I love my reviews btw, LOL, It's nice to know someone cares enough to SQUEAL, GASP! and GLOMP their way through my hastily written stuff!

This is a plot-mover chappie, enjoy:)

Please Note: These events happen the same night as Chp. 18. (it should be obvious, though)

Japanese fun:

'Daijobu ka?' means 'Are you ok?' ; 'Soo desu ne' filler phase means 'That is true'

Chapter 19 – Food for Thought

Iruka was pleasantly surprised when Naruto invited him out for ramen this evening. He looking forward to seeing him and after years of tirelessly supporting the little blonde "ramen pit" it was nice to see a little dividend. Although if anything Iruka was happy for the company.

"I don't get to see much of Naruto anymore," he thought.

He closed up the Academy office, checking the teachers' lounge and the bathrooms before heading out the doors to lock up. Walking out into the entrance yard a certain melancholy took him. As the academy headmaster it was his job to be the last person out each night and with that he had to make sure that everything was safe and secure He loved his job but sometimes being all alone at the end of his day made him a little sad. His students always had mothers, siblings, fathers or friends, just someone waiting for them with a smile in the schoolyard. For him the yard was always empty, of course that had all changed when Naruto became his pupil.

As he walked up to Ichiraku a tall blond ninja who looked a little wild and a little dangerous at the same time jumped up from the stool he he was sitting at to wave at him.

"Oi! Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka responded with a polite, embarrassed wave. "He looks so different now, but he's still the same Naruto," thought Iruka. The boy that he had helped raised was still in there, but he was stronger, more confident. "...and he's tall. Who would have guessed that?" the chuunin mused.

Iruka sat down as Naruto plopped beside him. "Thank you for inviting me Naruto," he said politely.

"Iie, Iruka-sensei, this is nothing considering the small fortune you spent on me here when I was a kid," he said with a laugh. Iruka laughed as well and he also took note of his recognition of the inequity.

"You're still just a kid, Naruto," he thought fondly.

"Hey Ojisan!" Naruto yelled to the ramen vendor who stood a mere three feet away. "I'll have a pork-miso ramen with the works. What do you want Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka nodding his head in recognition at the old ramen shopowner, "I'll have a vegetable ramen with barbecued eel, please." Naruto stuck his tongue. He hated eel.

"Hai, Hai." said man with a smile smoothly preparing to make the orders for his best customers.

Iruka settled on his stool a little better. "So, how are you doing Naruto? I understand that Hokage-sama thinks highly of you and your team. I also heard you've had a lot of important missions lately."

Naruto threw a hand behind his head seemingly embarrassed by the sudden praise. "I guess," he replied good-naturedly.

Iruka was surprised by the modesty. Not too long ago he would have boasted to Iruka about his exploits to near exaggeration. Now that Naruto had the recognition of a lot of people who believed and trusted in him, he didn't need that quite so much. "He's finally becoming mature," the chuunin teacher realized. It was nice to see and Iruka felt a surge of pride that he had been a part of helping the young man in front of him turnout so well.

Iruka watched their bowls be placed in front of them. "Well, I'm sure you're hungry Naruto. Let's eat."

"Idatakimasu!" they said in unison breaking apart their chopsticks.

They ate in companionable silence slurping away. Iruka glanced over at the blond-nin and noticed that he was eating a little slower than he used to. "There's something wrong," Iruka thought immediately.

It had been a while since he had to read Naruto's moods. Not that it was ever hard given how honest and open the boy was, he was just out of practice. However, like throwing shuriken or molding chakra, interpreting Naruto just wasn't something you ever forgot.

Iruka pushed his empty bowl away. "So, you want to tell me what's up?" he asked folding his hands on the counter.

Naruto's eyes got big as he suppressed choking down his final swallow. Slamming on his chest a fist and gasping he wiped at his mouth with his sleeve. He looked in surprise at Iruka who locked his with a serious expression. Naruto relented quickly. Looking down at his bowl with a sigh and shrug, he gathered himself before speaking.

