Human Nature.
A/N: *Looks hugely apologetic* I AM SO FREAKING SORRY!! I know I've been AWOL for about a month and a half. I have had the worst case of depression induced writers block. Especially with this particular story *Glares* then all of a sudden 'Poof'. At five AM this morning it just cleared and I actually got the motivation to write again. So a fair amount of his chapter was written on the bus on the way to my work placement. LOL ^_^
Thank you as usual to everyone who has reviewed/fav'd/alerted ^_^ I solemnly swear to try and be more consistent from now on.
Chapter Nine: Final Details.
The two men walked side by side in silence coats pulled tightly around them, warding off the spring chill. Neither male daring to look at the other both caught in their own internal turbulence. Iruka's miniature hell was rather simple, he was worried about everything. His fretting mind was flitting from one problem to the next, occasionally distracted by the dull throb of his injured hand.
The first problem that was playing on his mind was their plan, or rather their lack there of one. During their discussion/ dispute in his apartment Kakashi had begun to outline a plan of action and to be honest Iruka hadn't been too impressed by. To be brutally honest the brunette had wanted to smack the silver haired idiot in the face.
His plan was absurd.
A plan where someone was practically committing suicide was definitely not a good idea in his books and he had told Kakashi so. What did anyone really gain by him becoming a sacrificial lamb? He and the children might get an extra day or two tops. It was pointless in reality.
Kakashi had not been happy with his argument.
The taller man had been even less happy when Iruka had challenged his decision, and flat out told him that he was not leaving him behind to be slaughtered. There was no way in hell he was losing another friend to those Kyubbi bastards. Here the brunette paused mentally, were the two of them friends? Up until now he had only really thought of them as acquaintances and had assumed Kakashi had felt them same. Merely tolerating his presence out of convenience and for a roof over his head. For some unfathomable reason that thought stung slightly.
But that whole perception had changed with the argument earlier this afternoon. The silver haired man had seemed genuinely concerned when he discovered that he was injured and had even said that he 'cared' about him. In his own roundabout kind of way. Iruka shook his head in confusion and stole a look sideways. Kakashi's brow was creased in concentration and the brunette noted that he looked as troubled as he felt. Mismatched eyes narrowed and intent.
Kakashi was indeed troubled. Like his companion his internal hell was very simple, but unlike the teacher his concern was much more focused.
He was worried about Iruka.
And the fact his frantic mind couldn't come up with a single viable excuse to say no to training him was driving him slightly insane. Every time his mind came up with something remotely plausible, a little voice that sounded suspiciously like Iruka (Kakashi wasn't even sure when that had wormed it's way into his subconscious.) Ripped the argument to shreds, finding fault and pointing out the many contradictions.
It was infuriating.
In the end, the top and bottom of the whole matter was that he didn't want to do it. Kakashi didn't want to expose the man any further to that particular side of his persona. It had already reared its ugly head a few times, almost doing irreparable damage. The silver haired man shuddered violently at the memory of him with a knife at the mans throat. He didn't want to be that person anymore. He had been trying to not be that person for a long time. However the more he tried to run from his bloodstained past, the more it seemed to catch up with him. Ready to bite him in the ass in the worst of ways. This situation being case and point.
Kakashi was so very tired of running.
He was even more tired of failing and was now in a position where he couldn't afford to. There was far more at stake here than just his own life. There were people that he trusted and cared about in the line of fire.
Sasuke, a boy he had cared for like a son when he had been in his parents employ and still felt obligated to.
Naruto, Neji, Hinata; he must be going soft the speed at which the three brats had wormed their way under his skin was alarming.
Tsunade, Shizune, Kurenai; some of the very few people he had left to trust.
And last but not least Iruka.
This brought Kakashi's train of thought full circle and back to his original problem. No closer to any resolution.
He swore mentally.
