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sufferthesea · 8 years ago

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Hanging by a Moment

A/N: So @shiranuigenma encouraged me to post the 1st (rewritten twice) chapter of my IrukaxOC fanfic on here. And @pyroinquisitor and I cried about Iruka a week or so ago. :’)

The first version was originally published in 2008 on Quizilla under the username aikalovesong. Forgive me for grammatical or spelling errors.

Also on ao3 and FFN

Chapter One: The Good, The Bad and the Dirty

High School AU - Iruka Umino x OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.437

Akimi took up the sixth and final seat at the outside table for lunch, quietly greeting the group. Four others - Izumo, Kurenai, Hayate, and Kotetsu - returned her greeting but the fifth was concentrating on fishing out a piece of tofu from his soup. When Akimi sat down next to him, he glanced up and dropped the piece back into the broth, splashing himself in the face.

“Ah! Akimi-chan!” Iruka sputtered, setting his bowl down and reaching for a napkin to wipe his chin. “What are you doing here? I thought you were sitting over there.” He motioned towards another table where six others were sitting - including a brunette girl whose face was turned away. The other girl turned and he saw that it wasn’t a girl - it was Genma, who had similar shoulder-length hair as Akimi. Blushing hotly he muttered, “I-I meant over there,” and pointed towards a different table. Everyone turned to look and saw that the only person sitting there was another boy.

“Jeez, Iruka, I didn’t think she looked that much like a boy,” Kotetsu said teasingly.

“Nevermind!” Iruka replied, hiding his face behind his milk carton.

“Hey guys,” came a serious voice behind them. They turned to see Anko, a rather tomboyish and brazen girl with her dark hair pulled into a wild bun. She passed by them offering a playful smirk to the boys of the table before moving on to an empty seat across the patio.

“Did you see that?” Izumo said, turning to smack Kotetsu square in the chest. “She looked at me!”

“She looked at me,” Kotetsu replied, hitting Izumo in the stomach.

“Actually,” Kurenai cut in, her voice soft but very serious, “I think she was looking at Iruka.”

“Wh-What? No she wasn’t! I mean - she may have been. But we’re in different classes - I don’t think she even knows me! Why would she —?”

Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged looks before picking up the small bowls of mixed veggies and dumping it onto their rice.

“I’m only teasing, Iruka,” Kurenai said, throwing a glance at the boy beside her. “We all know what class she’s in. I’m sure she’s just trying to get a rise out of one of you, catch you off guard. You shouldn’t fall for it. Also, Iruka, did you have notes on today’s lesson?”

“Oh, yes!” the boy replied, grateful for the shift in conversation. “I have them in my bag. I can give them to you after school.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Do you think I could borrow them too?” Hayate asked, raising his hand to his mouth and coughing violently.

“Of course! I can copy them for you if you want.”

“Hey - what’s this talk about copying? You guys aren’t cheating are you?”

The six of them turned to see the fourth year’s teacher, Jiraiya, standing over them. His mouth was pointed in a frown but they could tell he was joking. He eyed them suspiciously and pointed a finger at Iruka who shrunk back, his milk carton still in his hands.

“You’re the last person I would expect to be cheating! But I guess every student has their weakness. I’m surprised it’s you two that are the ones taking his notes too,” Jiraiya continued, looking at Hayate and Kurenai in turn. “I thought for sure you two would be the ones to understand my teaching! I mean, there are a few other kids in this class I could understand cheating …” He glanced around the outdoor seating and frowned genuinely this time. “There are so many … Oh! I’m sorry.” Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked at Akimi who was hidden behind Iruka, unsure of what was happening. “I didn’t meant to be rude. You’re not in my class. How do you know my lovely students?”

Before she could even open her mouth to answer, he made a face and said, “Wait, are you Iruka’s younger sister?”

Iruka whipped around, wide-eyed and sputtered, “N-No! She’s not my sister! Why would you think that!”

“Jeez, kid, lighten up - you look like you could related. Cousins? Distantly? You’ve both got pretty dark hair and you’re both pretty tan.”

“She’s kind of lighter than I am - a-and we don’t look that similar! We’re not related. You shouldn’t say stuff like that, you could start a rumor!”

