Chapter 5
"You’re having a dinner party?", Iruka asked. "You’re having a dinner party?"
"I know", Naruto laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. If his movements had been impaired at all by the loss and replacement of his arm, it wasn’t obvious; the gesture was as fluid and familiar as when he had been a boy. "Don’t worry, Hinata was in charge of all the planning. I just did what she asked me to do."
"I don’t know... I was hoping for a little peace and quiet on my day off."
"Don’t worry about that! There’re not many people coming! Just close friends and family! We… Have some news we wanted to tell everyone."
Iruka squinted at him thoughtfully. Was Kakashi planning to make Naruto the Hokage already? He had known- the entire village had known- for a long time that it was what was intended, yet now still felt too soon. No, it had to be something else. "What sort of news?"
"Oh, it’s nothing important, really…" A faint shade of red crept up Naruto’s neck.
"Then why don’t you tell me here, if it’s not that important?" He folded his arms.
"I…"
Iruka leaned forward, grinning, and patted his son’s shoulder. "Naruto, relax. I’ll come to your dinner party if you really want me to."
Naruto immediately did as Iruka instructed, letting his body go limp and slouching forward on the bench where they sat. "Thank you. It’ll be great, and I really want you to be there."
Iruka crossed his arms once more. "Hinata is pregnant again, isn’t she?"
Naruto’s mouth and eyes shot wide open and then closed again. He lowered his head. "Yeah." Glancing back up at his father, he admitted; "You’re the first to know. I was sort of hoping you would guess. I didn’t tell anyone else there was news, just told them they had to come."
Iruka smiled as gently as he can manage under all of his sudden bubbling excitement. "I’m so happy for you. You both are already doing so well with little Boruto."
"Yeah, well, a few more years of no sleep will be worth it in the end, won’t it?"
"I didn’t have to deal with that, but I’m sure it will be worth it."
“You could make up for it now.” Naruto’s eyes sparkled. “I know Hinata has been staying at home with Boruto but there are some nights we could use a babysitter. And I’m sure some of the others would appreciate your services too.”
Iruka scrunched up his nose. He did love Boruto, and had done his best to help out when the toddler was just a new-born, but two mini-Narutos running around… "Maybe. I’d have to see if I could get the time off."
"Great! I’ll hold you to it." Naruto’s grin evaporated, and he hugged Iruka close. "Thanks, dad. It’s not as scary as it was the first time, but… I’m glad you think I did a good job. All I want is for Hinata and the kids and everyone else I care about to be safe and happy. I wish… I wish my parents could see it. Could see them."
Iruka drew away. He took Naruto’s hand instead, patting it with each of his own. "I’m sure they know", he told Naruto solemnly, and watched as Naruto let the teardrops in his eyes begin to work their way down his cheeks. "This world is a better place now."
*
Naruto had lied to him.
Not only were all of Naruto’s friends, his former students, all crammed into the small dining room together, but so were a few faces around the same age that he never taught personally but still recognized: Sai, Rock Lee, Tenten, Temari, Hanabi, Konohamaru. They dominated the majority of the room.
The table nearest to him housed those closer to his age range: Kurenai, Kakashi, Tsunade, and…
“Dad”, Naruto greeted, almost tripping over a chair as he rushed to Iruka's side, “there’s a seat for you opposite- oh, I don’t know if you guys have met- Yamato.”
Iruka locked eyes with the brown-haired man next to Kakashi. After a moment’s silence, they simultaneously broke into laughter.
Naruto looked between them in confusion.
"Are you stalking me?", Yamato asked. His eyes were narrowed but Iruka could see the faint twitch of his lips, threatening a smile.
"We keep running into each other without intending to", he explained to Naruto. "Or, rather, people keep trying to introduce us."
Naruto gave Iruka a weird, almost nervous, smile, and then headed back to sit in between Hinata and Shikamaru.
As Iruka sat down, Kakashi waved and said; “Yo.” Kurenai gave him an appreciative smile.
Settling down at the table, he felt something brush his leg and nearly jumped out of his skin before peering under the tablecloth- fancy, Hinata had really gone all out- and finding Boruto’s small blond head. He gave a toothy smile upon being discovered.
“Hey”, Iruka said as he scooped the toddler up onto his lap “Did your mommy and daddy let you stay for dinner?”
Boruto wriggled minutely for a moment before caving in and settling against Iruka’s stomach.
