Chapter 7

Kakashi led the way to a small restaurant that rested at the edge of town. Iruka hadn't heard of it, but Kakashi seemed to frequent the place often, by the way he talked about it. Iruka pictured Kakashi as the sort of person to pick a single place and remain loyal to it, rather than someone who simply went wherever his whim took him. The impression didn't really make a whole lot of sense when Iruka thought about it, judging from what he knew of Kakashi, but that is what he felt none the less. You had to look deeper than the surface for some people.

"The patrons are rarely shinobi" Kakashi described. "It's really a place for normal villagers, but they don't mind me much, so long as I keep the destruction down to a minimum. The owner of the place, Asuja, doesn't look too kindly on shinobi, you see, but there's a soft side beneath that harsh exterior if you look for it. Asuja can be a bit testy, but by the cunning use of my charm I've won the dear individual's good side, and we won't be having any problems." He said. "No guarantees though." he added as an afterthought, and his eye had gleamed. Iruka was sharply reminded of the way a cat waits crouched hoping for a mouse to walk by. Iruka sighed inwardly, but did not object.

"Orochimaru."

Iruka didn't want to breach the subject. For the first few minutes, the silence they walked in had reassured him Kakashi would not bring the subject up. He had been relieved, but the more the thought churned in his mind, the more his desire rose to learn more. It wasn't a game anymore, and it wasn't just a passing thought. This was deadly serious, and this was his life. He had to know more, and Kakashi would know about it. All he had to do was ask, and he would be told. That didn't stop his silence at first, but Iruka was never one to turn his back.

"What has he been doing?" Iruka asked, noting detachedly that the words somehow managed to emerge casual. His hands clenched into fists at his sides belied that, however.

Kakashi, if he noticed anything at all, did not acknowledge it. He words were sheer business. For that, Iruka was grateful.

"There are two countries under his direct influence. The Water Country and the Grass Country. The Water Country has obvious strategic purposes. Control the water, and you have instant access to shore lines across half of the Fire Country. There's no way we can watch all our borders. It's a weakness, and it's being exploited.

"The Grass Country took us a while to figure out. There were literally no warning signs. We had them as allies one day, and the next we wake up to find the Grass Country closed. All Grass ninja gone from our village, and all ties cut off. They say they are protecting themselves, but there was nothing to prompt the drastic change in policy. The few ties we had in Grass assured us that they were not aware of any negotiations taking place among their Council.

"It was the loss of the Grass that really woke us up. It was executed flawlessly. Orochimaru's influence must have been absolute for him to shut the country down in a night. Now, we have to watch three borders."

Iruka took this in. "He's working around then."

Kakashi nodded in confirmation. "He ignored the Lightning. They have no borders with us. Taking the Water first was easy – the country was already being strangled by black market businesses and a lack of Shinobi to protect the citizens. After the Water, the Sound Country already his, the Grass was the next logical step. This way, he has a united front that covers the vast majority of our borders. He's backing us into a corner. He's already got a large enough front that we don't have the forces to spare to cover our back. If we loose the alliance of the Rain and Sand we've got a very serious tactical problem, and we're already on edge with the Sand."

"But he skipped a few countries. What about Waterfall?"

"Waterfall is a strong ally. Or, at least, they were. We offered them protection in exchange for their alliance. With more of our forces already spread thin, we can't offer as much as we used to. Our ties are weakening. Again, that weakness is being exploited by Orochimaru. It hasn't fallen yet, but it will soon."

Iruka mulled this over in his mind. "And just how good were our bonds with the Waterfall?"

"Good enough. Our Shinobi worked freely together."

Iruka nodded. Already, he found himself weighing options for decisions he didn't have to make. He had a habit of doing that, of being overly curious about problems, and then finding solutions to those problems, even when nobody wanted or cared about the answer.

"Then we should continue doing that. Obviously, we're spread thin enough as it is, but the pros would probably far outweigh the cons of sending more Shinobi to Waterfall's aid when they ask for it. Obviously, we'd be stretched thinner if we lost the Waterfall and had to watch that border as well, than if we sent even a few more Shinobi as friendly help."

Iruka frowned. "Then again, if you were to lose the aid of the Waterfall, all Shinobi with jobs or missions there would probably just be sent to watch that border, so no Shinobi would really be excessively spared, and our forces wouldn't be that taxed. Everyone would just stay where they were."

