Chapter Ten
He had told Genma exactly where to go. That fact was curdling his insides, making him squirm. He might as well have pushed Genma through the gates himself, there was no way Genma would just sit on that information. Kakashi had sent Genma to his death.
"His team were on their way to Otafuku Gai…"
It had been hours since Kakashi had seen Genma. Hours for Genma to chase down his revenge. Otafuku Gai was only twelve kilometres away, and Genma was fast, he was probably there already, dancing with death. Gai and his team had dragged themselves back to Konoha with their tails between their legs, there was no way Genma could defeat Gai's attackers single-handedly. He'd be killed if he tried.
Kakashi skidded to a halt upon the tiles of the rooftop and crouched at the edge, casting his single eye over the horizon of the village. He hoped he was overreacting. He hoped that Genma had simply gone home, to sulk and seethe alone. He hoped a lot of things, but he hoped most of all that he would find Genma, safe and sound and nowhere near Otafuku Gai.
"Kakashi!"
The sound of his name startled him, but he didn't let it show. He had been so busy berating himself that he hadn't been paying attention, the presence of the chuunin behind him so suddenly unannounced made his thoughts dart away.
He turned to look over his shoulder, to where Iruka was crouched at the other end of the rooftop. There was a faint look of confused concern on the chuunin's face, made all the more precious by the soft strip of chalk dust that Iruka had failed to wipe away completely.
Kakashi blinked, and tried to remember what he had been doing only moments ago.
"Is everything alright?" Iruka asked as he straightened out of his crouch, his brows drew further together when Kakashi's only answer was to blink. The sun was caught behind Iruka, caught in the wisps of hair that had freed themselves of the hair-tie. There was a shimmering aura of sunlight framing the chuunin. Kakashi blinked again, breathing had suddenly become a little more difficult.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka walked across the tiles, keeping his deep brown eyes firmly on the jounin, "is something wrong? You ran off so suddenly…"
Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, and then clamped his jaw shut with an audible click. He had run off hadn't he, without so much as a goodbye. He hadn't actually been planning to leave the chuunin with the bill, believe it or not. He hadn't been planning to leave at all, he had wanted to stay in Iruka's company until the schoolteacher was sick to death of him.
But he had realised that Genma had…
Genma…
"I need to find Genma," Kakashi replied. Iruka was standing over him now, draping Kakashi in his shadow. There was a shudder trying to make itself known in Kakashi's abdomen as he looked up at the chuunin, something pleasant and ticklish that quivered as Kakashi found himself caught in Iruka's gaze.
"Genma?" Iruka asked softly, "why? What's happened?"
Kakashi felt his insides squirm again as he remembered the conversation he and Genma had had, "nothing yet, I hope," he said as he looked back out over the village, "but I need to find him before something does happen."
"I don't understand," Iruka crouched down beside Kakashi, peering at the jounin's profile anxiously, "what's going to happen?"
He should have made the connection. He should have realised sooner. Genma's questions had confused Kakashi at the time, but now they made perfect sense. Kakashi had visions of finding Genma's corpse in the forest around Otafuku Gai. It would be his fault, he had told Genma where to go.
"I'm an idiot," Kakashi said softly, more to himself that to the chuunin knelt at his side.
He was startled again when he felt a light touch to his shoulder. Iruka's hand was a comforting weight, light enough to be unobtrusive, but there nonetheless.
"I don't know what's going on," Iruka said, "but I'll help you find Genma; maybe we should split up, we could find him faster."
Kakashi just looked at Iruka, at the eager expression he was wearing, accented by the confusion in his eyes. Kakashi hadn't realised how close Iruka was to him, their thighs were almost touching, separated by a hair of space between them as they knelt at the edge of the rooftop. If Kakashi shifted his weight, just a little, they would be touching. The urge to move just a fraction closer was starting to burn.
Kakashi was not a touchy feely type of person. But Iruka just begged to be touched. The lightness of the chuunin's hand on his shoulder was a teasing weight, he wanted more.
It would be so easy to lean closer. It wouldn't take any effort at all. But there was no reason to want to bridge the distance, nothing more than an indulgent desire for some sort of comfort that Kakashi was sure he would find if he could get more contact, more than just a hand on his shoulder that was starting to make him ache.
"Good idea," Kakashi replied, standing rather than shifting closer. The hand on his shoulder fell away, leaving a whisper behind, a cold patch that had been warm moments ago. "If you find him… just stop him from leaving the village."
"Why would he leave Konoha?" Iruka frowned as he rose to stand beside Kakashi.
"I told him where to find the man who killed his mother," Kakashi replied, his voice heated by guilt, "try his apartment first, I'm going to the gates to see if the sentries have seen him leaving."
Iruka nodded, his eyes had widened in alarm with Kakashi's explaination. Another pang of guilt sounded through Kakashi when he focused on Iruka's face. He hadn't meant to tell Genma, he hadn't realised what it was he was telling him, it was a mistake.
"I'll meet you back here in half an hour if I can't find him," Iruka stated. Kakashi simply nodded before turning away. His heart had grown heavy with foreboding, he was wrapped up with a sense of haste that made him push himself from the rooftop in the direction of the village gates.
oO0Oo
If he tried, really tried, Iruka thought he could remember the funeral of Genma's mother. He had only been very young at the time, five, maybe six years old, and the memory had become warped and faded over time, mingled with other memories from other places. He wasn't sure what he was remembering really, apart from a massive funeral pyre and flames that licked the sky. It might have been the first funeral he had ever attended. It wasn't the last.
He had met Genma there for the first time. Iruka's mother had taken him towards the boy and told Iruka to pay his respects. Iruka hadn't wanted to say he was sorry, he hadn't done anything wrong. But his mother had yanked on his ear so Iruka had winced and apologised with a scowl on his face.
