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English
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Part 3 of Please get these children therapy
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Iruka Appreciation
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Published:
2020-10-10
Completed:
2021-12-18
Words:
170,884
Chapters:
31/31
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712
Kudos:
777
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121
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24,148

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Chapter 31

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Iruka!” is the only warning he gets before Pakura slams into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Luckily Baki was able to steady them. “I heard you’ve had an interesting few weeks,” she said.

“That would be an understatement,” Iruka replied. “But how have things been in the village?”

Pakura shrugged, “Manageable. I’ve had to smack a few heads, but things have settled down for right now.”

“I’m sure things will become interesting again now that everyone’s back in the village,” Baki commented.

“Undoubtedly,” Pakura agreed. “However, we can focus on that later. Right now, I want stories. Maki, what did you learn during the exams? I want to hear all about the individual fights as well. “

Kankuro was quick to begin to fill Pakura in on what they had gotten up to during the exams. Iruka looked around, trying to gauge the mood of the village.

Their journey back to Sand had been much less stressful than their journey there. Iruka wasn’t oblivious to the gazes on him, trying to figure out how much he had known of Orochimaru’s plans and what he would do next, but they were much less menacing than Orochimaru had been. Iruka had grown up feeling the village’s scorn, their disapproval didn’t bother him at this point. And he knew he had played his role well. They could suspect all they wanted, they would never be able to prove anything. And without proof, there was nothing they could do. Pakura was the clear favorite to be the next Kazekage and while someone might have been able to use her connection to Iruka against her if they had proof, that same connection protected him. So Iruka ignored them and instead spent the journey enjoying himself with Baki and the kids. He was sure they would be very busy once they got back to the village so he would take advantage of the time they had together now.

In a way, Iruka was relieved when Scorpion brought them the news that Rasa’s body had been found the night before they would arrive back in the village. Now no one would be able to drag their feet about replacing him by claiming there was no proof he was actually dead. And their story was good enough that nothing about the body could contradict it.

Iruka could tell that most people in the village felt uncertain. There were some who were quite committed to one candidate or another for the next Kazekage, but most were just watching, waiting to see how things played out. Sand probably more than any other village knew the dangers of appearing weak to the outside world. So Iruka had no doubt that most, if not all, of the villagers would fall into line with whoever was chosen as the next Kazekage in order to present a united front to the rest of the world. The trick would be making sure Pakura was the one chosen. Of course, Iruka couldn’t do much about that. In fact, any attempts he made would probably hurt Pakura’s chances. But he wasn’t worried. The others were much better situated to help.

And help they did. Iruka could see Mari making her way through the crowd, stopping periodically to talk to people. Baki had disappeared as well, probably to talk to the other jonin teachers. And while he couldn't see Scorpion, he knew he was there, selling their act to the rest of the anbu.

It was only two days later when the council announced the next Kazekage. Pakura took her place as the head of the village and her smirk dared anyone who thought they could do the job better to challenge her. No one took her up on it.

She appeared in Iruka’s room after the celebration had died down and the children were asleep. “You know I’m making you help me with all that paperwork, right?” she asked.

Iruka shrugged, “I figured as much. Don’t think I’ll let you get away with completely slacking off though.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Pakura replied. She dropped down beside Iruka on his bed, “More seriously, I have something to ask of you.”

“What is that?” Iruka asked.

“Be my second. Not in name,” she cut Iruka off before he could protest that no one would like that arrangement. “But in all the ways that matter. I need to know I have someone who will keep me in check and force me to think my decisions through. I’m not too worried that I’ll be as bad as Rasa, but I know I can be hot-headed and I need someone who can balance me out. And you’re the only one I trust to call me out like that.”

Iruka’s breath caught in his throat. He had never imagined himself taking on that big a role in the village. He didn’t feel like he was qualified. He wasn’t even born here. But looking at Pakura’s face, all those protests disappeared. She was scared, he realized, even if she wasn’t saying it. And she was asking for his help. How could he say no? “Alright, I’ll do what I can,” Iruka promised.

“That’s all I ask,” Pakura said. “Swing by the office tomorrow morning and we’ll figure out a schedule of sorts. I hope you weren’t too attached to outside missions since I don’t think I will be able to spare you for a while.”

Iruka laughed, “I’ll be just fine. If I start going stir crazy, I’ll just force Baki to spar with me.”

Pakura laughed, “I’m sure he’ll love that.” With a sigh, she stood up and headed towards the window. “I better get back and start learning about more of the secrets Rasa kept. I’m tempted to bring that man back from the dead just so I can kick his ass. He really made a mess of things.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Iruka commented dryly. “But there’s no one else I would trust to set things right more than you.”