Iruka wasn't really aware of Kakashi staring at him. He was mostly thinking out loud anyway. He found that it helped him think better. He was more prone to find errors in his argument if he spoke it out loud. It was so much like having an argument that he unconsciously filled in what a dissention opinion would say, then amending his own to cover the hole, and then continuing the process over and over until he could find no holes in his argument. It didn't strike him as an odd way to approach a problem, though he realized on occasion that he must look like an idiot arguing with himself.

Iruka continued, "The only thing we would lose at all would be information. Obviously, Waterfall shares borders with enemy as well. That's a small relief to our forces. That would just be one less area to worry about, plus we'd have more venues of information available. If we're going to prevent ourselves from falling into the same trap the Grass must have, it would do us well to watch Orochimaru's approach to the Waterfall."

"Do you think we weren't watching the other countries?" Kakashi suddenly asked. "What do you think happened to all the Shinobi in the Water Country, and the Grass? They're still there, except every day we loose a few more in hostile territory, and those must be replaced by more people. There's a significant difference between watching friends and watching enemies. They're slowly eating at us, Iruka, piece by piece, and when we start to lag, they're going to come full force while we scramble. We just simply can't keep going forever at this rate. One day we're going to slip."

Iruka shook his head. "I'm not denying those facts. I realize the difference between friends and enemies. I'm simply saying that we're at a good pace right now, and I speak as someone who logs mission reports for hours every day. We're not in immediate danger of losing Waterfall. Political borders may be weakening, but personal ones are not. Orochimaru can corrupt the government, but he can't take the time to personally corrupt every friendship and due loyalty between the Leaf Shinobi and the Waterfall Shinobi."

Kakashi shook his head again. "He doesn't have to take that time. As a Shinobi, you know there is a higher loyalty than personal bonds, and that's the loyalty between yourself and your country. Orochimaru isn't just going to take over the government, then order the Waterfall to attack us. You're right, there would be too much dissent. He needs leverage over them, and he has it. The size of his forces can easily overwhelm the Waterfall, and if he can do it to the Grass, he can do it to them. What's more is that everyone knows it. If Orochimaru gives them the ultimatum "Attack or die", where do you think their loyalties are going to fall?"

Iruka mulled this over. "You're right on one account, but wrong on the other. Right now, if I were to be attacked by an enemy, what would be the first thing that you do?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "I'd defend you."

Iruka nodded. "And why is that? Because we are friends?"

Iruka hadn't really considered the question before it emerged, and as the words hung in the air, there was an uncomfortable silence. Belatedly, Iruka thought that perhaps he should have put it another way, but he had to find out sooner or later. What did Kakashi think of him? Iruka was no stranger to people disliking him. Many people found his demeanor annoying or childish – he was well aware of his faults, and realized that he was a person that people needed time to adjust to. He was so used to children that sometimes he found himself acting half like a kid and half like a teacher, or just one or the other. At some low points, he often wondered if perhaps he had forgotten how to act around adults. It was ridiculous, he knew…

"Because… we are comrades."

Not friends, then.

Iruka shoved that trail of thought to the back of his head and plowed forward. "If the Hokage told you to kill me, would you do it?"

Kakashi blinked once, and his eye grew thoughtful. "Yes, I believe I would. However… I think I would question the order."

"And the leader who gave it to you."

Kakashi grudgingly nodded. "Perhaps."

Iruka suddenly grinned, and a sliver of tension in the air dissipated. "Speaking as one who was quite adept at brewing dissent, I think I have a good point of view on this. What would you do if the Hokage had you kill me, then had you kill, say, Gai? And after that Asuma, and Kurenai as well. Then he ordered you to kill their students."

"That's not the same thing."

Iruka's eyes were alight with fervor. "But it is! Don't you see? I personally had close friends in the Water Country. If the Hokage were to come to me and order me to kill them or be killed myself, what side do you think I would choose?"

Here, Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know." He said honestly.

"Can you really trust that?" Iruka asked. "Can you really trust not knowing? Can you operate a military without the trust of your troops?"

Iruka's face was so intense that Kakashi found himself taken back.

"You can't control people like that. Especially people used to free will and a cause. They will fight for you, yes, but they will turn on you every available opportunity… and they will always win in the end. Always."

