A.N. I chose Waterfall for this part of the story because its geographic location 'works'. But I haven't seen the Special Animé that deals with Hidden Waterfall, so if I have the details wrong it's because I, um, made them up.
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The sun was tracking downwards by the time Iruka and Yoko heard the distant rumble of the falls. In another hour they saw it, a sheet of shining silver with clouds at its head and its feet, the latter arched over with rainbows. The air between hung heavy, filled with noise and mist, making the distance across the valley look impossibly far. They stopped to watch for several long minutes, held in the spell of its breathtaking beauty.
Iruka had heard about Hidden Waterfall, the most truly hidden of the hidden villages, and of its secret entrance. Part of him would dearly like to see what was beyond it, but by far the larger part just wanted to go home.
They followed the path down to the river that snaked across the valley floor thenwalked alongits bank to the wide pool that frothed and foamed at the base of the falls. Mist from the crashing water dampened their clothes and covered their hair with glistening droplets of water. Any closer and they wouldn't be able to hear each other above the noise.
Iruka took Yoko's hand. "My mission is almost over Princess. Will there be someone to meet you?"
Yoko froze. "Yes there should be a guard. But you can't leave now, who will take me home?" She tried to look as sweet and vulnerable as she could. His mission may be over but hers wasn't.
Iruka's heart, which had been rejoicing at the prospect of turning back towards Konoha and Kakashi, sank. "I… I thought you were staying, no one mentioned a return trip."
"Then it must be a mistake, my father will be happy to pay double, triple." Her pretty face puckered into a frown.
And Tsunade would be happy to accept it. Iruka couldn't keep the regret out of his voice. The best he could hope to do was to redirect it. "But I'm a Konoha chuunin, I can't go into another hidden village, not without permission."
The mist took on a definite reddish tinge. The sun must be lower than he'd realised.
"Of course you can, no one knows who you are, you're just my travelling companion."
"Yes, a travelling companion."
Just then a dark shape materialised out of the fog. A woman dressed in the simple dark clothes of a Hidden Waterfall jounin. Iruka felt strangely mute as Yoko stepped towards her.
"We're here to visit family in the village, please show us the way."
The woman looked back at Yoko, her expression vacant, she didn't seem to notice Iruka at all. "Of course, to visit family, follow me."
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Kakashi was feeling much better. His stomach was more settled after eating honey cakes with tea. He'd shown Elli, the Kaizukun woman, the flask of liquid too. She smiled in recognition, then explained that it was a mild stimulant distilled from the fruits of a desert tree. A secret known only to the Desert Snake Clan that could be a life saving energy boost in the desert. Naturally he was wary of trying it, feeling that there were still more than enough intoxicants in his system, but he'd trusted her this far. As she'd promised it cleared his head rather than clouding it, bringing him back the crystal clear thinking he was used to. Maybe he should save the rest for Tsunade? No, perhaps not, she would definitely take it the wrong way.
He turned over everything he'd learned so far in his mind, it was interesting, but didn't tell him anything about the threat to Konoha. Was he missing a connection somewhere?
"Who do you know of who might gain from an attack on my village?"
Elli's empty teacup clicked against the ornate marble table as she set it down and scrunched her thin lips into a line.
"The scum of the earth washes up on these shores laddie, could be any of them. Or could just be a rumour to get you people running out here so you can get picked up, one by one."
Picked up one by one? If someone was building a ninja army it was one way to get a steady supply of potential recruits. But no. Dakatsu had stumbled on that genjutsu by chance. If it was a trap they wouldn't have hidden it so deep in the desert, or by the cover of darkness. It wasn't supposed to be seen.
He started to stand. "In any case I have to see what I can find out. Thank you for your help and hospitality."
She shook her head, something in her dark eyes reminded him of a certain chuunin schoolteacher. "Not today you won't, you can't see half well enough yet. Rest up until tomorrow, or at least until dark."
He sat back down obediently. "You know you're a lot like Dakatsu."
An eyebrow rose into a question on her wrinkled face.
"You're both… kind. It's just not something I expect from strangers."
This time her face crinkled into a grin. "We've known each other a long time, Dakatsu and me. In-laws after a fashion. Her 'n my baby sister, they were together for more than thirty years."
So Dakatsu had lived with another woman for three decades. Jiraiya must have made quite an impression on her.
The grin became fixed as Elli wiped a touch of moistness from her eyes to the back of one hand. "Make yourself comfortable and I'll go out for some fish to make us some supper."
