Wolf here! Boy, school is kicking my butt I have to balance work, writing and exercise T.T And I only get 4 hours of sleep a night. Haha oh well. Hope you enjoy!
ou8smileydeath: *Goes back to check spelling and starts laughing* Woah! How did that get past me? Lol thanks XP And that joke made my day
Ryu Earth: Lol, yea I wanted to try having a serious plot for once, although there's still a good amount of humor in here haha. And no prob :D
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"All right class, who can tell me what the parent function of an exponential graph is?" Iruka asked, grabbing a piece of chalk and scribbling a picture of the graph on the board.
He turned around from his drawing and was met with a series of blank stares from his students.
"Anyone? Come on, it's not as hard as it sounds. Just remember that trick I taught you about remembering the different types of graphs," the teacher encouraged.
A timid porcelain hand rose from amidst the class.
"Yes, Hinata?" Iruka called out.
"I-Is it y equals x squared?" the quiet voice asked.
"Why yes it is! Great job!" the tanned man congratulated, turning back towards the chalk board to scribble more drawings.
"Thanks Hinata," a young, blonde girl said, patting the shy girl on the back.
"N-no problem I-Ino," Hinata replied, a rosy blush presenting itself on her face.
Ding. Ding. Ding. The school bells sounded, signaling that it was time for lunch. The children happily packed away their supplies and began to head to the door.
"Bye Iruka sensei!" they all roared in unison.
"Bye guys, see you tomorrow! Oh, and Naruto?" Iruka questioned, sifting through a few stacks of paper on his desk.
"Yea sensei?" the blonde answered, Sasuke by his side.
"Are we still on for ramen this weekend?"
"Of course! Believe it!" Naruto yelled, bouncing up and down on the tips of his toes.
"Ok, ok, see you later then," Iruka said as the two students began walking away.
"See ya!" Naruto shouted, blushing when Sasuke placed his hand on his rear. "Sasuke," Naruto chastised, "I told you to wait until we got home, teme."
"I can't help it if you have a nice ass," the raven haired male countered as he smirked, opting to place his arm around the other's waist as they exited the classroom.
"Did I really need to see and hear that?" Iruka asked himself, pulling out a small, red lunch box from his pack, turning on the T.V. "At least I can relax and watch some news with my lunch," Iruka sighed, pulling out an apple and a thermos full of miso ramen from the box. He seated himself in the chair, kicking his feet up onto the desk as he took a big bite out of the apple. "Let's see, what channel, what channel. Ah, got it."
A woman of about thirty, with emerald green hair and lime green eyes, immediately appeared on the screen.
"Good afternoon. We have just received news that the Navy is now beginning to send requests to those that they deem valuable enough to partake in the war, both retired and new. We have an official list for Konaha of the names of those who will be called into duty," the woman stated, reaching for a pile of papers on her desk.
"Huh, I wonder which sorry souls have to join that hell-hole," Iruka mumbled, turning up the volume of the T.V. while sipping from the thermos.
"Ok," the reporter began. "Before we read the list, we would just like to thank all of those on the list for fighting for our village and country. The following names are: Aizawa Yoshi, Duskune Suki, En-"
"What? You've got to be kidding. The T.V. went out again?" Iruka asked in frustration, head falling back against the chair. "And does the school offer to buy a better one? No. They leave it here, saying that it's only twenty years old. Piece of shit is what it is." Iruka glanced at the clock that was situated above the classroom entrance. "Hmmm… twenty minutes left and nothing to do."
He decided to tidy his room in the spare time. Moving to and fro, he managed to put misplaced books back into their original resting places, file away various worksheets, and toss out useless materials. Before he knew it, the bell chimed and a barrel load of new, eager faces flooded into his room.
"Good afternoon class," the tanned man beamed, forgetting all about the T.V.
"Good afternoon sensei," they all said, quickly taking their seats.
Ding. Ding. Ding. The children hurriedly left the room, eager to return home to their families.
"Ah, I finally get to go home and see Kakashi," Iruka said, humming softly.
"Um Iruka sensei?" came a low voice.
"Yes?" Iruka answered, looking at the door to see who was calling him. "Oh, Izumo, it's you. Is there something you need?"
Izumo shuffled into the classroom slowly, looking anywhere but at Iruka.
"Yea, well no. What I mean is that I heard something today, and I'm not sure if you know about it," Izumo mumbled, chancing a glance at the other man.
"I'm not sure I follow. Is it something bad?"
"Well, depending on the circumstances and the outcome, yes."
"Hmmm, I still don't have a clue. What is it?"
"Ok, I just want to apologize ahead of time, but I heard that-"
"Hey, Izumo!" a voice called, interrupting the brown haired man.
"Huh?" Izumo asked, turning around to face the door. "Kotetsu?"
"Yep, the one and only," Kotetsu said, waltzing into the room, grabbing Izumo by his hand. "If I remember correctly, we have a date today, more specifically, right now."
"Wait! I have to-" Izumo started, but stopped when Kotetsu began dragging him out of the classroom. "Kotetsu!"
"Ah, ah, ah," the black haired man chided, "I'll have none of that."
Izumo sent Iruka a pleading look that was begging for the tanned man to save him, but before Iruka could even think of responding, the captured man was out of his sight.