"But", Kakashi cut in, "can you really trust the hearts of those people? Not everyone fights for a cause, and not everyone is as noble as you make them out to be. Some people will kill to preserve their own lives, no matter how unjust the cause. If I put a kunai to Sakura's throat and told you to kill Naruto, what would you do? You can't just assume that they will do it, and then they will rise at a later date to overthrow the injustice. It's a tragic, romantic thought, but unrealistic. Their live are in that one moment – once you kill Naruto, that's the end. It will always be a loss, never a victory. You may hate the man who made you make that decision, but are you going to rise up, when the next time you know he will just put a kunai to Ino's throat and tells you to kill Shikamaru? There are too many ways Orochimaru has power over them, and friendship just can't cut it. People love themselves more."

When Kakashi stopped talking, he was staring at Iruka's face. The expression was unreadable – Kakashi couldn't even begin to fathom what he was thinking. What really caught him then were his eyes. Shinobi were always veiled, always hiding. They had grown so used to looking in other places for emotions that Kakashi didn't even bother staring at Iruka's face. He stared hard into Iruka's eyes, searching for an answer to a question he needed to know. What he saw there was something he couldn't connect with. He saw an unreadable emotion, and depth that was like looking into a well so deep he could never hope to see the bottom. He saw hopelessness, he saw anger and hatred. There was deep frustration, and a strong sense of regret.

Iruka blinked and Kakashi lost it, but the smile on Iruka's face was suddenly brought to his attention. It was thin, ragged, forced. It was… relaxed, absolute. Kakashi didn't know.

"I guess we just need to have faith." Iruka stated, as if it were some noble fact of the world, an answer to every problem ever presented. And in that moment, it made perfect sense to Kakashi.

"Faith, then." Kakashi agreed, and silence fell once more.

Overhead, the sky was an overcast slate gray, looking as if someone had simply rubbed away at it and left behind an empty stone color. Clouds, more of a fluffy gray than the dark heavy gray of storm clouds, shifted above them. It was obvious that it would rain heavily soon however, probably within the next few days.

It's all rather nice, Iruka thought as they opened the door to the ramen restaurant and stepped inside, but I still don't seem to know anything about him. Iruka mulled that little fact over in his mind. When he got right down to it, Kakashi was just an acquaintance, a distant friend at best. When they opened the door a small bell rang somewhere in the back of the restaurant and a kindly looking woman appeared out of a back room, her hands full with trays of steaming rice and other warm food. She grinned broadly when she saw Kakashi and walked over to greet him.

"Kakashi, it's been a long time! For a while there, I thought you had ditched us for a fancier ramen restaurant." She chided lightly. Her face was smooth and free of marks, but she could only be called comely at best. Her cheeks were tinged with a ruddy red color, and her nose had an odd shape to it, almost as if someone had broken it and it hadn't healed properly. But her eyes were soft and kind and the smile on her face was warm.

Kakashi laughed and said, "You'd probably break my arms off if you caught me going to one of your "rivals". I keep coming here to keep my good health."

The waitress let out a hearty laugh. A few of the restaurant's patrons glanced over. "You're lucky my arms are full or I'd give you a good whack upside the head." She nodded to the customers seated around the restaurant. "I've got to get back to work, so you just run along to your usual spot and I'll be back there in a bit."

Kakashi nodded and the waitress walked away, but not before Kakashi gave her a pert slap on her behind, causing the woman to turn around briefly and flash him a death glare. Kakashi chuckled and glanced back at Iruka. "Just follow me; I've got my own place to eat here."

Iruka, rather amused at the Jounin's banter and antics, nodded. "Lead the way." He said, gesturing grandly.

Kakashi said over his shoulder, "That was Asuja, by the way."

Iruka started. "Her?"

Kakashi's eye danced. "Yes, her. Expecting a man, weren't you?"

Iruka kept his silence. Iruka had been almost positive that it was going to be a man. He hadn't really considered that it wouldn't be. Now, looking back, Iruka realized a pretty good clue to the contrary had been the 'winning with the cunning use of charm' bit from their conversation on the way over. Iruka had a tough time picturing Kakashi charming a man. Not that it really bothered him, but it seemed like Kakashi was always trying to one-up him, whether the Jounin did it consciously or not.

