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Iruka grunts as he swiftly counters an enemy attack with his kunai, he gasps as he senses another enemy coming up behind him and turns to counter it. Just as he thinks it’s about too late, a bright glowing yellow figure swiftly kicks him out of his way.
“Iruka-sensei!” He hears the familiar obnoxious voice yelling.
Iruka’s eyes widen. “Naruto? Is that you?”
Naruto gives him his signature little mischievous gremlin-like laugh, and smiles brightly, “Yep! Like the new look?” Iruka’s mouth is agape, at a loss for words as he takes in the sight in front of him. He realizes there’s another similar figure right next to him on his left, he jumps back and his jaw drops even wider, if that was even possible.
“What?” Naruto asks absentmindedly.
He ignores the clueless teenager and continues to stare at the figure next to him and Naruto looks aside. “L-Lord Fourth?”
Minato chuckles and smiles, rubbing the back of his head in a scarily similar way to the blonde boy he taught. “Yes I’ve been getting quite similar reactions.”
“Oh!” Naruto says upon coming to the realization that Iruka has no idea what’s going on. “Dad, this is Iruka-sensei! He was my teacher at the academy, and the reason I graduated. He’s also the first person in the entire village who believed in me and didn’t see me purely as a monster.” He chuckles nonchalantly, “Actually, you could say he’s the reason I’m here right now!” He says as he rubs the back of his head in his usual sheepish tone with a bright smile.
Iruka’s heart pangs at the words, his mouth still agape at the man who was supposed to be dead in front of him, still not being able to overcome the shock. Minato stares at him bewildered, almost the same as Iruka’s, albeit less shocked.
Iruka composes himself a bit and smiles nervously, but softly. He begins to speak first “Well Naruto, you’re giving me a bit much credit don’t ya thi-”
He’s quickly interrupted as the bright yellow figure on his left, kneels down in front of him, bowing his head. “I owe you a great debt of gratitude, Iruka-sensei! Thank you for giving my son the encouragement he needed, and for believing in him.” He says sternly.
Iruka’s eyes widen and his mouth drops wide once again. Namikaze Minato, Konoha’s Yellow Flash, the literal Fourth Hokage, was bowing down to him. A little old chunin who teaches at the academy.
Is this really happening?
Iruka laughs nervously and waves his hands in dismissal. “Ha! There’s no need for that Lord Fourth, really it’s nothing! Naruto never gave up on his ambitions, he would’ve done fine without me. He is your son after all!”
Minato continues to kneel but lifts his head up, “Nonsense, Sensei! If my son is giving you credit, it’s surely because you deserve it.” Naruto grins widely and laughs fondly as he watches the interaction he never thought he’d ever see. Minato then quickly gets up in realization, “Oh! Naruto, we must move along now!”
Naruto comes back to reality, giving him a determined “Right!”
“Goodbye Iruka-sensei.” He bows one more time “Thank you again, it means a lot, really.” He says sincerely, and he’s up in the air again in a flash, living up to his name.
“Bye Iruka-sensei! I’ll catch you again once this is all over!” Naruto says from the air as he joins behind him.
Iruka still can’t believe what just happened, but he doesn’t have time to react before he’s being attacked again, countering it quickly. He knocks the enemy to the ground, smiling to himself.
Yes. He thinks, more determined as he charges into battle. I’ll see you again after all this, Naruto. Good luck.