Chapter 25: Blood
He didn't know what time when he woke up, it didn't matter, the time didn't interest him. Iruka stirred slightly under the warm covers and laid his head against Kakashi's back, who was laying peacefully asleep beside him. Iruka's eyes drifted open and just stared forward at the barely illuminated room, the only light was the rays of moonlight shining through the window.
Blank, completely blank.
Not a single thought found it's way into Iruka's mind, he simply stared into the moonlit darkness... His eyes rolled down from over Kakashi's shoulder and fixed themselves on the man, just staring at him for an undetermined amount of time.
Something finally came to his mind, it wasn't a thought though it resembled it at first glance. It was more of a feeling, a desire, an instinct, that he had to follow without any reasoning. Iruka closed his eyes, opening his mouth wide in a soft yawn and blinked, then continued to look into the traces of moonlight. The next time he opened his eyes there was a reddened tent to the brown orbs turning them a dirty burgundy. His mouth opened again, this time with out a yawn, and something new was there, long fangs that seem to simply appear.
Iruka leaned froward with his mouth wide, lowering toward the sleeping Kakashi's neck. But he stopped, elongated teeth hovering just above the awaiting flesh. He didn't move for a few seconds, his sleepy eyes still staring... Iruka took in a deep breath and a light appeared, a smoky blue aura surrounding Kakashi's body, his Chakra...
Iruka took another deep breath and the smoky light drew into his mouth, he gained some undefined substance from it, things that were never there for him before. The taste was unlike anything he'd ever had, indescribably amazing. Iruka's sleepy eyes grew slightly more awake as he took another breath and sucked in more of Kakashi's Chakra, it filled him in ways he couldn't explain, it was a different type of hunger.
Kakashi began to shift slightly, a low moan making it's way out of his mouth, a discomfort started to rise up in him.
It wasn't until Kakashi's moans started to grow louder did Iruka snap out of it, his eyes quickly shifting back to their normal brown and his mind forcing itself awake. "!" Fully of aware of what he had just done. ' W-What was that! What did I just do!' Iruka stumblingly threw the sheets off of himself and rolled out of the bed, he had to get away, he had to get away from Kakashi! He ended up falling disorientedly to the ground with a soft crash.
And he laid there, his mind racing, his body taking gasping, panicked breaths.
He could still taste it, traces of it still lingered in his mouth, and he wanted more. Iruka licked his lips nervously and clinched his eyes shut tightly, 'What's happening to me...What's wrong with me...why do I...' Iruka held his arms and curled into a half ball, staring at the wall with trembling eyes. 'What's happening to me! Why am I doing this!' What was more frustratingly confusing was that he still wanted more, he really wanted more! He wanted more blood, he wanted more Chakra, it was like food and water, he had to have more... 'No...No, no, no, no,no!'
He wanted it, he needed them both. What if he could have both at the same time? That would be amazing... 'No! No! NO! NO!'
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Kakashi opened his eyes, stirred into consciousness from the previous discomfort of having his Chakra absorbed. "?" Kakashi rolled over when he didn't feel the familiar warmth of a close body, only to find Iruka wasn't there. "Iruka?"...He didn't get a response. Thinking nothing of it, Kakashi closed his eyes and rolled over again, allowing himself to start drifting off to sleep.
Kakashi opened his eyes again and rolled over for the second time, he heard something... Kakashi pushed himself up and leaned over the opposite side of the bed toward the source of the sound of heavy breathing. "Iruka?" He found the other man laying on the ground, staring almost fearfully at the wall, in a fetal position, shaking.
"..." Iruka didn't respond, his just continued his harsh breaths and lay trembling where he was..
"Iruka! What's wrong." Kakashi pushed the covers off of himself and climbed out of the bed, he was met with a small chill being dressed in nothing but his boxers. Kakashi knelt down in to the shadowy area beside the bed and rested his hand on Iruka's shoulder, That small chill Kakashi felt must have been even worse for Iruka because he was freezing. "Iruka...Iruka say something."
The other man didn't even seem to hear him, his heavy breathes didn't lose their desperate rhythm for a second and he didn't move an inch beside the trembling.
"Iruka what's wrong with you." Kakashi didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to make of this? He leaned over Iruka just enough to see his face, when he looked into his eyes he determined the man was most decidedly awake. He was cold, maybe he just needed to warm him up, yeah, warm him up and see if that helped before he started to worry.
