Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

25. Pot, Kettle

Kakashi has officially passed simply being late.

"He hasn't even bothered to show up!" Naruto yells. I sneeze.

"Just go home." Sasuke sighs, glaring at me. I look him in the eye and sniff.

"Here." Sakura hands me a tissue. Naturally, after almost drowning, I've managed to catch a cold. I blow my nose.

"Do you have to do that here?"

"What? Blow my nose? Dude, it's a normal thing. What do you do?"

"I don't catch colds."

"Oh right, I forgot. The great lord Sasuke is immune to any imperfection. Except maybe when it comes to his hair."

"Excuse me?"

"You have a permanent bedhead. Seriously, haven't you ever heard of a hairbrush?"

"It's way too early for you two to be fighting already." Iruka sighs as he walks up to us. I instantly shut my mouth with a snap and flush crimson. He heard all that?!

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cries, grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you doing here, Iruka-sensei? Where's Kakashi?" Sakura asks.

"Kakashi can't make it today, so I've been told to give you all the day off. So relax-"

"Achoo!" The force of my sneeze pitches me forwards, and I stumble. If a massive, bottomless hole could just open up and swallow me right now, that would be awesome.

"You've got a cold too, huh?" Iruka smiles, and I blush harder.

"Too? Who else has a cold?" Naruto asks.

"Kakashi." Iruka and Sasuke say at the same time. Damn, I should have known.

"Oh, right. He did jump in after Maya..."

"Huh? Did something happen on your last mission?"

"We learned Maya can't swim." Sasuke snorts, and I want to die.

"Don't just go telling people that!" Naruto yells when he sees me bite my lip and look down.

"Why not? It's true." Sasuke sticks his hands in his pockets and walks away, Naruto yelling after him. Sakura bites down on her nails, watching him go.

"Sakura?" I ask, and tilt my head to one side.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?" She laughs, and I think she must be a worse liar than I am.

"Maya, can you really not swim?" Iruka asks. I take it back. Now I want to die.

"Yeah..." I mutter, not looking him in the eye.

"If you want, I could teach you?" I swear my heart stops for a second. Iruka? Teach me to swim? It's an idea I both love and hate. On the one hand, I'd get to spend more time with him, on the other...

"It's alright, I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble. I tend to panic when I get near water." I laugh awkwardly.

"Oh, so that's why you looked so ill on the pier." Sakura says, a look of realisation on her face.

"Uh-uh-huh." I force a smile.

"I get that you're embarrassed, Maya, but it's nothing to be ashamed of." Iruka says with a smile. We need to stop talking about this, or my head's going to explode. I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

"Kakashi!" I yell. Oops.

"Huh? Kakashi? Where?" They all glance around, looking for him. Double oops.

"Um, no, I mean, do you know where he lives? I thought I'd help him out since I was the one who got him sick..."

"Huh? But don't you have a cold too, Maya?"

"Th-that's what makes me perfect for the job! He can't get me sick, and I must be feeling better than him if I'm out and about and he's stuck in bed!"

"That's a good point... Alright, I'll walk you over to his place." Iruka agrees, and we set off.

It turns out that Iruka himself doesn't actually know where Kakashi lives, but insists that he knows someone who does.

"Why should I take you to Kakashi?" The 'someone' in question asks cooly. Her name is Uzuki, I think, and she doesn't seem to like Iruka that much. Or me, for that matter.

"It's my fault he's too ill to work, so-"

"What makes you think that?"

"Huh?"

"What makes you think he's too ill to work?"

"Because he's not here right now? We were supposed to get another mission, but Iruka said he gave us the day off."

"Because that's what he told me! And he looked pretty sick when I saw him last."

"Which was?" Uzuki raises a purple eyebrow.

"Right before I met with Maya and Squad 7."

"Hmph." She sneers at us. I'm getting really sick of having shinobi look at me like that.

"Look, are you going to tell us or not? Because if you're not, we'll just go ask someone else." I huff, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring hard. To my surprise, the shinobi smirks.

"Kakashi said you were feisty. Alright then, but just you."

"I need to get back to the Academy anyway. See you around, Maya." Iruka waves as he walks away, and my stomach flutters. He's so sweet, I can't handle it.

"That's quite the little crush you've got there." Uzuki grins.

"What? Crush? Me? No, never!" I protest, waving my hands in dismissal. I need to stop lying before it becomes a habit. Uzuki snorts.

"Right, and I'm a cobra. I kind of get it, there's just something about-"

"Don't say teachers!" I cut in, cringing. I still remember clearly that news story about the schoolgirl running off to France with her 40-something maths teacher. I shudder at the thought. Creepy.

"... You're a strange one, aren't you?"

"I guess." I shrug. I don't think I'm especially strange, but this woman carries a sword - I'm certainly not going to correct her.

"Still, maybe that's why Kakashi likes you so much."

"Kakashi likes me?"

"Mm-hmm. He hasn't said so, but I can tell."

"What has he said?"

"Mostly that you're a nuisance, hotheaded, a little thoughtless."

"That really doesn't make it sound like he likes me at all."

"Maybe not to you, but I know him. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret - Kakashi doesn't waste his time on people who mean nothing to him. He wouldn't talk about you if he didn't care, even if he is mostly complaining." Uzuki smiles warmly down at me, and I feel my heart throb. No. No no no no no. That is not on, I will not have two crushes at once! That's just not fair! Well, there's only one way to get rid of a crush...

"So, Uzuki-san, is there anyone you like right now?" You crush it.

"Hm. I've got something better than that. I have a boyfriend." Success! It still sucks a little bit, but it's definitely been nipped in the bud. Now, how to get rid of my crush on Iruka...

"Oh? Who?" I ask eagerly.

"I'm not telling you that."

"Aw, come on!"

"No. And don't call me Uzuki-san. Just Yūgao is fine."

"Okay, Yūgao." Her name feels unfamiliar and awkward on my tongue, but I think I manage to mimic her pronunciation okay.

From then on we walk in easy silence, Yūgao leading the way to Kakashi's home.