That was really all he remembered. He had no memory of Genma's mother, he doubted he had ever met her, and he had no idea how she died. But Iruka knew what it was like to need to blame someone for your pain, he knew what it was like to want to hurt someone to make the agony of grief go away.
Knowing this, Iruka didn't really expect to find Genma at his apartment.
He raced up the staircase and pounded onto Genma's door anyway.
When he was eleven, Iruka had tried to kill Naruto. That was to be his revenge. It was supposed to make the grief go away. Naruto was the home of the demon that had killed his parents. All of Iruka's suffering paved a path back to that tiny blue eyed baby. Rationally, he had known that Naruto was not to blame, even back then, but he also knew that the Kyuubi lived within Naruto, and that if Iruka ever wanted revenge then Naruto was simply an obstacle in his way.
He had crept across the village after dark, heading in the direction of the foster home where Naruto was being cared for. Iruka hadn't thought it through, he hadn't decided what he would do when he got there; his plan consisted of finding the baby. What came after hadn't been decided.
The house had been on fire when he arrived. He hadn't been the only one to want revenge. He hadn't been the first person to act. But when he looked at the roaring flames, eating away at the house, belching out black smoke, Iruka had known that he wouldn't have been able to go through with it. When he heard one of the spectators who had come to watch the burning building mention that the baby was still inside, the dread that froze Iruka to the spot was proof that he would never have been able to harm Naruto. The mere thought of Naruto burning to death had made him feel sick.
An ANBU had crashed out of the second storey window, a black wraith with a dog-like face landing gracefully on the roof of the building opposite. He had a bundle of blankets held in his arms, cradled against his chest. The crowd that had gathered jeered and hissed when it became obvious that the baby was safe, but Iruka had only felt light with relief. He had been glad the baby was alright. Naruto didn't deserve to die because of circumstances outside his control. It wasn't fair what had happened to Iruka's family, but it wasn't fair what had happened to Naruto either.
Iruka's revenge had been washed away with the water jutsu that was used to put out the flames. The ANBU and the baby had vanished into the night. The crowd had dispersed, and Iruka had wandered though the streets, glad that he hadn't gotten there first.
To this day Iruka didn't know what he would have done if he had arrived before the fire had started. He didn't know if he could have done anything to harm Naruto. But he knew that he had wanted to. Before he had seen those flames he wanted nothing more than to destroy Naruto and the demon inside him. It was justice. Iruka could understand perfectly how Genma must be feeling.
So he wasn't surprised at all when no one answered the door.
How did Kakashi know where Genma could find the person who killed his mother anyway? And why on earth had he told him? Surely Kakashi must have known how Genma would react, but the look on Kakashi's face prevented Iruka from casting any real blame his way. He could vividly recall the pained desperation in Kakashi's eye when Iruka had stood over him on the roof. Iruka hadn't been able to do anything but offer his help, even before he knew what he was helping with. Iruka was well aware of how powerful Kakashi was, but no matter which way Iruka looked at him, he could see clearly a faint sliver of vulnerability that Kakashi had hidden behind his infamy. He felt like an idiot, but Iruka had the suspicion that all Kakashi needed to do was ask, and Iruka would throw away everything to help him any way that he could.
Iruka didn't bother with the staircase. He bolted out of the fire escape and dropped over the railings and onto the floor below. He was determined not to let Kakashi down, Iruka had offered the jounin his help and Kakashi had accepted it. It spread a giddy warmth through Iruka to think that he could help Kakashi at all. He didn't feel inadequate around Kakashi, even though he knew that he should. Kakashi was a genius jounin, the infamous Copy-nin, and Iruka was nowhere near his level. But he never felt inadequate when he was around Kakashi. He felt valued.
So he was going to find Genma because Kakashi trusted him to do so.
Only he had no idea where to look.
"Iruka-sensei," Iashi, the medic-nin waved as Iruka rushed past him, "what's the hurry?"
"I'm sorry Iashi-san," Iruka called without pausing as he continued down the street, "I need to find someone."
"Who are you looking for?" Iashi asked, halting in his progression along the street to call after Iruka, "maybe I can help."
"Genma," Iruka replied, slowing down in case Iashi could help him, "do you know where he is?"
Iashi shook his head, "sorry," he shrugged, "he was looking for Shizune this morning, but I haven't seen him since."
Iruka paused. Shizune, maybe she would know where to find him.
"Thanks Iashi-san," he waved back to the medic-nin as he raced around the corner in the direction of Hokage Tower to find Shizune.
oO0Oo
Kakashi hopped up onto the wall surrounding Konoha, landing silently behind the ANBU sentry on duty at the gates.
"Tenzou," Kakashi strode purposefully towards the ANBU, who jumped in surprise and whipped around, taking a fighting stance before he recognised Kakashi.
"Kakashi-senpai," he gasped behind the lacquer mask, "you shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"
"Has Genma passed you lately?" Kakashi asked, glancing down at the forest on the other side of the wall.
"Genma?" Tenzou repeated.
"Shiranui Genma," Kakashi replied, "have you seen him?"
Tenzou shook his head, "I haven't Kakashi-senpai, I'm sorry."
Good. Kakashi turned around, ready to leap back down into the village, "inform the other sentries that Genma is not to leave Konoha," he said firmly, "if you see him, detain him and inform me."
"Yes sir," Tenzou replied, "can I ask what's going on?"
Kakashi had already jumped down from the wall before Tenzou had finished his sentence. He prayed that he was overreacting, that Genma would have a good old laugh at his expense when he found out about this. But Kakashi was starting to panic. If Genma did go after the men who had attacked Gai then Kakashi would be just as responsible. He had told Genma where to go.
