.

He hadn’t changed, that was good. It would be strange if she was suddenly met with an elder Iruka-sensei; she wouldn’t know what to do, let along act if that was the case. And she definitely didn’t need anyone else to tell her of her future anymore. 

But perhaps, the former sensei hadn’t come from the same time as she did, which meant he didn’t know of the war. Sakura’s eyes flickered upwards, slightly wavering. 

“Hai.” She said once, still smiling even if her attention had been somewhat tampered with.  “How are you finding Iwakiri? Is this your first time being here?” 

Sakura looked down at the paper he was holding. She couldn’t see what was written on it from where she was standing, maybe it was some guide, or map? If it was a map, then he was new here. Very new. It had hit her hard on her first day, she couldn’t imagine his confusion… 

Iwakiri seemed like something entirely different-- he had only been here for a short period of time and he’s asked himself “what is this?” more times than he cared to remember.

The teacher-- now librarian and swimming coach apparently-- looked down at the small note folder in his tanned hand. He got it only a couple of days ago. it had a small welcome message written on it along with his job assignment. He had no idea just how this.. thing.. knew his name and whereabouts and just why it forced him into a job not close to what he did before.

They could’ve just put him back into a classroom full of kids, even if he didn’t know any of the material he would be teaching here. They could have given him a job that was close as to working at the missions desk, but none of these things felt relevant anymore.

A library did sound like the right place to learn about the things he didn’t know.

“I got here only a couple of days ago.. It’s a little scary” he admit, disconcerted. Nothing in this town made sense. Maybe Sakura could help him try to figure this out. “F-first time?” he stuttered, taken aback by the girls comment. This happened before? like.. several times? Perhaps this was a dream he would wake up from at some point.

{✿} She hadn’t meant to bump into someone, it had just been an accident! Himawari knew there shouldn’t be any running in the corridors, but she couldn’t help it when she was chasing something… 

She rubbed her forehead, eyes squeezing shut of their own accord. Peeking up out of one eye, she grinned at them, rather painfully. 

“Sorry, stranger!” She exclaimed, giving her forehead a final rub, before looking up at the person she had bumped into. One look was all it took for the little Uzumaki to gasp suddenly, mouth falling agape at the man before her. This was… 

“Ojisan is just silly!” She insisted, upset over the fact that he was still crying. She didn’t remember him to be someone that cried easily, but seeing him now, especially in this state… It didn’t bode well with her. The little Uzumaki wanted him to cheer up, there wasn’t any use crying so much!

“Of course I worry about you, silly ojisan! If you’re happy, then be happy!” Tiny hands bundled up in fists, a deep frown caused a crease to form between her brows. Adults were confusing! They would say one thing first, then do something completely different. Himawari became annoyed at that, but she wondered if that was just in their nature. Whatever the case may be, she would soon come to understand when she’s older. 

He heard rumors about Ino getting married somewhere before and even managed to congratulate his former student. He didn’t even know the guy lucky enough to get hitched to one of his best female students. “did you get to eat some cake too?” he just listened to the girl going on and on, all excited and jumpy.

He wondered what it would have been like if they were still in Konoha, what it would be like to be as old as Himawari remembered him. Perhaps he would have taken Hima for ramen like he always did when Naruto was younger-- he had the best moments with Naruto there but perhaps the girl didn’t even like eating the greasy food.

Iruka held out his big hand to the smaller girl, showing off his brightest signature smile “Want to take a walk, Hima? You can tell me everything about the wedding”

Ino waved her hand aside and shook her head.

“Oh no, don’t worry about a gift- I cant possibly think that you even imagined I’d be married here,” she laughed. Even she wouldn’t believe such a thing were possible a month or so ago.

Her groom still woke up in disbelief at times. Heh.

“Sensei… I do have to ask… do you know the identity of my husband?” 

“Actually no. I don’t think you’ve mentioned who you got married to..”

He was sure it was Shikamaru. Teammates had this thing where they ended up married.. or at least that’s what he heard until he met his “granddaughter” who seemed to be the daughter or Naruto and Hinata.. they were never teammates.

Translator’s Note: Sorry this is an hour late loves, had another migraine. But Iruka made it better, gah. ;-; Precious sensei. If you like the chapter, please buy a copy of the novel to support the original author!

Previous chapter (Sakura and Ino’s Chapter)

Index

Next chapter (Shino and Kiba’s chapter)

-

The Legendary Teacher

I’m glad I chose this job.

Until you were able to have that thought with pride surging through your chest, then your life wasn’t truly a happy one. This was because a job was something you chose to live through for your own sake, as well as the sake of others.

Or at least, that was the way that Umino Iruka thought.

And, right now, Iruka was extremely happy. His chest was bursting with pride when he thought about it.

The trigger for this sudden burst of joy was simply this: he’d glanced the three syllables on top of Ichizoku Ramen’s Most Popular Toppings list: Na-ru-to.

Just glancing at it made Iruka immediately think of Naruto and Hinata’s upcoming wedding, and before he knew it, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

{✿} She hadn’t meant to bump into someone, it had just been an accident! Himawari knew there shouldn’t be any running in the corridors, but she couldn’t help it when she was chasing something… 

She rubbed her forehead, eyes squeezing shut of their own accord. Peeking up out of one eye, she grinned at them, rather painfully. 

“Sorry, stranger!” She exclaimed, giving her forehead a final rub, before looking up at the person she had bumped into. One look was all it took for the little Uzumaki to gasp suddenly, mouth falling agape at the man before her. This was… 

“Don’t cry, Iruka-ojisan!” she said in a loud voice. “I cried as well when I came to this place, and it didn’t help me at all, so I stopped! It feels better to be happy!” 

He pulled the little girl away a little again to really register her face and recognized all of the characteristics he knew from Naruto‘s chubby little face when he was younger. The shimmering bright blue eyes, the toothy white smile and the whisker-like marks on her cheeks. She looked like a real Uzumaki alright but she also seemed to have a lot he recognized from one of the other students from Naruto’s graduation class, Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto had clearly wed Hinata and Iruka only felt a little bad he had no recollection-- or better yet has never been a part of-- his wedding. “Say you wanna spend some time with your young oijisan, Hima-chan?” the crying had finally stopped now that all of it had sinked in. 

‘What are you drawing?’