Living in the Mist (Chapter 14)
Disclaimers: Not mine.
"Is it this one?" still clinging to Iruka's arm, Kakashi tilted his head to the side and asked.
"Yeah, there the surname plate," Iruka said while pointing to the beautifully crafted surname plate hanging right beside the huge door.
"Is this gold? Your clan sure is rich huh?" touching slightly at the dips of the plate, Kakashi scrutinized the surname plate.
"Hands off. Are you a little kid?" pulling Kakashi's fingers away from the plate, Iruka scolded the now grinning Kakashi.
"Maa, should we go in?" Kakashi said as he detached himself from Iruka, marvelling at how sticky both of them were.
"Yeah, uh knock, you knock," Iruka looked at Kakashi and the door in turns as he felt the familiar feeling rose in his chest.
"Okay, I knock. You calm down. Don't pass out on me," smiling at the obviously nervous Iruka, Kakashi teased and rubbed soothingly at Iruka's forearm.
"P-p-pass out?! I won't!" Iruka blurted.
"Okay, you won't. You are just demonstrating how a woman will act before her marriage," decided not to knock yet, Kakashi smoothed strands of stray hair out of Iruka sticky forehead as he continued to rub Iruka's forearm.
"I-I'm not an engaged woman! But that's not exactly the point here. Uh, the point is, the point is, uh, what is the point again?"
"Iruka, you are blabbering."
"Am !? No! Of course not! I was talking about the point, the point uh…"
"Iruka, shh calm down. I know you are nervous so take deep breathes and calm down alright?" grabbing Iruka's forearms, Kakashi shook them slightly as he used his thumbs to rub circles on the spot.
"Alright, take deep breathes. I can do this."
"Yes, you can. Now count, one."
"Okay. One," once Iruka said that, he inhaled a deep breath, released it and looked at Kakashi expectantly once he was done.
"Alright, two."
"Two," another deep breathe.
"Three! Push, honey! Push! I can see the head already, push!" fighting hard to keep the grin off his face, Kakashi whispered urgently to Iruka. That finally did the trick as Iruka looked at him disbelievingly and whispered profanity back at him.
"Head? The fuck, Hatake?!"
"There, much better. Don't be so nervous, okay? It'll be alright," grinning happily, Kakashi released his hold on Iruka's forearms and patted Iruka's shoulder instead.
"Yeah, let's go in," after a moment of silence, Iruka looked up at Kakashi and smiled sincerely.
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"Are they going to come in or what?"
"Our gate keeper said that two had been out there for a while talking about something he could not hear."
"They are actually making me wait?"
"Yes, they are."
"Fine. Have you thought of something to cover up the welcome party?"
"Yes."
"Good. You know I love you right?"
"Shut up."
"Ouch."
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"We have been expecting both of you. Please walk straight from here and you will see the main hall not too far away. The clan leader is waiting for your arrival in the hall," the person who opened the gate for them said once they entered the mansion.
"Got it. Thanks," smiling to the gate keeper, Kakashi tightened his hold on Iruka's hand and pulled Iruka towards the direction of the hall.
"Kakashi, what should I do when I see the clan leader?" feeling another on-coming panic attack, Iruka stopped abruptly and asked.
"Bow and say your greetings."
"Okay. After that?"
"Listen to what the clan leader says."
"Okay. And then?"
"Iruka, stop panicking," finally stopping in his way to the main hall, Kakashi looked at Iruka directly and said.
"I'm sorry," the mumbled reply was heard as Iruka avoided Kakashi's gaze and looked at the floor.
"Don't be. Just stop panicking, alright?"
"Okay, I'll try," Iruka mumbled again as he followed Kakashi to the main hall, trying to act as neutral as possible.
"Welcome to the Umino mansion, Iruka-san and Kakashi-san," a sudden foreign voice stunned Iruka out of his own musing and he raised his head just to hit Kakashi's jaw right on.
"Damn," Kakashi cursed.
"Ouch," Iruka whimpered.
"Your head's durability is definitely quality proven."
"Same to your jaw, idiot."
"Iruka-san and Kakashi-san, if you don't mind please go into the hall now. Our leader has been waiting for quite a while," silently debating to himself whether the clumsy person in front of him was a ninja or not, the person motioned Iruka and Kakashi to enter the main hall.
"Okay," taking a deep breath, Iruka steadied himself as he entered the main hall with Kakashi right beside him.
