Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Warnings: Listings are available in the first chapter.

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Chapter 13

"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success." - Elbert Hubbard

Glassy orbs the color of blue jewels stared out into the open, the distance ahead a spectral maze of browns, greens, yellows, and oranges. Naruto shut those same orb of eyes as the wind picked up, the cool breeze bringing a slight chill to the teen's otherwise covered body.

The ground below him was filled with chattering and laughing adolescents, giving a serene picture of happiness. Tilting his head a bit to look down, Naruto amusingly thought to himself about how the other teens would react if he were to just leap off the rooftop right now. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought about it before. They would probably be happy to see me dead, he internalized with a self-deprecating smile.

"I know what you're thinking," the ever annoying voice of Kakashi Hatake spoke with a hint of concern. "Not a good idea. Back away from the edge."

Giving a brief glance at the older man, Naruto then snorted derisively. "Would you miss me if I fell, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Don't ask such a question, Naruto."

"Really, I want to know. Would you...miss me?" the blonde sing-songed as his body tipped forward an inch more.

"Naruto..." Kakashi's voice took on a tone of warning.

With a teasing smirk, Naruto gradually straightened up his posture, sitting down afterwards beside his untouched ramen noodles. "It wasn't like I was going to do it anyway," Uzumaki mumbled.

Kakashi peered at his mysterious student pensively, his orange paperback all but forgotten. The lunch period had about ten more minutes left before staff and students alike were to return to their classrooms, and the whole time the two had been on the roof, all they had done was banter back and forth.

"What goes on in that head of yours?" the masked man asked with a shake of his head. Naruto looked at him through his peripheral vision, but when the younger didn't respond, Kakashi continued with, "I want to know what you're feeling, how you've been."

Naruto snorted again, his arms crossing as his face went blank. "I've already explained this to you; all I can feel - all I want to feel is numb. Nothing else matters."

"You know that's not true," disagreed Kakashi as he slid closer to the blonde. "You have a lot of feelings, you just don't like to express them. Not like I can blame you; I think you're afraid of getting hurt."

"Since when are you so serious?"

The Hatake's mask lifted up into a semblance of a grin. "I got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Naruto's eyes narrowed into a glare, attempting to make his teacher drop the subject. When Kakashi resumed his same closed eye expression, Naruto released an irritated breath after a long pause. "You wanna know how I feel?" he began, his voice seemingly flat. "I feel like a body with no air, like I'm completely breathless. I feel like I'm just walking around with a shell of a body with no purpose in life. That's how I feel."

A few minutes went by without either of them saying a word; the students' laughter being the only source of noise. With an outward frown, Kakashi blew air through his fabric and said flippantly, "You sure know how to ruin a mood."

Naruto gave him an incredulous look, and the middle school teacher felt himself getting annoyed. Sheesh, can't we have a conversation without either of us giving each other a look?

"You feel that you're numb. Okay, fine, I can accept that, especially considering many people feel that way from time to time," Kakashi continued, trying to prove a point. "But you gotta admit, things certainly have been going well for you. You're doing better in school, you're not dressing as...inappropriately-"

"-I have the old hag to thank for that one-" Naruto rudely butted in.

"-And you've made some real friends," Kakashi finished, disregarding the blonde's interruption.

"Not friends," Naruto countered, absently digging in his noodles with the given chopsticks. "Just people fascinated by me. I mean, the only reason Inuzuka is even talking to me is because his dog happens to like me. What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Language," Kakashi scolded playfully, grabbing Naruto's face in a way that made the blonde's lips pucker.

Pushing the man's hand away from his face, Naruto chided with a chuckle, "Don't touch me, you pervert."

Kakashi chuckled as well, rising from his perched place with his book in tow. "I take it you're not as mad at me as before, eh?"

Naruto came close to giving his sensei the stank eye, yet underneath all that was a hint of a smile. It made the man think of many more possibilities that could be in store for the tanned teen. And he was just the person to help move things along.

The bell rang shrilly throughout the structure with the few kids that stayed after school pouring out of their classrooms as though they were running for their lives. It was late Friday afternoon, almost evening and the masses were eager in getting started with their weekend.

Naruto was swift in removing himself from the small crowd, wanting to avoid a number of people. He nearly froze near the entrance of the school once he saw a certain dog boy walking alongside him. Luck was on his side though when all Kiba did was wave at him before taking off with his some of his friends, a couple of them scowling at the Uzumaki.

Ignoring the wave and the looks thrown his way, Naruto exited out of the building and stalked to Tsunade's vehicle that was parked across the street. Making his way to the said car, Naruto then opened the passenger door to climb right inside. Tsunade gave him an amused gape prior to putting the car in drive and pulling away from the curb.

"How was your day, kid?" the blonde woman inquired after several minutes of silence.

"It was whatever," Naruto replied. It was the same answer he had given her for the last month, and he didn't plan on changing it any time soon.

"You're just not gonna give me an inch, are you, gaki?" she asked, keeping her eyes straight ahead on the road.

"Nope," Naruto simply said. "I don't like you."

"So you've told me plenty of times," Tsunade agreed with a cackle. The younger blonde gave her a slight grimace before huffing in aggravation.

