Chapter Text
A summer breeze lazily moved the trees overhead as a gaggle of pre-genin were being run through their final weapons safety workshop before the summer break.
The children were excited, waiting for the bell to ring to signal the end of the day. Their teacher, Iruka Umino, was excited too, but he wasn’t about to let the kids know that. Although he loved teaching and cared for his students, he wouldn’t deny the fact that looking after a horde of small children 5 days a week wore on him. He would relax on the weekends, of course, but he would still regularly run into his students in the market or when strolling along the canal. Thankfully he had a nice and easy delivery mission scheduled for the first week of the break, so he could not only get away from the kids but Konoha proper.
Iruka signaled for the children to pack up. The clock was ticking dangerously close to 3 o’clock and he wanted to leave his students with a congratulatory message before ending the class. Really, Iruka was very impressed that today had gone without incide-
“OW! HARU!”
Or perhaps not.
He was at the young girl’s side immediately to assess the damage. Her friend, Haru, looked ready to start bawling, the guilt of hurting her friend overwhelming her.
“I-I’m so sorry, Tsuki! Iruka-sensei! I don’t know what happened, I just dropped it!”
‘It’ being the training kunai that was embedded in Tsuki’s foot, right across her toes where they weren’t protected by her sandals.
“It’s okay, Haru.” said Iruka, purposefully keeping his tone gentle as to not scare her. “You can come with me to take Tsuki to the hospital, okay?”
“Hospital?!” squeaked Tsuki
The hospital would be the better of the two options, as Iruka knew that the school’s first-aid station was not up for dealing with this. The cut wasn’t so severe to cause substantial blood loss, it was a training kunai after-all, but there was risk of amputation if any of her nerves or tendons were injured badly enough.
Of course, he didn’t tell the girls this.
“Yes, hospital. Your toes are very important, you wouldn’t want me to make a mistake when healing them, right?” he wasn’t sure if that was the exact right thing to say, but it worked.
Iruka asked the class rep to make sure the training weapons were put away safely and correctly before scooping the girl up, making sure not to jostle her foot too much. The rest of the class gave a subdued goodbye as the three of them walked off. Haru, now openly sobbing, was gripping onto Iruka’s pant leg.
‘Great start to the holidays.’ thought Iruka, bitterly.
The short trip to the hospital was uneventful, both girls too shocked to chat. After signing Tsuki in and lecturing Haru (“You are to look after her as she recovers, got it? That is your apology to her.”) Iruka made to return to the academy to speak with her parents, who were surely waiting there to pick her up. However, as he reached to open the door, Might Gai bounded in with Rock Lee hot on his heels, and a very bedraggled Kakashi Hatake across his back, looking as though he was barely clinging onto life let alone Gai’s shoulders.
The hospital staff mobilised immediately, and rushed over a wheelchair for Gai to deposit Kakashi’s limp frame into.
“Kakashi? Is he going to be okay?” Iruka heard himself squawk, panic bubbling in his stomach.
Kakashi groaned in what could generously be called Iruka’s general direction, and his head lolled to the side, consciousness evading him.
“He will be fine!” assured Gai, striking his signature pose “I guarantee it!”
Iruka didn’t doubt his conviction, and chose not to doubt his words either. He knew Gai and Kakashi had known each other for a long time, so surely they would know what sort of damage the other could bounce back from. He gave him a small smile in response, and a wave to Lee, as he made his way out of the hospital and back to the academy.
The class rep had, blessedly, stayed around to wait for Tsuki and Haru’s parents and explain the situation to them, so there was little Iruka had to tell them aside that they were in safe hands. The two sets of parents thanked him and apologised in kind before setting off for the hospital, bickering between them about their daughters and the bad influences they were for each other. Iruka couldn’t stand parents like that, and he was glad he rarely had to deal with them, but he did pity the students who went home to them.
He dismissed the class rep after thanking them for their hard work and wishing them a peaceful break, and made his way back to his classroom to complete the small amount of grading he had left himself. It was while reading a student’s particularly colourful description of how to treat a facial wound that Iruka found his thoughts drifting towards the two jonin he had encountered today. Their friendship was an odd one for sure, with Gai’s boisterousness and Kakashi’s aloofness. Previously Iruka wasn’t even sure if their friendship was mutual. However, after one particular encounter, there was no doubt in his mind that the two were not only best friends, but also perfectly alike.
Iruka was walking home across the canal bridge when he spied Rock Lee doing one handed push-ups at the far end. He knew Lee and Gai had strange training regimens, but their usual training grounds of choice were, well, the training grounds. Not beside the railings of a bridge. Approaching now with heavier footsteps so as not to startle the boy, Iruka called out to Lee. This was, however, completely drowned out by the bellow coming a few hundred metres away down the canal path.
The Green Beast of Konoha and the Great Copy Ninja looked to be engaged in a race. A hopping race. Limbs tied together and everything. Iruka could barely comprehend what he was witnessing as the two great ninja turned onto the bridge. Even at this distance he could feel the competitive adrenalin pouring off of them, see the sweat flying from them as they exerted themselves. There was no doubt this had been a long race, with a great deal of pride being the reward for reaching the goal first.
As they neared, Kakashi seemed to notice him, as the jonin’s eyes snapped to meet his.
“Iruka-sensei?”
Everything went in slow-motion then. It must have been the shock at being caught in such a silly situation that caused Kakashi to slip, overcorrect his feet, and slam face first into the wooden slats of the bridge. Gai’d roar of victory shook the trees as he crossed the line that Lee had set u- hang on, when did Lee find the time to do that?! As such was the mystery of Gai and Lee, as the two embraced and cried, overwhelmed by the triumph. Kakashi, on the other hand, was still wiggling down near Iruka’s feet. Iruka swears he heard Kakashi let out a pathetic ‘nooo’ as he wriggled, but he would never tell.
Iruka sighed happily to himself as he capped his pen and began to pack his satchel. He’d never forget that day, being privy to the utter silliness that ensued around Gai and Kakashi was precious to him. He hoped he’d be able to witness it again.
His smile faded at that thought. Kakashi was in hospital. Again. That man was going to run himself into an early grave at this rate, and Iruka couldn’t tell you if that was intentional or not. He shook his head and pushed all negativity away as he shouldered his bag, it wasn’t worth dwelling on, he’d be fine.