Disclaimer – Why must we go through this continuous and degrading humiliation every time? I know what I know, you know what you know, and Masashi Kishimoto will know no more after my memory wipe machine is done with him. Wait, scratch that – we'll wipe his memory after the manga is finished. High fives Naru-chan (the plushy, remember?)
Warnings – This is KakaIru, which means shounenai (boy love) yaoi (guy on guy sex). Get that? SEX. Between GUYS. Just letting you know.
Hey, guess what! Still a possibility of blood, but not as much as I originally thought, and not enough to make anyone throw up. So it's all good!
And happy birthday to 'Silver Rain', whenever that was.
Only 44 reviews to go until we reach two hundred! Whoop!
On with the story! :D
Iruka POV
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"W-What?" I stuttered, not sure I had heard right. My Naruto?
Kakashi stayed silent, his eye solemn, unwilling to repeat himself when we both knew that I had heard him perfectly clearly.
"You can't be serious! My Naruto? Young, childish, innocent, brash, slightly obnoxious and useless at everything apart from eating ramen?" Of course I didn't mean the last part I said, but I needed something to explain just why Orochimaru wouldn't want Naruto. My son.
And like he knew I didn't mean it, Kakashi raised a fine silver eyebrow – well, the only one I could see, so I assume he only lifted that one – and it felt like he had sapped all the disbelief out of me.
I sat back again in the chair, not even realising that I had jumped up during my rant ten seconds previously. I searched for answers and questions in my mind, but in the end I only found one word: "Why?"
Kakashi remained calm and collected, something that irritated me at that moment. Why was I always losing my composure around him? But then I looked harder, almost obtrusively, and I noticed what seemed to be a glimmer of pity in his lone eye. I gulped nervously; pity from a man such as Kakashi was never a good thing.
"Iruka, before I explain, I want you to keep in mind that I don't know anything for sure yet and that there's only a slim possibility that he is after Naruto." Before I could relax in relief, he carried on. "But that slim chance is enough to put Naruto in extreme danger, as well as yourself, and that's the only reason I'm telling you this."
Nope. The nervousness was back, and this time it brought its best friend: fear!
I breathed deeply, trying to push back the torrent of emotions. It was best to stay calm and get all the information I could at that point – there would be time to freak out later.
"So?" I asked quietly, shoulders braced as if for impact. "Tell me all that you know, and hold nothing back. Naruto is far more important to me than anything else at this point."
Something about Kakashi's demeanour changed right then, but I was too preoccupied with my worries and fears to notice it. "First, you must answer a question of mine truthfully. Is Naruto your biological child?"
I narrowed my eyes, a little suspicious of the question, though not altogether too surprised by it. "No," I replied. "I adopted him five years ago."
My silver haired companion nodded his head sagely, as if he had been expecting the answer and needed only my confirmation.
"Well then, I'll start by saying this; if Naruto is who I think he is, then he has something that Akatsuki will want, and by default, something Orochimaru will want to."
I remembered Akatsuki being mentioned during my eavesdropping. "And who are the Akatsuki?"
He hesitated slightly whilst he answered, purposefully vague in his reply. "A pack devoted to finding other . . . 'supernatural' beings, mainly demons."
I raised an eyebrow, before shaking my head dismissively. "Right. Tell me more about that later – what could Naruto have that they would want?"
"I can't say too much, in case I'm wrong, but . . . Naruto may have escaped Orochimaru shortly before you met him, and with Orochimaru's experiments, he could have inside him the key to finding demons."
I blinked, startled and infuriated. "My son could have been subjected to some psychotic murderer's experiments?" My eyes narrowed and my fists clenched in rage. Thinking about it, if that was the case, it made perfect sense . . . it would explain why Naruto was the way he was when I found him.
I breathed deeply, attempting to calm down. Feeling anger towards the past – and not even the definite one, at that – would be useless. Finding out what they could want with Naruto took priority.
Relaxing from my tense position, I shut my eyes and spoke again. "So, what, Naruto has a computer chip inside him or something?"
Though I could not see his face, Kakashi's voice sounded hesitant. "Or something", he agreed after a moment of silence.
"Ughh!" I groaned hopelessly, bringing my hands up to rub my face in an effort to erase what I had just learnt. "This is not happening!" Why was it that every time I tried to have a normal life, shit happened? And it wasn't even the financial shit, oh no, it had to be the life threatening shit. I mean, it wasn't like I had ever done anything so wrong that I deserved this; all I wanted was to be able to raise Naruto happily.