Their destination to the residence couldn't have appeared soon enough for Naruto. As soon as Tsunade was able to turn the vehicle off, Naruto had jumped right out, making a beeline for the front of the house. Shoving his body passed a few of the children in the foyer, the blonde then walked up the stairs to his shared room. He was glad to see he was the only other person around.

He threw his backpack carelessly on his bed before he shrugged off his tight shirt. Tossing the shirt away, Naruto then sat on his bed, his mind wandering as he smoothed out his comforter for no other reason but to have something to do. It was one of the few days Iruka didn't have any extra work for him, and Naruto was more than grateful for the break.

His mind immediately focused on the last conversation he had had with Kakashi-sensei. Naruto cursed himself as he thought back to what he had said to the older man, and how he had once again opened up to someone he now knew he couldn't trust. Still, Naruto knew in his heart that Kakashi would be one of the few people he could turn to.

After a while of sitting, the tanned male laid on his back, his arms resting behind his head. The face of Kakashi in his head morphed into the drugged out face of Gaara, causing the teen to shut his eyes in disappointment and worry. Naruto hadn't seen nor heard from his red headed friend since he had run away, and their last encounter together made Naruto want to wince in guilt.

He had hoped that he could at least visit Gaara and his two siblings, but with Tsunade keeping a close eye on him and with the threat of being sent to juvie, Naruto knew that that was a slim possibility. Naruto could only wait and see if his busty guardian would soon give him a little more freedom. One of his male roommates at that moment entered the room, asking what he was doing.

"Drooling on my pillow," Naruto answered in a quip, wiping his mouth when he observed his pillow's wet spot. The boy giggled at him endearingly, and they conversed for a few more minutes before the boy rushed off to play.

Turning around to lie on his side, Naruto chuckled himself as his flowing mind then considered all his housemates. Each of them were unique in one way or another, yet the one positive thing Naruto noted was that the kids were more tolerable of him than the kids at his school. They didn't judge him nor hate him for something that wasn't even his fault. That was the one and only thing the blonde could say was okay about living in the group home.

"Hey, brat!"

Tsunade's voice made Naruto's body shoot upward, his lips in a flat line as he viewed Tsunade leaning against his doorway with a half smirk on her face. The Uzumaki's eyebrows rose in surprise once he saw the near darkness of his room. How long had he been lying in bed?

"Glad to have your attention," the older woman spoke as she strode into the room. "I have something for you." When Naruto refused to say anything, Tsunade dug in her pocket before tossing a random card on his bed.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as he took a good look at the card, a gift card. "What is this for?" he asked, almost hotly.

Tsunade shrugged. "Ah, I figured I'd give you a little something for working so hard this last month. I was going to give this to you in the car but you shot out like a bullet before I got a chance."

Staring at his guardian, the guardian he hadn't liked since he had arrived, Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Uh...thanks..." he appeared sheepish before his appearance went blank again. "But just because you did this for me, doesn't mean I'm going to all of a sudden like you."

"And just because I gave you something doesn't mean I won't haul your ass to the judge if you make a mistake," she retorted. "This isn't some favoritism either, gaki. You can spend it on whatever you want as long as its legal. Don't be coming in here with whips and chains, you got that?"

"Whatever," Naruto muttered.

"Whatever yourself," Tsunade shot back, making her way back towards the doorway. "Put a shirt on; dinner will be ready soon." And with that, she walked back into the hallway, off to bug some other kid, Naruto was sure.

The following Monday morning the weather had cooled down, and the clouds in the sky had mounted. This didn't bother Iruka though as he stepped out of his vehicle and stalked to the entrance of the middle school. The scarred male was a half hour earlier than his scheduled time to arrive to work.

Most of the teachers detested having to come to work early, but Iruka didn't mind it. The extra time gave him a chance to clean up his classroom, go over his students' assignments, and finish any type of paperwork he had.

Strolling through the empty hallway, Iruka smiled as he heard the echo of his shoes tapping against the floor. He was in front of his classroom door a minute later, rummaging in his bag to grab his keys. Once he found them, he inserted the right key in the lock and opened his door with flourish.

For the next ten minutes, Iruka filled out important documents that were due to the district office. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice the figure watching him from the door.

Several seconds ticked by before a recognizable voice greeted, "Yo!"

Startled, the Umino held in a yelp, and peered back at his fellow colleague. "Oh, hello Hatake-san. I'm pleasantly surprised to see you here...early...and talking to me."

Kakashi had the decency to look ashamed. "I know I come off as a careless person."

Iruka smiled at the other man's demure. "That's never bothered me."

"You're probably one of the few people who aren't put off by me," said Kakashi. "That's why I thought I should talk to you when nobody else was around, unless you're busy. I can understand if my demeanor with you has-"

"No, no, I don't mind," the nice man reassured. "I have a few minutes. What did you want to talk about?"

Walking into the classroom, Kakashi began to argue with himself about coming to see Iruka. There was just no way this man would be willing to listen to him. Sure, they had sat together during lunch when he wasn't with Naruto and maybe they had exchanged some friendly words about the said teen as of late, but it wasn't as though they knew each other well.

Yet, looking into Iruka's kind eyes, Kakashi gathered his courage, and revealed the thoughts he'd been having for the last couple of weeks, mentioning the one person that they both had in common.

Thirteenth chapter complete. Kind of a filler chapter. I know it's been a long time, but I have been really sick (mentally and physically). This summer will give me a chance to work on all my fics.