He landed effortlessly on the gravel below, and caused Shizune to drop all of the papers she was holding at his sudden appearance.
"Gah!" she glared at him as the papers floated to the ground all around her, "do you like startling people?"
"Have you seen Genma?" Kakashi asked, ignoring her question.
"What?" she frowned, "no, not since this morning. Why? What has he done now?" She knelt down to gather up the papers she had dropped and then glared up at him, "don't just stand there!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes impatiently and snatched up every sheet of paper within arms reach, "I need to find him."
Shizune grabbed the papers from his hands, scowling at the creases Kakashi had put into the sheets, "he was in a weird mood," she muttered as she flattened out the papers in her lap, "but then, he's a weird guy. He kept asking me about the antidote I made yesterday."
"What antidote?" Kakashi asked, halfway between crouching and standing.
Shizune blinked up at him, flattening the papers into a neater pile, "the antidote to the poison that was used on Gai," she replied, "Tsunade-sama extracted all of the poison from him so he didn't need an antidote, but Tsunade-sama wanted me to concoct one anyway, just in case."
Kakashi stood up, stepped back, and vanished in a swirl of smoke. Shizune's papers scattered into the air once again.
oO0Oo
Iruka jumped down from the roof of the library and dashed across the street towards the hospital. Shizune hadn't been in the administration building, the only other place he could think of to find her was the hospital. He raced towards the entrance, dancing around the villagers that were littering the street as he did so.
There was a film of smoke shrouding his vision suddenly, and then he slammed into something that felt similar to a brick wall. He landed on the dirt with a muffled cry as the smoke cleared.
"Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka glanced up in time to see Kakashi turning around to face him. The smoke from the transportation jutsu thinned out, leaving only a startled looking Copy-nin peering down at Iruka who was sprawled on the ground. It irked him slightly that he had been the one to go flying to the ground, whereas Kakashi hadn't shifted at all when Iruka ran into him. It hurt his pride slightly, but he brushed it aside.
"I take it you didn't find him," Kakashi said as he leant over and took hold of Iruka's arm with both hands.
Where Kakashi's palms were pressed into his arm, Iruka thought he could feel electricity. The heat of Kakashi's hands was seeping though the gloves, through his sleeve and into his very bones. He had never been so aware of the position of someone's fingertips before. When Kakashi pulled him to his feet, as though he weighed nothing at all, Iruka felt his insides shake.
He missed those hands when Kakashi took them back. He could still feel an echo of their warmth branded into his arm.
"Come on," Kakashi jerked his head in the direction of the hospital entrance and moved away, striding towards the doors.
It took Iruka a moment to compose himself. His arm could still remember the firm grip of Kakashi's hands.
The doors swung closed behind Iruka. He caught up to Kakashi, who was standing in the middle of the reception area, wearing a frown and glancing around impatiently.
"Do you know where they keep the antidotes?" Kakashi asked, still scanning the myriad of doorways and corridors that veered off from the reception area.
"Huh?" Iruka glanced around. Kakashi seemed to be a fair few steps ahead of him, so Iruka jogged towards the nurses' station and peered at the nurse seated across from him.
"Could you tell me where the antidotes are kept?" he asked.
"I'm afraid only medics are allowed to access the medication," the nurse replied without looking up from the form she was busy scribbling over, "if you've been poisoned then…"
"I haven't been poisoned," Iruka snapped, "I need to know where the antidotes are kept, I have enough security clearance…"
"It doesn't matter," the nurse looked up finally, "you have to be a medic to…"
The conversation was cut off abruptly by a piercing screech that shattered the quiet. Every head in the room jerked to the left, seeking out the source of the sound.
Kakashi was the first person to move. One moment he was standing in the centre of the reception area, the next he was gone, the only indication of where he had vanished to was the swinging of the doors to the left of the room.
Iruka pushed himself away from the nurses' station and rushed after him.
He could verify the source of the commotion at the end of the hallway, where a small group of nurses and medic-nin had gathered, peering warily through the doorway they were crowded around. Iruka skidded to a halt beside them and pushed his way past to halt in the doorway.
The room was filled with chilled glass cabinets, each holding countless tiny vials filled with a multitude of different coloured liquids. To one side, the cabinets had been shattered, the glass decorated the floor in deadly shards.
In the middle of the room, Kakashi was crouched over the still form of Sakura.
"Sakura?" Iruka moved further into the room. His breath caught in his throat when he looked over Kakashi's shoulder. She was so still, lying on the floor over the broken glass. There was no blood, she looked fine, but she wasn't moving, Iruka couldn't even tell if she was breathing.
His insides clenched together, cramped painfully with shock. She couldn't be… she wasn't…
Kakashi was frowning in concentration as he took her head in his hands and moved her slowly until she was facing the other way. It was then that Iruka saw the two senbon protruding from her neck, just below her ear.
Iruka didn't use senbon, he'd never gotten the hang of them, but he knew that even one senbon, in the right place, with the right amount of pressure, could kill a person. It didn't even need to be poisoned.
Kakashi wrapped his fingers around the two senbon, and pulled.
When the metal needles came free of Sakura's neck, two pricks of blood welled up in their place and began to form dainty rivers down her neck, making tiny puddles on the floor.
"Kakashi," Iruka whispered, he was starting to feel numb, "is she..?"
Sakura's eyes snapped wide open. She dragged in a huge rattling breath, and then promptly proceeded to cough for all she was worth.
Iruka felt weak with relief. He felt the sudden need for a chair.
Kakashi slid his arms around the kunoichi and propped her into a sitting position as she continued to hack away. Iruka smiled as he sighed in relief, and then he noticed how heavy Kakashi's breathing was, as though he had been holding his breath.