“What? A rumor that you’re related?” Jiraiya deadpanned and the corner of his lip twitched, “Is that such a bad thing? It’s pretty harmless. I mean, there are plenty of worse things you could be upset about. Besides, she looks like a nice kid. You should take it as a compliment.”

Blushing slightly, Akimi sat up and gave an awkward smile to the teacher. “No, I’m not related - er, I don’t have any siblings or cousins, really. At least not here. I walk home the same way as all of them, so I’ve run into them a few times. Plus Hayate and I live really close to each other! We grew up in the same neighborhood.”

“Really? That’s nice.” Jiraiya paused, surveyed the group, and then raised a hand to his mouth to mimic whispering. “Tell me, whose your favorite? You have to have a favorite, right? I won’t tell them. Personally, I think Izumo and Kotetsu are really annoying —”

“We know you do,” Kotetsu interrupted.

“We think you’re annoying too,” Izumo added.

“— but they don’t know that. You don’t have to choose a favorite from this group. Do you know any of my other students?”

Akimi looked around the open area and spotted a few other kids she knew who were the same age as her friends - Anko, Genma, and Raidou were a few of them. She had seen them on her walks home from school as well, but she hadn’t talked to any of them much other than the one time during her first year at Konoha High School when she’d faceplanted on the front steps and accidentally vaulted her bookbag over the side railing, down into the grass. Genma had been walking behind her, talking with his friend Raidou, and they both tripped over her and fell over. Raidou ended up rolling down the steps and Genma was halfway between amused and annoyed at the whole situation, but he helped Akimi stand up and told her, “It’s okay, we all trip over ourselves sometimes. Just don’t do it again.” Anko was passing by when she saw the whole thing and helped pick up Akimi’s scattered papers and returned the bookbag to her. The first-year was so flustered and horrified that she decided she could never speak to those three ever again, even if they had been kind to her. But she had the feeling that every time they saw her, they only imagined a huge neon sign pointing down at her saying KLUTZ!

There was one other she knew shared the same grade as the others, but she didn’t know if Jiraiya was his teacher or not. Her cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink at the thought of him and she shook her head.

“J-Just a few!” she replied, realizing she looked quite silly saying nothing. “I couldn’t choose favorites … That’s not very nice!”

“So what? I have a favorite,” Jiraiya responded evenly, looking a bit proud of himself.

“What? Who?” Kotetsu asked, puzzled. “Should you even be telling us this?”

“You’re right - I shouldn’t. But I’ll give you a hint - it’s none of you!” He laughed and turned to leave before wheeling around again, startling the group. “Wait - I never got your name! What is it?”

“Huh? Oh! It’s Akimi - Kono Akimi.”

“Akimi, huh? What grade are you in, Akimi?”

“I’m a 2nd year student.”

“Just a 2nd year? I know a few of the 2nd years around here. Do you know that one kid - what’s his name? The kinda weird one with the eyes.”

“Uh - Gaara?”

“Yeah! Him! What do you think about him?”

“He’s …” She paused to look at the expressions of everyone around her. She gave a quick, breathy laugh and said, “He’s nice enough to me. Why do you ask?”

“With my luck, I’ll have his siblings next year, and him the year after that. I’m just wondering what I can expect from him. He’s very quiet.”

“Y-Yes, he is. But I don’t think it’s because - er, well, I suppose everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Some people are quiet. Uhm … but he’s a good student.”

“Huh … Did Hiruzen tell you that? I mean, the whole thing about everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Did you learn that from him?”

“Ah, yes! How did you know?”

Jiraiya smiled knowingly and shrugged. “I’ve been a teacher here for a while now. I know just about every teaching method there is - and I was once a student, too. I won’t admit how long ago because that’ll give away my age - and if I give away my age, I give away Lady Tsunade’s age too and she’d kill me! But let’s just say once upon a time, I was given the exact same speech by Hiruzen-sensei. I think we all were … Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the class before lunch is over. I’ll see you around!” He strutted off, his white hair swaying carelessly behind him.

There was a silence at the table as everyone poked at their food. Akimi pushed a piece of chicken into her bowl of rice with her chopsticks. “He seemed nice,” she said, not quite sure if it was the right thing to say.

“Yeah, nice enough,” Izumo retorted. He jabbed a finger towards the table across the patio and said, “You see those kids over there? Anko, Asuma, Genma and Raidou? They’re part of Lady Tsunade’s class.”

