Old memories

A week….one bloody week and the mission was still rolling like a big wheel down a hill. It was enough for Iruka to almost tear his hair out. The only good thing about it was that it hadn't rained at all…yet but soon it would, for after all…this was Mist…bloody Mist country that was always had rain every month except in the winter. Then it was snow.

Iruka sighed softly and continued to jump from three to three behind Genma. Asuma and Kakashi where behind the chuunin and Ibiki was of course the leading man and had decided that the 'weak' little chuunin had to be in the middle 'weak my ass' he fumed to himself. In Mist Iruka was most likely the strongest of them as he knew the land better by instinct and then there was that little bit of bloodlimit... But then again they didn't know of that and Iruka was thankful for that.

They where suppose to find some place to rest for the night as the Mist inhabitants weren't so trusting of strangers right now 'and for good reason I believe' he frowned to himself. He hadn't been able to dig up anything really but the rumours had been enough to send chills down Iruka's back…the rumours of the Mizukage searching for the five bloodlimits of Mist. The hyouton limit, the fantomu-me limit, the arai-enkai limit, the umi-rei limit and the undo-enja… five limits. The ice limit, the phantom eye limit, the shark limit, the sea ghost limit and the wind speaker limit. Every last one of the limits had fled but some of them where still out there…like Iruka and good old shark fin.

Iruka's lips twitched. He hadn't really thought about the blue man in a long time. Last time they had seen each other, both had been teens, Iruka barely thirteen at the time. And Kisame himself had been sixteen. It hadn't really been the best meeting but…it was a needed meeting between the clans that had once been so close. Iruka felt Ibiki suddenly slowing down before pulling into the side, making a clear sign for stopping.

Iruka landed with ease beside the heavily scarred man and the ever annoying senborn sucker, waiting for the everlasting pervert and the smoker. They landed swiftly and without noise and waited for whatever Ibiki wanted to talk about, "Alright…as you all know we haven't found any real information that could be bought back to lady Hokage…that means we are camping for one more night at least so we need to find some place to sleep" Ibiki's gruff voice told every one that he was not happy with that. Ibiki looked around seriously "keep the radio on and do not go to far…if something happens or If you find a place we can all rest contact if not…be back here in half a hour" everyone nodded before they all jumped in different directions.

Iruka sighed, he already knew of a place to rest but he couldn't really tell them yet without 'searching'. He rolled his chocolate coloured eyes as he jumped in the direction of a cave he knew about but there was one problem with that…a lake…a bloody lake was not far from the cave opening and if it rained there would be the danger of the water reaching inside the cave. Now for most people this would not be a problem but for Iruka… it could be the very cause that showed his secrets.

Now, all of this put Iruka into a mess as there was no other place around that was as safe as this cave. So he had a choice…show the others the cave and risk exposure or hope the others find a safe place that Iruka had never been at…'great…just flipping great' he grumbled to himself as he gave himself a chakra boost to gain speed. It only took him teen minutes to land in the clearing where he could see the cave entrance but he could also see how near the opening the water was. He sighed and pinched his nose; everything was going to hell for him.

He pushed the button on the radio so he could contact the others, "Ibiki-san?" he called as he evaluated the aria. It took a little while before he got a answer but then the radio crinkled, "Iruka-san? You got something?" Iruka nodded before slapping his forehead. Ibiki couldn't see him! "Hai…it's a cave and it seems quite safe….do you want my coordinates?" a short silence before Ibiki's voice sounded again, "Hai" and Iruka quickly gave him it, waiting for the others to come to him.

He sat down as he waited for the four jounins and let his mind wander over the last time he had been here. It had been Iruka's first and last S-class mission, even thought he was a chuunin at the time, the Sandaime had trusted a sixteen year old, newly promoted Umino Iruka with a S rank mission. It had been both made him very proud…and very scared. It had actually been a delivery mission to one of the smaller islands of Water country but to get there Iruka had to travel thought the main land… Iruka had never been as scared as that time. But it had been the first time he meet a fellow Mist bloodlimit bearer.