"What if you have the chance to help someone, but you weren't sure whether it would make them worse instead of better," asked Naruto keeping his gaze down on the table.

Iruka saw the concern that etched Naruto's face. "He is a sensitive guy still for all his loud ways," he thought. The chuunin resisted asking who this person was. Keeping it in the realm of the hypothetical he said, "Well not everything that is helpful feels good and not everything that feels good is helpful. Which do you think this is?"

Naruto's face scrunched up a little. "I don't know. All I know is that this person is not the same anymore. It's like something's broken."

"What do you mean?" asked his sensei.

"I mean, yeah, sure, he's not dangerous anymore, but that's just a shell. I mean, I'm sure its better and all that he's nice to people and that's just great. He was never given a choice. It was all just forced on him."

Iruka hesitated before responding. He now had an idea who this person was, but he didn't know what Naruto could do about it. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. It could mean trouble for him and possibly the village. Iruka chose his next words carefully.

"Naruto, what you need ask yourself is, is this what he wants or is it what you want?"

"Of course, it's what he wants!" he said with a slam of his fist. He raised his head, throwing arms wide to emphasize his words. "I know it's what he wants... and I hope its what he needs. It might just give him back control again... maybe for the first time. Heck, even a tough bastard like him doesn't deserve this!"

Naruto's last statement removed any doubts Iruka had about the person's identity. Iruka kept up the pretense. "You know Naruto not everything that has happened to him has been bad. I think he's learned to accept weakness in others and himself... and to see strength in a different way."

Naruto turned to look at Iruka like he had missed the point. "I know all that! But, when he talks it's all fake, like he has to be content 'cause he can't be anything else."

Iruka nodded his head in agreement unconsciously. "Soo desu ne," he said, "He does always hide something. It's like every negative emotion he could have and should have has been shut off. And because of that it's made all the good emotions meaningless."

Naruto grinned brightly. His former sensei had summed up his thoughts eloquently.

Iruka shook his head a little, refocusing. He still didn't know what Naruto was planning. "But what are we talking about Naruto what are you planning to do? You know..."

Naruto looked up and exploded in a greeting that effectively interrupted the interrogation.

"Kakashi-sensei! Long time no see, you must back from a mission, ne?

Iruka sputtered to a halt and turned to gape at that the jounin who sat at the stool next to his.

"Something wrong with your jaw Iruka?" Kakashi asked dryly, "You know I've heard there's only one way to get a cramp like that."

Iruka snapped his mouth shut abruptly as Naruto rolled with laughter. "That's a good one Kakashi-sensei," he said.

Iruka frowned. He didn't know the punch line, but he was sure it was perverted. He was also mildly disturbed that Naruto got the joke so quickly. He remembered that he was still getting answers out of Naruto when the teenage chuunin faced the street to holler at someone.

"Oi, Shikamaru! You're just the man I wanted to see!" Naruto yelled.

The normally bored-looking nin appeared at the end of the street and had a panicked look on his face as he searched frantically for a hiding spot. Giving up hope, he sighed deeply and waved back to Naruto who was bounding up to him.

Iruka watched the boys slip away into the night down the lamp-lined street. It was his turn to sigh. Naruto was obviously talking about Sasuke. He would need to track him down later and make sure he didn't do something reckless.

He turned towards Kakashi as the jounin readied himself for the steaming bowl of ramen placed before him. Iruka became intensely curious and observed closely. After witnessing the "garbage pail" technique at the restaurant a few days ago he was ready to see how the masked man would manage soup.

Kakashi paused as he broke apart his chopsticks. "You know it's rude to stare like that," he informed Iruka.

"I know," replied Iruka getting a little cocky, "but I can't past up a chance for a repeat performance."

"Oh," Kakashi said playing it off, "It's really not that exciting. I chew and swallow like most people. Besides didn't I remember Kurenai telling you there were other ways to get my mask off.?"

Iruka crossed his arms defensively. "If you think I care what you look like under that you are crazy." The pony-tailed man lifted his chin as a rosy color highlighted his face. He closed his eyes as he continued tartly. "You are full of yourself Kakashi if you..."