“Uhm … okay. Is that bad?” Akimi asked, looking over towards the table.

“Well, you see …” Kotetsu said slowly, “Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-sensei have a kind of long-standing rivalry. They each try to get their students to have the best grades on tests, best performances in sports, best looking too … They don’t want us really talking to kids from each other’s class, so that’s why we’re all sitting at different tables. That’s why it was kind of weird that Anko said ‘hi’ to us. I mean, not that I minded -”

“As if she’d go for someone like you,” Izumo huffed.

“Also,” Kotetsu ignored his friend and motioned towards the student with a silky bowl cut and thick eyebrows, “that’s Gai. He’s in our class - that’s why he’s not sitting with the others.”

“He looks so alone!” Akimi cried, seeing that Gai was sitting by himself. “Did I take his seat? I didn’t mean to!”

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Kurenai cut in. “He likes to sit alone to study and, well, I guess to try to be the best. But he’ll join us sometime later.”

“That’s not the thing, though,” Kotetsu said. “Gai is in our class, but Lady Tsunade has a kid in her class and he and Gai have it out for each other!”

“Gai calls him his ‘eternal rival’,” Izumo said, rolling his eyes. “They’re always doing dumb competitions, seeing who is better. This means that our classes are even more competitive than usual. Not only are Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-sensei at each other’s throats, but so are some of their students! It can get pretty ugly.”

“Since you’ve already befriended us,” Hayate said through coughs, “and you’ve met with Jiraiya-sensei, it’d be best to stay away from Lady Tsunade and her class.”

“Unless you want to unleash the true fury of Lady Tsunade,” Kotetsu said. “Or of Jiraiya-sensei. Someone or another will probably accuse you of being a ‘spy’ if you befriend both classes.”

“What?” the girl exclaimed, looking bewilderedly at each student in turn. “So I can’t talk to anyone from Lady Tsunade’s class? How - How do I even know who all of them are? I’ve already met a few of them! I met them before I met you guys! I mean, not that I talk to them, but …”

“Just to be on the safe side, maybe you should only talk to us,” Izumo said, though his voice was teasing. “Tell you what - there is one person you personally should stay away from, and they also happen to be in Lady Tsunade’s class.”

“Huh? Who?”

Izumo glanced over towards Gai’s table. Everyone’s gaze shifted too and they saw Gai leap to his feet and point rigidly at the boy passing by his table, a stone-faced, silver-haired student who looked absolutely bored.

“Hatake Kakashi.”

Akimi’s face flushed red and she looked down at her milk - so he was part of Tsunade’s class. That meant she couldn’t talk to him? “K-Kakashi-san? But I sometimes see him too when I walk home! Am I supposed to ignore him? What’s so bad about him?”

Iruka huffed and set his chopsticks down on his tray. “I think I’m going to head back into the classroom. Kurenai, Hayate, you needed my notes right? I can start copying them and give them to you after school.” He stood, taking his tray with him. “I’ll see you around, Akimi.”

“Ah! Goodbye, Iruka —!”

The brown-haired boy scurried off, his eyes down and his shoulders slumped.

“We should probably head inside too,” Kurenai said, glancing towards the one-sided argument that had broken out between an exuberant Gai and a rather unfazed Kakashi. “Izumo, Kotetsu, you go get Gai and I’ll take your trays. Akimi, Hayate and I may be a little late if we’re getting notes from Iruka but you’re more than welcome to wait for us so we can walk home together.”

“I will,” Akimi beamed as the others stood from the table. “I’ll see you after school!”

Izumo and Kotetsu hurried to pry Gai away from an inexpressive Kakashi and back towards the classroom. As they passed, Gai shot Akimi a grin and a thumbs up.

“You’ve chosen the right people to befriend, young lady!” he bellowed, his teeth unnaturally bright and white, glistening in the afternoon sun. “A friend of Gai is a friend who doesn’t have to worry about anything! You just let me know if Kakashi - or anyone else from Lady Tsunade’s class - is bothering you and I’ll take care of it!”

“Uh - thank you?”

Izumo pushed Gai towards the school and Kotetsu followed close behind. Akimi looked over and blushed hotly when she saw that the kids from Tsunade’s class were staring at her. She hurriedly finished her own meal and rushed inside the school building, trying to pretend she wasn’t being studied by at least five pairs of eyes.

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