out of here," he said as he began to walk away.

It took her a second to come out of her stupor, then she chased after him, feeling slightly comforted by his offer of taking her away. Maybe there was a chance he really was her prince, come to rescue her from the fire-breathing dragons of hell.
- - - - - - - - -

"Good grief. . .we went to a fair. A fair. And you're plastered."

"Hee. . .you look like a woman."

Itachi's eye twitched as he glared at his supposedly 'older, more responsible' boyfriend. Orochimaru was using him as a human crutch, stumbling along the sidewalk, tripping over his own two feet, singing loudly and badly, being lewd and generally, all-around drunk.

Itachi still didn't know where Orochimaru had found any booze, let alone booze enough to get him hammered like that. "I can't take you anywhere," he muttered.

Orochimaru smiled a lop-sided, drunken smile and coiled a strand of his lover's hair about his finger. "Sure ya can. . .the bedroom's a good start. . ."

Itachi closed his eyes and started chanting, "I will not murder you, I will not murder you."

"Oh, so you like it violent and bloody like that, huh? I'm down with that."

"All right. I've had enough of you," Itachi stated, glaring at his boyfriend. Orochimaru smiled back.

"I'll never've had enough of you, honey-bunny," the older boy slurred, stumbling into Itachi, who had turned a funny shade of red.

"Oh, you are going to wish you had never been born, Orochimaru," he hissed acidly, which only made the other boy laugh.

"Whoo! Bondage!" Orochimaru shouted.

Itachi gritted his teeth and continued to drag his boyfriend along. "I don't know why I put up with you," he growled.

"The sex is good?" Orochimaru offered.

"Is that all you ever think about?"

"Most likely. But who says I think? Thinking is overrated!"

At that point, Orochimaru decided he needed to serenade Itachi, the "prettiest woman-whore in the whole of Never-Never Land."

It was about that point that Itachi picked up a rather sizeable rock and used it to knock Orochimaru out and drag his boyfriend's sorry, comatose ass back home.
He raised an eyebrow upon meeting Sasuke at the gate. Sasuke mirrored his expression. Itachi pointed at the pink-haired teenage girl who was apparently accompanying his little brother.

"Who's this?" he asked.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by another, slurred voice. "That your whore for tonight, Sasuke?"

Sasuke dashed his forehead against his palm. Sakura's eyes widened in shock and insult. Itachi glowered at Orochimaru. "Didn't I knock you out several feet back?" he asked, eyeing his boyfriend skeptically.

Orochimaru grinned. "Oh, you can knock me all you want, baby."

Sakura looked like she was about to faint. How lewd! How crude! How rude! Sasuke rolled his eyes and proceeded to introduce his relative, and his comrade, to his classmate. "Sakura, this is my brother, Itachi, and his friend, Orochimaru. Orochimaru, Itachi, this is Sakura."

Itachi caught Sakura's horrified expression and sighed. "He's drunk," he said, pointing to Orochimaru.

Sakura smiled nervously, snapping out of her stupor. "Oh. . .uh. . .hi," she said, her eyes darting about nervously.

"Pretty little slut, aren't ya?" Orochimaru said, with a wink.

Sakura screamed and ducked behind Sasuke. This freak was hitting on her! Ew!

Itachi rolled his eyes and dragged Orochimaru to the front door. "Just a moment," he called to Sasuke. "I'll take care of this."

The two older teenagers disappeared inside. There was a terrible, resounding cry from inside and Sakura stared wide-eyed in horror at the door. "W-What are they doing in there?" she asked timidly.

Sasuke sighed. "Damn. That's another lamp. . ."

Sakura gave him a funny look, then followed him up the walk, her eyes darting about.

She followed Sasuke into the house and sighed in relief. Orochimaru was on the floor, unconscious. Itachi was standing over him, the remnants of what used to be a lamp held firmly in his hand.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "This happens often?" she asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

Sasuke nodded. Sakura sighed. She decided she didn't like Sasuke's family.