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"Welcome to Umino Clan," once they entered the main hall, a man sitting far back on a dragon shaped chair greeted them. He had the standard tan skin of every Umino clan's members with the black hair spiking wildly and the lines on his face showed his age. Somehow, the man just fitted right in with the huge golden chair he was sitting on, the various dragon paintings on the wall, the huge vases at the corners and every other Chinese-style decoration in the grand hall.
"Thank you. And you are?" bowing stiffly, Iruka asked even though he already had a good idea who was that man.
"I'm the clan leader, Umino Kuroshi. It is very nice to meet you both. Please have a seat," the man said with his deep voice as he smiled and showed his slightly crooked teeth. Iruka had to say that the man was intimidating. Even when he was seated, one could roughly guess his height with those long and muscular calves under those fitting black pants. The bare chest that showed the criss-crossing scars indicated that the man was strong to survive from those cuts. "He looks strong and wise. But unlike Sandaime, his wise is more to the negative side," Iruka mused as he seated himself carefully on one of the expensive looking chairs, Kakashi doing the same beside him.
"Nice to meet you too, Kuroshi-sama," Iruka answered politely and Kakashi just lowered his head, acting as civilian-like as possible.
"I guess I will go straight to the point. Do you have the pendant with you?" leaning back to his chair, Kuroshi asked casually.
"Yes," Iruka nodded but he did not show the pendant.
"I would like to take the pendant now," realising that Iruka was not going to give him the pendant, Kuroshi requested boldly.
"I will give it to you but I would like to know why we were attacked during our way here," Iruka replied as Kakashi just stayed quiet like the civilian he should be.
"About that… Seiryuu, will you explain it to them?" turning to his left, Kuroshi said to the woman who covered all of her body in a beige cape, showing only her green eyes. Iruka and Kakashi could not help but noticed that what she wore resembled Konoha's ANBU team a lot. Seiryuu nodded slightly and started to speak, voice muffled by the cape.
"Umino clan has a reputation to maintain, so we were testing you out."
"What?" unable to interpret what she just said, Iruka looked at her in confusion.
"We need to test your skills as a ninja whether you are fit to join the clan or not. That was why we set a test with time limit for you," without missing a beat, Seiryuu explained further.
"You requested me here and you gave a test without warning? Don't you know I have a civilian boyfriend with me? Are you trying to get him killed? Your people put a sword on his throat!" feeling his temper boiled, Iruka grabbed the hand rests of his seats hard as he grounded out his questions.
"A person will only show his or her best skills during life and death situation, so we applied that concept on you. And you proved to us that you are worthy to join, congratulation," Seiryuu was obviously undisturbed by Iruka's tone as she spoke again in her even and soft voice.
"What if we are killed? Have you ever thought about that?" Iruka was going to stand up and confront her but Kakashi's hand on top of his kept him in place.
"Yes. We did make sure that you aren't killed. You won't make it out alive if we did not go easy on you," Seiryuu said again, looking directly at Iruka and not missing the look of panic that flashed past Iruka's face. Unable to say anything else to counter, Iruka just nodded stiffly and looked away from her.
"We're sorry if we offended you. From now onwards, you are going to be treated like a guest as long as you are in Mist," Seiryuu concluded her explanations with her ever soft voice and she looked at Kuroshi in silence when she was done.
"Iruka-san, we are sorry to make you go through that battle but from now onwards, you are one of us. So make yourself at home," Kuroshi said and Iruka immediately felt the chill on his spine. That man did not give off good vibes. Years of teaching made Iruka's had the best instinct and he always trusted it.
"Kuroshi-sama, here is the pendant you requested," decided to ignore his feeling for now, Iruka took the black box from his flak jacket and handed it to Kuroshi.
"Thank you, Iruka-san. I believe both of you are exhausted from the journey. I'll have someone to show you the way to your room and you can have your rest there," with a wave of his hand, a young boy came in and he bowed to the occupants in the room.
"Kohaku?" once the boy raised his head, Iruka said in surprise. Kohaku grinned at him before he lowered his head again.
"We can save the introduction part it seems. Kohaku, bring our guests to their room and help them if they need anything. Rest well, Iruka-san," with that said, Kuroshi and Seiryuu left silently.