"Alright Iruka, come on..." Kakashi slipped his arms around the man's body and picked him up. But he didn't get Iruka two inches off the ground before he heard a startled gasp from the man and he began struggling with out a word. "Iruka?" Kakashi lost his grip and dropped the man back down to the ground.
Something was really wrong.
"Iruka, talk to me." Kakashi tried to pry the man out of his curled up position, but Iruka wouldn't budge and resisted all the way. After a few seconds Kakashi was forced to give up, Iruka was a grown man who's occupation was a demon hunter, Kakashi wouldn't be able to move him if he didn't want to be moved. "Iruka what's the matter? Say something...anything."
Iruka didn't say anything.
Kakashi didn't know what to do, Iruka wouldn't be moved, but yet he was laying here cold and trembling with a terrified look in his eyes. "Please...just say one word, just let me know what's wrong..."
He got no response.
Then he'd just have to take matters into his own hands.
Kakashi climbed over the man and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him with all of his strength to roll on to his back. "Come on Iruka! Get up! Say something!"
Iruka's trembling doubled and he began trashing around violently, the look of fear still heavy in his eyes.
"Come on Iruka! Tell me what's wrong! Say something." Kakashi pushed even harder, struggling to keep the man pinned. "Tell me what's wrong! Let me help you..."
"...N-no, No!" Iruka forced out of his mouth, he slipped his hands on to Kakashi's waist and pushed the man off. Quickly curling defensively up in the same fetial with the same heavy breaths, trembling and fearful look.
Kakashi stared up at the shadow shrouded ceiling and just laid there for a moment, completely stunned. It was quiet again, it seemed fitting for the darkness. What time was it? It had to be about 3 in the morning, it looked that late...
"Iruka..." Well, he asked him to say something, to do something, that was most definitely something. Kakashi sat up right and folded his arms, looking at the man with discontent. "I don't know what's wrong and I don't know why you wont tell me..."
Kakashi laid down beside Iruka and wrapped his arms around the man, pressing his chest against his back and resting his chin on Iruka's shoulder. "But I'll wait until your ready."
His new position didn't seem to have any effect on the trembling and fearful Iruka, but he didn't push him away...
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Naruto peaked into the door as the rays of sun filled the room with bright gold, looking around questioningly. "Iruka... Kakashi...Is anybody in here?" Not seeing anybody from where he was, Naruto slipped into Iruka's room and looked for himself. All he found was a messy bed. "Did Iruka leave already? Geez, he could have woke me up."
With a sigh of disappointment Naruto dropped his head and walked towards the door. '?' But when he heard the sounds of soft groans and even softer breaths, Naruto stopped. "Huh?" He walked quickly back to the messy bed and looked over the other side, and saw Iruka curled in the fetal position with Kakashi's arms wrapped around him and his chest pressed against the other man's back. "Hey, get up." Naruto called out with annoyment. 'Since when do I get up before Iruka? This must be Kakashi's fault!'
Kakashi peeped one sleepy eye opened and glanced curiously at Naruto, then when he realized he wasn't dreaming it Kakashi lifted his head slightly. "Shhh..."
"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side questioning, speaking in a much lower tone. "Why are you guys still asleep, Iruka and me have to go-"
"Go get Neji." Kakashi commanded sleepily.
"Why, It's 7 in the morning?" Naruto asked.
"Just do it, I think there's something wrong with Iruka." He whispered.
"Something's wrong with Iruka?" Naruto knelt down worriedly. "What is it?"
"I don't know, go find Neji!"
"Alright."
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"What do you mean?" Neji asked, he sat on the edge of the bed beside Naruto and a now awake Gaara.
Kakashi sat up and crossed his arms, his eyes focused on Iruka sitting beside him. "I don't know what's the problem. I woke up last night and I found him on the ground, he was shaking and he looked afraid or something like that. He wouldn't talk to me at all until I finally tred to move him and he wouldn't let me."
Naruto folded his arms and looked down thoughtfully. "Sounds like something freaked him out."
"But what could have done this to him without me noticing?" Kakashi said, speaking mainly to himself. "I was right next to him."
"Whatever it is." Neji said. "He doesn't seem to want to tell you, maybe if one of us tried asking him he'd respond better."
"I guess." Kakashi nodded reluctantly, maybe that would work, he didn't know exactly what the problem was but maybe someone else could help.
Neji looked over at Naruto and Gaara, then an expression of small remembrance came to his face and he looked over his shoulder at Kakashi."Maybe you should leave for a while."
