Just thinking about Iruka and Naruto… Slight fluff. This is at the beginning of Iruka's teaching years, although I don't really know when he began teaching so bear with me…

Re-edited on 1/10/10 Courtesy of suggestions from WhyIMustWrite

The Defining Moment

Iruka shuffled his papers, and placed them in his bag. He let out a breath of air as the suns orange rays filtered into the room. "Another day gone." He walked out the door, sliding it close behind him.

His foot steps lightly padded the floor. The empty hall brought forth a pang of loneliness. At home he had yesterday's leftovers to greet him, but, he didn't have any family, no, they were dead courtesy of the Kyuubi that had devastated his home 7 years ago.

Exiting the building he saw a little boy sitting on the swing set.

He snorted contemptuously. It was his fault that he was alone.

He started forward, looking ahead. That thing wasn't worthy to be sneered at. Passing by, he heard a soft sniffle coming from that thing.

His steps slowed, his gaze wandered over to the boy. Another poignant sniffle escaped the blonde boy.

"What-" He began harshly, but he stopped after seeing the boy cringe. His shoulders sagged, and guilt punched him hard in the stomach. "Why are you still here?" He asked gently. He didn't feel like being gentle but…

The blonde boy smeared the tears on his dirty face, looking up at older man. "I… I don't want to go home." His lower lip quivered

Iruka's breath caught. How could this boy be the Kyuubi? "Why not?" He queried gently.

The little blonde sniffled tentatively. "It's so lonely there…" He trailed off. The chunin's eyes flashed. His home was lonely as well. Why should he feel penitence for this container? This was the Nine Tails. His parent's murderer.

The boy knew the look in the older man's eyes. It made him flinch, and look away. "What's it like… having a family…?" His little voice quivered. The chunin blinked, before crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. I forgot… he's an orphan too.

"I don't remember…" Iruka's brows furrowed. Maybe he's more like me than I first thought… "They were killed."

The small boy with whiskers on his cheeks turned to look at Iruka with wide eyes that were teeming with innocent concern. "What happened?" He whispered quietly.

The chunin's resolve of hatred splintered. The young boy noticed the strange look on the older ninja's face. Iruka wanted to scream at the boy, to tell him to shut up, but at the same time he was finding himself wanting to embrace the lonely boy.

His whole life he blamed this blonde little kid for his loneliness and it worked… until now. Logically his mind was telling him this boy had no idea what he held. The curse inside of him was practically undiscovered, but still earned him the monster's reputation and a life of isolation.

His irrational mind said that it was all the boys fault.

His heart did not agree. Looking upon the pathetic figure before him, he couldn't bring himself to hate something so innocent, but, always lingering in the dark recesses of his mind was a constant whispering, "It's only a façade. He's only pretending to be innocent."

"It doesn't matter now." He shrugged, turning away. Maybe it wasn't this little boys fault, it was the demon inside of him, but Iruka was not going to bother with this anymore. He had leftovers to eat.

The boy's arm shot out, his small hand grasping Iruka's flak jacket.

"It does." He looked up at this 19 year old chunin with the seriousness of someone well beyond his years, the sadness in his bright blue eyes. "Because, now they're not here, and you're all alone." Tears flowed freely down his face.

I am alone. Something tickled the chunin's face. Slowly he raised his hand, running his finger along his cheek and brush across something wet. Tears. He kneeled down in front of the boy, smiling tentatively, as if trying to be reassuring, but second guessing himself. "They died protecting our village from the Nine Tail Fox." He whispered softly.

The small boy eyes wide and fearful, scrubbed away the tears with his arm. "What happened to the Fox?"

"He was sealed away where he can't hurt anyone ever again."

Naruto's lips thinned, "What if the Fox breaks the seal?" The small boy looked pensive, his brows drawing in worry.

The chunin shook his head. "There's no way the Fox can escape his seal."

"Well… if it does happen I promise to become the strongest ninja ever, and I'll destroy that Fox." He puffed out his chest, but his eyes still showed some reservation. His face was splotchy from crying.

Iruka couldn't help himself. He embraced the boy, fresh tears flooding his eyes, feeling something akin to a deep sense of caring and liking. "I'll hold you to that promise. What's your name?"

The boy blinked, his jaw hanging slack for a moment. No one had ever asked his name. They just called him 'the Brat.' "Naruto Uzumaki," His blue eyes studied Iruka's dark brown eyes. Somewhere within the boy's small frame, the little blonde could feel a little analogous to comfort, but this moment was interrupted by something somewhat unexpected.

The small blonde boy blushed and grinned sheepishly as his stomach voiced its protest. Iruka laughed, and stood up, turning away from the boy.

"I'm kind of hungry too, but I hate eating alone… Naruto, want to join me?" He looked over his shoulder, but Naruto was gone the swing set slightly swaying. "Wha…?"

"C'mon. I'm starving." The young boy tugged at Iruka's hand, dragging him down the road. "There's this great ramen stand…"

Shout out to Taryn Streambattle who helped me improve this with her helpful suggestions. Thanks a bunch! She also influenced the title; it's a synonym of 'crossroads' which she suggested.