The jounin glanced down at the pair of senbon he was holding, scrutinising the tips, red with Sakura's blood. He rubbed absent circles in Sakura's back as he slipped the senbon into his pocket.
"What in the name of Namikaze Minato is going on here?" Tsunade's voice could be heard reverberating down the corridor. Iruka automatically snapped to attention when the small crowd in the doorway shuffled away anxiously and the Hokage came to loom over them all.
"Well?" she demanded, "what the hell… Sakura?"
Sakura's gasps for breath had thinned out, and she blinked up at the Hokage, her hand had moved to press against the two pinpricks on her neck.
"Tsunade-shishou," she breathed, "Kakashi-sensei? What…" her eyes widened almost comically when she glanced at the shattered glass of the medicine cabinets, "Genma!"
Tsunade was beside her in a flash, her face was a mask of quiet fury that was bubbling softly, looking for an outlet, "what happened?"
"Genma-san," Sakura croaked, "he was in here… I asked him what he was doing and then… nothing. Everything went black."
"He stole the antidote to the poison Gai was affected by," Kakashi said evenly, still crouched beside Sakura and rubbing gentle circles into her back. He seemed unaware of the movement of his hand.
"What?" Tsunade glared at him, "why?"
"Because he plans to go after Gai's attackers," Kakashi explained.
Iruka took a step towards them, a frown pulling down on his features. Didn't Kakashi say Genma was going after the man who killed his mother? Was the man who killed her the same man who put Gai in that hospital bed?
"Why the hell would he want to do that?" Tsunade asked, but then her scowl melted away into a dawning realisation. She looked across at the shattered cabinet, and then her face hardened into a glare. "That utter idiot! There's no proof that it's the same person, what did he think he could do by himself anyway? And how does he know where to go?"
Kakashi coughed softly and stood up over Sakura and Tsunade, a guilty shine in his visible eye, "I er… told him."
Tsunade's face went perfectly blank and disturbingly cold. Iruka had the sudden desire to run for the hills, even Sakura flinched. But Iruka's need to stay and defend Kakashi held him rooted to the spot. Kakashi wouldn't do anything that might bring harm to any of his comrades, Iruka knew this as surely as he knew that the sky was up and the ground was down. He may have told Genma where to go, but he hadn't meant to, Iruka knew he hadn't.
"And why," Tsunade said slowly, "would you feel the need to do something like that?"
Kakashi sighed, "I didn't realise."
"A fine excuse that is," Tsunade hissed as she climbed gracefully to her feet. She helped Sakura to stand beside her and scanned the room with narrowed eyes. "He needs to be brought back before he gets himself killed. You three go after him."
Iruka glanced at Kakashi, then at Sakura, and then his eyes widened when he realised that he was the third person Tsunade was referring to. His heart spiralled up into his throat. What help would he be?
Sakura nodded once and moved across the room to Kakashi. The jounin made no sort of reply to the Hokage's orders, he simply turned towards the doorway and strode out without a second glance.
Iruka breathed in, bowed to the Hokage, and followed.
oO0Oo
The sun would be setting soon. The bright glare of the day was mellowing to a deeper golden glow as the sun sank further towards the horizon. Shinichi couldn't help but smile at the way the light glanced off the rooftops; it wasn't the sight that had him in such a good mood, but everything seemed so much more pleasant since he had spoken to Sakura.
The air was growing cooler as the day grew late; a comfortable breeze was dancing through Shinichi's hair, pushing the strands back from his face. He allowed his eyes to drift closed as he wandered down the street, letting the delicate scent of flowers drift over him.
He blinked his eyes open when he felt a familiar spark of chakra, a warm flame of strength moving closer, fast. He turned to look up at the roof of the flower shop just in time to see them. He recognised the pink blur of Sakura's hair first, fleeting as it was, and the black and silver streak he recognised as the Copy-nin. His heart thudded once within his chest and then seemed to stop when he recognised Kakashi, and then he noticed the third shinobi, the schoolteacher, bringing up the rear. They were gone in an instant, racing swiftly over the rooftops.
Shinichi remembered to breathe after a moment. The shock of seeing Kakashi faded as he caught his breath. He had to clench his fists to fight the shaking that travelled through him. It amazed him, that inside he was in turmoil, yet Sharingan Kakashi could continue with his life as though everything was fine. Shinichi's life had been tipped on its hinges, but the Copy-nin was perfectly at ease, perfectly content, completely unaware of what he had done to Shinichi.
Slowly, Shinichi uncurled his fingers. His smile returned, curving his lips. The gnawing ache in his chest was becoming lighter. Kakashi might be able to wander about without a care in the world for now, but Shinichi's revenge was drawing closer. The end was coming into sight and it spread a satisfied joy through him to think of how broken and defeated he could make Sharingan Kakashi.
He breathed in deeply and stepped out into the road, crossing towards the flower shop he had seen Sakura, Kakashi and Umino Iruka travelling over. The wild colours of the flowers cheered him on as he wandered into the shop, congratulating him on his plan to hurt Kakashi.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower Shop," the pretty blonde girl behind the counter called out, not looking up from the magazine she was flicking through, "how can I be of assistance?"
She glanced up finally as Shinichi approached her, and the fixed smile on her face widened as she roved her eyes over Shinichi.
"I'm on my way to visit a friend at the hospital," Shinichi smiled down at her, "and I'd like to take him something pretty as a gift."
oO0Oo
He had felt completely defeated when he saw Sakura lying there. He felt like he was being torn apart. For an instant, only an instant, she was dead. And it had been his fault, because if he had taken the time to engage his brain before he opened his big mouth, none of this would be happening, Genma would still be in Konoha, he wouldn't have broken into the hospital and attacked Sakura in the process. For a fleeting moment Sakura was dead and it was Kakashi's fault.
