Author's Notes
- This little bit o' stuff is for Gcbella, one of my wonderful reviewers who needs to leave an email address so I can respond to reviews!!! ( leave me your email address!)
- Enjoy ! ... hopefully :)
Story Notes
- This is part of the TI universe:)
- Iruka is 16 years old, Kakashi and Mizuki are 18 or so. I'm fairly loose with their ages. I know I should be more consistent, I'm trying, I swear :)
- Inu- Dog or Hound. ANBU designation.
Warnings: Coarse language, shounen-ai...
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Gift for Gcbella; Hope you like this ' Kakashi rescues Iruka from Mizuki' story!
Chance Encounter
Konoha was unusually peaceful, which was the only reason Kakashi had heard the shouts in the first place. He'd been returning home ( not home, just my flat where I keep my stuff which just happens to be located in Konoha) from a routine infiltrate/obtain info/assassinate ANBU level mission, running along the roof tops at only half speed due to a sprained ankle, when the raised voices cut through the otherwise silent nighttime air. Kakashi's ears pricked at the tone.
He skidded to a halt on the curved tiles, his fingertips catching on the very edge of the gutter system. The porcelain Inu mask tilted to one side, then the other. Harsh voices were emanating from the fourth story window of the building he had just leapt from. His single gray eye glimpsed shadowy figures in the darkened room beyond the window glass. The jounin couldn't make out too many details in the dim illumination, but he saw what appeared to be the ornately embroidered sleeve of a furisode and exceptionally long locks of hair flitting in and out of the moonlight. It's just a couple fighting. None of my business. Kakashi shivered as a chill autumn breeze swept over his bared arms; he had yet to figure out why the ANBU uniforms weren't made to cover and protect as much skin as possible. He considered it asinine, but he wore the sleeveless high necked shirts anyway. I should have brought my cloak. Silver hair whipped across the face plate as the wind picked up and the shinobi made ready to jump to the next building.
Just as he was about to push more chakra into his feet, and re-enforce his injured ankle, the shouts grew in volume and Kakashi could feel the chakra flaring from the apartment. Shit, they're shinobi. Kakashi glanced at the surrounding area and saw that he was indeed in the middle of the chuunin bachelor apartments. When he'd first heard the shouting he had convinced himself that it was a civilian couple arguing and all he had to do was alert the nearest patrol unit that there was a domestic disturbance that needed to be checked out. But, if two shinobi were involved, and both were at least of chuunin level, then it could get very ugly, very quickly. And the collateral damage could be ridiculous. I don't want to get into the middle of a lovers' spat. Kakashi stretched his senses and found no trace of a patrol, although the chakra flares from the window were increasing with the volume. I'll just wait a few minutes and listen until the patrol comes back around. I can break it up if it gets out of hand. He moved to the edge of the roof, giving him a better view of the apartment window. Angry words filtered through the window panes.
" No...drinking again... zuki, I'm tired of this..."
" 'Ru... please can't... ucking slut... you'd better ge..."
" ...sleep at 'Ko's place... I'm getti..."
I'm pretty sure they're both men's voices. Kakashi recognized the low timbres of the shouts. Gay couples weren't anything new in Konoha or the shinobi ranks, and there was no negative stigma attached to same sex relationships. The only reason the ANBU captain noted it all was because the sex of one's opponent could give information on weak points. Such as the groin area. And Kakashi was just tired and irritated enough to really want to kick someone in the groin. It would make the most satisfying thud. And they'll get that look on their face, intense pain and shock and the thought that they'll never be able to get it up again will flicker in their eyes...
There was a shout of pain and a curse, accompanied by loud crashes. Something had been broken in the flat. Kakashi watched as the shadows flailed in front of the window, one of the chakra signatures fluttering. Shit! Injury! The jounin cloaked his chakra, left the roof top and landed soundlessly in a tree branch right outside the window. Kakashi reached for the latch, only to be brought up short by the apartment door being flung open and a disgruntled shinobi being thrown into the exterior hallway. Peering around the corner, the ANBU caught sight of a young man, medium build, silver hair. The chuunin appeared to be no older than Kakashi and was disgustingly inebriated. He was barely able to walk upright, yet somehow managed to make it to the door and pummel the old wood with his fists. Kakashi leaned closer to the window and looked inside the flat. The other figure was leaning against the door, frame jerking with every punch to the other side of the wooden barrier. The teenager made out the flowing lines of a furisode falling open and a hand gripped to the opposite upper arm.
