"Naruto! Satsuki! Stop right there!"
Iruka's voice behind them was full of urgency. "You two brats, co apologize to the Hokage with right now!"
"No way!" Naruto didn't look back. "The old man isn't that petty—he definitely knows we weren't really causing trouble!"
"You problem student! Stop this instant!" Iruka raised his voice in frustration, a vein pulsing at his temple. "Do you have any idea how terrifying that was just now? I thought you were really going to secretly spar at school! Have you forgotten all the ninja academy rules? This is absolutely ridiculous!"
In the school building's corridor, footsteps, scolding voices, and the light sounds of youthful running mixed together. As Iruka chased them, the stone of worry in his heart quietly settled—thank goodness... they hadn't really started fighting.
But then a wave of retroactive fear washed over him. What if the Third Hokage hadn't notified him in ti? These two fought without restraint during sparring—if they really went all out, what if they set the ninja academy on fire? What if one of them suffered irreparable injuries?
If sothing like that really happened, Iruka would never forgive himself.
"Listen up!" Iruka gritted his teeth and quickened his pace. "I'll reflect on this incident with you! Not properly teaching you to follow rules is my responsibility! But you'd better stop right now! Naruto!"
"No way!"
Naruto suddenly ducked into a nearby classroom. For so reason, despite the late hour, this classroom's lights were still on—it was their own classroom. Satsuki followed closely behind, also darting inside.
"You little brat..."
Iruka pushed open the classroom door, but the rest of his scolding stuck in his throat like sothing was blocking it, coming to an abrupt halt. The scene before his eyes was sothing he'd never imagined—
Clean tablecloths were spread across the connected rectangular desks in the classroom, covered with various snacks and food—brightly packaged potato chips, fruit cut into small pieces, and several boxes of what looked like exquisite pastries.
In the center of the table sat a large cream cake with "Iruka-sensei" written in fruit jam, several unlit candles stuck around it.
Naruto, Satsuki, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Shino stood in a row behind the table. Shikamaru habitually yawned, Choji secretly clutched a bag of chips, Akamaru on Kiba's head wagged his tail, and Satsuki looked down slightly with a faint smile hidden at the corners of her mouth.
At the back of the classroom hung a simple banner made from cut and pasted colored paper: [Happy Birthday Iruka-sensei].
"Sensei! Happy birthday!" Naruto was the first to jump out, shouting energetically at Iruka with eyes bright as stars. "Didn't expect this, did you? Even getting the old man to help pass the ssage—I asked him to do that!"
Iruka stared at everything before him, his mouth opening unconsciously, but no sound erged from his throat. The food on the table gave off gentle steam, the children's smiling faces warm in the lamplight.
"Happy birthday, sensei." Shikamaru and the others also spoke up, their voices quiet but carrying sincere sentint.
Naruto grinned and moved closer, teasing, "Sensei, I originally wanted to make it the kind of surprise where we turn off the lights then suddenly light the candles, but I was afraid that while chasing us just now, you'd jump straight out the window and circle around to the back—then the surprise would be completely ruined. You don't mind, do you?"
"Hey, hey, what's wrong? So even sensei can make that kind of expression."
Faced with Iruka's expression, Kiba rcilessly teased him, and Akamaru imdiately barked once as if in agreent.
Only then did Iruka co back to his senses, his lips moving as he stamred, "Naruto... you... that is to say... just now, all of that... was..."
"That's right! It was all a trap to lure Iruka-sensei to the classroom!" Naruto said with a grin, his tone full of proud satisfaction.
The next mont, Iruka felt all his tense nerves suddenly relax. The anxiety from running frantically, the panic thinking they were going to secretly spar, the fear that Naruto would cause trouble and be punished—all of it vanished like smoke. So it was just a prank, so he hadn't caused trouble. Thank goodness... this child just wanted to give him a surprise.
He'd wanted to put on a stern face and scold them for "causing trouble"—actually involving even the Hokage—but seeing the laughter in Naruto's eyes, the words on his lips beca a dry, simple question.
"Naruto... how did you know today was my birthday?"
"Simple! I secretly snuck into the teacher records room—stealth is a required ninja course!"
"What?! You!..."
Hearing this, the anger Iruka had just suppressed nearly flared up again—but before the scolding words left his mouth, he suddenly felt his eyes grow hot. Sothing warm and uncontrollable welled up, covering them with a thin layer of mist.
He'd heard other teachers ntion before that so caring students would secretly rember their teacher's birthday and prepare little surprises on that day. Back then, he'd always felt such things were far from his own experience—he'd always felt he wasn't a qualified teacher, having been prejudiced against Naruto and often negligent toward his students. He never imagined he could have such a mont.
He looked at Naruto, still waiting for praise, then swept his gaze over Satsuki and the others standing nearby with quiet smiles. His heart felt like it was soaked in warm water, both sour and soft. There were so many things he wanted to say to them—to thank them for their thoughtfulness, to apologize for not being caring enough before, to tell them how surprised he was... but thousands of words stuck in his throat, finally becoming just one choked sentence.
"I... thank you... thank you, Naruto... and everyone... thank you..."
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