Something To Remember Me By

chapter 6 (year 17 part 2)....

The next morning woke Naruto up with a beam of light shooting from the gap in his curtains. He would have gladly slept until he died, but no, blood was still running through his veins. Just like Naruto ran last night. He thumped his head against the pillow, one, two, three times. He didn't want to think about it anymore, but his mind wasn't so merciful.

At least, his dad was coming today. One whole day early, so Naruto could show him around the carnival he loved so much, that had definitely not been ruined by his chicken-like behavior. Yeah.

Naruto sat up, groaned, and shuffled out of bed. He put on clothes properly, so Iruka would be fooled into thinking he was a functioning human being, but didn't bother to tame his bed head. It looked very similar to his regular hairstyle anyway.

It had been less than a week since Naruto had seen Iruka last, but when his old car came clunking up the driveway, Naruto was running out of the house and waiting at the door. It swung open, his dad stepped out and Naruto hugged him as tightly as he possibly could.

"Whoa!" Iruka's bag was knocked from his hands in his surprise, but he laughed, his arms encircling Naruto. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just missed you." And he had. Iruka was the only person that he felt understood and accepted him completely, which was exactly what he needed right now. "I'm excited you're here."

"Well, let me get my bag inside and say hi to your aunt," Iruka said, untangling himself from Naruto and ruffling his hair. "Then we can do whatever you want. What do you say?"

Naruto nodded. Iruka had a smile that tended to have a calming effect on everybody it encountered, but especially Naruto. He didn't have much family, but Iruka had done what he could to fill every vacant role Naruto needed. He didn't know anybody with such an expansive heart; Iruka always made space for him there.

Iruka and his aunt talked for a while. It was mostly about traffic and weather, nothing interesting. Iruka said he couldn't believe he was finally spending time in Oceanview. How long had it been? Since he was in college? But his kid had been coming here for years. Naruto tuned them out, tapping his feet. Even just seeing his dad had given him some new energy.

Finally, Naruto could pull Iruka out the door. "Everybody is hanging out at Shikamaru's house, I want you to meet them!"

"Everybody? So Sakura, too? Ino and Choji? I'm glad you've found them. They seem like good friends for you." That was a very parent thing to say, but Naruto had to agree with it.

The distance between where he stayed and Shikamaru's house wasn't far, but Naruto prodded Iruka for details about what he'd been doing while Naruto was away. His response was vague, which Naruto suspected was because Iruka had a boyfriend he wasn't telling Naruto about.

He couldn't remember the last time Iruka had introduced somebody he was dating to Naruto, only because it made it twice as painful when the break up happened. Naruto wasn't a secret by any means, but he knew his dad would do anything to protect him. This made him feel safe, but he didn't like Iruka being lonely. Didn't Iruka get tired of it, too?

His dad had made the mistake of leaving his phone on the coffee table when he went into the kitchen to make tea last week, though, and a couple texts came in that were... questionable in nature, to say the least. Naruto was glad; Iruka wouldn't be lonely. Now if only Naruto could say the same...

He'd been doing such a good job pushing Sasuke to the back of his mind, and he was determined to keep it up. Naruto marched up the sidewalk, covered with haphazard chalk drawings and around the corner. Shikamaru's was the two-story house with steps leading up to the door and green grass on either side. Predictably, everyone was sprawled around. Shikamaru and Ino dozing, Choji and Sakura playing Uno. Sai was nowhere to be seen, but maybe that was for the best.