Why not, Iruka didn't want to talk to him anyway. "Fine." With one last, worried glance at Iruka, Kakashi stood to his feet and headed for the door, sure to pick up his uniform on the way out.
"Alright, which one of us is going to wake him up?" Neji asked.
Naruto and Gaara looked at each other, and then at Neji. A few seconds of thought followed, before Gaara surprisingly was the first one to speak. "I will."
"Really, You?" Naruto asked, obviously surprised at Gaara volunteering for something like this. "Why?"
"I wanna help." He stated simply, speaking in his normal way as if there was nothing else too it. Giving all the explanation he would, Gaara pushed himself off of the bed and moved in front of the sleeping Iruka. He watched for a moment, studying his features, Iruka looked...oddly at peace for what Kakashi described. With a strong curiosity driving him to stop stalling, Gaara laid his hand on Iruka's shoulder and shook him lightly at first, when he got no response the first few seconds he began shaking the man even harder.
That seemed to awaken him this time, Iruka's eyes slowly drifted open, half lidded orbs focused themselves on Gaara like a child who wasn't quite awake enough to understand anything around him. He didn't say anything.
"Iruka." Gaara stared at the man, waiting for some type of response that never came. "Iruka is something wrong?" He asked, but still Iruka only stared at him. "I don't think he'll talk to us,"
Neji and Naruto both looked away and sighed. "Naruto, how about you give it a try." Neji suggested.
Naruto stood up and rubbed his head sleepily. "I'll give it my best--" He stopped mid-sentence, himself and everyone else in the room froze with a tense stillness when they heard Iruka began panting and saw his body start to shake with growing intensity. "I-Iruka!"
With a flutter of blurry, speeding movements, Naruto and Neji joined Gaara's side above Iruka. "What's wrong with him?" A audible tent of worry was heard in his monotone voice as he backed away so he wouldn't obstruct Neji. He really started to become worried when he saw the horrified look growing in his eyes, as if he'd just seen something he shouldn't have.
Neji, from Kakashi's descriptions, didn't waste time trying to straitened Iruka's body out, he examined the man as best he could in his current position. First he checked his pulse, then his breathing then a few other things neither Gaara nor Naruto knew what purpose served. "He's going into shock..."
"What?" Naruto asked. "How, Why?"
"I-I don't know." Neji said, looking around in a half frantic manner as if he'd find some type of answer nearby. "Come on, we need to get him off the ground right now." Neji instructed, slipping his arms under Iruka's waist. Gaara nodded obediently and grabbed his shoulders, but when they tried to lift him up they encountered the same resistance Kakashi had.
"N-No, No!" Iruka suddenly came to life, prying all of them off of him with a few sharp squirms and jerks, falling back on to his place in the ground. If Kakashi couldn't even do it, they didn't have a chance.
"I thought you said he was in shock?" Gaara asked with growing confusion.
"He...He is...?" Neji nodded as if trying to be sure of himself, "His vitals are out of control, and he's having involuntary muscle spasms... I don't understand this." Now he was completely stumped, what was this?
"Iruka come on, You have to tell us what's wrong. " Naruto nearly shouted. "Come on, say something!"
"It's no use." Kakashi, who'd made his way back inside with out anyone noticing, knelt down behind Naruto. "I've been trying that for hours, if it hasn't worked by now it wont."
"Maybe it's a panic attack or something like that?" Naruto suggested.
"With trembling...I don't know..." Neji wasn't sure of that, but it didn't seem likely.
"So what do we do?" Naruto asked. "He won't let us move him."
"I don't know..." Kakashi sighed, it was time for them to start looking at other options. "Neji, go see what you can dig up about this, maybe it's something we haven't thought of."
"Alright." Neji gave a small nod and left the room with hasty steps.
"I'll help." Naruto announced. He had some experience with researching in Neji's library from when he was trying to figure out what was wrong with Gaara, enough to at lest help a little.
That only left Gaara, who didn't have a task. "What...What do I do?"
Kakashi lifted his eyes from Iruka and glanced curiously at the boy, he seemed to be taking quite an interest. "Stay with him." Kakashi told him, heading towards the door himself.
That left just an struggling Iruka and an inexperienced Gaara.
He really didn't know what to do.
"Iruka." With a small look around, wondering if someone would come back, Gaara finally sat down beside the trembling man. "I've never seen anything like this, I wish I knew what was wrong with you." What he was saying sounded odd in his monotone voice, there was no emotion where their should have been, it sounded like he didn't care at all.
