[Open] Finally an afternoon to himself!

[senseiofthesea]

Where: Konoha's Ichiraku
When: From about noon to a leisurely 3pm before he wandered off to read a book on a bench nearby.
Notes: For the first time in what felt like forever, he was free. Freeeeee.

He had started to think he'd never escape the vortex of paperwork that had become his life in the last few months. If it wasn't his class, it was the mission desk, if it wasn't the mission desk, it was running files from intel to the Hokage tower. If it wasn't that then by all that was sane, he was asleep and may mercy be on the soul of anyone who thought it a good idea to wake him for anything less than an emergency.

But now, now, he had a day free and clear of all paperwork. Not a bit of grading was to be had, he was on an official weekend for anything to do with the tower in any capacity, and that left him able to fully, truly, relish the sensation of eating well made noodles as he savored them.

It was a perfect, brilliantly sunny afternoon, and the only thing that could improve it was some good company stopping by to say hello.

Comments

[fangoverfang]

Unfortunately for Iruka, what he got was not going to be good company...

Kiba had been wandering the village on the back of a free afternoon; his sensei wasn't seeking him out and his Ma didn't need his help, and so Kiba had been passing Ichiraku's as usual on the way to find some entertainment for the day with his large ninken bounding along by his side. Being who he was, however, and as nosy as his talented nose made him... he couldn't help but peek under the fringing of the restaurant to see who was sitting on the stools as he went--

When he saw his old academy sensei sitting there, he crowed a loud laugh and stopped to duck inside and give Iruka's upper arm a hearty thump.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!" he practically yelled, fangs glinting as he grinned, throwing himself onto the stool beside Iruka while Akamaru barked and danced his front paws on the ground in shared excitement. "Long time no see!"

[senseiofthesea]

Iruka had no issues with any of his former students, even one who had been a troublemaker like this one. He laughed, then plucked a bite of pork out of his bowl, grasping it in his fingers as he offered it to Akamaru. It was a bad habit, but one he hadn't bothered to break since he never went overboard giving nin-animals treats. "Hello boys! It's been forever hasn't it? Not since last autumn outside that little exercise last month if I'm remembering correctly. Not really a good time to talk, that. Care to tell your old sensei how you've been?"

[fangoverfang]

Never missing an opportunity to talk about himself - or complain - Kiba settled into his stool to indicate he was definitely staying. He wouldn't order, though. Ramen wasn't chewy or meaty enough for him.. but if the old guy behind the boilers kicked up a fuss about Kiba loitering then he'd probably end up bantering for just a side of meat or something. Akamaru was already getting his treat, so it wouldn't hurt.
The dog took the gift with excitable gusto and lapped at Iruka's hand in thanks before settling on the floor to chew.

"Great! Well.. as great as we can be stuck on patrol day in day out.." Kiba huffed, his usual distaste for Shirakumo's favourite lecture topic and practical technique evident in the way his expression drooped at the mention of it. But then, like a whip crack, the grin was back. "But we've been training with Ma again. You should see some of the stuff we can do now, it's intense."

[senseiofthesea]

"Intense? I'm impressed. You've come a very long way." He flashed Akamaru a smile. "And this fellow has gotten rather big. You both grew up really well."

He looked back to Kiba, thoughtful. "If you're tired of Patrol, why don't you ask to be sent on another kind of mission?"

[fangoverfang]

"Man, y'know, people keep sayin' that?" he muttered, fang slipping over his lip as he pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at his canine companion, critically studying him for a moment. "Doesn't look much different to me."

At Iruka's question, he groaned. "You don't think I've tried that? He held my team back a year from the chuunin exams 'cause he didn't think we were ready - and when I complained about it he told me my impatience was the reason he held me back! The more I complain the more tight-assed he gets, if I complain about being put on border patrol, he'll probably make my entire mission roster fuckin' border patrol."

[senseiofthesea]

"Kiba." He couldn't help it, he wanted to laugh. Instead, he made his voice gentle as he leaned in, smothering his amusement. "Why don't you ask the Hokage for a different kind of mission?"

[fangoverfang]

....Huh. That was a good point. Kiba had never actually taken those particular reigns into his own hands.

