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“Alright, class!” Iruka called over his talking students. He took a long look at all of the thirteen year olds in his room. Most of them would be graduating soon enough and entering their fields of study. The only things left for them in his classroom was basic training and the test of specialization. “As you all know, today is parent day. Everybody will have a turn to introduce your parents and then they’ll tell us about what they do in their field. Parents should be arriving any time now.”
Menma sighed as the rest of class burst into whispers and laughs. Some of his classmates crowed about how their parents were the best. Others were shy and said that they wanted to be just like their parents. Everyone was excited.
“Menma,” a warm voice spoke from his left. The black haired boy turned to meet the pretty lavender eyes of Hyuga Yuki. They had been friends for a long time now. Since they got stuck in the same pre-school class and he had yelled at some of the other kids for teasing her. “What time are your parents supposed to get here?”
He let out a wry chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m actually not sure if they’ll make it.”
Yuki’s lips turned down in a pout. “Did you even tell them about it?”
“Of course I did!” And he had. Just not directly. It was more of a passing comment when his parents were already rushing around. And carefully forgetting to mention the date. His mom had smiled, but Menma wasn’t sure if it was because of the school announcement, or because his dad had made some sort of sexual comment. He kept a grimace off his face as he thought of his parents, um, displays of affection.
Yuki laughed at the face he made. “Let me guess. They said something noncommittal about it because they were in the middle of making gaga eyes at each other?”
He hummed. “It was probably closer to bedroom eyes.” Yuki’s laugh made a smile curl on his face. “Seriously though, Yuki. They left for a mission two days ago. Said I shouldn’t expect them back until tomorrow night.”
They both were momentarily distracted by the sight of parents starting to trickle in through the doors. Iruka was greeting them all with smiles and hugs.
“Are your parents coming, Yuki?”
“Yeah! Both mom and dad are coming. They should be here soon.” He smiled at that. Hinata-san and Kiba-san were nice people. Hinata worked in the fields as a lead scout. Kiba was part of the tracking teams.
“Is your dad bringing Akamaru?”
The girl giggled. “Of course!”
They remained quiet after that and watched from the back of the classroom as more parents arrived. Students waved to them openly. Many parents smiled back and took up the seats on the sidewall that Iruka directed them too. When everyone was settled Iruka sent him an exasperated look. The black haired teen only shrugged.
“Alright. It looks like that’ll be everyone. Hopefully a couple more are just running late. So why don’t we begin with Homura-kun’s parents.”
A soft-spoken boy stepped up to the front of the classroom and called his parents up by introducing them as Ranmaru and Mae. They were a friendly pair who worked in the labs. By the adoring look on Homura-kun’s face, you could tell he wanted to follow in their footsteps.
One by one, everybody was called up front to introduce their parents. He recognized certain people, like Shikamaru-san and Ino-san. Or Karin and Suigetsu. Everyone held an important role in the community. Each parent took a turn to explain their field, their job, and also answered the eager questions directed to them, and even joked with the students and other parents. It was nice. A small part of Menma wished that his own parents could be here. But only a small part. If he were completely honest with himself, he was actually really glad that his parents had been given a mission.
At the end Iruka cast a last glance at the clock. His frowned deepened as he noticed Menma watching it with eager eyes. Only two more minutes and then they were dismissed.
“Alright, everyone. It looks like we’re just about done here. I want to say a-” he was interrupted by a loud yell. Menma’s blue eyes widened as he recognized that voice.
“Bastard! I know where my son’s classroom is.” The indignant shout was followed by a snort.
“Then why did you start to head in the opposite direction, dobe?” His father’s tone was cool, but everyone could hear the fondness in the undertone.
“That,” the loud voice stammered. “That was because you were distracting me! It’s going to be your fault if we miss this whole thing!”
“Yes,” the cool voice deadpanned. “It’ll be my fault that you couldn’t remember which classroom it was.”
“Argh!” The other yelled. The voices we’re getting louder, which meant they were getting closer. A few parents laughed in amusement. Most of them just had an eyebrow raised. Yuki looked over at him with bright eyes and a smirk that was closer to a wolf grin than anything else.
“What did you do?” He hissed. “I was so close.”