But then he remembered that this was Genma he was thinking about. Genma wouldn't harm one of his comrades, not for anything, not for revenge. Then he saw Sakura take in a faint breath and Kakashi had knelt down beside her to search for the senbon he knew he would find. Genma had incapacitated her, but she was fine, he had just hit a very specific pressure point to take her out of the equation.
But she was back in the equation now, with a vengeance. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the intense look of righteous fury and unshakable determination she was wearing. Her expression was perfectly contrasted by Iruka's, his face was bathed in worry and concern, but he also looked serene, alert and calm as he dashed through the trees. Kakashi had no expression, just a mask and a single eye.
He turned back to regard their path. Genma wasn't in his right mind, he wasn't thinking straight, it was obvious because he had left a trail for them to follow. Kakashi had worked with Genma before, when they were both members of ANBU, and he knew better than most how elusive the special jounin could be when he wanted to. You couldn't find Genma unless he was willing to let you, but the trail he had left in his wake was as clear as day, at least to Kakashi. He could see each footfall in the position of the leaves and the angle of the twigs, Genma wasn't thinking, he hadn't even tried to mask his trail.
The trail was leading them straight to Otafuku Gai.
"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka's voice carried towards Kakashi on the wind, "what do we do if we come across Gai-san's attackers?"
"Nothing," Kakashi replied as he leapt onto another branch, "finding Genma and dragging him home is our first priority, we need to avoid any conflict if we can."
They were getting closer. Kakashi could taste the faint scent of perfume and spice on the air, he could hear a faint hum of activity stretching out from Otafuku Gai.
He dropped onto the forest floor, and waited for Sakura and Iruka to join him.
"What are we waiting for?" Sakura asked as she walked around to face Kakashi.
"I think it's safe to say that he's entered the city," Kakashi replied as he scratched at a half healed cut on his thumb, reopening the small wound there. He watched as a bead of crimson welled up.
He dragged a streak of blood over his palm and flew through the seals to summon Pakkun, stepping back from Sakura so that he could touch his hand to the ground. Smoke swelled out from between his fingers and curled up into the air.
When Kakashi lifted his hand, Pakkun was looking up at him with a bored expression on his squished face. He blinked slowly at Kakashi and then turned his attention to Iruka. His lazy eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked from Iruka to Kakashi and back again.
"Yo," Kakashi flashed the pug a smile, "I need you to find Genma."
Pakkun gave an odd little jerk, that was supposed to pass for a shrug, "I'll need something to go off, unless you want me to guess what he smells like."
In response, Kakashi reached into one of the pockets of his flak jacket and dropped two senbon onto the ground. Their tips were still stained with Sakura's blood, dried and chipped.
Pakkun grunted and lowered his nose to the metal needles.
"Alright," the pug sighed, "follow me."
oO0Oo
Shinichi thanked the nurse with a low bow before he turned in the direction she had indicated. There was a small bouquet of vibrant daffodils held loosely in his hand. His shoes squeaked over the polished floor as he made his way swiftly towards room 418A.
He was alive with anticipation, a swelling excitement that he had no explaination for.
He knocked once and then palmed open the door.
The first thing he noticed was the girl in the corner, playing with a vase of orchids, rearranging them into something she would prefer. She turned to look at Shinichi when he walked in, her eyebrows lowering in an unspoken challenge.
Shinichi smiled and raised his hand, holding out the daffodils as an explaination for his presence.
Her face relaxed into a smile as she walked towards him, holding out her hands to take the bouquet from him.
Then he drove all of his attention towards the man in the bed.
He was obviously a shinobi. His entire frame was thick with muscle and dotted with scars from what Shinichi could see above the bed sheets. There was a patch of gauze over one of his cheeks and a strip of bandages strapped over his lower arm, but the rest of the flesh looked swollen slightly, and red, as though burnt.
"How is he?" he asked.
"His condition is stable," the girl said in a high, girlish voice as she rummaged around for another vase, but it sounded as though she was simply repeating what she had heard, like she was reading from a script, her voice was flat and devoid of feeling.
"Thank you," Shinichi replied, and he twisted away and left the room as the girl straightened up, a glass vase in her hand and her lips parted as though there was a question on her tongue, but Shinichi was gone before she could speak.
Shinichi pressed the button for the elevator and rocked back on his heels as he waited. Hurting that man before he could recover would be pointless, he wanted it to be a shock, he wanted it to rip Kakashi's heart out. But it wouldn't be the same if this Gai person died while already in hospital. Besides, Shinichi had a plan, and no one would believe that Gai had killed himself if he was unconscious.
But he could be patient. He had waited this long, and now that he knew what the next step was, he could lay in wait and strike when they least suspected.
oO0Oo
Kakashi didn't like the pleasure quarter. He didn't like the gaudy dresses that the women wore, or the smell of sake and bile that permeated everything. He didn't like the tinkling laughter that was as fake as it was pretty, he didn't like knowing that the money in his pocket could buy literally anything.
It all reminded him of Rin. She would never wear that much make up, or dress up her hair with cheap looking jewels. She would never flirt and smile and sway her hips to grab attention, she would never be seen dead in the pleasure quarter of Otafuku Gai.
But then she died, and Kakashi spent an entire week intoxicated in a variety of ways in one of the brothels on that very street. It had been Gai who came to find him, slapped some sense into him and made him remember that this was not how Rin would want him to behave.
But just being there reminded him of the despair he had felt when she was killed. He had tried to escape his grief by hiding within the press of bodies in the crowded streets, in the heady aroma of flowers and sex, with a bottle of sake and a prostitute. It had worked for a while, until he had been forced to remember and the pain had been amplified.
