Title - Trust
Author - Jordgubbe
Pairing– Mizuki/Iruka and eventually Kakashi / Iruka
Notes – This is a work of fiction, which means that I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. This is placed in a slightly AU setting as Mizuki never tricked Naruto to steal the forbidden scroll. Instead he continued to work side by side with Iruka and a romance blossomed between the two men. The first chapter has been rewritten slightly so if you've read this before please do so again.
Warnings - This story deals with the subject of abusive relationships. If you're uncomfortable with the subject I suggest you stay away from this fanfiction.
Trust – Chapter one "Mistakes"Iruka stood facing the dirty mirror; a sigh escaping the dry lips. He shifted his gaze from the narrow bathroom stalls behind him and onto his scruffy appearance. His hair was as always tied into a tight knot onto the back of his head but it had lost its shine and smoothness a long time ago. He let his right hand travel up to his dark brown hair to pull out the red hair band. The hair fell loosely around his face, framing it with small curls at the ends.
It's gotten longer, he noted. Not really wanting to think about how he used to glow and seem so alive in whatever he did and how much of that happiness that had escaped him, he quickly averted his eyes from the mirror.
The door creaked open and a man with a rough looking face stepped inside. It was just not his face that seemed rough, the man was huge and made Iruka feel ill at ease. Not wanting to be a bother, Iruka hurriedly put back his hair in its usual hairdo and stepped away from the mirror. The man with the rough looking face nodded in his direction as to acknowledge Iruka's presence before slipping rather ungraciously into one of the narrow stalls. Seeing this as his cue he cast a vary glance in the direction of the occupied stall and stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
Suddenly a strong arm sneaked its way around his neck. "Iruka, my dear friend… What did you do in there?" Kotetzu motioned towards the bathroom with his free hand and Iruka could feel the alcohol on his breath. The putrid smell nearly made him gag where he stood. When Iruka had taken his escape to the men's room, Kotetzu had still been sober.
The other man wobbled unsteadily on his feet and pressed more of his body weight onto Iruka as he leaned in, his mouth exhaling right next to Iruka's ear slurring the next words that left his mouth. "The blond waitress is a fine hottie Iruka-boy. I swear I'd nail her anytime…"
A drunken wave in the direction of said person and Iruka had had enough. He started dragging Kotetzu back to their table and as they slipped into their seats, Izumo gave both of them a warm smile. It lingered on Kotetzu a bit longer than on Iruka. "I hope you don't mind but I ordered one more drink for you." Izumo turned his attention back to the kindhearted teacher and pushed a blue drink toward him. "Don't worry, it's all on me since I ordered it and all".
"Oh, thank you," Iruka said and made a show of sipping his drink as Izumo's piercing gaze studied him. Truth be told – Iruka didn't really want to drink any more alcohol. He had already had one drink before he went to the men's room and he had promised Mizuki not to drink any at all. He hated to break his promises but Izumo and Kotetzu had nagged calling him boring and prudish until he had finally ordered a drink for himself.
He took another sip as Kotetzu, to Izumo's dismay, started talking about the blond waitress whom was currently taking orders from the table next to theirs. He figured that one drink wouldn't do much harm, he had after all some pastilles with him to help cover up the smell, pastilles that he was sure to force down Kotetzu's throat before the evening was over. Which wouldn't be a hard task as Kotetzu had trouble sitting straight in the chair next to him.
Izumo fingered his drink slowly while casting a glance at Kotetzu, probably to make sure that he wasn't going to fall over. "Hey guys, what do you say about going to the movies sometime. It was a while ago, wasn't it?"
Kotetzu took a swig from his drink and stared rather cross-eyed at Izumo. "The movies?"
"Sounds like a wonderful idea but I don't think that there's anything good playing right now. Do you have a specific movie in mind?" Iruka tried to remember the last time he had checked the 'soon to come' poster outside the movie theater and he couldn't come up with any good suggestions.
"Yeah, actually I do. I can't remember the name but it's an action movie about a guy that has to protect the children of his village, only that he isn't a ninja but a farmer."
Kotetzu snorted into his drink and Iruka agreed with his drunken companion. The movie didn't seem so good but he wasn't going to say that to Izumo's face, not when he looked so animated.
"No. No way…" Kotetzu protested and Iruka sent a silent thanks to his friend.
"Humph. You have no sense when it comes to movies. What's so wrong with action movies? Huh?" Izumo glared from Iruka to Kotetzu as to dare them to say anything insulting.
