AN: This is IT . The last in the Strange semi mathematic thingy series.
Mizu/Iru, Iru/Kaka, Kaka/Iru, slight Iru/Mizu.
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I smirk.
"I know you're there…Kakashi. Is that your name?"
The ninja outside says nothing.
"He used to talk about you, you know."
I can feel his emotions, radiating off him like cold from an iceberg.
I decide to twist the dagger.
"All the time. It was annoying really."
I pause.
But not too long, I cannot let him think he has won.
"Pathetic, how much he loved you."
His chakra flares, a great wind sweeping across a field.
I can feel my grin become something feral.
"Why you?"
It's the first thing he's said in the two hours he's been standing outside my door.
I chuckle and the white swallows it, as it swallows everything.
Everything but those tanned fingers, and these pointed words.
"Because a Dolphin cannot live without Water!"
I can feel his confusion from here, and I laugh.
He will never understand.
Never.
&&&
Mizuki was important. He was the only one before, who had cared about what happened to Iruka. The Chunnin sighed and slumped at his desk. Why was Kakashi being so difficult? He pinched the bridge of his nose and forced himself to think like his…lover. Ex-lover? He shook his head.
"Focus Iruka!" What had the Jounin said that would give him some insight into that Enigma's brain?
Am I so boring that you need to see a psychopath!
Jealousy. He could see that, but why be jealous? Surely he knew Iruka never spent much time in the ward, no more than an hour at most. Why would he ask if the younger man found him boring? Surely he knew that wasn't true.
You're never happy when you leave there, why go?
Ah, there was a key phrase. "Why go". He paused for a moment, in thought; unfocused eyes staring at the rows of empty desks. Why DID he go? Yes Mizuki was his friend, but even he could see that the man's mind was deteriorating. His words had become increasingly cryptic, and according to the guards his delusional periods were coming more frequently.
So…Why go?
"Because…I feel…" Obligated? Yes…Just like Kakashi felt obligated to pray at the stone memorial every morning, so Iruka felt compelled to visit Mizuki.
He managed a weak smile.
So they had something in common after all. Now if only he could explain this to Kakashi, if he could apologize and take back those things he'd said earlier…but…the masked nin had said some hurtful things as well. Iruka could forgive them, but only if asked for that forgiveness. He growled and banged his fist on the desk
Why did Kakashi have to be so difficult!
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Kakashi is…frustrated.
Who is this man?
How does he know Iruka?
What gives him the right to claim what is Kakashi's?
Why does Iruka need him?
Questions to which the answers, or lack thereof, bring him no comfort.
"You almost had him you know."
The voice is conversational almost.
"If you hadn't fought with him he'd probably have stopped seeing me in another few months."
He remains silent.
Waiting.
Listening.
A smile infuses the tone.
"I know you're there…Kakashi. Is that your name?"
Kakashi knows it is a trap, he will not speak.
"He used to talk about you, you know."
Anger forms a cold ball in his stomach.
"All the time. It was annoying really."
Lips pull back from teeth, the snarl concealed behind a black mask.
"Pathetic, how much he loved you."
The snarl vanishes, and Kakashi is left defenseless.
Iruka…loved him.
Loved?
Would he love him still?
But he HAD to know…
"Why you?"
"Because a Dolphin cannot live without Water!"
There is definite mirth in the tone, the slightly ragged humor of the insane.
The Copy-cat ninja leaves before the laughter starts.
He will get no answers from that man.
Kakashi is…confused.
What does he mean, Iruka cannot live without him?
Is there a Jutsu involved?
Did Mizuki do something?
Why does Iruka visit him?
He's asked that question before, and gotten no satisfactory answer
Kakashi is…determined.
He will go to Iruka.
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Brown hair splays across the wooden desk, the ponytail unraveling.
Tear tracks glisten in the moonlight, and the man watching feels guilty and ashamed.
A pale hand gently touches a shoulder.
Brown eyes snap open.
They meet red and blue.
A question.
"Why?"
An answer.
"Because, he cared."
A silence.
Silver glints as the taller man moves to the window.
"I…I'm sorry."
The words, though sincere, are clipped.
But they are understood, and accepted.
"Me too."
Another silence, this one, an affirmation.
The reconnecting of a precious bond, but it is fragile.
"Will you stop seeing him?"
The air freezes.
For a moment the watcher fears he has gone too far.
The shorter man bites his lip.
"Someday."
And that distant promise is enough.
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And that's the END! No MORE! There is NO MORE! sighs I really need to get my ass in gear on Parallels.