"How can I possibly keep him safe?" I whispered into my hands. "First the camping trip, now this." I raised my hands to clutch my hair, my eyes clamped shut in my hatred towards not being able to control anything. "He'd be better off without me."
And suddenly there were hands on my hands, pulling them away from my face and pressing them against a warm chest. I opened my eyes in surprise, releasing a small gasp as I found Kakashi's face within inches of mine, his grey eye darkened with an emotion I couldn't identify.
"Now, Iruka-kun, I may have not known you and Naruto for very long, but even I can tell that he adores you. Whatever you did to make him look up to you that much can't be a bad thing, and I'm sure he has never once regretted meeting you."
I stared at him hopelessly, mentally and emotionally overwhelmed with what he said. This Kakashi, so kind and seemingly honest, was nothing like the one I had been dealing with over the past few days – was this a trick? A new, twisted method to get obedience and loyalty from me?
I knew I was being harsh on Kakashi when I thought that; the man had not done a single terrible thing towards Naruto or I, but I could not find it within myself to remember that. Nothing was making sense any more. How could I trust anyone when the world was out to tear my family of two apart?
I pulled my hands out of Kakashi's grip, lifting them to my own chest in a comforting and defensive gesture. "Why would you say that?" I whispered, frowning sadly at him. He looked surprised by my question, even a little affronted, and – in an effort to no longer feel helpless – I drew upon my anger. How dare he look affronted? Hurt? After all he had (and still was) putting Naruto through, how dare he!
I stood from the chair, my fists clenched at my sides. As I spoke this time, my voice was rising in volume, increasing with my anger. "Why? What can you gain from telling me something like that? Is this some twisted game of yours – to see how far you can push me with your kindness before I break down and cling to you?"
Kakashi stood up slowly, hands raised as if trying to calm a wild, cornered animal. "Iruka-"
I backed up, knocking the chair behind me over. "No!" I yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his rising form. "You have no business playing with me like this! I-" And then I was cut off as two strong, wiry arms shoved me backward, my stumbling body colliding with the wall I had unknowingly retreated to. Kakashi's taller frame leant into me, keeping me in place, and I found my face pressed against a muscular shoulder.
I tensed up, my eyes widening in shock. The breath I had pulled into my lungs seconds before to yell at Kakashi was released in a gasp as I felt the man's cloth clad lips at my ear. "I have no intention of playing any games with you, Iruka-kun." As Kakashi spoke, a rumble travelled from his chest and reverberated through our entwined bodies, furthering my stunned silence.
"You . . ." I started, confused once again with my predicament. I was tired of asking questions and not getting answers; I just needed to know what he wanted from me.
"Hush." He whispered in my ear, one arm roving from my side to my back to soothingly rub it. "Iruka . . . you are amazing. I do what I do to you and your son to try and find some flaw in you, but every time – you just prove how brilliant you are."
And before I had time to move, to react with an emotion – react with anything – to his words, Kakashi moved with that incredible speed he had displayed the night we met. Without remembering feeling my body move, I was pressed even closer against him, my eyes focused on his one visible orb, and warm, soft lips pressed against mine.
I gasped in astonishment. Here I was, being kissed by Kakashi (Kakashi!). The witty, infuriating, always-in-control-Kakashi. An astonished squeak embarrassingly escaped me and was muffled against the mouth pressed against mine; a lightheaded feeling swept over me, leaving my legs weak, and I unwillingly clung to Kakashi for support, much like a drowning seaman grasping for purchase. His warm breath ghosted over my cheek - a pleasant, tingling sensation, and my eyelids instinctively fluttered.
Then the moment came when I realized it was definitely the soft skin of lips I felt against my own, not fabric of any sort. He had pulled down his mask!
He did not take advantage of my open mouth, and instead kept his lips pressed lightly against mine, gazing at me searchingly. I was not sure what he saw, but the moment – whatever it was – was ruined when the phone on his pristine, orderly desk rang.
In a second the warmth of his presence was gone, his back turned to me as he pulled his black mask back over his nose. He spun around to face me again, expression guarded. "If you would please leave, Iruka-kun." He gestured to the persistently shrilling machine. "I have some business related issues to deal with."
I stood still as a statue, mouth agape in shock and disbelief. What the- did he just dismiss me? And so casually after what he had just done! (I refused to believe I was angry from my disappointment at not seeing Kakashi's face.) I snapped my jaw shut loudly as rage boiled inside me, arms too tense to even screw my hands into fists.
