Slash 100: 77. Betrayal
I couldn’t bring myself to make this sad. I just…I can’t do sad KakaIru. I don’t want them to hurt. I just can’t do it. They’re lives have been hard enough and I just…I can’t. This is going to make my Pieces sequel very difficult for me, but whatever.
So, anyway, I’ve twisted this innately sad theme for my own purposes and made it much funnier.
Warning: Um…slightly one sided NaruIru, but it is NOT to be taken seriously. Serious NaruIru makes me ill. This is more like…the little kid crush that everyone has on their teacher at some point or other. Please, please, please, don’t take it seriously.
77. Betrayal
“Iruka-sensei! How could you?”
Iruka looked up as the boy in front of him slammed his hands down on the teacher’s desk, matching his yell. The brunette could only blink in confusion at the tearful blue eyes before him. “Naruto? What’s the matter?”
The blond boy looked back at him tearfully, rubbing furiously at his wet cheeks with the back of his hand. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know, Iruka-sensei!”
The chuunin could only stare, and pulled a handkerchief out of one of his vest pockets that he kept there for students with runny noses (incidentally, it was also quite useful as a gag on missions). He offered it to the whiskered boy, but his hand was shoved roughly away.
Iruka sighed, laying the piece of cloth on his lap and trying to keep the eye contact with the boy. “Naruto, I really have no idea what has you so upset. Why won’t you tell me?”
Naruto hiccupped, trying to look tough and manly while doing so. The result was mostly that he just looked like a kicked puppy. “How could you not know, Iruka-sensei? I thought I made it obvious! I was going to become Hokage and take care of you!”
Iruka was sure that if he were a manga character, now would be the perfect time for the question mark background, because he felt that confused. “Take care of me?”
Naruto nodded, sniffing pathetically. “I wanted to take care of you, Iruka-sensei! I had it all planned out, but now HE’S gone and messed everything up!”
Iruka sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache approaching. “What has Sasuke done this time, and what does it have to do with taking care of me?”
“Not Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei!”
Iruka opened his eyes to resume staring at the boy. “Kakashi-san?”
“Don’t pretend, Iruka-sensei! It’ll only make things worse!”
Iruka knew his mouth was hanging open slightly, but couldn’t quite bring himself to care. This was all getting to be a bit too much for his tired brain after looking after a large group of hyper-active eight-year-old’s on three hours of sleep. “Naruto, what are you talking about?”
“Kakashi-pervert-bastard has stolen you from me!”
“Don’t call him that!”
“See! He’s turned you against me already!”
Iruka let out another long exasperated sigh as he closed his eyes, resisting the urge to beat his forehead with the flat of his palm. “Naruto, you shouldn’t talk about your sensei like that.”
“You mean I shouldn’t talk about your boyfriend like that!”
Iruka’s eyes snapped open and he froze, every muscle in his body tensed, as he looked up at the furious boy in front of him.
“Naruto…You…I…Kakashi and I…”
“I saw you!” Naruto cried, pointing his finger accusingly at the still seated teacher. “I saw your picture in his book! You were holding hands and everything!”
Iruka made a mental note to hit Kakashi over the head with his special edition of Icha Icha volume one for using a picture of the two of them together for a bookmark- although it admittedly could have been worse. Kakashi certainly had dirtier pictures of him than that.
He could feel his face getting red at that thought, so he chose not to think about it and instead focus on the obviously distraught boy in front of him. “Yes, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and I have been seeing each other for some time now.”
“But, Iruka-sensei, that’s not fair. I thought I mattered to you.”
“Naruto…of course you do.” Iruka smiled at the boy, doing his best to be reassuring. “You’ll always be special to me.”
“But you’re with Kakashi-sensei! You can’t love us both!”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s cheating!”
“Cheating?” Iruka frowned, terribly puzzled. “Naruto, it’s only cheating if…”
“I was going to take care of you forever and ever, Iruka-sensei, but you’ve chosen that pervert over me! It’s not fair!”
The obvious answer that had been trying to get his attention kicked Iruka in the head right then, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing outright. He took a second to compose himself so he wouldn’t hurt the boy’s already damaged feelings before he could bring himself to ask. “Naruto, do you…do you have a crush on me?”
“It’s not a crush,” the twelve-year-old said, stamping his foot. “I really wanted to look after you, and take care of you, and make sure you’re always happy. A Hokage can do that better than anybody, and Kakashi-sensei is never going to be Hokage!”
While he had to agree with that last statement, this whole conversation felt very surreal over all. Yes, he’d had students have crushes on him before- both boys and girls. They tended to latch on to a person showing them kindness outside of their family. But this was Naruto, and the fact that he cared for the boy as more than just another student made the situation different. He did love Naruto- but in a completely platonic brotherly way.
He was willing to bet that that was how Naruto cared for him too, and he just didn’t know the difference quite yet.
“Naruto, I thought you loved Sakura-chan?”
“I do, but it’s not…she doesn’t love me. But you love me, don’t you Iruka-sensei?”
Iruka stood and pulled the boy in to a hug. “Naruto…you’re a very important person to me. But I’m afraid I just can’t love you the same way?”
“Why not? I know I’m a boy, but so is Kakashi-sensei so it doesn’t matter, does it?”
Iruka momentarily thought about explaining that Naruto was boy while Kakashi was a MAN but thought that would probably end badly and he didn’t want to go there just yet with Naruto if he could help it.
Instead, he ruffled the boy’s blonde hair and smiled. “Well, for one thing I’m way too old for you. For another, you’re like a little brother to me. I just can’t love you like that. My heart belongs to Kakashi. But I’ll always care for you. I promise.”
Naruto sniffled, rubbing his face against the chuunin’s chest. “I just…I don’t want to lose you. And you’re way too good for Kakashi-sensei.”
Iruka laughed and gave the boy one last squeeze before letting him go. “I’m not going anywhere, Naruto. Really. I’ll be here when you find that someone who really can love you back. And I’ll be sure to tease you about it terribly.”
“Aw, Iruka-sensei! Don’t.”
“Come on. I’ll treat you to ramen in advance to make up for all the teasing you’re going to have to go through.”
“Yes! I mean no! I mean…Yes, yes let’s go to Ramen and forget the rest of it!”
Iruka laughed, gathering up his papers, as Naruto ran out the door.