He did, a lot. Inside there was this sinking feeling in stomach, a feeling of worrying that he'd never experienced before. It filled him with an energy, an anxious energy that made him wanted to get up and move around, that made him want to do something, anything if it would help. He'd never felt this way for himself, he never even felt this feeling for Naruto.
"Why don't you say something?" Gaara asked. "It would be a lot easier for us to help if you told us what was wrong." Gaara leaned froward enough to bring himself eye to eye to Iruka, when he saw fearful that look in his face his expression visibly dropped some. It was like Iruka was looking strait through him, afraid of something only he could see. "Iruka...what happened to you."
The only response he gained was more trembling breaths.
Gaara closed his eyes and sighed, he hated seeing Iruka like this. Iruka was so nice, and helpful and parent like. Iruka always took the time to tell him or teach him anything he wanted to know, he had a faith, a sight of something in Gaara that no one else had. Iruka was like no one else he'd ever met, and he was more thankful then he could describe for him man.
The last thing he wanted to see was him like this.
"You don't have to tell me what happened or anything like that." Gaara seemed to change his mind about his previous words. "Just tell me what I can do to help." He said, that was all he wanted to do.
"..."
Gaara pressed his fingers underneath Iruka's chin and checked his pulse, his heart was racing. "Iruka..." Gaara couldn't seem to draw himself away from his eyes, he'd seen that expression, that look of fear that intense. Sure he'd seen it, in most of the people he'd ever killed, just before they died. The last thing he wanted see was that look in his eyes. "Say something at lest, do you even see me?"
Iruka's trembling began to decrease until it was almost non-exsistant and the look of total fear in his eyes eased a bit. All that remained was that confused child-like look staring back at the boy.
"Iruka?" Gaara of course took notice of this.change.
"..." He still didn't speak.
But maybe he wanted to say something. So Gaara stayed there and watched the man silently.
It continued like this for a few moments. Neither one of them said anything.
"..." Iruka's expression became needy, more and more as if he wanted to say something that never came out.
So Gaara waited, and he would however long it took.
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"You think that's it?" Naruto turned around and pushed open the library doors with his back, holding two large, open books in his hands. "Do you think any of these are it?"
Neji walked through the held open door with 3 more open books stacked on top off each other, and as soon as he reached the stairs in the hallway he broke into a full sprint. "I hope so..." Neji, with a lack of free hands, not so lightly kicked open the door to the main hall.
"Ow."
And ended up hitting a sleepy Kiba in the face.
"?" Neji walked past the door and after Naruto passed through he kicked it shut and found Kiba, now fully awake, clinching his nose tightly. "Kiba? Oh sorry, I was in a hurry."
"For what? What's going on around here?" Kiba shifted around the black shirt of his sparsely thrown on uniform and his dyed black jacket.
"It's Iruka." Neji called back as he ran down the long hall towards Iruka's room.
"Iruka?" Kiba didn't expect to wake up to this. Weren't Iruka and Naruto supposed to be on assignment? What happened? Did Iruka get hurt? Bad enough to get Neji and Naruto worried to this level.
Kiba looked up at Akamaru mounted faithfully on his head. "Wanna go check it out?" He asked, He got an affirming bark.
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Kiba pushed the door to the familiar room open and peaked in side, he found Kakashi, Neji and Naruto all crowded around Iruka's bed. 'What's going on around here?'
"What did you find?" Kakashi asked.
"Well." Neji looked down at the book, scanning over the pages. "I found too many entries for too many different problems to give you an answer. But in some of the demon texts I found some things with Iruka's symptoms exactly. Losey translated, blood tainting."
"Blood tainting? Is that like blood poisoning?" Kakashi asked.
"It could be, but I haven't seen any other symptoms of it. Blood tainting looks a lot more plausible."
Kiba, after listening for a moment, walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "You said something was wrong with Iruka, is that it?"
"Most likely." Neji nodded.
Kiba slipped past Neji and Kakashi, finally gaining his first look at Iruka. Gaara was still there, crouched in front of a still curled up Iruka who was still there, no longer shaking. Both of them were just staring at each other, Iruka looked almost like a reluctant child and Gaara held his usual expression. Interesting.
"You said that diagnosis came from demon text." Kakashi said thoughtfully. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
Neji nodded. "Yeah, it's an affliction from a demon."
