Wow... already with a second chapter! Who knew that sequels would be a
cinch to think up? At least, it was for this particular story.
This story takes place right after the events from "Pigeons and Bugs," so you might want to read that before you read this. You don't have to, but some things might be clearer then if you do. ^_^
In contrast to the last story, I think I'll be doing this one in chapters, but I'm very weary of that option. Mostly this is because I have a bad reputation with my chaptered stories: I do not finish them. I just want to continue the story so much but after a while I lose interest then drop the story altogether.
It doesn't help that I don't have an idea for an "ending" to this story.
Ah well... I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
Warnings:
Not much information is given about some of these characters's background. I guess that's where the power of "fandom" comes in. That's right, I'm pulling these biographies outta my ass. _ Stuff here may or may not have happened, we don't know... I'd like to think they did, but until I get it straight from the dolphin's mouth the validity of the events that are portrayed here can still be questioned. Even so, don't try to think too much about it, okay? After all, it is just "fan-fiction".
Same warnings from the other story: Slight chance of OOC'ness with bad grammar and tense usage ahead... proceed with caution.
Some hints of some a shounen-ai relationship in this chapter, but it's not who you think. *grin* As for Kakashi and Iruka... they're still working on it, so again just use your fan'ish imagination. XD
Comments and Criticism wanted: Please apply within.
Midnight Confessions. By Lizmun
~~~***~~~
"Think of it as a code, what parents tell their kids, or what senseis tell their students." Turning about Kakashi gave a playful wink at Iruka, who, in return, just shifted his eyes at the older man.
Pleased with the answer, Naruto nodded to his both teachers then closed his eyes to catch up on a bit of sleep. Iruka smiled at the sight then turned to push Kakashi out of the room and leave the boy in peace
The door closed with a soft, audible click, and Iruka let out a soft tired sigh as he rested his back against the cool wooden door. Iruka closed his eyes and let the smooth hard surface press against his tense and tired muscles. It had been an overly exhausting day. He was grateful for the fact that tomorrow he didn't have to teach. He didn't think his sanity would survive the day with a class full of hopeful, energetic ninja wannabes.
Still, he did have those vast amounts of papers he abandoned earlier in his plight for food and peace... which, he may add, he didn't get adequate amount of either. All in all, he needed sleep, and he needed it now.
With a polite bow, Iruka gave a tired smile to the silver-haired jounin who was simply passing the time just idly staring at a pile of empty noodle cups, giving them cautious glances as if daring one of them to move or something.
"Since you easily found your way in, I'm sure you can find your way out. Good night, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi, perked his eye up at the early dismissal. Unlike Iruka, he wasn't the least bit sleepy. He knew he shouldn't have eaten that bowl so late at night, but there are few things a person shouldn't ever avoid if they couldn't help it and a free food was one of those things.
"Yare yare... looks like someone is in a need of a nap. I guess it is a bit late. Would you like me to accompany you home? We can't have you wandering out in the streets way past your curfew. Who knows how many weirdoes or perverts you'll bump into this late at night."
Although Iruka knew that Kakashi had been kidding from the expression of humor lingering in that silver-haired jounin's single eye; Iruka couldn't help but feel deeply annoyed at the words. It reminded him of the time when that would be all what the other adults in the village would ask him when he had been younger and was taking a stroll in the moonlight. Of course they would also ask what other trouble he was getting himself into, but their inquiries weren't on an ungrounded basis.
Deciding it wasn't worth upsetting himself about it. After all, nowadays, he had been the one to ask the very same questions whenever he came across his own students in the streets. With a loud exhalation of breath, Iruka tilted his head up to stretch his tired neck muscles. Maybe it was from the stress, the headache that lingered throughout the day, or maybe it was just simple and unbidden frustration from the jounin's words and tone, but before the tired teacher knew it, a retort flowed out of his dry lips before his mind could register them and edit them for tact and politeness.
"Oh don't worry about me; after all, I'm sure none can surpass your greatness when it comes to being weird and perverted. G'night now."
