Chapter 3
Previously:
Yumiko stuck her tongue out at Iruka like little children teasing one another.
"Alrighty, you boys ready to help?"
Kakashi placed a bookmark in the book and closed it. "Ready when you'll be."
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Yumiko cheerfully exclaimed as she walked for the door.
"Hello is this home of the Karasu residence…" Gai-sensei was at the door looking slowly up from the smooth curves of the woman to the face of a pale Geisha doll. He paused when his eyes leveled to Yumiko's.
"Yes it is how may I help you?" Yumiko smiled, thinking that this man could really use a wardrobe makeover.
Gai suddenly stammered for a moment, unable to think what to say, when suddenly Rock Lee ran all the way down the hallway stopping when he was face to face to Gai sensei.
"GAI SENSEI!!!" He jumped for the embrace.
Usually the expectation was for Gai to be ready for the embrace, only in this case, he did the complete opposite. He moved to the side, and Lee fell down on the ground.
Yumiko gasped, "Aw, are you alright?"
"Don't worry he'll be alright, however, I don't know if I'll be." Gai suddenly grabbed her hands close to his face.
"Eh?" said Yumiko dumbfounded.
"Gai, I think it would be wise if you let the poor woman be." Kakashi walked in on the totally awkward not even close to romantic scene.
Gai let go of her hands, and Yumiko went into her home. He, unfortunately, felt the 'youthful' rejection. Yumiko ran to her fridge and got an ice pack for Lee.
Lee was on the ground still, wondering why his lovely youthful sensei did such a thing to him. Yumiko crouched on the ground and shook Lee a little.
"Hey are you alright? Here's some ice for your face." Yumiko handed him the ice pack.
"Arigato," Lee shook his head in gratitude.
"Kakashi could you and Iruka unpack the sofa and the television?"
"Allow me!" Gai was ready to jump into the room, when Yumiko grabbed his shirt and threw him into the ground.
"I would prefer that you didn't. I apologize for being rude, as a hostess but I would appreciate it if you would be mannered in my home." Yumiko gaze lost its happy color; it looked completely serious enough that even Iruka didn't bother to try to relieve the situation.
"I apologize for my irrationalness, Karasu-sensei." Gai looked down in shame of his 'youthful' actions.
"Gomenasai Karasu-sensei for being a burden on you," Lee bowed apologetically.
"Please enter my home; I'll make you some tea." Yumiko smiled.
Kakashi and Iruka unpacked the sofa and TV and placed them where Yumiko requested in matter of seconds, in the living room.
"It's nice to have company, thanks for the help." Yumiko smiled.
A small bark and a low growl came from a room across her bedroom. Everyone tensed but Yumiko.
"Iruka could you help unpack my CDs and alphabetize them on the shelf, Gai, please help Kakashi unpack my dishes, I'll be back in just a moment." Yumiko bowed humbly before her guests while attending to the unusual growl.
"I'm sorry if you have issues with my guests, Tsunei." Yumiko unlocked the chain from the black wolf's neck. There were three wolves, two grown wolves, one black with the white colored sign for Yang, he had eyes that were white, and his name was Tsunei. And the other white with the black colored sign for Ying with black dark eyes and her name was Yuumei . As for the little pup, he was known as Zenmei, he was an unusual little wolf pup with gray fur with red eyes, he was extremely curious, but he stayed close to Yuumei, his mother.
"I expected that you brought us our food at the very least?" Said Yuumei, she was currently breastfeeding Zenmei, the newborn pup.
"I did, I'll give it to you when Tsunei introduces himself to our guests." She smiled.
"The things I've done for you, little one." Tsunei sighed.
She smiled and scratched him behind the ears. "Thank you Tsunei," she whispered only for him to hear. He licked her cheek in response.
"Let us meet our guests shall we Yumiko?" said Tsunei, "I'll bring you your food, Yuumei, momentarily."
The Kunoichi and he-wolf left the room, as they met her guests, who completely fulfilled her requests.
"I'm sorry for being a rude hostess I haven't prepared the food for you." Yumiko left Tsunei alone, for the fridge, to prepare snacks for her guests. Iruka completed his alphabetizing task to meet the black wolf.
"Hello Iruka-kun, how long has it been?"
"Hey Tsunei, you old wolf, it's been ok." He scratched him behind his ears. Everyone in the room tensed but Yumiko and Iruka.
Lee simply stared at the wolf. "Hello Tsunei-kun?"
Gai and Kakashi finished completing their dish task, as they looked at the wolf.
"You two smell like sweat, " Tsunei's nose twitched.
"It's hard not to break these dishes. She's fond of China isn't she?"
Tsunei walked up to Kakashi ignoring Lee's presence, and looked up panting. "That she is, but there's a reason for it."
"Really? Do tell!"
"Us."
Yumiko smiled as she finished the last of the snacks. She created a high tower of fruits and adorable little cakes of cheesecake and carrot cake. Everyone but Yumiko was hungry.
Gai and Lee helped with setting up some her paintings on the wall, they were of Geshias and lovely scenes of the ocean.
