Hey everyone!

So, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed *kisses reviewers feet*

Thank you Echo-kun for catching the mistake I made in the last chapter I was supposed to write "two centuries and fifty-nine years" but you can see where I went wrong…. :D but I changed it so alls good.

Under unforeseen circumstances, before I wrote this I was locked outside my place and it started to snow… but this chapter is still one of the longest I've written! O.O?

Back to business… I don't own Naruto I only own this plot which sucks a lot.

Flames will be used to burn down the flamers' houses :)

flashbacks- italics (yes, there will be flashback)

Word definitions:

-papa: it is the French word for "daddy" derived from "père" which means "father". I call my dad "papa" too and I thought it would be cute it Kakashi called his daddy "papa" when he's younger.

Chapter 9

"Papa! Papa! Look what I did!" the little boy with gray eyes called as he ran up to the desk, colored sheet of paper flapping with his speed. He peaked over the top of the desk on his tippy-toes to see what his father was doing.

"Not now, Kakashi. I'm trying to get this work done." The white-haired man said wearily as he continued to tap away on his laptop, glancing every few minutes to the papers scattered on his desk.

"But papa…" Kakashi's face fell, tears welling up inside those big, round eyes of his.

"Oh, come on, Sakumo," Came a voice from the door. "Can't you spare some time with your son?"

Sakumo's wife, Hikari, gave her husband a pleading look making the man sigh. He was usually a hard worn warrior when on the battle field but when Hikari was involved, he melted like butter in the microwave. The man looked at his son, holding his hand out for the drawing. Kakashi handed the sheet to his father and watched anxiously as Sakumo inspected the picture that was supposed to be a depiction of their little family. His father nodded and handed over the illustration, going back to his work with a quick, "good."

Kakashi grinned at the praise, hugging the picture to his chest. He dashed out of the room, past his mother, who gave his father a small smile that went unseen by the man at the desk.

It was raining. Hard.

It had been a hard week for both him and his father after learning the unexpected death of Hatake Hikari. Kakashi was standing at the door to his father's study where years earlier his mother had stood. Kakashi hadn't changed since then but so much of the world around him that had once been a happy paradise turned in a flash into a grim nightmare.

He uncertainly stood there for a few moments holding another paper behind his back; this one more important than the one from years ago. He stepped hesitantly into the room and toddled to the desk that his father was sitting at, looking more haggard than ever. Kakashi placed the certificate of graduation of elementary on the desk, sliding it carefully towards the man as if he was a sleeping lion and any sudden moves might wake him.

Kakashi waited for a few moments for the man to notice but when he didn't the lad fled from the room with tears in his eyes.

"Papa?" Kakashi called into the house as he removed his sandals and hooked his coat on the hook in the hall. He called again as he walked to his father's study where the man usually was, "papa?"

He suddenly felt a cold chill tingle up his spine; something wasn't right. The house was unusually silent. He would have heard his father tapping away at his computer by now like he always was.

The halls were eerily dark as Kakashi crept cautiously down the hall, listening to any sound that may alert his of an intruder or of his father's whereabouts. He heard nothing until he reached the door to his father's study which was standing ajar. That wasn't right. His father always kept the door closer no matter what; whether he was in there or not. Kakashi pressed one of his small hands to the open door and called quietly, "papa?"

The door creaked open slowly with a sinister screech as lightening flashed outside. He stepped into the room with care and walked to the center of the room. Sheets of work and papers with statistics on them littered the floor. The desk stood tall in front of Kakashi with a figure slumped in the chair. A peculiar dripping sound came from the bureau, little drops of liquid falling to the floor and landing with an audible dip!

Kakashi couldn't breathe. He felt his throat constricting and his stomach knot itself around his spine. He felt his face grow wet but he couldn't reach up to brush the moisture away. His jaw began to shake as did his fists while words tried to come out of his mouth. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity in his six-century-old mind. He finally found the will to break the spell and spoke as his voice grew in intensity, "papa….no … no…. not you too….. Please, no…. get up! Papa! PAPA!"

His eyes snapped open, panting as sweat trickled down his brow. He only registered that someone was in front of him when his mind cleared from his sleep-induced haze.

