Note: This is pretty long. And I don't think I'll be able to do another chapter in a while, with my break being over and all. Ah well… sorry for the wait! Here you go.

"What do you mean you still need him?" Naruko asked, surprised. "For a whole week, the only time I've ever spent with Naruto is at night, when he goes to sleep! Not counting the times when he wakes me up in the middle of the night for one reason or another, I haven't even spent an hour with him! And if we're going to live together, we have to be acquainted with each other." She looked at Naruto, who was currently in her arms right now. "Isn't that right Naruto?" she gushed playfully, "Ow!" she cried, as Naruto grabbed some of her hair, pulled it down, and put it in his mouth. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let her hair down, especially near the baby. Naruko was trying to get her hair loose from Naruto's mouth. "No Naruto! Very bad! Ah!" When she finally got it loose, she looked at Naruto and pouted. "Now I know it's my fault for letting my hair down today, but you can't do that in the future young man! Not to a boy, and especially not to a girl, alright?" she scolded lightly, wagging her finger lightly in front of his little face. Of course, Naruto didn't understand what was happening, and laughed, apparently thinking that he had done something good.

The third chuckled at the scene before him. "I'm sorry that my needing the child is preventing you from experiencing more than just hair pulling and sleepless nights, but laws aren't made in a day you know, and there are more laws that we need to make than you realize."

Naruko stopped caressing her scalp and asked, "Like what?"

The third thought for a moment, before answering, "Well, there are hospital laws, educational laws, issues about whether we should consider Naruto a citizen of the village or not…."

"Really? You have to discuss about that too?"

The third nodded. "Remember, there's a lot of controversy about letting the child live to begin with, so if they can't kill Naruto, then they'll just try to deprive him of any rights and hope that it'll kill him naturally."

Naruko cringed at the thought. "Who knew political figures were so devious?" She looked at Naruto and kissed him on his little forehead, as if attempting to make him forget what he had just heard.

The third rubbed his temples and rolled his eyes. "You have no idea," he muttered. He extended his arms and asked, "May I have him now?"

"Oh, sorry!' Naruko gently put Naruto in the third's arms and whispered softly, "We'll see each other again, okay Naruto?" She grabbed both of Naruto's little hands and kissed them both playfully, before the third took Naruto away.

Before the third was too far away, he said over his shoulder, "I don't know if you've done this yet or not," the third began, "but maybe you should spend the time you don't have with Naruto preparing yourself to raise Naruto." The third scratched his chin. "Last time I checked, you didn't make your apartment baby-friendly yet, have you?"

Naruko eyes grew wide and she laughed weakly. "Um… yeah… I was just getting to that, heh heh." She then started running to the nearest baby shop.

The third Hokage shook his head. "She means well and all," he looked at Naruto, who was playing with his hat, "but is she really ready for this type of challenge?"

"I'm sorry Naruko, but I can't in good conscience let you buy these!"

"Why not?" Naruko asked.

"Because, all these baby supplies will help that little demon grow and when he grows up, he's going to wreck havoc on the village again when we least expect it! And when that happens, I don't want anybody pointing fingers at me for contributing to the demon's growth! I have a family to take care of! I'm not going to endanger my family because of the demon's attack, or the danger of being involved with it!" the owner of the shop said.

By the looks of it, the owner of the shop wasn't going to listen to reason. Naruko frowned and sighed. She hated to do this, but when push comes to shove, she CAN play hardball if she needed to.

Naruko lowered her head, drawing circles on the counter with her finger, leaned close to the store owner's face, and whispered softly, "I understand… but can you at least make an exception? You can deliver it at night when everyone's asleep or something."

The store owner shook his head. "No way. I'm not going to risk it."

Naruko shrugged. "Fine then. I'll just stay then."

"…What?"

Naruko nodded. "You know, a lot of people think that I've been possessed by the demon, that the only reason I'm taking care of the child is because the demon is controlling me, making me do something that no one in their right mind would do. Because of that, a lot of people have started to avoid me. Whenever I go into a room, most people leave it, just because I'm there. I guess they're afraid that they're going to be possessed too. Like possession is a disease or something."

The store owner stepped back in fear. "Are… are you threatening me?"

Naruko shook her head. "If I am, I'm sorry, but the way I see it, I'm stating the facts and how this isn't beneficial for either of us. If I just leave today, I'll just come back tomorrow, and I'd just keep coming back until you sell me the things I want. Eventually, that's going to give your store a bad reputation." She crossed her arms, her voice being calm and steady, "And if I stay here, then no one will come into this store, just because I'm in it. If no one wants to go into your store, and you're not going to sell me anything, then eventually, this business of yours will fall apart, and last time I checked, you put a lot of pride into this business, right?"