"I-"
"Iruka, please." He levelled an almost desperate look at me. "Don't misunderstand – this. . . conversation has by no means ended. I will find you after this."
And well, really, with that look in his stormy grey eye, open with true emotion, what could I say?
"Fine. But don't expect to find me at all receptive." I crossed my arms, annoyed.
He smiled charmingly through his mask at that. "I wouldn't expect anything else."
My traitorous mouth twitched in response, and I spun to march to the door before he saw it - knowing him, however, he probably already had. I pulled the poor wooden contraption to the side sharply and swiftly exited, walking briskly down the corridor and turning the corner before I even slowed.
When I did, though, my hand rose to my lips, still holding traces of Kakashi's warmth and (begrudgingly, irritatingly) I smiled.
But there's no way I was telling him he made me do that. The bastard had a big enough ego as it was.
Still . . . no one had made me smile like that for a long time.
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Naruto POV
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Sakura blossoms were non-existent at that time of the year, but as I sat in Kakashi's garden after brushing my teeth, I couldn't help but think of how much more beautiful they'd make the already pretty garden look.
Though, as enchanting as this small slice of heaven in such a difficult time was, I couldn't stand to be there one more second. I had come down from the bathroom to resume gardening, but I had found neither Iruka nor Mizuki. Having no desire to encounter Kakashi, I had avoided the area the asshole had said led to his office and instead looked everywhere else; to no avail.
After amusing myself with the garden for a while, I began to get tingling sensations in my arms and legs – something I often got when I was inactive, which led to fidgeting and trouble in school. I walked around a bit but the feelings only grew until I felt I was fit to burst.
So, I came up with a great idea: I was curious, I was bored, I was in a new place, and I was feeling antsy as hell. Thus, I formed an amazing plan; explore the town! And what made this plot even sweeter? I'd be going against Kakashi's unspoken rule of 'not going anywhere without his say'. Oh yes, revel in my amazing-ness!
That led to me chuckling in dark amusement as I silently (well, I pretended that my crunching footsteps were silent – I had to stick to my awesome ninja theme) crept through the garden, crouching past windows and using trees for 'cover'. One could say that I was having way too much fun breaking the rules, but hey, I was twelve - what else could be expected?
And then I finally came up to the gate at the end of the garden. It was there that my 'plan' seemed the most impossible. The metal structure loomed above me, all pretty, twisted black curves and ominous heights. I stumbled for a moment, remembering that Kakashi had opened this with a remote. I looked around the area, but could see no manual way of opening the gate.
I sighed in defeat, and turned to go back to the house, when determination drove through me. What kind of person would I be if I let a gate of all things deter me from my mission of defying the white-haired asshole? A Samurai on a noble quest from ancient times would never give up if faced with a gate!
So I turned back to the fence, face set in determination, ready to climb it if need be, when I heard heavy footfalls and muttering from behind me. Led by fear and guilt, as if I had committed some heinous crime by standing before the metal door, I dived into one of the bushes that lined the path I stood on.
I waited silently, breathing slowly and shallowly, as I waited for the intruder to show themselves. It was such a shock that I almost gave away my position with my gasp when Mizuki walked round the corner. He was talking on a phone – an iPhone, I think – with his face twisted into an angry sneer as he spoke.
His face alone stopped me from jumping out to say hello, and I watched in confusion as his voice stayed below a mutter, even as pure anger was portrayed in his eyes. He stormed past my hiding bush, and small delight crept through me as he produced a remote for the gate from his bag. I kept my squeal of excitement in, almost forgetting Mizuki's strange expression as the black doors swung open.
Ah ha! There was my chance. I watched silently as Mizuki exited the gardens, muttering quietly all the while – but that didn't matter as I jumped from the bush and raced through the gate before the metal doors swung shut again behind me. I was out!
The first thing I thought to do was follow Mizuki – after all, he had kind of gotten me out, and I wanted to say thanks . . . you know, by stalking him. That, and I had no idea where anything was in Toyama, so I decided my best bet would be following Mizuki, thinking that because it was almost 12pm, he might be going to the town centre for some lunch.
However, when I turned the corner round the ridiculously long drive way, Mizuki was turning left and disappearing round a fence, so I jogged up the path so I wouldn't lose him. After leaving the drive, I had barely any time to look at the tall, modern buildings lining the street as Mizuki swiftly marched down the road, leaving me jogging to keep him in sight.
"Wow", I wheezed to myself, slightly out of breath after three blocks of the same fast pace, "he's in a hurry." Eventually, the streets became more crowded and the roads busier as we entered the heart of Toyama. In the bustling streets, I had to squeeze past people and occasionally jump into the road to get past them, but in the end I lost sight of Mizuki.
