Disclaimer – If I owned Naruto, Iruka Izumo and Kotetsu would get A LOT more screen time.
Spoilers – This contains spoilers for the anime and manga. Spoilers up to MANGA chapter 238
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Water Runs Red – Chapter 35 – The final chapter
Kakashi led the way out of the room, anxious to get Iruka away from the dead body. Still keeping up the deliberate search pattern, they had almost finished the last of the rooms in the corridor when they heard footsteps approaching. The pair positioned themselves on either side of the door. From the sound of it, two people were quickly walking toward their position.
As soon as the footsteps passed the room they were hiding in, Kakashi was through the door to attack, instinctively striking the stronger of the two opponents. Iruka saw an opening. The smaller of the two appeared less dangerous, a med-nin.
While Kakashi was fighting the larger opponent, Iruka let senbon fly from his holster. The chuunin rolled across the hall as all the projectiles missed, dodging kunai by the narrowest of margins, still receiving a few minor injuries. The med-nin darted to the side hoping to find an opening for a clear shot at Iruka. The med-nin took aim and let more kunai fly. Iruka smirked when the man's eyes widened in pain as the senbon ricocheted off the back wall, piercing him in the back.
Kakashi lunged at the larger man, as the enemy shinobi activated a curse seal. A jagged blackness spread over the other's body as Kakashi fought with unnatural speed. The enemy nin flew through a series of hand seals, expelling a plume of acid from his mouth. Kakashi dodged the hissing stream of liquid by mere inches. With a mid air turn, he propelled himself at the enemy by pushing off the wall. The cold blades of his kunai imbedded in the enemy nin's chest.
It should have been a fatal blow. However, with the enemy's body changing shape as the seal went into stage two, the kunai were unable to reach their target completely. Immediately, Iruka was at the enemy's back, gripping the retreating curse mark with his fingers as he poured chakra into the man's left shoulder. Kakashi reacted instantly slashing the sound-nin's throat before he could turn to attack Iruka.
Both men paused to catch their breath and take stock of their injuries. Iruka briefly tapped out a message into the radio; Kakashi assumed it was to report two dead. He walked over to the smaller man. "You knocked him unconscious."
Iruka had his med kit out and was bandaging the kunai wounds on his shoulder. Once his wounds were bandaged, he pulled a clear liquid into a syringe. "I want to question him first so I used a knock out drug on the senbon."
Kakashi's visible eye widened. "Do we have enough time?"
"I'll be quick." He tied the man's hands and feet, so he couldn't move. Then Iruka stabbed the man's arm with the syringe and pushed the liquid into him fast enough that it would definitely bruise. He then took a different vial and filled the needle again, shoving it in about an inch above the first injection site. He pressed the fluid into the bruised flesh quickly and efficiently. He filled the syringe with a third liquid and injected the noxious green liquid into the man's abdomen. The syringe was filled yet again with a fourth liquid as the man started to wake up.
In a chillingly businesslike voice, Iruka questioned the man. Of course, no answers were forthcoming for the first minute or so, and then the man started to look uncomfortable. Over the next few minutes, the man's discomfort turned to outright pain and Iruka promised him that the pain would only get worse until he was given the contents of the vial. Iruka kept promising he could make the pain go away if only the man told them what they wanted.
Less than a minute later, Iruka was holding the man down with his whole body, a hand clamped over the man's mouth to muffle the screams of pain. Finally, they were told where the Hyuuga was being kept and that yes he was alive. They also found out there were only seven people plus the prisoner in the building, so that left two unaccounted for. This man was an assistant to Dr Inokuma and for a brief moment, the man tried to beg for his life.
(A/N Dr Inokuma was mentioned as the person the drugs were being sent to in the Mission Iruka was on with Natsumi.)
Iruka only shook his head as he injected the forth liquid into the man. In seconds, the struggling stopped, and the man was dead. Kakashi had been watching the entire interaction. He made a note never to think of Iruka as emotionally weak again -- he was definitely a very capable shinobi.
The chuunin stood and opened up the radio frequency. "Target is on third level down. Paths should converge there. Two enemies down. Keep your eyes open; still two alive." He then looked at Kakashi. "It's a very humane poison. It's my personal choice when I need to carry one."
He led the way to the door, not even seeing the second of surprise on Kakashi's face that Iruka would have a favorite type of poison.
Izumo and Daisuke
Izumo and Daisuke were finishing up the final room on the second floor. This wing appeared to be quarters, which explained the small kitchen where they had found the three enemy-nin. There didn't seem to be anything of importance on the floor. Just as they were ready to declare the wing done and move onto the stairway at the far end, the radio crackled to life.
Iruka tersely reported, "Target is on third level down. Paths should converge there. Two enemies down. Keep your eyes open; still two alive."