The silver haired man was prevented from thinking further by their imminent arrival at their destination. Tsunade's tea shop loomed before them. Unlike the last time the two men had entered the shop, the small building was full to brimming with customers. People bustled from wall to wall examining the various jars, testing merchandise or chatting to fellow customers. The overall mood was rather 'homey' and comfortable. Iruka gazed on in amused fascination; he hadn't expected the business to be so lucrative especially considering its location.
Beside him Kakashi gave a nervous cough and the brunette could fee the taller man fidgeting. 'How on earth could he be uncomfortable in such an atmosphere?' Iruka wondered idly but looked and locked his gaze with the other man. Brown met mismatched grey and red and Iruka had to stifle a chuckle.
"What's up?" he asked tentatively, not wanting to hurt the mans pride.
Kakashi grunted an unintelligible response and Iruka smiled.
"What was that Kakashi?" he asked, mirth tinging his voice.
The other man gave him a soft glare "I said I'm not all that comfortable around so many people."
This time it took all the teachers willpower to reign in the laugh that bubbled in his chest. If the look Kakashi was giving him was anything to go by he really wouldn't take kindly to being laughed it.
"You are kidding right." Iruka made sure his voice was level and smooth.
The silver head hook slowly, a distinct frown puckering the smooth skin of his forehead. "I'm not exactly a 'people person'."
This time Iruka couldn't hold back the small snigger that crossed his lips at the absurd statement.
"Imagine that" he retorted.
This earned him a glare.
"I mean you just ooze charm and sociality." The brunette couldn't resist teasing. It was unusual for the other man to be out of his comfort zone.
'GLARE'
"I just can't imagine you not getting along with people."
'GLARE'
"Quit glaring like that, you're scaring the customers." Iruka finished the sentence with a wink. Kakashi dropped the glare and reverted back to his frown.
"It's not funny Iruka. I'm uncomfortable because normally in situations like this I'm armed with a least three different weapons. Right now I don't even have a pen knife. It makes me feel naked."
Kakashi's eyes widened in realisation at what he said. The brunette's eyebrow arched and a wicked smirk graced his features.
"Naked you say? That could b arranged." The voice was practically a purr.
It took a few seconds of heavy tension for both men's brains to process what had happened and for rationality to kick in. Iruka's brain finally caught up to his mouth and he blushed violently at the sentence that had come from his lips. Even harder when he thought about the sultry tone he had used.
"Um... I... Um sorry. That really didn't come out right. I mean... Ahh... Sorry." He dared not look them man in the eye.
Beside him Kakashi was stood shocked completely drop jawed. His face was also tinted with a faint blush, although it was mostly hidden behind his mask. Nervously he rubbed the back of his neck trying very hard not think about that voice.
"Er... Don't be, my fault. Really bad choice of wording."
Iruka shook his head "No it's mine. I shouldn't have been teasing you. I get a bit carried away sometimes. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
Kakashi wanted resisted the urge to say to the other man that he really didn't mind the teasing, especially when he used that voice. But figured it would probably freak the teacher out just a little bit.
"It's nothing, forget it."
The uncomfortable silence stretched between the two men, despite the bustle around them. Kakashi frowned he had to do something the alleviate the discomfort slowly he found his voice. Time for a bit of revenge.
"So is the idea of me being naked really all that disturbing?"
It was a weak tease but it cut through the tension like a knife. Iruka's blush deepened and it was now his turn to glare. Kakashi smirked at the reaction.
"Knock it off." The brunette mock snarled, giving the other man a light punch on the shoulder. "We should get going."
The silver haired man nodded in agreement and both men began to move their way through the solid mass of people. It was slow going but they finally made to the front desk, where they were accosted by an incredibly harassed looking Shizune. She immediately latched onto Kakashi, simply not noticing Iruka.
"Hatake-san thank kami finally you're here." There was no mistaking the annoyance in the woman's voice. The dark haired woman looked about ready to explode with agitation.
Kakashi just gave a smile putting on his best 'who me' look.
"Sorry about the delay Shizune-san. I guess I just go lost on the road of life."