Kakashi, if he hadn't been pressed against the opposite wall, would have leaned back in surprise. Ever since he knew the chunin, he never knew the man to be so harsh and condescending in his words. Of course he formally just met the man that evening, but as Team 7's teacher, he had taken it as his responsibility to learn about his students' backgrounds, including learning about their previous sensei.
Iruka had just turned the knob to leave the apartment when he froze, his words finally escaping its lag and registering within the scared man's head. With a quick turn on his heel, Iruka bowed low towards Kakashi. His face, at least the areas that weren't being covered by stray bangs, was flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... that is to say..." Iruka paused in his rambling. His fists were clenched tightly within his sides. With a shake of his head Iruka then bowed further down. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
'Curiouser and curiouser' was the term that popped into Kakashi's head at that moment. Personally he wasn't that upset over the comment. On the contrary, he couldn't help but smile and agree at the words, thank you very much. And to have come from Iruka himself made it even more amusing. He didn't think the sensei had it in him to still have a sharp wit about him. He didn't think it was still within his character. From the tales and rumors given to him from the other adults in the village, heck, he practically expected a freaking halo over the teacher's head.
Kakashi then had a weird and random thought. If Iruka was this amusing to be around with when he was this tired, just imagine how much more fun he'd have being around him if he was drop dead exhausted. However, something within Kakashi nagged that it wouldn't be nice to deprive the teacher of some much needed sleep. Of course, at this, another voice, one with a slightly impish tone, popped in his head stating that a ninja who never missed a full nights rest was a pampered, weak and soon-to- be dead ninja.
Well, Kakashi really couldn't argue with that logic. Convinced that he had Iruka's well being in mind, Kakashi began to follow the disgruntled teacher as the young man slightly stumbled down the paved streets. Catching up to the young man, Kakashi gave an amused grin at the still blushing chunin. Keeping up with the young man's pace, Kakashi casually folded his arms behind his head almost as if to defuse the agitated man with the relaxed gesture.
"Don't tell me you're headed off home just yet. The night's still young. It's such a beautiful night to spend inside and doing something boring such as sleeping."
Iruka merely gave a quick glare at silver-haired man. He rather enjoyed sleeping. Sometimes he had felt that there weren't enough hours in the night to get a nice healthy sleep. With a shake of his head he hurried his pace. If he was going any faster, he may have been running.
"Look! I said I was sorry. Maybe next time, alright? Leave me alone! Good night!" He added more force onto his tone with the last two words. Perhaps then the guy would get a clue and follow his simple request. The man was beginning to seriously irritate him. Didn't the idiot understand that he didn't want to be bothered at the moment? That right now, he just wanted to curl up in his bed and enjoy a nice dreamless sleep? Iruka just wanted to be alone right now, was that really too much to ask?
He supposed it was.
Kakashi kept his pace equal to the other man's, however, the way the jounin moved made it seem that he was taking a casual stroll... despite the rapid speed the two men were going.
Having enough of this foolishness, Iruka let out a burst of chakara centered on his legs. Using the increase of energy, the teacher made a sprint down the street, leaving trail of wind and dust at his wake.
Kakashi slowed his pace until he came to a casual stop, somewhat blinking at the sudden departure. Well, alright, not sudden. The man was practically running away from him. Shifting his stance to one side, Kakashi stuck both his hands into his pockets, just standing there in the middle of the empty streets. Tilting his head up he stared at the starry night sky taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of the serene view.
"And here I thought you didn't want to play, Iru-kun. Very well, challenge accepted."
A small burst of wind was all that was left of the silver haired man as he disappeared into the woods, following a now-familiar trail of light chakara. It took a while, but the jounin finally found the stubborn chunin near the edge of the forest. Landing on a branch that overviewed the area, he found Iruka with his back towards the jounin, facing some sort of storage room.
For a while, nothing was said. Thinking that the chunin was not aware of his presence, Kakashi let his chakara raise a bit, just enough to get the younger man's attention. Alas it was but a moot point. Figuring he had nothing else to do at that moment, Kakashi allowed himself a moment to observe the area. It didn't seem so special so he wondered why Iruka had been staring so diligently to that particular side of the shack. No wait... there. On one of the boards, that formed the wall to the shack, was a trace amount of blood. Judging from the color, it was but a few days old. So there had been a fight here, interesting.