Kakashi walked towards the back of the restaurant and Iruka dutifully followed. He noticed with surprise, while glancing around the restaurant, that some of the customers were throwing him strange glances. Not all of them, but a few were wearing looks of mistrust and curiosity. He hadn't really looked around the restaurant yet and did so now, noting how full the tables were and how good the food smelled. The whole place was rather small, but it had a cozy feeling. There was a lot of talking, that dull roar that always seems to exists in popular restaurants. But… there was also a nagging feeling. They look strange he caught himself thinking. They look…angry? He thought, confused. His eyes danced quickly over the tables. No, that's not right, most of them seem rather happy. But the feeling of… some kind of deception lingered. A light was flickering overhead and he stared at it as he walked by and tried to pick up some snatches of conversation. Some of it was hard to make out, for they were spoken in guarded whispers, but portions of conversation reached his ears. A few seemed to be directed at himself and the silver haired Jounin he stood behind, but not many.

Dinner table gossip didn't interest him, he viewed it as a waste of time that didn't seem to have any practical purpose other than bored entertainment. Well, some of it was informative for the general feel Iruka got for the place, but he was not going to jump to conclusions over dinner gossip. If people whispered behind his back, it was helpful to know what they said, but he didn't really care about the words themselves.

Iruka was an intelligent man, and prided himself in his ability to piece things together, to pick the truth out of the lies. And he had honed this ability to perfection while teaching Naruto. It was amazing how many excuses that kid came up with. Particularly that one incident where he had apparently put something in the city plumbing that caused an alarmingly large number of toilets to blow up. It wasn't difficult to catch Naruto in the act; he had fallen asleep next to the unscrewed pipe he had used to put whatever it was into the plumbing system. His excuse for it? Iruka-sensei, I dropped one of my shuriken into my toilet at home and I was hoping to catch it before it made its way into the sewers. Or something like that, it was hard to remember all the pranks that kid pulled. Those were good times Iruka thought. A pain in the ass to fix, but they still managed to make me laugh.

Using his Cut Through The Bullshit technique, he guessed that Kakashi probably came here because it suited him, if his greeting with the waitress was any indication. But bringing a guest with him seemed a rarity. Not surprising, Iruka mused, But you'd think he'd bring someone like Gai with him a few times. It also seemed apparent that Shinobi weren't particularly welcome. It didn't surprise him – Shinobi were often unpopular among civilians.

Kakashi lead Iruka to a small door at the very back of the restaurant. It was a rather nondescript door with the word 'Private' on a small plaque nailed into the wood. Next to it, someone had carved lightly into the wood an 's'. Cute. Kakashi opened the door and gestured Iruka inside.

The room was rather small, all things considered. It had a single mahogany table and a set of chairs that looked old and worn. Only one chair was pulled up to the table, however. The other was pushed carelessly into a corner, covered in a fine layer of dust. Iruka cast one last look at the whispering crowd as he stepped through the door. A strange tight feeling settled in his chest. His mouth tasted… orange. That was strange. But as soon as the impression of the color came, it was gone and Kakashi shut the door.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Kakashi said, waving his hand at the room. Not that there was much to wave at. Besides the table and chairs, there was a single window with the drapes pulled closed. The whole thing felt dreary. Or secretive, like they were in some secret chamber where the bad things after dark were planned.

Iruka gave the room a cursory glance. "Cozy. Could use some color though." He said.

"I'm not much of a decorator." Kakashi grinned. "Though I did consider putting some flowers on the table." Iruka looked down and noticed that the table was covered with a simple white tablecloth and nothing else. "But I thought it would give off too much of a sissy little girl vibe. Don't want people thinking I like to pick flowers or something."

"Guess so…" Iruka murmured. He fell silent.

Suddenly a nagging feeling tugged at the back of his mind. It… felt kind of like an itch, but it didn't actually itch. The room seemed to go fuzzy for a moment, as though he were drifting. Shifting. A sort of feeling where he was sliding into a different state of mind. A thought drifted through his head, something like 'This can't be happening…', then the feeling that something was happening seemed to imbed itself in his consciousness. He felt his whole body tense. His fingers twitched nervously and he clenched them in a fist. Somewhere… somewhere… someone was…

Kakashi cocked his head to the side and peered at Iruka. "Is something wrong? Usually you'd say something more sarcastic than 'guess so'."

Iruka gave his head a slight shake and shrugged, aware of a dull buzzing sound in the background, as if his hearing were getting fuzzy as well. He felt a chill go through him. What on earth had that just been?

"I don't know… it's like--" He paused, realizing that he didn't know what was wrong, let alone understand what he was thinking. But Kakashi was giving him a weird look so he tried to explain. "It... seems like somewhere there's… there's something… there's something wrong." He finished lamely. He scratched the back of his head and noticed he was developing a small head ache.