Izumo looked over to Daisuke, and with a nod, they started down the stairway to the third level. Daisuke noticed that Izumo's eyes were back to the pale blue they had been at the start of the infiltration. He wasn't sure which of the blood on the chuunin was from the enemy and how much was actually Izumo's.
As they were opening the door to the third level, they heard another door opening. Pausing without a noise and cloaking their chakra, they waited in the stairway. Izumo's eyes went to blood red and in the light of the stairwell, Daisuke was positive he could see the blood pooling up in the chuunin's eyes. Then the red drained away revealing the palest blue again. Except now, the whites of Izumo's eyes were tinted with red where several of the smaller vessels in the eye had ruptured.
"It's Kotetsu and Tadashi." He opened the door and led Daisuke over to the sound of the opening door. Kotetsu was the first one out and walking towards Izumo, Tadashi tight on his heels.
Kotetsu reached Izumo and quickly grabbed the man's chin, holding his face still and looking into the blood shot eyes. In a whisper, the spiky haired chuunin scolded his lover, "You need to be careful pushing yourself."
The four were quickly brought up to date on how the infiltration had gone. This floor appeared to be set up in a square pattern. If the other side of the square was designed the same as this side, then, Iruka and Kakashi should be coming down one of the other stairwells. They started to check out the rooms in a clockwise manner, with Kotetsu standing guard in the hall, as the other three each took a room, now able to cover the search much quicker. Half the rooms seemed abandoned and the other half appeared to be medical rooms of some sort. There wasn't time to do much more than grab a few items and photograph everything else.
They had covered one side of the square before they heard someone opening a stairwell door. The four froze, hoping it was Kakashi and Iruka.
The door slammed open and whatever came through didn't appear to be human. It was dark and huge. The figure charging the four of them looked to be a good eight feet tall and was covered with sharp spikes.
Kotetsu shouted, "It smells like poison, be careful."
Izumo started to fall back as he reported, "It has a seal, fully open. I can't do anything to close it. It has a weak point in its armor on its right shoulder." He brought a hand across his face to wipe away the blood trickling from his eyes.
Tadashi hastily made seals for an earth jutsu and brought the stone walls of the corridor in to smash into the enemy. With its massive arms, it simply pushed the rock back, hands quickly going through seals unleashing a powerful blast of poison.
Kotetsu grabbed a kunai and slammed it to the ground as he quickly pushed Daisuke and Tadashi back. The force of the explosion from the exploding Kunai shook the hall. All four were thrown to the ground, but the blast stopped the poison attack from reaching them.
"He's still coming," Izumo shouted, pulling Daisuke as Kotetsu herded Tadashi back down the hall.
The smell of Ozone permeated the air as suddenly a loud chirping noise echoed through the narrow corridor.
Kakashi and Iruka had just reached the door to the third level when they heard shouting and an explosion. Rushing through the door, they saw the enemy's back. Kakashi didn't hesitate. He charged forward, his Sharingan revealed as he went through the motions for his Chidori, slamming his fist into the hulking form as the sound of chirping filled the corridor.
As Kakashi pulled back, the hulking figure stood up, a gaping wound through its chest pouring the enemy's lifeblood onto the ground. The monster should have been dead, but it started to make hand seals. Suddenly a single senbon flew and hit the flesh near the wound, a thin trail of chakra and blood running back to Izumo as the chuunin's eyes bled and his hand holding the chakra cord leaked red fluid to the floor.
Kotetsu and Iruka moved without thinking in response to Izumo's attack. They both knew the Kamizuki couldn't keep up his hold on the advanced seal for long. Iruka peppered one side of the enemy with senbon dripping in a thick green poison and Kotetsu went flying towards the enemy's head, nailing it with a chakra-enhanced kick that should have shattered skull and vertebra. Both attacks hit as the seal started to recede from stage two to stage one. As the dead body fell, it reverted from its monstrous form to that of a human. Iruka inspected the corpse as Kotetsu hurried over to Izumo.
The young chuunin was trying to wipe the blood from his eyes. Daisuke leaned next to Izumo as well, helping to clean up the chuunin. Daisuke brushed blood off Izumo's cheeks. "Are you OK?"
Izumo nodded. "Just have to get the blood out of my eyes. I can't see."
Kotetsu was still gingerly helping to get the blood off of Izumo's face. "I told you not to overdo it."
Izumo was blinking to clear his eyes as Tadashi, Kakashi, and Iruka finished inspecting the corpse. He pointed. "I see something." Feeling his way along the wall, the Chuunin led the way, a hand constantly in touch with the wall. The others could see that Izumo's eyes were still filled with blood, blinding him. He reached a door and held up two fingers, pointing at it before falling back to let the others go through.
Izumo continued to try to get the blood from his eyes as Daisuke sat next to him attempting to help. The other four burst through the door. The two in the hall heard a brief struggle, followed by Tadashi cursing.
