Hello darlings!

Just because you need to know, I'm typing with a bruised hand right now. What can I say, I'm a talented person.

Anyway, pretty much every review last chapter (Thank you sssooo much for those) had one line along the lines of 'can't wait to see how Kashi gets rid of Aina'. In one part I was happy as everyone seems to like the idea, in another part, I flinched every time those words were said, because I already knew what was going to happen to her (I'm such a horrible person)

Now that I've made you curious, enjoy the chap

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"Kakashi!"

Kakashi paused in his examination of an orange and turned, a smile tilting his lips under the mask when he saw Iruka jogging toward him.

He lifted a hand in greeting while enjoying the sight of the younger man in his running gear, small loose shorts and a muscle shirt. It was a drool worthy sight indeed.

"Hey Ruka, what's up"

Iruka grinned as he stopped beside him. "Oh, just fleeing for my life."

Kakashi raised a brow. "Oh?"

Iruka's grin turned sheepish as he scratched at the back of his neck. "Ya, todays my day off and Aina started talking about spring cleaning over breakfast, at which I took my cue to, quite literally, run"

Kakashi cocked his brow a bit higher. "Spring cleaning? But you place is perfectly fine. Not spotless maybe, but not in need of spring cleaning"

Iruka shook his head. "Not my place, her's"

Ah, the two story monstrosity, he understood now. And with Iruka being the ninja Aina would probably dump all the heavy lifting, and up high difficult jobs on her boyfriend. No wonder Iruka actually ran from her.

"Wonderful way to spend your first day off in two months"

Iruka chuckled. "I know right? Oh – umm" the scarred face had fallen into a frown as Iruka worried his bottom lip. Kakashi both loved and hated it when he did that, because it made him desperately want to grab Iruka and replace the biting teeth with his tongue.

Tearing his gaze away from the tempting sight Kakashi tilted his head slightly in question, watching as Iruka sighed and smiled sadly.

"I'm really sorry about dinner the other day, I have no idea why Aina was acting like that, but it was mean and unfair. It kinda ruined the whole point of having you over and made me a horrible friend, I hope you know I really do care and am really sorry"

Kakashi felt a bubble of anger, though not at Iruka. He already knew the younger man felt bad about it and now Iruka was trying to make it his fault. Shaking his head Kakashi reached out and laid a hand on Iruka arm, hoping desperately the act looked like a friendly, reassuring gesture rather than the quickly changed thought to grab Iruka's hand (the fact he got to touch the smooth bare skin was also a plus. Kami he needed help)

"Don't worry about that, Ruka" Kakashi inwardly cheered that his nick-name had gone unprotested twice in a row. "So Aina was being a little bitchy, it's not your fault. Maybe it was her time of the month or something"

Kakashi inwardly smirked when his two mild insults of Iruka's girlfriend went by with only a brow raise in acknowledgment. Iruka shook his head, a small bemused smile on his lips before he sighed. "You better hope no female was in hearing range for that last comment, or they'll roast your balls on stick"

Kakashi bit back a snicker at the quote of Tsume's favorite threat to the male members of her teams. Iruka's grin was back at the reaction, the tension in the slender shoulders draining away in relief.

"Well, since I'm in hiding and have the day off, can I help you with anything?"

Kakashi grin, while inwardly doing a happy dance. Iruka had just offered to spend his day off together, with no Aina in sight! That was a definite score in Kakashi's book. "Well, my house is due for cleaning…"

Iruka snorted. "Ya, about sixteen years overdue. Like you actually want to clean your pig sty of an apartment"

Kakashi chuckled as he picked back up the orange he'd been examining before. "Caught me there. I was actually restocking. I washed the pack the other day and had to bribe them into good behavior, essentially cleaning myself out of everything eatable."

Iruka laughed at that as he snagged one of Kakashi shopping bags. "Well, I'll go get your veggies, then maybe I can treat you to lunch at your place?"

