Chapter 6

Detention and a gift.

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For the first time during that entire day Iruka's classroom had been completely quiet for more than two minutes. Even the gentle breeze outside was audible now. Exhausted, he took this opportunity to collapse into the chair behind his desk, rubbing his temples with a groan.

"Finally."

However, it wasn't long before his precious silence was regrettably shattered by a familiar high-pitched voice.

"So like, how much longer do we have to sit here?"

Iruka frowned, taking a deep breath. "There's no talking allowed in detention, Uzumaki! And I made it clear it was two hours!"

The scolded girl puffed her whiskered cheeks into her famous pout and crossed her arms in accordance. She still didn't seem to fully understand the reason for her punishment, even now that her and Megumi were banished to opposite sides of the room and made to sit motionless. The two girls had watched in near agony as the rest of their classmates had been allowed to leave and find out if they passed the final exam or not. The torture of having to sit still and wait for the response to their fates as ninja was seemingly unbearable.

Megumi began to tap her sandals on the wooden floor in frustration. "This is so stupid."

"What did you two not understand about shutting up in detention?" Iruka had to grit his teeth to keep himself from loosing it. It was the end of the day and his patience had checked out long ago.

"I don't get why we have to stay a whole two hours, it's STU-PID-AHHHH." Megumi put full emphasis in her words in an edgy tone, waving her arms in the air mockingly. Haruka covered her giggling with both hands from the other side of the room.

At this point Iruka was ready to jump up on his desk in a frenzy. "That is enough! Do either of you have any shame? Have you learned nothing all these years at the academy? Wasting your abilities on techniques like that, what would your parents think? !"

Struck by his final words, Haruka's fists slowly tightened into a clench as her eyelids lowered to form a frown on her face.

"What would your mother think?

Look what you've done.

Again."

All signs of her earlier bliss had been totally washed away. There was a brief quiet before she rose from her seat, slamming her closed fists onto the table in front of her.

"You know, it's not like my mom doesn't get to hear enough about me all the damn time! Everybody just loves it when I screw up don't they?"

Her statement had been a shock, even to herself. It was clear Iruka's words had hit some kind of nerve within her. His glance widened a bit as he was taken back. Megumi did the same, feeling a bit of a pang in her stomach, knowing Haruka as well as she did.

"W-wait… sorry, I-I didn't want to yell." Haruka's short-lived fire had already burned out. Regretting her outburst and not wanting to get into further trouble, she retreated quickly into her chair. Her eyes were careful to keep to themselves. "Sorry." She said again, but in more of a whisper, as if the apology was meant for someone who wasn't around. Or perhaps it was for her own comfort.

"Again."

Iruka felt as if he should say something more, but instead decided to end the whole situation with a sigh and a final sentence. "Just be quiet until detention is over."

With that he slumped into his chair and began to look over his students' stat papers. It was mostly to keep his mind distracted from some kind of guilt over what had just happened.

Megumi stared at her friend's back as she looked away into the window beside her. She probably knew Haruka better than she knew herself, however she could never fully grasp just what exactly was on the pinkette's mind. It was almost hypnotizing to her trying to comprehend Haruka's train of thought. Aside from her oblivious expression and silly comments, what was it really like to be in her shoes? Megumi had always known there was something different about her friend, but she simply couldn't understand, despite her efforts, why somebody so carefree could have such a bitter face like that. It made her feel responsible for some of the trouble she had gotten into. She wondered if she had really been there for Haruka all those years they spent together. Was she really the friend Haruka gave her credit for?

"Geez, I'm thinking too much." Megumi thought shaking her head slightly. She then proceeded to rest her forehead on the cool wood of the desk and hide her face with folded arms.

"I'll just nap through detention and before I know it it'll be over and she'll get over it. She always does."

. . .

The faint sound of rustling leaves provided the room with music as minutes turned into an hour, and eventually into two. Iruka had almost dosed into a nap himself, but shook it off as the clock hit 5. "All right girls." He said, stretching his back with a crack.

The sudden sound from his voice caused Megumi to jolt backwards and wake from her deep slumber, mumbling half-asleep words along the lines of: "No Katsu, don't touch me there."

She was quick to come about though, rubbing her heavy eyes open. As many who have just woken up do, she looked around to confirm her surrounding and her gaze landed on Haruka, who was still sitting in the same pose looking out the window. She didn't seem to have heard Iruka yet.

"Has she really been like that the whole time?" Megumi thought while brushing her bangs from her face.

"You're free to go, the both of you." Iruka said, a little louder this time. Haruka blinked away from her drifting gaze and looked around as if she had been sleeping as well. Her right cheek was a bit red from where she it had been resting on her hand.

Megumi watched her friend until their eyes finally met. It wasn't long before Haruka threw her a sweet smile in response.

"See, she's fine." Megumi reassured herself. She could almost hear herself sigh in relief.

The girls got up, stretching their limbs in awkward ways. Megumi was the first to make her way down the rows of seats, followed by Haruka soon after. As the two passed Iruka's desk, Megumi abruptly stopped, causing her friend to bump her nose against her back.

"Hey wait, aren't you gonna tell us if we passed or not?" the brunette asked, facing her teacher.

Iruka blinked. "Oh that's right. I almost forgot." His face was serious now.

