Questionable Loyalty

CHAPTER 21





Much to Iruka’s surprise, the next morning Kakashi appeared by the door of his classroom even earlier than he usually went there, way before any of the students would arrive. The Chuunin just found him there, sitting on a bench in the corridor, his nose buried in that dirty book of his – Iruka was too shocked by his presence to chide him about reading things like that in the Academy – and looking quite oblivious to his surroundings. He wasn’t oblivious, of course. As soon as Iruka walked up to him, the older man greeted him without looking up at all.



“Good Morning, sensei.”



The word sent a flash of heat down Iruka’s groin and he bit the inside of his lip in an attempt to bring himself under control.



“Good Morning, Kakashi-san. You’re up quite early today.”



Finally Kakashi closed his book and carefully tucked it in an inner pocket of his Jounin vest.



“I always take my missions seriously, Iruka-sensei.”

He looked towards the still-locked door of the classroom.



“Seems like I am a bit too early after all though.”



Iruka smiled and moved to unlock it, then gestured to Kakashi to get in.



“The students will be here soon. I’ll go bring you a more comfortable chair.” And he quickly left, not waiting for Kakashi to answer him.



In a few minutes he was back with a decent chair, big enough so that Kakashi wouldn’t have to fold in four in order to sit in it.



“Here, I hope you’d be more comfortable in this one.” He said.



“Thank you, Sensei.” Kakashi said and brought his new acquisition to the corner at the back of the room, where he could observe without disturbing the class.



Soon, the students began to file in one by one, some loud and chirpy, others with sleepy, zombified looks on their faces. The ones that were already awake enough often sent Kakashi long, curious gazes but felt too intimidated to try and actually say anything to him. For his part, the Jounin tried to appear as harmless and uninteresting as possible with varied success.



Finally, the bell rang and Iruka called for everyone to take their seats and be quiet, and “children, STOP staring at Kakashi-san and look at the blackboard, or I’ll make you do laps around the yard”. That produced the necessary results and they all finally looked back at their teacher, who sent the Jounin a bemused look and began his class.



Today, after he had managed get himself under control during the sleepless night, Kakashi could actually observe and analyze the whole process without wanting throw himself or Iruka out of the window.



The younger man was, indeed, very kind and patient, and despite the grim subject, he obviously possessed a sense of humour brilliant enough to make the children laugh. Despite Kakashi’s distracting presence, Iruka made them focus on him, follow his words and gestures, write down what he wrote on the black-board, ask questions and sometimes argue over the answers.



In a few short hours Kakashi realized that most of these children adored their teacher and he could see why – while he did not possess the raw power Minato had had, Iruka had the same engaging, gentle personality as him , even if he was a bit less goofy. Half consumed by bitter-sweet memories and half-listening to Iruka’s lecture, Kakashi didn’t realize when the time came for lunch recess. The bell made him jump in his seat in surprise.



After the students filed out, Iruka smiled and approached him:



“Distracted again, Kakashi-san?” he said, looking more amused than reproving “You said that you take your missions seriously.”



Kakashi shook his head.



“I was watching and listening very carefully, actually. It’s just that you reminded me of someone.”



“Oh? Who might that be?”



Kakashi paused, trying to gather the strength to say the name he hadn’t uttered in many, many years without it choking him on its way out:



“Minato-sensei.”



At that Iruka suddenly burst into laughter.



“Kakashi-san, don’t tease. Me, resembling the great Hokage…” at Kakashi’s frown he stopped laughing “I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s just that it seems too improbable to compare a lowly Chuunin like me with someone like the Yondaime.”



Finally Kakashi smiled back:



“I wasn’t comparing your skills in the field – it is your attitude towards students and people in general that are similar, sometimes. As I said, it brought back some memories.”



He lowered his eyes to hide the pain in them, but Iruka wasn’t fooled so easily.



“I am sorry if this opened old wounds.” He said softly.