"Whoa, wait a minute." Kiba looked back at Neji. "Did you say demon? A demon did ...whatever it is it did to him?"
"Looks that way."
Kiba looked back at Iruka suspiciously.
Kakashi was attempting to understand this. "How...How could a demon do this with out me knowing? I was right there..."
Kiba knelt down above Iruka and sniffed him lightly. "He smells different."
"Like what?" Neji asked.
"I don't know, just something different about it." Kiba couldn't describe it, he couldn't compare it to anything since he'd never encounter anything else resembling it.
Iruka's calm eyes suddenly widened with the same look of fear and the trembling started again, his breath becoming heavy and tattered, seemingly with out reason. "Iruka?" Gaara sat upright and looked up questioningly at everyone else. Why did he suddenly start acting like this again? He was doing so well. "What's wrong?"
Kakashi knelt over the man worriedly, "He seems worse...Neji, is there any mention of how to treat this?"
"It all depends on the type of blood tainting he's been exposed too." Neji replied disappointedly. "Every treatment is different."
"So how do we figure that out?"
"There really isn't away a way to tell, beside catching the demon that did it."
"Can we just do them all, one has to work."
"These...aren't the kind of treatments you really want to do one of, let alone all of them."
Then there was no time to waste. Kakashi stood up decidedly, "Alright then, go wake up Sasuke and Konohamaru, spread out and search the area." He told them. "A lot of time has passed so search wide and move quickly."
With an affirming nod or action, everyone disbursed, going their separate ways, and leaving behind Kakashi and Iruka.
'...' Kakashi knelt again over Iruka lent down enough to looked the man in the eyes. "I have to leave for a while...I'm sorry, but I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised. "I don't know what's wrong with you, I don't even know if you can understand me or not. But please try to fight this..." With a sigh to himself and a strong reluctance, Kakashi got up and ran towards the door.
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The area behind the SDI Building was nothing more then open wide open fields filled with short grass, a few scattered trees and sparce flowers. It was nearly impossible to hide in a place like this, and after running through it for 30 minutes strait Naruto was sure that there was no way he'd find anything. 'Oh man...'
Naruto's pace slowed to a halt and he bent over, trying to catch his breath. This was looking more and more futile by the moment. '...' With one deep inhale, Naruto stood up strait and looked to his left towards the source of displaced air he'd felt. "Gaara?"
In his usual quiet fashion Gaara appeared beside Naruto from some other facet of the search. "Did you find anything?" Gaara asked.
"No...what about you?" Naruto asked with a small hope.
"No." Gaara shook his head disappointedly. "I don't think we're going to find this thing."
"Me neither." Naruto unfortunately had to agree, whatever it was, it was either gone, or in another direction, they hoped their other team mates had better luck. "Maybe we should go back and see if anybody else found anything."
"I agree." Gaara said, with both of them harboring the same opinion Gaara didn't hesitate to turn around and start walking back. "I don't think we should have left Iruka alone..."
Naruto rested his hands behind his head with a tired sigh, "Maybe we shouldn't have. Think some thing might happen to him? Like that demon will come back."
"Not really." Gaara was more worried about what had already happened to him then what might now. "If we don't find this demon...what do you think will happen?"
"I don't know. I don't even wanna think about it."
Naruto was right, it was stupid of him to even ask something like that, of corse the end result was death, or else Kakashi wouldn't be as avid about it as he was. Gaara let his eyes fall to the ground and he stared down at the short strands of grass he passed over with each step, that sinking feeling he had in the pit of his stomach grew worse.
"Worried?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah." Gaara nodded.
"I'm sure we'll find some way." Naruto reassured him. "Iruka's really strong, he'll pull through."
"I don't want him to die." Gaara didn't seem to take as much comfort in Naruto's words as Naruto had hoped.
"Don't worry." Naruto laid his hand on Gaara shoulder consolingly. "He'll be alright, he always is."
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By the time Naruto and Gaara returned, almost everyone had done the same. Naruto looked around the lobby on entrance, Kiba was back, as well as Sasuke, Konohamaru and Neji. Kakashi was unaccounted for. "Did you guys find anything?"
"Nope." Konohamaru shook his head. "Whatever it was we're not gonna find it. We don't know where to look. Or what to look for."
"Kiba, you didn't pick up any strange scents in Iruka's room?" Sasuke asked.
"Nah, not a thing." Kiba said suspiciously, "That's really strange, how could it not leave a scent?"
"Maybe your nose is off." Naruto suggested.
