Work Text:
A brief warm spell had allowed the snow covering Konoha to melt slightly, replacing inches of white with slush and black ice; today, it was sleeting steadily. Some teachers kept their students inside: Iruka took advantage of the poor weather to give his students weapons practice under less-than-ideal conditions. After all, not all of their battles would take place on dry, sunny days. Mizuki had called Iruka crazy, the first time he'd done this. You're taking a bunch of the brats outside and letting them throw shuriken with numb fingers? Do you have a death-wish? It wasn't something he did with his younger students, because there was training, and there was being just plain stupid - but this class would be taking the graduation exam in just a couple of months.
Of course, Konohamaru volunteered to try first, practically jumping up and down in his excitement. Iruka looked past him and called a calmer student from the middle of the crowd, instructing her to take her mittens off before he handed her a practice shuriken.
"It's all right, Shina-chan. You throw it just like you normally would." She smiled tentatively (Shina was one of the better marksmen in his class, though not very confident) and aimed for the target. The shuriken flew straight, but hit the next-to-outer ring of the target. She frowned, and he put a hand on her shoulder.
"It's more difficult in the cold: this is why we practice. That was well done." She nodded, face smoothing out, and went to stand back with the other students.
"All right, everyone pay attention. We'll be doing this two at a time, throwing just like Shina-chan did, so line up in front of the first and third targets. Keep your gloves or mittens on until I call you forward: you want your hands to be as warm as possible when you throw, right?"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei!" they chorused. He noticed that several were clearly not paying attention (Konohamaru and his friends, unsurprisingly, among them) and made a note to pay particular attention during their turns. The first two students stepped up, took off their gloves, and took a shuriken from him with shivering fingers. The targets were clearly visible, but the sleet was unending, soaking into collars and through jackets, gloves, even shoes.
The first couple of pairs of students tossed their shuriken without incident; one of the fourth pair (whose gloves had been off for longer than necessary, Iruka knew) cut his fingers on the edge of the shuriken while letting go. Iruka patched his finger up before letting the next two step forward. Konohamaru and Udon were the next pair to go up, laughing and chattering as they jostled forward to take their places before the targets. Udon tripped, and while Iruka was distracted, Konohamaru started spinning his arm like a windmill, running forward toward the target.
He landed on a patch of black ice, and slipped backwards, shuriken spinning backwards out of his hand, straight for Moegi, standing behind him in line. Iruka jumped between her and the weapon, picking her up and rolling, taking the shuriken just below his right shoulder-blade. As a practice shuriken, it wasn't as sharp as it could be, but he still felt the tip of it pierce one of the seams of his vest and slice into his skin.
Moegi shrieked, and Konohamaru scrambled up from the ice to see Iruka setting her back on her feet, and then reaching back and pulling the shuriken from his shoulder.
"Iruka-sensei!" he cried, running forward and almost slipping again in his rush, sliding to a halt, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
Iruka handed him the shuriken again, noticing the way Konohamaru's eyes widened at the blood on one of its points, took him by the shoulders, and turned him to face the target again.
"Let's try that again. And this time, Konohamaru, don't wind up to it like you're pitching - just throw it as you've been taught, all right?" Konohamaru nodded, and this time the shuriken flew straight for the target.
The rest of the class was a little bit more subdued as they practiced, and once everyone had thrown twice - very few of them did better on the second try, but one or two seemed to have adjusted well. After the headed back inside, Iruka took the chance to slip away while the students ate lunch, and slapped a plaster on his shoulder - it wasn't a deep cut, but it would bleed if he didn't.
The second half of the day was classroom lessons on theory and history and the Shinobi Code. His students were quieter and more attentive than usual, as they always were when a minor training mishap reminded them that what they were learning was dangerous, and people could and would get hurt. He finished the day up by asking them all to think hard and tell him tomorrow why grown-up ninjas didn't fall down on the ice, no matter how slippery it was: if he was lucky, several of them would be curious, and he could start them on chakra moulding early. He straightened the classroom, pulled together today's written assignment to be graded, and headed home.
When Iruka got to his apartment, Kakashi was stretched out on his couch, reading. He smiled, closing the door behind him and stamping his feet to get the slush off, before taking off his shoes and setting them to dry by the door.
"Let me guess," he said, "my couch is more comfortable than yours?" Kakashi looked up and smiled, eye crinkling in amusement.
"No, but your apartment is warmer," he replied, setting down his book. Even after nearly a year, Iruka still felt a faint buzz of pleasure at that simple gesture.
"Of course it is," he replied, unzipping his vest and pulling it off. He stretched his arms out in front of him and winced slightly when his shoulder reminded him: shuriken! ow!
"What did they do this time?" Kakashi asked, getting up to pull aside the neck of Iruka's shirt and peel off the plaster, looking at the cut for a moment. "Hmm. Shuriken practice?"
"In the sleet," Iruka confirmed. "They have to learn sometime." He headed for his bathroom for antiseptic and some kind of bandage, Kakashi trailing behind him. "It's not so bad, really. Most of them hit the target both times, even after their fingers had gone numb."
Kakashi snorted, and seeing that Iruka could reach his shoulder without help, padded back to the couch, and picked his book up again. When Iruka emerged, he was curled up in the middle of the couch, and patted the cushion next to him invitingly. Iruka smiled, and joined him, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"Do you think it's too early to start them on chakra moulding?" he mused, thinking out loud. "It's not on the curriculum for pre-genin, but it could be useful."
Kakashi shifted next to him, and Iruka felt his arm lifted as Kakashi put his head in Iruka's lap. Iruka put one hand on his head and ran his fingers through Kakashi's hair. It had surprised him at first, but by now it was habitual, and he'd begun to find it comforting, hearing Kakashi breathe as they sat together and he carded his fingers through Kakashi's completely impossible hair.
"Yes, but do you really want them climbing the walls?" Kakashi asked. "They're bad enough already."
Iruka hmm'd, imagining some of the things his class could get up to if not restricted by gravity.
"Some of them could do it, maybe, especially this close to the graduation exam." Kakashi continued. "But you'd want to do it on water, instead of running up walls or trees: there's less chance of injury with a large group, that way."
"And the might not immediately realize they can walk on the ceiling, too, you mean." Iruka said. "I might try it, as soon as the water's not cold enough to send them all screaming home."
In a few minutes, Iruka knew, he would have to get up and start grading, and later one of them would probably start dinner, but for now he stayed put, listening to the sleet patter on the roof and windows.