Kakashi and Iruka helped set up some of her plants around the room as she instructed to position them.
Tsunei, on the other hand, got to help and moved the dinner table, while he set up some of the flowers on the table cloth. Yumiko set up her bedroom on her own with the help of her doppelgangers and finished the job in matter of minutes, she later returned to put away the weapons she bought into the closet by her bedroom. Everyone helped out with cleaning, moving things where they should be, sweeping and most of all helping her get rid of the delicious snacks!
They were exhausted, but the desserts made it worth it.
"Kakashi aren't you going to eat any?" said Iruka.
"Probably not."
Yumiko made a grimace.
"I heard from a sensei that you don't like sweet stuff, that's fine, because I'll make you eat it!" She grabbed a case where it was perfect for holding little cakes and placed one of each kind of cake in the case, it looked as appetizing as the tower of snacks.
"You're going to eat this, and you're going to return the case!" She smiled triumphantly.
"How are you going to know if I don't?"
"Simple, you'll look at me the same way."
Iruka shrugged for a moment, then reminisced over the past when she made cakes for him to test, he realized, that her cooking was better than anyone he knew.
"Kakashi, taking from experience, you'll like it." Iruka winked.
Gai and Lee enjoyed the food gobbling it down using the utmost manners they could. Yumiko smiled, and handed Tsunei some food to give to the other wolves. He later returned laying on the couch appearing to be sleeping, but actually keeping a close eye on the guests.
Yumiko smiled and laughed as they socialized. Kakashi sat on the couch next to Tsunei and scratched his ears, familiar with the dog instinct.
"It appears I have to rethink about my ideas about Yumiko," He said quietly to Tsunei.
"That's good, because I'll have to bite your hand off if you thought of her like those other women. She's been like another offspring of mine. She's lived a hard life, seeing what you humans do to one another. You corrupted race." He muttered.
"Your right about us, Tsunei and you'd probably like Pakkun, you two would make such fine canine friends."
Everyone was stuffed from the snacks, and sought to burn it all off while training the very next day, they sat around the living room, socializing. Gai, Lee and Kakashi decided that they would leave, seeing it was getting late. Kakashi continued to have second aspects about this new Kunoichi, as he left.
Iruka stayed, as a long old friend of Yumiko's.
Everyone left, but Iruka, who sat next to Tsunei. Yumiko said her goodbyes and made sure that Kakashi would get the sweets, she later returned to sit next to Iruka.
"You've changed, neechan." Iruka spread his arms around the chair.
"I would say the same about you, Iruka-kun."
She stretched a little and got out of the seat. "I'll be back momentarily, I'm going to change."
"You do that."
Yumiko left Iruka, to change into her Pajamas. While Iruka, checked his breath, and smoothed his hair a little and checked if there was anything else wrong with his attire. Partially under the impression that he would 'get some' with Yumiko who appeared with a pair of cotton pajamas that did not look nowhere close to what Iruka had in mind. Iruka made a grimace that Yumiko glanced at as she sat next to him.
"You pervert. I saw your face. You thought you were actually going to get laid tonight eh?"
"Can't you blame a guy for trying?" He wrapped his arm around her.
"I probably could, only you know as well as I do that you haven't even hit first base with me yet." She removed his arm off her shoulder. Iruka scooted to the side of the sofa, while Yumiko replaced herself to the chair across from her. Her eyes became tired, and exhausted.
"Thanks for helping out Iruka-kun."
"Thanks for getting me fat."
"Anytime," Yumiko smiled.
"So tell me, how are you back in Kohona?"
"If I told you would you believe me seriously?"
"Depends, are you going to let me ask you out on a date?"
Tsunei growled at Iruka, while Yumiko laughed. "I would rethink that if I were you, even if you were Yumiko's childhood friend I would still be… agitated by that."
"Ok, I may or may not believe her, if she would agree to do one thing." Iruka turned to the wolf.
"Which would be?"
"To allow me to marry her," Iruka's face was serious.
Tsunei growled, "You know I don't take jokes very well." His fangs began to show a little.
Iruka laughed, "Alright, alright, enough joking, how's about she will honor this promise," Iruka turned eye to eye to Yumiko, "that Yumi-chan does not under any circumstances under her will, that she will leave Kohona."
Tsunei stopped growling, and walked over to Yumi-chan his head on her lap, Iruka unfortunately was seething with jealousy of how lucky that wolf was.
"I'll accept this promise, but you will listen to this story, you will keep it a secret, and most importantly, I want you to allow me to watch over Naruto-kun."
"But we need to speak to the Hokage about this."
"I know, but I'm talking about as a teacher, you taught him when he was young. Allow me to look after him…"
Iruka looked at Yumiko seriously, "as a parent?"
"Yes. As a parent, all his life, he did not have any siblings, Jiraya was like a grandfather to him, Hokage-sama a grandmother, but he never had a close parent like you. You are like a father to him. I can see it in his eyes whenever he sees you. As he grows you no longer look at him as a delinquent student." She smiled while looking down, "But as a father."
"I accept."