Naruto-ish babblings
So, I'm enjoying the Naruto fandom. XD yesh. Tis fun. I think it will take equal place in my heart with Slayers, actualy. I adore the characters so much. *happy sigh* There's good story, and pacing, and fight scenes. . .
Clever fight scenes! That's right. Delicate little me likes her fight scenes. People beating the crap out of each other? Absolutly awsome, espcialy when properly animated and inteligently planned out. *purrs* Nothin' gets my blood going like sneaky, underhanded fighting! :D I be a true ninja at heart! None of this samurai BS with insisting on fighting head to head! Knife the guy in the back! Hamstring, hamstring! Illusion! Diversionary tactics! Poison! POISON! Bwahahahaha!
*ahem*
But what really gets me, as it always does, is the characters. I adore the characters. *snuggles them*
Seriously. I absolutly adore Naruto himself. I think he's the sweetest, bravest thing ever. I see a lot of myself in Nartuo. He really is strong. And though he's very brash and stupid about some things, about others. . . He has a work ethic I am in awe of. There are many brash, loud boy characters in anime with fantastic dreams. But none of them seem to grasp the harsh reality of what they have to go through to acheive those dreams the way Naruto does. Naruto knows he's gonna have to work his ass off. He knows how nearly impossible it is. But he's gonna do it anyways. And he's tough enough to get up again and again, because unlike other characters who just seem to do it because they're pig-headed stuborn, Naruto does it because, well, he knows he has to. That crying over losing does him no good. There's a big difference there, and that impresses me mightily. I also love the fact that he has a very clear view of his own limits. Stuborn and dence most of the time, he still manages to see what he can and cannot do. My favorite example of this is when they fight Zabuza the first time. Kakashi gets caught, and what does Naruto do? He knows he can't beat Zabuza. But he also knows that Kakashi can. so he frees Kakashi. And people think he's dumb? Another good example is the tree climbing exercise. Naruto may be stuborn, but he's the first one to ask for help when it's evident just flinging himself at the problem won't work. More inteligent action! OMG! That puts him head and shoulders above 90% of other male leads in shounen anime, I think. So I love him, for being strong, and for knowing what he can and can't do, and for actualy acting on that knowledge.
I have to say I'm rather looking forward to Naruto killing someone. As harsh and monstrous as that probably sounds, I want to see how he'll react. I'll be very, very put out if there's a sudden 'no-killing' policy for Naruto, because a ninja kills. It's part of the definition of ninja: assassin. And that had better become part of Naruto, too.
Sasuke is interesting too. I don't love Sasuke, for a couple of reasons, but I do respect him. His brother was a psycho, and really messed with his head. He does stuff. He thinks things through, he plans, and though he's focused on his goal, he's not the unemotional, remote icequeen he could have been. Little gestures, like helping Naruto, like boosting Sakura's confidence before the Chunin exame (that would be when he announced that surely Sakura, who was so much more advanced in theory than he and Nartuo, must have noticed the genjutsu on the second floor). . . those things show that he still values other people. And that makes him special on a whole other level.
Sadly, I can't really like him because I find he's kinda cheap. 'Oooh, look at me, I have the super advanced bloodline of DOOM and I can do anything! W00t!' *cough* yeah.
However. . . the bite thingy for Orochimaru puts that nicely in it's place.
Interestingly, he's surprisingly close to Zelgadis, whom I adore. I don't know why I don't like Sasuke more. Maybe it's because he makes Naruto look bad, and I'm as overprotective as Iruka?
Also, the fact that every single time I see him I'm reminded of a peliated woodpecker doesn't help, either.
These two have an interesting relationship. I love how their rivalry is handled, simply because even though they hate each other and fling insults and such. . . there's definatly respect growing there. They're also interesting in how their pain is similar. . . but compleatly different. Frankly, I really don't see how anyone could think one is more potent than the other. Sasuke has had his brain messed with on a very, very nasty level. Pain like has got to ache, not only because of the death, but because of the betrayal on such a basic, heartfelt level. And people who think Naruto's pain is less? Have obviously overlooked the fact that there's a huge difference between choosing to be alone, and being forced to be alone. Even more so because Nartuo just did not understand why. When you have no idea why you, and you alone, are forbiden acceptance. . it hurts. So yes. They are both complealty screwed over emotional health wise. XD; go them.
Sakura. . . ah Sakura. She has pink hair. This makes me imediatly hunger for her on a primal level, and thus I am forced to find something I like about her.