A slurping sound interrupted Iruka. His eyes popped opened to watch Kakashi push away the finished bowl.

Iruka's face was froze with shock. "That's unhealthy." he said aghast.

Kakashi turned to him with a smile twinkling in his eye. "I'm very shy."

Iruka began to laugh as if Kakashi had just told the funniest joke in the world and it soon infected the silver haired man as well. Recovering slowly they sobered to a comfortable silence.

"You look tired," Iruka said restarting the conversation.

Kakashi nodded, "I've had a lot of traveling to do lately. It makes me almost wish I was in charge of a genin team again."

Iruka smiled. He knew Kakashi had failed dozens of academy grads who were offered to him for a genin assignment, with one important exception. He doubted the man would ever take one on again.

Kakashi stretched, rubbing his left shoulder a bit. "How is Naruto doing? He never asks me anything anymore, so I was happy to see he was confiding in you still."

Iruka blushed again for a different reason. A long time ago he and Kakashi had got into a nasty argument in front of the third Hokage. It occurred when Naruto's first chuunin exam came up. Iruka yelled at Kakashi in front of all the assembled teachers. He had disagreed strongly that Naruto and the others were ready to be tested. It was the rudest thing he had done in his life. Of course, Kakashi had bluntly put Iruka in his place and told him it wasn't his concern anymore. Later, Iruka had to admit to himself that Kakashi had been right. It was a big part of his respect for the man.

"Naruto is so busy he doesn't have much time to talk to me either," Iruka said. "Hokage-sama seems to have very high hopes for him. Even if he's not a team captain yet, she's still given him a lot of responsibility in a short time. I worry about the pressure it puts on him sometimes."

Kakashi seemed a little perturbed. "The Hokage has her hands in a lot of things at the moment, she needs all the tools she can get," he said tersely.

Iruka nodded. He didn't like to think of shinobi as weapons or tools the way Kakashi implied. Instead, he preferred to think of it as if all the hearts of the village shared a single beat and single purpose. Each person doing what they could. "Maybe I would be more jaded if I had gone through everything Kakashi has," he wondered.

Iruka wanted to share his concerns with this man as someone who cared about both Naruto and Sasuke. He was worried. He needed to have his fears validated or dismissed by someone else and the present company seemed, in all irony, ideal.

"Kakashi-san, may I ask you a question?"

The jounin's eyebrow raised at the sudden formality. "Hmmm, what is it?"

Iruka leaned heavily on the counter they sat at, as if his very thoughts weighed bodily on him. "Naruto and Sasuke have been..."

"Speak of the devil,' interrupted Kakashi turning.

Iruka broke off what he was about to say as he looked in the same direction as the scarecrow-nin. Coming down the street in hurried manner, Uchiha Sasuke walked stiffly seemingly filled with an emotion that Iruka had rarely seen in the young man as of late. Sasuke was furious.

Iruka started to get up to catch him.

"Don't do it." Kakashi advised him.

Iruka turned to look at Kakashi, "What do you mean? He's obviously upset."

"I know." said Kakashi. "When he gets like that it's best to let him burn it off."

Iruka ignored the advice. He thought, "I've been with him almost every day for the last three years Kakashi. What do you know?"

He intercepted Sasuke in the street. "Sasuke are you ok?" he asked in concern. The flash of fury that came from the bespectacled face made him step back a little. He really wasn't used to Sasuke like this, it made him remember the twelve year old version with sudden clarity.

Sasuke seemed to compose himself before responding. Using his index finger to push his glasses back up on his nose, he replied, "I'm fine Iruka-sensei, I am just returning home after doing some work at the hospital."

The academy headmaster nodded understanding. As his part-time guardian and counselor, Iruka had encouraged Ino's idea to diversify the work Sasuke did and visiting children in the Konoha critical care ward seemed a perfect choice to him.

"It's a little late to be coming from there isn't it?" came a voice from behind them

They both turned to look at Kakashi who appeared to have invited himself to their conversation.