"Kakashi? Are you okay?" Iruka asked with concern etched on his features as he half sat on the vampire's bed, one leg hanging off the edge while the other was bent underneath him. He was looking down on the resting man and had lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kakashi shook the sleep from his consciousness, sitting up slowly. Iruka repeated his question as he rubbed soothing circles into the taller man's back, "you okay?"

Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut, pursing his lips and scrunching his face up in an attempt to purge his head of the dream. He muttered quietly, "I don't know."

"You want to talk about it?" Iruka questioned with genuine care in his face as the hand on Kakashi's back stilled to come to a rest on the Kakashi's forearm. The touch was reassuring to Kakashi and it helped to remind Kakashi that he was there, now, not back in the horrible memory.

"Yes…. no….maybe…." Kakashi said stiffly as he ran a hand through his messy hair and groaned. "It was just a memory, I'll be fine."

"No," Iruka squeezed his arm and shifted on the bed so he was sitting next to Kakashi on the bed with his back against the headboard. "It'll help."

Kakashi looked to the wall on the other side of the room, delaying looking into the younger man's trusting eyes. When he finally gave in, he took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. "My mother died when I was really young due to an unexpected complication in an operation she had and my father committed suicide only years later because of depression. It dreamt of the night he died."

Iruka took Kakashi's hand gently and started to draw small circles onto the surface in a calming motion that seemed to help ease the tension out of Kakashi's muscles and the unease from his mind. Iruka nodded knowingly, "you dream of it because it was a traumatic experience and your young mind engraved it into your memory."

Kakashi furrowed his brows, looking at Iruka questioningly. How did Iruka know that? The young man shrugged and said simply, "you're not the only who's lost his parent's at a young age. Many of the children I work with have lost their parents on missions or on the journey here or even before that. The death of a loved one is hard to deal with, especially in children. It hurts even more when it's unexpected. Either way, though, there's no way to prepare one for that. Over time the wounds heal and the memory of the person lost comes to rest in your heart but it can still hurt. You're not alone, Kakashi. We're here for you."

Kakashi's mood lightened a little, knowing he wasn't alone, and he held Iruka's hand in his, a grin spread on his face. "Wise words, Sensei."

Iruka smiled and playfully elbowed Kakashi in the side. His smiled faded slowly; he looked at Kakashi in the eyes, his mood back to serious. "I mean it Kakashi. We're all here for you. I'm here for you."

"Thanks Ruka." He gave the darker hand in his a light squeeze and smiled down into the brown eyes that looked up at him with a content expression.

Iruka jumped off the bed suddenly, turning to Kakashi. It was now that Kakashi realized the teacher was fully dressed in a plain white tee and jeans. Turning to the window in his room, he discovered the sun was just beginning to rise. Kakashi looked back to Iruka who stood there, shuffling his feet. The brunet explained, "I went out his morning to go get you things."

"Couldn't that have wait for after school?" Kakashi asked as a heavy feeling settled in his stomach.

"Um," Iruka looked to the floor and he shuffled nervously in place. "I'm not going to school today."

Kakashi was confused. He frowned in suspicion. "But it's Wednesday. Do you have the day off?"

"Sort of. I have a mission."

The vampire slid to the edge of the bed, standing up in front of Iruka and placing his hands on his hips in a manner that meant no f*cking around. "What kind of mission?"

"It's an extraction. We've been planning it for some time now and I kind of forgot about it." Iruka grinned sheepishly and his cheeks flushed a little with embarrassment.

"So, you forgot because you got distracted by me," Kakashi grinned lecherously as he leaned into the younger man's personal space.

Iruka smirked at him as the blush on his cheeks darkened. He had spent all Tuesday with Kakashi who insisted on sitting in on his class yesterday and he learnt that the man loved to watch Iruka's face blush; it being the reason why he always went out of his way to put the younger man into embarrassing situations. Tuesday had been a perverse war zone. Kakashi took every chance he got to make the teacher's face turn bright red. He still blushed but he no longer stuttered like he had when the vampire started to show his lecherous ways. Good thing too because Kakashi sniggered to himself every time. The tittering was less but it was nonetheless there, if not more to oneself.

"I'll be away for a couple of days so I went to the blood bank this morning," Iruka's smirk faded but it was replaced with a shy smile. "And I got you some blood. It's A-positive. I hope you like that kind."

