Heat Waves

Iruka Umino x Reader

Synopsis: The death of Jiraiya was a punch to the stomach, but you had to stay strong for Naruto… But who was there to help you when you were similarly falling apart by the seams?

Song: Heat Waves (Slowed) by Glass Animals (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srRYAMwuPFk)

Your hand lightly carded through his blonde hair, fingernails scratching at his skull as you sat solemnly beside him. “You need to get up my love… You have a mission…” your voice was soft, part of you not wanting him to go so soon after the news struck that one of the famous sannin was killed. “How can you just act like everything’s fine” he mumbled out, curling deeper into his pillow to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Your throat felt tight at his words, despite appearances, you weren’t taking it well either. It was no secret that you and the white-haired man had a, albeit rocky, relationship. Naruto knew this fact as well, more than he’d like to, what with all of Jiraiya’s dirty pick up lines and handsy grabs. He knew how much Jiraiya loved you, he knew how much you loved Jiraiya, so why were you acting like nothing happened.

You realized your hand was gripping his hair when he let out a little whimper, causing you to immediately let go. Before he had the chance to see the tears welling up, you stood and began walking towards the door, “I’ll let Kakashi know you aren’t ready yet.” The sound of the door closing made Naruto sigh in relief. He wasn’t ready to go on with life.

Not yet.

“He has to move on Y/n… It’s been weeks”

Kakashi’s words were like knives in your chest, if he expected a child to be over it already, he would surely be disappointed with how long it was taking you to get over it. Your eyebrows furrowed in pain, lips pursing in anger as you process what you were going to reply with. Should you curse him out? Yell and scream? Cry?

“This hit him harder than you can imagine Kashi… I frankly don’t want him out there when his head isn’t in the present. If I need to talk to Lady Tsunade about his absence I will, but I’m not going to push him-”

Kakashi’s hand shot up, stopping your word vomit in its place. He eyed you suspiciously. He wouldn’t voice it, but he heard a slight crack in your voice, something he knew as a warning that you were about to break down. “I’ll explain it to her, no need to get involved….” He trailed off, eyes still filled with suspicion as he stepped forward. “How are you doing… Y/n?” you were trying your best to hold it together at his words, but the second his hand touched your cheek did the tears fall. It didn’t last long though as you ripped your face from his grasp, embarrassed at letting your emotions get the best of you.

“I’m fine,” you stated firmly as you turned to leave. You began to walk away as Kakashi clicked his tongue, this was all too familiar to him when it came to you and your emotions. You hid your feelings until it all blew up, something he could never get you to stop doing. But there was one person who could help…

“Why don’t you go talk to Iruka?”

You came to a halt, eyebrows furrowing at the name. You hadn’t spoken with Iruka in a while… Not since you had begun dating Jiraiya two years ago. “He doesn’t want to talk to me Kashi… I broke his heart” you mumbled out, hands coming up to wipe away the tears that were falling numbly down your cheeks. “Thats not what I’ve heard… I’ve heard he’s been worried sick about you”

You turned swiftly at this, heart thumping at the thought of talking to your old friend again. When you thought more about it, the only person to pull you out of a funk was him until Jiraiya came along. “Where is he?”

Iruka stacked the papers together, turning to place them on the desk behind him before grabbing the eraser to get rid of the chalk markings on the blackboard. The sound of the door opening had his ears perking up and he sighed quietly to himself. Parents had been coming in non-stop about the grades their children were getting in his class, it wasn’t his fault they were failing at something so simple.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be accepting any parent-teacher conferences tonight, I have somewhere I need to be” Iruka called out, hoping that the parent would get the hint that he needed time alone or he was going to go crazy. “Parent-teacher conference? I haven’t been to one of those in years” your voice floated across the room as you sat at one of the desks.

Iruka whipped around at your voice, eyes wide as he took in your disheveled appearance. It looked like you had been crying, the thickness in your voice confirmed his suspicions as he stood there in shock. How many years has it been? 2? No, it had to be more than that… Ever since Jiraiya…

Jiraiya.