"Something wrong?"

Iruka rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand for a minute, white spots dancing across the inside of his eyelids. He was rubbing too hard. When he pulled his hand away, he had to blink several times to clear his vision enough to see. Kakashi stared at him and didn't comment.

"I don't know. I think I'm just tired." He admitted. But that's not right he thought silently. I'm not tired, I'm… weak he realized with some surprise. That's what it is. I feel weak, like my arms are getting heavier and my legs won't move and there's some heavy weight pressing down on me, suffocating me…

"Maybe you're just hungry." Kakashi offered. His voice was oddly veiled. Iruka focused on him. "Asuja should be here in a few minutes." He added.

Iruka hesitated, then nodded. He closed his eyes briefly, and took a deep, steadying breath. He stood there, breathing in and out, reassuring himself of something he couldn't quite explain, and then when he felt somewhat normal, he opened his eyes.

Kakashi was retrieving the chair from the corner, staring down at it with a mournful look in his eye. "Sorry. It's a bit dusty. I don't have company here often." He apologized, and made an attempt to sweep off the dust with his hand.

Iruka found it wasn't too hard to smile. "That's surprising. You seem very popular with the ladies."

Kakashi flashed him a feral look. "Are you throwing my manhood into question, dear Iruka?"

Iruka was eternally grateful to find his unease sliding away so simply. "Your manhood, my friend?"

In the next instant, Kakashi was suddenly standing so close Iruka could feel the Jounin's heat through the facemask. "I can assure you, Iruka…" he whispered softly.

A hand was on Iruka's chest, gently pushing him back towards the table. "that I can be…"

His back bumped up against the edge of the wooden table. "K-Kakashi!"

"…very…"

A harder push, and Iruka found himself lying on the table. The Jounin's weight was pressing down on him. Kakashi's face was so close, Iruka could feel Kakashi's lips flutter against his as he spoke.

"… manly."

And suddenly the weight was gone, and Iruka could catch his breath. "You… you pervert." Iruka gasped.

Kakashi laughed, loud and freely. "I'm sorry, but I can never help it around you. You're so fun to mess with."

Iruka had one hand pressed to his chest protectively. "Pervert." He murmured again.

Kakashi motioned to the chair, and sat down in his own.

Iruka stood there uncertainly, trying to find his equilibrium, and after he felt like he had more control over everything, sat down in the proffered chair.

There was another moment of silence. Kakashi tilted his head to the side

There it was again! Except this time… someone was laughing. Laughing? They were having a good time. A good time, but there was a violent shadow lurking… lurking… no, it was hunting. Hunting for warmth. It wanted him… wanted… no… For a wild moment he though he was the shadow and for a moment it even looked like it. He was tall and dark and bloody, there, right there! Blood dripping from his hands. And what was that in the background? There were… voices. Voices and bodies. Horrible bodies, twisted and scarred. Had he done this? Part of him screamed Yes! Yes, this was me! But no, suddenly it wasn't. It was someone else, someone… he didn't know who. And there it was. The man who had done this. But he looks… like a shadow. No, that's not a shadow. That's his color someone whispered, someone who sounded like himself but horribly cold and emotionless. It was a horrible black, inky and greasy and dripping. It made a puddle on the floor beneath his feat and he shied away from it.

And for an instant the vision disappeared and he was standing in the little room again with the table and two chairs and the closed window. Kakashi was in front of him, his hands on Iruka's shoulders.

"Iruka?" he was saying. "Iruka!"

Iruka opened his mouth to answer but the words never left his mouth. A horrible weakness fell over his body and he felt his knees giving way. He was dimly aware of falling to his knees and suddenly the room disappeared, the floor melting away in a swirl of brown and black along with the table and two chairs and the window was melting, dripping down the wall. Kakashi drifted away into the distance, leaving only a dim cry of 'Iruka!' in his wake. And suddenly he was in darkness.

A heartfelt thanks to all of you who reviewed, you guys are inspirational! Not to mention helpful, like… flips thru reviews Cat, Avatar of the DCG who seems to actually KNOW who Eddie Izzard is, so that's like a bazillion cool points, and Darkblade who (apparently) knows more Japanese than I do and was nice enough to correct me (very very helpful), and IansKoibito who… well I dunno, I just really liked the review, and… everyone else!

(Insert very witty and funny closing comment here)

(Insert hearty laugh at very witty and funny closing comment)

(Insert a hint to review here)