“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Kakashi was quick to reassure him. Suddenly, his stomach growled. Loudly, at that. The Jounin blushed crimson under his mask.



“I apologise.” He said, but the younger man only laughed gently.



“It’s okay, I am pretty hungry too.” He moved back to the desk and took out a wrapped box “Did you bring your obento?”



“Uh…” Kakashi said unintelligently then took out a foil-wrapped little block from his front pocket “I have power bars…”



Iruka rolled his eyes and said:



“Nonsense, you won’t be eating that crap when you’re my guest. You do realize you’re sort of my guest at the moment, right?”



Kakashi said nothing, only looked down. Iruka decided that he liked those bashful reactions, especially coming from a man like Kakashi.



“Let’s go outside and share the food I’ve got. I must have some divination skills, because today I prepared more than I usually do.”



Kakashi silently followed.



Once they were settled at a small table at a secluded corner of Academy’s yard, Iruka began to unwrap the food. Kakashi relaxed back in his seat, watching as the graceful hands deftly opened the box and produced two pairs of disposable chopsticks.



“You’re lucky I always carry a few pairs of these on my person, or we’d be sharing them too. Or you’d be eating with your hands.” Iruka muttered and offered him the chopsticks.



“Thank you.” Kakashi said as he took them.



Among other things, Iruka turned out to be excellent at cooking – another trait he shared with Kakashi’s late teacher.



“This is good.” The Jounin said with his mouth full and then stuffed another piece in.



“Easy, Kakashi-san, you’ll choke at this rate.”



Kakashi swallowed and said:



“I’m sorry, Sensei, but I rarely eat good home-cooked meals. My own cooking is so bad that the fumes alone can make someone think it’s poisonous and make them run away screaming. At least Pakkun says so.”



“Pakkun?”



“One of my ninja dogs. You’ve seen them, right?”



It took Iruka a few moments to remember the little pooch Kakashi had summoned years ago when Orochimaru attacked the Village.



“Yes, I think I remember him. A little brown pug?”



Kakashi nodded and smiled.



“Yes, him. So, as you can imagine, I am always more than glad to receive free home-made food. That is, not made by me.”



Iruka smiled brilliantly at him.



“You’re welcome.”



They ate in amiable silence for a few more minutes before Iruka finally asked him:



“So, how do you like these classes? Apart from them giving him you creepy reminders of your teacher…”



“The reminders are not creepy, Iruka-sensei.” Kakashi admonished gently, but then continued “I find them most enlightening. You are… truly gifted when it comes to dealing with people that age. You know how to talk to them, it seems. To make them listen to what you need to tell them.”



“There’s nothing so special about it, Kakashi. I just treat my students with respect and expect to be respected in return. I also try not to forget that they don’t move at the same speed – emotionally, intellectually – each travels at their own pace. It doesn’t mean that they are stupid or ungifted – it’s just that their minds work in a different way. I admit, there are some students who just aren’t cut to be a ninja – I try to inform their parents as soon as possible – it saves everyone a lot of grief and disappointment.”



Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.



“Sounds reasonable.” He muttered. “But I am not you, Iruka-sensei. I don’t know if I can do the same for my students.”



“You’re not just their teacher, Kakashi-san. As you told me years ago, you are also their squad leader. You are the mentor through whom they’d enter the world of the grown ups, through whom they’d take on real responsibilities regarding the safety of their village. You’d have to demand more of them than I do.”



“I did so, during the Chuunin exam, remember? And look where it brought us.” Kakashi said bitterly. After a short pause, he added “I am very grateful to you that you didn’t say “I told you so.” back then.”



Iruka laughed then and answered.



“I am not the gloating kind. Besides, there was no point in rubbing your face in – it would’ve served no productive purpose.”



Soon after that the last of the food was gone and Kakashi was helping his host to gather the pieces of the box an reassemble them and then clean up the table from any scraps or oily stains.



“Come now, let’s go back in.” the Chuunin said.