Kakashi's thoughts were soon interrupted as he glanced at Iruka, kneeling himself down to the ground and slowly picking up a dry-blood stained kunai. Silently hopping to the ground, Kakashi stealthily made his way beside the teacher. He didn't know why he was bothering so much with the young man. Frankly, he was beginning to get bored of Iruka's fickle antics, yet here he was, finding himself a bit worried about the young man. No, not "worried," maybe "curious"... yeah, that was it, he was just curious.
"Iruka-sensei...?"
Kakashi leaned forward to place a hand on the still chunin. Just as his hand was about to make contact, however, a flash of warning shot through his spine, forcing him to lean back suddenly. He felt, rather than saw, the blade as it swooshed past his face, sending a few silver strands of hair fluttering to the ground. Instantly Kakashi hopped back a few feet to distance himself from the danger. Looking up he saw Iruka still crouched in the ground with his chest rising up and down in heavy breaths. Extended to the side stretched Iruka's right arm, a freshly polished kunai clasped in that hand while the old blood-stained kunai had been apparently switched to his left.
Keeping his head lowered so that the shadows of the night covered his face, Iruka slowly rose to his feet. With another burst of speed, Iruka instantly approached the jounin and swung at him again with the polished kunai, the other blade clenched closely to his other side. Kakashi easily dodged the swings, more prepared for the attacks than at first... of course his aversion to the blade simply caused Iruka to swing even more sporadically at the other man.
As the blade slashed near Kakashi's ear, he couldn't help but wonder why Iruka was using only that one blade. The other blade didn't look too rusty, so it wasn't as if the metal was of poor quality. Testing a hunch, Kakashi suddenly pulled out a kunai of his own and flung it towards Iruka's left side.
Kakashi watched as Iruka almost, upon reflex, brought his left hand up to block the thrown object, yet at mid-way upon ascent, the teacher hesitated then instead snapped his body to the side to avoid the object. However his hesitation proved to be a bit costly as the blade's edge sliced the younger man's arm, leaving a trail of blood at as the knife ventured further only to impale itself at the shack behind him.
If Kakashi didn't know better, he could swear that Iruka was protecting the blood-stained weapon. Still, Kakashi decided he had enough of Iruka's playing around. Before the brunette knew what was happening, he was already on the ground, face down, with both arms twisted behind him.
"Drop the weapons, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi pleaded to the man with a slightly bored voice.
"Let go...." Iruka muffled out as his face was full of grass and dirt. Still, his tone carried with a strong sense of anger, hurt and... hatred? Kakashi shook his head and twisted the hands a bit more to force the muscles to instinctly either relax or risk breakage.
"You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be, sensei. Drop the knife." Kakashi's tone still carried the same placid tone, but one could hear the slight urgency in his voice.
Iruka yelled out as the twisting of his arm tugged at his wound, tearing the flesh wider. He let go of the polished blade in his right hand but kept his hold on the blood stained kunai. Already he could feel the tendons stretching to their limit. Gritting his teeth he looked back, just barely enough to see his tormentor's silver hair shine in the moonlight.
"Let... go...!"
"Yare yare... now I see where Naruto gets his stubbornness.... Well, you forced me to do this, sensei." Kakashi narrowed his eyes down at the struggling man and twisted the arm a bit more. Then, to enforce more pain, Kakashi pushed down at the wrist, threatening to pop the arm from the shoulder's joint socket.
This was enough. With a louder yell, Iruka released his hold on the kunai, allowing it to drop and cushion itself over the plush grass. Satisfied with the result, Kakashi let go of his own hold of Iruka's hands and stepped back, weary of another weapon ready to slash at him.
With sore and shaking arms, Iruka pushed himself up to a seating position. He looked down at the blood-stained grass below him and sighed. He brought one arm to his left shoulder and clasped his hand over the wound, applying pressure to the opening. He guessed he was being stubborn, but he just couldn't find it within himself to let go, no matter what. Tilting his head up, his eyes encountered the narrowed and scrutinizing ones of the jounin before him. It was the first time that Iruka had seen Kakashi's other eye, and now he was thankful that the other man had decided to keep it covered: the Shanrigan was a creepy thing to behold.
