*Author's notes: Hello again! So sorry for the late update! But here we are, and hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with my usual speed and enthusiasm. I am currently working on a much darker fic in tandem with this one, and going back and forth between the two has been difficult due to the very different moods of each piece. I'll try harder to keep my work on the other from hindering the work here! Naruto and characters belong to Masashi.

Late August. The weather was almost unbearably hot, the stream of missions to be done was almost dry, and Genma and Iruka were on the cusp of a dramatic change in their relationship. Things had been sort of tense between them for a while, with Genma taking more shifts at the mission room since there were very little missions to be done, and Iruka had been at the academy before school, during school, and after school hours from May until July. The teen was currently a nervous (but excited) wreck, because at the beginning of the month he'd found out that one of the academy senseis was resigning and wouldn't be returning to school in September. Iruka had spent most of August trying to prepare for his first group of students. By the time the end of summer Jonin picnic rolled around, Genma and Iruka had hardly seen each other for weeks. Iruka was starting to feel insecure about the state of their friendship, falling back on Mizuki to keep him company. Genma had been missing Iruka's constant presence sorely, but when he'd noticed an increased amount of interaction between his favourite Chuunin and the silver haired creep, he felt that he'd been snubbed.

But the picnic was coming up, Raido was busy accompanying the Hokage in his visits to Cloud, Wave, and Grass, and Genma was lonely. So, one evening about a week before the picnic, Genma went to Iruka's apartment. He knew Mizuki wouldn't be there as he'd given the asshole a mission to Mist, and he was almost desperate in his hope that Iruka would be happy to see him. He got to the apartment, knocked on the door, and waited. He noticed the peeling paint and, for what must be the millionth time since he'd known the teen, wondered just when Iruka would move. He knew Iruka could afford to, but the kid chose to stay in this shithole anyway. Genma waited for a few minutes, and when no one came to answer the door he reached out with his chakra. He knew Iruka was inside, but the chakra signature was, though strong, unstable. The tokujo's eyebrows furrowed and he didn't hesitate to bust the door in.

Iruka had been slumped over the small wobbly table that sat in front of the couch, a file open and under his head with papers scattered around him. When the door slammed against the wall, the teen jolted from his fitful sleep, wild eyes falling on Genma. "You okay?" the blond asked, trying not to sound overly concerned.

"You kicked in my door." The Chuunin murmured, rubbing his jaw. "What are you doing?"

"Your chakra was funny. Nightmare?"

Iruka hesitated before giving a brief nod. "But don't worry. It's fine."

Genma studied his friend critically, checking the teen's weight, the sheen of his hair, and more closely examining his chakra. Iruka took the scrutiny with but a roll of his eyes as he pulled himself off the floor and physically steered the blond into the kitchen. "I just came to see what you're up to. Working?" the older man asked as he sat at the island, nodding back at the open file on the living room table.

"Sorta. Not really," Iruka replied as he went about brewing some coffee for his friend. Genma had been around the teen's apartment so often that when the brunet found out his friend didn't like tea, he went out and bought a coffee maker. "I just received the file that has the profiles of all my students in it. I was just going over it when I fell asleep."

"I didn't know they had class files like that. The kids seem so terrifying that reading the file gave you nightmares?"

Genma had meant it as a joke, but Iruka's chuckle was obviously uncomfortable. "No," he replied almost nervously. "They're just eight year olds."

"Then why do you seem so nervous about it?"

Iruka chewed his bottom lip while sliding the coffee mug toward Genma, and his eyes flicked back to the file as he poured himself some tea. "Well, maybe they're not all just eight year olds," he murmured as he looked at his reflection in the kettle.

"What do you mean?"

"They've given me the jinchuuriki."

That gave Genma pause. The Kyuubi had killed Iruka's parents, and the Hokage wanted to put the demon's container in Iruka's first solo class? That seemed weird. "Well.. That's...,"

"I feel bad. I mean, he is just a little boy. Right? He's never killed anybody. But the fox.. And he's... I'm just worried. But Sandaime-sama wouldn't have given me this class if he thought I couldn't do it. Right?" Iruka's voice was uncertain, though Genma could tell the young Chuunin was trying his best to hide it.