"Nothing at all… Nothing is wrong with action movies its just that the farmer movie doesn't sound so good..." Iruka really didn't want to start a fight, especially not over something so silly as to what movie to watch.
"Oh, so that's it. You! You farmer racist!" Izumo glared daggers.
"What? No… There's nothing wrong with farmer's either-"
"Damn right there isn't".
Iruka was quite speechless and Kotetzu was hardly going to be of any help. "Izumo… What is it? I don't think you would get so agitated just because we have a different opinion in movies."
"You know… You're never around any longer, only spending time with that Mizuki," Izumo avoided Iruka's gaze. "And when you're finally spending time with us Mizuki always tags along. We can never be just alone with you. He's like… Overprotective."
"Yeah…" Kotetzu agreed where he sat, still sipping his drink but spilling quite a lot over himself as he did so. Neither Iruka nor Izumo moved to help him.
The brown-haired teacher could feel his cheeks burning. "Oh… Eh… You know I don't think that's right. We're out drinking now aren't we and Mizuki isn't around. Right? Yes?"
"Yeah well… It's the first time in months Iruka. Months. I'm telling you… It's not healthy."
"I really don't want to have this discussion right now" Or ever again… He silently thought. So what if Mizuki was a little overbearing sometimes? Everyone had his or her faults. No one was perfect although Mizuki came pretty close with his gorgeous soft hair and strong arms. "I'm getting another drink… Do you want one as well?" He desperately needed to change the subject before Izumo started yelling, like last time.
"Sure… Just don't get anything for Kotetzu." Izumo seemed to let the subject go and Iruka bustled to get the drinks before he could change his mind.
X
X
A few drinks and another bathroom visit later, Iruka found himself outside the door to his apartment. His hand slid from the handle to the keyhole, having far more trouble getting the key in. Imagine that it was so hard; he was never going to laugh at Kotetzu again. Missing with several centimeters and wobbling where he stood he figured he was as bad as his alcohol loving friend, or at least, he could be as bad as him. Sometimes.
As Izumo and Kotetzu lived on the other side of town Iruka had had to struggle home alone, barley managing to keep himself from falling over and he had earned himself a few worried glances from some civilians. Those impolite staring civilians wasn't around any longer after he had shouted obscenities at them, so there was no one around he could ask for help.
After a few tries he actually managed to get the key in and he gently pushed the door open. The messy hallway was the first thing he saw. A jacket lay on the floor on top of the shoes. It must have fallen down when I went out, he though to himself before bending over and picking it up. He almost tripped over his own feet as he did so but he needed to hang it up. Mizuki didn't like an unclean apartment. It was quiet, a little too quiet for Iruka's likening. He couldn't hear Mizuki's snores, which meant he wasn't there. Must have gotten home to his own apartment.
He stumbled into the living room after taking the shoes of which turned out to be harder than he though. Suddenly someone pushed him in the back, making him topple over. He fell to the floor before he could regain his balance, landing on his elbow rather hard. Turning towards his attacker he could see Mizuki standing before him with has arms crossed. A scowl was set upon his face and his eyes had gone cold, there was something terrifying about his posture that made Iruka cringe.
"What did you do that for?" Iruka slurred and glanced at him with watering eyes, his elbow stung and he clutched at it with his other hand.
"Are you stupid? I though we had planned to have dinner together so I went over here to your apartment only to find it empty. I waited here for you but you never showed up," Mizuki sneered and kicked the nearby sofa. "From the looks of it, you've been out drinking with your friends. Again I might add. Forgetting all about little old me. You're so fucking selfish you know that? You only think of yourself."
Iruka flinched and stared at the carpet not wanting to anger Mizuki further. "Was that today?" The words came out slurred and Iruka found it hard to think.
"Yes that was fucking today! We planned it together, I mean how stupid do you have to be to forget something like that?" The words stung.
"I'm sorry… but when Izumo called I though we could do something. Just the three of us since I have been spending a lot of time with you lately, I never see them anymore you know." He thought he had a valid explanation, Mizuki however didn't.
"So you'd rather spend time with your friends than me, is that it?" Mizuki bent down on his knees so that he was at the same eye level as Iruka. "Look at me when I fucking talk to you!" he roared.
"I'm sorry okay! It was stupid of me to go out with them, it won't happen again I promise…" His eyes started to sting and he just wanted to wipe the tears away before Mizuki saw them, before he saw how weak he was. He sniffled as he sat there. "Forgive me…?"
