That night, Iruka lay on his bed fully dressed and fully armed. As soon as the storm let up, and he meant the moment the last raindrop hit the ground, he was out of there. Just let them try to stop him from leaving. They'd soon learn not to mess with a Konoha chuunin.

The door opened and a white haired figure entered the room. He sat up and scooted to the far end of the bed, pulling his legs under him, ready to spring into an attack.

"I thought you'd be more pleased to see me."

"Kakashi?" Iruka approached, but carefully, he'd been mistaken before.

He unfastened the other man's jacket and slid his hands under it, pressing into the hard sheet of muscle. Definitely no breasts. Then quickly formed the seals for dispel. Nothing. This close there could be no mistake. The familiar hair, skin, smell, everything. He pulled off the headband and ran his finger down the length the other man's scar ending at the top edge of his mask.

As he stared into the depths of the sharingan, Iruka was lost. He eased the mask out of the way and gripped his lover's lower lip between his teeth hungrily, then forced in his tongue, tasting, feeling, probing. He didn't even realise he'd steered them over to the bed until Kakashi fell back onto it. He let himself collapse on top, trying to press their bodies into one, kissing, nipping, touching. Kakashi, his Kakashi, in his arms, finally. He was breathless, his heart pounding as if he was suffocating, but with excitement not fear. There could be no mistake, only one person could make his heart rejoice this way.

"Oh God Kakashi, it is you. I've wanted you so much, needed you so much."

Yoko was lost too. The sensations of Iruka's lips against her skin, his fingers in her hair, his tongue tangling with hers, sending jolts of pleasure through her. She was so overwhelmed that she didn't feel surprised that she actually wanted him to have her.

Not that she disliked sex exactly. In fact there were times when she'd gone out of her way to seek it out, but it was never more than a scratch to satisfy an itch. But right now she wanted it, really wanted it. Wanted Iruka. She hissed and arched her back as he ran his hands up her sides under her shirt. It had never felt like this before.

She eased off his jacket and started to undo his shirt, raising her head to dot a line of kisses on the lengthening sliver of tan skin. Skin that smelled hot and dry, like the autumn leaves outside that the wind had swept into little drifts and left for the sun to bake. She wriggled free of her clothes and spread herself beneath him. There was fire between her thighs, and heat on every part of her body that he had touched. She needed more, much more, of the same heat. It was the only thing that could quench the fire.

"Now Sensei! I want you inside me now!"

Iruka threw his uniform and weapons onto the floor with the other man's, he was so happy that he almost laughed.

"You want me on top?"

"Yes, why not?"

"I'm just surprised. Usually you want to take control, the first time. Especially when we've been apart for a while."

Yoko felt herself scowl inside. So this scarecrow woman was a controlling bitch too. She didn't deserve him. But right now he was hers. Both of her hands tracked down his body, his shoulders, his ribs, finding the hard ridge of a scar at the middle of his back. The discovery brought an unexpected pang. There were scars on her back too, thin lines from a lash. But hers were old and barely visible against her pale skin. This one was serious, he must have nearly died.

By now her roaming hands had reached the muscular globes of his buttocks. They tightened and quivered under her touch, chasing all other thoughts from her brain. She'd only get to enjoy her man once, she planned to make the most of it.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Kakashi moved as fast as humanly possible. Which in his case was a whole lot faster than almost any other human on the planet. He teleported ahead where he could, ran where he couldn't. Cursing any damn fool on Wolf Island who planned to harm his Iruka. Cursing Tsunade for letting a chuunin, a chuunin had hadn't taken a serious mission in over a year, go alone on an A class mission. Cursing himself for not being there to stop her.

But as night started to close in he was still far from the border with Wave. He'd been exhausted before he'd set out on this mad chase, and now his chakra was getting depleted too. The ice-cold logic of his reason told him that Iruka had been on Wolf Island for two weeks. Whatever harm might come to him was unlikely to happen at night. And even more unlikely to happen on this particular night, if… and it was the if that made his blood run cold…if it wasn't already too late.

Despite the dread in his heart urging him on, he knew that he should sleep until morning and give his energy a decent chance to recover. If Iruka was in danger, he wouldn't be any use to him if he arrived as a worn out rag. There was a small shelter a few miles ahead, used by travelers on this road. He'd sleep there.

As he approached he smelled incense. Why did that fill him with suspicion? He leapt to the roof and focussed his attention. There was someone in there, someone familiar.