“Gai is babysitting the other little brats. Naruto said it was an adult only sort of thing.” Kakashi shrugged an exaggerated shrug, raising both hands in the air with the palm up. The Hokage put his hands down, leaned in conspiratorially, and waggled his eyebrows. “I guess Naruto and Hinata wanted for him to hear the news. Since it affects him as well.”
Ah. So he must have figured it out, too.
Kurenai, reaching for a bottle of wine at the center of the table, added; “Mirai is with them too. She’s Gai’s ‘assistant’ for the evening.”
Iruka snickered at the mental image of little Mirai trying to round up the other tots as Gai yelled in the background, bustling about in his chair.
“She’s so serious, Kurenai”, Kakashi said almost accusatorially.
“No idea where she gets that from”, Kurenai shrugged. “Certainly not me.” She sighed. “You’re right, though. She is a funny little one. Already prepared to take on the whole world alone.”
Tsunade leaned over. “Here, Kurenai, have another drink.”
Kurenai’s head perked up. “Thank you, I will.”
“And for me, too”, Kakashi added, holding his glass out. Tsunade threw him an incredulous look, and creases formed about his eyes.
“If you wanted me to be pouring your drinks for you, Tsunade, you should have kept the hat.”
“You little shit.”
Kakashi widened his eyes and pointed at Boruto, still on Iruka’s lap, dramatically miming a shushing motion.
“Yeah, whatever.” Tsunade turned to Iruka. “How about you? Want a drink?”
“No, thank you.” Iruka raised one hand, hoping his small chuckle would seem polite rather than nervous. “I’ll stick to water.”
“You’re not having one?”, Yamato asked.
“No. I figure after their announcement they’ll probably break out more alcohol for a toast or something. I’ll save myself until then."
Yamato shook his head at Tsunade when she offered him the bottle. “I think I’ll do the same”, he said with a weary smile.
"To each their own." The former Hokage shrugged, topping up her own glass for good measure.
Iruka looked around at everyone at the other tables and all of a sudden he was stuck inside his own memory. Shikamaru and Ino were bickering over something while Chouji laughed at them. Sakura was sitting with Naruto, seemingly annoyed as he tried to talk across the table to her with a full mouth. Hinata, sitting by his side, hid a smile behind one hand. Kiba looked disgusted at something Shino was showing him under the table; a bug, knowing him.
He blinked, and the illusion was broken. There were new faces among them: Sai and Temari snickered alongside Chouji, Karui chatted with Tenten and Rock Lee, Tamaki looking slightly horrified as she leans over Kiba’s shoulder.
“They haven’t changed much, have they?”, Yamato asked in a low tone, sucking Iruka further from his memories.
“Actually…” Iruka scratched at his nose. “I was just thinking about how much they have changed.”
Yamato stared at him without further comment.
"I get what you mean, though", he continued. The village was being run by children who grew up with war, the same as it had always been. But this generation here, they were different. "They've been through a lot, and they've learned to cope with it." He stroked Boruto's head with one hand. "These ones won't have to face the same traumas."
Not a word came from Yamato. His eyes were wide. Iruka wasn't sure why, but he kept talking. Likely because he knew that, whatever he said, it would be a while before he saw Yamato again; if he even did. “I tried so hard with Naruto and the others.” His eyes darted over to Kakashi and he dropped his voice slightly, even though he was sure Kakashi would still be able to hear. “I tried to keep them safe, but I wasn’t very good at it. Once they graduated… They were out of my hands.”
“At least you tried”, Yamato whispered finally, his voice hoarse. “Looking back… I perhaps could have been a little easier on them. I didn’t really know how to be a role model to children. I didn’t know any different. Not like you.”
A small bubble seemed to have folded in around them, enclosing the two of them away from the rest of the room.
"Well, we had different lives", Iruka said. "I lost my parents when I was young, and I was so alone. And I just… I never wanted another kid to feel alone like that. Naruto was so easy to get close to." Not like Sasuke, he thought but didn't say. He had watched over that boy as with all of his students, but he couldn’t push his luck with a child who would just push him back.
Yamato stared at him with his mouth hanging open in shock, and Iruka blinked. "Are you... Okay?"
"Iruka!" Kurenai cut in, and Iruka watched as Yamato closed his mouth and turned away, blinking. He looked over at the kunoichi, who was fixing him with a broad smile. "You've been doing such a great job with Mirai, she really loves school. I just wanted to say thank you."
Modestly bobbing his head, Iruka replied; “Well, that’s really Anko’s influence, not mine.” She was Mirai’s main teacher, after all.
Everyone fell silent as Naruto and Hinata got to their feet.
