Disclaimer: i do not own naruto as usual! ( i wish i did...jk

written by me, Rem hex

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Just as Kakashi had done many nights before, he closed his eyes as he leaned against the trunk of an enchanted tree. Feeling the wind pass him by he listened to their mournful howls and without fail he felt the Chuunin's presence. The Chuunin was never far off.

At the same time each night the Chuunin would follow the same path through the darkened streets towards the alleyways making his way swiftly to the memorial sight where his parents names were carved, heroes they were, leaving him behind in a troubled village where the presence of sorrow, anger and pain lingered even after many years. Most importantly those feelings still existed for one man, a man who lived in the heart of the village, the man he saw standing before him now in darkness, covered by a blanket of shadows. Umino Iruka.

The man had always seemed cheerful when amongst his Genin students and colleagues but the silver haired Jounin knew more than the average person. He knew that Iruka was far from content since he watched the man from his window, back against the outside walls of the Chuunin's compound, neck slightly craned forward just to catch a glimpse of the Chuunin.

For instance, he knew that at the stroke of midnight Iruka would stir restlessly in his bed, calling out the name of his parents and as the night went on he'd become more disturbed. With blankets wrapped around him, almost suffocating him he'd lay sprawled on his bed, then rolling around the brunette would claw the air before him calling his parents names with ragged breaths at first that soon turned into screams. Flinching Kakashi on so many occasions felt the urge to wake the man from his nightmare but didn't want to enter the Chuunin's house without permission. And as rude as he seemed to be he still had manners when it came to certain things, such as this. He did not want to be labeled and an 'intruder.' Not at a moment like this for he understood the word 'privacy.'

The truth was Kakashi was curious by nature. Sometimes the things that intrigued him became his life-time obsession, such as attaining the Sharingan eye and thanks to a certain person he had that now. Currently though, he had this need...this need to satisfy his hunger to know more about the Chuunin and to understand the man behind the mask. After all no one could be that cheerful 24/7, not even a genius such as himself could pull it off; everyone had their darker side, even him the question was, did Iruka have one too?

Feeling lethargic and unable to keep his head erect he opened a lazy eye, tilting his head to rest it against the trunk of the enchanted tree. Kakashi was also deprived of sleep and he felt it was all catching up to him now. I bet I could sleep standing he mused, a slight smile appearing on his lips but hidden by the mask he wore, I bet I could do that and you wouldn't even know I was here he thought. The Chuunin had never been good at detecting another's presence, let alone his. There had been so many times where Kakashi had followed the man hiding behind trees, people and buildings; he even hid amongst the shadows up to five feet away from the brunette but nothing seemed to break the man's stride or determination to get home and mark a few papers before going to bed.

I think what's really giving you the nightmares is the ghastly test and exam papers you take home with you, and what's giving me such awful dreams is the sight of you marking those papers for such long hours. It could give any man nightmares! Shuddering at the thought he was brought back to the cold and lonely nights where he'd wake up to the sound of voices calling his name. They were voices of his enemies haunting him. Too many nights he'd hear them whispering nothing in particular, causing his sensitive ears to twitch. Too many nights when he'd see bloody images of them calling to him with open arms, 'come join us,' they'd laugh, 'you don't deserve such a peaceful life after all you've done. Suffer with us Hatake Kakashi.' They'd even taunt him by distorting their features, 'copy this!' They'd mock as their heads became enlarged, crimson tears flowing from their eyes, the sticky liquid also making its way down their nose and lips. Such vengeful creatures they were, now they were trying to break him after all these years of being dormant in the back of his mind...for so long. And so it seemed they finally found a time that was right, they were trying to make him go insane after the torturous death he gave them.

Too many nights...too many that I can't keep count anymore, he moaned. Nowadays he spent his waking life wondering whether he was dreaming for the reality of his life and the horrible images in his dreams merged becoming one and the same and yet they weren't. He was confused. He was tired of being confused, but nothing compared to the façade of Umino Iruka, always smiling in times of great distress, always acting the opposite of how he felt, always suppressing his emotions and locking it away in a place deep inside. It was interesting how people dealt with things differently, Kakashi on the other hand would let his emotions show, but it'd show itself in his visible eye which tended to be engrossed in his perverted book. The reason for it was so people couldn't catch the thoughts or what have he had flowing freely in his mind.

In some ways more than not, he was like an open book and Iruka was not.

TBC

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