" Stup'd bastard! Open 'is door, righ' now!"
He's going to wake the entire block. Kakashi had had enough of the other man's drunken shouts and the effects they were having on the person still inside the flat. Gritting his teeth against the sudden wrenching pain in his ankle, Kakashi abandoned the tree and landed in a cat-like crouch on the iron railing.
The chuunin was so out of it, he didn't even notice the masked shinobi glaring at him from a few meters away. " 'Ru, godsdamnit!!! Let me-"
Kakashi didn't even bother to mask his presence any longer; in fact he released a wave of fury filled chakra directly towards the loud mouth. The chuunin spun around at the invasive presence and then slumped forward, mouth open in a silent scream. Withdrawing his fist from the shinobi's groin, Kakashi gave the man ( hardly, he may even be younger than me, and he sure as hell isn't acting like a man...stupid drunk ) a shove towards the stairwell, wordlessly commanding him to leave. The chuunin glared, but stumbled away.
Stupid fuc- He had been too pissed off and the scent of cheap sake had been too strong before to notice the cloying fragrance of fresh blood. An image of the shaking figure braced against the door flooded his mind. Kakashi knocked lightly on the worn surface. " ANBU." His voice, though muffled by both his cloth mask and the porcelain face plate, was crisp and clear.
The door immediately opened. " Yes, Inu-sama. May I help you?"
Kami-sama he's just a kid! The boy standing in the dark rectangular frame couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen in Kakashi's opinion, but the expression on his face was as world weary as his own. The slender body showed signs of just beginning to broaden in the shoulders and, if not for the lack of breasts and the deeper voice, the ANBU would have thought he was staring at a young girl. The jounin took in the brunette's costume in a single calculating glance. It was indeed a long sleeved kimono, the ends laying in a pool of moon light displaying black and ivory chrysanthemums scattered over a vermilion background. Basic black utilities were underneath the rich fabric, the pants slung low across narrow hips, bandages wrapped tightly around his midsection. His chest was bare. Dark hair was caught in a loose tail and hung over one shoulder to stream to his waist. The rounded face was heavily made up in geisha style, the white substance a stark contrast to his tan skin even in the dark of night. The ruby pucker drawn on his lips had been smeared across his cheek, leaving a red trail too reminiscent of - " Are you bleeding?" Kakashi remembered the reason he was checking up on the boy.
The chuunin (has to be a chuunin to have been able to throw out that jackass) tightened his grip on his right bicep, trickles of near-black staining the material beneath his fingers. His voice remained perfectly poised. " I'm fine, Inu-sama. I just returned from a mission, but my injuries are slight. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."
Polite. Almost frighteningly so. Kakashi tilted his head, his gesture similar to his actual canine counterpart. " Are you sure? " Why am I still here? He said he's fine!
" Yes, it doesn't require stitches. " The younger teen shifted on his feet, his kohl rimmed eyes casting downward. There seemed to be a darker shadow running across his nose, just beneath the make-up. " He's just drunk, nothing I haven't dealt with before. I apologize for his behavior."
" You're not responsible for him. He's old enough to be accountable."
" Of course, Inu-sama."
Kakashi wanted to leave. He could practically hear his futon calling his name. He's fine, he's old enough to take care of himself, he's a fucking shinobi. He's fine! The jounin nodded at his own inner monologue, yet continued to linger on the doorstep. " Make sure you see a med-nin. "
The kid's entire face changed, a smile erasing the unhappy look and blinding Kakashi in its sincerity. " Of course, Inu-sama. Thank you."
Kakashi nodded once more and turned from the door. He stepped onto the railing, listened to the sound of the door shutting behind him, and flung himself back into the night.
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Years later...
Kakashi turned from the window that he had been absently staring out of for at least half an hour, and directed his single eye towards his golden skinned lover grading papers across the room. " I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Iruka snickered and pushed a stack of book reports to his right. A pile of jutsu tests was set in the center of the coffee table. " I was asking about dinner, but what are you thinking about that's more important than listening to me?"
The ex-ANBU smiled softly beneath his mask, the memory's details solidifying in his mind. " Did you ever own a vermilion furisode?"
owari.
