Title: Broken
Genre: angst? Yeah, angst works...
Characters: Umino Iruka and Hatake Kakashi (well, duh, look at my ship.) A few OCs, but they don't do anything but get killed spectacularly. Like Barbies with Cherry Bombs. smiiiiiiiile
Summary: Breaking is a fact of ninja life. Sometimes, though, it hurts a little more than it should. KakaIruKashi. Fluffy angst and sad romance.
Status: WIP...Part 2 of Unknown...
AN: Hallo! 'Broken' started as something to keep my hands busy at the beach, and it ended up becoming a hugely drawn out thing. But I've had fun writing it, so far, and it just keeps getting better.
Background notes: Broken starts about a year after the timeskip. A lot of the beginning is spent in flashbacks, however. Every story needs back-story, ne? If you ever get confused, please just raise your hand and a flight attendant will assist you email me at I will respond to that email and try to clarify it in the post.
Have fun!
-cc
AN pt 2: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! A shout out to Sasuke's Teme for betaing this lot and Chidori-ing its sorry arse into shape.
WARNINGS: For this chapter, we hit a bit of the rough-and-rocky when it comes to drawing the line for warnings. Memories are vagued out (is that even a term?) but yes, it does suggest to non-con and other horrible stuff. But I'm nice (or evil, depending on how you're viewing this) and am saving all detailed non-con and shouta for later.
There's a fairly decent amount of this built on knowing geisha's history. See AN at the bottom for more historical boringness on my part. Till then, enjoy!
-cc
Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi. Kishimoto-sensei, I promise to return them in (mostly) one piece!
Broken
Part 2: A Successful Mission
Iruka spent the night tossing and turning, trapped in a world of his own dark imaginings. First there were the standard bad dreams about his students. It was the standard fare of injuries, drowning, murders, ANBU selections, and the omnipresent Itachi-style Clan Killies. Those were followed by dreams of his genin days. They started with that first mission gone to hell.
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'This is Panther. Repeat, this is Panther.'
'This is Wolf. Wolf is in position.' 'Tiger is go.' 'Ready, kiddies? Panther, get your ass out there!'
And, like the obedient fool he was, he had gone. Had gone trippingly in those nine-inch wooden stilts, those metre long layers of silk, with those ridiculous hair ornaments obscuring his view. He had gone slowly, carefully, deliberately, hating the fact that his jounin-sensei was smiling and laughing and pretending this was easy, pretending he was a girl and that he was in training to be a geisha.
'Awful young to be walking streets, isn't she?'
'Oh, Kishimoto-kun,' and a laugh. 'She isn't walking the streets! We are geisha! Kai-chan isn't nearly as young as she looks. Why, tonight is her debut!'
'Debuting at her age? How soon does her bidding start?' 'Oh, soon enough, soon enough. Kai-chan is destined for great things.' A quick glare. 'Pour the tea and sake, Kai-chan.'
'Hai, onee-san.'
And none of the drunken fools—not a one—had noticed the powder that swept into those cups. A geisha's sleeve was useful, apparently. He passed the tea and sake out, being careful not to jump too much when one of the dirty bastards pinched his ass. And then, later…it had all gone to hell.
'Hello, pretty.'
'Gomen nasai, Nabungo-san, but I must go!' 'Oh, pretty, don't leave me. I just want to make you feel loved.' 'Na-nabungo-san! What are you doing?' 'Making you feel loved. Every girl should feel loved on her debut.'
Leering. Groping. Struggling. Snatching.
Suddenly, layers of heavy silk falling away.
Struggling harder.
Cold hands. Reaching, reaching, clutching cold hands.
'What's this?'
Whimpered sobs, futile struggling.
'Pretty-chan isn't a girl? Well, well. This is interesting.'
A leer. A gasp. A swift rustle of silk.
And it was all over. Nabungo-san, a Yakuza leader, was dead. Iruka's kunai still protruded from his ribs, glinting fiercely from where it held his dying body pinned to the wall.