Their eyes met for a few moments until Iruka forced himself to look away, almost intimidated and highly bothered by those eyes.
"W... what?"
"Who's Mizuki?"
Iruka's snapped back to look at Kakashi. His own eyes were wide with shock and a bit of fear.
"Ho... how did you...?" Iruka began, but was interrupted by Kakashi who raised his hand to stop him.
"You yelled out 'yamero Mizuki' at that final twist...."
Iruka shivered at that. He did not realize he yelled that name out loud. He clenched his teeth tightly in frustration. He thought he was over this. No, he was over this; he just needed to convince himself of that.
"It doesn't matter. He's no one. You shouldn't worry about it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that, and I guess I just wasn't thinking."
Kakashi's eyes seemed to narrow even more at this. He couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted at the sight before him. He didn't like this reserved and diffident version of Iruka. Just a few moments ago Iruka was risking both his arms for a stupid weapon. Oddly, Kakashi preferred that side of the teacher than this one. Suddenly another hunch popped into his mind. Kneeling over, Kakashi swiped the blood-stained blade from the ground and dangled it away from Iruka's reach.
"Well then, perhaps I should go on and destroy this. It seems to bring out the worst in you, Iruka-sensei."
Half the time it took to blink an eye, Iruka was already standing and hastily reaching for the weapon.
"NO! Stop! Alright! I'll tell you, just don't..." Iruka let out a sigh of relief as Kakashi lowered the blade down, but he still didn't show any intent of giving it back to the teacher. "Maybe we should get some coffee or something; this will probably take a while to explain."
~~~***~~~~
I think I'll stop here. XD I feel if I wrote the whole thing at once, it's going to take a month or so to complete... and even I don't have that much of an attention span. Don't worry, I have about four full pages (front and back) full of ideas for this story, and to give you a hint on how long it'll take me to complete all of them, well, it took me about 6 pages to build up to the first idea. XD
Well, I'm off to write the next chapter. Comments and criticism is deeply appreciated. It encourages me to write and see where I've gone wrong, so please feel free to review.
Again thank you for reading.
This story takes place right after the events from "Pigeons and Bugs," so you might want to read that before you read this. You don't have to, but some things might be clearer then if you do. ^_^
In contrast to the last story, I think I'll be doing this one in chapters, but I'm very weary of that option. Mostly this is because I have a bad reputation with my chaptered stories: I do not finish them. I just want to continue the story so much but after a while I lose interest then drop the story altogether.
It doesn't help that I don't have an idea for an "ending" to this story.
Ah well... I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
Warnings:
Not much information is given about some of these characters's background. I guess that's where the power of "fandom" comes in. That's right, I'm pulling these biographies outta my ass. _ Stuff here may or may not have happened, we don't know... I'd like to think they did, but until I get it straight from the dolphin's mouth the validity of the events that are portrayed here can still be questioned. Even so, don't try to think too much about it, okay? After all, it is just "fan-fiction".
Same warnings from the other story: Slight chance of OOC'ness with bad grammar and tense usage ahead... proceed with caution.
Some hints of some a shounen-ai relationship in this chapter, but it's not who you think. *grin* As for Kakashi and Iruka... they're still working on it, so again just use your fan'ish imagination. XD
Comments and Criticism wanted: Please apply within.
Midnight Confessions. By Lizmun
~~~***~~~
"Think of it as a code, what parents tell their kids, or what senseis tell their students." Turning about Kakashi gave a playful wink at Iruka, who, in return, just shifted his eyes at the older man.
Pleased with the answer, Naruto nodded to his both teachers then closed his eyes to catch up on a bit of sleep. Iruka smiled at the sight then turned to push Kakashi out of the room and leave the boy in peace
The door closed with a soft, audible click, and Iruka let out a soft tired sigh as he rested his back against the cool wooden door. Iruka closed his eyes and let the smooth hard surface press against his tense and tired muscles. It had been an overly exhausting day. He was grateful for the fact that tomorrow he didn't have to teach. He didn't think his sanity would survive the day with a class full of hopeful, energetic ninja wannabes.