"Hey, good to see you guys again!" right after Kuroshi and Seiryuu left, Kohaku raised his head and beamed at Iruka and Kakashi. This made Iruka frowned and he asked curiously, "Why did you act like that just now? I mean like…"
"Well, Kuroshi-sama doesn't like us to speak without permission so…" Kohaku grinned and scratched his head as he left his sentence hanging. When he received no reply but just a quizzical look from Iruka, Kohaku changed the topic and said excitedly, "Come, I'll get you guys to your room! It is really huge, I just saw it!"
Decided not to pry, Iruka nodded as he pulled Kakashi up from the chair, pretending not to hear the complaints about sore legs. "C'mon, let's go!" Iruka grinned at Kohaku as he dragged the whining Kakashi behind him.
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"Finally, this pendant is back to where it should be," looking at the pendant on his hand closely, the man said in his deep voice.
"Yes, beautiful thing. Isn't it?" the pretty woman with long flowing black hair, tan skin and thoughtful green eyes who sat on the man's lap eyed the pendant before she leaned back to the chest behind her and said softly.
"Now we are one step closer to our plan, Seiryuu. And thanks for the cover that you thought of. It actually sounds quite right," putting the pendant back to the box, the man threaded his fingers into the long dark hair and marvelled at the softness of it.
"It didn't sound right at all, Kuroshi. Luckily we sent those soft-hearted ones to attack them, it will be really hard to explain if that civilian is dead," Seiryuu said in her soft voice again as she buried her face in Kuroshi's neck.
"If they realised anything, we can always eliminate them," Kuroshi replied casually as he played with Seiryuu's long hair.
"You're evil," Seiryuu pouted but she laughed at Kuroshi's next comment.
"You're worse."
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"W-Wow!" Iruka stared at the room, his eyes impossibly wide. Kakashi was putting his palms under Iruka's chin stealthily and that earned a puzzled look from Kohaku.
"I'm going to catch his eyeballs in case they fell out from their sockets," Kakashi whispered to Kohaku and that made Kohaku choked as he tried to stifle his laughter.
"What's so funny?" Iruka asked when he saw the constipated look plastered on both Kakashi's and Kohaku's face. Kakashi sighed in relieve as he managed to stuff his hands back to his pants pocket in time and look innocent. Kohaku was not as lucky because he choked and coughed until his tears streamed out like a waterfall.
"You are weird," decided to ignore the two weirdos behind him, Iruka turned around and continued to marvel in the beauty of the room. The Chinese-style room was painted in a light beige paint and the red light from the lamps made the whole room glowed in a romantic red glow. The whole room was carpeted and a beautifully crafted large desk was placed at the far corner of the room, right beside the huge window with beige curtain that allowed sunlight to filter in, enough to light up the room but not enough to make it too warm. There was another door at the corner and Iruka was taking a wild guess that was the bathroom. And the bed, the huge bed which was two times the size of a usual double bed, placed in the centre of the room with half transparent red curtains around it, completed with the red pillows and blanket arranged nicely on top of it was enough to make Iruka drooled. Not to mention the paintings and decorations in the room that made the room looked like some kind of ancient China royalty's room.
"I can live forever in this room, believe it," Iruka said quietly to himself, unintentionally quoted his dearest student's line.
"Believe it. He won't die without food," Kakashi said sarcastically to Kohaku and both of them had to stifle their laughter again.
"I heard you," Iruka muttered darkly, careful to keep Kakashi's family name to himself.
"Alright, I will go and get you guys some food. You might want to take a shower first. The bathroom is over there at the corner. Clothes are available in the wardrobe, feel free to wear them. See you guys in a while," Kohaku said as he pointed at the direction of the bathroom before he left.
"Well, this is impressive," Kakashi shut the door after Kohaku left and commented as he took a good look around him. Iruka was not so subtle as he kicked off his sandals and ran across the room towards the bathroom.
"Oh my god, Kakashi! The bathtub is huge!" once he opened the bathroom door, Iruka pointed inside and said excitedly, making Kakashi smiled at his childlike reactions.
"Go take a shower. We'll have a lot to talk about later," throwing Iruka's canvas bag to its righteous owner, Kakashi started to strip and change after Iruka closed the bathroom door behind him.
"Well, guess I have to look for any implanted device in this room first."
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A/N: Sorry that it takes me longer and longer to update. I was hoping to update one chapter per day but that seems impossible now. I'll try to update as fast as I can, promise. =D Nothing flashy in this chapter but I hope you all enjoy it. Drop me a review please? Big thanks to those who did.