Sakura is, of the three main characters, the most useless and naive of them. Though she has the theory down pat, she has the that dread weakness many bookworms are faced with: It's all well and good to answer on a test, but real life is another story.
She definatly does not love Sasuke. It's a crush, sure, but it's no-where near love. She doesn't even see him as a person. Best example of this is when Sasuke 'dies' at the hands of Haku.
Naruto's reaction to Sasuke's death shows that he sees Sasuke as a person: Sasuke had hopes and dreams, naruto thinks. sasuke had a future, was a person.
Sakura's reaction to his death was: this is nothing like the tests. The tests were easy. Why can't I cope with this if I got perfect on the test?
No thought to how this is Sasuke dead. That this is someone whom she shared time with and life with, and learned and grew with. No thought of him as a person. He was an ideal, a dream, and when he is broken, Sakura reacts as all innocents do when their dreams break. *shrug*
I do like it when she finaly does manage to start fighting. It took her so long. Gah! at least Lee managed to show her the way. :D Sakura + Lee, all the way, baby! Bwahahahaha! She's bein an absolute bitch, though, so it will take a while for mew to get over that. I loathed her in the tree climbing exercise, because she was just so happy that Naruto wasn't improving. and again in the exam, when she was so happy he was being screwed over by the writen test. WTF? Bitch! He's your teamate, he's done nothing trully bad, he helped beat Zabuza when you did nothing but scream. Pissed me the hell off.
But she has pink hair. *_* I am a ho for the colour pink. Gah~!
Kakashi is neat. He has style, I'll give him that. And when he fights. . . :D happy times. However, I'm not as attached to him as every one else seems to be. Honestly? *shrug* he's just. . . he's cool, but I'm not attached to him. Not the way I am with others. I feel for him what I feel for Sasuke: respect, sympathy, and I'm impressed when he does something cool. But I have no deep feelings for him. I don't even find him particularly attractive, though his hair is fun. I like him best paired with Iruka, actualy, but since so many people are set with sticking him with anyone but. . . *sigh*
Lesse. . . I like Shino, as well. He has the ninja bloodline power I'd probably wind up with if I was in Naruto. Seriously. Bugs love me, for some reason. Mostly mosquitos, flies. . . wasps tolerate me and my extreamly close presence too (and here's hoping it continues), spiders don't come near me when I don't want them to. . . grasshoppers infiltrate my appartment. . . yeah. And I hate bugs. XD so I would undoubtably get the bugs. So I love Shino, for his glasses, and his gross power, and his utter calm cunning. "I can beat your ass and I don't even need to sweat to do it".
Gaara I have a passing fondness for, if only for his character design. Pretty. I actualy liked Zabuza, though only at the end, where he is redeemed by Haku and Naruto (I cried for him. Not for Haku, oddly, but for him yes). Shikamaru is neat as well. :D go, semi-comatose genius boy, go!
But it's Iruka who's my absolute favorite. It's Iruka I adore and sqeel over every single time. *shrug* go figure. I mean, realisticly, he's not anything absolutly amazing. Except that's he's just. . . really, really nice. Despite the fact that his parents got munched, he's still the guy who loves and treasures Naruto the most. That's just. . . wow. He's such a sweety. XD and shy. He's so shy. He gets the crap beaten out of him by everyone, too. Mizuki, Kakashi (verbaly), his own students. . . ;_; poor Iruka! Damn them! They had better pump up Iruka! And have more scenes with him and Kakashi.
So yes. I am desperate for more Iruka-sensei (I want me some of the Iruka-summoning scrolls!).
Good fanfics with him are hard to find.
I've found a few though. :D I have to admit, I have a fondness for those fics that pump up Iruka. It's neat to see him kicking ass. He should be allowed to do it more often, really.
Hunter Iruka, as written by Isolde on FFnet, is absolutly awsome. Because despite being a hunter, he's still shy, open, gentle Iruka. Heck, all of Isolde's Iruka fics on FFnet are awsome. Seriously. Go look. she's listed as Isolde1. The Silent Blade is the Hunter Iruka fic, and it makes me sqeel every time. And Unspoken Wispers? I cried. It was. . . very honest. Good stuff. Need more of that.
Have actualy been toying with the notion of drawing hunter Iruka, if only for the trip of it. Iruka the deadly! :D Yesh.
Wich reminds me of this doujin I found online, which is just this light, fluffy thing with bearly any kissing and mostly playing in the snow. . . Iruka being sweet and brotherly and all that. . . and the end picture is him with a bloody knife and a corpse. What the heck? XD totaly out of the blue picture, compleatly unrelated to the story. But there it is! Killer!Iruka. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.
