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though he'd been a teacher long enough to see multiple after his own, graduation ceremonies from the academy were still a somewhat jarring affair for iruka.
it never quite hit him that he was no longer the teacher of this specific batch of kids until days later.
it was somewhat melancholic, the amount of parents missing in the crowd. dead or missing, stuck in the hospital with terrible injuries, or simply too busy fulfilling their own duties to attend. the bloodlines responsible for producing several generations of shinobi were also the most likely to be absent from such events.
civilian parents and first generation shinobis made up the majority of the crowd eagerly watching their children receive the designation of genin.
"sarutobi konohamaru," iruka called out, grinning at the boy that approached him eagerly to be given his headband.
iruka gently wrapped the band around the boy's head, tying it at the back.
he was momentarily distracted by the sound of a choked sob from the crowd.
he looked for the source for a while, before his eyes landed on a pair of sunglasses with visible trails of tears flowing out from the bottom of the frames.
right.
konohamaru was one of the many kids of his generation who did not have any family present at the event. any biological family, that was.
konohamaru groaned in apparent annoyance at the sound, rolling his eyes.
iruka barely held back a chuckle, patting the boy on the shoulder encouragingly.
"go save your sensei," he mumbled, with a wink.
//
"ebisu-sensei!! can i pleeaasseee go to a party?"
ebisu narrowed his eyes behind the tinted lenses.
"and where exactly is this 'party'? who else is going? will there be any adult supervision?"
"i'll be back by nine! byee!!" the boy yelled, already well on his way to god knows where.
ebisu made an attempt at calling after him, but gave up soon enough. after all, if konohamaru wasn't back by nine, it wouldn't take him long to track the boy down. throughout the years, he'd gotten very used to every shortcut and secret route the boy utilized in his misadventures and other assorted mischief.
"don't bother running after him. he's top of class in speed." iruka greeted, smirking slightly at ebisu.
"though i guess i know where he got it from."
that was one of the only things he really remembered about ebisu from the small bits of their shared childhood at the academy; a few years ahead of iruka, in a class full of prodigies like kakashi and gai. but ebisu was always the fastest.
he vaguely remembered sneaking out during lunch to watch the older kids in the training field, and the image of ebisu's clean, graceful movements was still imprinted into his mind.
ebisu turned around sharply, bowing only the slightest bit at the man.
"umino-san. i, ah...apologize if my student has been trouble for you the past few years, and i'd like to humbly thank you for your contributions to his education."
"woah, woah, i know we're not exactly close, but there's no need to be so formal, aha...we did go to school together..." iruka assured awkwardly, somewhat thrown off by the words.
"...right." he sighed, face flushing slightly.
"sorry, i just...feel strange today."
iruka hummed understandingly.
"and, uhh...do you think, maybe, that has something to do with the fact that you're at konohamaru's graduation? it's pretty typical, a lot of parents get emotional about this stuff-"
"-i-i'm not his parent, just his private tutor."
at that, iruka raised an eyebrow. he wouldn't claim to know ebisu all that well, but he knew just as well as everyone in the village that the man almost single-handedly raised konohamaru.
suddenly, he was struck by how much he found himself relating to that situation.
after all, who kept uzumaki naruto fed for years? who taught him the very basics of the shinobi life? who showed him kindness and care, when no one else would?
and why shouldn't a person like that be considered a parent? considered family?
was family really such biological thing after all?
iruka shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts, before flashing ebisu what he hoped was a kind smile.
"you need a drink. i know a place."