Title: Special
Author: creepycrawly
Rating: PG
Summary/Warning: Most ninja are dead by thirty. And Iruka's nothing special.

Today is Iruka's birthday. It's his twenty ninth birthday, to be exact. Three hundred and sixty five days from today, he will be thirty. In thirty one million, five hundred thirty six thousand seconds, or in five hundred, twenty five thousand and six hundred minutes, or in eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty hours, he will be thirty.

Most ninja are dead by thirty.

Iruka isn't anything special. He knows this. By all means, teacher or not, he should already be dead. He's already one of the oldest teachers at the Academy. He's older than most of his friends…though, really, that's slightly slanted, because he stays friends with every single child he's ever raised and taught. His very first class of students are now sending their children to be in his class. All of the people he was a genin with have children of their own, or are dead, or are simply old enough but much too busy.

He's one of the oldest chuunin alive. He's older, too, than most of the jounin. Hell, he's older than the ANBU director!

And he's only twenty nine.

In a normal village, he'd still be considered young. To civilians, he still has his entire life before him. But Konohagakure is not a normal village, and most of its citizens aren't civilians. It is a nin village, and it is full of nin. In nin villages, to be twenty-nine is to be old. And to be lucky.

Most nin are dead by thirty.

It isn't that he hasn't done anything. No, Iruka has done a lot in his twenty-nine years.

He has become a chuunin. He has become the first chuunin to reach ANBU rank. He once saved over a thousand lives at the age of seven, by a mere offhand comment. By thirteen, he was considered a tactical genius to rival Hatake Kakashi. Since the age of fourteen, people have been wondering why he is still a chuunin, why he has yet to take the jounin exams.

He is a teacher. A very good teacher, at that. He has taught three Hyuugas, ANBU's newest tactical genius (he didn't tell Shikamaru whose position he was filling, but Asuma did.), the Uchiha Sasuke (now director of ANBU), the most in-demand medic-nin alive, and the most famous weapons master, taijutsu master, and control master. Not to mention, he is the beloved teacher of the boy (well, young man, now) who will officially be the youngest Hokage, ever, come tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, his son will turn four. Like all children-of-nin, he will find out that he is really Umino Hikaru. And then the Kazekage will send a team to bring him and a few other children-of-nin to Konohagakure. He will be in Iruka's class, along with Kakashi's daughter, five year old Megumi.

Iruka is glad that he has had practise raising the girl with Kakashi. She came to live with them some months ago, brought by Gaara when her mother died.

It makes Iruka glad that someone loves the Uchiha heir. Seeing Sasuke run down the street and throw his arms around Gaara in an utterly un-Sasuke way has done him a lot of good. The look on Gaara's face has made him feel even better. The two young men are utterly in love, and the fact that one is Kazekage while the other is the director of Konohagakure's ANBU never fazes them in the slightest. They act as if though they have forever together.

But most ninja are dead by thirty.

Iruka is very accomplished for a twenty-nine year old, even a twenty-nine year old nin. Hell, he's very accomplished for anyone, no matter the age or occupation. But still he worries that he hasn't done enough. And now he really worries, because, according to statistics, this is his last year on earth.

Most ninja are dead by thirty.

And he is nothing special.

A few people are well over thirty. He knows this. His lover is one of them. But he also knows that Kakashi is someone special. He is the Copy Nin, one of the most famous people in the whole world, and definitely the most unknown well-known person in Konoha.

But he himself is nothing special.

Kakashi disagrees. Kakashi says that Iruka is special. After all, he is the man who, at the age of eleven, proved himself worthy of the title of nin by participating in one of the most secretive political assassinations in history. To this day, he actually teaches his students about the death of men he has killed…all of them dead by some 'unknown hand'.

The irony does not escape him.

Kakashi argues that Iruka is special. After all, who else is capable of teaching all of Konohagakure's 'emotional retards' to be real, feeling, functioning human beings?

Iruka smacks him lightly and tells him not to call them 'emotional retards.'

Kakashi frowns, rubs his cheek, and argues that Iruka is special. Who else defended young, troublemaking Uzumaki Naruto?

Iruka laughs and says that now, everyone must. Naruto's about to become Hokage.

Kakashi frowns, rolls his eyes, and argues that Iruka is special. To him, at least. And isn't he the only who really matters?

He argues silently, tugging his mask down and pulling the surprised chuunin into a deep kiss, right in front of thirty four- and five-year-olds. Only Kakashi's daughter, Megumi, doesn't look up. She's used to this by now.

Kakashi pulls away, tugging his mask up.

"You are special," he whispers, and walks out.

owari