"I wonder how Izumo manages to deal with that guy," Iruka laughed, swinging his pack over his shoulder. "Now that I think about it, Kotetsu is kind of like Kakashi… in a weird and immature way."
The teacher checked one last time to make sure that he had everything with him, and walked out the door.
'I wonder what he had to tell me, though,' Iruka pondered as he walked down the silent hallway. 'He seemed pretty upset about it, and why did he need to apologize?' Iruka soon found himself outside of the school, stopping when his foot landed on a patch of soft, downy grass. 'When did I get out here? I guess I was thinking about that whole situation too much. I need to stop doing that.' The young man walked pass the school gates and onto the crowded streets, a happy smile on his face. 'Home sweet home, here I come.'
"Iruka sensei!" a young, feminine voice beckoned out to him.
He stopped in the middle of his tracks, only to turn around and come face to face with Tenten.
"Ah, hello there, Tenten, what can I do for you?" the teacher asked happily.
"Um well, how about we go into this store first so I can tell you, you know, so we're not in other people's way," the young girl offered, pointing towards a small, family owned shop besides them.
Iruka nodded in agreement, following the girl into the store. It was a homey shop with an assortment of herbs, spices and teas lined along wooden shelves. The shopkeeper, and old lady of about sixty, greeted them with a warm smile, and returned to filing away miscellaneous items.
"Much better," Tenten said as she turned to face the other. "Ok sensei, I'm so sorry about this but you know the Navy thing right?"
"Yea, of course. It was on the news earlier. What about it?"
The girl looked down at the floor, shuffling her feet slightly, hands entwined behind her back.
"Sensei, what do you know about it?" she suddenly asked, eyes still glued to the floor.
"What do I know?" he repeated like a parrot. "Well, I know that there is an official list of names for those who have been chosen to serve, and that it has to be the worst feeling in the world."
"Oh, so you don't know," Tenten whispered to herself. Ring. Ring. Ring. "Huh?" The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a slim, pink phone. She opened it and placed it to her ear. "What? In the hospital? Oh no, I'll be right over. Thanks Lee, bye. I'm sorry sensei, Neji managed to injure himself while lifting weights, and he's in the hospital, unconscious. I'm so sorry for leaving at such short notice."
"Oh no, it's quite alright. I understand completely. Besides, it'll be good that his love will soon be there by his side," Iruka stated, giving the girl a wink, causing her to blush.
"Thanks Iruka sensei, bye!" she yelled, running out the store.
Iruka smiled softly and mumbled something about young love as he exited the store and continued walking once again.
'That was the second weirdest encounter I had for the day," Iruka said, side-stepping passing citizens.
'What is it that they wanted to tell me, and why did they look so troubled about it? None of this makes any sense,' he thought. 'I shouldn't be thinking about this too much. I might walk right off of a cliff if I don't focus on where I'm going.'
"Almost there," Iruka announced happily as he turned a familiar street corner.
The street was less condensed than the one he just came off of, as it was a lonely side path from the main road. The young man quickened his pace, more eager than ever to return home, but was stopped when he ran into Naruto.
"Oi, Iruka sensei, that hurt," Naruto whined, rubbing his nose from the sudden impact.
"Sorry Naruto, I got lost in thought," Iruka apologized, patting the boy on the head.
"Haha, you sound just like Kakashi sensei with that excuse," Naruto giggled as Iruka blushed slightly. "Oh, have you heard the news?" he asked, suddenly becoming serious.
"What news?" Iruka queried, staring down at the boy, who suddenly took interest in the ground.
"I think we should go to your house first, sensei," Naruto said softly.
Iruka nodded his head and the two slowly made their way inside the house. Iruka hastily sat Naruto down on the living room couch, and made some tea. Once he was seated, he nodded to Naruto, signaling that he was ready to hear whatever was on the other's mind.
'He honestly has no idea about this,' Naruto thought, taking a sip from his tea. 'I don't want to be the one to break it to him.'
"Nice house!" the blonde exclaimed in an attempt to distract Iruka from the current situation.
"Thanks, Naruto," Iruka said, placing his cup down onto the small, mahogany table. He looked around the room and gave a small grin. "It took a tad bit of work, but now it feels homey. I think the thing that brought this house together is Sango," the tanned man laughed, pointing towards the sleeping dog. "In fact, I think all she ever does is sleep."
"Haha, she is pretty adorable," Naruto admitted, smiling fondly at the bundle of fur.
"Yea," the teacher agreed, joining Naruto's gaze. "So what did you want to tell me?" he asked, turning his head back towards Naruto.
"Huh?" the blonde asked. His smile immediately transformed into a morose smile, as he picked up his cup again. "It's about the war."
"What about it?" the other asked, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.
"Have you heard the list of names that were called to join the Navy?"
"Don't tell me that you or Sasuke have to go!" Iruka yelled, face paling.
"No, sensei, we're safe."
"Good. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you two," Iruka replied, chuckling quietly.
Naruto inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Kakashi sensei's name was called. He's joining the war… he's going to fight in the Navy."
There was a moment of silence before Naruto heard a crash. He opened his eyes and looked down at the table. There lay Iruka's cup, shattered into miniscule pieces; tea dripping down onto the carpet.
(break)
Le gasp! I hope everything turns out ok. Anyways, please review! :D