"I can smell the demon you fought on you yesterday, my nose is not off." Kiba growled. "The only way that could happen is if it was a poltergeist demon, a ghost or something, or there wasn't a demon in there last night."
"Those types of demons couldn't cause this." Neji corrected.
Which could only mean the later of the two choices was the right one. "Wait, so if a demon didn't come in and do this to him, what's wrong with him?" Konohamaru asked.
"No, he most definitely has blood-tainting." Neji said with a certainty. "But...it must have happened earlier and had a delayed effect or something like that... I don't know, this isn't making sense anymore." Neji lifted his hand to his chin and a thoughtful expression came to his face, after a few seconds of silent contemplation he decided he couldn't get this on his own. "I'm going back upstairs to do more research, see what I can find out."
"I'll help." Naruto volunteered again, following Neji into the main hall.
It became quiet again after Neji and Naruto left, leaving Kiba, Konohamaru, Sasuke, and Gaara to wait.
Finally Gaara was the one to realize something. "Someone should tell Kakashi all of this, is he here."
"Yeah." Konohamaru nodded. "He's with Iruka."
Gaara set the gourd on his back down beside the door and left the lobby.
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He walked down the usual length of the main hall, wondering if Iruka had gotten any worse. Gaara wondered even more so what other symptoms he'd have if he indeed had gotten worse. Just the thought of it made that worried sinking feeling grow worse. 'Iruka...'
Gaara paused and looked over his shoulder suspiciously, it was no surprise when he found nothing.
With out a word he continued until he reached Iruka's room.
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Gaara opened the door and took a quick look around, the first person he saw was Kakashi. Sitting on the side of the bed, from his position he looked as if Iruka hadn't moved.
Kakashi took an acknowledging look back before turning his eyes back to Iruka. "Didn't find anything?"
"Nothing." Gaara folded his arm, standing over Iruka with a small sigh, Whatever condition Iruka was in didn't seem to have changed at all. "Kiba couldn't find a scent in here, there wasn't a demon." He announced blatantly.
"What?"
"Naruto and Neji went back up stairs to look for some information on a delayed effect, there was no way a demon could have gotten in and did something to Iruka with out you noticing."
That detail Kakashi couldn't seem to comprehend suddenly became so clear, "But if it didn't happen last night..."
"He was acting strangely yesterday also." Gaara pointed out. "Didn't you notice something off about him?"
"Well...he did seem...paranoid." Kakashi recounted, he thought it was just himself though, if everyone else noticed it too... "So you think this happened yesterday?"
"Possibly." Gaara said...
Kakashi noticed it, he immediately saw it on Gaara's face as soon as it appeared. "What is it?"
"There's something out in the hallway. You should go check it out."
Kakashi lifted his head uneasily, it was something in the way Gaara said it, the boy was sure of his claim. "Fine." With out hesitation he stood to his feet and left Iruka behind, walking into the main hall with quick steps. Sure to shut the door behind him. "..."
He looked around the wide corridor, staring outward through the rows of doors... '?' And of just like Gaara he didn't see anything...but still, there was this nagging feeling that something was off here.
"Do you think it is the demon that did this to him?" Gaara asked.
'I can only hope.' "Possibly." Kakashi pulled down his mask enough to reveal his Sharingan eye, maybe if he used it then he could find- "!" Kakashi quickly pivoted around with a Kunai drawn, and ended up seeing the one, worst demon he could possibly see right now. Iruka's Devil. "You..."
Seemingly out of out nowhere it appeared, the tall, red, strong, muscled body stood before him. The same pair of ivory horns protruding from it's head, same strong tail wiping around behind it's body, a pair of black wings drawn in at it's back, and most notably where those brown eyes, Iruka's brown eyes. "Iruka..." The deep, demonic voice called out, brown eyes shifting around in search. He could feel the man, he could feel it, something was happening to him.
"You did this to him!" Kakashi shouted accusingly, he stood before the demon defensively, blocking Iruka's door. His first instinct was to attack, to try and kill it now, only he knew he couldn't do it with out hurting Iruka. How were they suppose to fight against this thing? Iruka was the only one who could.
"Iruka...He's there." The demon realized, staring at the wall beside the door Kakashi blocked. He was in there! "Get out of my way."
"What did you do to him?" Kakashi yelled. This was the only demon around, it had to be this one that did it. It made sense, this one was obsessed with Iruka, and seemed to enjoy hurting him.