Still, he did have those vast amounts of papers he abandoned earlier in his plight for food and peace... which, he may add, he didn't get adequate amount of either. All in all, he needed sleep, and he needed it now.
With a polite bow, Iruka gave a tired smile to the silver-haired jounin who was simply passing the time just idly staring at a pile of empty noodle cups, giving them cautious glances as if daring one of them to move or something.
"Since you easily found your way in, I'm sure you can find your way out. Good night, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi, perked his eye up at the early dismissal. Unlike Iruka, he wasn't the least bit sleepy. He knew he shouldn't have eaten that bowl so late at night, but there are few things a person shouldn't ever avoid if they couldn't help it and a free food was one of those things.
"Yare yare... looks like someone is in a need of a nap. I guess it is a bit late. Would you like me to accompany you home? We can't have you wandering out in the streets way past your curfew. Who knows how many weirdoes or perverts you'll bump into this late at night."
Although Iruka knew that Kakashi had been kidding from the expression of humor lingering in that silver-haired jounin's single eye; Iruka couldn't help but feel deeply annoyed at the words. It reminded him of the time when that would be all what the other adults in the village would ask him when he had been younger and was taking a stroll in the moonlight. Of course they would also ask what other trouble he was getting himself into, but their inquiries weren't on an ungrounded basis.
Deciding it wasn't worth upsetting himself about it. After all, nowadays, he had been the one to ask the very same questions whenever he came across his own students in the streets. With a loud exhalation of breath, Iruka tilted his head up to stretch his tired neck muscles. Maybe it was from the stress, the headache that lingered throughout the day, or maybe it was just simple and unbidden frustration from the jounin's words and tone, but before the tired teacher knew it, a retort flowed out of his dry lips before his mind could register them and edit them for tact and politeness.
"Oh don't worry about me; after all, I'm sure none can surpass your greatness when it comes to being weird and perverted. G'night now."
Kakashi, if he hadn't been pressed against the opposite wall, would have leaned back in surprise. Ever since he knew the chunin, he never knew the man to be so harsh and condescending in his words. Of course he formally just met the man that evening, but as Team 7's teacher, he had taken it as his responsibility to learn about his students' backgrounds, including learning about their previous sensei.
Iruka had just turned the knob to leave the apartment when he froze, his words finally escaping its lag and registering within the scared man's head. With a quick turn on his heel, Iruka bowed low towards Kakashi. His face, at least the areas that weren't being covered by stray bangs, was flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... that is to say..." Iruka paused in his rambling. His fists were clenched tightly within his sides. With a shake of his head Iruka then bowed further down. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
'Curiouser and curiouser' was the term that popped into Kakashi's head at that moment. Personally he wasn't that upset over the comment. On the contrary, he couldn't help but smile and agree at the words, thank you very much. And to have come from Iruka himself made it even more amusing. He didn't think the sensei had it in him to still have a sharp wit about him. He didn't think it was still within his character. From the tales and rumors given to him from the other adults in the village, heck, he practically expected a freaking halo over the teacher's head.
Kakashi then had a weird and random thought. If Iruka was this amusing to be around with when he was this tired, just imagine how much more fun he'd have being around him if he was drop dead exhausted. However, something within Kakashi nagged that it wouldn't be nice to deprive the teacher of some much needed sleep. Of course, at this, another voice, one with a slightly impish tone, popped in his head stating that a ninja who never missed a full nights rest was a pampered, weak and soon-to- be dead ninja.
Well, Kakashi really couldn't argue with that logic. Convinced that he had Iruka's well being in mind, Kakashi began to follow the disgruntled teacher as the young man slightly stumbled down the paved streets. Catching up to the young man, Kakashi gave an amused grin at the still blushing chunin. Keeping up with the young man's pace, Kakashi casually folded his arms behind his head almost as if to defuse the agitated man with the relaxed gesture.
"Don't tell me you're headed off home just yet. The night's still young. It's such a beautiful night to spend inside and doing something boring such as sleeping."
Iruka merely gave a quick glare at silver-haired man. He rather enjoyed sleeping. Sometimes he had felt that there weren't enough hours in the night to get a nice healthy sleep. With a shake of his head he hurried his pace. If he was going any faster, he may have been running.
