Chapter 3: Father & Son

"Ano sa, ano sa, did you get a call?"

Iruka winced at the sudden outburst. It was 3 in the morning. Ichiraku Ramen was empty and still, except for one blonde boy who was shaking with excitement. The scarred bartender looked at him with sympathy, he felt somewhat guilty suspending the answer to the boy's question up to now. He was amazed by his patience though, he didn't ask a thing 'til the only job left to do in the bar was to lock the doors. That was their deal after all, finish one job before one gets to another.

Sighing, Iruka started, "Well, Konoha Records called…"

"And… and… what did they say?"

It was amazing how the only animated object in the bar could make everything else seem tensed.

"Naruto, I don't know how to say this…"

The excitement on the boy's face was beginning to fade.

"But… THEY WANT YOU IN THEIR OFFICE AT 8!"

Naruto stuttered, "F-for real?"

"For real."

The boy's shocked look grew into one big smile. "Yatta! They want me in their office! They want me in their office!"

Iruka laughed as Naruto jumped around the room. "Alright, alright. Don't get too excited, or you might not perform well."

"Oh, but I will!" Naruto boasted. "I'm telling you Iruka-sensei, after they hear me, they'd all be singing me praises. Ha! I'm gonna be"

"A legend someday. Right?"

Naruto pouted. "Mou, did you have to ruin my moment? I love saying that line."

The boisterous laughter that followed echoed in the whole place. Everything in this moment was perfect. Just perfect.

"Urusai!"

The laughing stopped.

"Say what?" the two men chorused.

"Did you say something?" Iruka asked.

"No, did ya?" Naruto said.

"Naze… nazhmshmmnn…"

Then it became clear. Apparently, somebody else was in the bar.

"Oh, I almost forgot him," Iruka said with a silly laugh.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess, another wasted customer, huh?"

Iruka sighed. "Yeah, he hasn't paid too. Too drunk for that."

"Geez, I dunno why these people even bother drinking when they can't handle it." Naruto said, but suddenly changed his expression.

"Wait, what do you mean he hasn't paid? He has a wallet right?"

Iruka made a silly smile out of his face. "Nope, I've searched."

The blonde boy gave the bartender a grave look. "No IDs? Cards? Anything that'll tell us where he lives?"

"No." Iruka answered, maintaining the smiling face with a different meaning.

"No, not tonight!" Naruto slumped on the nearest chair.

"Oh, c'mon Naruto," Iruka started. "You know he can't stay here. If we leave him outside, then how's he gonna pay for the two bottles of Jack he ordered?"

"Yadda, yadda…" Naruto looked away and tried not to listen. "You know, you should've stopped him when he was still conscious."

Iruka stopped. Smiled. A different kind of smile this time. "I would have, but I was busy listening to you."

Naruto tried to hold his head away from Iruka's direction. After a while he said, "Why does it always have to be me?"

"Thanks," Iruka said.

Naruto motioned to the sleeping boy. He surveyed him at a glance. "Is this guy even allowed to drink already? He's just about my age."

"You're 18." Iruka said.

"I don't drink though."

"That's because all you ever ingest is ramen. Eat something healthy once in a while."

"Ramen IS healthy," Naruto said as he took the other boy's arm and hung it on his neck. He wrapped his own arm around his waist to support his weight. "At least this one's not overweight. I don't have to worry about getting my tires flat."

"Here," Iruka abruptly hung yet another thing on the blonde boy's neck. It was a white plastic bag. Naruto could smell the special negi ramen from the opening.

"I put in some sushi too. For all your help. Y'know, once you're famous, you won't have to do this anymore."

Naruto was silent. He lifted his head to prevent something from falling. "Thanks," he simply said. He went to the bar's exit and headed straight towards his motorbike.

As Iruka appeared from the door, he said jokingly, "You look like you're driving your girlfriend back to your apartment."

Naruto glared.

"I'm just kidding, blonde hair and black kinda match." Iruka said.

"He smells like cigars and wine," Naruto said as he mounted his bike. "I'm off."

Iruka watched as the the young boy sped into the distance. He smiled and kept looking even when there was nothing to look at. That boy sure was special. He imagined that if he had a son, it would be exactly like him.

He took a deep breath, but somewhere in exhaling the air he just took in, he thought, " 'He smells like cigars and wine…' that wasn't exactly the reply I was expecting. Hmm, wouldn't people usually say, 'Duh… he's a boy and so am I?' Or something like that? Boy, if I was his father, he sure is taking after me."

Iruka shook his head. "Nah, it's too early to tell… that I-was-listening-to-you part really does work everytime though." He laughed as locked the doors.

A/N: As always, thanks for the review Teki Star! o I'll try to make the chapters longer. Actually, the first two chapters are supposed to be one chapter only, but I had some problems on segmenting along the way so I had to cut it into two. And oh, to answer yourcomment back there in The Resolution, I knew 'bout Gaara's eyebags. I wrote that 'coz no matter how much eye color he uses, he can't cver his eyebags... not when it's that dark! Thanks again!

I'll try my best to update this every weekend. Maybe sooner once the sem is over.

Yuni-chan, this is for ya Bon voyage to Neko-chan too La Li Ho