Flashback

Iruka panted as he frantically searched for a place to take cover as he could feel the rain coming. Thunder rolled not far away and the usually damp air was crackling with suppressed electrician, signaling that lightening was not far away. Iruka ran as fast as he could, the scrolls in his backpack jumping slightly 'dear kami, please, please let me find something! I don't want to change!' his mind was spinning frantically, the adrenalin in his body forcing him to move even faster then before. His eyes suddenly spotted a cave entrance 'there!' was his only thought, even though the lake was a little to close for comfort it was the only option for Iruka. He just made it before the rain started to pour down, his slim and narrow form just barely avoiding what would have been a VERY bad situation.

The young brunette slowly sank to his knees as he tried to calm his beating heart and racing breath, never noticing the dark shadow moving towards him. Iruka's eyes widened as a kunai was suddenly resting against his tan neck "don't move…" a dark voice sounded and Iruka had no choice but to obey.

He tried to keep his breathing somewhat steady but it was quite hard when you had a sharp weapon against his troths and a potential enemy behind him "a Konoha ninja…now that's a rare sight" the male voice spoke up and Iruka stiffened slightly "what brings a leafling to Mist of all places?" it wasn't a question really, more like a demand. Iruka debated shortly with himself but the slight pressure of the kunai made him answer "mission…I am only traveling through" it didn't hurt to tell that. But the silence that came after his confession did as it seemed to drag on forever. Iruka had never believed that silence could actually hurt you.

A slight shuffling sounded over the rain that was falling outside before the other spoke again "are you any treat to me" Iruka blinked "no…my mission only contains delivering and fighting if someone tries to stop me" a quiet sigh came from behind him before the kunai disappeared. Iruka quickly moved away and turned around and came face to face with a blue skinned teen…errg man?

The other ninja scanned his face before smirking, "Umino Iruka…it's a pleasure to finally meet you, I'm Hoshigaki Kisame, Mist ninja." and from there a strange but expected friendship was formed

Flashback over

Iruka's lips twitched slightly at the thought of the blue skinned devil that he came to know. He wondered how Kisame was…was he safe? Happy? Did he find that silver lining and freedom that he talked about so long ago or was the life of a missing nin harder then Kisame had thought? It made Iruka sigh. This was another reason he hated to be in water country… it made him think about the other bloodlimit users and how they where… Iruka always felt guilty for surviving when so many others had died.

A sudden crash had Iruka on his feet with a kunai in his hand but he relaxed when he saw it was just Asuma lying sprawled on the forest floor, "DAMNIT GENMA! Was it necessary to push me!?" the bearded man growled as he stood up and brushed leafs of his clothes. Iruka couldn't help but chuckle slightly and therefore bringing Asuma's attention to the chuunin and the jounin scowled. A snickering Genma landed lightly beside Iruka as Ibiki and Kakashi came from different directions, "Hmmm…very nice spot" Ibiki looked around with a critical eye.

Iruka smiled slightly, "That's what I thought…the cave entrance is pretty hidden to" he pointed the half hidden hole in the wall, bushes and hanging plants doing a good job of covering it up. Ibiki nodded with a hum and stroked his chin "well…Genma you go find wood to burn…Kakashi and Asuma scan the aria, Iruka and I will look over the cave" Ibiki gave everyone a job that they quickly set of to do, leaving only Ibiki and Iruka at the cave.

The torture expert turned to Iruka with a firm look, "How did you know of this cave?" Iruka sent the scarred man a startled look before sighing, "I…kinda…been here before" he shifted but quickly interrupted the other man before he could say anything, "It was in regards to a mission so please don't ask" Ibiki pressed his lips tightly together but nodded before moving to the cave, leaving Iruka alone on the outside with the wind gently swaying the chestnut brown hair.

AN: alright you might want a translation to the bloodlimit names and such . and I just have to point out I used a Japanese translator to make the names… .

The Hyouton: this is Haku's bloodlimit…ya know the whole ice thing ;

The Fantomu-me : this is thephantom eye bloodlimit . actually this is Ranmaru's bloodlimit but I never heard the name of his bloodlimit so I just made one up

The Umi-rei: this means sea ghost actually and I made this one up to -

The Enkai-enja: see this name…I made it up aaaand this is Iruka's bloodlimits name! It meansocean speaker…ya know the hole mermaid thing XD

The Arai-enkai: ohh this is the wild ocean bloodlimit and will actually mean something later