The store owner glared at her. "Why you…."

Naruko didn't like being glared at, but at this point, she'd just have to make due. "Please reconsider sir." She bowed, showing him her respects.

The store owner hesitated, before finally shouting, "Yeah right! I'd rather lose my pride and joy than die or be ostracized!" He pointed towards the store's entrance. "Now get out of my -"

"Hold it right there!" Naruko and the store owner looked to their left, to see the store owner's wife, who had crossed her arms and was glaring at her husband. She walked up to her husband and yanked his ear. "Give the girl what she wants, you stupid old fool!"

The store owner, cringing at the pain inflicted on his ear, yelled, "But lady, you don't understand!"

The wife put her hands on her husband's face, squeezed his face in her hands, and forced him to look at her in the eye, a menacing aura surrounding her. "You said you had a family to take care of, right? Well how are you going to take care of your family when you don't even have enough money for groceries this week?! You want us to starve to death or something?"

The store owner was trying to break out of his wife's grip. "No, that's not it at all!"

"Then what are you standing around here for! Give the girl what she wants and be done with it!"

"Y-yes ma'am."

He was about to do just that, before his wife grabbed his collar and yelled, "Apologize to your customer first!"

The store owner hesitated for a moment, before finally bowing and saying, "I'm sorry Naruko."

Naruko didn't really know how to respond to the scene she had just witnessed, but she raised her hands in protest, saying, "Oh, don't worry about it! I completely understand!" She bowed to them herself. "If anything, I'm sorry that I was such a bother."

The store owner seemed to calm down after that. He sold Naruko the things she wanted, she thanked him, and was about to leave, before the store owner's wife yelled, "Take care of that kid! Ya hear?!" she grumbled, before adding, "And don't you think that I think that that kid isn't the demon! Let's just say I have a soft spot for fellow mothers! Ya hear!?"

Naruko looked at the store owner's wife in shock before smiling, nodding and saying, "Yes ma'am."

As Naruko left the store and was walking back home, she looked at her shopping bag and thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, when Minato was still alive, he was the one that brought in all the money, with missions and stuff like that. Now that he's dead, eventually I'm going to run out of money if I keep spending it like this." Naruko cringed. "Eventually… I'm going to have to find a job. …How am I going to do that?" Despite what others may have thought based on her discussion with the store shop owner, Naruko was very much telling the truth. Many people thought she really was possessed and they really did leave the room whenever she entered. What are the chances of those same people hiring her for a job? It was already bad enough that she was inexperienced, but now that she thought about it, the situation was much worse than she thought. "What am I gonna do?" she wailed.

Just then, she bumped into two familiar faces. "Naruko, hey, how's it going!"

"Izumo! Kotetsu!" She hugged the two of them and said, "I'm doing fine! Thank you!"

"Well looks like someone's having a good day today." Kotetsu remarked, a smirk on his face.

"What?" Naruko asked, "Why?"

"Let's just say that Kotetsu wants the last six hours of his life back." Izumo said.

"Heck yeah I want the last six hours of my life back!" Kotetsu yelled to his partner, "Not even a moment of peace with that little brat!"

"Kotetsu! Watch what you say!" Izumo looked at Naruko. "Forgive my friend here. He's got some issues with a certain someone today."

"You'd have issues too if you had to deal with that little brat for six hours straight!" Izumo cried.

"Am I missing something here?" Naruko asked, laughing.

Izumo chuckled. "Kotetsu had to sub in for one of the teachers in the Ninja Academy, and let's just say that one of the students there was a bit of a thorn in Kotetsu's side."

"You're pushing it," Kotetsu grumbled under his breath.

"What happened to the teacher?" Naruko asked.

Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other, before Izumo answered gravely, "He… died… fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruko's expression softened. "Oh."

The three just stared at the floor for a moment before Kotetsu tried to lighten the mood. "Well, at least I only had to sub in for a day, ya' know?" He stretched his arms out and yawned. "And you have to admit," he asked, addressing Izumo, "I'm not the only one who hates that kid."

Izumo sighed, but nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked at Naruko, who was looking at the two questionably. He decided to explain the situation to her. "That class that Kotetsu subbed for has already been given seven subs before him. The Academy is trying to find someone who is willing to take on the teacher role full time, but the kid Kotetsu keeps talking about has been driving everyone crazy, so no one really wants to take on the job." Izumo shook his head. "Disgraceful. It shouldn't matter if one kid is too out of hand. Leading the next generation of ninja is too important of a job to let one annoying kid get in the way."