- - - - - - - - - -

Ino steadfastly refused to talk, or even look at Shikamaru. The black-haired boy had been trying to explain to the irate blonde why he'd "led her on" until moments ago, when he gave up, deeming it "too troublesome."

Honestly! She would have never agreed to go with his friends willingly and he had never, ever said that it was an official "date". Ino had said herself that she would have gone with Sakura, and he seriously doubted Ino would have meant that as a date.

Besides, didn't a girl kind of need to get along with a boy's friends if they were dating? He knew it worked in reverse, so why shouldn't it work the same with his friends?

He gave up trying to figure it out. Girls made no sense, even at the best of times.

He snapped out of his thoughtful reverie, realizing he was standing on Ino's doorstep. Ino was looking at him, almost shyly. She was smiling sweetly and Shikamaru was afraid for his life.

And he was right in being so scared. It was throughly a surprise when the blonde girl leaned forward and brushed her lips gently against his cheek, pulled back and continued smiling.

He barely heard her whispered words through his idiotic stupor.

"I had fun tonight. Goodnight, Shikamaru."

And with that, she disappeared into the house, leaving him stupefied on her front stoop. Realization dawning on him that the last scene was entirely like a cheesy romance film, he made a gagging noise as an elaborate display of disgust and then, deciding being disgusted took too much effort, strolled leisurely away from the house, back to his own.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was early October. The wind was brisk and the dry, dead leaves scudded across the ground, crunching when stepped on. The sunset was getting earlier by the day, and soon, the students would be waking in the dark and walking home in the dusk.

It was one such evening that Uzumaki Naruto decided to take a detour from his usual route home. He headed toward the conservation park near the edge of town, away from home, away from safety.
The sun was setting just beyond the hills covered with dead grass. The dark shapes of the trees loomed up, their naked branches clawing at the rainbow sky. A bitter wind blew.

Naruto, as spontaneous as he was, was not without his reasons for coming out this way on such a night. As the stars began to dot the sky, the path that had been worn down by visitors over years and years came to an abrupt stop. The trees grew thick here, bunching up together, their limbs twining in some sort of lovers' greeting. You had to find your own way through.

Something flickered bright, then fell to the ground, the orange glow it held sputtering and dying. The scent of cigarette smoke mingled with the spicy fragrance of autumn leaves. The wind blew, and the leaves scuttled along the ground. Nothing was said for a moment or two.

Naruto shifted, uncomfortable with being silent. "You know why I'm here," he said, seemingly to the dark landscape. It was too dark to see anything beyond the murky shadows.

In the darkness, something shifted, scratching against the bark of a tree. Naruto continued, undeterred. "You're right. He doesn't know anything about me. From now on, I'm doing whatever the hell I want."

More rustling, then someone said, in a voice that was thick and raspy from having inhaled nicotine, "You're as low him then."

Naruto frowned but said nothing, waiting for the shadow to explain itself.

The other being unfurled itself from the darkness, from the shadows and began to circle him. Sharp green eyes pierced him, like an arrow, peering out from the darkness. "Using me to get back at him, to hurt him. You know that's what you wanna do. And you know that's just what he's done with that new bitch of his."

Naruto followed the eyes with his own, never breaking contact. He wasn't going to back down. "I don't care how low it is. I want to break him."

There was the distinctive sound of a lighter being lit, and for an instance, in the flash of the flame, the person was visible. Red hair, green eyes rimmed with black, pale skin. . .

The person, who was surely another male from his voice, had lit another cigarette. He exhaled, as if sighing in resignation and looked directly at Naruto. "He's already broken."

Naruto winced at the words. He knew what they had meant. "Still," he said weakly, for the first time, looking away, to the ground, the sky and anywhere but those eyes.

His gaze was forced roughly upwards and he was forced to stare into the emerald orbs. "I never said I wanted you to be my bitch, Naruto. I said I wanted you to be my friend."

Rough, calloused fingers stroked his cheek for a prolonged moment, then released him. He nearly stumbled back in fright. "Gaara. . ."

