Chapter Text
(I don't own any characters etc etc)
There was a knock at his front door, but Iruka tried to ignore it, hoping whoever it was would go away if he didn’t answer it.
“We know you’re in there!” Kotetsu called out.
“We will break the door down,” Izumo added.
Knowing they would follow through on that threat, Iruka sighed as he dragged himself off the sofa long enough to unlock the door, walking back to his cushioned safe haven. His friends closed and locked the door as they took their sandals off before joining him.
They sat on either side of him, taking in the sight of the bag of snacks on the table in front of them and frowned.
“It’s not that bad,” Kotetsu offered.
“It just seems bad now, but you just need to sleep on it,” Izumo agreed.
Iruka groaned and put his head back, covering his face with his hands. “Why me? Why him? Why do this stupid activity?”
“It’s not stupid, and you know that,” Izumo reminded him, nudging him. “You’ve been so excited about this for weeks!”
Iruka frowned as he moved his hands down and looked at him. "I was excited when I thought I’d get a good partner. What did I do to deserve him? Of all people?”
“Well,” Kotetsu began, scratching his nose, “it’s not so bad. Uh…maybe it’s his punishment, not yours?”
“Yeah!” Izumo agreed. “Like, he did something wrong, you know?”
“And you can handle him?” Kotetsu weakly posed.
Iruka sighed and stood to pace his living room.
“It’s supposed to be fun, good, educational, helpful,” he snapped. “Tsunade wants available jonin to train chuunin this summer while the academy is out and missions are a bit lighter. Match up skilled jonin with chuunin to see if we can improve. Maybe test for jonin, but grow and learn either way.” He paused and looked at his friends. “Skilled, competent jonin! How am I supposed to grow with him?”
“I mean, they don’t come any more skilled than Hatake,” Izumo offered.
“He doesn’t even want to do this!” Iruka sighed. “He’s been saying so since it was announced. Remember he asked for a far-away mission, every day?”
“Sometimes twice a day,” Kotetsu agreed.
“And he didn’t even come to the meeting where pairings were announced,” Iruka reminded them. “How am I supposed to train with someone who has made it clear they won’t train whoever they’re assigned to?”
His friends could only shrug, not having an answer.
“Let’s switch!” Iruka pleaded. “Ko, you have Anko, and Iz, you’ve got Genma. They’re both great, but not as good as Kakashi, right? Don’t one of you want to be trained by him?”
The other men exchanged an uncomfortable look.
“Well, like you said,” Kotetsu began. “Hatake doesn’t want to do this…”
“And our trainers are pretty great,” Izumo admitted. “Why switch for a guaranteed…um…obstacle?” he weakly posed.
“Maybe I could just be added to one of your teams?” Iruka suggested, looking between them, but they shrugged.
“Hokage’s orders, it’s to be pairs,” Izumo reminded them. “To boost teamwork and attention given during training.”
Iruka sighed and ran a hand through his ponytail. “The jonin instructor has to be present to give attention,” he muttered. “Maybe Tsunade will switch me to a different person?”
“I think they’re all assigned,” Kotetsu said. “Uh, but maybe, sure? Like you said, who wouldn’t want to work with him?”
Iruka groaned and returned to the sofa, nibbling his snacks as they sat in silence.
A few minutes later, he sat up straight.
“Asuma and Kurenai!” he yelled, excited. “They weren’t assigned to anyone, surely they could –”
“They’re on their own team,” Izumo told him.
“What?”
“Yeah, like a control team or something,” his friend offered. “To see how two jonin can help each other’s training.”
“I think they’re dating their instructor,” Kotetsu commented, trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail.
Iruka sat back, deflated. “I suppose I should just be glad it’s not a pass/fail course,” he sighed. “Just to see how our skills and abilities change.”
“That’s the spirit!” Izumo cheered.
“And we get paid for doing it no matter what,” Kotetsu reminded him.
Iruka sighed again. “And I should approach it with an open mind, like I’d tell my students to do…but I should still get to throw a tantrum like them if I want to!”
“And we won’t judge you for it,” Kotetsu agreed. “We’re here for you, Ru.”
“Through the whole thing, we’ll help you,” Izumo agreed. “But maybe it’ll all work out?”
“It’s doubtful,” Iruka grumbled. “Very doubtful.”