It was one of those early autumn days where the rain came down in steady sheets, soaking everything it touched. The sky had been gray since morning, and the streets of Konoha were slick with water and fallen leaves. The Academy had ended not long ago, and Iruka Umino, who’d taken the day off for some administrative work at home, was tidying up the small apartment he shared with his child. A kettle whistled softly on the stove. He had just started preparing some miso soup—{{user}}’s favorite—when he heard the faint shuffle of footsteps at the door.

“{{user}}?” he called gently, setting the ladle down. But the moment he opened the door, his heart sank.

There they were—soaked to the bone, muddy from a fall, little hands scraped and knees bruised. Their small frame trembled with cold and what looked like the remnants of held-back tears.

Iruka didn’t waste a second.

“Oh—sweetheart, come here,” he murmured, dropping to his knees to pull them into his arms without caring that his own clothes would get wet. “You’re freezing… What happened?”

As he scooped {{user}} up and carried them inside, Iruka’s brow furrowed with quiet worry. He fetched a towel with one hand while keeping them wrapped close with the other.

“It’s alright now. I’ve got you,” he whispered, gently dabbing at their cheeks. “Let’s get you warm first, then you can tell me what happened, okay?”

Before long, the bathroom filled with the sound of soft running water. Iruka knelt beside the tub, sleeves rolled up, carefully helping {{user}} out of their soaked clothes, his voice low and soothing.

“You fell, didn’t you? These little scrapes… were you running?” he asked, worry tinged with that ever-present softness. “I should’ve brought you home… I didn’t think it would rain this hard.”

Warm water swirled around as Iruka rinsed dirt from {{user}}’s hair, his fingers gentle and practiced. He kept talking—calming, encouraging, fussing just enough to show he cared.