Ah, sweet Iruka. Go forth and slay things. People. Stuff.
And of course the pairings are important too.
I like three main pairings:
NaruGaara, SasuNaru, and most of all KakaIru
- Gaara & Naruto
I like this one because, well, it intrigues me. It's not the standard rival bit that people seem so incredibly fond of and that, frankly, I'm kinda tired of. It's two people who are very different but very much the same. Naruto has beaten the sence into Gaara. And that. . .would be one hell of a wakeup call. Plus, they can understand each other as no-one else can. They can keep up with each other, be equal partners. Also, I have to admit I like the thought of a pair of demon boys taking on the world together. XD But well done Gaara-Naruto stuff is very, very hard to find. Mostly it comes in drabbles. . . little one shots that no-one ever does anything about. I did manage to find one fic I like, though it's nothing at all deep or earth shaking. It's just cute. A relaxing read, you know? Family of Demons, by cneko21 on FFnet (along with the spin-offs for it) is cute and light and fun. :D Naruto manages to create a kid for himself with Kyuubi's help. So, you have Papa Naruto, Mama Kyuubi, Daddy Gaara and uncle Shukaku. LMAO. And then Sasuke's spawn shows up, and so does Sasuke, and Orochimaru, and well. Yeah. XD fun times for everyone!
- Sasuke & Naruto
The 'so obvious it stings and burns' pairing of the series. I mean, it's right there, for pity's sake. Gah! All. Over. The. Place. The only reason I don't like it more is because, well, I'm not fond of rival slash. Seriously. I like buddy slash, and I like gun slash (where hostily is there, but it's not rivalry bassed) and I like partner slash. But rival slash is just. . meh. On the other hand, I did manage to find what is most likely the absoluty best sasunaru fanfic ever. Honest to god. Run From You, by doskoipanda1 (again on FFnet). Compleatly brilliant. Not only does it manage sasunaru perfectly, it also has a lot of other little relationships thrown in, which makes the whole thing that much richer. It's just. . . it's a fabulous fic. :D and it has them most hilarious Kyuubi ever. 'The great Nine Tails!' indeed.
- Kakashi & Iruka
Possibly the most mocked pairing in the series. Which is weird to me because people are going around writting stuff like Itachi/Naruto, Shikamaru/Sasuke and Gaara/Lee and no one batts an eye, ya know? People make a big fuss against it, but, well, I happen to find that it has more weight to it than those last three. I mean, Iruka gets all cute and embarassed in front of Kakashi. And then the two of them pull a "we'll just smile at each other now because we have no clue what else to say".
Maybe it's because anime fans have this obsession with violent relationships? I mean, it seems that if there isn't some kind of rivalry between two people than they're forbiden to like each other. "Oooooh no! These people might actualy like each other to start off with! GAH! NO! BAD!". *sigh* People don't have to be polar opposits and/or violently opposed to one another to want to hook up. They don't even have to be rivals. God.
What's even weirder is that people keep violently pushing away that blush scene. In every other fandom, that blushing would have been jumped on and pounded into the groud, but every one in the Naruto fandom (even the KakaIru fans) seem intent on never speaking of it. For some reason or another, it does not count. o.O; someone wanna tell me why?
And as for the "They spend no time together" bit. . . well, yeah actualy, they do. Not much, but they meet and talk. And there's the link between them of Naruto, which means that it's very much probable that they'll meet and talk again. If Iruka only got more screen time and developmet. *sigh*
And then people go on about how they're too different. o.O; Um. Dudes. Sasuke - Naruto. Hell, Sasuke - Sakura or Naruto - Hinata.
Frankly, these arguments make me very suspicious. It seems more like people just don't like Iruka enough to pair him up with Kakashi, neh? Like he's too boring, too nice. Mind you, I am horribly biassed since I love Iruka so much, but that's what it seems to me: like a big case of "why would someone as cool as Kakashi setle for Iruka? At least with, oh, Gai they have that rival thing. Yeah!"
:P screw it. I happen to like Iruka - Kakashi a lot. So. Best Kakashi - Iruka stuff? Anything by Isolde1 on FFnet. That's "The Silent Blade", "Warning Signs" and "Unspoken Wispers". Also on FFnet is a fic called "Marks" (mark? Dunno if it's pluralized), though I cannot remember the author. Short, neat look at why Iruka never became a Jounin, despite obviously being able to make it (the guy's a Chunin and he can do A rank missions, after all.)