"You're always talking about things that you've never actually experienced yourself," Kotetsu muttered.

"It doesn't make me wrong!"

"Actually it makes you totally wrong."

As the two argued, Naruko started thinking. So the Ninja Academy needed a teacher, huh? "So… the class still doesn't have a teacher, right?" Naruko asked.

Kotetsu looked at her, a surprised look on his face. "Um… yeah. Why?"

Naruko hesitated, before asking, "Is it okay… that I… sub for the class?"

The two ninja looked at each other. "But, you're not a shinobi," Kotetsu stated.

"Yeah, but, one day of subbing shouldn't do too much damage, right?"

Izumo thought for a moment. "Yes, and you're not exactly clueless about how to be a shinobi either, being the fourth Hokage's sister and all."

Naruko nodded. "Right! I can at least teach them basic coordination, right? That could really help on the taijutsu department, right?"

Kotetsu smirked. "She's not exactly wrong. And it wouldn't be so bad to make them do other exercises other than running laps and regular workouts, right?"

Izumo looked at both of them for a moment. Kotetsu looked really eager and excited, but that was obviously because he didn't want to be stuck subbing again, and Naruko looked just as eager and excited, but for what reason? He looked at her shopping bag, and put a little bit more than two and two together.

"You… just want to get paid… don't you… Naruko?"

Naruko cringed, and after Kotetsu saw her, her cringed too. "He's not right, right Naruko?"

Naruko laughed weakly. "Well…." She fiddled with her fingers a little and looked away. "He's not exactly wrong either."

The two shinobi cringed. "Well… I've heard of worse reasons to sub for a ninja class," Kotetsu said.

"Yeah, but none were ever so shallow." Izumo replied.

"Okay Naruko. Take a deep breath. This'll be simple. All we're going to do today is do some exercises and the regular assigned schedule." Naruko took a deep breath. She could hear the students talking amongst themselves in the classroom, which only made her more and more nervous by the second. She was told the moment she got there that the Academy had finally found someone who would be willing to teach full time and that he would start tomorrow, and although that took off some of the pressure for today, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. "Oh well," she thought, "might as well get this over with. No hesitation." She reached for the door and opened it.

A water balloon hit her square in the face.

"Ha ha ha ha! Did you guys see that?! That was hilarious!" The boy who had thrown the said water balloon had brown hair and a scar across his nose.

"Iruka! That's kind of mean, isn't it? I mean, she's only subbing for the day!" a silver haired boy said, running up to "Iruka".

"Aw, come on Mizuki! You have to admit, that was classic!"

"Mizuki" frowned, turned to a drenched Naruko, and bowed, saying, "I'm sorry that you were unfortunate enough to be a victim of one of Iruka's pranks." He raised his head and glanced at Iruka through the corner of his eye, "Iruka was never very good at making friends." Was it Naruko's imagination, or did she see a sneer appear on Mizuki's face? "Don't take it too personally Iruka, but you aren't."

Iruka, for a split second, looked hurt by this statement, but quickly put a smile on his face, scratching the back of his head, laughing. "Are you kidding Mizuki? You're one of my friends, aren't you?"

Mizuki chuckled. "I guess. But having only one friend is nothing to brag about either."

A girl from her desk gasped. "You're Naruko Namikaze!"

Naruko, while wringing her hair and clothes, smiled and said, "Yeah, that's me."

The students gasped. Mizuki and Iruka stepped back a little and some of the students were whispering amongst each other.

"My mom said that she was taking care of the demon child!"

"I've heard rumors that she was possessed or something!"

"Is she going to try and possess us too?"

"Idiot! Possession isn't like a disease or something! ...Right?"

"I hear that that thing's going to destroy the village again!"

Naruko took a hairband out of her pocket and put her hair into a single ponytail. After that, she clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, alright, settle down!" she cried. "Get back to your seats!" she turned to Iruka and Mizuki, "You too. Go on!" As the two got to their seats, Naruko put her hands on her hips and said, "Look. I know that the demon attacking the village was scary, and I know that many of you have probably been victims of the demon's attack, but me personally? I don't believe that the child is the demon itself." Naruko sighed. "Then again, I digress. You can believe anything you want to believe, and I'll believe anything I want to believe. That's your right, and frankly, I can't really do anything about it anyway. I gave you all my two cents, and that's good enough for me." She wagged her finger at them. "But you all believing I'm possessed, that's where I draw the line! I'll have you all know that I feel just fine! I always know where I'm going, and I always know why I'm going there. And besides," she giggled, "if I were possessed, I'd be trying to eat all of your brains out of something. I'll stick to ramen and junk food, thank you very much!"

