Iruka bolted towards Kakashi and his opponent. He would only get one shot. As he ran forward, Kakashi caught his eye and saw what he was holding.
Kakashi rolled over underneath his opponent, who loomed down, iron tail lashing behind him.
“And now, you’ll pay for the crimes of your accursed father! You’ll --”
The figure’s monologue was cut off by Iruka slamming dozens of talisman papers to his back, sides, and tail, affixing them with chakra, before bounding away.
“What --?”
Every scorpion in the region suddenly wanted nothing more than to obliterate the figure, then celebrate by eating his bones.
4 Likes
Celebrate
Iruka should be excited, joyful, and out with his friends. Instead he was curled up in a tree above an Academy training field—where no one would find him—clutching his new vest and drowning in melancholy.
“What are you doing up there?”
No one except Kakashi, apparently.
“Nothing.”
Kakashi leaped and sat beside him.
“Do you think they would be proud of me?”
“Yes.” Kakashi’s answer was definite.
“Even though I’m so old?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Before the 3rd War the average age for chūnin was 17; Minato-sensei showed me Nidaime-sama’s guidelines once. We’re at peace, we should go back to that.”
4 Likes
The queen’s stinger hit the middle of the enemy’s back, skewering him with a sickening sound. Kakashi rolled away somehow and staggered back towards Iruka.
Simultaneously, every baby scorpion in the region swarmed the figure, weighing him down in a multicolored cloak of twitching, stinging death. They crawled everywhere, their tiny bodies infiltrating crevices he probably didn’t know he had.
He screamed, long and burbling, before finally falling silent for the last time.
Kakashi and Iruka moved to each other’s side, panting and checking each other for injuries.
Kakashi gave a dazzling smile. “Thanks, sensei. He was really bugging me.”
4 Likes
Dazzling
“And now for our last entertainer of the evening! Please give a big round of applause for Umino Iruka!”
No one who just tuned in would guess that Iruka was the tenth person to grace the stage—the applause was thunderous. Kakashi would like to think that his claps were loudest of all… but he knew Naruto would beat him out.
Iruka burst out onto the stage. Everything about him was dazzling! From his hair to his costume to (most importantly) his smile. He waved at the crowd, who managed to get even louder.
Finally, the music began and Iruka sang.
4 Likes
