Disclaimer: Since I don't remember what I write here, refer to past disclaimers
La/-/er- Hold on while I bury myself in a big pile of bad stuff in hopes that you guys won't say anything about how late this is...
Review Responses:
::tear:: Apologies, quite frankly, I'm feeling jittery right now. Although I do thank each and every one of you. And so does Seito. (Seito: -Nods in agreements-) Really. We had a reaction to each and every one of them. You know, smiles for those who needed smiles. Those that needed more thinking were thought provoking. Some gave me ideas too. So really, thanx, we appreciate every single one of them.
I still have time to type out everyone's penname though. :-P
Night-Owl123, ghostninja85, Lostlily, Yum, Aishiteru Duo(x2)( thanks for the info), RukaIayLomperGay, InuSaiyan (I'm hoping that things will start clearing up soon), Kutsu, Tiffyki, Pheox, Hikaru Tsukiyono, Shadow-Keeper0, sunhawk, me, izumi, moonlight2, Hitokiri, Youmahime, Aragornthia, Little Fox Kit (x2) (the thing about Sasuke, you'll have to ask Seito, she wrote the chapter...) Seito: Kage looks like Sasuke? Umm... that was not on purpose! –hits head against the wall, muttering- I really need to rethink how I make my characters...
And now that I've reread everyone's comments, we can continue. Thank you ever so much for what you said. Makes me think I should've just read your reviews to get inspiration. Awfully glad you guys think this story is interesting. Considering it's a result of our discovery that geniuses really do think alike... you're only confirming it, lol.
And to answer the question Seito asked, Kage said Baka mortal backwards, and yes, the voice is... Kyuubi. Hmm... Should I have told you that?
One more thing, I noticed that there were new reviewers! Welcome to the story and I hope you continue to like it!
Moments before I posted this, and after I read Seito's editing notes, I realized that there are a heck lot of fragments in the beginning of the chapter. Bear with me, but at the time, I was thinking that the thoughts running through their heads would not be particularly complete. If it bothers you though, you'll be glad to know that it's only for the first half of this chapter. And one last thing, this is mostly a filler chapter, so don't expect anything too grand, even though it's so late you probably would've expected something better... ::sigh::
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Without Life
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Chapter VIII: Gone Again
He walked, walked, walked. Paced up and down, left and right. Waiting, waiting. Waiting for what? Even he was not sure. But he had a feeling, knew that there was something. Something to do. There was something to look for, something to live for, something to....
He shot upright, gasping for breath.
Light, he remembered light, an angel? Or was it a demon? A being, an immortal being, a chance of life, renewal of...
A shout of alarm broke through his thoughts. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Shin pull a nurse into the room. Lightly chuckling at Shin's antics, his breath grew short before he fell back onto the bed once more.
No, not the bed, arms, warm strong arms. Feeling the safety, smelling the scent, he fell back into slumber once again.
---------
He paced the room, waiting for something to break. The tension he felt was unnerving, though the presence had gone some time ago. It was unsettling, the emotions, the sounds, the pounding. The beat of the heart, speeding and slowing with every thought, every shock of the apprehension running through his system.
He had to do something. Something... Leave? Perhaps that was a good idea. They were getting too close. We were getting hurt. We? No, they, pain, theirs. Always theirs. For how long? Why? Not now? Questions to answer, answers to create. Truth or fiction, lies or soul?
What is he going to choose? Who is he going to choose?
No help, no help from anyone. Why?
Why these emotions, why this urge? Why these memories? Why now? Why the pain? Why, why, why. Who do they think they are? No, no, no...
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He woke up slowly, in a haze. A haze of pain? No, a haze of comfort pulled over his eyes and ears, a layer of cotton, protecting him for the moment from the worst in life. For a moment, only peace.
A life he lived for, a life he hoped for, a family he wished for, in that moment, he felt he had it all.
And then he woke up.
Noises unnatural, bringing pain to his ears and pain to his heart. The cry of the town, the cry of the children. Pain? Why? No. No. Heat, he felt heat. Why?
Heat with a cry, a cry of pain, longing. A cry for the lost, a cry for the found.
No
NO
NO
THUD
"Owww."
"Why, hello there Iruka-kun. How does the floor feel? Better than my arms which you so rudely pulled at when you fell?"
The man on the floor blinked in confusion before looking up. For a second he saw nothing but gray and blue. Then a shift of his head allowed him to see the pair of mismatched eyes, at least, for a moment. An arm reached up to pull down the hitai-ate, and the other to pull up the turtleneck. Done in quick movements, Iruka wondered for only a moment what he was trying to hide. He understood of course, saw the concern that flashed through his eyes for a moment before they were gone once again; the twist of the mouth that said everything that would ever be needed to say.