"Forgive you? Forgive you! After what you've done to me?"
Stricken with guilt Iruka started pleading and begging until Mizuki finally gave in.
"Iruka," He said softly, changing his expression, smiling brightly at the younger ninja. "I was so worried something had happened to you. I came home here and I couldn't find you, I swear I was so worried". Wrapping Iruka in his arms he cradled him while Iruka cried. Planting soft kissed on top of his head he continued, "I love you and I don't want to be mad at you but you just don't give me a choice, you understand that right?"
Iruka sniffed and nodded. "I'm sorry I'm stupid. It won't happen again I swear…"
An odd yet satisfied expression crossed Mizuki's features. "Iruka… Calm down honey, you know I love you."
"I love you too," Iruka answered meaning every word he said, letting himself be comforted by Mizuki. Mizuki always made things right again.
X
X
Iruka ended up sleeping on the sofa and when he woke the next morning his head throbbed painfully and he noticed that he had gotten a bruise on his elbow from last night. Mizuki lay in Iruka's bed, sleeping quietly, chest rising peacefully. He looked so stunning, wrapped in Iruka's bedding.
He stood there perplexed, watching his chest rise and fall a couple of times before he promised himself not to anger Mizuki any more. Mizuki was his all, loving him when no one else would. He was the only one who understood him and didn't judge for who he were.
Smiling to himself Iruka pulled the blue blanket higher up on Mizuki, tucking him in. He was careful not wake the other man up as he had quite the temper in the mornings. Mizuki stirred but he didn't wake up and Iruka hurried himself to do all his morning chores before walking to work.
The few people that he had greeted happily each morning as he went to work, never bothered to pay him any attention anymore and Iruka did his best to ignore them as they smiled at each other and held small hurriedly conversations.
Entering the schoolyard he could see Konohamaru sit with his lackeys in the playground, whispering excitedly to each other, probably up to no good as always.
"Iruka! Good to see you, how are you doing?" One of the other teachers called out to him, taking his mind of the three brats.
"I'm doing just fine thank you, and yourself?" It was only polite to answer when he was asked a direct question. Truth be told, he didn't feel fine. Drinking the night before work was never a good idea and his elbow was still sore after that fall.
"Ah, no problems here. Those little brats haven't gotten to me yet…" He laughed and waved before walking into his classroom.
Iruka was left feeling brushed of which was quite odd of him. He sighed and pushed his classroom door open, thinking there was no idea in dwelling about the past.
Summer vacation had just ended and the students were still lazy and maybe a little out of practice. There was no booby trap waiting for him today, no nasty surprise by the little children. They often did it to spite their teachers but Iruka enjoyed to disarm them. They students could practice their booby-trapping skills and Iruka could evaluate their progress. It worked out just fine. The classroom looked exactly as it did when he had left it. Some things never change, eh?
"Iruka!" Naruto leaned against the doorway, a huge smile plastered on his face. The years had been kind to Naruto; he had grown more confident and stronger.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Naruto was the last person Iruka had thought would turn up at his classroom again. Especially after all his efforts of escaping it. "Class will start in a minute…"
"Oh," the blond boy actually looked slightly hurt before he flashed Iruka a smile again. "I just wanted to see you before my mission. Won't be home for a couple of days, you know?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to snap, I've just been really stress-" Iruka felt bad. Naruto had just wanted to say goodbye and here he had been awful towards the boy. He really was stupid sometimes.
"It's all right… Hey, where did you get that mark from?" Naruto's eyes were focused on Iruka's elbow so the teacher knew immediately what he was talking about.
"I stumbled last night," no idea to lie to Naruto. He would only find out the truth anyway, but Iruka could disclose some information from him. "And hurt my elbow a little, but it's all right now."
"Stumbled? Ninjas don't stumble! Especially not you." Naruto crossed his arms and glared. Hard.
"If they are really tired they do, now don't you have to meet your team for that mission?" The brown haired teacher sighed.
"Oh right. Forgot about that. I'll be back later when I've busted those bastards asses!"
"Naruto, language."
"Yeah, yeah… Whatever." With that Naruto turned around and started walking out the door. "See you later Iruka!" And with that he was gone.
"I'll buy you ramen," Iruka said to an empty classroom letting his hands fall to his sides.
X
X
"Konohamaru!" Iruka yelled for what must have been the fifth time that day. "Sit down this instance and be quiet and Kouji, don't think I don't see you so stop putting gum in Megumi's hair."