But truthfully it didn't know what Kakashi was talking about, it didn't care anyway. It didn't care about anything Kakashi said, or anyone else, it just wanted Iruka and nothing more. "Move!" The devil charged froward and grabbed Kakashi by the shoulders, digging it's claws into him and picking the man easily off of the ground.
Kakashi remorsefully sent a hard kick into demon's chest and pried it off of him, landing on the ground and taking a step back defensively. Gaara came to his side, he didn't have his sand with him but he still could be useful, he didn't know how useful with out hurting this demon he could be but... "If we hurt it we hurt Iruka right?" Gaara asked, "So we have to restrain it?"
"That's right." Kakashi reached into his back pocket and drew out a long, nearly invisible steel wire, with quick movements he tired it firmly around the Kunai. The devil came at him again with quick movements, crouching slight just enough to press his hands against Gaara's chest before he could evade. "Retsu ha geki no Jutsu!" A burst of razor sharp air burst forward into Gaara, throwing the boy backwards with rush of blood and ripped clothing.
Kakashi sent a sharp kick into the demon's legs in an attempt to trip it up, but the devil easily stepped to the side and sent a sharp punch in to Kakashi's stomach. Kakashi jumped backwards out of range and quickly tossed the Kunai at the Devil, who easily tilted his head to the side and evaded it. "Get out of my way!"
Kakashi gave the reeling wire a gentle tug and it veered to the left, wrapping itself around the devil and then embedding itself into the wall directly behind. With with a blur of quick movements Kakashi tossed more and more of the wire bound Kunai's at the demon until it was bound to the wall. "Shut up and be still."
The loud noises seemed to alert everyone else, because Kiba, Sasuke and Konohamaru came rushing into the hall with a hurried clatter. "Holy crap!" Konohamaru came to quick stop behind Kakashi. "What is that thing?"
Sasuke however recognized it. "Is that-"
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "That's just what you think it is."
Gaara finally came from behind after seriously contemplating going back for his gourd. But by then Kakashi had it trapped so he saw no need. "What do we do with it."
Sasuke wasn't clear on it either, but he was more decisive. "Kiba, go get Neji."
With out hesitation Kiba turned and ran towards the stairs. "Right."
"Iruka..." The bound demon didn't struggle at all, it seemed oddly reserved, which could only mean something was off. "He's mine, you can't keep him from me!" The Devil shouted, it stretched it's wings outward and breaking through the wires without hesitation. But surprisingly he stopped.
'?' Kakashi looked questioningly at the demon, then at the door behind him when he heard the familiar sound of it opening. He didn't have time to think too deeply about it. The Devil when on the attack again, intent on get them out of the way.
"Retsu ha geki Ninpo!" The black wings on it's back began flapping quickly and a formidable current of tearing winds that came so suddenly and unexpectantly that everyone was swept off of their feet. Kakashi was the only one who managed to stay standing, crossing his arms over his face to block his head while the current tore at his clothing and the skin that lay beneath.
!
The air abruptly ceased, and Kakashi lifted his head. He surprised, to say the least, to see Iruka standing in front of him, still in nothing more then his boxers as he'd been for the past few hours, and had managed to throw one of Kakashi's discarded blades into the demon's left shoulder. With his mastery of wind based Jutsu he could easily break a current. "Iruka? What are you doing out here?" Wait, that wasn't the question he wanted to ask. "Are you alright? What happened?"
Iruka looked back at him with more steady eyes, "I...I..." He still couldn't seem to form an answer. It was as if his mind was completely muddled, and it became even worse when he tried to speak. He could barely stop himself from trembling, he couldn't even stand still, but something. The Devil's presence maybe, seemed to give him enough strength to take some action.
It was the opposite for the demon, something about Iruka's weakness seemed to effect him, if it could be blamed on anything it was the strange connection they had. "Iruka." The Devil sounded throughly satisfied when he saw him. He could see something different about Iruka, he could feel something in his taking place, weakening him. "You feel...strange." He said with a questioning in his voice.
Iruka didn't try to speak, he didn't hesitate to charge froward and throw a hard punch at the Devil almost instinctively. And everyone could do nothing more then stand back and watch. While the demon was stunned by the blow, Iruka thrust the kunai into it's stomach, immediately covering the knife and his fingers in it's blood. He quickly drew the blade out and thrust it at the demon again, by the demon caught him by the wrist and with demonic strength lifted the shorter man in the air by the hand holding the knife and then sent a hard kick into his stomach.
