Genre: Romance
Characters: Kakashi x Iruka
Rating: M (for later chapters)
Comments/ Summary: A mission pushes Kakashi past his limits, will Iruka's love be enough to pull him back.
WARNING: boy x boy
Disclaimer: I do not own in any way these character nor do I profit from these fleeting fancies. All rights belong to the original creator and whomever else the law says.
Past Limits
The academy teacher had been sitting alone in the cherry tree grove, just outside the high walls of Konoha, since early afternoon. Now the rays of the setting sun dyed the small clearing deep shades of red and orange, so bright that it burned through his closed eyelids, lighting the darkness of his meditation. A cool evening breeze swept through his hair, let loose from its usual tie to hang down just past his shoulders, dark and unruly. The young shinobi sat crossed-legged against one of the older trees in the grove, tanned hands resting on his knees, head resting against the tree, just comfortable enough for meditation but not enough that his weary body would slip off into sleep. Carefully laid out within easy reach were his kunai holster and hip pouch, his chuunin vest hung on a low branch because even so close to the village one could never be too careful, and any ninja that wanted to live a decently long life couldn't help but have a healthy dose of paranoia. Even though the man was the picture of tranquil meditation, inside he was complete turmoil.
Worry overrode every thought and emotion the young teacher had, anxiety that this would be the time that his lover would not return, and fear that something had gone terribly wrong on the long overdo mission. So overdo, in fact, that rumors of him being declared a missing nin were spreading through the village, rumors the young shinobi adamantly denied, no one was more dedicated and faithful to the village than his lover was. Another rumor spread through the village as people started to notice how long had passed, a rumor he just as adamantly denied when it reached his ears, that the great Copy Nin of Konoha had finally been beaten and there would be no homecoming from this mission. But for all of his denial of this rumor, he could not help but hear the whispers and wonder if maybe they were right; for no ninja no matter how strong or how legendary was perfect or immortal.
And so he had begun to work, tutoring students after class, taking extra shifts at the mission desk, anything that would keep his mind busy. He worked himself until he could barely drag his weary body to his empty lonely home and collapse into his equally lonely bed. He kept his mind so weary from work that when he slept it was a dreamless void, no nightmares of a dead lover. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to long absences and worried nights, after all when one was dating Sharingan Hatake Kakashi, one had to get used to the fact that the village would use him as he was needed which was often and almost always for the most dangerous and most sensitive of missions. But it was bad when other shinobi, besides those closest to Kakashi, started to take notice of his long absence, and worse yet when common villagers noted the reclusive man's disappearance.
Iruka opened his eyes and watched as a lazy breeze carried small pink blossoms around him: this just wasn't working. He knew that he never should have turned down that shift at the mission desk, but Sandaime-sama had really wanted him to take an afternoon off to try to relax a bit. He closed his eyes, once more determined to take one more shot at the mediation technique Mizuki had taught him.
It hit him suddenly, right when he was finally getting into the exercise, a wave of raw wild violent intent emanating from north of the grove. It was difficult to keep from immediately grabbing his nearest weapon but he knew he needed to remain calm and work out a plan before the strange shinobi reached where he was. Whoever it was, was powerful; it was obvious from the chakra pattern but the ninja had no more control then one of Iruka's students. The lack of control only put Iruka more on edge, it made this stranger unpredictable and thus more dangerous. There was a nagging familiarity to the chakra signature, but no one he knew would ever let their intent run so wild. He wasn't far from Konoha, he needed to get back and alert the guards. Calmly, as if nothing was going on, he got up and gathered his things, concealing his chakra so if he hadn't already been detected he might avoid it. This stranger was more powerful than he thought he could face. Just as he was turning to go, a flash of white and red from the edge of the grove caught his eye and a nauseating wave of intent rolled over him again, he had been spotted. It took every bit of his training to act as if he hadn't noticed the other ninja. Iruka strained to see who his potential attacker was, but all he could make out through the trees was a red and white mask, a mask that made his heart stop for a second. He easily recognized the ANBU mask of the Hound, the very mask his lover wore. Walking through the grove towards Konoha, the young sensei tried not to think the worst: it couldn't possible have been Kakashi's mask, it must be a trick of some kind. Movement brought him out of his thoughts, a flash of that mask again and a shock of silver hair stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Kakashi," the whispered word slipped from his lips unbidden. He took a step forward towards the other ninja before flares of wild blue chakra stopped him again. " Kakashi, it's you, isn't it?"
TBC...