Kakashi grinned. "Sounds great"

Iruka nodded once before heading over to the vegetable stand to pick out Kakashi's standard fair. Kakashi couldn't imagine how this day could get better, not only was Iruka going to hang out with him all day but they were going to his place, where Aina would never find them. He had to play this right, if he did, he could make so much headway with Iruka, Aina would be out on her ass faster than Sakura could change personalities.

This happy thought stayed with him right up to the point the world exploded.

Kakashi heard the whistled of the first blast seconds before it landed and exploded in a fury of fire and rubble. There were screams as people dove for cover, carts and merchandise – both eatable and not – flying every which way as the earth shook.

A sharp piercing whistle beckoned the coming of the second bomb. Kakashi looked up in time to glimpse at the chakra molding before it struck ground, causing the wold to rumble again. He recognized the justu as a Stone tactic, but it had been modified with something from Mist. Since the Hidden Villages were at peace this was either a break in the treaty or – more likely – a band of over cocky Missing Nin showing off.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi looked up from the barrow he'd wedged himself into along with a few of the venders to see Iruka crawling toward him. The chuunin was covered in dirt and had blood dripping from cuts on his cheek and legs but other ways seemed fine. He was dragging a green emergency pack behind him that Kakashi recognized as Iruka's back up. The younger man could summon the bag where ever he was with barely any chakra.

The bag was full of weapons, exploding tags, trap wire and explosive powder – every trickster and trap master's funfair – as well as medical supplies and a day's ration. It truly was a brilliant invention of Iruka's and was perfect for a time like this, when Iruka had been mostly unarmed.

"Showing off or actual attack?" Iruka yelled the words as he moved closer, staying on the ground in case of more explosions.

"Missing Nin show off is my guess" Kakashi answered back as he pulled Iruka into the hole with him. It was squished, but none of the venders seemed put out over making more room for another Nin.

Quickly Iruka pulled open the pack, grabbed a handful of tags, kauri and a long dagger and tossed them to Kakashi. The Jounin nodded thanks as he pocketed the gear before taking a roll of bandages and some powder capsules. He of course had his usual store of casual gear on, just as he knew Iruka would have been running with some tags and at least one small blade on him, but the extra gear was always wanted.

"What's the move?"

The return of the sharp whistling stopped Kakashi from answering Iruka as both nin turned to watch helplessly as another bomb hurtled toward the far side of the village. It was bigger than the other two and they felt the impact all the way from their location

"That was the Civilian Quarter"

Kakashi was startled when he realized Iruka was right. The biggest hit had indeed landed in the Civilian Quarter. The clinched it, this was definitely Missing Nin. If it was an army the first move would have been to take out the Hokage Tower and as many shinobi as possible. Aiming for the innocent villagers was a heartless cold thing to do, but a waste of ammunition and chakra and only served to piss off the oncoming army of ninja.

Quickly Kakashi made a decision. "Iruka, you start getting all these people out of here and to the shelters, then head to the school or anywhere else you might think needs help with evacuations"

The chuunin nodded and shouldered his pack as the people in the hole started to move toward him. "What about you?" Iruka shot a worried look at Kakashi as he gathered a small child from one of the mothers into his arms.

"I'll head over to the Civilian Quarter, they probably need help there"

Iruka nodded once more as he grabbed the hand of another child gently. "Stay safe, I still owe you lunch"

Kakashi grinned in response as he dashed from cover, hearing Iruka's steady yells of instruction disappear behind him. Curls of smoke filled his vision and the yells of fleeing people rang in his ears as he ran for the far side of the village, sprinting and leaping over piles of rubble in his way.

He knew the instant he entered the south side of the village, mostly because it was unrecognizable. The neat little rows of houses that had made up the civilian side of town were gone. The ground was cracked and torn up; huge gapping crevasses had spilt open everywhere and swallowed everything that had stood on or near them. In some places the earth had caved inward, lifting huge ragged chunks of terrain into the air.