The door flung open just as the words left his lips. Menma held in a groan as the blonde head of his ‘mother’ barged into the classroom first. His father strode in calmly afterwards, eyes scanning the room for his only soon. The black irises held only amusement at the entire situation. And maybe a hint of smugness. Menma drew his brows together as he noticed the katana still strapped to his father’s back, and the rust colored spots on his mother’s arms.
The blonde all but flung himself at the teacher. “Iruka-sensei! I’m sorry we’re late! We just got back from a mission! Please tell me we’re not too late! Please, Iruka-sensei!”
Iruka didn’t even look surprised at the display. He only cuffed the blonde on the back of his head and nodded in greeting to the other dark haired man. “Be quiet, Naruto. You’re making a scene. We can go over just a bit now that you’re here. I’m sure the students would love to hear about what you two do.”
Naruto looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Thanks, Iruka-sensei!”
The class was whispering to themselves at the display. Menma wanted to sink further down into his seat. The parents who didn’t recognize new men looked startled by the display. Everyone else was trying to reign in their laughter.
“Menma-kun,” Iruka said calmly. “Why don’t you come up and introduce your parents now?”
“Do I have a choice?” he grumbled under his breath. Yuki – the traitor – giggled softly.
His mom hugged him as soon as he was within arm’s reach. “Menma! Why didn’t you remind me? You know Kaka-sensei would have let us off the mission until after this!”
Which is exactly why I didn’t remind you, he thought. “Hi, mom. Hi, dad. I’m glad your mission went all right.” Menma turned back to the class with a faint flush over his cheeks. “Everyone, this is my mom and dad. Uchiha Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.”
The classroom started whispering again until Iruka silenced them.
Yuki rose her hand with a pleasant smile on her face. “Ano, Uchiha-san. What is your specialization exactly?”
“Yuki-chan!” Naruto protested loudly. “I told you to stop being so formal around us! You’re practically family! Family! Tell her dog-breath!”
“Who you calling dog-breath? I don’t want to hear that from a deadlast like you!” Kiba quipped back playfully.
Iruka rolled his eyes and let out a stern ‘boys’ that had both adults shutting up. The class laughed and Menma wanted to disappear. Sasuke stepped up to pat his son’s shoulder. “To answer your question, Yuki-chan, Naruto and I specialize in the Elite Ops.”
“Yeah! We’re part of Anbu!”
Shikamaru snorted from the back of the class. “Part of Anbu. You’re the top. We need a better name for you guys.”
Iruka sighed again. “Sasuke-kun, would you mind telling everyone what your specialization requires?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow that had Menma shaking his head viciously.
“No! You do not want dad to go into details about his work! Trust me! Mom would be so much better.”
Naruto laughed and pulled his son into hug. “Believe it!” A tan hand mused his hair. “The branch of Elite Ops we’re in often deals with outside threats. We gather information, scope out our enemies, and remove threats that pop up.”
Homura-kun tilted his head sideways. “By ‘remove threats’ do you mean you bring them in for interrogation? So people like Kiba-san?”
The blonde rubbed the back of neck. “Not quite. We, um, remove the threat in a more permanent manner.”
“In other words,” Sasuke spoke up. “We’re part of the assassination team. And we’re very good at it.”
There was a heavy moment of silence where Menma prayed that the floor would open up and swallow him whole. But then the class grew louder until all the students were trying to shout questions about ‘what kind of training was involved’ or ‘how they got to their position.’ Naruto laughed at them and leaned into his husband’s side. Sasuke in turn wrapped an arm snugly around the blonde’s waist.
Menma sighed, but couldn’t help the warmth that spread through his chest. His parents were weird. Not like most who tried not to openly display their affections to every prying eye, let alone a classroom of impressionable teenagers. They threw out more insults than actual compliments. His mom was overly loud and his dad could be a bit too serious, but he guessed that’ what made them the best. A fond smile settled on his face as they finished their talks. Iruka dismissed the class and eager students left with their parents.
“Menma! You really should have told us again! I know you mentioned it a couple weeks ago, but if Yuki-chan hadn’t sent us that message, we would have missed it!” Naruto started in. He couldn’t help but laugh as he reached out to hug them both.
“I’m sorry, mom. I’m really glad you both made it though.”
They both smiled at him. His dad’s was small but warm, and his mom’s was bright and wide. “We wouldn’t have missed it for the world, kiddo.”