The green-eyed boy glared at him. "No, Naruto. I'm not gonna be an instrument for you're petty games. Either you like me for me and on your own terms, or you don't. I'm not going to pretend to go out with you."

The red-haired one flicked his cigarette butt to the ground. He turned and walked away. "I'll see you around," he said, holding up his hand, in some sort of parting ritual.

Naruto looked at the ground thoughtfully for a moment. He thought about calling after Gaara, thought about trying to stop him from leaving, but he hesitated and when he looked up, there was naught but shadows.

He sighed and turned away from the lonely woods.

- - - - - - - - -

It had been a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in Konoha. And now, after the day was done and the night had fallen, everyone had settled back into their routines, getting ready for another week of school and work.

Well, not quite everybody. Naruto was currently being lectured about how it was rude to ignore guests and how when one had a talent, one should show that talent off. In the kitchen, one Hatake Kakashi was sitting on a chair, laughing his ass off.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and got smacked by Iruka.

"Now, Naruto," Iruka said in a tone that led Naruto believe he was wrapping up his speech. "Will you please play the piano for Kakashi? Please?"

Iruka sounded like he was begging and it really bugged Naruto when the older man did that. "Fine, fine," he muttered, glaring at Kakashi as he walked to the piano and sat down. He made a face at the kitchen doorway, cracked his knuckles and . . .

Stood up. Iruka gave him a funny look. "Naruto. . .what are you doing. . ."

In the kitchen, Kakashi started laughing. "That's a funny way to play the piano, all the way from across the room and -"

Naruto ran by the teacher and opened the front door, then ran outside, slamming the door shut.

"- outside," Kakashi finished, feeling rather insulted for having Naruto run outside during the middle of his perfectly good joke.

Iruka walked up to the door and peered out the window. "What on earth is he doing?" he asked, and just then, he caught sight of the other teenager standing outside, conversing with Naruto. In the cold. In the pouring rain.

Naruto, meanwhile, was conversing with a very ragged looking Sasuke. He wasn't all too happy about seeing Sasuke on his walkway, nor was he too happy to see the other boy at all. "What the hell are you doing here!" were the first words out of his mouth.

Sasuke just gave him a tired look. Of course, that made Naruto bristle all the more. "What the hell! You think you can dump me, then go out with that. . .that. . .Sakura! And then, while you're out with her, why not just kiss me and tell me that you went and got yourself raped for me, just so you could get mad and dump me!"

Sasuke didn't even flinch. Naruto grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shook him roughly. "Who the fuck do you think you are!" he screamed, probably loud enough for the entire street to hear him.

Sasuke sighed and pointed at the door. "Can we go inside and have this one-sided argument there?"

"What makes you think I'd invite you into my house! Huh! After what you did to me!"

Sasuke sighed again in exasperation. "If we stand out here, one of us is going to catch a cold, you moron. At least go somewhere warm and dry to bitch me out."

Naruto 'hmph'ed and crossed his arms, intent on not letting Sasuke go inside. Sasuke rolled his eyes and took Naruto by the arm, attempting to drag him up the walk. Naruto shoved him away. "Don't touch me," he growled.

Sasuke ignored Naruto's bad mood, shrugged and walked into the house, as if it were his own and this was a common thing. Naruto stared at the closing front door for a second or two, then dashed headlong down the walkway. He tugged viciously on the handle, but to no avail. "Sasuke!" he screamed. "Unlock the goddamn door!"

Sasuke peered out the window at the blond fool, smirking, until he noticed Iruka was standing right beside him and glaring at him pointedly. "Uh. . .hi, Iruka," he said, unlocking the door hastily and stepping aside.

Naruto, who hadn't been prepared for the door to unlock anytime soon, as this was Sasuke after all, tugged a little too hard on the door and stumbled inside, tripping over the doorstep and nearly landing flat on his face.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, as Naruto later thought, Sasuke caught him out of instinct and the blond found himself wrapped up in the other boy's strong arms. After only a second of hesitation, Naruto threw himself out of the dark-haired boy's grip, 'hmph'ing and rubbing his arms, as if to rid them of something he'd spilled on himself. He promptly began to ignore Sasuke.

