Chapter Two: Three Days Until Now

I set a quick pace for the mountains as Rhyns and I carried the conversation. Despite his terrible grammar and errors he comes off as very intelligent and well traveled. Anako came off no less intelligent but he seemed a bit more than a hired hand. He could often fill in gaps and was constantly correcting Rhyns.

When we made camp Anako surprised me with several varieties of edible plants he had collected on the brisk walk. He also built the fire, literally snapping his fingers and the collected timber ignited. He looked even more eerie when his glossy hair reflects the conflagration and the flickering light cast ominous shadows across him.

To further my belief in him being an ice apparition, Rhyns produced a kettle and promptly filled it with snow. He started whistling, which sounded almost bird like and clamped my hand around his thin upper arm.

"Do not whistle. The day has been filled with enough bad omens." I whispered and he seemed to be pondering what I said even as he nodded his understanding.

"Is something the matter Iruka chan?"

"Don't call me Iruka chan..."

"Iruka pon?" He tried a rather girly nickname that no one but a foreigner would add to my name.

"No."

"Iruka rinta?"Now he was starting to piss me off.

Anako interrupted my eruption by calling out to Rhyns, scolding him for me. I fumed silently, trying to push away anger. While Rhyns was by no means short, yet he looked and acted like someone much younger. He had a simple minded nature to him that seemed incapable of deception, but the intelligent glint in his eyes made that assumption evaporate quicker than a puddle in summer.

We played Janken-po to decide who would take first watch. The first hour wast o have two people on and the loser of those two would stay up for an hour alone and then wake the next person for their two hour shift. The last person would have to start breaking the camp before waking us.

I got the third shift and had to stay up for an hour with Kakashi. Rhyns got the last shift and I made sure he knew how to break camp. He did, so I brought a mostly blank scroll I had been penning a few silly ideas on so we could practice his Japanese.

Rhyns glanced at my scroll as I started unfurling it, moving in to wedging himself tightly to me so he could rest his chin on my shoulder. His dainty yet strong hand came to rest on mine, holding the scroll steady as he stared at it.

After a couple seconds he frowned and nudged his nose against my jaw.

"Iruka chan!" He whined, poking at the scroll. "I need furigana!"

I laughed and he was quick to join in, but I could tell he was being serious so I started writing furigana in, explaining the kanji he didn't understand. For almost an hour he stayed leant against me, his hand going back and forth between trailing down the kanji and holding onto my hand.

Anako came and pulled him off, telling him it was time to go to bed. He smiled at him and brushed a stray stand of black hair over his shoulder, he dismissed Anako and leant down to my height.

"Thank you Iruka chan." He whispered, his hand squeezing my shoulder and letting it trail down my arm as he followed after Anako.

Kakashi and Anako had tended the fire, letting it burn low so it would be harder for enemies to spot. I was impressed that it was still hot enough to heat the small camp though.

Kakashi had moved to the log across the pit from me and was staring unabashed at me. It was almost unnerving to be scrutinized by that stoic man.

"How close a friend are you to these people?"

"I like them, they're very interesting." I shrugged, rolling my shoulders. I had gotten a bit cramped up with Rhyns leaning against me. He was extremely light but the position was still uncomfortable for long durations.

"When did you meet them?" I thought he already knew I didn't know them well.

"I thought you knew..." I admitted out loud.

"You're too trusting of that waif." He stated, glaring across the fire. "You need to be more careful of him, he's got some sort of ulterior motive here."

"Who here doesn't?" I was running to save Konoha from whatever these omens were preceding, Kakashi was here to spy on them. We weren't all that different.

Kakashi narrowed his eye at me, and could have swore he growled. But that was lost when both snapped our heads up in alarm.

Some one was out there. Stalking the woods, waiting for a momentary weakness. I looked to Kakashi and he gave an almost imperceptible nod. He heard it too, and his eyes were probing the darkness, his knuckles white as he clenched the log tightly.

I turned my head back to the fire, folding my hands together.

"What should we do?" I mumbled, wedging my elbows into my hips to stay any unwanted shaking. I wish Rhyns hadn't started whistling, now robbers are hunting us.