He slipped inside and crouched next to a large bald man in a dark robe.

"Sampo-kun? When did they let you out?"

Without betraying any hint of surprise, the monk ended his meditation and opened his eyes. "Hatake you old dog. I'm not a prisoner, I just have responsibilities. Doesn't give me the time to travel the way I'd like. But what are you doing here?"

"Looking for a missing shinobi."

"Oh hunting a missing-nin?"

Glad as Kakashi was to meet up with his old friend, the timing was bad, he really needed to sleep. He'd chat for a few minutes then excuse himself. "No. A ninja who's missing, it's different."

"Not that cute chuunin of yours?"

Suddenly the abbot had all his attention. "Why? Have you seen him?"

"He stayed at the shrine, a couple of weeks ago. He was with a woman he was taking to Hidden Waterfall."

So Iruka's mission wasn't completely bogus, that was a relief. "He didn't stay there on the way back?"

"No. But I might have frightened him off. I came on a bit strong."

Kakashi narrowed his eye to a deadly slit. "You did what?"

The monk rose smoothly to his feet and took a step back, spreading his hands in front of him. "Hey calm down. How was I supposed to know you were still interested in him? It was three years ago you brought him there. Usually you move on after three days."

Kakashi was on his feet too, facing him across the small shelter. He was a good three inches shorter than the monk, and only half as wide, but his was by far the more menacing presence.

"I love him."

"You mean he was right? You are his?"

"Body and soul Sam. Body and soul."

The abbot laughed in a cautious attempt to break the tension. "Soo, I suppose that rules out anything between us tonight, for old time's sake." He paused taking the measure of the other man's response. "You can't tell me you don't want it. I know you too well, it's pretty obvious you haven't had any in a while."

Kakashi laughed too, as he folded his legs to sit back down. "I could lie and say I don't want to, but the truth is I just… couldn't. I know how I'd feel if he cheated on me and I love him too much to ever make him feel that way." He shrugged and tilted his head to one side "So we're both out of luck."

The monk had been spreading his bedroll on the ground as they spoke. He lay down and pulled a blanket over himself. The pad was narrow, barely wide enough for his large body, but by stretching out along the far edge he was able to leave a narrow strip unoccupied.

"Can't say this is very comfortable, but it has to be better than that hard floor… if you change your mind…"

Kakashi shook his head, pulled out his blanket and snuggled under it against the cool damp air. "To tell the truth I'm so tired I could sleep in a barrel of shuriken tonight."

Ooooooooooooooooo

Yoko shifted a little under the silk sheets as she woke. This wasn't her bed. She turned to see dark hair spread on the pillow beside her, and remembered.

"Sensei."

So she really had done it. Killing a man had never hurt like this before. In fact part of her had always enjoyed it. It had always given her a feeling of superiority and power. But they had all been arrogant fools, high on their own mightiness. There was no joy in destroying this sweet man.

She sat up and stroked Iruka's silky hair away from his face and studied the quiet calm etched into his features. He'd died happy. They all did. Part of her wished that she had too. A tear rolled down the furrow between her nose and cheek and fell onto his forehead.

He brushed away the wet spot and opened his eyes. "Kakashi what's wrong, why are you crying? I… I've never seen you like this before. Wasn't it good last night?" With a pang of guilt he realised that he'd been so carried away he hadn't even thought to use lube. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

Yoko sat staring at him, frozen in disbelief. It couldn't be! No one could survive the succubus jutsu, unless… She sifted through her mind for information about Konoha, there was nothing. An emotion crept up from the bottom of her heart, from the tiny space she'd been forcing it into, denying even its possibility. Unless she was in love with him. She remembered her sister's words. 'If you're willing to love a man, to give yourself the way a lover should, this evil blood limit of ours won't harm him.'

Relief washed over her and her tears flowed freely. "No, it was good, perfect. Nothing's wrong, I'm just happy."

Last night she'd experienced the tenderness in Iruka's touch, his passion and without a conscious thought had matched it with equal passion. Just the memory made her heart pound, and her chest feel hollow. She wanted to grab him and hold him so close that he was forced into the space, filling the emptiness.

So this was love. She would do anything for this man, and anything to keep him. There were hundreds of jutsus stored in her memory, one of them must have the power to make him hers. She'd always got everything she wanted and that wasn't going to change now. She'd just have to be very clever… and very careful.