"Yes sensei," the boys said in union before sinking down in their seats, Konohamaru whispering to his bench partner while Kouji crossed his arms and started pouting. Iruka sighed.
"Now turn to page 25 and read the-" A sudden knock on the classroom door interrupted Iruka and when the door swung open Iruka was ready to lash out at whoever walked in. He stopped dead in his track though when he saw the person. "Mizuki-sensei, how nice of you to join us…"
"Yo, Iruka. Aren't you going to end your class soon?"
The students cheered at that and Iruka knew Mizuki did that on purpose. The entire staff knew that Iruka had the wildest class, that including Mizuki. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't let his class go early since they weren't finished yet but that would mean crossing Mizuki. Crossing Mizuki would be a bad idea since he would get mad. But then again, loosing face in front of the students was also bad.
"Ah, how nice of you to remind me that I was going to let the students go early today. All right students! Read page 25 and answer the questions until next time. That will be your homework. That's all for today." Before he had finished speaking the classroom had gone empty except those two teachers.
"Now why did you let them go? You ruined my fun." Mizuki smirked and raised an eyebrow when Iruka glared at him. When Iruka didn't answer Mizuki continued, "Oh, by the way, we can't go out to that restaurant I told you about so you have to cook today."
"Why not?" Iruka had looked forward to the new restaurant and Mizuki had even promised to pay for the check.
"Eh, someone messed up the reservations." It was obviously a lie but Iruka didn't dare say anything aloud. "But there's no problem if you cook right? You like to cook don't you?"
"No there's no problem… But I have to go grocery shopping."
"All right then. I'll head home and you can go get the stuff you need. You have money on you don't you?" Mizuki stepped closer and gave Iruka a soft kiss on the cheek. "You smell good…"
"Mizuki get of" Iruka snapped and pushed at the silver haired man. They shouldn't be doing this at school. What if one of the teachers saw them? Or worse, what if a student did?
"Fine… I'll hold myself until you get home." And with that Mizuki turned and stalked out of the classroom, leaving Iruka to feel worse than he already did.
X
X
"How dare you," Mizuki growled. Mizuki slowly stood up and stalked towards Iruka. Two steps away he stopped and clenched his fists. Mizuki often did missions while Iruka only worked at the academy and the mission office, thus Mizuki being much more experience than Iruka in hand-to-hand combat. On top of that, Iruka was also out of practice. He didn't stand a chance.
Mizuki reached out and gave Iruka a hard slap across the face, which made the brown haired teacher take a step back. Mizuki lashed out again before Iruka could react, this time with a straight punch that hit Iruka directly on the left eye. It hurt so bad Iruka knew it was going to bruise.
"How dare you burn our dinner you stupid bitch," Mizuki growled before giving Iruka the finishing blow to the stomach. Iruka sank down on the floor, not caring if Mizuki hit him as long as other people couldn't tell. A punch to the face was visible for everyone to see while a punch toward his stomach or arms could be hidden behind his clothes.
"I'm sorry! Just don't hit me… Please it hurts," Mizuki liked it when he begged. Iruka took a deep breath before looking up at Mizuki. "Not the face Mizuki, not the face!" he screamed as Mizuki kicked out at him.
"Not the face eh? Why not? Think it's already ugly as it is with that scar you have? Or are you afraid that people are going to know that you're weak? That you are unable to defend yourself? You're the most pathetic excuse for a ninja I've ever seen," Mizuki laughed and spat at the sobbing heap on the floor.
"No…" Iruka moaned weakly from the floor even though he knew that he was. Mizuki was always right. Mizuki was the smart one, the strong one, and the one that always knew what to do. Frankly Iruka had wondered for a while what someone like Mizuki saw in Iruka.
Mizuki breathed hard while he studied Iruka on the floor. "Fuck, I hit your face." Mizuki let his fingers run through his hair while he though. "Let me see how it looks like." He reached out and Iruka flinched. "Hey baby, don't flinch. I'm not going to hurt you… I'm not mad anymore, all right? I've just gotta see the damage to your eye." This time Iruka let Mizuki touch him; he let Mizuki lift his head and he didn't flinch when Mizuki narrowed his eyes at the black eye. Although it took all his willpower not to do so.
"I'm sorry I burned dinner…"
"It's all right now. It's okay. Just sit still and I'll try and heal your eye for you. It will hurt a bit but it will be over real quick, okay?"