But the emotions from his dreams still remained, the emotions that were not his still lingered. He remained on the floor, sitting restlessly as if he was a small child trying to understand, but not knowing what he was trying to understand. For a moment, the reason why he became a teacher became oh-so-clear, his ability to be the stern Iruka-sensei that the kids at the academy know and the teenager that he once was that everyone else knew.
In his pondering, he never noticed Kakashi becoming curious. Curious and curious, and then some, but in his opinion, the curiosity was lasting too long, so he gave up and decided to put him back on the bed.
Picking up Iruka and raising an eyebrow at the weird squeak that escaped the other man's lips, he placed him on the bed with a slight bounce. In his thoughts, a little bounce on the bed never hurt anyone.
Having forgotten that the person he just dropped was injured; he immediately became alarmed when Iruka suppressed a moan of pain.
With an unconscious- or so it seemed- drama, Kakashi hovered over Iruka in concern. It wouldn't be good to harm your already injured boyfriend after all.
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He hadn't figured out what to do. What to do?
Leave?
Leave?
Now?
Later?
When?
Goodbye? No, wait, why not? Friends? Right? Friends.
Yes, that is why. Yes. He must.
Go. Now. Later. Now.
Now.
Ignore the pain, follow her advice.
Have to follow her advice.
Must. Pain.
NO.
NO.
No.
no...
What?
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"Ne, Kakashi?"
"Hmm?"
"What happened to Shin?"
"Shin?"
"Yeah, he was here. Wasn't he?"
"Ah, he left, soon after Sasuke I believe."
"How long? How long was I asleep?"
"Not long, a day, less."
"Angel."
A tilt of the head. "Hmm?"
"I saw an angel. I had a choice. You, I chose you."
"You saw her? And she gave you a choice?"
"Yes, no. Wait."
"Shh, it's okay. You can think about it later."
"Shin... I thought I saw Shin. And then the angel... And then..."
"Quiet now, you need your rest. Keep up your strength. You will want to fight with us later on, right?"
"Fight? What? What fight?"
"The one that's coming. The one that I'll need to train you for."
Startled. "Train me for?!"
"It's something different. I would rather you not fight at all. But you will, you have to. I can't stop you. So I need to teach you. But for now, sleep. Sleep and rest. She won't give you another choice. Take what you can now."
A start of a protest.
"It's okay." Stroke of a hand. "It will stay. Don't worry. It will stay. I will stay. Just sleep."
A nod. A hand sneaks out. "We still have time, right?"
"All the time in the world."
"I still haven't, still haven't learned everything."
A teasing smile. "Of course you haven't."
"No. No, of you, I still have so much more to learn about you. Still need to know. Need to know why. Why I love you..."
A whisper, "I need to know too."
---------
The decision was made. He needed to leave before the fighting started. It was starting. She had told him, he hadn't listened, but he had to now... because he knew. She didn't want him to know, but he did. He found out.
And after what had just happened...
In order to protect them, protect him, he had to leave. Leave before he remembered. Because when he did, trouble will come.
In his memory lied the reason.
In his mind, laid a trap. A trap he did not know of, but a trap that will either kill him, or save him forever.
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"Iruka-sensei woke up!"
A child of ten years spoke cheerfully, spreading the news of his apparent joy with the highest volume possible. Within seconds, all the children in the vicinity had heard the news and each perked up to their own extent.
Quickly, little group was formed and plans were made.
They were going to visit Iruka-sensei.
Of course, first they had to figure out a way to leave the temporary academy building they were forced into in the beginning of the day. It would be hard, since there were extra teachers on duty; there had been extra teachers since the second fire, just in case something else would happen.
But they weren't Iruka's kids for nothing.
Children from the tiny ages of 7 to the "mature" ages of 14, their ranks ranged from starting students to those who failed to become a genin whom were trying again for just one more year.
Most of them, if not all had Iruka as their teacher at one time or another and despite his appearance, Iruka was not the strictest teacher in the academy. Well, perhaps he was, but in their mind, he was fun, and that was all that mattered.
And did we forget to mention that when we meant fun, we meant pranks?
Three
Two
One
"Aaaahhh!!!" A blood-curling scream arose from the teacher's bathroom; a few snickers traveled across the group before they became silenced.
Surprised expressions were pasted onto their faces, looks of innocence on some of the more... dutiful kids and looks of sadistic pleasure on those known to... dislike authority. All in all, when the teachers ran to the bathroom, backed out slowly and turned to the kids, there was no doubt in their mind what had happened.
