(A/N: Holy crap! Jack got hit by a bus! Go to www(dot)hang in there jack(dot)com!!!!!!! without the spaces of course....)
Disclaimer: I'm not taking credit for the creation of any of these characters, and the reference to the music is purely to define our favorite little teacher's taste. Don't sue me...I'm not worth the effort. That being said, enjoy.
Chapter Five
After Iruka's embarrassment of the whole "entering" situation faded, he found himself staring blankly into the refrigerator. Something about her story didn't sit right with him, and to be honest he was a little more than concerned about it. Her wounds were not consistent with a bar fight, for God's sake it look as if her hand had gone through a meat grinder. He would've expected to see maybe a black eye, not scratches down the front of her chest; and the way she was walking, those clumsy awkward steps. His ponytail swayed as he shook his head, no those injuries were not from a bar fight.
"Oh stop it Iruka," he told himself, snapping from his daze and grabbing the carton of eggs, a bag with a bell pepper and shredded taco blend cheese. "If something else really did happen, why would she tell you?" He set the items down on the countertop and returned to the fridge for bacon strips.
"Tell you what?" a voice from behind asked.
The young man jumped a mile high and turned with wide eyes to the gloating pride of his purple haired neighbor. "How the hell-"
She shrugged with a grin still plastered on her lips and walked over to the other side of the counter. "I thought I'd repay the favor of your stunt you pulled."
He turned toward the eggs and pulled two out. "Haha, very funny. I already apologized for that." He cracked the eggs over a glass bowl. "How do you like your eggs?" He glanced and noticed her grin grow. "No, never mind, how do you like your omelet?"
She played with the strings of her cream sweatpants before answering. "Cheese and bacon."
"Okay, no problem." He whisked the eggs together with a fork and added torn pieces of bacon and a handful of cheese. "Is this enough cheese?" He turned to show her the bowl only to be met with empty space. Confused as to where she had made off to, he leaned on the counter and did a quick sweep of the apartment. "What are you doing?"
She sat crossed legged on the floor and looked up with a CD in her hand as if it were perfectly normal for her to look through his things. "Looking for some music. You got anything good? All I see is a bunch of Andrea Bocelli, Beethoven, Mozart, and…Habib Koite and Bamada? Seriously what the hell kind of crap is this?" She threw the CDs on the floor and looked at him disappointedly. "If you want to keep hanging out with me you need to upgrade your music tastes."
Iruka choose to ignore the last comment. "They were my mother's. I don't really care for the Bamada one, but I play Beethoven and Mozart for the kids and Andrea-"
"Wait, kids?"
He nodded, turning to the stove and pouring the egg mixture into a hot skillet. "Yeah, I'm a teacher." He raised an eyebrow. "You thought I had kids for a second, huh?" The mixture in the pan began to pop and he flipped one side over, creating a fold.
Anko laughed and returned to the counter. "Yeah, I got worried. I can't stand children." She shuddered for emphasis. "They're so annoying."
"Aw, they're not all that bad." He scooped the omelet from the pan and set it on a plate. "Here, careful, it's hot." He slid the plate to her. "You want anything else?"
"A fork would be nice. So what kind of teacher are you?"
He pulled a fork from the drawer and handed it to her. "High school math. Mostly algebra, but I should also have an advanced geometry class." His gaze fell to her mangled hand, it seemed as if she hadn't bothered to clean the cuts. "Are you sure your hand is okay? I have peroxide and some band-aids."
She looked up from her breakfast with a mouthful of egg in her month. "Uh ein." A piece of egg fell from her mouth at the effort of speaking.
He nodded, not understanding what she had said, but felt it better to play it off and ask again later. The skillet sizzled as he poured his omelet mixture into the iron pan. "So, what happened to your hand? It looks pretty bad."
This time she actually swallowed the food in her mouth. "As I was attempting to break a fight up, this ass picks up a bottle and tries to hit the other guy over the head. I covered my head to protect myself, and he misses the other guy and hits me instead!" She shoveled another fork full of egg into her mouth.
He brought his omelet to the counter and picked at it with disinterest. "Why didn't the bouncer handle it?"
Anko locked eyes with him, daring him to keep asking. "Why are you giving me the third degree?" she inquired, suddenly very defensive.
