Standard diclaimer - I do not own Naruto or else the filler episodes of the anime would be over!

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Water Runs Red – Chapter 9

Kakashi walked through the door of the Torture and Interrogation unit slightly before noon with his mission pack on his back. He may be late to most things, but missions were different. He knew many of the people as he walked through the halls towards Ibiki's office. Many people were ones he had worked with before, mostly jonin, many of them also ANBU.

Kakashi knocked on Ibiki's office door and opened it walked inside when he heard "Come in" in answer to his knock. Kakashi was not expecting what he saw when he entered the office, shutting the door behind him.

Genma, without his near infamous senbon in his mouth, was sitting on Ibiki's desk while Iruka sat in a chair right in front of him. Genma had both his feet on Iruka's chair, one on the outside and one between Iruka's legs and was leaning forward, very close to the chuunin. Kakashi walked up to the men and narrowed his visible eye at what Genma was doing. He had his senbon in right hand and Iruka's lower lip in the other and was evidently getting ready to push it through the flesh of the other man's lower lip.

"Kakashi, I'll be done here in a second." With that, Genma stabbed Iruka with the Senbon, right below the lower lip. Iruka didn't even flinch, he just handed Genma a small piece of silver jewelry.

"Ibiki made sure this thing was safe right?" Genma looked at the small silver piece of metal for a few seconds, finally undoing a screw fixture on one end and slipping it through the newly created hole when Iruka managed an "Mmmhmmm" as an affirmation.

Genma fidgeted with the small piercing before having it how he wanted it. Then Iruka performed a few seals before bringing two glowing green fingers up to his lip and healing the tissue damage.

Then Genma quickly repeated the procedure for the exact same thing on the upper lip. The piercings were very small, almost unnoticeable except when the bright silver metal reflected off the lights in the room.

Iruka checked out the inner portions of the piercings with his tongue before nodding, "Nice job."

Genma smirked as he replaced his senbon into his mouth, "This thing isn't just for decoration, you know." He picked up the final piece of jewelry in a small box on the desk, "Should we take care of the last one?"

"No need." Iruka pulled up the tan colored shirt he was wearing and started to unscrew the end off of his currant navel piercing. "Never undid this one the last time you had to do it."

Genma shook his head as he handed over the piece of jewelry, "Oh, I see. Not worried about your students seeing that one."

Kakashi was watching the two; it was obvious that Genma had worked with Iruka before. They all knew Genma did work for Ibiki; Kakashi had even been on missions with Genma more than a few times and knew the man had some serious abilities. Then again, few ninja made the man's age and rank without having some serious abilities. Genma wasn't treating Iruka like a Low-level Chuunin. He was treating him as an equal, or even a friend. It was very curious. Kakashi wanted to test this observation. "I thought half the Ninja in Konoha knew you had that, Iruka?"

Genma quirked an eyebrow at Kakashi and then turned back to Iruka as the younger man laughed, "It's not my fault it was hot. Besides, none of my students were at that party."

"Kakashi was at the party?"

"Kurenai dragged me and Asuma."

Genma shook his head and turned to Kakashi, "Sure sure, she made you go to the best party of the year in the village while I was stuck on guard duty. Poor you. I have to get back to the third's office, later guys."

Iruka finished adjusting the piercing in his navel and looked over at Kakashi. "It's a radio transmitter." Iruka smoothed down his tan shirt and then pulled a grass colored vest on over it. It was lighter than the standard vest for leaf, in color and in design. Only two scroll pockets on either side and a much lighter material.

"Grass nin outfit?" Kakashi wasn't looking for confirmation as to what the chuunin was wearing, rather looking for an answer to why.

"You'll be officially escorting me back to my country; cover story is I dropped off a message for the Hokage about the upcoming Chuunin exam." Iruka positioned some bandages over his nose, similar to what Kotetsu normally sported then pulled out a grass bandana and tying it in a manner similar to Izumo.

Iruka definitely didn't look like himself. With the blond hair pressed down next to his face and the grass nin outfit. He was still tan, but his distinguishing scar was covered. "I doubt anyone will recognize me like this."

Kakashi nodded, "I don't think I'd recognize, except your chakra of course."

Iruka smirked and closed his eyes for a second. Suddenly his chakra appeared much more organized and cooler. "You were saying?"

"Impressive. How long can you hold it?" Kakashi hadn't forgotten about Iruka mentioning having a low chakra level.

"A few hours." With that, he let it drop, "It's easier to hold if I am not holding an illusion in place, besides holding an illusion doesn't make sense when trying to hide chakra. Anyone who would notice the chakra could notice the illusion."

The door opened suddenly and Ibiki walked in. Iruka immediately stood. The interrogation expert just waved a hand, "Sit, Sit. Both of you." As both of them took a seat, Ibiki sat down in the padded chair behind his desk. "Kakashi, Iruka briefed you?"

Kakashi just nodded.

