A sudden weight on his shoulder makes Iruka jump, snapping from his sorrowful gazing towards the floor.
"If it means anything to you, I think it looks kind of cool." she chirps happily. "You do?" he asks shocked, his brown eyes going slightly wide. Her arm still rests on his shoulder. She looks back over to him, her shining eyes looking brightly up at him.
Her gaze darts over to the painted picture. She squints her (eye color) eyes at it. "Yep. It kind of looks like a man with a cat moustache gone wild…" she says. She tilts her head, letting it fall to one side. He follows her gaze towards his masterpiece.
"Hmmm…" he hums, jaw slacking in slight, momentarily deep thought.
"It does." he admits tilting his head to the other side, his sorrows momentarily eased. He jumps slightly as the comfortably warm pressure lifts from his shoulder. He turns towards the young girl, a blush appearing on his cheeks at the sight of her. Cute (hair color) locks frame her face and her (eye color) eyes seems to sparkle.
"My name's (Name)." she says sticking out a hand towards him. He stares at her hand, then at her closed-eye smile, and then back to her hand in disbelief. She beams with a bright, hopeful aura. Realizing he's wasted almost a minute staring at her, he jumps, blushing a bright red. He nervously scratches at the back of his head.
"Iruka Umino." he mumbles, timidly shaking her hand.
Her smile still beams, spreading gracefully and fully on her lips. That smile on her chibi-ified face causes his heart to start racing uncontrollably. Her hand slides from his, yet he still feels the warmth from her small hand on his hand. His breath hitches as her eyes open and look directly into his. He barely hears the ringing of the bell and her goodbye. He completely misses the light blush on her cheeks and the shyness spreading to her demeanor and voice as she says goodbye.
A shout rings out, "IRUKA UMINO YOU ARE TO REPORT TO THE HOKAGE IMMEDIATLY!"
"Bye." she says one more time, eyes locking with his. She gives small wave of her hand. The girl races off. Her own heart is racing as a small blush cuts across her nose, heating her cheeks.
She dashes off to class, leaving him behind in a sort of trance. A voice hollers his name in his ear. The volume of it snaps him from his daze. A hand grips his shoulder, the same one the girl rested her arm upon, rather uncomfortable. Yep, definitely a teacher, and she does not sound happy with his expression of creativity. 'Unlike that nice girl' he thinks as his shoulders slump, the one starting to ache from the teacher's vulture grip.
He sighs as the teacher yells at him, telling him to report to the Hokage for the fifth time. The teacher releases her hold on him, pointing off in the opposite direction he still faced like a statue bestowed with sadness, ordering him to get a move on.
He casts one more sad teared glance in the direction she ran off in before turning and following the teachers order. He sighs internally as that ache in his heart returns, and a familiar coldness starts to run through his veins. Yes, that hurt swells back up, and it brings back the drowning feeling of loneliness with it.
His steps turn into stomps. He skillfully masks his sadness with anger. His mental and emotional walls are set back up around him as he prepares to face Lord Hokage.