"Well, it's not my favorite but it tastes good." Kakashi shrugged. Iruka seemed satisfied with the answer and headed out of the room with Kakashi dilly-dallying in behind. "How long will you be gone for?"

"Until Saturday at the most," Iruka replied as they descended the stairs to the kitchen.

"What's an extraction? I've heard Asuma and you mention it before." Kakashi sat at the kitchen table and watched as Iruka busied himself in making Kakashi breakfast. The werewolf thought for a moment before speaking.

"An extraction is when we extract a member, family or group out of the vampire society and we bring them here. We've done this countless times with shifters, vampire, humans and even some werewolves in hiding. Each cities does this to increase population and the extraction process is slow and takes weeks of monitoring a subject. The subject could be anyone from a slave to a nobleman as long as they're trustworthy and they wish for a better life."

Kakashi stared at the young man who was popping toaster waffles into their appointed machine. He watched as Iruka grabbed a bulging blood bag the size of pocket dictionary out of the fridge and he admired how giving the young teacher was. Kakashi chuckled to himself and Iruka turned to him, a quizzical look on his face. Kakashi explained grinning, "It's no wonder they chose you as their leader. You're so caring, Ruka."

"Uh… yeah, that's why." Iruka looked away to the counter and wouldn't meet Kakashi's eyes. He said that to Kakashi but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "How do you like your blood?"

"How it is, is fine," the teacher sliced open the top with a knife from the drawer and poured the ruby liquid into the awaiting cup. He flung the bag into the sink and brought the cup to the awaiting vampire. Kakashi felt his right eye stir when the crystalline cup came into his view. He didn't know how hungry he was until now and he fought back the urge to lick his lips at the enticing beverage.

The first sip Kakashi took from the cup tasted delicious and an urge that had been nagging him at the back of his mind was quelled with the trickle of liquid coming down his throat. The sighed in contentment as he savoured the drink and only then did he lick his lips of the scarlet substance.

He didn't notice Iruka had left the room until his cup was completely empty save for a few microscopic spots at the bottom of the cup that refused to budge. Though, he had a good idea where he might find the vanished brunet.

The doors to the hidden room in the basement were wide and a flickering light emitted from the room. Kakashi had been right in his assumption. Iruka was indeed in the room and what a room it was. It was small but not miniscule, around five feet by five. The walls were made of uneven stone bricks matching the ones in the rest of the basement and a bookshelf covered the entire left wall with books of all shapes, sizes and ages. On the far wall hung weapons; a lot of weapons. From a guillotine sword to the smallest dagger, there were all different sorts ranging in style, length and origin. The right wall had a long desk stretching between the two adjacent walls that had lit candles with trembling flames, papers, pens and other assorted things neatly organized on it.

Iruka was standing in front of the desk. He wasn't wearing the same clothes as before. He had on now a stainless pair of sleek black pants on, matching boots that went up to beneath the knee, and a black sleeveless turtleneck shirt to match the rest of the outfit. His hair was still in its customary ponytail and Iruka was fastening what looked like a utility belt around his waist.

The outfit showed of how strapping the werewolf actually was. His shirt stretched over abdominals and pectorals that had been trained not to the point of concrete strength but they were still firm. His arms were well-built with force that only came from lenient but regular physical work. He was smaller than Kakashi and his shoulders were not broad but delicate-looking. Iruka was small for a man but he was sturdy nevertheless. In other words, he had a good-looking bod for almost eighteen centuries.

Kakashi then noticed the tattoo. It was elegant and simply designed, resting on Iruka's bare bicep. The black ink looked like a drop of water being held up by a half-swirl.

Iruka turned to see Kakashi standing in the doorway and he giggle to himself. Kakashi 'huh?'-ed and looked down at himself. His normally pale face turned a bright red when he noticed what he was wearing. All he had on was a new pair of boxers he got Monday. They were a sky blue and they had bright yellow ducks on them. Bright yellow ducks.

"Yeah, yeah, I sleep with ducks. Get over it, Dolphin." Kakashi said as he crossed his arms, a bright glow still on his cheeks.

"Okay….. Mr. Ducky." Iruka burst out laughing his head off and Kakashi waited patiently with a frown on his lips for the teacher to get control over his breathing. Once the teacher had settled down, he rubbed tears out of his eyes. "Sorry, Kashi; I couldn't resist."