Iruka watched Kakashi watching him. Something was wrong. First he'd shown up with no explanation and now he was being emotional, openly emotional. Gently, so gently, he brushed away his lover's tears. Then gripping his shoulders and pulling him into a deep kiss, he scooted onto his lap and hooked his legs around his hips, smiling into mismatched eyes. "So let's try something different this time."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The strong smell of sweet coffee permeated the little shelter. Kakashi packed up his blanket and stepped outside. Sampo was sitting beside a small camp stove, setting out rice cakes on a white cloth. He sat next to him and picked up one of the small cups of tarry liquid.

"Still drinking this filthy stuff?"

"Turkish coffee. Nothing quite like it to get you going in the morning. But you're awake early. Since when did you start getting up before the sun?"

The copy nin flashed him an unmasked grin. "Guess I just need the right motivation Sam."

"So you really love him that much."

The grin softened to a sweet wistful smile. Kakashi downed the coffee in a single gulp, crammed a rice cake into his mouth, and vanished. The monk watched the wisps of smoke he'd left in his wake melt away as he set up some incense for his morning meditation. That man was an enigma. A beautiful and dangerous enigma, and his lifetime's obsession.

Kakashi matched the landscape to the maps in his memory. If he could maintain this pace he should be at the bridge in a couple of hours. Then he'd need a boat.

One thing was bothering him, and he let it work itself out in the back of his brain as he ran. Iruka had gone to Waterfall, but had he come back? Was he, in fact, running in the wrong direction? At this point he was close enough to Wave County to feel that he should go there in any case. If Iruka was in Waterfall he was probably safe. He knew the Hero and trusted him. If, on the other hand, this so called 'client's' true destination had been Sound, he could do little by running in there alone and unprepared.

Every scenario directed him to Wolf Island as his first step. That mysterious blood soaked place was where he needed to go to find the right questions, if not the answers.

A faint hint of salt on the air told him that he was getting close. Then the sound of the surf led him to the Naruto Bridge. Under other circumstances he'd have felt nostalgic but right now all his focus was on finding a boat. At least the weather was good.

Wolf Island was as grim and forbidding as he'd imagined. Ringed with jagged rocks and surrounded by sheer granite cliffs. He'd needed to use his sharingan to follow the currents between them and to locate a narrow break in the natural defenses. He kept it uncovered as he secured the boat he'd 'borrowed' to a rock, then henged it into part of the same rock for good measure. A well-worn path led up the cliff. Mule tracks by the look of them, but none less than a century old.

The Island itself was almost as barren as its girdle of rock, but the stony ground and windswept trees were only half as forbidding as the ruin that rose from the crest of hills at its centre. Ookami Castle.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka broke their kiss with a dart of his tongue to claim one last lick, as he gulped in much needed air. "So what are you doing here Kakashi?"

Yoko stared into his beautiful eyes. Ok. Time for part one of her plan. She'd replace the bitch in his heart later.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here because you are."

"Does anyone know that you're here?"

Better to play it safe. "Not yet. I wanted to see you first. But I expect to be invited to stay."

Iruka was shocked. It was the last thing he'd expected to hear. "Stay? We can't stay. We have to go back to Konoha."

"If we stay here we can stay together." Time to see if he'd take the bait.

Iruka blushed scarlet. "But we are together. Most of the time."

Yoko was thinking fast. "Most of the time isn't enough anymore. Here we can ask for anything because we have something they want."

"You don't mean…you can't mean… Konoha secrets. I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing. We can't betray our village."

Now she had to take a risk. She didn't know exactly what the regulations were in Konoha, but it was pretty obvious from what Iruka had said before that relationships between jounin and their subordinates were at least discouraged.

"Why not? It's betrayed us. Why shouldn't we be able to be together like any other two people who love each other? Why should we have to fit their rules? We'll use this to change Konoha, and it's not betrayal, it's necessary change."

Now Iruka was confused as well as shocked. "Are you really that unhappy with the way things have been? You've never said anything before."

She had to push harder. "Have I ever said I'm happy with it? I'm saying this now because now we have the perfect opportunity to do something about it. But we have to act together, you have to show them that you are as valuable to them as I am."

She crawled onto him and crouched, one knee on either side of his hips and a hand at each shoulder. She'd plant the seed of an idea then nourish it until it bloomed and set fruit. "We can have allies, friends who can offer the power to change things, for the better."