A little of Sasuke's anger seemed to return. This time it was an iciness that lacked the heat earlier. "Kakashi," said Sasuke sounding half like an accusation, "Did you know Sakura was in the hospital?"

"I did. I gathered she was unconscious, but in stable condition. I haven't had a chance to visit her yet, but unlike you I have missions to complete."

Iruka looked between the two half-confused. Theirs was a strange animosity that Iruka couldn't figure out. It explained why Sasuke never talked about Kakashi. "Of course, he doesn't mention Naruto much either," he thought. While Iruka pondered away the conversation between the other two men had degraded.

"She almost died," said Sasuke acidly, "you're concern for her is typical."

"She's a kunoichi, Sasuke," said Kakashi condescendingly, "Perhaps you've forgotten what that means."

Sasuke was snarling at this point and Iruka seeing the situation deteriorate, tried to end it. "Kakashi!" he yelled, turning to Sasuke, "I'm sure he's concerned Sasuke, everyone in the village is working hard right now."

Iruka glanced back at where Kakashi was to see his figure retreating leisurely back to the stools of the ramen stand. "The Anbu don't seem to be with you this evening, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi said without looking back. "You should probably run home quickly."

Iruka felt defeated by Kakashi's snide remarks. He looked at back at Sasuke to see the young man glaring evilly at the jounin's back. Tossing his head a little Sasuke resumed walking away when Iruka called out to him, "Sasuke wait." He took a few steps towards him the younger man and had to halt abruptly as Sasuke stopped and turned back around to look him.

"Iruka-sensei," he said quickly.

"Yes, Sasuke," answered a confused Iruka.

"When you want someone to know how you really feel, but you aren't sure how they really feel is it better to tell them or not tell them?"

Iruka had to blink. That was definitely the largest sentence he had heard Sasuke use in a while and the fact it was also a question left him reeling.

"Well," he responded recovering, "I would say it's always better to tell them."

"And if they don't feel the same," said Sasuke searching Iruka's face for honesty

"It doesn't matter," said Iruka shaking his head. "The fact is, if you aren't willing to tell them directly that means you don't respect them and what they have to say."

Sasuke became very still as Iruka's words sunk in. After a minute he produced one of his rare half-smiles. "Arigatou, Iruka-sensei," he said taking off again. The young man sprinted back in the direction of the hospital. Iruka could only guess what that was all about.

"Damn that Kakashi," he fumed, "he didn't make things any easier just now."

Iruka stormed back to the Ramen stand where Kakashi sat calmly reading his ecchi book. Iruka didn't even bother to comment on it as he was too focused on what just happened.

"What is your..."

Kakashi looked up with his visible eye. It glinted with a surprising intensity that frightened Iruka. The chuunin steeled himself to continue, but Kakashi interrupted him.

"I could not somach Sasuke's selfishness at the moment. Gomen Iruka, as you noticed before I'm kind of tired." he explained and with that Kakashi returned to reading.

Iruka's mouth worked a little and he seemed to want to tell him off in some way. "I would have thought you'd be the most understanding of his problems," he said to Kakashi. The jounin stoically just ignored him though and Iruka turned away disgusted to go search for Naruto.

Kakashi closed his book quietly turned to watch the man fold slowly into the dim of night. "Would you still be so compassionate if you were there that day?" he thought accusingly at the man's back. "Seeing Naruto as he was... how Sasuke had left him?"

Kakashi rose and sighed to let the anger at Iruka's words seep away. His mind settled, he waved good night to the ramen cart owner as he was closing up and set off.

"I guess I'll stop by the hospital in the morning and see how Sakura is," he decided springing away. Kakashi had been on missions constantly for Tsunade since well before the mysterious explosion at her residence. During that time he had only gotten to check in on Sakura twice since her close call. She had been sleeping each time he had come by, but he was sort of glad at that. He felt oddly sentimental around her as of late.

Kakashi headed home to his bed while a different mission occupied Iruka as he trailed Naruto and Shikamaru. He had found the boys quickly after leaving Ichiraku and at first not wanting to interrupt their conversation, hung back. The chuunin soon found himself eavesdropping on their conversation.