"We wait. I'll take Rhyns san's guard duty. I'll alert Anako san to this when I wake him up." I nodded and drew over to my satchel, digging around for my tea.

If I am to sleep tonight, I'm going to need something to help. I might just stay up with Kakashi when it's my turn to go back to sleep. I could feel two sets of eyes following my movements, one the familiar if caustic gaze of Kakashi and the other rather feral and mean spirited.

I poured water in to the ceramic cup I procured and waited for my tea to steep, gazing sightlessly into the low blaze, my minds' eye following the direction of the strange gaze.

"Iruka sensei." Kakashi's voice startled me out of my concentration and I looked up at him. "Be more careful, you broke your glass."

Sure enough nearly scalding water had drenched my hand, leaving my skin an angry pink and a light stinging sensation. Shards of my cup was scattered about the ground, glistening in the crackling firelight.

I was careful about cleaning up the shards, tossing them into the forest, nowhere near to where the skulker was hanging out.

"Bad omens." I sighed and palmed a sort term sleeping pill. "I'm going to bed, Kakashi san, be careful." I stood and fell onto my bed roll, checking my kunai and shuriken before taking the pill.

"Sleep softly Iruka san." Anako whispered as the world dropped away leaving only my instincts on as I shut down for the four hours of sleep I'd get tonight.

When I woke up and was accosted by the sun's first light and I knew those bastards had conspired against me. They had left me sleeping, somebody else taking my shift.

I hopped to my feet, glaring about the camp. Rhyns was still sleeping too, his petite form curled, cutely cat like. His hair was fanned about his head, glinting in the faint light filtering through the leaves. The rest of the camp was filled with Kakashi, still on the log he was last night, albeit now he was laying on reading his infamous orange IchIcha Paradise.

Anako was perched in a tree, one leg hanging limply off one side and his body looking a little too relaxed to be awake.

I scowled at Kakashi since he was the only one awake and at whom I could inflict my rage upon.

"Yo, Iruka sensei." He gave a slight wave, trying to seem innocent in all this. I marched over, standing at his feet as I glared down at him.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I growled lowly, trying not to wake Anako or Rhyns.

"Mah, I was already awake and decided that there was no need to wake you when you were so soundly asleep." He waved dismissively, his eye going back to the book.

"You need to sleep too!" I growled, pushing the book down. "How are suppose to complete your mission satisfactorily if you're sleep deprived?" I hissed at him, leaning in close.

"I'm used to not sleep for days." He gave an 'He' eyed smile, not trying raise his book until I had marched off, irked and rather dismissed.

I rummaged through my pack to find another glass seeing as my favourite one was scattered about the woods. My hand still stung a little so I also wrapped my hand before deciding that today was a good day to wear gloves. Kakashi noted this and cocked an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

"Did Rhyns leave us any snow?" I asked, scouring the campsite for my water bottle.

"No, here." He tossed me my water bottle, which was still full. I raised an eyebrow at him but poured a glass or so into the kettle Rhyns brought and put in on the fire.

Kakashi had stoked the fire into a decent cooking fire. He had some berries and fruits gathered in a basket but none of the typical breakfast foods. I hadn't really fully contemplated this before I had a glass of tea in hand.

That was about when I noticed Kakashi was no longer in his uniform. His silvery hair wasn't as poofy as normal, mostly due to the fact that he no longer had his hitai-ate holding it up. His silver hair had been combed to conceal his sharingan eye, which was covered by a black eye patch. He had his masked on as per usual and I was beginning to suspect it was attached to a shirt because a patch of shirt was visible from under the white jacket he wore that perfectly matched the colour of the mask. The white jacket had a slightly drooping mandarin collar and was lined red on the inside. It was short sleeved with a slit on both sleeves. It had a double zipper, the top zipper pulled up to his clavicle, the second just below the rib cage. He wore a metal chest plate that was higher on the right, where it was attached to a corded leather binding. The slightly tapered left side had plate metal banding up and down both sides of the chest, covering that entire side of the ribcage. He wore black jeans that stopped just above the ankles and had his kunai pouch strapped to his leg. He also wore gloves, though his were fingerless and went half way up his forearms.

