Third Degree: I'm going to leave THAT a mystery. BWAHAHA! SUFFER!
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Only kidding :D, no, he won't, or at least, that's not the way I plan it. He just tends to slip into this creepy alter-self that I'm going to touch upon in this chapter. Basically in the heat of battle he goes rather Vietnam syndrome, viewing his adversaries more like potential meals than people :P
I've fixed it to where it shows my Email on my page now, so if any of the...like 4 people who read my junk wanna contact me, you now know where to find me. If you still can't find it, my email is
Anyway, we'll see how this chapter fairs. Keep in mind I write and post, rarely even going over it a second time. It's a bad habit I know :/
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Tracing the Clouds
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Chapter 7: The Fickle Edge
Iro loved it, and hated it, this feeling that welled within him even now. It was an odd feeling, one that hadn't surfaced until his first B-ranked mission as a Chuunin of the Sound. His mind drifted back to that grizzly day, his hunched, grinning form hidden partially by shadow as the sunlight spilt over the remnants of his targets, a few hapless Hidden Stone gennin that had been wandering too far from their homeland. It had been Tayuya then, bringing him back from that cold brink of insanity. He hadn't known where it had come from, or how he had reached it, but when she pulled him away, all he felt for several days was unmasked terror... The weeks that followed found him looking more than once at his hands...he could still feel the blood on them, even when they were raw from his scrubbing.
But who, if anyone, would bring him back now, if he lost it? He shrugged away the thoughts of black-cloaked figures encroaching upon the fragile fortress that was his sanity. No, this wasn't anything big, no need to get excited. Besides...even if she was gone...Tayuya would always keep him safe. Fleeting glimpses of crimson hair and emerald eyes faded as he looked up into the sky, tracing the clouds.
"Hey, you okay there?" Iro's expression almost forced a laugh out of the silver-haired Jounin as the boy struggled to keep his balance, caught completely unaware. "JESUS!" Iro hissed, running a hand agitated over the nape of his neck, "Don't do that!" Kakashi merely grinned. "Sorry, you just had the oddest expression on your face..." The man's visible eye peered at his student expectantly, eyes briefly noting the strange marking just below the young man's collarbone. "What's that?" "What? Oh, nothing." Iro tugged quickly on the pull-strings protruding from his sweater's hood, drawing the neckline tighter. Kakashi made a mental note, stamping it with a big 'IMPORTANT' sign and filing it away.
"So, who are we waiting for? Ah, I see you've dealt with Sakura, I expected as much...she's been slacking off lately, serves her right." Iro beamed at his instructor, who sat admiring the heavy vines that lashed the young, forlorn looking kunoichi to the tree opposite their perch. "Well, I do aim to please, you know. But I thought she was a master of Genjutsu detection, how come she didn't see through that clone?" Kakashi merely shrugged. "I believe the vast majority of this village underestimates you, Iro. She probably didn't think you capable of such a clever ruse. I liked it by the way, how'd you get the clone to talk that extensively?" Iro grinned. "Mad skills."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the odd answer, but took it in stride. "At any rate, I'm going to have to take a bell from you now, so if you don't mind, fork it over." Iro stood slowly, balancing effortlessly on the breeze-blown branch. He stretched a bit, cracking his knuckles as he did so. As straight-faced as he could manage, he untied a bell from his belt loophole, tossing it wistfully to Kakashi, and shrugging. "Sure." Kakashi, comepletely taken aback, stood dumbfounded. "What?" Iro merely shrugged again, resuming his crouched position, waiting patiently for his prey to show. "You're not going to try to fight me, or anything?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
Iro rolled his eyes. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not a hammer either. I know which fights are best left for another day. Certainly strength and courage are good traits, and will make a good ninja, but intelligence also has it's place." He glanced over at his instructor, smiling sagely. "Courage is all well and good, but it's sometimes best to be a living coward, than a dead hero."
Kakashi grimaced. "Wise words. Does this mean that if you are confronted with an opponent stronger than you, you'd just run, leaving your team to die?"
The ex-Sound nin looked around. "You see a team anywhere?"
"Valid point."
A rustling sound in the bushes off to their left announced the arrival of Iro's quarry. He rubbed his hands together mischievously, giving Kakashi a wicked grin before reading his trap.
The moron'd never see it coming.
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Again, it's short, but I like it that way :)
Please review! Any confused questions are welcome!