A soft thump as he began to run. Soon, a steady pattern of them. He ran without thought, without idea or plan. His panicked feet brought him to the heart of the red light district—the pleasure district. One kind street walker took pity on the clearly lost geisha-child and brought him to a sheltered area, gave him a few coins for food. And then a soft futon, and a dreamless sleep.
That was where Hasukawa-sensei found him the next morning. Wordlessly, she brought him back to their group. Wordlessly, she brought him to the ANBU field director. Kicking and screaming, she brought him to the med-nin. They were silent as they examined him. Wordlessly, they all went home.
A successful mission. Nine men dead. Only one of their own injured—and in a purely mental way. He would heal. A successful mission.
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Then came all the other remembrances. The infamous Ouzashi mission (the one he narrowly escaped. He still carries the scar as proof.). The Hawasuke mission (the one where he was raped at the stunning age of 11.). The Emberedin mission (the one where he lost his virginity to the mark. Still only 11.). The Ashi mission (the one widely regarded as a bad move, what with the death toll.). That first mission to Sand (definitely a bad idea, seeing as they had a new teammate on the ANBU squad to replace Uchimasu.). The first mission to Grass (the one where his teammate—Asuka—lost her left leg).
And then the chuunin exams. They had to travel all the way out to Hidden Sand for those, and the deaths of Uchimasu Masashi and Eliki Anousa were still fresh in everyone's minds. Particularly Iruka's, as they had been killed right in front of him, sacrificing themselves so that he could get the information he carried to Hasukawa-sensei. The trip was long, dangerous, and silent except for the arguing of the other genin. Team Hasukawa (made up of the one-legged Asuka, the deaf-mute Arutobo, and the silent, depressed Iruka) stayed quiet, kept to themselves, and occasionally threw nasty looks at the other genin. Hasukawa was proud of her team, if a little worried.
An attack had come when they least expected it (like attacks always do). Arutobo was on guard, and the jounin-sensei on guard (for they only teamed Arutobo with someone from Team Hasukawa or a jounin, because that way they could communicate with hand kanji) never caught her panicked hand signs. She finally gave up and tossed a glittering but blunt kunai straight at Iruka's head. It hit him, hard, on the shoulder as he dodged instinctively.
He sat bolt upright as a nin came racing past, glittering powder spraying out of a bag he carried. Cursing, he stood up and began shaking his team-mate and fellow genin. Of the genin present around the fire, only Asuka could be woken, seeing as she—like Iruka—had learned the hard way to sleep with something over her mouth and nose. Hasukawa-sensei seemed to find it a great joke to dust them all lightly with nausea powders, or headache powders. Part of it taught them perseverance (working through the agony). Part of it taught them medical skills (how to re-hydrate and field-cure yourself). Part of it just plain taught thinking ahead.
As more nin attacked, Iruka found himself suddenly perversely glad that they had the one woman known internationally as the most sadistic human alive.
'Cause after her training, even enemy nin attacking at 1.30 in the morning was just another day at the office.
TBC
AN: There ya go. Yes, I know, a lot of this is fanon. I had a bit too much fun writing it, though, so it's staying. .
Notes About Geisha:
Geisha were, contrary to popular belief, not streetwalkers. They were entertainers and artists. A geisha's primary purpose was to entertain and serve tea and sake. Yes, a girl's virginity was auctioned off to make her full geisha, but they were sold at the highest prices possible.
As you see above, Hasukawa-sensei serves as Iruka's onee-san, his geisha guide, if you will. Older, more experienced geisha would take the new girls under their wing, making them maiko (sp?) and teaching them the ropes.
After a maiko's debut, the guide (usually referred to as onee-san) would decide when was best to begin the auction for the girl's virginty.
The entire geisha-house (I'm not even gonna try to spell it) would be in on this, and the girls frequently competed over who could be sold for the most.
(/boringexplanation)
Hope you enjoyed!