Six Years Too Long

Chapter 9

Third person pov

Iruka can't stop shaking, his face drained of all the color it previously held and his heart beating so fast he can hardly hear it anymore. 

It was the first day back to the academy since the Hokage's reinstatement ceremony. The festivities had stretched on for days on end, their charismatic Fourth Hokage coming down to join them for the celebration. He walked around and interacted, actually taking the time to talk to the civilians under him and hear their concerns. 

People showered him in absolute praise. Iruka had been one of those people, though it was from afar. The Fourth Hokage was a living legend. A powerful man who'd faced down the terrifying nine-tailed fox and beat it. To find out he was still alive had been astonishing. To see him return to power had provided elation. 

And now, to watch him sweep his way into Iruka's quaint little classroom... well, he's scared shitless.

He is everything Iruka imagined and more. All power and intimidation, with strong blue eyes and a shock of blond hair that gave him his moniker to begin with. The Yellow Flash stands tall, towering over him with his long coat sweeping behind him. The one Iruka had revered as a child. 

The smile he wears is terrifying, and Iruka had only faintly been able to register the boy in his arms before a wave of killing intent heavy enough to level a building beat him into the dirt. It's like all the air has been sucked out of the room. He just barely manages to comprehend that the Fourth has one of his students.

Naruto Uzumaki stares at him with unrestrained apprehension. That dog from before is in his arms again, looking at him with a grumpy and judgmental gaze that makes his legs threaten to fold underneath him. At first he's astonished. Why in the world would the Fourth Hokage be carrying around the village Jinchuriki? The very monster that killed his wife and so many others? He can't fathom it. 

It doesn't seem ill, or hostile. He cradles Naruto carefully, like he's something to be cherished. There are a few dots Iruka feels he should be connecting as he looks between the pair. Something obvious is flying over his head, and goddammit he is terrified. 

"I heard you had some complications with my son last he was in class." Minato cocked his head coyly and well, yeah, that makes a little too much sense. That doesn't mean it quite processes in his mind. There's too much to wrap his head around. One thing he knows for sure is that he's made a very, very grave mistake.

"S-Son?" Iruka sputtered out. He almost denies it, but then those finicky little dots finally find themselves and he realizes just how similar they look. Two shocks of yellow and two pairs of ocean blues, both staring at him with very different intents. 

Naruto just looks scared and uncertain, whilst Minato Namikaze's gaze feels so sharp it could physically cut him. The pieces fall into place, and Iruka distantly wonders how no one else has figured it out. The baby Lord Fourth was forced to use was not cherry-picked from a group. He used the only child available in order to save the village. In the end... it's quite obvious he had to seal the Nine Tails in his own son. And if that isn't tragic, well, Iruka's death certainly will be.

Minato is all cold, pleasant rage and sharp smiles that bury themselves in Iruka like a lion's claws. His breath stutters in his chest, every bad thing he's ever said or done to Naruto crashing back into him in his state of shock. He looks at his student, wondering how much of it he's told his father. 

He can't find it in himself to be upset at the boy, every ounce of reasoning draining out of him as the story comes full circle in his mind. The realization that this life is the last thing their Fourth Hokage wanted for his son, and that Naruto in fact isn't the nine tailed fox. That's he's just a boy. Because the Yondaime would not be holding him so carefully were he a monster, and Iruka is sure of this.