Kakashi lay back on the silk couch, wishing with all his heart that he'd had a mother long enough to know if this was what being mothered was really like.
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Iruka had only the vaguest impression of the path through the waterfall. In fact the first thing he was completely aware of was the tree. The biggest oak he'd ever seen in his life, and in the forests of Konoha he'd seen some damn big ones. It stood close to a mountain lake, presumably the one that fed the great waterfall. The lake in turn was fed by many smaller waterfalls that formed bright streaks of gold as they spilled into it over the circular ridge of the valley, shining in the light of the setting sun.
So that was the Hero Tree. To his eye it looked less a hero than a tyrant. A giant brooding presence, offering protection and safety, but at a terrible cost. That was not true freedom. Yoko tugged his arm. He blinked, their guide had left and they seemed quite alone in the gathering dusk.
She laughed playfully but there was an urgent edge to her voice. "Come on, let's get to the place where we'll be staying."
She led the way with the ease of someone who knew exactly where she was going, as if she was going home. He followed with light-headed, unquestioning obedience.
Soon she stopped at a small house, whitewashed and red-tiled like most of the buildings in the village, but hardly the place where a princess' family would live.
A woman opened the door as they approached.
Yoko bowed politely. "My name is Ookami Yoko. Is this the Mokkou residence? My father told me that I should stay with you if I was ever in Hidden Waterfall. He's an old friend of Mokkou-san."
The set of the woman's jaw became tight and grim. "My husband died suddenly several months ago. I'm sorry, but I'm not in a position to offer hospitality."
Yoko gasped softly. "I'm sorry we hadn't heard of your husband's passing. Please accept our deepest sympathy."
Iruka was still feeling strangely incoherent, but he'd lived with Kakashi and taught children long enough to know when someone was lying. He shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at the two women. Why on earth would Yoko lie about that?
Three small children pushed forward and clung to the woman's knees. They were clean and well fed but their clothes were patched and a little too small.
Yoko smiled. "Of course you must let us pay you for the expense and inconvenience, after all we would only have to pay for an inn otherwise."
Iruka felt tension leave his shoulders. Maybe Yoko just wanted to help out an old family friend's widow without offering charity. That must be it, hadn't he already decided that she was a very sweet young woman?
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Kakashi left Elli's little house as soon as the sun had set. He was well fed, well rested, and could actually see more than shape and movement, thank God. With a surge of chakra to his feet he hopped onto the roof and looked around, feeling as if he had never been able to see so far or so well before. It was amazing how a little deprivation could make you appreciate things you rarely thought about. The pirate city rose around him, hard jagged lines against the sky, studded with the first lights of evening.
So now that he could see, what was he looking for? The crew of the Mermaid? Better start at the dock.
He saw the men before they saw him. The older one was lean and sinuous, head bandaged, one arm in a sling, a tattoo of a mermaid just visible on the other. He had an ugly skin condition that made his neck look as if it was covered in grey scales. The other was dark and scrawny with the rounded shoulders of a young man who had grown too tall too fast. He had big round eyes, a long pointed nose and loose shaggy hair that hung almost to his shoulders. The overall effect, which could so easily have been grotesque, gave him a gaunt exotic beauty. They looked hazily familiar.
When they saw him, they recognised him instantly, even as he was preparing to slide into stealth. Too late, the only words he'd been able to catch from the muttered conversation were ninja-boy and big tomo. It sounded like a name
The older of the men put down his can of cheap beer and approached. He tapped his own forehead with a nicotine-stained finger. "Say, you one of them ninja types."
"Yes." Kakashi tapped his headband by way of reply.
"So you here on business… or pleasure?"
"Do I have to choose?"
A smirk crept over the man's dry flaky lips. "Not on our account you don't. Hey Gep!"
The youth joined them, strutting with long awkward strides.
"Let's show our stranger buddy here the big city. So which country are you from? Rain, Wind, Sun?"
"Fire."
"Sounds hot."
"Can be in the summer."
The man lit up a cigarette and let it dangle from the corner of his mouth while he spoke, releasing wisps of grey smoke. "Name's Kamo. This here kid's called Gep."
Kakashi paused while he checked out the man's bandages, he could smell blood, and the dazed look in his eyes suggested a recent concussion. "You look pretty beaten up Kamo. Get into a fight?"
"Yeah, nothing much. Just puts me in the mood for some action, so what do you like, girls? Boys?"
Kakashi's blue eye twinkled. "Sure, as long as they're pretty."
Kamo closed his eyes and nodded with a satisfied grin. "Oh ho, an all rounder, well I know just the place for you."