"I feel kinda shitty splittin' up from my team, though.." Kiba sighed, hands behind his head as he studied the cup of chopsticks in front of him, uncaring for how rude his potty-mouth made him seem. "I mean, Shino I couldn't care less about. That guy can take all the border patrol he wants, see if I care. But man, Sakura doesn't deserve to be stuck with him. I'm probably the only reason she hasn't gone off the deep end yet.." He nodded sagely, but entirely full of bullshit.

[senseiofthesea]

"Kiba, you do remember I taught all three of you don't you?" He pointed at him with his chopsticks. "If you ask for another mission kind from Hokage-sama I doubt that he'll split you three up, unless he wants to try you with someone else who would work equally well. You are all chunin now, after all."

[fangoverfang]

Kiba was loyal to the bone, so it wasn't really a surprise that he turned his nose up at the idea of being split up from his team - even if it meant more time with Shino.

"I guess," he grumbled childishly. "You can't put in good word, huh, Iruka-sensei? Last time I bothered any higher ups for a different kinda mission they put me on some political escort milkrun. Dumb, right? Me, an Inuzuka on an escort mission." He threw up his hands in his despair.

[senseiofthesea]

His lips were twitching, just shy of a smile as he tried to hold on to a serious demeanor so Kiba would know he meant it... but he was sure a trickle of humor would be greeted with open arms, even if laughter wouldn't. "I'll just have to make sure to put word down that you need to speak to the Hokage personally then. He's really a nice man you know, not prone to biting off heads."

He paused for dramatic emphasis. "I understand he personally evaluated Sakura-san for a promotion not too long ago, did she mention?"

[fangoverfang]

Kiba cushioned the side of his face on his hand, smooshing his face so his words came out in a kind of audible pout.

"Yeah, yeah she mentioned. She's mentioned a whole lot, though it was more like complaining." And then he whined, stomping down his jealousy at her promotion in favor of focusing on his own woes instead. "Come ooon, Iruka-sensei. What do I wanna go talk to the Hokage for? That's probably not the best idea, have you met me?" Not only was the journey one he was a little too lazy to trek, but it also meant a whole lot of polite airs and graces that he never quite managed to pull off properly. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally overstep his mark and face a month or two of D ranks, as he'd heard was the threat.

[senseiofthesea]

"I've met you. I've also met him. He's not actually that scary for an Uchiha you know. It's not like I'm sending you to talk to Fugaku-sama like I almost did when you played that prank on Sasuke while you were in the academy still."

[fangoverfang]

"Doesn't matter to me if he's scary or not," Kiba groaned, just short of an eye roll. Man, Iruka-sensei should have known that the Hokage being a scary guy would probably make Kiba more inclined to go up and face him - the fact that he wasn't didn't help much.

"I just got a problem talking with authority. I'll end up saying something to make everything worse off than it was before.

[senseiofthesea]

Iruka nodded his understanding, then gave him a small grin. "You never managed to get yourself into bigger messes with me, did you?"

[fangoverfang]

"Well.. Yeah, but I never cleaned up the messes I'd already made either.." Kiba gave him a look, reaching a hand down to scruff through the fuzz on the top of Akamaru's head. He and his ninken companion had caused a lot of trouble for Iruka in their academy days - when they were in class, at least..

[senseiofthesea]

"So you're telling me you never stopped being a troublemaker to keep me from getting more aggravated with you?" He leaned back on his stool a little, looking dubious.

[fangoverfang]

"Nah, just that the mess itself was pretty unavoidable in the first place. Getting away without any kind of backlash is pretty impossible," Kiba leveled with a shrug of his shoulder. There wasn't much emotion in his response, no care or upset, showing that his insistence was only a resignation to how he was certain he was, and a warning of the events that would inevitably transpire.

"Besides, what kinda job would the hokage even have for me?"

[senseiofthesea]

"I'm sure there's something that someone with your skill set can manage other than patrols. You're a talented boy Kiba, and you've only gotten better with time." He stated that matter of factly, since even if the boy had been a troublemaker, he'd also been talented enough in how he handled it.

[fangoverfang]

Kiba chuckled, his sharp fang slipping over his lip when he grinned.

"See, that's what I keep tryin' to tell people. I'm good at what I do!" Oh, praise never failed to go to his head, no matter how professional the compliment might have been. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei."

[senseiofthesea]

"You're one of my students Kiba, you don't need to thank me for reminding you of what I know." He grinned back though, shaking his head. "You're welcome all the same."