It was a disaster zone, one caused by an extremely powerful earth justu. Kakashi considered turning and heading for the woods were the Nin responsible undoubtedly waited, when an ANBU flare rocked into the air, exploding in a flurry of sparks.

ANBU chakra flares were unique and no village could copy another squad's flare exactly. After years in the Black Ops Kakashi could read flares as well as if they were writing, and the flare for success was particularly easy. The nin must have used all their power on causing chaos, though Kakashi figured it was the only reason they'd attacked in the first place.

To cause chaos and have some 'fun'.

Sighing Kakashi turned back to the ruined quarter, silently cursing the day and his horrible luck as he moved forward a fallen house, in search of survivors.

Ibiki stumbled through yet another pile of smoking rubble. Brilliant way to spend a day off, picking through the remains of the Civilian Quarter.

The ANBU squad that that had taken out the Missing Nin group had just reported back, none of them happy about the story they'd brought. The team had found the nin laughing their asses off over the destruction of the village, and hadn't really been that hard to take down, given all the chakra they had just used on justus.

Hundreds of lives and damage that would take months to fix, all over some bored nut cases.

Ibiki hated his life on days like this.

According to the Hyuuga's there still were some traps set by the nin, waiting to be sprung and cause more damage, which was why Ibiki was out here. Pulling people out of the caved in holes that used to be their homes as he looked out for the hidden bombs while trying to fight the despair one always felt when faced with something like this.

Konoha would pull through, Ibiki knew she would. The Leaf Village always did, he just wished that for once they could be attacked without him having to buy a new house after.

Yells for help turned his attention to a family trapped under pile of wood. Signaling one of the rescue teams over Ibiki helped them move the large beams out of the way before moving on, sure in the knowledge they would be cared for.

This set the rhythm for the rest of the morning, aiding teams in moving rubble, pointing the trap teams toward the un-triggered bombs and far too often for Ibiki liking – pulling bodies from the debris.

Ibiki had just paused for a break, sitting on what he assumed used to be someone's front step when a flash of movement drew his gaze.

A small brunette was picking her way through the rubble, carrying a bag in her hand. She was covered in soot and dirt and her chakra levels signaled she was civilian, but Ibiki couldn't think why she would still be here. Everyone not trapped had headed to the Tower for medical attention and food. Everyone not assigned to the damaged area had been told to stay clear until they were sure the place was safe.

Ibiki was about to get up and talk to her when the girl stopped. The Jounin watched – shocked and more than mildly horrified – as the brunette dug through a pile of rubble till she pulled out something that glittered brightly, even in the dim smoky air. A jewelled necklace.

Ibiki stood dumfounded as the woman smiled happily and slipped the necklace into her bag. Standing again and moving to the next house, shifting through its remains and stripping it of any pretty and valuable bauble she found.

She was raiding the debris. She was stealing from her now dead or homeless neighbors.

Ibiki took a step forward, ready to stalk over and grab her when a glint caught his eye. Off to the far left of where the girl was digging, part of a chakra bomb lay exposed in the disturbed soil, it was giving off small sparks of chakra, showing it was still live.

Desperately Ibiki glanced around for a trap team, but found nothing. None of the teams seemed to have moved this far yet. He wasn't qualified to disable the bomb; that was for the crazy people like Iruka and Izumo – the ones that liked playing with fire – to deal with. His gift was getting people to spill their guts and everything that had happened to them since they were born. If he tried, he'd probably get everyone in the area killed.

A small happy squeak drew his attention back to the pillager, who had clasped her hands in joy as she looked over to her left. Tearing his gaze from the bomb there Ibiki realized she was looking at the remains of the building close to it.

Ibiki was confused for a moment before he noticed the crumbling sign hanging crookedly on the only wall still standing. Most of the letters were gone, but he could just make out the broken word for 'investment'.

The Civilian Bank. Why wasn't he surprised?