Kakashi allowed them to lead him on, one walking on either side. There was nothing about the two pirates (or would they prefer freelance sailors?) to set off any immediate alarms, but every cell in his body was tense, as if it knew something that his brain didn't. His missing night hung over him, an unlimited source of possibilities. None of them good.
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Iruka woke up while it was still dark. He was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. Yoko was in bed with him and, oh God, she was naked. Again. Even worse, so was he. He dressed hurriedly and climbed out onto the roof, his mind reeling with ever more horrifying explanations. But he couldn't have had sex with her. For one thing he was frustrated like never before.
Helooked around as if the village might offer him an answer. The flat clay tiles under him were quite different in style and colour to the ones that roofed most of the buildings in Konoha, the streetlights were taller and a more brilliant white. The outlines of the houses they revealed were small and laid out in neat rows. Everything was just wrong.
The last thing he remembered was saying goodbye to Yoko next to the falls. Then what had happened? She had asked him to stay until he could escort her home. That meant… He couldn't be! If it was true, sleeping with a female clientwas the least of his problems. He was in Hidden Waterfall. A foreign village, a ninja village, uninvited, out of uniform and undeclared. He might as well be a spy.
He sat down and put his head in his hands. Had he been drinking? He wasn't hung over so it didn't seem likely. In fact his head seemed clearer than it had in days. Was it a genjutsu? He fashioned the seals to dispel it. Not even a ripple. No, it was real, horribly horribly real. Maybe he was going insane. Part of him fervently hoped so. The smart thing to do would be to leave right now, before he was seen. But how? He had no idea how to get back through the waterfall, and if he was caught trying...
As silently as a shadow he climbed back into the room and rummaged through his pack for his headband. As he tied it on the worst of his anxiety drained away. Not a spy anymore. Just a poor crazed shinobi who had woken up in the wrong village. It could be worse, at least they were allies. If he gave himself up they would probably be merciful. They might kill him but at least they wouldn't torture him first.
He wrote a letter of apology for Yoko, hopped down to the street and set out to find someone to surrender to.
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Kakashi's companions led him past three 'houses' without even slowing their pace, much to the disappointment of the prancing barkers energetically trying to entice them in. One went so far as to grab Gep's arm, making the youth cry out as if he'd been stung. Kamo gave him a scathing look and they moved on around another corner, to a quiet dark building, set back a small distance from the road.
"This is the only place to go for something sweet and tight. Kochou-san's. Any other whore in this town could take on a whole ship's crew and not even feel it. But it will cost you."
"That's not a problem." Kakashi grinned under the thin fabric of his mask, imagining Iruka's face as he read this part of the expenses on his mission report. It might just be worth the effort of handing the tedious thing in on time for once.
Kamo was grinning just as wide. "Right, so you stake us our drinks and we'll get you into the back room where they keep the tastiest morsels."
"Sounds like a deal." He raised two fingers in a lazy gesture of acknowledgement. Gep stiffened and let out a stifled squawk, the kid was annoyingly twitchy.
Obviously the two men were known here. A young girl in very short dress, but with traditional geisha makeup, bowed low to welcome them. Sweet music and the smell of tobacco, flowery perfume, and alcohol poured past them onto the street. It was darker inside than out in the night as they made their way over to a small bar in the corner, where a heavily shaded lamp cast the only light in the room. Three filled glasses were already waiting, the two men must be very well known here.
Kakashi paid. They were right, it was going to cost him. Well at least it would buy some time too. They wouldn't try anything while he was supplying them with free booze.
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Iruka ran into a patrol returning from guard duty at the tree in less than a mile. And they had him on the ground, on his face, in moments. Of course he hadn't resisted, but they hadn't given him time to explain either. Maybe it was just as well, he had no idea what he could say.
The Hero of Hidden Falls was not happy to be woken at three in the morning and told that a spy from Hidden Leaf had been captured near the Hero Tree. He pulled his official robe down to cover his fleecy pajamas, autumn was cold up here in the mountains, and took his seat at his desk. A uniformed aid stretched over and placed a piece of paper in his hand.
"So," he squinted at the paper, "Umino Iruka. Why were you trying to steal the Hero Water?"
Iruka was kneeling in the middle of the room chained and bound, they had some experience with Konoha ninjas and weren't taking any chances. He raised his head.
"Steal? No, I… I'm sorry I don't really know how I got here. I was on a mission, escorting a noblewoman…"
"Dressed like that? Does Konoha often send her shinobi on missions disguised as salesmen?"