Clever fight scenes! That's right. Delicate little me likes her fight scenes. People beating the crap out of each other? Absolutly awsome, espcialy when properly animated and inteligently planned out. *purrs* Nothin' gets my blood going like sneaky, underhanded fighting! :D I be a true ninja at heart! None of this samurai BS with insisting on fighting head to head! Knife the guy in the back! Hamstring, hamstring! Illusion! Diversionary tactics! Poison! POISON! Bwahahahaha!
*ahem*
But what really gets me, as it always does, is the characters. I adore the characters. *snuggles them*
Seriously. I absolutly adore Naruto himself. I think he's the sweetest, bravest thing ever. I see a lot of myself in Nartuo. He really is strong. And though he's very brash and stupid about some things, about others. . . He has a work ethic I am in awe of. There are many brash, loud boy characters in anime with fantastic dreams. But none of them seem to grasp the harsh reality of what they have to go through to acheive those dreams the way Naruto does. Naruto knows he's gonna have to work his ass off. He knows how nearly impossible it is. But he's gonna do it anyways. And he's tough enough to get up again and again, because unlike other characters who just seem to do it because they're pig-headed stuborn, Naruto does it because, well, he knows he has to. That crying over losing does him no good. There's a big difference there, and that impresses me mightily. I also love the fact that he has a very clear view of his own limits. Stuborn and dence most of the time, he still manages to see what he can and cannot do. My favorite example of this is when they fight Zabuza the first time. Kakashi gets caught, and what does Naruto do? He knows he can't beat Zabuza. But he also knows that Kakashi can. so he frees Kakashi. And people think he's dumb? Another good example is the tree climbing exercise. Naruto may be stuborn, but he's the first one to ask for help when it's evident just flinging himself at the problem won't work. More inteligent action! OMG! That puts him head and shoulders above 90% of other male leads in shounen anime, I think. So I love him, for being strong, and for knowing what he can and can't do, and for actualy acting on that knowledge.
I have to say I'm rather looking forward to Naruto killing someone. As harsh and monstrous as that probably sounds, I want to see how he'll react. I'll be very, very put out if there's a sudden 'no-killing' policy for Naruto, because a ninja kills. It's part of the definition of ninja: assassin. And that had better become part of Naruto, too.
Sasuke is interesting too. I don't love Sasuke, for a couple of reasons, but I do respect him. His brother was a psycho, and really messed with his head. He does stuff. He thinks things through, he plans, and though he's focused on his goal, he's not the unemotional, remote icequeen he could have been. Little gestures, like helping Naruto, like boosting Sakura's confidence before the Chunin exame (that would be when he announced that surely Sakura, who was so much more advanced in theory than he and Nartuo, must have noticed the genjutsu on the second floor). . . those things show that he still values other people. And that makes him special on a whole other level.
Sadly, I can't really like him because I find he's kinda cheap. 'Oooh, look at me, I have the super advanced bloodline of DOOM and I can do anything! W00t!' *cough* yeah.
However. . . the bite thingy for Orochimaru puts that nicely in it's place.
Interestingly, he's surprisingly close to Zelgadis, whom I adore. I don't know why I don't like Sasuke more. Maybe it's because he makes Naruto look bad, and I'm as overprotective as Iruka?
Also, the fact that every single time I see him I'm reminded of a peliated woodpecker doesn't help, either.
These two have an interesting relationship. I love how their rivalry is handled, simply because even though they hate each other and fling insults and such. . . there's definatly respect growing there. They're also interesting in how their pain is similar. . . but compleatly different. Frankly, I really don't see how anyone could think one is more potent than the other. Sasuke has had his brain messed with on a very, very nasty level. Pain like has got to ache, not only because of the death, but because of the betrayal on such a basic, heartfelt level. And people who think Naruto's pain is less? Have obviously overlooked the fact that there's a huge difference between choosing to be alone, and being forced to be alone. Even more so because Nartuo just did not understand why. When you have no idea why you, and you alone, are forbiden acceptance. . it hurts. So yes. They are both complealty screwed over emotional health wise. XD; go them.
Sakura. . . ah Sakura. She has pink hair. This makes me imediatly hunger for her on a primal level, and thus I am forced to find something I like about her.
Sakura is, of the three main characters, the most useless and naive of them. Though she has the theory down pat, she has the that dread weakness many bookworms are faced with: It's all well and good to answer on a test, but real life is another story.