"You liar." Shizune responded not looking at impressed with the mans lame excuse. She stepped around the counter and placed her hands on her hips. Moving into position Iruka instantly recognized as a 'bitch stance'. He'd seen many of his female colleagues adopt the position when about to berate naughty children. Hell he even had one himself, of course that was not classed as a 'bitch stance' but the concept was the same.
"Me, lie, never." Kakashi replied feigning innocence.
"Yes you are I called you two hours ago. It doesn't take that long to get here."
Iruka felt the man beside him bristle with annoyance at the accusation. Two hours ago they had been stuck in his apartment discussing the incident with Itachi. It wasn't Kakashi's fault they were late, just circumstance. The brunette decided to step in before things went downhill. He remembered Kakashi and Shizune's last confrontation and it wasn't particularly fond.
"I'm sorry Shizune-san. It's my fault we were late. Kakashi was assisting me with a problem."
The dark haired woman's eyes widened slightly as she recognised just who Kakashi's companion was.
"Iruka-san!? I didn't see you there." She blushed slightly.
Iruka gave her a warm grin "Story of my life." He joked, immediately dissipating the horrible atmosphere. Shizune offered a soft smile in response, having apparently completely forgotten the reason as to why she was annoyed. Kakashi noted the change in demeanour and frowned.
"Come on, I'd best take you to Tsunade-sama before she decides to break something. Preferably not you." She winked at Iruka and latched onto his arm dragging him down the stairs, leaving Kakashi to follow a sullen look on his face.
~*~
The three of the walked to down the long passageway to Tsunade's lab in silence. Shizune was still clinging on to Iruka and it was starting to make the silver haired man feel sick to his stomach. It was quite obvious that the dark haired woman liked the teacher, but did she have to rub it in Kakashi's face? Iruka as usual just took it with grace, but did have a distinct look of pained discomfort etched on his face.
"Iruka, how is your hand feeling?" He asked, hoping to divert Iruka's attention away from their guide.
The brunette smile gratefully at the distraction and swiftly untangled his arm from Shizune. The dark haired woman looked confused but when Iruka withdrew his damaged hand from his pocket, her eyes widened.
"Still hurts like a bitch. But other than that not too bad." He tenderly flexed the limb.
"What on earth happened?" Shizune asked horror etched on her face.
Iruka shrugged "Just banged it in class that's all. No big deal." He didn't want to alarm the woman by mentioning his run in with Itachi.
"That's a hell of bang Iruka-san." She replied with a small frown on her face.
Apparently not buying his story for one moment, she shot a dark look at Kakashi. The silver haired man returned the look, clearly sensing the accusation Shizune was throwing at him. He frowned deeply beneath his mask, irritated and hurt at the fact that the aide thought he'd hurt the other man. Kakashi knew he was considered a dangerous and violent person by those who knew him, but that didn't mean he hurt indiscriminately. He was only that person while on assignment, the rest of the time he was just Kakashi, socially inept, slightly weird Kakashi. It was rather disconcerting that people couldn't discern between the two.
Iruka noted the deflated expression on the other mans face. "What's wrong?"
The look vanished instantly and the silver haired man settled back into his normal bored posture as though it hadn't been there. A look of concern crossed the brunettes face and Kakashi did his best to ignore it moving forward down the corridor. Iruka sighed and followed once again feeling confused by the man. Honestly Kakashi was sometimes far more complicated than was healthy. The dark haired woman brought up the rear with a deep frown on her face.
~*~
The trio entered the lab in relative silence. The lab was exactly as Iruka remembered it everything was in the exact same place, including the labs sole occupant. Tsunade sat at her desk looking at her computer monitor so intently that she didn't even notice them enter.
Shizune coughed loudly "Tsunade-sama. Hatake-san and Iruka-san are here."
Tsunade still didn't look up b waved her hand in a 'come here' gesture. Kakashi walked straight over without hesitation leaving Iruka standing nervously by the door with Shizune. The dark haired woman turned to the teacher, worry sparkling in her eyes.