Pakkun was leading them down one of the narrow side streets, past tittering girls who smiled and winked from the doorways on either side. Sakura was looking at them with thinly veiled disgust, while Iruka seemed to be doing his utmost to ignore them completely.
Kakashi smiled back at them, listening to them giggle in delight when he bowed to one of the older women slouched under a parasol. He hated the red light district, but he knew that they hated it more. They didn't deserve Sakura's disgust or Iruka's disregard. They were victims of their circumstances, and Kakashi waved back at them as he passed. Manners cost nothing, and even prostitutes deserve to be treated politely.
"How much further?" Sakura hissed at Kakashi's back, watching the girls in the shade with wary eyes.
"Pakkun?" Kakashi asked the pug at his feet.
"Hmm," the pug glanced up at him, "close by. Through here."
They followed Pakkun through one of the yawning doorways, ducking under the purple curtain that hung in the entrance.
They emerged into a bar. The place had the look of an opium den. Scented smoke hung heavily in the air, casting a haze over the patrons. The room wasn't very big, with battered tables and lopsided benches set in rows across their line of vision. The few people seated about looked worse for wear, hanging their heads over glasses of potent looking drinks, some leering at the girls who were flirting furiously with them. The entire place was deep in shadows, hiding the ugliness that was ingrained into everything: the dark circles under the girls' eyes, the stains on the floor, the worn staircase that stretched upwards where the wealthier customers would get taken. Kakashi scanned the room, wanting nothing more to find Genma and get out of there.
It didn't look like there had been a battle there lately, maybe Genma was just having a quiet drink.
"He's in here somewhere," Pakkun rasped.
Kakashi nodded and turned back to Sakura and Iruka. The pink haired kunoichi was frowning at the establishment they had found themselves in, curiosity and outrage warring on her face.
Iruka was blushing. A delicate pink hue had settled across his cheekbones. Kakashi was momentarily mesmerised by it, he felt like he had been punched in the gut. It was as if he had found a fountain of innocence in a den of iniquity.
Of course, he knew that Iruka wasn't as pure of the driven snow, no shinobi was, but Kakashi felt like he was in the process of corrupting Sakura and Iruka and he felt himself shrink with guilt.
He had sent Genma here, and then he had brought Iruka and Sakura here. He simply dragged everyone down.
"Watch the door," he said to them before he turned and strode further into the brothel. He hoped that Genma was downstairs in the bar rather than upstairs, he didn't relish the thought of searching for him up there.
"Hey," Pakkun butted Kakashi's ankles to get his attention, "over there."
Kakashi followed the pug's eyes and looked towards the dark corner, at the hunched figure sitting in the shadows, hidden by the curtain of smoke that acted as a film between them.
"Thanks Pakkun," Kakashi replied softly as he weaved between the tables and the patrons, edging around the girls that reached out to him with beckoning smiles and dead eyes.
"We have to stop meeting like this," Kakashi said cheerfully once he was standing over Genma.
The other shinobi didn't reply, he simply stared into his sake, no expression whatsoever on his face. Kakashi sighed and slid himself into the seat opposite him.
"What are you doing here Genma?" he asked.
Genma looked up briefly, pierced Kakashi's eye with his own before looking back into his drink, allowing a sardonic smile to creep onto his face.
"I don't know," he replied.
Kakashi looked over his shoulder towards the doorway. Iruka was rubbing the scar over his nose and trying to press himself into the wall. Sakura was watching the door, she had her back to Kakashi but her stance belied her discomfort. Kakashi wanted to get everyone out of there and back to Konoha.
"Are you planning to stay here long?" Kakashi asked as he looked back at Genma's bowed head, "or can we go home?"
Genma let out a bitter laugh, "I don't know what I was thinking," he said quietly, "I was just so angry. I wanted to find the bastard and hurt him." Genma's hands balled into fists on either side of his drink, his frame became taught even in his slouch, every muscle in his body was tense and ready to snap.
"You don't know if it's the same guy," Kakashi reasoned, "and there's nothing you can do alone. He got the better of Gai's entire team, it was irresponsible of you to take off and hunt him down by yourself."
"I know that!" Genma spat, looking up at Kakashi again with a scowl on his face, "I told you, I don't know what I was thinking!"
"Well what are you thinking now?" Kakashi asked.
Genma shrugged, "I'm thinking I'll get drunk and buy a night with one of these pretty ladies."
Kakashi shook his head. He could relate to that, he done the same think himself once, but it hadn't been the answer then and it wasn't the answer now.
"You're mother would be so proud," he said, hoping to provoke Genma out of the stupor he had descended into.
Genma's hand shot out and fisted in Kakashi's collar. He yanked him across the table until their faces were only inches apart. Genma was practically snarling.
"Don't you dare Hatake!" he hissed dangerously, "don't you fucking dare! You don't know anything about it! You don't know what he did to her!"
"He killed her," Kakashi replied, keeping his voice calm in contrast to the rage quivering in Genma's words.
"He raped her as she was dying!" he snarled, "he poisoned her! He ran his tongue all over her and poisoned her! She died while he was raping her and he got away with it!"
There were hot, angry tears in Genma's eyes, waiting for the opportunity to fall. Kakashi placed his hand over Genma's where it was gripping his shirt, and he gently uncurled his fingers from the fabric.
"Revenge won't bring her back," Kakashi said softly.
"I know that," Genma replied, some of the venom had drained out of his voice.
"And she wouldn't want you to kill yourself trying to avenge her," Kakashi continued as he sank back into his seat, he kept hold of Genma's hand.