"Aina!"

The woman stopped, glancing behind her momentarily before an annoyed look crossed her face and she turned away from the person calling her.

"Aina!" Ibiki looked over, confused and surprised when he saw Kakashi sprinting down the torn up road. "Damnit! Aina! I know you can hear me. What are you doing here?"

The woman –Aina? – Just kept moving, ignoring Kakashi's yells as she picked up speed, still heading toward the ruined bank. Rather belatedly –he blamed stress and the fact he was far to sober to be dealing with this shit - Ibiki realized the chakra bomb would have a spread field for detonation, and there was a good chance Aina could trigger it.

Cursing his own stupidity Ibiki moved out from behind the pile of rubble he'd been standing next to just as Kakashi drew closer to the woman. He vaguely thought he heard the words 'Iruka' and 'looking for you' but forgot it when he saw how close the two were standing to the bomb.

"Hatake!" Kakashi had just managed to reach Aina and grab her arm when he turned a curious eye toward Ibiki. "To your left!"

Ibiki bellowed the words as loudly as he could, hopeful at the fact nothing had happened yet. Hatake was lighter than him and smaller, he could get the girl out of there without any trouble. Kakashi had turned his gaze in the direction indicated and Ibiki could tell he'd spotted the bomb right away.

The grey eye had widened and Ibiki had almost let himself breathe in relief when Aina swung at the Jounin with her treasure heavy bag. There wouldn't have been much power behind the move, but the bag was solid and Kakashi was distracted enough for the strike to hit him squarely in the head, causing the Copy Nin to let go of the girl as his body leant to the side from the blow.

A look of triumph crossed the woman's face was she darted away from Kakashi, once again running toward the bank. Fear rose in Ibiki chest, the instinctive warning all humans have when they somehow just know something bad is about to happen. He started running before he could register exactly what he was doing, yelling Kakashi's name at the top of his lungs before the bomb flashed and a wall of hot air hit him, sending him flying backwards as Aina and Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Searing hot air buffed Kakashi as a deafening roar filled his ears and pieces of debris cut his skin. Pain streaked through his system, but he shoved it aside. Focusing on staying where he was and not being tossed around in the smoky nothing that surrounded him.

Finally, after what seemed eternity, the earth tremors stopped as the smoke started to clear and the dust slowly settled. Heaving himself up Kakashi looked around while simultaneously checking himself for injury. Nothing was broken at least; he hoped that meant he'd fared alright.

The world around him however, had not. A huge gaping hole had opened up to his right; it was a good twelve feet across and had swallowed the remains of the bank as well as a good few houses.

"elp!"

Kakashi jerked when his hearing slowly began returning, muted sounds trickling into his senses as he struggled to stand.

"shi! Help!"

The world still buzzing slightly around him Kakashi stumbled to the crevasse, where the voice seemed to be coming from. The world tilted every time he moved and it took two try's before he managed to make it to the hole. Once he did the sight registered instantly, even to his concussed mind.

"Aina"

The brunette was clinging to the jagged side of the rock face; the crevasse stretching out below her, so deep Kakashi couldn't see the bottom, meaning the bomb had been set to explode downward.

Slowly Aina lifted her soot and blood stained face toward him. "Kakashi, help me!"

Kakashi found later he was proud to realize he'd never once thought of not doing so. Scrambling onto all fours he quickly tested his chakra, making sure it was going to cooperate with him before he started climbing. You never could tell with a concussion, which Kakashi was fairly certain he had.

When both hands and feet stuck to the wall like they were supposed to Kakashi carefully lowered himself into the pit, watching for loose rocks that would crumble under his touch as he made his way down to Aina.

"Wait! Kakashi"

Kakashi paused and looked down at the woman clinging to the wall, she looked pretty comfortable and Kakashi had to admire her arm strength as he raised a brow in question.