The students seemed to calm down after that. "Good," Naruko thought, "they've all calmed down. Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

Naruko clapped her hands. "Alright! I'm going to be subbing for your class today!"

"But wait a minute," a student shouted, "you aren't a ninja!"

"Yeah, but she's the fourth Hokage's sister!" a girl said.

"Yeah!" a boy cried, starting to get excited, "Maybe the fourth Hokage taught her everything he knows, and maybe she's like, a secret ninja or something!"

"Aren't secret ninjas illegal ninjas?"

"Who cares! We're going to learn how to walk at lightning fast speeds! This is gonna rock!"

Naruko laughed weakly. "Actually… I don't really know how to do any of the ninjutsu my brother does. In all honesty, I'd have a better chance learning from you than you from me."

"Aw, come on!"

"Lame!"

"Now wait just a second!" Naruko said, raising her hands in protest, "I may not know anything about genjutsu or ninjutsu, but I can at least help you all with your taijutsu!"

A girl raised her hand and said, "Um… excuse me, but my mom said that you wouldn't even hurt a fly."

"I hurt… some flies." Naruko said weakly. She shook her head, trying to regain her composure and her control over the class. "Besides, there's more to taijutsu than just kicks and punches. There's also coordination, reflexes… stuff like that."

"And how would you know any of that stuff, huh?"

"Yeah!" Iruka laughed. "If you knew anything about reflexes and coordination, then you would've been able to dodge my water balloon from before, right?" He laughed some more.

Naruko scratched her head. "You're right about that. But at the very least, I know what to work on and what not to do. Let me remind you all that my brother was the fourth Hokage, and I had front row seats when it came to watching him train. Sometimes he was pretty impressive, and sometimes… he wasn't so impressive." She wagged her finger and winked. "I can tell you guys what my brother had trouble with, and help make sure it doesn't give you guys the same amount of trouble."

"Whoa! Seriously?!"

"Well, I can certainly try, can't I?" Naruko said, smiling. "Now why don't we go outside and get started already?" she started walking towards the door, before she stopped herself and added, "Before we go however, everyone has to pick a partner… except you Mizuki. I've got something special for you."

"Really?" Mizuki asked eagerly. To be able to show his stuff in front of the fourth Hokage's sister! This would surely help him rise up the ranks of the shinobi world!

Naruko got out a clipboard and timer, and handed them to Mizuki. "I hear you're the best in the class. Very responsible and very well behaved. So instead of participating in the workouts yourself, all you have to do today is record everyone's times." Naruko gave him a warm smile. "Wouldn't that be nice? Instead of working hard all day like you usually do, you get to sit back and relax instead of being covered in sweat like everyone else. You'll still be doing something, but at least it's pretty small in the grand scheme of things, right?"

"Wow!" a girl with black hair ran up to Mizuki, a smile and a little blush on her face, "Mizuki, that's so cool!"

"Aw, stop kissing up to him Tsubaki!"

"Aw, give her a break." Iruka said, "It should be obvious by now! Tsubaki's in LOVE with him!"

Everyone laughed. "Tsubaki and Mizuki, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" everyone chanted.

Tsubaki blushed even harder. "T-that is not true!"

"Iruka, you and your antics, honestly." Mizuki muttered under his breath. He was looking at the clipboard and timer given to him. To say he was disappointed would have been an understatement. He was beyond disappointed. He had wanted to show his stuff to someone who could have skyrocketed his career as a shinobi, and instead he was given the equivalent of a desk job! …But then again, it's not impressive to complain about things either, is it? Then again….

"Excuse me Mrs. Namikaze, not that I don't appreciate this, but if we have to each pick a partner, then who will Iruka pair up with?"

Naruko looked around. Sure enough, everyone seemed to have a partner except Iruka. Naruko smiled. "Well then," she said, walking up to Iruka and placing a hand on one of his shoulders, "looks like we'll have to be partners then," she leaned in and whispered, "Mr. Class Clown."

Iruka blinked for a moment, before finally screaming, "What!?"

"Alright everyone! How about we start off with track races?" Naruko asked.

"But how is that going to be any different than how we usually do things around here?" Iruka asked.

"And why would that require us to have a partner? Are we doing relays?" Tsubaki asked.

"I wasn't exactly finished yet," Naruko said. She had brought a bag with her, and from that bag, she pulled out a rope. "You and your partner are going to race against someone else and their partner, with your legs tied together… backwards."

"What?!" Iruka cried, hardly believing what he was hearing. "Why?"