She definatly does not love Sasuke. It's a crush, sure, but it's no-where near love. She doesn't even see him as a person. Best example of this is when Sasuke 'dies' at the hands of Haku.
Naruto's reaction to Sasuke's death shows that he sees Sasuke as a person: Sasuke had hopes and dreams, naruto thinks. sasuke had a future, was a person.
Sakura's reaction to his death was: this is nothing like the tests. The tests were easy. Why can't I cope with this if I got perfect on the test?
No thought to how this is Sasuke dead. That this is someone whom she shared time with and life with, and learned and grew with. No thought of him as a person. He was an ideal, a dream, and when he is broken, Sakura reacts as all innocents do when their dreams break. *shrug*
I do like it when she finaly does manage to start fighting. It took her so long. Gah! at least Lee managed to show her the way. :D Sakura + Lee, all the way, baby! Bwahahahaha! She's bein an absolute bitch, though, so it will take a while for mew to get over that. I loathed her in the tree climbing exercise, because she was just so happy that Naruto wasn't improving. and again in the exam, when she was so happy he was being screwed over by the writen test. WTF? Bitch! He's your teamate, he's done nothing trully bad, he helped beat Zabuza when you did nothing but scream. Pissed me the hell off.
But she has pink hair. *_* I am a ho for the colour pink. Gah~!
Kakashi is neat. He has style, I'll give him that. And when he fights. . . :D happy times. However, I'm not as attached to him as every one else seems to be. Honestly? *shrug* he's just. . . he's cool, but I'm not attached to him. Not the way I am with others. I feel for him what I feel for Sasuke: respect, sympathy, and I'm impressed when he does something cool. But I have no deep feelings for him. I don't even find him particularly attractive, though his hair is fun. I like him best paired with Iruka, actualy, but since so many people are set with sticking him with anyone but. . . *sigh*
Lesse. . . I like Shino, as well. He has the ninja bloodline power I'd probably wind up with if I was in Naruto. Seriously. Bugs love me, for some reason. Mostly mosquitos, flies. . . wasps tolerate me and my extreamly close presence too (and here's hoping it continues), spiders don't come near me when I don't want them to. . . grasshoppers infiltrate my appartment. . . yeah. And I hate bugs. XD so I would undoubtably get the bugs. So I love Shino, for his glasses, and his gross power, and his utter calm cunning. "I can beat your ass and I don't even need to sweat to do it".
Gaara I have a passing fondness for, if only for his character design. Pretty. I actualy liked Zabuza, though only at the end, where he is redeemed by Haku and Naruto (I cried for him. Not for Haku, oddly, but for him yes). Shikamaru is neat as well. :D go, semi-comatose genius boy, go!
But it's Iruka who's my absolute favorite. It's Iruka I adore and sqeel over every single time. *shrug* go figure. I mean, realisticly, he's not anything absolutly amazing. Except that's he's just. . . really, really nice. Despite the fact that his parents got munched, he's still the guy who loves and treasures Naruto the most. That's just. . . wow. He's such a sweety. XD and shy. He's so shy. He gets the crap beaten out of him by everyone, too. Mizuki, Kakashi (verbaly), his own students. . . ;_; poor Iruka! Damn them! They had better pump up Iruka! And have more scenes with him and Kakashi.
So yes. I am desperate for more Iruka-sensei (I want me some of the Iruka-summoning scrolls!).
Good fanfics with him are hard to find.
I've found a few though. :D I have to admit, I have a fondness for those fics that pump up Iruka. It's neat to see him kicking ass. He should be allowed to do it more often, really.
Hunter Iruka, as written by Isolde on FFnet, is absolutly awsome. Because despite being a hunter, he's still shy, open, gentle Iruka. Heck, all of Isolde's Iruka fics on FFnet are awsome. Seriously. Go look. she's listed as Isolde1. The Silent Blade is the Hunter Iruka fic, and it makes me sqeel every time. And Unspoken Wispers? I cried. It was. . . very honest. Good stuff. Need more of that.
Have actualy been toying with the notion of drawing hunter Iruka, if only for the trip of it. Iruka the deadly! :D Yesh.
Wich reminds me of this doujin I found online, which is just this light, fluffy thing with bearly any kissing and mostly playing in the snow. . . Iruka being sweet and brotherly and all that. . . and the end picture is him with a bloody knife and a corpse. What the heck? XD totaly out of the blue picture, compleatly unrelated to the story. But there it is! Killer!Iruka. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.