"Mah, Iruka sensei, it's getting awkward with you staring like that." Kakashi deadpanned, his eye on the book rather than me.

"Sorry Kakashi san, I just don't think I've ever seen you out of uniform." I gave a weak chuckle, distracting myself with my tea. "What happened to that robber?"

"Dunno." He shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Anako san went after him and I haven't seen hide or hair of the robber."

"Oh."

It wasn't long after that everybody was up. Rhyns had set about breaking camp without complaint. He hummed instead of whistled, clearly unfamiliar with our myth and folklore.

I started when a flock of crows flew over head, that foreboding feeling returning with a vengeance. I was seriously doubting if it was a good idea to hang around these people. Rhyns was very kind and gentle despite the wicked gleam in his eyes, and Anako was vigilant to protect the man even to the point of it being creepy. I couldn't find fault in either and I didn't really want to draw them into this upcoming disaster.

I tried to forget about it and concentrate on teaching Rhyns and watching out for more bad omens. It didn't help distract me though, for it was fact that we're a group of four. I was really wishing that the Hokage hadn't sent Kakashi or had sent another person to keep us a neutral five.

I wasn't too surprised when Rhyns leveled a harsh glare at me, his mauve eyes staring into my black eyes. He was very perceptive and easily picked up on my discomfort.

"I'm very sorry Rhyns san, I'm distracted."

"I can tell." He stated, but wrapped his arm around mine and patted that arm with his free hand. "Tell me because."

"About it." I corrected, "tell me about it." He repeated, etching it into his memory before asking again. I sighed and patted his arm back. "I have a bad feeling Rhyns san. A very bad feeling."

Rhyns whispered something that was probably lewd in his own language, his lips pulling into a devilish smirk and eyes taking an equally evil glimmer. Anako tore him off me, hissing in his language at the ice apparition.

Rhyns snapped at him, nearly biting him before he yanked free and went to stand by Kakashi.

"What was that about?" I asked softly but Anako was refusing to acknowledge me. I sighed in defeat and followed along silently until Rhyns drifted back, not looking at all remorseful, which made Anako glower at him.

"I like keep practicing. May I have book?" He held out his hand for the scroll. I passed it over, wondering how he was going to get by with the words when he ran up to Kakashi.

"Kakashi sensei?" Kakashi blinked at him for a second before nodding. "Kakashi san help Rhyns?" He partially unfurled the scroll, expertly rolling it up on the other side so it didn't drag.

"Why isn't Iruka sensei helping?"

"Anako not jealous Kakashi san."

"You are really bad with particles." Kakashi stated but didn't turn away when Rhyns pointed to a word he didn't know.

It was rather endearing to watch Kakashi with someone like Rhyns, who had a child like quality that his rather scary adult self. Kakashi didn't really seem the type to be patient with children and the way Rhyns would whine and hang off him really seemed to unnerve the poor jounin.

He would flinch slightly, his hand twitching for a kunai, every time Rhyns grabbed arm, which was like watching a snake strike. He was surprisingly fast, fast enough to keep up with Kakashi at least.

We set up camp that night and Rhyns slinked back over to me, his arms encircling my waist before I realized what he was doing. He pressed his face to my back, nuzzling the hollow between my shoulder blades.

"Kakashi san no fun because Iruka chan."

"Like. Kakashi sensei isn't fun like Iruka sensei." I corrected, patting his hands, signaling him to let me go. He grudgingly obeyed, following me about, chatter away, trying to learn by doing.

"Iruka sensei, we need to gather some firewood." Kakashi called, waving to get my attention.

"On it!" I called back and had barely taken a step when Anako was before me.

"Allow me." He bowed his head slightly and took Rhyns by the wrist. "Come help me." The duo shared a heavy moment before Rhyns nodded.

"Be back soon!" Rhyns chirped and they quickly headed after dry sticks and bark.

"Is really wise letting the two of the go out together?" Kakashi whispered, also deciding to suddenly appear before me.

"I doubt they'll find anything too dangerous." I shrugged and judging by Kakashi's exasperated sigh I must have missed his meaning.

"They might be plotting out there. Or running."