Naruko smiled. "Do you know how many times my brother tried to show off by jumping backwards, only to lose his balance and slip and fall? I don't know about you guys, but I don't think ninjas are allowed to lose their step in the middle of a mission or battle. Not only that, but during missions, you'll usually be paired with other people. Say one of your teammates is injured and you need to get away. Are you supposed to leave him there? No. You're going to have to carry him," she looked at the girls, "or her, and make sure you both get to safety. This exercise will make you both rely on each other, that whenever one of you falls, the person who falls needs to make it easier on the person who is supporting him or her, and the person supporting the injured needs to do whatever he, or she, can to save both of them. You'll both learn to rely on each other to help each other succeed, and you'll all learn how to move backwards, which is good for, as I mentioned before, jumping backwards, dodging attacks, etc, etc, etc."

All of the students stared at her in awe. "Whoa," Tsubaki thought, impressed, "that actually makes a lot of sense."

"Looks like she really does know her stuff… to a degree of course," Mizuki thought. But still… "Mrs. Namikaze!"

Naruko looked at him. "Yes Mizuki?"

"This training exercise seems really important. Wouldn't it be better if I participated in this exercise instead of writing times on a clipboard?"

Naruko smiled. "I hear you're very responsible Mizuki. So responsible that I expect you to do this on your own time, and since Iruka's your friend, you can always ask him to help you out with the exercise to get the full effect."

"Aw, come on!" Iruka cried. "I've got better things to do than do exercises all day! Especially on my free time! He can do the exercises with Tsubaki instead!" Tsubaki blushed at this.

Naruko smiled, her eyelids half closed, looking intently at Iruka, and giggled. "Well, well. You might want to stop while you're still ahead Iruka. All this attention will eventually get you in a lot of trouble you know." She walked up to Iruka and tied their legs together. She then locked her arms with his and smiled, "Since you have so much energy, why don't we go first?"

Iruka looked at Naruko closely for the first time. She had indeed prepared for this. She was wearing regular brown pants and a short sleeved, long white shirt with orange triangles around the collar and sleeves and with her hair tied up in a single ponytail, she looked about ready to do any physical event at this point. "I'd… rather… not."

Naruko leaned down and said, "I insist."

"Ha ha, sucks to be you Iruka!"

"Serves you right man!"

"What a loser, having to do an exercise with a teacher like that!"

"Aw geez, what am I gonna do now?" Iruka thought, "My reputation as 'class clown' is going down the drain with this chick! But what else am I supposed to do? It's not like I can afford another F in this class!" Iruka thought frantically before finally, he had a plan, and chuckled to himself.

"Okay everyone! The times you get are just your starting points! Work hard, and always try to beat the best time you've got, alright? So Mizuki…."

"I got it! Record everyone's times, even if they get second place." Mizuki cried, at the starting line (which was also the finish line).

Naruko smiled. "Good. Now who wants to go up against us?"

Tsubaki's partner, apparently a friend of hers, stepped forward confidently. "Come on Tsubaki. Let's show that mean bully what you're made of!" she said, pointing at Iruka.

Tsubaki hesitated, before nodding and saying, "Sure, why not!?"

The two tied their legs together and the two pairs positioned themselves in front of the starting line, backwards of course. Mizuki took out his timer, "Alright! On your mark…get set… go!"

The two teams were off… or rather, Tsubaki and her friend were off. Naruko and Iruka however were already on the ground. Iruka scratched his head and said, "Aw man, silly me, I'm such a klutz!" Everyone watching laughed.

Naruko got to her feet, but Iruka just stayed on the ground, lying on his back, pretending to be asleep. More laughs from the onlookers. As Naruko tried to pick Iruka up, he rolled to his side, and with Naruko's leg tied to Iruka's leg, it resulted in her falling off her feet again, landing flat on her back. More laughs erupted from the sidelines.

"Iruka!" Naruko yelled, getting really annoyed, "When are you going to get serious?!"

"I don't know!" Iruka said with a smirk. "Why can't you ever stop getting wet?!"

"W-what does that even -" Just then, Iruka threw another water balloon at Naruko's face, the force being powerful enough to make Naruko fall down again. The students watching the race were laughing uncontrollably now.

Iruka was laughing too. "Ha ha! Aw man, you should have seen your face!"

"Time!" Mizuki cried, as Tsubaki and her friend had finally reached the finish line and they looked a little roughed up. It was obvious that they had fallen a good number of times. Mizuki checked the timer. "Five minutes and twenty eight seconds!"

Tsubaki dropped to the ground. "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be!"

Tsubaki's friend looked just as disappointed. "I've never had a time that bad! Especially with only one lap!"