"S'okay." Kakashi shrugged and stepped into the candle-lit room. The cold floor tickled his bare feet and he rubbed a foot against his calf to warm it up. "So, this is where you do all your secret, leader stuff, eh?"

"Well, I guess you could put it that way." Iruka turned back to the desk and bent to pulled something out of the bottom drawer. Kakashi got a good look of Iruka's ass in the process. It was a nice ass too. Iruka had taken out what looked like two pale purple pieces of armour out of the drawer. It reminded Kakashi of the armour the man who delivered Iruka's meeting summon on Saturday night except Iruka's looked more outdated and worn. Iruka fitted the first plate over his torso and the other one went on his back. He clipped two leather straps together at each shoulder with a bit of a struggle and he fumbled with the straps at the sides that held the plates against his body.

"Here, let me help." Kakashi grabbed the straps and Iruka raised his arms to allow Kakashi more access. Kakashi tied the straps together and when Iruka lowered his arms the armour fit snuggly over his chest and back allowing flexibility.

Kakashi went over to the desk and fished out another piece of armour. He handed it to Iruka who bent down and fitted the piece over the front of his calf, Kakashi handed him an identical part from the drawer for him to put on. The next pieces were a pair of gloves. They were black, like the rest of the outfit, with claw-like nails at the ends and they went up till past the elbows. Iruka slid them on. The last parts Kakashi recognized. They were forearm guards; they were also very useful to block stray attacks from other unshielded parts of the body.

Iruka held his hand out for the part but Kakashi walked up to the teacher and took the tan, glove covered hand in his. He pulled the arm out and helped Iruka fit the piece onto his arm. He knew how difficult it was to put one on with only one hand. His assassin uniform had had similar arm guard models and they were always hell to put on if you were alone.

Iruka smiled at him and reach down into his shirt, pulling off a chain that had been hanging around his neck from under the turtleneck. On the chain, a rusty, little old key the size of his pinky finger hung. He held the chain out to Kakashi. "This room contains tons of information on ANBU, the cities and future plans. I don't want this key to fall into the wrong hands."

Kakashi slowly took the chain and fingered the metal plates. His gaze shot back up to Iruka. "Why are you giving these to me? Is the mission that dangerous?"

"It's always dangerous to go out among the other society." Iruka said gloomily as he walked past the vampire to the desk.

"Well, then, don't go." Kakashi stood beside Iruka at the desk and placed a hand on the smaller shoulder. He was irritated now. Why was Iruka going on this mission if he was their leader? "You're their leader, Iruka. You shouldn't be going on mission if their dangerous."

"Kakashi, that's why I have to go." Iruka shrugged off his hand and pulled open another drawer on the desk. "You know how I told you this city's numbers in shinobi are lower than either of the other cities? Well, in total, out of the ten thousand people we have here, only thirty-two are shinobi."

"Why don't you make the new extractions into shinobi then?"

"That wouldn't be fair. I gave the ones before a choice. Why would I do differently?"

The silence was thick between the two as Iruka wrapped his thigh in a bandage he took out of the drawer and strapped a holster on over them. The last piece of armour the werewolf pulled out of the desk was a white porcelain mask, the red marks on the mask ironically symbolized 'Wolf'. Iruka blew out the candles and pressed past Kakashi out of the room, mask in hand. Kakashi followed him out and watched as the teacher slid the nail back into place, wall coming back into place.

Kakashi stared at the wall for a few moments before he trailed after Iruka up the stairs.

Once he got to the top of the stairs, he froze. Iruka was standing by the sofa, back to Kakashi. His ears disappeared into his head and his black, wolf ears slid out of his head, some hair falling into his face. His onyx tail appeared and seemed to meld with the fabric of his pants. Iruka turned around and saw Kakashi motionless, teetering at the edge of the steps. Kakashi blinked back to reality and asked curiously, "does it hurt? When they…. Uh…"

"No, it's normally painless, unless it's a werewolf's first change." Iruka chuckled at Kakashi's astonished face.

"And the pants?" Kakashi asked pointing to the garments.

"They're custom made." Iruka flicked his tail, demonstrating how the fabric allowed it to move without falling to the ground. "Something we invented a while back. It was pretty annoying to have to rip our pants and the tears always ripped more when we used the pants."

"Ah," Kakashi's eyes narrowed and a smirk fitted his lips. "I would have liked to see that."