So they ushered all the kids into one room and locked the doors.
Their minds were a little tender from the last two fires, so they couldn't really be blamed when they didn't notice the 'poof' from the bathroom and the 'ding' of a...
CRASH
A plan well made.
Rapidly erasing any discriminating traces of their actions, those who wanted to visit Iruka-sensei quickly left, while the few whom remained behind prepared to plead with the teachers.
After all, they had nothing to do with what had happened. Honestly. It was all the fault of those who had left. But you couldn't really blame them, could you? Oh no, they were only going to visit their beloved teacher.
So with an arsenal of sweetly coated words and cute, pitiful faces that one just wanted to gobble up, they succeeded quite well in making the teachers conveniently forget what had just transpired.
Not knowing, all the while, that the teachers had already known their plan and merely decided to play along.
Poor kids, and they thought they were so smart too.
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Meanwhile, a few streets over (it was that close), the kids had arrived at Iruka's hospital room. Only a few days had passed since the fire and so things were still a bit busy around the village. Although no one except for Iruka had been hurt, the village remained in a frenzy, on a high alert for anything that even smelled slightly wrong.
And so, it was actually a few more hours before the group of kids managed to maneuver their way towards their teacher's room.
Only to back out rather quickly moments later.
Thankfully, it was with great relief to all that the oldest of the group were at the head of the cluster, for what they had seen and heard were not to be appropriate for those of lesser... experiences.
After a few stumbling minutes, Iruka's voice rang out to invite the children into the room. The older children cautiously peeked into the room first, and soon deeming it safe to enter, bounced across the room to start excitedly babbling at the bedridden teacher.
The younger children came in soon after, offhandedly noticing Kakashi-sensei sitting at a corner in the room, looking rather pleased with himself.
For some reason though, his stance reminded the kids oddly of the positions they would take whenever Iruka-sensei ever got mad at them...
Hours later, mouths and gossip having been exhausted, the kids cheerily left the room, glad that their teacher was not in any extreme pain, nor did he have any lingering wounds. Having been told that he would return within days, they decided to wait ever so patiently for him to return. Which meant playing as much pranks as they could during those days as it seemed that Iruka-sensei was always the only one who was able to see through their tricks.
Not quite as true as they thought, but we shouldn't ruined their dreams.
Since the little people left rather quickly, in hopes of returning to the academy with at least some time to spare before their parents went to pick them up, they never noticed the tired sigh that expelled from Iruka's lips.
"Tired?" Kakashi spoke lazily, as if not really caring whether or not the answer was affirmative. Iruka gave a noncommittal "hmm", before nodding off to sleep.
"I guess he was..."
A few minutes later, the door opened quietly to reveal Shin peeking through the door's crack. Eyes passing over the bed and seeing the sleeping occupant, he looked over to the other adult in the room and cocked his head in question.
"You just missed him. But if you come back in a couple of hours, he might be awake." Seeing Shin nod, Kakashi whipped out his book and began to read, seeming to be satisfied with only the book to pass the time.
Disappointed that he was unable to talk to Iruka, Shin shrugged slightly before leaving the room and returning to wander the town as he had been doing originally.
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Deciding that going back to Lee's house would be too tedious a task for the moment, (from where he was, it was across town) Shin continued to wander the streets of Konoha. Without a destination in mind, he managed to greet all the people he had met the past week or so, within the hour. Seeing the happy faces on the villagers, Shin sighed, wondering whether or not the villagers realized that though the village was on high alert, it would be simple for it to get attacked. Much too simple.
Brushing off the thought moments later, he picked up his head to look at the clear, blue skies. Spotting a bird, he began to walk the path that it flew. Part of the same world, yet the two creatures walked the exact same path in different ways. One was stuck on the ground, unable to reach the skies as the winged creature could. The other was flying freely in the air; the ground, while not inaccessible, dangerous to the creature.
Distracted by the bird and its elegant flight, he never noticed until it was too late that something had stood in his way.
Bumping into the stationary figure, Shin stumbled a bit, on the edge of his feet, moments away from falling. That is, before a hand reached out to grasp his waist along with his cloak, giving him the slight momentum he needed to regain his balance.
Blushing a bit, Shin bowed while muttering an apology.
"My apologies, I was not looking at the path I walked."
"On the contrary, I believe you were, just not the right one." A deep voice spoke, holding a moment of curiosity and amusement, before being brushed away by a wave of suspicion.
"I've been looking for you Shin, ever since you had left the hospital."