"Iruka-san, it was Hatake-san that hurt you wasn't it?"
Iruka's eyes went wide with shock "What! Please tell me you're not serious Shizune-san?"
The woman's eyes narrowed "Very serious Iruka-san. Hatake-san is more than capable of it and I certainly wouldn't put it past him."
Brown eyes narrowed as Iruka felt a wave of anger rage through him. He couldn't believe that Shizune thought Kakashi had hurt him, she didn't know the man. 'It's not as if you really know him.' His brain added. The anger died away as quickly as it had risen and he fixed the young woman with stern look.
"No Kakashi didn't hurt me, that's the truth I swear."
The dark eyes softened "I believe you. But please be careful Iruka-san, you have already been dragged to far into this world. I don't want to see someone as good as you get hurt, and that's all Hatake-san knows to do." She gave his undamaged hand a squeeze and walked out the door and back toward the tea shop, leaving a very conflicted Iruka in her wake. Shaking his head the brunette moved toward the other two occupants, who were deep in conversation.
"What have I missed?" He asked.
Both Kakashi and Tsunade looked up, the woman had a smile on her face and the silver haired man had a relieved look on his face.
"Not a whole lot really, but I think Sasuke's gonna wake up soon. Especially if the latest EEG is anything to go by."
Iruka looked a little confused, he wasn't that well versed on medical equipment and procedures. "EEG?"
Tsunade chuckled "It's a brain scan of sorts, it monitors electrical patterns in the brain and Sasuke's have been steadily increasing. It's a very good sign."
Iruka gave a small smile grateful for the explanation. "That's good news indeed."
"Certainly is means the brat will be out of your hair in no time at all."
"Hey!" Kakashi replied clearly offended. He hated the way Tsunade made him feel like a three year old.
Tsunade stuck out her tongue "Ah get over it brat. Now I believe you had something you wanted to talk to me about?"
The two men looked at each other nervously and began to recount the day's incidents to Tsunade. The older woman listened, carefully digesting what each man said and occasionally adding a hiss of anger at a part she didn't like. When Iruka told her about the meeting with Itachi she almost smashed her desk in rage. Cursing wildly Tsunade ordered Iruka to give her his hand so she could fix it up properly, the brunette didn't argue and it was soon trussed and Tsunade was handing him some rather strong painkillers. Iruka sighed in relief.
"So what are you guys gonna do?" The busty woman asked.
"Nothing really until they make their move. We can't leave town, Kyubbi will be watching all the exits and there is nowhere really safe left to go. All we can do is wait." Kakashi said grudgingly.
"Hmm I see, what happens when they do come? Where are you going to go?"
"That's why we came Tsunade-sama." Said Iruka bowing formally. "We were wondering if the kids could come here if the worst does happen."
Tsunade regarded the young man with hard eyes; she should have expected this proposition but was still somewhat shocked by it. Then there was the other point, he had only asked for the children.
"What about you two?"
"We're going to stay and hold them off." Iruka said blunt and unflinching.
The blond's eyes widened "What the hell are you two insane? That's suicide, never mind stupid. The kids wouldn't make it a mile without one of you."
Kakashi spoke "I know I wanted to stay behind alone and let Iruka escape with the kids."
"And I told you that I'm not letting you do that. I don't care whether you train me or not I'm not leaving you there alone." The look in the brown eyes was stubborn.
The bickering between the two men continued for minutes and Tsunade smiled inwardly at the antics of both men "Okay you two that's enough. Honestly you're as bad as a married couple."
The woman had chosen her words wisely and was more than entertained at the results. Kakashi went dead silent and if the medic wasn't mistaken there was a faint blush on what she could see of his face. Iruka reacted similarly his face blushing beet red and mouth gaping like a fish. After a few moments Tsunade burst into laughter causing both men to glower darkly. She felt happy that she lightened the mood even if only for a second.
"Not funny you old hag." The silver haired man muttered under his breath, not daring to look at his companion.