Iruka stared at Kakashi for a few moments before the lewd meaning of the comment settled in Iruka's head. He gasped and the blush monster came back to take over the brunet's face. Iruka looked quickly away in embarrassment. "You're such a pervert!"

Kakashi gave a full out laugh again and raced up the stairs to go put on some clothes. Changed, he hopped back downstairs to find Iruka fiddling with the mask. Kakashi came up to the brunet and held out his hand. "Want help with that?"

Iruka nodded graciously and handed over his mask. Kakashi placed it on Iruka's face, turned the werewolf around and tried the blood red strings together in a tight bow under Iruka's ponytail. "There, all done."

Iruka turned back to Kakashi, his eyes shining through their appointed holes. "Want to walk with me till the meeting spot?"

"Don't mind if I do."

They made their way through the city to the main gates and all the while there a tender aching started to make itself known in Kakashi's chest. He would miss the younger man while he was away. Iruka had grown on him these past few days and he hoped the werewolf would return safe. Little did he know, cette brunet was having similar troubles too.

"So, I have little bit of money saved up in the second drawer of my dresser. It should be more than enough for my time gone." Iruka was saying. "And if you need any help or you have a problem, don't hesitate to ask either Asuma or Izumo and Kotetsu. Their addresses are in my phone book on the desk in my room. If you want, you can use the room downstairs. I have books about the cities and their history if you want to get yourself up to par."

"Yeah, I might go check them out."

"As long as you put them back in their original place, I'm good."

The arrived at the main gates but Iruka kept walking, making his way to the fissure. Kakashi watched uncertainly as Iruka started through the winding, constricted passage. The teacher noticed Kakashi had stopped. Going back to the vampire and taking Kakashi's hand reassuringly in his warm one, the brunet led them expertly through the compact channel. They emerged from the hole after what seemed like an eternity and came up upon the sandy shore. Iruka let go of his hand and went to a group of people in outfits similar to his that were waiting for his arrival. There were three of them, not including Iruka and they all had their unique masks on. Each one had a different mask; a puma, a vulture and a bear.

Kakashi lingered at the entrance to the city as Iruka went up to the team. The group nodded to "wolf" and Iruka came back to where Kakashi was. The group was shrugging on small packs and fixing their gear, preparing to leave. Iruka stopped in front of the vampire. The teacher was quiet for a few moments, trying to find the right words to say, Kakashi guessed.

There was a gnawing at his chest aching to make Iruka stay but he knew it had to be done. For the lives of the person or persons who were to be extracted and for the sake of the city's dwindling shinobi numbers if the extracted decided to become shinobi or not.

"Come back safe." Was all Kakashi said and yet he meant so much those three simple words. Iruka's eyes softened and the taller man could tell the werewolf was smiling under his mask. Iruka gave a simple nod and Kakashi watched as he went back over to his team.

The team was ready, willing and able, waiting for their captain's signal. Iruka stepped next to them and gave a short nod and the taller one of the group, the one with the bear mask, abruptly morphed into a dark, mahogany, brown wolf, his clothes melting into the fur along with the mask and weapons. Bear's two other comrades quickly changed into their wolf forms as well, Vulture a sandy-furred wolf and Puma a light russet colored wolf.

Iruka was the last one and he looked back at Kakashi one last time before him himself transformed too. His body bent itself to the ground, his legs and arms shortening and the fur of his ears and tail spreading over his body, covering his clothes and armour so they were no longer visible. The kind teacher was now a fierce-looking wolf with sleek black fur. Iruka-wolf nodded in Kakashi's direction, their eyes met and Kakashi could see that the brunet's eyes hadn't changed. They were still filled with warmth and care that radiated Iruka's compassion for all beings.

Kakashi smiled sadly, holding his hand up in a wave as the wolves turned away and started darting down the shore, away from the city. The vampire put his hand in his pocket and he fingered the metal key and chain in his pocket.

What will happen? Will Iruka come back safe and sound? Who will he bring back? Will Kakashi go into the secret room downstairs? What will he find if he does? What other patterned boxers did Kakashi buy on Monday?

All will be answered next chapter! …. Maybe…

I've already started writing the next chapter. So many questions have been answered in it but more will pop up… I am sooo evil :D

Love your reviews and I love seeing you guys put this on your "favorites/alert" list.