Curious to know whom he was speaking to, he moved his head back up to meet the sight of a scantily clad Uchiha Sasuke.
At that moment, he realized how hot it was, and wished that his cloak and scarf was not really necessary. If only Hotaru was here...
Blinking in surprise, he cocked his head and replied, "Why would you be looking for me? Didn't you leave before I did?"
Sasuke looked away, glancing at the trees surrounding the two, then, for some reason, he changed the topic, "How did you manage to avoid all the trees in this area, but not me?"
Shin was startled by the abrupt change of subject, but nevertheless, he replied to the seemingly random question, "Fate, I suppose," he smiled bitterly, as if remembering another time when Fate was not so kind...
Speaking again, Sasuke returned their conversation back to the original topic. Shin frowned a little, wary of what Sasuke was doing, but regardless of his surface thoughts, there was the lingering feeling that it mattered not what truth he told Sasuke, he was safe to trust. Juggling his thoughts, his answer came out stuttered, causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes at him.
"I was... I was walking around the town for a little while. I just went to the hospital to visit Iruka. But he was, um... asleep." He trailed off, not sure if there was really anything to add.
For a beat, there was only silence. A breeze blew though the area where the two stood, neither speaking, questions festering. Finally, Sasuke spoke what had been on his mind for some time.
Bluntly and with a purpose, "What did you have to do with the fire?"
A bewildered look crossed Shin's face, How does he..., "I have no idea what you're talking about, Uchiha-san." The bewildered expression never left his face, but inside he was thinking quickly. There's no way he can know. Wait... What am I so worried about?
"You can't deny it Shin, I saw you standing in the middle of the building. I saw the chakra flare. I saw-" Sasuke broke off, staring past Shin's shoulder. "I saw her."
Blinking, Shin turned around only to see something that he never expected.
((Hotaru?! What are you doing here?))
$$You called me. But perhaps I should've spoken to you first...$$
At her words, Shin's head snapped back towards Sasuke, who continued to look at the spot where Hotaru was at the moment... perhaps even right at her...
"Uchiha-san? You don't by any chance... see someone there, do you?"
"I'm not blind Shin. What else would I be looking at?"
"Ah..."
((Perhaps it would be best, onee-san, if...))
"It doesn't matter. He knows something." Hotaru said sternly, a frown marring her face. She walked towards the Uchiha, silently assessing him. Her thoughts scattered for a moment, before clarity shown through. "You have--"
"Yes, I do. That is why I can see you. That is why you and your kind cannot hide."
"From you though. Only from you."
"Perhaps. I do not know."
Shin listened with confusion threatening to take over. What in the world are they talking about? Realizing the confused presence of Shin, Hotaru brushed over the conversation, speaking directly to Shin.
"Why did you call me?" There was a hint of harshness in her tone that came unexpectedly and Shin reeled back from it.
Mind blanking out for a moment, Shin was silent before answering, "I didn't do it on purpose." He snarled, lashing back from the hurt of being treated as if he was a common mortal.
A sigh was heard and Hotaru shook her head slowly, then turned to Sasuke. "Even if you decide to ask, we won't answer." She stared at the boy steadily, but realized that there was no point. She rose, floating a few scant inches above the ground. "Do not say I didn't warn you, Sasuke-kun. Be careful of how you go about."
Hotaru nodded to the boy and left without a word to Shin.
Sasuke opened his mouth, but before a word was uttered, Shin shot him a startled look.
In the few moments that he was able to connect to his sister, he felt the emotions warring in her. It scared him. Hotaru was always calm. But something was affecting, deeper than anything he had ever seen from her. Quite frankly, he trusted Hotaru. And if this is what happened... maybe he should really listen to her. Just this once.
But the emotions were not the only thing he was able to sense. In that moment of turmoil, Shin was able to break through her defenses, and now he knew what she knew.
Without a word, he also left, leaving Sasuke confused and frustrated. But without any protest, he allowed him to leave.
---------
It was time. The emotions that plagued both Hotaru and himself will be settled.
He left.
With nary a look back.
Without a sound.
And without a trace.
Once again.
To Be Continued...
La/-/er- I don't have anything to say, as a Black Jack game is going on and I'm stealing time away from it to finish this up. So apologies, at this very end for the lack of review responses. I'll get back to it when it's my turn again.
And on a last note, I was winning, now I'm losing, not as bad as my mother though, lol. Now, suddenly, I'm winning again... huh.
And btw, we did originally plan for Shin to leave this chapter and have Seito start to explain most of your answers to the questions.
Seito: How am I going to do this? I'll see you guys next chapter! :P
Please Review!