"Come on Iruka, let's get a move on!" Naruko clapped, as if to try and encourage Iruka to run through clapping.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Iruka knew that he couldn't keep them at the starting line for too long, or else she would have surely given him an F for the day.

They started running backwards, and this time, every time they fell, they legitimately fell. And they fell too many times to count… too many times in fact, that it wasn't even funny anymore.

"Come on Iruka! Stop messing around and let us have our turn!"

"Iruka, that jerk! This is one exercise that I'd actually like to do for once!"

"If this lasts any longer, than we won't even get to have our turn!"

Naruko looked at Iruka for a second, and noticed a slight tinge of sadness on his face, but in a split second, he yelled, "Aw, shut up you morons! You wish you could do some of the stuff I do!"

"Why don't you shut up for once Iruka!"

"Poor Mrs. Namikaze," one of the girls said, "she paired up with Iruka of all people!"

"Look at her shirt and pants, they're so dusty now! What a waste! It looked like a really nice outfit too! Very chic," another girl added.

One of the boys gave the girl a look. "What exactly does 'chic' even mean anyway?"

The girl returned the look with a look or her own. "Hmph. Obviously you wouldn't know."

Finally, Naruko and Iruka crossed the finish line. They both fell to the ground, dead tired. Mizuki looked at the timer, "Ten minutes and fifty three seconds!"

The students laughed. "Man, that time is downright terrible!"

"At least we know that we'll never have a time THAT bad, right?"

"Iruka!" Naruko cried, standing up, and pointing a threatening finger at Iruka, who gulped, fearing what might happen next, "You…" Naruko closed her eyes, and tried to regain her composure, "get a D for at least finishing the race."

Iruka pumped his fists up. "Alright! My first D!"

Tsubaki's friend frowned. "That's not exactly something to be proud of Iruka!"

Naruko sighed. "Whatever… let's just get these ropes off and let the others race."

Everyone seemed to be okay with that. As the other pairs competed against each other, Naruko sat on a bench and rested for a moment. Kotetsu had warned her, and she had just thought that he was exaggerating. Now, she was definitely paying for it. "Next time Kotetsu complains about his job, I'll take his word for it." She looked at the other students racing, and noticed that Iruka was missing from the crowd. While everyone else was focusing all their attention on the races, Naruko focused all of hers on trying to find Iruka. Finally, she spotted him all alone, behind everyone else, with a sad look on his face.

Naruko raised an eyebrow. "Maybe there's more to this 'clown' then meets the eye."

After the races, Naruko made the students do a couple more exercises (all in which Iruka gave her a hard time) and then went back inside to take some simple printout tests on ninjutsus and genjutsus (and somehow, Iruka found a way to give her a hard time during that too, without her taking his tests away from him). Finally, it was time to go home.

Naruko bowed. "Thank you for having me as your teacher! I've learned a lot, and I would've liked to stay (despite all of problems I've had today), but your official teacher should be here tomorrow, so please give him, or her, a warm welcome, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" the class answered unanimously. They all rushed to the door.

Iruka was about to go out the door too, until Naruko grabbed him by the collar. "Oh no you don't! I want to have a word with you before you go Mr. Umino!"

"Ooooo. Iruka's in trouble! Iruka's in trouble!" some of the boys chanted in unison.

When everyone except Naruko and Iruka left the classroom and Naruko closed all the doors and windows, Iruka started to get nervous. "Maybe she was right, maybe I should have quit while I was still ahead," he thought.

She stood in front of him and smiled. "Now that you can't escape before I finish…."

"Oh my gosh!" Iruka thought.

"What's your favorite food?"

"…What?"

"What's…your favorite… food?"

Was this a trick? "…Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Oh my gosh!" Naruko gushed, her eyes lighting up, "I love that place! They have the best ramen in the world! And their family is just too cute! Did you see Teuchi's daughter yet? She's to die for!"

She grabbed Iruka's arm and started dragging him out the door, much to Iruka's surprise. "W-wait, what is this?"

Naruko gently touched Iruka's nose and smiled. "A date," she said, giggling.

Iruka stared at her for a moment, before finally screaming, "WHAT!?"

"Hey there Ayame! How are you?" Naruko asked, as she looked over the counter to see the little girl already walking around the kitchen on her own. Naruko looked at Teuchi. "She already knows how to walk around the kitchen?"

Teuchi nodded proudly. "Yes, she a fast learner, just like her old man." He laughed. "At the rate she's growing, she'll learn how to make all my ramen by next year!"

Naruko laughed. "You're already teaching her how to cook? Teuchi! I never imagined you as a slave driver!"

Teuchi laughed again. "When making your own business Naruko, you have to be!" He gave Naruko and Iruka their bowls. "Here ya go!"