"Right," the blond agreed casually, though he felt just as uncertain as Iruka. Why wouldn't they have given the jinchuuriki to a more experienced teacher? Or at least to someone who'd been a bit less affected by the fox than Iruka. Surely Ebisu could handle it? "But, you could ask to transfer him to another class if you don't think...,"

Iruka shook his head slightly and sighed before taking the first sip of his tea. "No. I mean, I could but... That just doesn't feel like...," His voice was calm, but he was shaking. He didn't really notice the trembling of his hands, or the fact that his eyes itched with forming tears. He thought back to the photo of the jinchuuriki, a blindingly blond head of hair with the bluest of eyes. Blond that was almost unnatural, so very different from Genma's soft blond. He was just a boy with pudgy cheeks and a smile that almost swallowed the rest of the boy's face. Iruka almost dropped his cup of tea, the shaking was so bad, but he still wasn't aware of it. Images of flames flashed behind his eyes, flames and bodies. The sky was dark, the sounds of screaming echoed from every which direction. Buildings were collapsing around him as he ran through the rubble, over sodden flak vests and limbs that seemed to belong nowhere. Blond hair, blue eyes. Screeching, tails of fire striking everything that stood. Screaming. Fear. Where were his parents? Where was his mother? Little boyish cheeks, bluer eyes than he'd ever seen before. Death and destruction everywhere. Blond hair the colour of cartoon suns. Foxes. Boys. Demons. Children.

But all that faded as strong arms were wrapped around him, pulling him into a muscled chest. Genma held his best friend for a long time, waiting for the Chuunin to stop shaking. He knew Iruka didn't know he'd been crying, and so drew no attention to the fact that the teen was dampening his vest. "He's just a boy," the tokujo whispered into his friend's dark hair, "You said so yourself. It'll be alright."

Iruka nodded, that being the only thing he could manage. And he was thankful. How had he gone so long without seeing his blond companion? Mizuki would have laughed at his anxiety, would have made him feel stupid. But somehow Genma understood. How that was possible, Iruka didn't know, but he supposed it didn't really matter. As long as Genma kept understanding, kept being his friend even when he was acting distant and overly emotional, Iruka could forgive the kicking down of doors and the dirty jokes and the tenseness he often felt in Genma.

When the trembling subsided, Genma stepped back and studied his young friend. "Hey, I actually had a reason for coming here, before you had to go all soap opera on me."

Iruka laughed, having expected nothing except for Genma to try to distract him. "Oh yeah? And what could that possibly have been?"

"Come to the Jonin picnic with me on Wednesday. Rai probably won't be back yet and I don't want to go by myself. There'll be lots of alcohol and games and half naked people in the lake. It'll be fun!"

The teen shifted uncomfortably. "Wednesday? Mizuki and I were going to-,"

"Aww, come on Iruka! Anko probably invited him to go with her anyway. She did just get promoted, remember? And she's got a soft spot for him. You're not really bailing if he's gonna be there."

"We don't know he'll be there...,"

"Iruka," Genma was discouraged to say the least. If the teen already had plans, it'd be hard to get Iruka to back out of them, and the fact that they were plans with that Mizuki bastard left a bad taste in his mouth. Something was wrong with that little weirdo, and he couldn't figure out why Iruka and Anko couldn't see that. The fact that two of his friends liked the silver haired asshole royally pissed him off. "We haven't hung out in forever. Just come by for a couple hours. You'll have a good time."

Iruka sighed. "Isn't it called the Jonin picnic for a reason? Everybody's going to think it's weird if I'm there...,"

The blond man grinned. If that was Iruka's protest, he knew he had the Chuunin where he wanted him. And then he laughed and threw his arm over the teen's shoulders. "You afraid of a few dozen Jonin, Iruka? Don't worry, I'll protect you from those scary elites!"

Iruka snorted in annoyance, but the amusement in his eyes was clear as he shifted and pulled Genma into a headlock, skewing the tokujo's hitai-ate enough to ruffle the blond hair underneath it. Genma threw together a couple hand signs and reappeared on the other side of the room. "Oh, you better run kid," he growled in mock anger, "You're gonna pay for that!"

Iruka shrieked with laughter before turning and running out of his apartment at a chakra enhanced pace, hopping along rooftops and over telephone poles, Genma chasing after him with a grin, loud whoops of laughter echoing throughout the village as the sun began to set.