The blond continued to chuckle, lazily swinging her legs to and fro. "It stopped you arguing didn't it?"
"Still NOT FUNNY Tsunade."
"Stop being such a brat Kakashi. You need to be focused and united right now. I don't like your plan but it's not as if you have a whole lot of options. The only problem I can really see is getting the children here. You need a third adult." The woman tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"But where are we going to find another adult?" Iruka asked genuinely perplexed "I mean it would have to be someone who understood the situation and whom the kids trusted. It's a very small list and even then they'd have to be willing."
The medic gave a rather disturbing smile "I'm sure I can think of someone who fits the bill."
"And who might that be?" Kakashi asked, slightly unnerved at how quickly someone jumped to mind. The more the silver haired man thought on, the more worried he became. 'Oh please god not Shizune.' The woman definitely had it in for him and the fact that she quite obviously liked Iruka would be nothing but problematic.
"I would have thought that obvious. There is only one person I trust enough to do this that fulfils all the criteria."
"Shizune-san." Iruka said quietly.
"Exactly." Tsunade replied
Kakashi frowned, but couldn't fault the logic of the choice. However that didn't mean he had to like it or accept it.
"There are a few faults with this namely, where is she going to stay? Iruka's apartment is full to brimming as it is."
Iruka looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled as an idea came to his mind.
"She could always move in next door."
Both of the rooms other occupants turned to face the brunette who suddenly looked nervous. He gave a small cough and further explained his thought.
"Well the apartment next to mine has been empty for sometime and it links onto mine through the fire escape. I could probably persuade the landlord to let it out a bit cheap. The only problem would be finances and of course whether Shizune would be up to the task."
"Money is no issue, so don't worry about it. As for Shizune I'm sure she'd love the chance to get away from here or a while." The evil smirk was back and Kakashi felt his temper begin to flare. Damn that woman, she was purposely trying irritate him.
"Well that's almost everything solved then." Iruka said with a smile.
"Almost?" Kakashi asked looking confused.
"We still have to resolve our other issue about the training." The brunette's face turned stern.
"Are you really that determined?" The silver haired man looked sad.
"Yes I am. Like I said before if you don't train me you may as well hold the gun to my head."
"Then I'll train you. But don't think I'll go easy on you." Kakashi didn't dare meet Iruka's gaze.
Iruka nodded and politely asked Tsunade where the children were so he could get them ready to leave. The medic obliged and directed the teacher to one of the many rooms littering the underground. With a curt thank you he left, leaving Kakashi and Tsunade alone. The pair looked at each other solemnly.
"Are you really okay with training him brat?" The blond asked concern etched on her features.
"What do you think?" The reply was clipped.
"I think I know a lot of things, but not what goes on inside your head."
Kakashi growled "Of course I don't want to train him. I don't want him to be like me, I want him to stay as he is."
"You care about him don't you?" Tsunade's features softened.
"I… I don't know. Everything is just so fucked up I don't know what's going on anymore." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"I never thought I'd see the day when you of all people would be unsure about something." She teased.
"Come on Tsunade give me a break."
"Sorry brat. But I do have some words of wisdom for you. 'Enjoy each day to the fullest lest it be your last.' Meaning if you like the guy go for it."
Kakashi flushed, flustered at how perceptive the woman was. He was saved from any further embarrassing talk by Iruka re-entering the room flanked by Neji and Hinata, the still unconscious Sasuke draped over his back. The brunette flashed him a warm smile.
"Come on Kakashi lets go home.
The silver haired man smiled in return and followed his rather odd companions out the door, mulling Tsunade's words over in his head.
~End Chapter nine~
A/N: Man that took far too long. During he process of writing his chapter my uncle died so I apologise if the second half of his chapter is a bit crap. Oh and apologies to Luvsjazz. I'm sorry if I couldn't incorporate your critique all that well. It's not that I didn't try, but um… I'm a kinda sucky writer *^_^* But I still appreciate that you did it. Reviewers will be showered with cookies.