That’s why you were crying… He had almost forgotten for a brief second why he was feeling so anxious. He’s been worried sick about you and how you were handling the death. You slouched in the seat at his quiet demeanor and hard-set stare. It felt as if he was dissecting you without even touching you, and you didn’t like it. “I know you probably hate me but-”

“I could never hate you” he breathed out faster than he would like to admit. Your eyes lifted to his shyly, your feet moving under the desk nervously as you tried to calm your nerves. The summer heat wasn’t helping the situation, if anything, it was making things 10x worse. “They really need to get air conditioners in here” you joked sheepishly, hand fanning yourself as you tried to calm down under his gaze. This is why you avoided him when you were with Jiraiya…

The love you felt for Iruka all those years ago resurfaced under his gaze. Silence filled the stuffy air as you cleared your throat and averted your eyes from his, “I want to apologize for, uh… Ignoring and avoiding you” your hand came up to your neck, scratching nervously as you waited for Iruka to say something, anything. “Nevermind that. How are you?”

For a minute, a beautifully peaceful minute, you had forgotten what you were sad about. Sucking in your bottom lip, you fought back the tears that threatened to fall once more. Your eyes were glued to the floor, knowing that if you met his gaze again you would surely break. Iruka knew this, he’s been through this with you 2 other times, and he knows how you tick. “Y/n.”

You finally lifted your gaze to his, breath hitching as you realized he had silently moved towards you. His hand reached out slowly, almost afraid that he would break you somehow. You were proud of yourself for holding it all in, that was until his fingers grazed your cheek lovingly. As if he commanded you to, the tears fell down your cheeks, but he was quick to wipe them away. He moved to the side where he could get closer to you, sitting on the desk, he moved his other hand to cup your other cheek. The loving touch had you bolting from the seat, chair scraping angrily across the floor as you fell into his embrace.

Slotted between his legs, he pulled you in deeper to his neck. Coos and reassuring words flowed from him as he tried to help you through the pain like he knew you needed. “I just miss him. He was my rock and now I feel like I’m floating away” you sobbed into his neck, the tears and heat causing his neck to grow sticky against your cheek. He nodded silently, hand combing through your tangled hair as he listened to you cry it out like a child.

He didn’t know what this would mean for the two of you… Didn’t know if this would be the last time he would see you again… Didn’t know if you would move on to another and ignore him and the love that he has for you. But none of that mattered, he decided, as he looked out the window at the setting summer sun. All that mattered right now was that you were in his arms again.

He just hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.

Lost and Found

Iruka Umino x Reader

Synopsis: Playing hide and seek with the children seemed fun at first, until you go lost of course.

A/N: We interrupt your scheduled program of angst with some fluff. Enjoy!

“Ready or not here I come!!!” You called out into the forest as you brought your hands away from your eyes. The bright sun blinded you and a smile graced your lips at how fun this activity was for everyone involved. The small children were hidden somewhere in the forest, and you were so excited to find them, however, you underestimated them and their skills.

Minutes passed by and you grew worried that you wouldn’t find anyone the deeper you traveled into the forest. Minutes turned into hours, and your mindless wandering turned into a frantic pace as you soon realized you were lost. The sun was setting and you weren’t sure where you or the children were.

“Shit” you hissed out, foot catching on a tree root causing you to tumble to the ground. Your hand scratched along the ground as leaves and sticks dug into your palms. “Ow ow ow” you whimpered out, hand coming to embrace the scraped-up palm. Your ankle had turned at an awkward angle, you were sure it was sprained. How in the world did you, a jonin teacher get lost in the forest that you grew up in.

“Y/n!!”

Your name echoed through the dark trees, the sun now vanishing beyond the horizon. “Iruka- OW” you hissed out, hands gripping at your twisted ankle as you stumbled to your feet. “There you are!” An arm wrapped around your middle, hand grasping your side as he hauled you up onto your feet. “My goodness what happened to you?” Iruka cooed, freehand trailing towards your bloody hand as his eyes flicked from the blood to your limp foot.

“I got lost somehow and tripped on a branch” you sheepishly admitted, cheeks growing hot under his intense gaze. Iruka chuckled before dragging you even closer into his body, “Well, let’s get you back and all patched up” he teasingly cooed, only worsening the blush dusting your cheeks.

“Were the kids worried?” You whispered out into the quiet night as the two of you walked back towards the village. “I was worried more than them” he admitted sheepishly, his own cheeks heating up as he scratched the back of his neck.

You smiled up at him, thankful to hear that the children weren’t as concerned as you had thought. They didn’t need to know how silly their teacher was for getting lost in a forest she knows like the back of her hand. “Part of me wonders if you got lost on purpose” Iruka teased back, fighting off his embarrassment and instead, trying to worsen yours.

You smacked his chest lightly with your free hand, cursing at him that you were going to kick his butt once your foot healed up. Iruka hoped you would keep your promise, he liked seeing you outside of the classroom.

He just couldn’t quite figure out the feeling that was circling in his stomach.