Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Lost on the Road of Life ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

School is sucking the life out of me. I'm falling asleep earlier and it's really creeping me out. Wah!

 

Disclaimer: No own

 

Warning: This story may contain spoilers. If you haven't read/seen the Gaiden chapters, this may concern you.

 

OOO

 

Brown eyes slowly opened. Blinking a few times, Iruka realized what today was. Refusing to get up, the genin closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Try as he might, sleep would not come and Iruka was forced to get out of bed.

 

It's been a year now since the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. A whole year and Iruka still couldn't get over his loss. Kakashi had said that it was impossible for people to get over losing a loved one, but Iruka knew as ninja they had to show as if they weren't affected.

 

Remember kid, we're tools used to protect our village, Jiraiya had said to him a few days before.

 

Iruka pulled his T-shirt over his head. Grabbing his keys and wallet, Iruka headed outside his apartment. After locking his door he headed towards the Training Grounds.

 

OOO

 

He's late.

 

Kakashi scowled under his mask as he sat in his favorite seat in his favorite window. He glared down at the streets below him, hoping to find the familiar brown ponytail and burn it with his “Kakashi Vision”.

 

His leg, which was hanging lazily from the window, was soon attacked. Looking down he saw a rubber ball bouncing away as a blond head came into view.

 

Naruto was laughing as he grabbed his ball and began to bounce it again. He soon lost control of it as it hit his foot and bounced away- into Kakashi's hand. The jounin just looked at the rubber ball in his hand.

 

The thing had been a gift from Jiraiya, before he left yesterday to gather more “information”.

 

“Baw!” Naruto squawked when Kakashi wouldn't give it back; even though it had only been a second.

 

Kakashi, angry at the lack of Iruka's presence, just pouted and tossed the ball away. Naruto shrieked in laughter and gave chase. Kakashi smiled as he watched the blonde play, Naruto was just too cute sometimes.

 

Naruto brought his ball back to Kakashi and insisted he throw it again. This went on for a while when the door opened and a brunette poked in.

 

Naruto didn't notice until he bumped into the visitor's leg. Blue eyes met green (?) and a soft smile.

 

“Hi,” the new comer chirped.

 

Naruto abandoned his ball and ran back to Kakashi. The jounin blinked surprisingly at the visitor.

 

“Rin,” Kakashi gasped, picking up Naruto,” When did you get back?”

 

“Last night. I was going to see you but it was too late. So is this..?”

 

Kakashi blinked. “Huh? Oh!”

 

Naruto was watching the two, mostly Rin, curiously; not quite getting what they were talking about. But when the new girl began to look at him, he clung to Kakashi even more. He wasn't sure about this girl.

 

“Yeah, this is Naruto,” Kakashi said moving so Rin could get a better look at him.

 

“Oh! He's so cute! He looks exactly like sensei.” Rin cooed and awed at Naruto, making the baby loosen his hold on Kakashi. Naruto liked people who liked him.

 

Rin shook Naruto's little hand, marveling at how small and soft it was. “Kakashi have you been taking care of him this whole time?” she asked.

 

“Sort of,” Rin looked at him,” I had some help.” Iruka still hadn't shown up, where was he? Could something have happened to him?

 

Rin noticed that Kakashi was worried about something. When Kakashi was worried it was usually a big deal. Rin looked at the little blonde Kakashi held. The baby also noticed Kakashi's distress, maybe even knowing what was wrong. Rin knew if she asked if anything was wrong, Kakashi would just deny it.

 

Rin was snapped out of her thoughts by something she thought Kakashi would never say.

 

“Rin, could you do me a favor?”

 

OOO

 

The training grounds held a strange heavy silence when Kakashi appeared, like stepping into enemy territory, not the familiar feeling of nostalgia he usually got.

 

Jumping from tree to tree he quickly arrived at the Shinobi Memorial. His uncovered eye widened when saw not only Iruka- but the Third as well! Kakashi quickly concealed his chakra and tuned in on to what Iruka and the Third were saying.

 

“I'm not crying `cause of sadness! These are tears of joy!” Iruka cried, pointing at the memorial stone.

 

“It's an honor for a ninja to die in battle! I'm proud of my parents!”

 

Kakashi uncovered eye widened in shock at what he heard. What was going on?

 

“They are heroes! And I'm the son of those heroes!”

 

Heroes?

 

“Look, it's him.”

 

“Sigh. He used to be such a great man, it's a shame he's sunk so low.”

 

“Even if I'm by myself I don't feel any sadness!”

 

“That poor boy; to have to live with such shame…”

 

“I'm crying because I'm happy!”

 

I didn't cry at all.

