It started like any other mission debrief at the Academy—Iruka standing at the front of the classroom, arms crossed, giving a stern talk to Naruto, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru for yet another hallway prank involving smoke bombs and a terrified visiting dignitary. But this time, something felt… different.

The real spark came after class.

"Hey, Sensei," Naruto had said casually, lounging on a desk with that usual toothy grin, "who was that in the picture on your desk? The one with you and someone else, kind of blurry?"

Iruka blinked. "That photo? It's old. Don't go snooping around my stuff, Naruto."

"So it was someone!" Kiba leaned in, eyebrows raised with mischievous energy. "Was it your girlfriend?"

Iruka sputtered, face going a bit red. "I—No. Not exactly. That was a long time ago."

Choji tilted his head. "You mean you used to be married?"

There was a moment of dead silence.

Iruka rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes. A long time ago. It didn’t work out. And that’s all I’m saying about it."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Wait. Back up. You mean to tell me you were married, like, married married—and none of us knew?!"

"It was before most of you were old enough to even know what marriage was!" Iruka barked. "Let it go."

But of course, Naruto Uzumaki never let things go.

Three hours later, in Naruto’s cramped apartment, a group had gathered like conspirators around a mess of ink-stained paper, half-eaten ramen cups, and a single torn photograph Naruto had stealthily swiped from Iruka’s desk.

"I'm telling you," Naruto said, gripping a pencil like a kunai, "Iruka-sensei has never looked at anyone the way he looked at them in that photo. We gotta get them back together!"

Shikamaru scratched his head. "But didn’t he say it didn’t work out? This is such a drag."

"People change!" Naruto shot back. "Besides, we’re ninja! Making impossible things happen is what we do."

Choji and Kiba exchanged skeptical glances, but ultimately shrugged. "We're in."

The letter was written, re-written, and then re-re-written thanks to Naruto’s handwriting being illegible. They finally settled on a warm but clumsy message signed by "Iruka’s favorite people" and attached it to a fast courier hawk.

The hawk was already in the sky by the time Iruka, sensing the sudden suspicious quiet in the village, burst into Naruto’s apartment.

He froze mid-step.

He saw the ink. The photo. The second ramen bowl with his handwriting on the side. He saw Naruto’s guilty grin.

"...What did you do?" Iruka asked, low and dangerous.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Uh… Sent a letter?"

"A what?!"

"To your ex. To invite them back. Y’know. For closure."

Iruka stared in horror as the hawk disappeared over the treetops.

"...Oh no."