The brown haired man backed down a bit, taking her tone as a hint that he'd over stepped his boundaries. "Just curious." He took a tentative bite of his breakfast. "You having to break up a fight doesn't seem right."
She shrugged, bored of the subject. "Tell me about it, but I need the money." Her smoky eyes rested on his scar. "Since your being so nosy-"
"I'm not trying to be nosy, just concerned is all."
"Aw, I'm touched." She put her hand over her heart and batted her eyelashes at him. "Anyway, back to what I was saying, how did you get that scar? Seems a little out of place for a docile teacher."
His eyes hardened at her comment as the memory of that particular moment came flashing back. "Car accident," he answered simply, turning to empty his plate and the barely eaten omelet in the trash.
"Hey! Don't throw that away, give it to me, I'll eat it!" He traded her his full plate for her empty one. "This is the best food I've had in a long time, we should do this more often."
"You're not trying to take advantage of me, are you?" he asked playfully.
"Believe me, you would know if I were," she answered with a wink. "Although, you need to get some stools or something. I'm not really feeling this whole standing thing you got going on."
"I usually eat on the couch."
"I have some at my apartment, I can bring them over next time, if you don't mind." Another trademark grin sprawled the length of her mouth. "I don't think we've graduated to cuddling on the couch."
He rolled his eyes, it seemed he did that a lot in her company. "Very funny."
"What can I say? I'm a riot. Anyway, when do you start work?"
"This Wednesday, I'm so excited. I've just been wandering around the city, trying to get my bearings."
She slid her plate over to him and patted her stomach happily. "I could help you, I've lived here my whole life. What school are you going to be teaching at?"
"Konoha High. I walked by it the other day, it's pretty big. Bigger than I originally thought."
"Hey, cool. One of my friends works there. Her name is Kurenai, you won't miss her, she got these creepy ass red eyes." She cleared her throat. "Tell her Anko says hi and that we should totally get together sometime."
"I'd be happy to, that is if I'm not too overwhelmed."
Anko smiled and began to say something else but was silenced by the abrupt ring of her phone. She grumbled and looked at the screen, her face paled the slightest and she rose her eyes to Iruka, resembling a deer caught in headlights. "Excuse me a second."
He nodded politely and gathered the dishes for washing. Even though he turned the water on full blast, the teacher kept an ear out.
"What?" she answered the phone briskly. "No, I'm not. What do you mean why not? I'm having breakfast with a friend, cocksucker."
Iruka happened to hear the word 'friend' and couldn't keep the smile off as he scrubbed the same dish for the third time. I'm her friend…that must mean she likes me. He mentally slapped himself for acting like a schoolgirl.
"But tonight's my night off," she spoke on the phone. "But-yes, yes I know, you seem to enjoy reminding me of this every chance you get." A pause. "Fuck you! At least give me a chance to-" There was another pause and Anko felt her stomach turn at the remark of the person on the other end. "Fine, I'll be there tonight." She hung up and sighed loudly, muttering, "fucker," under her breath.
"Everything alright?" Iruka asked, turning of the water and leaning opposite the sink. "You seem kind of upset, you want that drink now?"
She shook her head. "No thanks, that was my boss. Apparently, I have to work on my night off." She blew a stray piece of damp hair from her face. "Just great."
Her breakfast companion frowned. "Did you mention your apartment? I think that would be grounds for you to have the night off, especially since you were supposed to have off."
"One would think that." She straightened up and slammed her open palms on the fake marble. "Well, Izuka-"
"Um, actually it's Iruka."
She waved it off. "I told you I'd forget. Anyway, thanks for breakfast, and like I said, we should do this again."
He perked up and his eyes softened. "Yes, definitely," he replied walking her to the door like the gentlemen he was. "Whenever you're hungry, you know where I live." He held the door open for her. "Do you want me to help you clean up?"
She shook her head. "No thanks. I'm hardly ever there and when I am, I'm usually asleep. I'll get to it some other time. Bye." She waved as she turned to her apartment.
He watched her disappear before shutting the door, a great weight settled on his chest. Everything about his new friend--yes, he now felt comfortable referring to her as that--was sketchy at best; however he didn't see any harm toward harboring a relationship with her. Besides, the poor girl seemed like she needed at least one true friend.