Sasuke looked back at Iruka, who shrugged and said, "What brings you here, Sasuke?"

The ebony-haired teen sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "It's a long story," he said.

Iruka raised an eyebrow questioningly. Sasuke glanced about, as if nervous. "Um. . .well okay, not really. Itachi's. . .studying. . .with Orochimaru. I decided to stay out of their way."

Iruka barely believed that Sasuke would leave because his brother was studying, but he decided not to speculate. "And so," he prompted, waiting for Sasuke to ask the question he knew the teen wanted to ask.

Sasuke coughed, and said in a small voice, "I was wondering if I could stay here tonight."

Iruka was about to reply, when Naruto's voice, bold and impervious, interrupted him. "What makes you think you're welcome here? Huh? Go somewhere else! I don't want you here."

Sasuke glared at the blond, who sneered right back. Iruka fixed Naruto with 'the look' and said, "Now, Naruto. That's not very nice."

For once, Naruto wasn't intimidated. Normally, when Iruka said something in that tone, Naruto shut up and obeyed. But 'that's not very nice' wasn't a good choice of words given the current situation.

"Not very nice! Not very nice? You want to know what's 'not very nice'! I'll tell you what! Getting dumped by this asshole, just 'cause you try and be nice to him! 'I never want to see your face again!' Well, I don't wanna see yours either, Sasuke! I never, ever want to even hear your stupid voice! I want you to fall off a cliff and die! Die! Do you hear me! I want you to die!"

"Naruto -"

"Shut up!" the blond cried, backhanding Sasuke as hard as he could.

The black-haired teen's eyes widened in surprise and held a hand to his cheek, feeling the angry red mark boil under his fingers.

Naruto continued screaming, ranting like a lunatic. "I don't care what you think of me! I don't care, Sasuke! I don't! You don't love me! You don't know what love is!"

The irate boy decided then would be a good time to make a 'stately' exit. He flung open the door, prepared to march out into the stormy night and. . .

He tripped over the doorstep and landed heavily on his stomach. A foot decided to embed itself in his rib cage just then. Sasuke's voice practically quivered with rage. "You. . .you! Gods!"
Sasuke swore, turned away and rubbed his temples, as if he had a headache. Naruto got up, clutching his side. "Asshole," he hissed.

"Idiot," Sasuke retorted.

"Boys," Iruka cut in, rolling his eyes. "Arguing like this isn't helping. Sasuke, you're welcome to spend the night, and Naruto, you're going to put up with him and be friendly."

The brunet gave his blond charge a pointed look and Naruto managed a tight smile. "Yes, Iruka," he said through gritted teeth.

- - - - - - - - -

Naruto glared at Sasuke. Sasuke glared at Naruto. They said nothing, and moved not at all. Finally, Naruto sighed and slumped back on his bed. "I can't believe Iruka wouldn't let you sleep in the guest room," he groaned.

"Hmph," Sasuke said. "I don't want to be in here any more than you want me to be in here."

Naruto stared at the ceiling. "Can't say as though I blame Iruka. I wouldn't want Kakashi sleeping in my room, either."

Sasuke made no comment. Naruto sat up and looked at the dark-haired boy, almost venomously. "So. . .why aren't you sick and dying, like you should be?" he asked, his tone acidic.

Sasuke shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." His tone was cold and indifferent.

"Hmph," Naruto said. "Life is so unfair. You're such an asshole and nothing bad ever happens to you."

Sasuke snorted in anger. "You moron. Bad things do happen to me. Or have you recently forgotten that my parents are dead? And then there was. . .that thing. . .And now there's you. You don't believe me, so what the hell's the point?"

Feeling uncharacteristically drained, Sasuke flopped back onto the makeshift bed on the floor and stared blankly at the ceiling. "What the hell is the point? You open up to someone, and this is what happens. It makes no sense."