"Good, I want you to leave as soon as possible. This information could be critical. Kakashi, you stay out of sight, rumors of the copy-nin in the area will made the target more jumpy." Ibiki passed a small box over to Kakashi. "This is the receiver for the transmitter Iruka has. It will only work for approximately twelve hours from when Iruka activates it." Ibiki then did something Kakashi had rarely seen -- he looked concerned. "Iruka, you're sure?"

Iruka nodded, "I'll get the information."

Ibiki nodded, "Get going you two."

Iruka stood and gathered up his pack as Kakashi placed the box inside his own. Iruka adjusted the bandana with the etched grass on it and gestured at the door, his voice slightly different as he said, "After you, leaf nin."

Kakashi nodded and made his way out the door, his estimation of Iruka's covert abilities rising as he felt the other nin's chakra signature change to be very un-Iruka. Leaving the village was easy, everyone just seemed to assume Kakashi was escorting a grass nin when they saw him being followed by an unfamiliar man with another village's forehead protector.

Once they were out of sight of the village, they picked up the pace to travel much faster, and towards sand instead of towards grass. Kakashi knew the other man could travel fast, but he had assumed he wouldn't be able to keep it up all day. He was proven wrong though as sunset approached and they were still traveling at something resembling an ANBU speed. Kakashi could have gone faster, but not significantly faster.

They paused for a quick meal before rushing off again. They'd have to keep up the hard pace to reach their destination before the sun rose. The moon soon rose high in the sky and the chuunin kept up the pace. Kakashi was seriously starting to re-evaluate what the man had told him of his abilities. This type of a pace for this amount of distance took some serious amounts of endurance. The other man's chakra control as they leapt from branch to branch never faltered. When they switched to running through the tall grass once the trees thinned to grassland, the other man traveled as silently as Kakashi.

In essence, Iruka was traveling better than most new recruits to the ranks of ANBU, something that was not expected from a chuunin. About an hour before dawn, they reached the outskirts of the village and Iruka started to pull clothes from his pack when they stopped. His grass nin uniform was quickly replaced with a loose white linen shirt and loose khaki pants.

Iruka took a deep breath, "OK, follow me. I'll get a room at the hotel and open the window. Sneak in. Don't be seen."

Without waiting for Kakashi's response, Iruka started walking down the street. Momentarily surprised at how the chuunin was taking charge, Kakashi followed in the shadows. When Iruka walked into the hotel, Kakashi waited to see a window open. About fifteen minutes later, just about the point Kakashi was starting to wonder if something was wrong, he saw the chuunin open a window on the second story. The sky was already starting to lighten as Kakashi made his way to the building and jumped through the window with a calm "Yo."

Iruka just shook his head, "Hide in the bathroom, I should have breakfast here in a few minutes."

Kakashi was about ready to argue when he heard a rapping on the door. Iruka glared at Kakashi until the man beat a hasty retreat to hide in the bathroom. Kakashi heard someone enter the room and a woman's voice, "You must be so tired from your trip. I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

"I don't want to be a bother; you've been more than kind. This is such a lovely room and breakfast looks amazing."

"Oh, this is nothing. Let me pour you some tea." He heard the sound of a slightly muffled Iruka yawn, "Oh I am sorry, sir. I should let you get some rest. Just put the tray outside the door when you're done. If you need anything I'll be downstairs."

For a moment, Kakashi thought the woman's tone on 'anything' sounded a bit flirty. However, he heard her stand up and leave, closing the door behind her. A minute or so later, Iruka indicated he could come out.

When Kakashi stepped back into the main room, he saw a small feast. Grilled vegetables and fish with rice and a small pot of tea, with only one glass of course. It was a very large meal for one person. Iruka gestured to the other side of the tray, "Help yourself. I wasn't sure what you liked, but I figured anything she made would taste better than field rations."

Kakashi nodded, pouring some of the tea into a metal cup from his bag. "I didn't know this place had room service."

Iruka grinned, "It doesn't."

They drifted into silence as they ate, Kakashi left to ponder how the man across from him could have gotten them breakfast so easily. Suddenly Iruka set down his chopsticks, "I'm grabbing a shower."

Kakashi kept eating the surprisingly good food as the chuunin stood up and made his way over to the bathroom. A minute later the sound of water running drifted through the room. He smirked to himself; at least being on a mission with Iruka wasn't bad so far. Decent place to stay and a decent meal was more than he got on most missions.

Iruka walked out of the bathroom a very short time later and threw his clothes towards the corner where he had shoved his bag. He made his still damp way over to the hotel bed and crawled in under the covers in his boxers before muttering, "I don't care where you sleep, but I'm sleeping right here."

Suddenly the chuunin had the blanket up over his head and Kakashi was left to wonder should he grab the other half of the bed, or see if the chair was comfortable. Deciding it was a choice best left for later, he went and cleaned up in the bathroom. By the time the warm water relaxed all his sore muscles, he had decided that Iruka may not care where, but Kakashi did and dang it, the other half of the bed was his.

He made sure he made enough noise as he made his way over to the bed so he wouldn't surprise the other man. He slipped in under the covers and decided to try and sleep. It was always hard for a ninja to sleep around others, especially hard when they didn't know the other person well. It was the reason teams were normally people who knew each other well, at least whenever that was possible. For short missions, it didn't matter as much. Kakashi could go a week or more without actually sleeping, instead just taking a light nap which he could instantly wake from. Kakashi fell into that sort of sleep, keenly aware of everything around him, but still resting on the shallowest outskirts of sleep.