Mizuki was right. It stringed but Iruka sat still; he didn't dare to move again since it would probably upset Mizuki.
After Mizuki had healed his eye, he left the apartment to get himself something to eat while Iruka cleaned the burnt dinner away. Mizuki wasn't very skilled at medical jutsu so Iruka still had a black eye, but a very faint one. If he applied some foundation on it the bruise was hardly noticeable. If he could get away with just a few punches and a hungry stomach that was just fine. Mizuki was going to be in a better mood when he got home anyway.
The phone rang and Iruka jumped. Feeling silly about his nerves he hurried to the living room and answered with a small voice.
"Hey, Iruka is that you? You sound strange, is everything all right?"
"Hey Izumo, yeah, every thing's just fine. I uh… am starting to get a cold. Yeah, a cold. Feeling a bit funny in the throat." Iruka could feel his eyes start to water. What of Izumo knew? Would he still be friends with Iruka if he knew what a weak person he was?
"A cold, eh? All right listen… Me and Kotetzu are heading out for a short mission and I was wondering if you could water my plants?"
"You want me to water your plants? All right, I can do that…." Iruka let out a breath as he sank down on the sofa.
That was a pause on the other side of the line. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Iruka threw in a fake cough just for good measures.
"Cold doesn't sound fine. I'll call Aoba instead and ask him to take care of the plants. You just rest…"
"Oh, okay." It was funny that Iruka was the one feeling hurt when it was he who had lied.
"You just rest and promise to drink lots of water? I have to go now. Bye!"
"Promise, bye." The line broke but Iruka sat on the sofa with the phone against his ear for several minutes before he moved again.
X
X
Naruto strolled towards Sasuke, balancing the wood he had found in his arms. Kakashi sensei had told him to gather some for the fire. The mission had been a success and team 7 was on their way back to Konoha, however, Kakashi had agreed to take a quick brake so that they could get something to eat. Naruto glared at Sasuke as he walked up to him, the stupid raven just had to show of in front of Sakura, making the pink haired beauty admire him even more than before.
"Such a showoff," he murmured to himself.
"What was that? You know talking to yourself is the first step towards insanity…" Sasuke retorted. Smirking where he sat on the ground.
"Boys, knock it off" Kakashi told them as he rummaged through his own bag, obviously looking for something. He was sitting on his heels a few meters away from them; his back turned towards the boys.
"Here's the wood," Naruto said to Sasuke when he gave him the wood. An awkward moment followed where none of the boys said anything. "So… wanna train some when we get back?"
"I'm going to train yes. Not with you though."
"Bastard."
"What did I just say? Knock it of."
It was going to be one of those days today. Naruto took his backpack and moved to a place where he could sit in the shadow but still see the whole 'camp' of theirs. The grass felt soft under his fingers and he let his mind wander. He had been worried lately, not just that Sakura seemed to like Sasuke even more lately but Iruka-sensei was also acting weird.
What if some strong ninja was giving him trouble? It would explain the strange bruises. Naruto knew that Iruka was just an academy teacher and that there were a lot of stronger ninjas in the village. But who would want to hurt Iruka? It just didn't make any sense. And why didn't he just go to the Hokage for help? Maybe someone was blackmailing him?
"Kakashi-sensei, I need to talk to you!" He called out, drawing the other attention to himself as well. Both Sakura and Sasuke looked up from what they were doing and Kakashi visibly sighed. Their leader grabbed his backpack and moved towards Naruto.
"I hope it's important kiddo," he shouted back.
"I think so yeah…" Naruto answered wanting neither Sasuke nor Sakura to know about the whole ordeal. Kakashi, not knowing what to make out of that answer just walked the rest of the bit to Naruto in silence.
"Okay, what's up?"
"It's about Iruka-sensei…"
"What about him?"
"He's been acting strange lately and yesterday he had this bruise on his elbow, he said he got it when he stumbled. I mean what?! A ninja doesn't stumble… and it's not the first time either that he has had these strange bruises and-"
"Okay, okay… Calm down," Kakashi motioned towards Naruto. "You're saying someone might be hurting him?"
"I think so yeah, he doesn't say anything but it's obvious that something must be wrong."
"I'll look into it when we get back to Konoha, okay?"
"Really? Thanks… Knew I could trust you." Naruto beamed at Kakashi before rushing of to get his food from Sasuke, leaving Kakashi pondering to himself.