Chapter 4
Iruka stood in the middle of the bathroom watching in shock as Kakashi locked him inside.
"Safe from what?" he shouted in frustration. He could hear Kakashi answer the door and Yamato call for him. His thoughts scattered. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. He couldn't even begin to make sense of the strange day. And now Yamato was here, looking for him. Iruka tried to answer but the words stuck in his throat. He could only stand there, staring at the door. He didn't know how long he stood there but eventually the cold of the bathroom made him shiver. But when he looked around he saw nothing he could use to wrap around himself. Why did Kakashi not have any towels in his bathroom? Iruka almost laughed at that mundane thought. He was standing naked in Kakashi's bathroom and his only question was about towels. He glanced at the window but quickly decided against trying to open it. He had no desire to run across the roofs in his current state of dress.
Iruka sighed and slumped against the door, sliding until he sat on the floor. He was sure the jounin had finally cracked. After all what could there possibly be in the village that Kakashi felt the need to protect him from? Then again just this afternoon Yamato had claimed the same thing. The afternoon passed slowly, long shadows stretching across the floor. It was getting dark now, and Iruka was hungry now as well as cold. He was just starting to nod off when the lock clicked. He barely managed to get out of the way before the door opened and Kakashi entered. Kakashi grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom, down the hall and into another room. A bedroom. As Kakashi pulled him towards the bed, Iruka started to panic. He tugged uselessly on the iron grip Kakashi had on his arm.
"Kakashi," Iruka started, a hint of begging to his words, "whatever protection you think you are doing, it isn't necessary!"
"For your own protection, stay quiet," Kakashi said insistently, yet softly, glancing around the room.
Iruka closed his eyes, still tugging uselessly, as Kakashi stopped. Putting a hand on each shoulder, Kakashi turned him around then let go of him. Hesitantly Iruka opened his eyes. He was facing a wall and Kakashi knelt on the floor in front of him. As he looked at the floor, Iruka noticed he was standing in the middle of a complex seal. Placed between them was a long blank scroll, the edges worked into the seal. Iruka shifted, moving to take a step, when Kakashi held up a free hand. With the other he was completing the seal.
"Hello Iruka." A voice behind him said. Iruka looked over his shoulder; sitting on the end of the bed was a small pug. Pakkun, he believed was the dog's name.
"What-" Iruka managed to squeak out. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What is he doing?"
"Honestly? No clue. But he won't harm you," Pakkun answered.
That certainly didn't calm his nerves. Iruka looked back to Kakashi. So far the jounin had yet to look at him. It was little comfort. At that point Kakashi finished the seal and stood up.
"Don't move," he said, barely looking at Iruka. With that, Kakashi moved around the room. On each wall he stuck a chakra tag. They were unfamiliar to Iruka. When Kakashi passed the still open door he stopped and closed it. He stared at it, pondering a moment, before locking and placing a tag on it. Then he walked back to Iruka.
"Don't worry, soon you will be safe."
Kakashi knelt again and cut his thumb with a kunai. Using the blood, he began to write on each end of the scroll. In the middle he drew a smaller version of the seal that Iruka was standing in, except for the part where the scroll was laying. Kakashi reached up and grabbed Iruka's hand, pulling him down until he was crouching level with Kakashi. Kakashi then turned Iruka's hand palm facing up. Quickly he used the kunai to cut a line across his palm and using the flat of the blade to smear the blood across Iruka's hand. Kakashi then pressed Iruka's palm on the scroll in the oval that represented the one Iruka was crouching in. He picked Iruka's hand back up, leaving a bloody handprint behind. Kakashi let go and Iruka pulled his hand back, using the other to clasp the cut on his palm. Kakashi's hands flashed through a series of hand signals. When he finished the scroll glowed a faint red. Iruka gasped and vanished in a cloud of smoke. The seal on his floor faded with Iruka. Kakashi picked up the scroll, rolling it up before stowing it in one of his jacket pockets.
Tucked away in the scroll Iruka was safe. Let Tenzou come look for him now. Kakashi was ready. He would protect the one he loved.