 

Rained pounded on the small group of mourners; fitting the dark mood the day brought. Flowers sat on a freshly dug grave, which was now dark as the sky because of the rain. People began to leave as the rain became harsher, bidding the fallen soul one last good-bye.

 

Soon two figures were left by the grave.

 

A young Kakashi, who had just turned seven, stared down at the wet mud that covered his father. By his side was the Sandaime, who stared down at the grave and the small boy next to him. With a small sigh, he placed a comforting hand on the thin shoulder. Kakashi remained solemn.

 

“Kakashi,” the Third began,” I'm sorry this happened. Sakumo, your father, he was a great man, a good shinobi-“

 

“Hokage-sama, please,” the small boy almost growled. “Please don't speak so highly of my father.”

 

Gray eyebrows rose in shock. “Kakashi?”

 

“He was a failure. He caused a huge loss for the village, he disobeyed orders.”

 

“Kakashi! Sakumo was a great man!”

 

“He was a failure!” Black eyes glared up at the old man. “He disobeyed orders! He broke the law!”

 

The old shinobi stared at the child in disbelief. `Kakashi…'

 

“He broke the most important rule of shinobi: never show your emotions, the mission always comes first.” Kakashi clenched his fist and stared down at the ground. The rain had died down to a drizzle, but both were already soaked.

 

The Third started to move closer to the small boy, when Kakashi spoke.

 

“Those who disobey the rules are lower than garbage. The White Fang of Konoha was no hero.”

 

The Third said nothing.

 

Kakashi shook his head as the memory returned to his subconscious. His father….

 

Kakashi blurred out of the forest before more of his memories returned; not hearing a single word the Third had said to Iruka.

 

OOO

 

Iruka felt strangely…light. It was as if a huge weight was just lifted off of his shoulders. Maybe it was talking about his parents that made him feel better.

 

Walking to the tower, Iruka noticed that everything just seemed to be brighter. The grass was greener, the sky was bluer, the sun was brighter- Wait, a minute. Iruka looked up at the sun and studied its position.

 

Iruka paled when he realized what time it was. The sun was already high- it was past noon! He had been gone the whole morning!

 

Kakashi's probably super-pissed right now, the young genin thought.

 

Iruka began to run as fast as he could to the Hokage Tower. He bumped into a few people and into a few stands on his way there- which he quickly apologized for.

 

Iruka finally made it to the tower. He flung open the front door and ran up the stairs- bumping into a young girl on his way up.

 

“Ugh…” Iruka groaned as he clutched his head. Quickly realizing what happened Iruka sprang up and helped the girl to her feet.

 

“I am so sorry! I was- I just-! I didn't- Are you okay?” Iruka had already turned red from embarrassment. Not only did he run into a girl; he also ran into a higher ranked shinobi!

 

The girl - a chuunin- brushed off non-existent dirt from her vest. She wasn't hurt but the boy was cute, especially with all that blushing and stuttering he was doing. She smiled sweetly at the boy.

 

“Don't worry, I'm fine. You just caught me off guard.”

 

“I'm really sorry! I should have been watching where I was going.”

 

“Hey, no problem um…?”

 

“Oh! I am Iruka Umino,” Iruka bowed.” Pleased to meet you.”

 

Rin bowed as well. “I'm Rin, very nice to meet you. Sorry, but I have to get going.”

 

“Of course,” Iruka nodded. They both smiled as they walked passed each.

 

Rin smiled knowing that Iruka was helping Kakashi look after Naruto. She took one last look at Iruka's retreating back and silently thanked him.

 

Obito, she thought, he reminds me of you.

 

OOO

 

Ninjas were trained to sense danger. If the mind became too clouded, if one became too scared; that training would be useless and you would most likely die.

 

Iruka wished he had become something other than a ninja right now.

 

Like a dentist.

 

Iruka slowly opened the door to the nursery and stood in the now open doorway. He immediately spotted Kakashi on the opposite end of the room. Iruka swore Kakashi's eye was glowing in anger and…where did all those clouds come from!

 

“I'm sorry I'm late, but you see there was thing…” Iruka babbled, hoping Kakashi's wrath wasn't too severe.

 

“Shut up.”

 

Iruka shrank at the cold tone; the idea of becoming a dentist came back to mock him. As far as he knew plaque didn't attack you with kunai and advanced jutsu. Lucky bastards.

 

Every sense the genin had was screaming at him now; looking up he saw Kakashi standing in front of him. The jounin was glaring down at the young boy with a cold, emotionless face. Iruka braced himself for anything the jounin might throw at him, knowing full well he might die.

 

“Haven't you ever heard of a phone?”

 

Iruka blinked. “What?”