Ah, sweet Iruka. Go forth and slay things. People. Stuff.
And of course the pairings are important too.
I like three main pairings:
NaruGaara, SasuNaru, and most of all KakaIru
- Gaara & Naruto
I like this one because, well, it intrigues me. It's not the standard rival bit that people seem so incredibly fond of and that, frankly, I'm kinda tired of. It's two people who are very different but very much the same. Naruto has beaten the sence into Gaara. And that. . .would be one hell of a wakeup call. Plus, they can understand each other as no-one else can. They can keep up with each other, be equal partners. Also, I have to admit I like the thought of a pair of demon boys taking on the world together. XD But well done Gaara-Naruto stuff is very, very hard to find. Mostly it comes in drabbles. . . little one shots that no-one ever does anything about. I did manage to find one fic I like, though it's nothing at all deep or earth shaking. It's just cute. A relaxing read, you know? Family of Demons, by cneko21 on FFnet (along with the spin-offs for it) is cute and light and fun. :D Naruto manages to create a kid for himself with Kyuubi's help. So, you have Papa Naruto, Mama Kyuubi, Daddy Gaara and uncle Shukaku. LMAO. And then Sasuke's spawn shows up, and so does Sasuke, and Orochimaru, and well. Yeah. XD fun times for everyone!
- Sasuke & Naruto
The 'so obvious it stings and burns' pairing of the series. I mean, it's right there, for pity's sake. Gah! All. Over. The. Place. The only reason I don't like it more is because, well, I'm not fond of rival slash. Seriously. I like buddy slash, and I like gun slash (where hostily is there, but it's not rivalry bassed) and I like partner slash. But rival slash is just. . meh. On the other hand, I did manage to find what is most likely the absoluty best sasunaru fanfic ever. Honest to god. Run From You, by doskoipanda1 (again on FFnet). Compleatly brilliant. Not only does it manage sasunaru perfectly, it also has a lot of other little relationships thrown in, which makes the whole thing that much richer. It's just. . . it's a fabulous fic. :D and it has them most hilarious Kyuubi ever. 'The great Nine Tails!' indeed.
- Kakashi & Iruka
Possibly the most mocked pairing in the series. Which is weird to me because people are going around writting stuff like Itachi/Naruto, Shikamaru/Sasuke and Gaara/Lee and no one batts an eye, ya know? People make a big fuss against it, but, well, I happen to find that it has more weight to it than those last three. I mean, Iruka gets all cute and embarassed in front of Kakashi. And then the two of them pull a "we'll just smile at each other now because we have no clue what else to say".
Maybe it's because anime fans have this obsession with violent relationships? I mean, it seems that if there isn't some kind of rivalry between two people than they're forbiden to like each other. "Oooooh no! These people might actualy like each other to start off with! GAH! NO! BAD!". *sigh* People don't have to be polar opposits and/or violently opposed to one another to want to hook up. They don't even have to be rivals. God.
What's even weirder is that people keep violently pushing away that blush scene. In every other fandom, that blushing would have been jumped on and pounded into the groud, but every one in the Naruto fandom (even the KakaIru fans) seem intent on never speaking of it. For some reason or another, it does not count. o.O; someone wanna tell me why?
And as for the "They spend no time together" bit. . . well, yeah actualy, they do. Not much, but they meet and talk. And there's the link between them of Naruto, which means that it's very much probable that they'll meet and talk again. If Iruka only got more screen time and developmet. *sigh*
And then people go on about how they're too different. o.O; Um. Dudes. Sasuke - Naruto. Hell, Sasuke - Sakura or Naruto - Hinata.
Frankly, these arguments make me very suspicious. It seems more like people just don't like Iruka enough to pair him up with Kakashi, neh? Like he's too boring, too nice. Mind you, I am horribly biassed since I love Iruka so much, but that's what it seems to me: like a big case of "why would someone as cool as Kakashi setle for Iruka? At least with, oh, Gai they have that rival thing. Yeah!"
:P screw it. I happen to like Iruka - Kakashi a lot. So. Best Kakashi - Iruka stuff? Anything by Isolde1 on FFnet. That's "The Silent Blade", "Warning Signs" and "Unspoken Wispers". Also on FFnet is a fic called "Marks" (mark? Dunno if it's pluralized), though I cannot remember the author. Short, neat look at why Iruka never became a Jounin, despite obviously being able to make it (the guy's a Chunin and he can do A rank missions, after all.)