As they spoke, making their grand announcement, Iruka ducked his head and poured himself a glass of wine, preparing for the toasts that were sure to come.
Konohamaru lead the clapping loudly and enthusiastically. Boruto wriggled off of Iruka’s lap to run over to his parents, yelling in excitement about how he wanted a little brother, causing laughter to ripple across the tables.
Iruka clapped along with everyone else, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the love in the room.
He wasn’t the only one, apparently. He saw the shock and happiness on Yamato’s face and the tears in his eyes as he too applauded.
Curious, Iruka leaned over and whispered; "You really didn't suspect it?"
“No”, Yamato responded, eyes wide. “Did you?”
“I guessed, so Naruto told me.”
The corners of Yamato’s lips twitched upwards. He spoke slowly. “You’re really close to him. I should have figured he would have told you.”
When he offered a glass of wine, Yamato accepted this time. The man took a sip, and then said; “I wish I got to see them more.” He talked so quietly that Iruka was unsure if he was supposed to hear.
Yamato turned back to him. “Do you remember what you said to me, when we first met at that bar? The first time, I mean.”
Iruka only vaguely recalled them meeting there, as if through a haze. It had been a few years. He frowned.
“One of the first times we met, anyway”, Yamato clarified, drumming his fingers against his glass. “You told me you thought I’d made a good impact on Naruto and Sakura. I wanted to tell you that meant a lot to me.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t remember losing my family. I suppose I must have done- well, they lost me. I coped with it differently than you.”
Iruka's gaze softened. Yamato may have been a man in front of him, his frame large, but he had a sudden glimpse of what he thought Yamato may have been like as a child, unsure and solemn. “Everyone deals with things differently, Yamato.”
“I don’t think I did too badly, though.” He looked over towards Naruto and his friends, and Iruka followed suit.
And instead, found Kakashi’s face looming next to him.
“None of us did too bad.”
“Kakashi!”, Yamato yelped, smacking at the Hokage. His own breathing was as ragged as Iruka’s as they each struggled to recover from that scare.
Kakashi merely laughed at them as they recovered, and Kurenai and Tsunade joined in.
“No”, Iruka agreed when he could speak again, “None of us did too bad.”
“We made a good team, in a way”, Yamato remarked. He took another sip of his drink.
The food came around and the alcohol continued to flow. By the end of the night, Iruka could feel the warmth of the alcohol flushing his face, yet he didn't feel drunk at all; barely tipsy, if anything.
Tsunade was a different story. She was half-slumped over, two empty bottles on either side of her. Kakashi had tried to balance them on her shoulders before Iruka told him to stop.
Naruto and Hinata moved from table to table, saying goodbye to everyone. They came to their table last.
"Well, I'm going home." Kakashi looped a scarf about his already completely covered shoulders and snuggled down further into his large cloak.
"Guess I’d better go with you. I need to pick up Mirai." Kurenai shrugged. "Lead on, Kakashi."
Once they were gone, Yamato looked down at the table, and the woman sprawled across it. "I can walk Tsunade home."
"I can give you a hand if you want", Iruka offered. He stifled a yawn against his hand.
"I thought you were staying in our guest room tonight?", Naruto asked.
He waved a hand. “Oh, no, I couldn’t impose like that.”
“You wouldn’t be imposing at all, dad”, Hinata told him.
“And Boruto would love to have you stay.”
“Yeah!” Boruto darted out of nowhere, hanging onto Iruka’s leg.
Iruka stared around at the others, all now standing by the door. Only Shikamaru, Temari, and Sakura were still there from among the ‘kids’.
“Well, I guess I’m outvoted then.”
“Alright”, said Kurenai, “I guess I’ll see you when I see you, then, Iruka.”
Further farewells were exchanged. Kakashi and Kurenai were the first to leave, slipping out nearly completely unnoticed. Shikamaru, Temari, and Sakura followed just a few yards behind them, all walking together. It was starting to grow dark outside.
Iruka lifted Boruto up in his arms and Tsunade squished his little cheeks together with the palms of her hands as Yamato gently steered her towards the door. To his surprise, Boruto loved it, laughing hysterically. He couldn't tell whether the toddler was in a good mood because of the news, or if it was just because of Tsunade.
She eventually drew away towards the door. Yamato stepped into her place, kissing Boruto's forehead. He met Iruka's gaze with twinkling eyes as he stepped back to Tsunade's side.
"Goodnight", he told them, nodding his head politely.
Tsunade took Yamato's arm when he offered it, and then they were away.
Iruka stood on the doorstep with his family and watched them go.