"Look! I said I was sorry. Maybe next time, alright? Leave me alone! Good night!" He added more force onto his tone with the last two words. Perhaps then the guy would get a clue and follow his simple request. The man was beginning to seriously irritate him. Didn't the idiot understand that he didn't want to be bothered at the moment? That right now, he just wanted to curl up in his bed and enjoy a nice dreamless sleep? Iruka just wanted to be alone right now, was that really too much to ask?
He supposed it was.
Kakashi kept his pace equal to the other man's, however, the way the jounin moved made it seem that he was taking a casual stroll... despite the rapid speed the two men were going.
Having enough of this foolishness, Iruka let out a burst of chakara centered on his legs. Using the increase of energy, the teacher made a sprint down the street, leaving trail of wind and dust at his wake.
Kakashi slowed his pace until he came to a casual stop, somewhat blinking at the sudden departure. Well, alright, not sudden. The man was practically running away from him. Shifting his stance to one side, Kakashi stuck both his hands into his pockets, just standing there in the middle of the empty streets. Tilting his head up he stared at the starry night sky taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of the serene view.
"And here I thought you didn't want to play, Iru-kun. Very well, challenge accepted."
A small burst of wind was all that was left of the silver haired man as he disappeared into the woods, following a now-familiar trail of light chakara. It took a while, but the jounin finally found the stubborn chunin near the edge of the forest. Landing on a branch that overviewed the area, he found Iruka with his back towards the jounin, facing some sort of storage room.
For a while, nothing was said. Thinking that the chunin was not aware of his presence, Kakashi let his chakara raise a bit, just enough to get the younger man's attention. Alas it was but a moot point. Figuring he had nothing else to do at that moment, Kakashi allowed himself a moment to observe the area. It didn't seem so special so he wondered why Iruka had been staring so diligently to that particular side of the shack. No wait... there. On one of the boards, that formed the wall to the shack, was a trace amount of blood. Judging from the color, it was but a few days old. So there had been a fight here, interesting.
Kakashi's thoughts were soon interrupted as he glanced at Iruka, kneeling himself down to the ground and slowly picking up a dry-blood stained kunai. Silently hopping to the ground, Kakashi stealthily made his way beside the teacher. He didn't know why he was bothering so much with the young man. Frankly, he was beginning to get bored of Iruka's fickle antics, yet here he was, finding himself a bit worried about the young man. No, not "worried," maybe "curious"... yeah, that was it, he was just curious.
"Iruka-sensei...?"
Kakashi leaned forward to place a hand on the still chunin. Just as his hand was about to make contact, however, a flash of warning shot through his spine, forcing him to lean back suddenly. He felt, rather than saw, the blade as it swooshed past his face, sending a few silver strands of hair fluttering to the ground. Instantly Kakashi hopped back a few feet to distance himself from the danger. Looking up he saw Iruka still crouched in the ground with his chest rising up and down in heavy breaths. Extended to the side stretched Iruka's right arm, a freshly polished kunai clasped in that hand while the old blood-stained kunai had been apparently switched to his left.
Keeping his head lowered so that the shadows of the night covered his face, Iruka slowly rose to his feet. With another burst of speed, Iruka instantly approached the jounin and swung at him again with the polished kunai, the other blade clenched closely to his other side. Kakashi easily dodged the swings, more prepared for the attacks than at first... of course his aversion to the blade simply caused Iruka to swing even more sporadically at the other man.
As the blade slashed near Kakashi's ear, he couldn't help but wonder why Iruka was using only that one blade. The other blade didn't look too rusty, so it wasn't as if the metal was of poor quality. Testing a hunch, Kakashi suddenly pulled out a kunai of his own and flung it towards Iruka's left side.
Kakashi watched as Iruka almost, upon reflex, brought his left hand up to block the thrown object, yet at mid-way upon ascent, the teacher hesitated then instead snapped his body to the side to avoid the object. However his hesitation proved to be a bit costly as the blade's edge sliced the younger man's arm, leaving a trail of blood at as the knife ventured further only to impale itself at the shack behind him.