Megumi and Haruka looked at each other, then at their teacher, grabbing each other's hand and crossing their fingers on their free hand.

"Nara Megumi…" Iruka started. The aura in the room had gotten intense in mere seconds. "You shamefully used your abilities on inappropriate justu." Megumi's face tightened. "However, your clones of me were perfect. You pass."

Iruka was almost regretful in his tone, but dulcet at the same time. The girls looked at each other with big bright eyes.

"HELL YEAH!" Megumi blurted with her fist in the air.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Haruka said excitedly, tackling her friend in full embrace. The two hopped in each other's arms.

Iruka couldn't help but let out a slight grin at the scene. None of his other students had expressed their feelings as openly as these two did, that was for sure.

Suddenly they stopped as if on cue. "Wait wait wait." Haruka repeated, letting go of the girl and slamming her palms on Iruka's desk. "What about me sensei?" There was fire in her blue eyes again. Megumi followed her action and slammed her own palms on the wooden table. "Yeah yeah yeah. What about Haruka?"

Iruka was serious once again. "Megumi, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a work with Haruka alone."

"Ehhhhh? But why?" Megumi said, elongating her tone in confusion. Haruka was a bit worried now.

"Megumi." Iruka shot a stern look at her. "Step outside alright?"

The brunette pouted then turned to her friend. "Whatever, I already know you passed so I don't need to stick around." With that she ruffled her friend's messy pink hair playfully, causing her to giggle cutely.

"Later!" she said as she walked out the door, leaving Haruka to face her fate alone.

The pinkette gulped slightly, having lost the comfort of her friend's presence. She wondered why Iruka wanted to speak with her alone. Was she still in trouble even after detention? She mutely groaned at the thought.

Iruka's serious stare pierced her for a few seconds more, as if he was contemplating something. Haruka flinched and stiffened. Eventually he sighed into a softer face. "Calm down, you passed too. Despite your lack of chakra control, you exceeded at maintaining your levels."

At first Haruka's jaw dropped a few floors down. Her eyes then widened and her mouth curled into a big toothy grin. "All right! I'M AWESOME!" She couldn't help but break out into a victory dance consisting of an excited yet awkward hip thrust followed by an off balance ballerina twirl.

"Okay okay, settle down. There's a reason I wanted to speak to you alone about this." Iruka told his student, causing her to stop mid-dance.

"Why was that?" she asked him, assuming a normal standing position once again. Instead of answering her, Iruka proceeded to open a drawer behind his desk and pull out a small shuriken bag sealed with a single button. Haruka watched with eyes still as wide and ever so curiously blue. Undoing the button, Iruka slowly opened the bag and pulled something from it.

Haruka bent over a bit with her hands clasped behind her back for a better look at the item he had laid on the desk in front of them. Sitting there was standard deep blue Konoha headband. However it was nothing like Haruka was expecting. Gaduates were supposed to get brand new shiny ones. This one was obviously old and had lost its luster. It barely shone in the light. Cracks and dents covered the silver part and the cloth looked shabby.

"Uhh… what the hell is that?"

"Huh? Isn't it obvious? It's a Konoha headband!"

"Yeah but just look at it, it's all old and dingy."

"Hey! I was going to give you this before anyone else got theirs. It's a gift! Be more respectful."

"Haha this gift is so lame sensei. I'm a new graduate, so I need a new headband."

Iruka's eyebrow twitched at her reaction. The girl was on the verge of giggling.

"Oh yeah? Would you still think it's lame after I told you whose this was?" He said crossing his arms.

"Hmm? Whose was this then?" Haruka was still a bit giggly and uninterested.

Iruka's face softened again.

"This was you father's headband."

The pink haired girl's heart skipped and fell to her stomach. Her blue eyes glowed the form of disbelief as she raised them to meet her sensei's.

"Wh-what… my… his…"

She had forgotten how to speak. There were no words she knew. There were no words at all. As she lowered her head to look at the item again, everything about it had changed. There were no flaws. It was not old. There was beauty in it now. It was so much more.

"But I guess if you want a new headband, I can just keep this one and…" Iruka began, but was cut off.

"No no! I mean, it's great. The best gift I've ever gotten!" She was able to sum up those words in the midst of astonishment.

The simple fact that there was something very real standing before her that had belonged to her father, was enough to make her faint. He was such a mystery to her, such an illusion. No one ever mentioned him; his name was even treated as taboo. Haruka never dared asked anyone about the subject. As far as she had ever been concerned, he had never existed. Ever. But there and then, right before her eyes, was solid proof.

"Is it… really his?" Haruka needed reassurance. The topic of her father was no man's land. To think that Iruka had a treasure like this was difficult to believe.

"Yep, it's his all right." He responded, staring at it with memories threatening to fog his vision. "I gave it to him a long time ago when he became a genin. It's only fair for you to have it now."

Haruka couldn't stop staring at it. She wasn't sure if she should pick it up or not, worried her touch might disrupt it's meaning, or something deep like that.

"Go ahead, it's yours now. Uzumaki Haruka."

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BALLS! D:

Dear lord this took me forever to finish. I'm so lazy I know, I know.

SORRY!

But this story is definitely not dead.

I really want to see how far I can go with it.

Hope no one is upset and you liked the chapter :)

I'll be uploading more recently I promise yeah yeah!

-I don't own Naruto lalala-