He wasn't surprised the other man fell into a much heavier sleep. Still aware of what was going on, but not the level of paranoia that years in ANBU and a war gets you. Several hours later her heard the other man wake up.

Kakashi decided this was a good opportunity to get some questions answered, "Can I ask you something?"

Iruka half laughed, "The answer is no, I don't still respect you."

Kakashi was momentarily taken aback by not being the one making the perverted comment, "I was going to ask why you haven't put in to be a jonin."

Iruka got out of bed and started pulling on his khaki's and white shirt, "I don't have the necessary firepower to do that."

"A lot of people make jonin based on being competent at fighting but being extremely good undercover. I've seen people with less skill pass."

"And how soon afterward were their names written on that stone?" Iruka started to mess with his hair in front of the mirror, something involving a tube of hair gel.

"A Lot of Kunoichi make it to jonin specifically to do undercover work for ANBU."

"This is fine if you're a Kunoichi, however incase you didn't realize, I am not."

"Ibiki hasn't tried to get you to move up?"

"Ibiki would dance on his desk in a skirt if he thought it would get me to put in for it." Iruka shook his head, "That is a disturbing mental picture." He shrugged, "Look I don't want to. I'm going to grab some takeout for lunch, any preference?"

"Anything besides ramen."

Iruka nodded and left leaving Kakashi to think over what he had said.

Lunch passed without much of note, Iruka didn't seem in the mood to talk before going right back to bed until the sun had set, then he went out for late dinner, bringing back food again, but this time giving it all to Kakashi who was setting up the receiver from the box.

The older man looked at him, "Not hungry?"

Iruka pulled out paper and pen and set them in a corner of the room along with several vials, "No sense eating this close to going out." Without another comment. Iruka grabbed his backpack and walked into the bathroom, closing the door.

Kakashi ignored the other man's mood and continued setting up the receiver. It was compact but had very little range; he should be able to hear everything that happened on Iruka's mission. Hopefully, he'd be able to cover the three blocks between here and the club quickly enough if anything went wrong.

A few minutes later, Iruka emerged from the bathroom. His hair looked an absolute mess, in a stylish way. He also had a mesh tank thrown on over his torso. The surprising part was his pants. He was evidently trying to prove Izumo didn't have the tightest leather pants as he walked over to the bed. The legs of the pants were so tight, that almost every muscle of the man's legs was visible. The zipper was not zipped though for an obvious reason of the pants were –that- tight.

Iruka threw himself half onto the bed, back down as he maneuvered to get his pants zipped up. Kakashi was very glad for the mask that was hiding his amusement. Finally, the battle between Iruka vs. the too tight pants ended with the chuunin beating the leather. As he stood up, Kakashi realized that he had see way too much of the chuunin, and obviously there was not any underwear under those pants.

Without commenting on the pants situation, Iruka walked over to a full-length mirror and started to adjust his clothes and his hair. Finally, he muttered, "I realize how much blackmail material you have on me."

Kakashi turned and looked at him, "This isn't the first mission where I've been backup incase a seduction goes wrong."

Iruka took a deep sigh, "I'm sorry, I just … look, this could get a bit…" He paused looking for the right word, "This could get a bit violent. OK, I'll be fine, but I don't want you thinking I need help when I don't need help."

"Of course. Some sort of code then?"

Iruka nodded, "That's my normal method. Unless you hear me say 'safe', don't think I need your help."

Kakashi nodded, "Of course."

Iruka turned and looked at him with a very serious look, "I mean it. I don't care if you think he is killing me. Unless I say 'safe' do NOT interfere. This man had some really fucked up tastes, and I do not need to be worrying about you not trusting me enough to let me do my mission."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean fucked up?"

"I mean he will probably torture me, beat me, and do god knows what else. BUT, I have to get him to a position where I can drug him and read the message on him. To do that, I have to play along."

Kakashi refrained from insisting there had to be another way; he had been on too many missions where there just really wasn't another way.

"Unless you say 'safe' I will stay right here and only keep tabs on you with the receiver."

Iruka gave him a brave looking smile, that somehow just seemed hollow. "So how do I look?"

With the blond hair and the piercings, Iruka looked very un-Iruka like. The mesh shirt showed off his chest perfectly though. The Black leather pants hugged his lower body like a second skin, and Kakashi had to agree he looked good. "Hot."

Kakashi was momentarily surprised that he had said 'hot', but it was true, and obviously, the look Iruka was going for. The younger man smiled and left the room leaving Kakashi to sit at the chair pulled up in front of the receiver as he listed to Iruka make his way out of the hotel.

------------ Notes ----------------

Obviously this is the last chapter of set up for the 'mission'. I think things are sufficiently uncomfortable between Kakashi and Iruka.

Thanks for reading and reviewing all of you that have, the mail in my inbox is a happy part of my day.