Chapter 28: Iruka: Blood and Pain

I had never seen him so fierce. This battle he was raging against himself was destroying him, but at least, now, it had surfaced. I felt sick. The move into his mind was so sudden that I could not prepare for the intrusion. I heard the same screams, the high pitched noises, the terrifying whispers... it was even worse than the first time. I saw Hiroki dying at Tiger's hands, her shattered body full of blood. I heard Tiger trying to convince Kakashi to get out of her life and the fight that followed. There was blood, so much blood, and so much pain... All of a sudden, the flow of memories came to a halt.

The sound was unbearable, the screams, they were neither his or hers. They were the cries of fallen comrades, the soundtrack of his personal hell. A gush of blood obstructed my vision, and for a moment, I thought Kakashi had killed Tiger, but no, he had stopped mere inches away from him, his hand stuck in the illusion of what he thought was Hiroki. Just like with Rin, she had come between them, and he hadn't seen her. The emotions were violent and painful, attacking my very soul. Kakashi would not shield me from any of this. I was living it as he had, feeling the same emotions, my rationality completely pushed away and replaced by his.

That is where he collapsed emotionally, I thought.

I cried and screamed locked in his mind, but what came afterwards was even more unsettling, it was a growing resolve to die, to avoid the pain he would have to face when he would get out of there. I felt my bones break one after the other...

I had screamed, for real this time, that was what made him release the sharingan. His left eye was bloodied, his breath heavy as if he had just fought a harsh battle. I could feel the rage still present in him, but it began to slowly dissolve as he realised what happened.

I was in shock. Had he wanted to destroy me? I thought he would have never dared to do something like that to me.

He started to cry.

"I am sorry!" his voice was uneven and filled with emotions. "I didn't mean it! I am so sorry!" He was unable to control his sobs and probably needed me to comfort him, tell him that all would be fine, but I was fed up and annoyed and I left the room without even acknowledging his pleas for forgiveness.

Was Tiger partially right? Maybe he should stay away from her.

I went out. As I walked under the moonlight, I kept thinking that this made no sense. In a normal world, I would have just pushed the two of them together, but this was war. The occasions for her to die were just too damned freaking high, and he was just too strong of a shinobi to take the bet that they would both be fine in the end. Would he just go crazy from these two days of torture and that was it? Should he just be killed as were other shinobi who became like him after it? This was way too sad of a story.

When I came back, I saw a miserable creature. I noticed that the sleeping pills bottle had been knocked over on the night table. Scared of what he could have done, I counted quickly. He had only taken two. I closed my eyes in relief for a few seconds. I stared at him. He had fallen asleep, but his whole body spoke of the pain he went through. He was laying on his side, his knees brought up under his chin, his head bent, his arms closed around his body for protection leaving his half-clenched fists just in front of his face.

I took a blanket in the closet and slept in the living room.

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Told you about the short chapters!
Another one is coming :o)))