"My bag, get my bag"

Kakashi felt both brows rise in disbelief as he glanced toward where she was looking. The heavy cloth bag was hanging six feet to the side and slightly lower than the brunette, caught on a jagged piece of rock. Kakashi frowned; getting the bag would mean by passing Aina then climbing back up get her, as it would be stupid to add her weight to his own if he was going down. Not only was this risky as Aina could slip but it meant he would have to use more chakra before even starting to carry the woman up to safety.

This wouldn't have been an issue normally, but by now Kakashi knew without a doubt he was working with a concussion, something that was serious whether or not a person was a Ninja. The fact he was using chakra didn't help and he knew as soon as he had her on his back the situation would worsen.

Yes, he could probably do it regardless, but Kakashi wasn't in the mood for taking chances over a bag. It wasn't worth both their lives.

Slowly he shook his head, already starting for her again. "No Aina, it's not worth it. Let's just get out of here"

He had figured that would end it, so when Aina instantly answered back with "What do you want?" he nearly slipped off the wall from shock.

"What?"

Aina grinned in what she must have thought to be an entrancing way. "What do you want? Get the bag and I'll get it for you"

Kakashi remained motionless, dumfounded, when he realized he should keep moving. Turning his back to her he continued down. "Nothing's worth the risk, Aina"

"Not even Iruka?"

He really almost let go from that. Whipping around Kakashi stared back at the woman who was smiling smugly back at him. "Get the bag, and I'll break up with Iruka. You'll have the home free"

The grey eye flickered toward the bag. It wasn't that far down really, just a few more feet, he could do it– his pervious reasoning flashed through his mind and he forced himself to shake his head. It was harder than it should have been. "What good would that do if we're both dead, Aina?"

Aina looked completely shocked for a moment, obviously not expecting to be turned down, when her expression turned sour and downright ugly.

"Fine, I'll get it myself"

Kakashi watched in horror as Aina checked behind her once before starting down toward the bag, her movements unbalanced and amateur. "Wait! Aina, No!"

She sent him an annoyed glare and didn't stop. Kakashi began to panic, he couldn't just go down and grab her as she might try to fight him off again and make them both fall, but he couldn't just leave her.

"Aina, please, just stop" shifting down to what he deemed to be a safe distance Kakashi continued to try and reason with her. "What's so important about a damn bag? Aina, just leave it!"

She paused long enough to smirk at him before making a sloppy grab for another hand hold. "Screw you, Kakashi, I've got half a fortune in that bag, and once I get it, I'll be able to get anything I want. Oh, and Iruka will marry me and you'll spend the rest of your life playing doting best friend and loyal bitch"

Kakashi grit his teeth as he bit back a snap about the questionable wisdom of insulting the person who's trying to save your life, watching helplessly as Aina inched farther away from him, still ranting.

"You'll have to stand through our wedding as best man and the raising of our children as an uncle, knowing the whole time Iruka would never love a freak like you and- Got it!"

The last words were said with triumph as Aina swung dangerously to the side and grabbed the bag with the tips of her fingers. Kakashi got one look at her smug expression before the rock she was holding crumbled under her hand and her face twisted into pure terror.

Acting completely on instinct Kakashi slid down the wall in record speed, grabbing Aina's wrist and slamming chakra back into his hand, sending jarring impact through both of them as they came to an abrupt stop.

Kakashi just barely bit back his cry of pain as Aina swung on his now twisted arm. Even better was the realization he no longer had enough chakra to get them to the top and his was starting to have problems seeing straight.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi glanced up, an over whelming feeling of relief when he saw a large scarred face peering over the edge of the crevasse. "Ibiki! A little help?"

The big man didn't even hesitate as he shifted around and began lowering himself into the hole, steadily making his way down to them. Kakashi glanced back down at the woman hanging off his arm, he would have liked to pull her up so he could use his whole arm, not just his hand, to hold on to her, but with his arm twisted like it was, he couldn't channel the strength needed to lift her.

The best he could do was hold on until Ibiki reached them and took her weight.