 

Kakashi sighed. “A phone? I know they're a little new and all, but everyone seems to have one these days. Besides, if you don't have one then I'm sure you could've borrowed someone else's.” Kakashi paused to give Iruka a look. “Or you could've told me yesterday you would be late.”

 

“Uh…I'm sorry?” Iruka wished he knew what was going on. Things got even more confusing when Kakashi's gloved fist lightly tapped Iruka on the head.

 

“I'll let it slide this time but next time I won't be so nice.”

 

“So you're not going to kill me?” Iruka asked hopefully.

 

Kakashi rolled his eyes and said, “No.”

 

Iruka cheered, waking little Naruto from his nap. Kakashi glared daggers at him (he looked like he would throw some too!) and went to the baby.

 

“Idiot! Why do you have to be so loud?”

 

All in all, today was a good day for Iruka.

 

OOO

 

Here's something I wrote a while back for this story, but could never find a place for it to fit. An “omake” if you will. Please enjoy.

 

“We should get flowers.”

 

Kakashi looked at Iruka in confusion, not quite catching what he meant. “What?”

 

“Flowers,” Iruka repeated, pointing at the flower shop they were passing. “I think we should get some before it closes. See, someone's still in there.”

 

Kakashi looked through the windows, catching the slightest movement of someone. By the looks of it that person was getting ready to leave. Shifting Naruto, who was dozing lightly, to another arm, Kakashi reached into his back pocket for his wallet. Flipping it open he discovered that he had some money left.

 

This should be enough for flowers, he thought. He held the money out to Iruka, who thanked him and took it.

 

“I'll be right back.”

 

“Sure. We'll wait out here.

Iruka entered the flower shop; a bell rang as he opened the door announcing his entrance. Shuffling could be heard from the back of the shop.

 

“Hang on, I'll be out in a second!” a voice called.

 

Iruka took this time to check out all the flowers in the shop. While he was looking at a pink tulip the shop keeper appeared and took his spot at the counter. He smiled wearily at Iruka. “Sorry, busy day. What can I do for you?”

 

“I'm here to buy some flowers. You wouldn't to have any daffodils would you?” Iruka asked. He had noticed the lack of the desired flower while he was waiting for the shopkeeper. Said shopkeeper sighed and brushed back a blonde lock.

 

“Daffodils? I think we have some in the back. Gimme a sec, ok?”

 

“Alright.”

 

The shopkeeper went to back of the store again leaving Iruka to look at the flowers. After looking over the tulips Iruka was looking at a rather large sunflower. The bright yellow petals pointed in all directions as the flower stood proud on its stem, surrounded by others like itself. Not surprisingly, the flower had reminded the genin of the little blonde Naruto.

 

The petals are like his hair, all bright and pointy, Iruka thought. Before he could point more similarities between the flower and the blonde, the shopkeeper came back.

 

“You're just in luck!” he cried. “There were four daffodils left, will that be enough?”

 

Iruka beamed and nodded, though he was hoping for more. “That's perfect, thank you.”

 

Iruka paid for the flowers and went outside, where Naruto was walking around looking at the different plants displayed outside.

 

“What?” the baby asked Kakashi, grabbing on to the dark green leaves of a plant.

 

“A fern.”

 

“What?”

 

“Carnation.”

 

Naruto was about to touch a cactus when he noticed Iruka had returned outside. He toddled away from the cactus, much to the relief of his care givers, and reached up to Iruka with his little hands. Once in Iruka arms, Naruto noticed the daffodils. Reaching over he gently grabbed one of the petals.

 

“What?”

 

“They're daffodils. Aren't they pretty Naruto?”

 

The little blonde shook his head. “No.”

 

Iruka laughed at this but Kakashi looked at the flowers in confusion. Who gets daffodils? Really?

 

“What's wrong?” Iruka asked.

 

“Why'd you get daffodils?”

 

Iruka blinked. “Why not? I like daffodils y'know. They're a very noble flower.”

 

“But they look so,” Kakashi paused, trying to look for the right word,” they look so…silly.”

 

“That's just to fool people. Daffodils are very strong and beautiful.” Iruka turned to Naruto, who was playing with the bow the shopkeeper had tied around the flowers. “See? Naruto likes them.”

 

“He's just playing with the bow; besides, he's too young so he doesn't count.”

 

“Who asked you?”

 

“You did, idiot!”

 

“Then you should've picked the flowers!”

 

“I would never do something so-so…womanly!”

 

“What!”

 

Naruto watched the older boys fight, which was a normal occurrence for him. Sometimes, Naruto thought, Kakashi and Iruka could be such babies.

 

OOO

 

I'm done! I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! Waah! But I've been busy, and have been side tracked many times! I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY! *bows low to the ground*

 

Please review, and I promise to try to update faster.