"!" Iruka was sent flying through the narrow hallway and into the wall opposing his bedroom door, sliding limply to the floor. Everyone visibly tensed.
The Devil, though weaker then normal was still considerably strong, stronger then Iruka could handle in his weakened state. "Iruka." The familiar demonic voice called out, the name felt strangely right in his mouth. Before he could reach the fallen man, Kakashi came seeming out of nowhere with his usual speed, grabbing the Devil by it's waist and pushing roughly off of it's feet.
The demon landed on the ground hard, and promptly kicked Kakashi off, knocking the man into the ceiling and watching him fall painfully to the ground. "Damnit."
"Kakashi what do we do?" Naruto asked in confusion, he really wanted to fight, but Iruka didn't look like he could take anymore hits.
"Just...Just wait." Kakashi grunted.
Iruka rubbed his head slightly, his breathing still heavy as he dropped the knife and stumbled to his feet. With his back turned to his friends he lifted his fingers to his mouth subconsciously and licked the blood that had spilled there, unseen by everyone else. He'd hate to admit it if he was thinking right but this blood tasted...even better then Kakashi's doppelganger. It was amazing, it even made him feel a little better.
He was so busy thinking about it that he didn't realize where the Devil was until he felt two strong arms wrap around him and pull him against the demon's chest. Where he desperately began struggling, but he wasn't nearly strong enough to get out of the immobilizing embrace.
"Iruka!" When Naruto saw that he had to take action, along with everyone else, they bolted towards the demon.
"Retsu ha geki Ninpo!" They didn't reach him, the Devil stretched those large black wings and began flapping, hard. They were struck with a hard burst of air that came on so strong and suddenly that not one of them could stand against it. The walls were stripped by the blade like streams that pushed them back and tore at them.
"N-No...No!" Iruka managed to force out, but the demon only smiled before burying his face into Iruka's neck and sinking his teeth into the delicate flesh. Lights appeared around them both, the light blue aura of Iruka's Chakra surrounded them and the bluish-green of the demons. The blue light began to siphon into the Devil as well as Iruka's blood, and already it started to feel stronger.
Iruka struggled weakly, but with each passing second he lost more and more strength into his attempts at breaking free were completely futile. When he knew Iruka was completely immobilized, that's when the Devil pulled back, though just enough to speak. "You taste even better the before." He spoke softly, though just enough to be heard over the sound of his beating wings dispersing increasingly strengthening winds. "Your changing... I feel it."
Iruka could only look up at him with the same trembling eyes that shook with fear.
"I wonder how good you'll taste after it's done... I can't wait." He couldn't, just like he couldn't wait for every time Iruka got stronger. Because after words he tasted even better and held more substance, it even felt better, and he'd get even more strength. He couldn't resist. The devil sunk his teeth back into Iruka, drinking more of the blood that spilled from the wound, it's increasingly diluted bluish green Chakra began pushing into Iruka this time.
"Uh...Uhhaa..." Iruka grimaced, softly letting out weak cries of pain. His body began convulsing so strongly that he couldn't move at all anymore, and his mind drew a complete blank. "Uhhhaaaaaaaaa!" Finally he screamed in pain, and just as suddenly as if had been drained from him, strength returned to his body like a flood, more then enough to steady his trembling.
Iruka pried himself free with a sharp push outward and stumbled backwards disorientedly, blood streaming freely down from his shoulder over his back and chest. Everything around him spun around in a disorient blur, his head felt like it was spinning just as fast and he staggered dizzily into the wall. Even through all of that his mind was blank, leaving the most primal instinct. And was simply to feed his hunger for blood.
Brown eyes turned Burgundy and fangs grew in his mouth, a low, almost hissing growl forcing it's way from his throat.
"I-Iruka?" Kakashi, finally free of the repelling winds, looked over the man cautiously before attempting to approach.
Calling out his name was about to become a mistake for Kakashi, since he really couldn't see anything from the dizziness, all Iruka had to go on was sound and the smell of blood, which was all over Kakashi after having been ripped at by the last attack. Iruka growled fiercely with that same hissing like sound and lunged forward towards Kakashi . His movements were unusually and unexpectantly quick, Kakashi didn't see it coming until Iruka was on top of him, pinning him against the wall. "I-Iruka?"
The Devil's intent usually would have been Iruka, but at the moment it had something it had no choice but to focus on. It was in the middle of mutating.
! - ! - !