"Thank you very much!" Naruko nudged Iruka a bit. "Come on!" she whispered, "say thank you!"

"T-thank you sir," Iruka said.

"Ah, you're welcome," Teuchi said, waving his hand. He started preparing a new batch for future customers.

As the two of them ate, Naruko looked at Iruka, and asked, "Isn't this great!?"

Iruka nodded. "So good!"

After a while, Naruko put her chopsticks down, and looked at Iruka. "Iruka… why do you do the things that you do?"

Iruka stopped what he was doing for a second, and said, "…I just want to, that's all." He continued to eat his ramen.

Naruko curiously tilted her head to the side. "No reason whatsoever?"

Iruka shook his head while he was chewing. "No reason…" he swallowed, "what so ever."

"Not even to get some attention?"

Iruka stopped for a moment, before asking, "Why would I want attention?"

Naruko shrugged. "I don't know… maybe because no one else pays attention to you otherwise and that you don't have any parents to give you attention at home?"

Iruka looked at her, eyes wide, and asked, "How do you know that?"

Naruko fiddled with a strand of her hair. "One of your substitutes, Kotetsu, told me about it. He was all 'Iruka's parents died fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox, but even so, that's no excuse for the way he acts in class!'. …I'm sorry. That sounded insensitive."

Iruka nodded. "Yeah, you can say that again," he muttered.

Naruko put a gentle hand on one of Iruka's shoulders. "I'm sorry about your parents… but if you're feeling lonely, then why don't you stay with me at my place?"

Iruka slapped Naruko's hand away from his shoulder. "Why would I want to live in the same place the demon that killed my parents lives?!" He looked down at his bowl. "My parents died trying to fight that thing! Lots of people died to fight that thing! And instead of finishing it off, we act as if it never happened! It's like everyone died for no good reason!"

Naruko looked down at her bowl too. "You're right. It doesn't seem fair, doesn't it? How the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked our village, how people we loved died so easily, how all of our lives have changed so drastically because of what happened." Iruka looked at her, wondering where she was going with this, and unbeknownst to them at the time, Teuchi was also listening in, while stirring his broth. Naruko looked at Iruka, and said, "You can hate the demon all you want. The demon did this. Not Naruto. Not a baby that doesn't even know what's going on right now." Naruko looked down at her bowl again. "Not a baby boy… that doesn't even realize that he doesn't have any parents… that doesn't even realize that he's all alone." Naruko looked at Iruka, with pleading eyes. "Out of everyone I know right now, I hope that you can understand that," she said softly.

Iruka looked away. "Please… he's not alone. He's got you."

"But I'm not his mother! I may look like him, but you have to believe me, I'm not his mother!" A horrible idea crept into Naruko's head, an idea that she hadn't thought of until now. "One day… when he's old enough to understand… I'll have to tell him that I'm not his mother… and he'll be crushed. Then… he truly would feel alone."

Iruka looked at her, and then looked at his bowl once more, seeing his reflection on the surface of the broth. He remembered how crushed he felt when he found out his parents died. It all happened so fast. No matter how much he told himself and others that he would be prepared for it, it blew him away. It changed his life forever. The people that knew you would pity you, and stop approaching you, thinking that you needed some space and that you would eventually get over it by yourself. They didn't know how to comfort you, and they didn't want to risk trying and only making it worse. On the other hand, the people who didn't know you only glance over you. They just looked at you and thought that you were some kid just passing through. Eventually, you'd go back home to your family, wouldn't you? No. That wasn't it at all.

"So please," Naruko asked, her voice faltering a little bit, struggling to regain her composure, "I'm not asking you to like him. I'm not asking you to accept him. I'm just asking you, at the very least, to pity him. To sympathize with him." She held his hand and squeezed it firmly. "Just as I sympathize with you."

Iruka thought for a moment. It felt so long to Naruko. Did she do enough to convince him? After what seemed like an eternity, Iruka nodded slowly. "Okay."

Naruko smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."

Iruka blushed. "Yeah, yeah."

Naruko giggled, and added. "You know, my offer still stands."

"What offer?"

"The offer to live at my place with Naruto and me. You wouldn't feel so alone anymore."

"…No."

"W-why not? Won't you feel lonely?"

"…Yeah."

"Won't you miss getting some sort of affection when you get home, like a hug, or a kiss on the forehead…something?"

"…I still hug."

"Who? You're knees!?"

Iruka looked at her, shocked. "How did you…."

Naruko realized what she had just done. "…Lucky guess?"

Iruka looked down at his bowl again. "Alright, fine! You caught me! I hug my knees! End of discussion!"