Iruka look at his clothes, what he could see of them past the ropes. "But I'm dressed as a teacher, well I am a teacher. In Konoha that is. The Princess's father didn't want her escort in uniform, he thought it might attract attention from bandits and kidnappers."
The Hero snorted. "Humph, so you expect me to believe that a teacher's more likely to scare them off." He waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "Lock him up for now, I'll send a message to his Kage in the morning."
Iruka looked up again sharply. "Please! Please Sir, if you're sending a message to Konoha could I send a letter too. You're welcome to read it, just a note to a friend to explain what's happened."
"A friend? Who, your spymaster?"
"No, really just a friend, I promise. Hatake Kakashi, he's a very… er, close friend. He'll be worried and I don't want him to hear second hand from gossip."
The Waterfall leader snapped to attention. He snatched the paper off his desk and looked at it carefully. "Umino Iruka. Not Naruto's Iruka-sensei?"
"Well yes, that is I was his sensei, as I said I teach at the…"
The Hero bounded around his desk and pulled Iruka to his feet. "Well why didn't you say so? Naruto didn't stop taking about you when he was here. That boy, well… And a friend of Hatake Kakashi. Any friend of his is always welcome in Hidden Waterfall."
He slapped him on the back. Iruka instinctively leaned back to adjust his balance, failed to compensate fully for the weight of the chains, overcompensated for his failure and crashed to his knees. How humiliating.
"Get these off him you idiots." He was manhandled back to his feet as an aid scurried to find the keys. "You must spend the rest of the night at my home, I insist."
The Hero grabbed his arm, or at least the part of the chain wound around his arm. "Well well, a close friend of Hatake Kakashi. I've got two unmarried sisters you know, rare beauties, one for each of you."
Iruka found that he was more disappointed than relieved. He really would have liked to send a letter to Kakashi.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
After several hours of steady drinking Kamo was irritated and impatient. He was angry too, but not yet drunk enough to let it show. Fate had thrown the damned white haired ninja into his hands a second time, but for some reason it wasn't letting him close the trap. He'd been slipping bromide into the guy's drinks for an hour now, apparently without any effect at all. Sure it was less potent than poppy, but much less dangerous too, and he seriously did not want the freak to go crazy and blow them all up again.
Kakashi was still biding his time. Deciding which of the men to ditch and which to pry open for information. The older one, Kamo, clearly had something to prove. Maybe his fight had been with a ninja, it would explain why he'd lost. Whatever. It made him vulnerable, quick to boast, lie and exaggerate. The information Kakashi was seeking might well lie just beneath the lies. The younger one on the other hand was tense and twitchy. Would probably just drink until he passed out. But there was something about him, some softness that made him seem out of place in their threesome. Somehow this kid just didn't belong in a seat between two killers. Kakashi rolled the options over in his mind. Perhaps this was the weakness he should exploit.
Naturally the copy nin hadn't missed the drops of brown liquid Kamo-san had been spiking his drinks with. Didn't matter, he hadn't been drinking them anyway after the first two. He'd probably already poisoned the potted plant behind him past redemption, but with the prices he was being charged he refused to feel guilty. Kamo was ripe for picking, he'd just crossed the boundary of drunkenness where his judgement was flawed enough to underestimate how drunk he was. Kakashi watched him slide a refilled glass towards him, noting the surface swallow the drips falling from the dropper bottle expertly palmed in his good hand.
Ten drops, must be getting desperate, there'd only been three in each drink until now. He reached for the glass, his languid movement just fractionally different to his normal relaxed laziness. Just enough difference to be picked up on by someone who knew what to look for. Just enough to make the pirate believe what he wanted to believe, that he was within reach of success. A substitution jutsu traded the two glasses seamlessly and Kamo downed the tainted liquor in a single gulp.
One… two… three… four… Kakashi leaned back and watched him slide off his stool and onto the floor, then turned to the other man gawking beside him.
"So kid, he's your buddy. Do we leave him or take him with us."
The young man's eyes widened to bright orbs, flickering back and forth as if the answer was written somewhere on the walls.
"Take him, we've gotta take him. If the boss finds I went somewhere without him, with another guy…"
It was the first time the younger man had spoken all evening. For some reason Kakashi had been expecting the slight lisp. Well no matter. He picked up the snoring pirate as if he weighed no more than a doll and thrust him into Gep's arms. The youth squawked as he staggered back under the weight.
"Hey, you want him. You can carry him. So where to now?"