Izumo made his way into the room as the blood cleared from his eyes. There was a man on the floor, wearing a medical coat, a kunai still gripped in his hand. The other four were standing looking at what was on the table.
On the table with Iruka's hand over his forehead a figure laid hooked to multiple IVs. Izumo walked up to the man hearing his moan of pain. The seal of the branch house on the figure's forehead was unmistakable.
Tadashi quickly checked over the Hyuuga. The ANBU looked grim as he looked over to Kakashi and shook his head. This was where the rest of the body from the trunk he and Kotetsu had found earlier was. Even after his years in ANBU, the fact someone could do this to another person was almost more than Tadashi could understand. The only limb the man still had was the one the IVs were in. With no legs to run, and no hands to form seals with, the man was helpless to do anything except activate his Byakugan.
Iruka was in his med kit, gently inserting a syringe into the man's arm. Slowly the Hyuuga woke up as Izumo adjusted some of the IVs. The three jônin stood back with Kotetsu as the other two MABU went to work with the drugs streaming into the Hyuuga.
Izumo frowned, his face still plastered with blood, but his eyes clear enough to see out of. "I have everything except the painkiller turned off."
Iruka's voice was soft. "Hyuuga-san, can you hear me?"
Slowly pale eyes opened. "I won't tell you anything."
Iruka frowned. "We're from Konoha. We came as soon as we found out about you." The sadness in his voice wasn't hidden.
Izumo's eyes suddenly went red again, blood running down his cheeks. "The barrier was just broken. More than six, I can't tell more than that."
Kakashi stepped forward. "We have to get out of here."
The Hyuuga looked around. "Kakashi?" His voice was harsh from his treatment.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Hotaka-san?"
"I knew someone would come." He shuddered. "Kill me. I can't let them get the Byakugan."
Iruka looked down. "There isn't anything we can do for him. Off the machine's he'll die – painfully."
Kakashi nodded. "Iruka, make it painless." He placed his hand on the Hyuuga's shoulder, "We'll protect your family's secret. " He nodded to Iruka who injected the Hyuuga with a clear liquid. In seconds, the Hyuuga's body relaxed.
Tadashi was glancing at the door. "We need to get out of here."
"Daisuke, give me your Katana." Iruka's voice was eerily calm.
The younger ANBU handed his weapon over without a pause and Iruka gripped it, bringing it swiftly down over the Hyuuga's throat.
The other five looked at him with something akin to shock. Iruka pulled a thermal blanket out of his pack and wrapped the head up, placing it in his pack with an explosive tag. "If I release the tag, it'll be destroyed, but we need to try to get the eyes back to Konoha to be inspected by the med-nins."
Tadashi and Kakashi recovered first, Both spreading a fluid on the Hyuuga's body to dissolve it. Any secretes that hadn't been discovered, would now be erased before anyone could uncover them.
They made their way to the door, Izumo and Kotetsu setting up seals as they made their way out. Kakashi watched as the two chuunin worked perfectly, setting the explosive seals. These weren't standard explosive tags -- these were much more powerful and linked to Izumo's chakra with the man's blood so they could be controlled remotely. The six ran up the stairs, trying to get out of there. Without a word passed between them, they headed for the stairway none of them had come down. The hope was that the incoming people would go to one of the entrances that they had used to get in.
Izumo threw himself at the seals on the doors, his now bloody hands undoing seals almost as fast as he could touch them. Their plan paid off and they reached the open air of outside. The sky was obscured by thick clouds unleashing a cold drizzle onto the six shinobi exhausted from their escape.
With as much speed as possible, they took off in pairs towards Konoha. Daisuke kept a careful eye on Izumo. The man was trailing blood from his hands and eyes as he ran through the trees. Blood mixing with water as it ran in red streams across the chuunin's clothes. How Izumo could even see, was unclear.
They didn't get far before they could sense pursuers. They were running as fast as they could, but it wasn't being fast enough, their pursuers were fast. Kunai and shuriken were flying through the air. Tadashi and Kakashi both started to return fire, their kunai charged with chakra.
Izumo stopped on a branch and flew through hand seals, blood running from his eyes as the chakra built in his body. He slashed through the fabric of his sleeves with the blades on his wrists and flung his arms towards the enemy. Blood flew from his arms in glistening red sheet as it separated, forming Senbon shaped projectiles. Hundreds of needles flew from his body, draining most of the blood from the chuunin.
Kakashi watched the jutsu, seeing how it infused chakra into each blood senbon, making them hard to deflect and deadly accurate. Kotetsu jumped behind Izumo and hauled him up onto his shoulder, as the man was no longer able to run.