Spying on Naruto was not what he had in mind, but Iruka was intensely curious to know what scheme Naruto was hatching. Iruka slipped up to the rooftops about them and listen with an ear to the edge.

"And you're sure about this?" Shikamaru said.

"Yup," said Naruto, "I heard this all from Tsunade. She thinks it will happen the day after they all leave. Since she'll be busy she wants you in charge of the main defense."

Shikamaru sighed. "This is a royal pain in the ass you know that? I gather that these two don't normally work together, so we have that to our advantage. What about their targets? I'm assume it's the scroll plus you or him...both?"

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said suddenly defensive. "We've already worked all that out. In fact, the Hokage said she got the idea from you! Just be ready the morning after they set out for Lightning Country. Jaa!"

Iruka heard Naruto leave and he relaxed a little. "What the hell is going on! Why does Tsunade trust a bunch of teenagers with such important information and I still didn't find out about Sasuke," worried Iruka as he lay on the roof.

"Oi! Iruka-sensei Daijobuka? You stuck up there?"

Iruka almost fell off the roof as he peaked over to see Shikamaru smiling up at him. Iruka tried to hide his embarrassment as he jumped down. "Shikamaru, I'm sorry to have spying on your conversation with Naruto, but I must ask you something. Did he mention what he was going to do about Sasuke?"

Shikamaru scratched his head a little as he answered. "Not really, but I don't think he knows yet either. But, Naruto and the Hokage have only told me what I need to know."

"But why all the secrecy!"

Shikamaru looked at Iruka for a long moment and let his former teacher come the answers himself. "The Hokage obviously fears spying," Iruka thought ",or even dissention among the upper-level shinobi on what she's planning. It's dangerous and Naruto is at the center or it."

"I see." was all Iruka said to Shikamaru who nodded glad to see his sensei's brain was still functional.

Shikamaru turned to walk away when Iruka stopped him with another question. "Do you think that Naruto is doing the right thing, Shiakmaru, what if something bad happens."

"Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry I can't tell you more, because I don't know for sure. It's annoying, but Naruto and Tsunade are alike that way. They're both kind of obnoxious, but they have the strength to see things through no matter how tough it gets." Shikamaru grinned reassuringly. "Guess that's why they made such good leaders. Unlike me! Now please excuse me I need to get home before Ino gets mad."

The lazy looking nin made a face of mild disgust when he realized he just said something his dad would say. "God, I'm whipped," he mumbled to himself. "Goodnight Iruka sensei."

"Good night Shikamaru." he replied neutrally. Iruka watched the young man walk away.

Shikamaru, Naruto, so many children who he taught and helped raise were now becoming the soldiers who village would depend on. It all frightened him terribly at that moment. He had been a teacher for sometime now, but now the remembered faces these young men and women would haunt him as now fought and died for the village as adults.

Iruka looked up at the sky and took in its crystalline brilliance. He watched the soft play and pulse of the immeasureable stars, their vastness a soothing balm to his senses, washing away his fears.

Iruka replayed parts of the evening in his head and remembered an odd moment with an odd person. "Kakashi had sounded so cynical," he thought. The man implied that all ninja were just tools of the village. Iruka had thought that way too once, after his parents died, but Sandaime had helped him see things differently.

There was a pain in Kakashi, a sort of loneliness that made him want to comfort the powerful and perverted jounin. And at that, a strange idea popped into Iruka's head and he smiled as he just discovered an important new goal in life.

"I'll help you too, Kakashi-san," he told the starry sky.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: To respond to some rumblings in the reviewer comments. I love the ShikaTemari idea and in this fic there is a history there ...but the details will be for another ficlet. Also the ultimate goal of this story is for Shikamaru and Ino to "live happily ever after" or something like that... As for the bastardization of Neji... I love Neji, he's adorable... it's just...he's getting the shitty end of the relationship stick for now... but I still think he's very Neji in this story.

Oh yeah, given the events in the naruto manga lately (Can you believe it?) this story is rapidly becoming an alternate universe. When it does truly break from the manga I'll let y'all know.