Genma shook his head, he screwed his eyes shut, whether to keep something in or block something out, Kakashi didn't know.
"It's not fair," Genma said weakly.
"Whoever said life was fair?" Kakashi asked with a smile.
oO0Oo
There was a tree outside the window of room 418A. A colossal oak tree that stood like a sentinel at the side of the hospital. Shinichi settled into the shade of one of the thick branches, folding his legs underneath him and leaning back into the bark. The sun was just a warm glow on the horizon now, cinders of twilight were clinging to the sky. It was beautiful, but then Shinichi was in a very good mood.
He could see the still form of the shinobi on the bed. The girl was shuffling around, chattering away. Shinichi didn't bother to read her lips, she was talking to nothing, the man on the bed couldn't hear her and there was no one else in the room.
Were any of those flowers from the Copy-nin? Shinichi couldn't imagine Kakashi being the sort of person to buy flowers for an injured friend. He wondered what kind of man Gai was, what would make him friends with Sharingan Kakashi. Not that it mattered, but Shinichi was curious.
He should go back to the teahouse, there was no use in him sitting in the tree all night watching an unconscious man through a window, but he was giddy with anticipation, and he didn't want to leave yet. Excitement was coursing through his veins, and he urged the man to wake up, to heal faster, so that the final stage of Shinichi's plan could be acted out.
The door to the room opened, and a teenager dressed in green spandex stepped in. Shinichi goggled incredulously at the outfit. Who in their right mind would think spandex looked good? Green spandex no less.
The spandex wearing boy and the chattering girl exchanged words, and then the girl left the room while the boy settled into the chair at the bedside and gazed adoringly into the unconscious man's face. There was a hollow sadness in the boy's eyes though as he watched his teacher's chest rise and fall.
Maybe Gai wasn't going to wake up. Shinichi hadn't thought of that, and the idea shot through him with panic. What would he do then? He had no other possible targets.
Shinichi plucked one of the leaves from the branch and began to pull at it, peeling along the leaf's veins. So much could go wrong with his plan, there was so much left up to chance, and he was quickly outstaying his welcome. How long could he remain safely in Konoha? He would be discovered eventually, he just had to have his revenge first. Not for the first time Shinichi wished he could talk to Zabuza, ask him what he would do in Shinichi's situation. Zabuza had always had the answer. Usually he would make Shinichi work for it, but he would always help in the end. Zabuza had been the independent one, and Shinichi had just been the runt who hanged onto his brother's coat tails.
He felt lost without Zabuza. But if he could do this alone, if he could do this one thing by himself, maybe he wouldn't need his brother any more. He could lay Zabuza to rest and step out of his shadow.
He would stop being a failure if he could make Kakashi pay.
oO0Oo
Iruka felt remarkably uncomfortable. Half of the girls who kept winking at him were younger than Sakura, they kept trying to lean into him, batting their eyes and stroking his arm with demure smiles. He pitied them, but somehow he didn't think they would like to be pitied.
Sakura was drinking everything in with hungry, disdainful eyes. He couldn't help but feel that every second they stood there near the doorway she was being corrupted.
He was also aware of the eyes that raked over Sakura's body, and that set his hackles up. He had to try very hard not to slam their perverted faces into the nearest wall. Luckily Sakura seemed oblivious to their stares, and Iruka had never been so grateful. But it made him uncomfortable nonetheless.
There was something else that bristled at him. Kakashi seemed to be perfectly at home in the pleasure quarter. He had smiled and waved and even bowed to the prostitutes in the street, making them giggle and blush as he passed by, and for some unfathomable reason it made Iruka angry. A number of times he had very nearly grabbed Kakashi and held onto him in the street, it was a strange possessive urge that he had clamped down on and ignored. He had tried to ignore everything: the giggling girls who tried to draw them in, and Kakashi who smiled at them like they might have a chance.
It rankled him. The sooner they left the better.
"Iruka-sensei," Sakura huffed impatiently, "what is Genma-san doing in a place like this?"
Iruka sighed as he looked over towards Kakashi, "I don't know Sakura."
He straightened up abruptly when he saw Genma grab Kakashi and pull him halfway across the table. He couldn't really see what was going on, but it didn't look like they were just having a friendly conversation.
"Hello pretty," a silken voice chuckled behind him. He turned to see Sakura inching away from one of the drunken customers, "is that your natural hair colour?"
Iruka glared at the man and put his arm over Sakura's shoulders, "she's with me," she warned.
The drunk looked up at him. His cheeks were splotchy and his eyes were unfocused.
"Sure you don't want to share?" he asked, "I'm not convinced that's her natural hair colour. I want to see if the curtains match the carpet."
Iruka didn't have time to pull Sakura away before the drunk's hand snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Iruka balled his hand into a fist, more than prepared to beat the pervert into the next month, when Sakura beat him to it.
"GET…" she pulled her fist back, "OFF!"
A flare of chakra glowed around her hand as she threw her fist into his face. There was an ugly, wet, crunching sound, and then a shattering crash as the drunk went sailing through the air and then through the flimsy wall that divided the bar from the next room, where a small group of men appeared to be playing cards. Iruka winced at the sight of the massive hole in the wall.
The drunk had landed on the table where the men next door were seated, crunching it under his weight and sending a flock of cards fluttering into the air.
The men playing cards jumped to their feet, all but one man, who was draped in a heavy brown cloak that covered him entirely. The hood fell over his face, obscuring all but the tip of his chin. Something glistened on the man's chin, it looked like he was drooling. He simply sat there, with his cards fanned out in his hand even though the table had been decimated.
"Well well," the drooling man purred behind the hood of his cloak, "more Konoha ninja." He turned to the man at his right, who was glaring sharply at Iruka with narrow eyes, "they're like insects aren't they. The more you squash, the more that come out of the woodwork."