I stopped when I could no longer see him, causing a man behind me to walk into me and curse at me as he walked away, though I ignored him. I stood up on my tiptoes, as if that would help me to see a flash of silver hair over the never ending crowd. When my search proved fruitless (and the fifth person walked into me) I muttered my own curse.
'Great!' I thought to myself. 'And I was too busy chasing Mizuki to remember my way back!' I stepped to one side and stood against a building, where less people walked and I had more space. I put my hands in my pockets and felt around, hoping to find some money to at least get lunch so then my efforts wouldn't be completely pointless.
Luckily, I did find 240¥, but that would barely pay for a drink. I looked up, then, and in another strange stroke of fortune saw a payphone on the other side of the street. Stealing myself, I stepped forward and shoved my way through a large group of fast-walking people, before making a quick dash across the road in an effort to avoid being run over.
When I finally managed to escape the tumbling mass of bodies and vehicles, I stopped just inside the phone box. What did I plan on doing now? I didn't know Kakashi's house number, and I doubt Iruka would have taken his phone out of his backpack and charged it – he was so very useless when it came to technology.
Despite that, something urged me to call him. I don't know what it was, or why I listened to it, but my instincts had never failed me before - that I remembered - so I did as I felt I should do. I put the money into the slot and typed in Iruka's phone number, listening tensely as it beeped a few times.
Then, amazingly, it began to ring.
I let out a breath I couldn't remember holding. Talk about Lady Luck, hey? I quickly forgot about the oddness of the moment when I heard a "Hello?" down the line.
"Iruka! You actually charged your phone? Why would you do that? Are you okay? Never mind that, it's so good to hear your voice! It's so loud here but I don't know anyone and I kind of lost Mizuki and I-"
"Naruto! Breathe!"
I took a deep breath.
"Good. Now, what are you on about? Why have you rung me?"
Uh-oh. I hadn't thought that far. "Um, well, I kinda broke out of the house and followed Mizuki on his lunch break, but then I lost him and now I don't know where I am."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Iruka?"
"We are so having a talk about this later, Naruto. Okay, can you tell me the names of the buildings around you?"
"Um, yeah . . . there's a Diwa Mall right across from me, and a McDonald's next to that."
"Okay, I'm getting Kakashi now. Stay right there Naruto, do you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Don't move."
"Okay."
"At all."
"Iruka!"
"I'll be right there."
And then the line went dead as my time ran out on the payphone. Even better – now I was stuck in a payphone, and Iruka was probably really mad at me for sneaking out and getting lost. "Ugh!" I slammed my head down on the glass wall next to me.
I stayed like that for five minutes or so, before jumping when I heard someone knocking on the door. "Hey", a guy shouted to me through the door, "are you done in there?" I wordlessly nodded, and left the phone box. I stood around for a couple of minutes, not sure what to do with myself, when I saw a sliver of silver out of the corner of my eye. I spun round, hoping to see Mizuki, and there he was, taking a left to go down a small street.
"Mizuki-san!" I cried in elation, but he didn't hear me over the mumbling crowd, and disappeared behind a building. Leaving my post by the pay phone, I sprinted after him, brushing by people and taking the left into the street. Here the crowd was a lot thinner, only three or four people, but I didn't bother to call out again as Mizuki darted down a tight passage way.
I slowed to a jog, confident that Mizuki would also slow to a normal walk in such an empty place and I would easily catch up to him. Instead, I heard low, quiet voices, meant to be concealed by the town noise but easily decipherable to my enhanced hearing.
"You have done well sso far Mizuki, but do not think that ssuch petty attemptss of gathering information will placate me regarding your previouss failure."
I stopped walking at the corner of the passageway after hearing this.
"But, Masutā, Kakashi does not trust me, and all I learn comes from eavesdropping on other workers."
"You musst do better, Mizuki, or do you not remember what they did to your friendss?"
There was a brief pause, where I could almost feel the hatred in the air.
"No" Mizuki spat. "I remember."
"Then ssurely there iss more you can offer me than this – or should I have ssent Kabuto after all?"
"No! No, I – I know something else!"
There was something about the stranger's voice, the way he sounded like a snake, perhaps, that sent shivers down my spine and sweat sprouting from my temple, followed by my muscles trembling. I felt real fear when I heard his voice, and I flinched when he next spoke.
"Go on, Mizuki. Sshare thiss newss with me."