"It doesn't really feel like they're getting all that far away." I closed my eyes, watching with my minds' eye at their unique signatures. After spending a day and a night with the duo I had become attuned to that strange kekkei genkai of theirs. It had subtle differences and as ominous as it was, Anako's was brighter of the two, almost scalding to the touch; were as Rhyns was icy, his skin felt cold as corpse. It almost seemed like Anako took Rhyns heat, adding it to his own burning body.

I shrugged again, opening my eyes to see Kakashi studying me. I jerked back shooting him a disturbed look.

"I'm going to go check on them."

"Fine, fine. I'll start dinner." I waved him off, and checked on the pot of snow. Rhyns had taken to refilling his, Anako's and My water bottle and shrugging off Kakashi's rejection. However even Kakashi couldn't deny how useful his snow could be when preparing stocks for a dinner stew or for tea or any other cooking requirement. Today I used it to make rice and set to roasting the tubers Anako had dug up when we made camp.

That foreboding feeling had finally died down when I turned back for my bag to see a black cat seated right behind me. It's large yellow eyes staring up stoically at me. My breath caught in my throat for a second before I forced myself to calm down.

"Shoo kitty, we can't take you along with us." I said pleasantly, trying to shoo it with soft hand gestures. It mewed cutely, making me smile despite myself. "So cute!" I finally broke, kneeling to pet the lovable little thing.

I walked around it and it twisted in between my legs, nearly tripping me. I threw it some partially cooked rice and quickly set about my business while it was distracted by the rice. I had a second pot of simmering water, a contented cat on my lap, a dirtied plate and cooling rice and vegetables before Kakashi and the strange duo returned.

Kakashi was being supported by Rhyns, who oddly enough sported a blackening eye and had some tears in his beautiful furisode. Kakashi looked like he had a burn or two on his arms and his chest plate was dented, the jacket was torn and dirtied in a few places. Anako was fretfully combing his hair with his fingers, he looked the best of the three. His face was free of marring and his clothes only sporting a couple tears on the sleeves and one on his left shoulder.

"What the hell happened to you three!" I jumped to my feet, keeping the cat close to my chest.

"It was a miscommunication." Anako growled as he fetched a comb, setting to work on riding his glossy hair of tangles.

"I thought Rhyns was being assaulted..." Kakashi hissed as Rhyns eased him to the log beside me.

"I can sew shirt." Rhyns said, pulling at Kakashi's damaged jacket.

"I'll get those burns wrapped. Here hold this." I dropped the kitty in Kakashi's lap and quickly got some burn cream and bandages.

We all jolted at the sharp snap coming from Anako. He stared at his comb, which was now missing a few teeth. He blinked and I shuddered, barely able to contain my growing anxiety.

It hadn't taken us long to get everybody and their wardrobe all patched. Rhyns turned out to be quite the seamstress and had put the garments back together as flawlessly as possible. Anako had reheated the metal, and gentle buffed the metal back into place. It also was given an accidental shine that glinted like the sun in the firelight.

We played Janken again to see who got first watch was Kakashi again this time with Anako as the overlap and third watch.

It hadn't taken us long to settle in but whatever had happened was making me curious and trying to extract information from Rhyns was like trying to extract information from Ibiki. I sat there for a few minutes just regulating my breathing and relaxing my body enough to seem alert but asleep.

I was nearly asleep when I heard Anako and Kakashi start to converse. It was softly spoken in as low an octave as they could muster.

"Sorry about that, I didn't know." Kakashi spoke first, the light hiss of fabric suggesting he made some sort of gesture.

"I know, we try to hide it."

"It wouldn't matter if you didn't. In fact you should probably tell Iruka sensei. He'll make Rhyns stop if you do." Anako gave a dark chuckle in response and the silence seemed to drag on forever.

"Is Iruka sensei always like this?" Anako finally decided to speak again.

"I don't know. I haven't really spoken to him before." Kakashi sighed and there was the soft scrape of paper on paper as he took out his book.

"Then why are you here?" I could feel the absolute zero cold the duo were emanating, trying to test the other. It was so cold I began to shiver.

It wasn't long after that they stopped, Kakashi giving a faint chuckle and Anako issued an amused scoff. "Truce." They spoke together and the faint slap of hands followed.