Kakashi appraised the damage and gestured them to go on and that he'd catch up. Iruka stayed, but the other four ran off. Kakashi hissed, "Izumo's attack took out six." Suddenly the enemies were upon them and Kakashi went through hand seals quickly. "Suiryudan no Jutsu." The dragon made of water slammed into the enemy. Iruka threw chakra-enhanced weapons at the foes, thick poison dripping from them, so even a scratch would be fatal.
Their attacks took out another three, but Iruka was not able to completely dodge a rain of shuriken. The chuunin took three to his already wounded left shoulder. Kakashi grabbed his boyfriend by the other shoulder and dashed off with him. They hurried through the trees, Iruka right on Kakashi's heels, letting the jônin select the fastest route. They were almost to the meeting spot, when Kakashi announced, "They aren't following us."
They landed in the rain-soaked clearing, Iruka's shoulder bleeding and coating his chest in red. Izumo was spread out on the ground and Kotetsu was stopping the bleeding from his arms as the rain washed blood from the barely conscious man, running down his clothes in red stained rivers. Kakashi started to strip off Iruka's uniform to check the wounds, barking orders to Tadashi. The MABU forces kept quiet, letting the jônin do their job. "Tadashi." Kakashi's voice was in his calm battle mode. "Izumo took out six and we took out another three. There are six still out there but I am not sure if they are following us. Get everyone ready to move out"
Izumo gasped unexpectedly, "Someone entered the building." He closed his eyes and let out a breath. Faintly in the distance, an explosion could be heard. The blood was now flowing from Izumo's eyes, draining as he passed out lying on the ground in a blood stained puddle.
Kotetsu wiped the blood from his lover's face. "I can carry him."
They were all wounded and exhausted to some extent, but Iruka and Izumo had taken the worst of the damage. Kakashi was bandaging up Iruka's shoulder. Tadashi and Daisuke grabbed their partner's packs and Kakashi was about to do the same when Iruka put his hand out. "If it gets too far from me, it'll explode."
With a nod, they were off towards the Fire border. When they crossed the border, they didn't dare stop. They were too close to Sound still for comfort. Finally, they paused at dawn. If they kept up their pace they could be back to Konoha by sunset. The jônin were still going strong, but Iruka and Kotetsu were drained. Undoing the door seals had taken more out of them than either wanted to admit. They filled water canteens and inhaled some chakra powder before telling the jônin they could both continue.
They ran on with their hell-bent pace towards Konoha, knowing each stride brought them closer to safety. Finally a little after noon, they reached a Konoha patrol. They made their way safely into the village just after sunset. ANBU led them to the Hokage's office where they were debriefed. Packs of paper and rolls of film were turned over.
The remains of the Hyuuga were turned over to the medic nins and the six were given some time off. They left the office without a word. Izumo had been healed enough by Tsunade to be able to walk. He placed a hand on Daisuke's shoulder, squeezing slightly as they left the office.
Daisuke left to go to the monument. Pulling the blue ribbon from his pocket, he kneeled in front of the cold stone, telling the ribbon's owner how they stopped a plot by the people who killed her.
Tadashi went to the ANBU building and slammed a report on his superior's desk of what ANBU needed to do to be more capable of carrying out missions. The codes and coordination undercover of MABU did not go unnoticed by the ANBU veteran.
Izumo was led back to his home by Kotetsu, the blood washed from him until his eyes were no longer stained and his palms stopped seeping the red fluid. He was then put to bed.
Kotetsu snuggled into bed with his lover, he hated when Izumo had to use his attack. It was the strongest attack the MABU forces had, but it also left the chuunin weak as a child for days. That was all right though; Kotetsu would take care of him.
Iruka walked home with Kakashi. They walked next to each other, not touching, not talking. Just two comrades, the only way the Hokage would let them be together. In a few days he would find out the Byakugan was safe, its secret hadn't been unraveled. Hyuuga Hotaka's name was written on the memorial stone. It was another successful mission for MABU.
Kakashi enjoyed his time off by pretending the Hokage's order didn't exist. As long as he stayed behind closed doors, he could fully enjoy the man he was in love with. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest he had felt in a long time.
Konoha was safe for the time being. The alliance between Sound and Water crumbled at the destruction of the jônin squads and medics. Lightning backed off its support to Sound as well, -- Lightning's relationship with Water was much more important then the relationship to Sound according to their diplomats.
For now, Konoha was safe. A young ANBU still mourned the death of a girl with a blue ribbon in her hair. ANBU was receiving additional training now from MABU forces. Kakashi and Iruka were a carefully kept secret.
THE END (Except for the epilogue)
-------------------- Notes ------------------------
Thanks to everyone who has read this far. It means a lot to me that so many people enjoyed this story. Feel free to drop me a message, I wrote this to be read, so I would love to hear what people think. The epilogue will be posted 24 hours from this being posted