Movement and jarring pain shot through his arm, making him cry out. Looking down through a hazy eye Kakashi felt horror raising when he realized Aina was trying to climb up his arm to reach his back. Normally this would have been a good move, but Aina lacked the proper strength for such an act and it really wasn't helping him.

"You, Aina, stop!" Ibiki was still moving as quickly as he could on the chakra infused wall, but had looked over at Kakashi's cry.

"Aina, please, just wait until Ibiki gets here" Kakashi fought back another yell when a fresh wave of pain assaulted his body.

"Then lift me up! Are you a ninja or what?"

Kakashi felt his control snap just a little. "My arm is twisted; I have a concussion and am out of chakra. If you wish me to drop you by all means continue!" there was silence from the woman below him, but she mercifully stopped moving while Ibiki seemed to be trying to scale down faster.

Kakashi then focused on his breathing, mentally counting for something calming to do until he heard Ibiki's movements closer to his head. Glancing up Kakashi flashed the big Jounin a weak smile which was briefly returned as Ibiki's feet drew level with them. A few more steps and he'd be able to grab them.

A yell and renewed pain shattered through his hopeful relief. His arm was swung just before both of Aina's hands let go of him.

The strap of the bag she'd had over her shoulder, had snapped.

With a yell of his own Kakashi just managed to grab her wrist before she fell out of reach, the damned bag now being held by her other hand.

"Kakashi, pull me up!"

Kakashi bit back a growl; he had one hand keeping her from falling and the other keeping them both from falling. "I can't. Drop the bag, Aina, you need your hand to pull yourself up"

Aina's face twisted into fury. "No! You just want me to lose him! I'll show you, I won't lose to a freak like you!"

Kakashi stared at her in disbelief. "Are you mad? This isn't about that! This is about saving your life!" desperately Kakashi tried to tighten his grip, but the weight was becoming too much for one hand and a damaged arm. Aina was slipping. "Aina, drop the bag, please drop the bag!"

He couldn't bring himself to care how close to tears he sounded. His grip had slid to her hand. "Let it go, just let go!" Middle of her hand. "Drop it!" he'd just managed to hook her fingers. Where the hell was Ibiki?

"AINA"

Kakashi couldn't even register the look of terror on her face as her fingers slid through his and she dropped. He was about to grab for her when a large arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back against a solid torso.

Kakashi hung, horror-struck, as Aina disappeared into the black, her shriek still ringing around the tall rock walls.

He was shifted so he was pressed between the wall and Ibiki's large bulk. "Kakashi, grab onto me" the words sort of echoed around his head as he numbly obeyed, wrapping his arms around Ibiki's neck, ignoring the pain it caused him, as Ibiki carefully let go and began climbing back up.

When they reached the top Ibiki pulled him far away from the deadly edge before laying him down and gently checking his head. Kakashi stayed still as the large fingers probed the plates that made up his skull, checking for breaks or cracks. The older man worked in silence, letting Kakashi pull himself together a bit.

"Thank you" Kakashi whispered the words as Ibiki turned his head gently so he could probe the other side. Kakashi realized he was acting a little weak right then, but he was too numb and hurt to care.

Ibiki made a sound somewhere between a snort and a sigh. "Don't mention it. Do you know what Tsunade would have done to me if you'd died?"

Kakashi managed a weak laugh at that, noting Ibiki smiled slightly as he turned the silver head again.

"Though anyone who doubts your loyalty to this village after that should be slapped and locked in maximum security"

Kakashi frowned at that. "Just how much did you hear?"

Ibiki sighed as he helped the younger Jounin to stand. "Enough. Come on, let's get you to a medic, then I think you have some news to break"

Kakashi let his eye slip shut when the world started to spin; leaning on Ibiki he let the other man help him toward the Hokage Tower.

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I just killed someone…WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Ha, ok, well - *cowers behind her desk* review? *nervous smile*