Pakura nodded, “Thanks,” she said quietly before disappearing into the night.

Iruka felt beat, but he didn’t go to bed just yet. There was another visitor he was waiting for. And he didn’t have to wait long. He felt more than saw Scorpion settle next to him. “I’m sure you’ve had a busy few days,” Iruka commented.

Scorpion shrugged, “Yes, although it was not as bad as I feared it might be. Most of the anbu supported Pakura from the beginning so I did not have to convince too many.”

“And what about the other business?” Iruk asked.

“No one will contradict our story,” Scorpion assured him. “There are a couple who don’t fully believe us, but they trust me enough that they are not going to question me further.”

“Thank you,” Iruka told him sincerely. He hated the spot he had put Scorpion in. He didn’t want to force his friend to lie to people he respected and needed to have trust him, but there was no way around it. And Scorpion, bless him, hadn’t complained once. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I wanted to expose Orochimaru and protect the village just as much as you did,” Scorpion chided him, probably guessing the path his thoughts had gone down. “You did not ask of me anything I would not freely give.”

“Still,” Iruka said, “I appreciate everything you have done, both during this incident and over the years.” Iruka remembered the years when weeks would go by where the only other adult he would talk to was Scorpion. He loved his kids dearly, but he had depended on Scorpion to keep him sane. He could spill his deepest fears and draw comfort from Scorpion’s calm assurances.

“And I appreciate all you have done,” Scorpion replied. “You have helped this village far more than most people will ever realize, including yourself. You helped Gaara in a way I never could. And you are one of the best friends I have ever had. I will always be grateful for you.”

Iruka swallowed the lump in his throat and let himself lean against Scorpion’s side. He figured that the other man considered him a friend, but to hear Scorpion actually say it meant more than he could say. “Things are going to change so much now,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” Scorpion agreed. “The village will have to adjust to a new kage and I’m sure Pakura is going to make her mark sooner rather than later.”

Iruka laughed, “You’ve got that right.”

“But I do not think that these will be bad changes. They will be changes Sand has needed for a long time and Rasa refused to give,” Scorpion continued. “And however much things change, you will always have those who care for you by your side.”

Iruka’s small social circle had certainly expanded over the years, from just Scorpion and the kids initially to include Mari, Maki, Pakura, Baki, and others like Naomi on a less frequent basis. And it had certainly expanded during his time in Leaf. And thinking about things in that way, it made everything look brighter. At any moment, Rasa could have destroyed those Iruka cared for. Iruka had spent years playing Rasa’s games in order to protect the kids. And now he didn’t have to. Pakura would never put him into that type of situation. With everything that had been going on, Iruka had not really had time to process the fact that he would never again have to bite his tongue to protect his loved ones from his own kage. And it felt liberating.

“Yeah,” Iruka said, not able to put his realization into words just yet. But with Scorpion, he doubted he would need to. Instead, he just let himself relax and look out the window to the village. Things weren’t perfect, there was still much to do. He needed to figure how to permanently deal with Sasuke's mark for one. But for the first time in a very long time, Iruka would be able to sleep without the fear that come morning, everything he had worked so hard for would be ripped out from under him. Instead, he felt excited to see what they would accomplish the next day. He had braved his insane kage, and even crazier S class missing nin, and helped prevent an all out war to protect his loved ones. He could deal with whatever the future threw at him.

“Get some sleep,” Scorpion told him, nudging him until he laid down. “I’m sure tomorrow will be quite the day for you.”

Iruka hummed, thinking of the mountains of paperwork Pakura will surely dump on him, his plans to teach the kids some new seals, and the letters he wanted to write to their friends back in Leaf, “I can’t wait.”

Notes:

And that's wrap! For the main story at least. Thank you to everyone who has followed this series, especially those who left comments and kudos. I've loved getting to hear what you all think of my stories.

Like I mentioned last chapter, I do plan to write some one-shots for this series. Some will be future moments, things I wanted to tie up and others will be moments from characters I did not get to write during the series proper. I'll probably not write until Christmas and then I'll try to publish once a week for those. I'm challenging myself to try and keep those under 1,000 words, which should be interesting given my writing style.

Over the next few days, I'll go through doing minor edits for this story, just fixing typos I've found. I'll also be updating the tags. That's always a difficulty for me because I want to accurately reflect the relationships, but given how many characters are involved in this story, I don't want to tag a relationship that only comes up briefly. So let me know if you have any recommendations of ones I should add/ get rid.

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