Naruto Shippuden

Iruka…

What is it, Lord Hokage?

I know how you feel.

You grew up just like him… without a parent's love.

Huh? Who could it be at this hour?

Mizuki Sensei!

What's wrong?

Please come to Lord Hokage's office!

It seems Naruto pulled a prank and stole the Sacred Scroll!

What?!

It's been over half a day since the scroll was taken.

Find Naruto immediately!

Naruto!

Hurry! Give me the scroll now!

Mizuki's after the scroll!

Why…Naruto?

How did you know that I wasn't Iruka?

I'm Iruka…

He's a superior student that I acknowledge.

He perseveres and he's earnest,

but he's clumsy and no one accepts him.

He knows what human suffering is.

He is no longer the monster fox.

He's Hidden Leaf's—!

That was a dream?

The Message

THE THIRD HOKAGE Iruka Sensei, what's this all about?

THE THIRD HOKAGE Remember, you recorded me before?

Huh? Oh yeah…

– That boring message with no style or punch? – Naruto, Hinata…

Congratulations on your marriage.

C'mon, don't say that. Could you just use that one?

But you said you wanted to re-do it,

so I've been waiting around this whole time!

I'm sorry about that.

But the more I think about it,

the less sure I am about what to say to Naruto.

But you held out for so long,

so you should just make up your mind

and send him a cool, heartfelt message, okay?

You're the only one left!

I'm sorry. I'll treat to you a bowl of ramen next time,

so please forgive me!

Okay?

Hey! Tsukune, Sansho, Mibuna!

You were messing around with the Third Hokage's statue again, weren't you?!

NINJA ACADEMY

NINJA ACADEMY I can't believe it's almost next week…

Naruto's wedding.

Will you be making an official congratulatory speech?

Oh no… I think Lord Hokage will be taking care of that.

Iruka Sensei!

Oh, you're Ichiraku's—!

Is anything the matter?

You haven't been around at all lately.

Oh, I just wanted to hold off until I figured out

what to say for the message that Konohamaru asked me to do.

I have to practice some self-restraint.

So…Did you finish your message?

Well…uh…

I'll stop by again soon.

Please say hello to your dad.

What? That's easy!

Then can you jump to here?!

Oww!

I knew it.

Shut up!

I won't lose at fence-jumping though!

It's all thanks to you.

You acknowledged me back then.

That was the first time.

That's why, I am who I am today.

I was able to change.

Naruto expressed his feelings so directly.

What am I doing?

Oh man…

I really shouldn't do things I'm not used to!

Huh?

Yes?

Naruto!

H-Hey, Iruka Sensei…

W-What's wrong?

Nothing. It's…well…

I was thinking about you.

And I just stopped by to see if you were alive!

What the hell's that about?

You know, I'm gonna be getting married.

And you're still single and all,

so I was worried about you being alone.

I'm coming in!

Hey, wait! I'm in the middle of…

What happened?

Uh, just some stuff.

But what about you? What's going on?

Uh…well…

Oh yeah! R-Ramen!

Want to go get some ramen?

Ramen?

Actually, I'm making dinner right now.

Oh, that explains this crime scene right here.

Y-Yeah…

You really should hurry up and get married, Iruka Sensei!

Shut up!

What about you?

Are you sure you should be neglecting Hinata right now?

"Neglecting"?

We're not married yet, so don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it?

My single days are numbered!

I'm gonna have fun with everything I've got—

You fool!

Do you even have a clue about

how hard Hinata is working, preparing for your wedding?!

What's wrong, Iruka Sensei?

It seems there were a lot of things

I failed to teach you on how to be a human!

I take full responsibility!

Come with me!

I'm gonna knock some sense into you!

Huh?

Where are we going, Iruka Sensei?!

To Hinata's!

I'm going to apologize to her

for raising you into such a thoughtless man.

Please stop!

If Hinata's around, I won't be able to say

what I wanted to talk to you about!

What do you want to talk about?

T-That's why I thought we could have some ramen,

and you could have a drink or two…

and we could have an enjoyable conversation and

have some fun.

Enough.

I guess I didn't need to mull over

what to say and how to congratulate you.

I have a request…

A request?

Will you attend the ceremony as my father?

Naruto…?

Is that what you wanted to talk about?

You can leave it to me!

Iruka Sensei!

Thank you.

What are you talking about, Naruto?

I should be saying that. Thank you!

Cut it out.

See you later, Iruka Sensei!

Yeah!

ICHIRAKU

Good evening…

– Hey! – Oh…

– Welcome! – What's going on?

Something troublin' you again?

Huh? No…

I was just thinking about how glad I am I chose this profession.

I see.

So, what'll you have today?

Oh! A large miso char siu ramen topped with naruto fishcake.

One large miso char siu ramen!

Okay, one large-size miso char siu ramen coming right up!

Hinata!

Iruka Sensei?

How are the preparations going?

Just about all done.

Now, we just have to wait for the big day.

That's good.

Anyway, I… have something to tell you.

It's about the wedding ceremony…

You're going to attend as Naruto's father, aren't you?

Oh, you knew?

Yeah, of course you would!

Seems it was on Naruto's mind for a long time.

You're definitely Naruto's teacher, Iruka Sensei.

But he didn't want to consider your relationship

simply as a "student-teacher" or "mentor" relationship.

Huh?!

But I kind of feel like it shouldn't be coming

from the point of view of a teacher to his student.

Naruto was thinking the same thing as I was.

And so, his answer was to ask me to attend as his father.

Yes.

And so, please continue to support him, Father!