My Sunshine

Snuggle / These Good Things - Iruka

Iruka made his way out of the shower, got dressed, and walked into the bedroom to find Haru watching TV, wrapped in her pink blanket. When he entered, she looked up at him and grinned.

"Hey, come to bed."

She opened the blanket and he eagerly climbed in with her.  She snuggled up next to him.

"Does it get cold here?"

He looked over at her, feeling a little sorry.

"Yeah, it's going to get chilly in the next week or two. The leaves are already turning colors. But, I'm guessing you don't have autumn on the island."

"No,it's warm all the time."

She suddenly looked a little afraid; he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Autumn is beautiful; you're going to love it. There are pumpkins and hot drinks, mushroom hunting, the fall festival, and the leaves fall from the trees. The park is beautiful in the fall. Tomorrow, we can go out and get you some warmer clothes and anything else you may need to brave the cold."

"I can get it. I have money-"

"Nah, let me do this for you. Please. You should save your money."

She looked over at him with bright eyes.

"Really?"

"Of course. You've never had money before; why don't you hold onto it. I don't mind buying you clothes at all."

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"You're so good to me."

He put an arm around her back.

"You deserve it."

She was so beautiful and he loved to see her so happy.

"Thanks for going to dinner with me.  I know it was overwhelming."

She grinned.

"No, I loved it! The Hatakes' have such a beautiful family. Kakashi and Mizuka really seem to love each other. And their kids are adorable. Their friends are interesting, too."

He couldn't help but laugh.

"Might Guy is full of energy, even though he lost the use of his leg in the last war. And Tsunade is just... Tsunade. She's seen too much, and she hasn't handled it well. Are you ready to learn taijutsu?"

She became a little embarrassed, he could tell.

"D-Do you think I should cancel?"

"No! I think it's great! Learning taijutsu will be really good for your confidence."

He gave her a little nudge with his shoulder, making her smile.

"Although, I will say, I'm surprised you agreed so quickly. Might Guy is a force."

She shrugged.

"Nobody at the table acted as if he was a threat, so I figured he wasn;t."

"He's a great person; and you agreeing to be his student has to have made his day. He hasn't had students in years."

Haru yawned a huge yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. He chuckled.

"Why don't you go to sleep? You've had a long day, and I'm sure you're exhausted."

She nodded and he was surprised when she leaned into him and closed her eyes. He grinned as he laid down, pulling her down with him. She nuzzled her face into his chest and sighed deeply, placing a gentle hand on his abdomen.  He felt so full after tonight.  She was comfortable and he was enjoying watching her blossom into who he knew she could be.  

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he listened to the tv until he fell asleep as well.

***

Iruka waited outside of Haru's classroom, listening and waiting nervously for her class to begin. She didn't know he was out there, and he hoped to keep it that way. He was confident in her and her skills, but he desperately hoped these kids didn't break her. They were nice kids, but they were still kids, and they could smell the fear on a new teacher.

"Hello, I'm Haru and I'll be your Strategic Planning teacher.  The material is a little dense, but I'm sure we'll muddle through and hopefully make it interesting for you all.  Do you have any questions before we begin?"

There was radio silence for a moment before a small voice spoke hesitantly.

"What happened to you?"

Oh no.

Iruka was about to barge in but Haru spoke gently.

"Someone bad hurt me for a long time. I had no training and no way to escape. It took him almost killing me and abandoning me in the forest to get away. I was found by a Leaf shinobi. I've studied shinobi code and shinobi analytics so you don't have to look like me. 

"Education and proper training will raise your chances of evading capture and making more effective strikes against the enemy. You might not have to go through what I went through. Because whatever they do to your body, it's not nearly as bad as what they do up here."

He could imagine her touching her head, signaling to her mind. He wanted to cry.

"If I can give you the tools to keep yourself safe in battle, then I've done my job."

"My dad was captured during the war and his skin looks bad, too. He cries sometimes."

"Many shinobi have been through so much. It's good to let it out. It's also good to prepare the future shinobi so they don't have to repeat our failures. Your dad sounds like a brave man."

"Who saved you?"

"Iruka Sensei. He brought me to the hospital and Lady Mizuka fixed me up-"

Iruka grinned sadly as he stepped away from the doorway and down the hall. She was fine. These kids respected her, they were asking questions and sounded interested. Heading down the stairs to the main office, he found Anko waiting outside of the door for him.

"How's she doing?"

He nodded.

"She'll be okay. The kids are asking questions and she's having no problem answering them. Personal questions."

Anko grinned as he stepped into the administration office and he felt her touch his shoulder as he passed.

"She's going to be great, Iruka. You've given her safety so she can flourish."

He sat down at his desk.

"She's going to learn taijutsu from Guy as well. She set that up a few days ago at Kakashi and Mizuka's family dinner that we were invited to."

"Really? That's great! How did the rest of the dinner go?"

He sighed.

"You know how dinner is with them: crazy. Especially with all of those kids now. And Tsunade showed up without Shizune, so that made it crazier."

"Sorry about that."

"Huh?"

Anko was blushing a little, which was uncharacteristic for her.

"I, uh, I was with Shizune. I asked her out."

He couldn;t help but grin.

"Anko, that's awesome! How was it?"

"Great. She's really sweet and we've decided to take things slow and see where things go."

Iruka kept grinning as he shuffled his paperwork around into piles on his desk, listening to Anko gush about her new girlfriend. Things were looking up for everyone, and he could only hope that these good things lasted.