"You admit that you're all alone, you admit that you're lonely, and you always constantly try to stave off your loneliness! Why are you doing this to yourself?!"

"My parents… they were such strong shinobi. …They were strong… and they were fearless… and they could take on whatever came their way! I'm gonna be just as strong as they were! I'm gonna keep going with this chip on my shoulder, because no matter how many chips they had on their shoulders, they always pulled through, and they always succeeded!" He looked at Naruko through the corner of his eye. "Please, try to understand."

Naruko looked down again. "I understand… but I'll say that honestly, I don't approve of this. But if that's the way you want to live your life, then I won't stop you." She looked outside for a moment. It was getting late. She patted Iruka's head. "I'm glad that we had this talk." She pulled out some money and payed Teuchi for both of their ramen. "Thanks for the ramen Teuchi." She leaned over the counter and waved to Ayame. "Hope to see you again sweetie!"

Just when Naruko was about to leave, Teuchi said, "Naruko!"

Naruko turned around. "Yes?"

Teuchi looked at Ayame for a moment, before looking at Naruko straight in the eye, and saying, "… I sympathize for the boy too."

"…You do?"

Teuchi nodded. He looked down at Ayame again, who was playing with a ball of dough. "If Ayame were in his place, I'd want her to be taken care of too. To at least have a place other than home where she can be accepted. A place that she can call her home away from home. A sanctuary." He turned back to Naruko. "Tell the boy that he's welcome here anytime."

Naruko couldn't believe her ears. "Teuchi…."

Teuchi laughed. "If he's ever hungry, just tell him that he can have the best of the best any time he wants! And if he can't pay, that's okay! We can just put it on his tab and he can pay for it later! We'll give the kid some slack! And besides, if he likes our ramen just as much as you do, we might just have a new favorite customer!"

Naruko smiled and bowed. "Thank you! Thank you very much Teuchi!" She started to continue exiting the restaurant, but she stopped herself again. "Oh, and Iruka?"

Iruka turned around again. "Yeah?"

Naruko winked at him. "You don't need to take my advice or anything, since you're already kind of your own man and all, but I think you'd have better luck getting attention by being the BEST in the class, not the WORST in the class. I think success stories are much more memorable than a good joke, don't you think?"

Iruka shrugged. "Maybe." Naruko smiled, and she finally left Ichiraku Ramen.

Despite the fact that she had left, Iruka kept on staring at the spot where she had left from. Teuchi saw this, and smiled. "She very kind. Isn't she?"

Iruka kept looking at the spot where she had left from. "Yeah…." he answered absentmindedly.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yeah…."

"Her hair looks pretty soft, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…."

"You want a hug from her, don't you?"

"Yea- wait what!?" Teuchi laughed hysterically. Iruka blushed furiously. "That's not funny old man!"

Teuchi just kept on laughing. "Now that's a joke that you'll never forget!"

Iruka just stared hard at his bowl of ramen. "What a rotten day!" he thought to himself. "Then again… she does look like she gives good hugs. Laying your head on her chest must feel like laying your head on a pillow or something." Iruka's nose started to bleed a little, which he desperately tried to hide.

Unfortunately for him, Teuchi saw it. He laughed so hard that he could barely stand. "The boy's becoming a man!" He laughed for a whole minute, before suddenly turning a complete 180, pointed at Iruka and said, "Don't you dare have any thoughts like that about my daughter, you hear!?"

This was just too much. "I'm not going to have any thoughts about your daughter! Until now, I've never even had any thoughts about any girl!"

Teuchi grinned again. "Except for that one!" He started laughing hysterically again.

Iruka couldn't take it anymore. "That's it, I'm leaving!" He exited the restaurant and screamed, "Forever!"

"That's not what you said last time!"

"Gah!"

"Naruto!" The boy was placed back in his aunt and godmother's arms. He was sleeping.

The third Hokage smiled at her. "Did you have a good day at the Academy?"

Naruko nodded. "Yep!"

"No problems at all?"

Naruko shook her head. "None at all."

The Hokage didn't seem to believe her. "Really?"

Naruko laughed weakly. "Well… maybe one or two."

The third Hokage sighed. "We're going to have to deal with that boy eventually."

"Yeah… I guess you're right about that, but can you at least go easy on him?"

The third Hokage raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why is that?"

Naruko looked at Naruto, and said, "I hear he hugs his knees when he's alone."

Note: The ages of certain characters in the series is debatable. Feel free to debate about it as much as you want. Review please! Actual reviews! I want to improve as a writer! I'm not saying I don't like the review I've already gotten, they're all very encouraging, but some tips and advice wouldn't hurt either!