"Naruto! Satsuki! Get back here!"
Iruka's voice, full of urgency, chased after them. "You two, come with me and apologize to Lord Hokage!"
"No way!" Naruto didn't look back. "The old man Hokage isn't that petty! He definitely knows we weren't really causing trouble!"
"You problem student! Stop right now!" Iruka's voice rose in frustration, a vein throbbing on his temple. "Do you have any idea how scary that was just now? I thought you were really going to spar secretly at the school! Have you forgotten all the academy's rules? This is ridiculous!"
In the corridors of the school building, footsteps, scolding, and the lighthearted sounds of a boy running mixed together. As Iruka gave chase, the weight in his heart quietly lifted—Thank goodness... they didn't really fight.
But then, a wave of fear washed over him. What if the Third hadn't notified me in time? These two don't know their own strength. If they really started fighting, what if they set the academy on fire? What if one of them got an incurable injury?
If that had really happened, Iruka would never have been able to forgive himself.
"Listen up!" Iruka gritted his teeth and sped up. "I'll take responsibility for this with you! It's my fault for not teaching you the rules properly! But you'd better stop right now! Naruto!"
"No way!"
Naruto ducked into a nearby classroom. For some reason, the lights in this classroom were still on, even though it was so late—it was their classroom. Satsuki followed closely behind, also ducking inside.
"You little bast—"
Iruka threw open the classroom door, but the rest of his scolding got stuck in his throat. The scene before him was something he had never imagined—
The long rectangular desks in the classroom were covered with a clean tablecloth, on which were laid out all sorts of snacks and food: brightly packaged potato chips, cut-up fruit, and a few boxes of what looked like exquisite pastries.
And in the very center of the table was a large cream cake, with "Iruka-sensei" written on it in fruit jam. A few candles were stuck in it, though they hadn't been lit yet.
Naruto, Satsuki, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Shino were standing in a row behind the table. Shikamaru was habitually yawning, Choji was secretly clutching a bag of potato chips, Akamaru was wagging his tail on Kiba's head, and Satsuki had her eyes slightly lowered, a faint smile hidden on her lips.
At the back of the classroom, there was even a simple banner made of colored paper cut into letters: [HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRUKA-SENSEI].
"Sensei! Happy birthday!" Naruto was the first to jump out, shouting energetically at Iruka, his eyes as bright as stars. "Didn't expect this, did you? I even asked the old man Hokage to help pass the message!"
Iruka stared at the scene before him, his mouth subconsciously opening, but no sound came out. The food on the table was still warm, and the children's smiling faces were illuminated by the warm light.
"Happy birthday, sensei," Shikamaru and the others followed, their voices not loud, but filled with genuine sentiment.
Naruto then came over with a grin and teased, "Sensei, I was originally going to do the whole 'turn off the lights and then suddenly light the candles' surprise, but I was afraid that while you were chasing us, you'd jump out the window and circle around, and the surprise would be ruined. You don't mind, do you?"
"Hey, hey, what's wrong? So sensei can make that kind of face too."
Faced with Iruka's expression, Kiba teased him mercilessly, and Akamaru immediately let out a "woof," as if in agreement.
Only then did Iruka snap back to reality. His lips moved, and he stammered, "Naruto... you... so... all of that just now... was..."
"That's right! It was all a trap to lure you into the classroom, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said with a smile, his tone full of pride.
The next moment, Iruka felt the tension in his entire body suddenly release. The anxiety from the chase, the panic from thinking they were secretly sparring, the fear that Naruto would get into trouble and be punished, all of it vanished into thin air. So it was just a prank, so he didn't get into trouble, thank goodness... this kid, he just wanted to give me a surprise.
He had wanted to put on a stern face and scold them for being "ridiculous"—even getting the Hokage involved—but looking at the smile in Naruto's eyes, the words turned into a dry sentence.
"Naruto... how did you know today was my birthday?"
"It's simple! I snuck into the teacher's archives. Stealth is a required course for a ninja, you know!"
"What?! You...!"
Hearing this, the anger Iruka had just suppressed almost flared up again—but before the scolding words could escape, he suddenly felt a warmth in his eyes, and something hot and uncontrollable welled up, blurring his vision with a thin layer of water.
He had heard other teachers say that some thoughtful students would secretly remember their teacher's birthday and prepare a small surprise for them on that day. At the time, he had always felt that such things were very far away from him—he always felt that he wasn't a qualified teacher, that he had been prejudiced against Naruto, and that he had often neglected his students. He had never thought that he would have such a moment.
He looked at Naruto, who was still waiting for praise, then at Satsuki, Shikamaru, and the others smiling quietly beside him. His heart felt like it was soaking in warm water, both sour and soft. There were so many things he wanted to say to them, to thank them for their kindness, to apologize for not being attentive enough in the past, to tell them how surprised he was... but the thousands of words stuck in his throat, finally turning into a choked sentence.
"I... thank you... thank you, Naruto... and everyone... thank you..."