"Nothing ever does," Naruto said, strangely quiet, strangely logical. "It's all spur of the moment, just for the thrill."

Sasuke looked at the other boy, but the blond said nothing more. There was silence for a long, long time. And just as Sasuke was about to drop off to sleep, Naruto's voice, pained and tight, cut through the nighttime air.
"Goddamnit!"

"God damn what?" Sasuke asked, yawning and resting his head against his pillow.

"God damn you, god damn me, god damn everything!"

There was a rustling of bedclothes, and then, the noise stopped. Then, Sasuke found Naruto cuddling up against him, his big blue eyes watery with tears and lucid. "You're an asshole and I hate you, I really do."

Sasuke tried to find the words to speak, but Naruto was rambling again. "But. . .I'm the asshole for not believing you when you said that, especially when that's what I wanted to hear."

"Naruto. . .you shouldn't forgive me."

"I never said I was. I was asking you to forgive me."

Sasuke sighed. He wanted to hug Naruto, which was rare, and say that everything was all right and that everything was forgiven, even himself. "I can't forgive you."

Naruto blinked and looked at him stupidly. "Ah? What?"

Sasuke smiled, a little bit sorrowfully and stroked Naruto's cheek, very, very gently. "I can't forgive you until you forgive me, and I don't deserve to be forgiven. So I can't forgive you."

Naruto made a small noise of surprise, and tried to read the expression on the other boy's face. "Ah. . .I think I understand. . ."

Naruto hesitated, but only for a second before shyly wrapping his arms about the other boy and nuzzling Sasuke's shoulder with his cheek. "I forgive you, Sasuke," he murmured, "I love you," he finished.

Sasuke sighed softly and wrapped his own arms about Naruto.

- - - - - - - - -

Band practice started at eight o'clock sharp Monday morning. The band was in full attendance.

"All right, today we'll be starting a new piece -"

Everyone sighed collectively. Trust Iruka to give them a new piece two weeks before a final performance.

Iruka glared and everyone shut up, turning to the specified page and picking up their instruments.

"Ready? Good."

On Iruka's signal, the instruments sounded, the resulting noise resounding in the halls of the school.

It was about half-way through the practice that Sasuke began to feel woozy. He felt light-headed and almost sick. The world in front of him was wobbling. He shut his eyes and paused in his playing, attributing his lack of air to that.

The woozy feeling persisted. He felt very, very weak. His limbs felt like they were made of lead. His stomach was churning violently, as the sea does when beset by a violent tempest.

There was a pause in the playing and his hand shot up into the air. He could barely hear Iruka's voice. "Yes, Sasuke?"

"May I be excused?" he asked, choking down bile and vomit.

Iruka blinked. "Of course. . ."

Sasuke was up in a flash, and leaving the room almost before anybody registered what was going on.

Iruka chanced a glanced over at Naruto. The blond looked startled, staring after Sasuke's retreating form. He felt Iruka's worried gaze and looked over at the teacher, concern scrawled all over his features.

From there, the practice proceeded till end, with Sasuke never returning.

As everyone filtered out of the room, Naruto got up and sighed. He gathered up his music, then walked over to where Sasuke had left his instrument. "I guess I'll pack this up and take it to him," he said, looking at the forlorn looking flute.

He tried to pry it apart. Iruka glanced over at the blond student, and nearly fainted. "Naruto! You're going to break it!"

"Eh?" Said teen paused and glanced up at the instructor.

Iruka sighed and sat down beside Naruto. "You don't take it apart at all," he said, proceeding to clean the instrument. Naruto watched, fuming slightly. Iruka rolled his eyes. "This isn't even the school's instrument. Can you imagine what would happen if you told Sasuke you broke his flute?"

"Uhhh. . .I didn't know it was his," Naruto volunteered, sheepishly.
Iruka said nothing more and put the flute gently in its case. He handed it to Naruto. "Get to class," he said.

Naruto saluted and dashed off out of the room, leaving behind his own music. Iruka sighed. "How typical. . ."

- - - - - - - -