Iruka breathed in sharply and nudged Sakura behind him. Wasn't this just brilliant, they came to find Genma and they end up getting into a fight. Kakashi would probably be disappointed in him for screwing everything up so royally; there must have been a better way to handle that rather than throwing that guy through a wall.
"We're sorry for interrupting your game," Iruka said, "it won't happen again."
"No matter," the man in the cloak said, and as he moved his head Iruka thought he caught a glimpse of the man's grin beneath the hood, slick with saliva that dripped down his chin, "I was getting bored of poker, but there is another sport I quite enjoy. Perhaps you'd like to entertain me."
Iruka felt relief surge through him when he felt a familiar presence at his back. He didn't turn to look, but he could feel Kakashi standing behind him, a solid presence that seemed to chase away any anxiety Iruka had had.
"Time to go," Kakashi said firmly, as much to the men sitting in the next room, through the shattered wall as to Iruka and Sakura.
"Sharingan Kakashi," the hooded man purred, "I never thought I'd see you again. You've grown."
This time Iruka did look. He glanced up at Kakashi over his shoulder and took in the narrowed eye and wary stance that the jounin had adopted. Pakkun was flopped over Kakashi's shoulder, and Genma was standing next to him, looking tired and grim but at least he was there. His obligatory senbon was gripped between his teeth.
Iruka turned back to the hooded man, and froze when he saw the hood pushed back, revealing a scarred face and a wide, drooling mouth, with gnarled, blackened teeth. There was a hitai-ate wrapped around his neck, with a deep scratch engraved in the metal. He was a missing-nin from Hidden Rock.
Iruka glanced up at Kakashi again and saw only confusion in his eye.
"You don't recognise me," the missing-nin smiled, and the stretch of his lips made Iruka's stomach churn, "I'm not surprised. I'll just have to refresh your memory."
The missing-nin finally stood up, releasing the fan of cards in his hand and letting them float to the ground. Everyone in the bar had gone deadly still, watching fearfully as the shinobi regarded one another.
Iruka heard a soft clinking sound, and when he turned to look he saw Genma's senbon on the floor, having fallen from between his lips.
"That's him," Genma whispered angrily, "Kakashi, that's him!"
oO0Oo
Kakashi dropped his hand onto Genma's shoulder, an effort to reign him in. He could feel Genma shuddering with anger, tensing up to pounce.
"We were just leaving," Kakashi said.
The missing-nin shook his head, a slow deliberate movement, "I think not."
Kakashi absorbed his surroundings in a split second, he took note of the exits, the number of people standing in the bar. They couldn't fight in that building, there were too many civilians around who would get hurt.
He gripped the material of Genma's flak jacket in the hand that was resting on his shoulder, his other hand snaked around Iruka's back and clamped down onto Sakura's arm.
When he had everyone within his reach he smiled cheerfully at the missing-nin, "nice to see you again, whoever you are, but I'm afraid we're running late."
In one quick movement he pulled everyone closer to him. His ears popped almost painfully as they were crushed by a thick whirl of smoke, and then the acrid tang of ozone faded away.
He had transported them onto the roof of the building. He hated doing that with other people, it always left him slightly dizzy, and transporting three people with him at the same time had the unfortunate side effect of a wave of nausea. It wasn't easy to manipulate another person's chakra enough to perform the jutsu, much less three peoples'. He let go of Genma's shoulder and Sakura's arm as he drank in a breath of air, and cracked open his eyes. He ended up looking right into Iruka's.
In the process of pulling them all closer to him he had crushed Iruka into his chest. He hadn't realised until then, but Iruka hadn't moved away, he was still pressed up against Kakashi on the rooftop, with his hands against Kakashi's chest, one palm resting over Kakashi's heart.
He still smelled like jasmine. It was fast becoming Kakashi's favourite scent. For a moment the world was only jasmine and brown eyes, nothing else.
Then Kakashi became aware that Genma was talking to him.
"Hatake!" Genma grabbed Kakashi by the arm and jerked him around to face him, "what the hell is wrong with you? That was him! It was him!"
"I realise that," Kakashi said as he pried Genma's fingers from around his arm, "we aren't fighting anyone in the middle of a brothel, let's go!"
The sun had finally set, there was only a strip of glowing embers on the horizon. Otafuku Gai was bathed in darkness but for the colours that shone out of the countless lanterns hanging in the streets. Kakashi had no doubt that if that missing-nin wanted to fight them, then he would find them, but Kakashi was determined to get them out of the city first. He couldn't do battle surrounded by innocent bystanders, and if they could reach the forest then he might be able to use the darkness of the night to his advantage.
"Pakkun, I think you've done your job for today," Kakashi muttered to the dog draped over his shoulder.
"You don't need to tell me twice," the dog replied before he vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Kakashi's shoulder lighter without his weight.
He gave Sakura a gentle shove in the right direction and then set off across the rooftops towards the edge of the city. He could hear Genma grumbling behind him, but at least he was following.
He leapt onto the next roof and skidded to a halt, just as two of the men who had been playing cards with the missing-nin jumped up onto the rooftop to face them.
"The boss wants to play," one of them said simply, before they faded out of sight into the growing darkness and the building they were standing on lurched.
The explosion resounded through the streets, sending a blast of bricks and dust over the screaming crowds below. Kakashi snatched his arm out to grab Sakura before she could topple over the edge of the roof as the entire building shook.
"Great!" Genma sneered, "what now?"
Kakashi was about to reply when he felt it, a vibration shuddering up from below. He had the wits to shove Sakura towards Iruka and Genma just as the roof right beneath his feet exploded. He heard someone yell his name, and then he was falling.