If Kakashi didn't know better, he could swear that Iruka was protecting the blood-stained weapon. Still, Kakashi decided he had enough of Iruka's playing around. Before the brunette knew what was happening, he was already on the ground, face down, with both arms twisted behind him.
"Drop the weapons, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi pleaded to the man with a slightly bored voice.
"Let go...." Iruka muffled out as his face was full of grass and dirt. Still, his tone carried with a strong sense of anger, hurt and... hatred? Kakashi shook his head and twisted the hands a bit more to force the muscles to instinctly either relax or risk breakage.
"You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be, sensei. Drop the knife." Kakashi's tone still carried the same placid tone, but one could hear the slight urgency in his voice.
Iruka yelled out as the twisting of his arm tugged at his wound, tearing the flesh wider. He let go of the polished blade in his right hand but kept his hold on the blood stained kunai. Already he could feel the tendons stretching to their limit. Gritting his teeth he looked back, just barely enough to see his tormentor's silver hair shine in the moonlight.
"Let... go...!"
"Yare yare... now I see where Naruto gets his stubbornness.... Well, you forced me to do this, sensei." Kakashi narrowed his eyes down at the struggling man and twisted the arm a bit more. Then, to enforce more pain, Kakashi pushed down at the wrist, threatening to pop the arm from the shoulder's joint socket.
This was enough. With a louder yell, Iruka released his hold on the kunai, allowing it to drop and cushion itself over the plush grass. Satisfied with the result, Kakashi let go of his own hold of Iruka's hands and stepped back, weary of another weapon ready to slash at him.
With sore and shaking arms, Iruka pushed himself up to a seating position. He looked down at the blood-stained grass below him and sighed. He brought one arm to his left shoulder and clasped his hand over the wound, applying pressure to the opening. He guessed he was being stubborn, but he just couldn't find it within himself to let go, no matter what. Tilting his head up, his eyes encountered the narrowed and scrutinizing ones of the jounin before him. It was the first time that Iruka had seen Kakashi's other eye, and now he was thankful that the other man had decided to keep it covered: the Shanrigan was a creepy thing to behold.
Their eyes met for a few moments until Iruka forced himself to look away, almost intimidated and highly bothered by those eyes.
"W... what?"
"Who's Mizuki?"
Iruka's snapped back to look at Kakashi. His own eyes were wide with shock and a bit of fear.
"Ho... how did you...?" Iruka began, but was interrupted by Kakashi who raised his hand to stop him.
"You yelled out 'yamero Mizuki' at that final twist...."
Iruka shivered at that. He did not realize he yelled that name out loud. He clenched his teeth tightly in frustration. He thought he was over this. No, he was over this; he just needed to convince himself of that.
"It doesn't matter. He's no one. You shouldn't worry about it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that, and I guess I just wasn't thinking."
Kakashi's eyes seemed to narrow even more at this. He couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted at the sight before him. He didn't like this reserved and diffident version of Iruka. Just a few moments ago Iruka was risking both his arms for a stupid weapon. Oddly, Kakashi preferred that side of the teacher than this one. Suddenly another hunch popped into his mind. Kneeling over, Kakashi swiped the blood-stained blade from the ground and dangled it away from Iruka's reach.
"Well then, perhaps I should go on and destroy this. It seems to bring out the worst in you, Iruka-sensei."
Half the time it took to blink an eye, Iruka was already standing and hastily reaching for the weapon.
"NO! Stop! Alright! I'll tell you, just don't..." Iruka let out a sigh of relief as Kakashi lowered the blade down, but he still didn't show any intent of giving it back to the teacher. "Maybe we should get some coffee or something; this will probably take a while to explain."
~~~***~~~~
I think I'll stop here. XD I feel if I wrote the whole thing at once, it's going to take a month or so to complete... and even I don't have that much of an attention span. Don't worry, I have about four full pages (front and back) full of ideas for this story, and to give you a hint on how long it'll take me to complete all of them, well, it took me about 6 pages to build up to the first idea. XD
Well, I'm off to write the next chapter. Comments and criticism is deeply appreciated. It encourages me to write and see where I've gone wrong, so please feel free to review.
Again thank you for reading.