"Kakashi – he's recruited two more strays into his pack."
Silence reigned down the alley and for the first time I could remember, I truly wanted to hide.
"And why did I not hear of thiss earlier? Are you wavering in your loyalty?" The malicious intent behind those words seeped into my very being; I was trembling, but frozen – I had no greater desires than to run away and creep even closer.
"N-no, Masutā! I would never!"
"Good, becausse if your friend'ss death doess not insspire you enough, then at leasst remember thiss; I am the only one who can rid thiss country of thosse dissgussting creaturess for ever."
"Yes, Masutā."
I could do nothing but listen – with each word the meaning became clearer, and I became more certain that this stranger was evil, and Mizuki, though terrified of him, was working with him.
"Now, tell me all you know of thesse two sstrayss."
But then the worst happened.
A cat jumped onto a dustbin behind me, knocking the lid off and sending it with a giant clatter to the ground. Already scared and jumpy, my tensed muscles propelled me forward at such a startling sound and a loud mixture between a gasp and a shriek escaped my frozen lips.
After my heart had settled back into place, I looked up to find Mizuki and a tall, pale man with long black hair and slanted golden eyes staring at me in surprise. At this, my heart went back into overdrive and I began hyperventilating whilst still being paralysed with fear. This man, he terrified me; I knew this man, I knew him, I knew him, Kami help me I knew him from before, before I could remember -
At the same time the two men spoke, Mizuki with surprise, irritation and fear, and the stranger with satisfaction; a snake watching a rat fall into its nest.
"Naruto-" Mizuki started.
"Uzumaki Naruto." The stranger slithered closer to me, one arm raising and reaching towards my motionless face. "Sso you did ssurvive, after all. Sso fortunate . . ."
His disturbingly pale fingers closed the distance between us, and Kami help me I couldn't move, couldn't get away - and damn, why was it so terrifying -
"Naruto!" I almost sagged in relief at hearing Iruka's voice.
The stranger smiled at me. "I'll be sseeing you very ssoon, Naruto." And damn-it-all if he didn't just disappear along with Mizuki as if they had never been there. I stopped breathing, then, as my pounding heart took a second to decide that yes, the bad man had gone, and yes, I could move again - just in time for Iruka to come crashing down on me.
"Naruto!" He yelled again, this time closing his arms around me and pulling me close, my side to his stomach. "Bloody hell, Naruto, don't do that to me again! I thought you had been taken or something awful had happened and why didn't you stay on the main road?"
I stayed silent, and he noticed my scared expression and released his hold around me to pull me to face him. "Naruto?" He asked, his brown eyes narrowed with worry. "Come on, Naru, talk to me. Are you okay?"
No, no, I was not okay. My head was pounding more than my aching heart was earlier, my throat was dry, my hands and neck were drenched in sweat, my eyes shrouded by tears, my muscles trembling and above all I was so scared -
"Ruka?" I whimpered as images formed in my mind, of a dark room and a small window and a white table and that stranger smiling down at me, and Kami it hurt-it hurt-it hurt-it hurt "it hurts it hurts it hurts."
And then, without further warning, I passed out in Iruka's arms.
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So yeah, a little bit late, but I have exams (big ones, not the mocks!) for the next three weeks, so it will be unlikely I will be able to update for a while. Sorry . . . Hides behind cute, fangirl/boy-stopping Naru-chan Blame education! Mwahahaha, I love having Naru-chan.
Kakashi: leers evilly why Iruka, I never knew you felt that way about me . . .
Graytail17: Omochikaeri, so cute TwT. I wanna take you hoooome~ runs off with Iruka
AwesomeNumber-Fan: Greytail no! Not the main character! I need him for this story! Runs after Greytail17 and Iruka
Kakashi: Haha! A chase for 'Ruka-chan! Do not fear, koi, I will win your hand! Attempts to follow others but is blocked by a kunai-wielding Naruto
Naruto: You pervert! You violated Iruka-sensei!
Kakashi: Raises eyebrow Let me follow them and I won't tell Iruka you got in again and read this chapter.
Naruto: Pales You are a terrible man, Kakashi.
MISSING PERSON
Umino Iruka
Image of Iruka
Last seen with: Greytail17
Last seen at: AwesomeNumber-Fan's Chapter House
If seen, please return to: AwesomeNumber-Fan
At: AwesomeNumber-Fan's Chapter House
If you have any information on Iruka's whereabouts, please be a hero and press the Review button below.
Please hurry – worried blond child threatens to castrate Kakashi if Iruka is not found soon.