"Kakashi you may be a genius, but you're wrong about this. If we want to change Konoha we should do it properly, as citizens, from inside."

Enough talk for now. She licked a swipe along the stubble roughened skin of his throat and jaw, enjoying the added sensitivity it gave her tongue, and the way it made his lips feel when she reached them.

So she was a genius. Good information, she'd be sure to use it to her advantage.

Iruka parted his lips to welcome the familiar tongue inside and gave himself up to the other man. Familiar fire was gathering in his groin. If he kept that tongue busy in other ways Kakashi wouldn't be able to talk treason and he wouldn't have to think about it. Kakashi often confused him but now he was frightening him too. He felt a hand run up the inside of his thigh and gasped as he gave up any attempt at coherent thought.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Kakashi crept into the dilapidated castle, and cautiously investigated the few rooms and passages that had been cleaned and renovated. There was no sign of Iruka. Probing carefully he detected about a dozen people. A cluster in the kitchen and laundry, those must be servants. Another group in a room nearby, guards perhaps? And a powerful presence in a room not far away. The leader? There was something uneasily familiar about him. And it wasn't the only thing that was making him uneasy, the whole damn place reeked of blood. He reached further until he sensed a bright spot… Iruka. Thank god, he'd found him, and he was alive. There was someone else too but he didn't care about that.

He backtracked to where he had seen stairs. Using total stealth he closed in on the teacher's familiar chakra, it was bright, excited. Why? The bedroom door opened silently at his touch and he slipped behind the screen in the centre of the room. On the bed behind it he saw a heaving tangle of tanned and pale limbs, of white and black hair. No wonder Iruka's chakra was so bright. He was having sex… with a woman.

Kakashi's hand almost went through the fragile paper of the screen. He could hear Iruka's breaths, coming short and sharp, each one like a dagger in his heart. He knew that sound. It was too much, too painful, the room started to close in on him, his whole world closed in, squeezing him down to a hard nub of pain. Unable to stand any more he jutsued away and collapsed outside the building in the ruined garden.

If he'd stayed another minute he would have heard Iruka call out his name, then heard him say I love you Kakashi, as he planted breathless kisses all over Yoko's face and ran his fingers through her hair. But he hadn't stayed, and he knew what he had seen. The unthinkable. He'd really thought that in Iruka he'd found someone who loved him. Not for his looks, or fame, or strength like everyone else, but for himself. Obviously not. It was the silver hair and white skin, just like the others. And this silver haired woman could offer him everything that he couldn't, marriage, children, a real home.

Did this happen every time he was away for more than a few days? No, it wasn't possible. Someone in the village would have known. No one can keep secrets from that nest of gossips. But they weren't in Konoha now and at the very first opportunity Iruka had cheated on him with a pretty woman. It wasn't the first time he'd been with her either, Kakashi felt sick as he recalled the familiar way the teacher's hands had been sliding over her body. The exact way those hands had touched him so many times. He'd been fucking this woman for weeks.

God it hurt, worse that when he'd lost his eye, he pressed his palm against the now covered sharingan, throbbing in sympathy with his splintered heart. He felt more than betrayed, he felt inadequate.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Yoko pushed Iruka away roughly as he leaned in to kiss her again. "That's enough."

She looked into his gentle face and saw those brown eyes looking back at her, so full of love. Love not meant for her. How she hated the scarecrow woman.

Catching herself mid scowl, she smiled sweetly then stood up to leave.

"You're going?"

"Yes. Just trust me, I'm a genius remember."

She'd better be. Convincing Iruka might turn out to be impossible, but that was going to be the easy part. She had to convince her father and her master to change their plans. Find a way to persuade them that Iruka was more valuable alive than dead. And she had a couple of hours at the most to come up with something.

Panic rose in Iruka's chest forming into a tight ball of pressure. "What are you going to do?"

She leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose. "My love, I'll tell you, but later. Stay here for a while. I'll be back, we'll talk about it then."

He blushed. 'My love.' Kakashi had never called him that before.

Kakashi was right, he was the genius. He just had to trust him to know what he was doing. He rolled over into the pillow that still held the scent of the other man's hair, and sneezed. A happy chuckle welled up inside. That damn white hair got everywhere, the man shed worse than his dogs. But he was here, his Kakashi. They were together again. Compared with that everything else paled to insignificance.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Kakashi braced himself against the broken wall of the garden. So that was why Iruka was in no hurry to go home, he had found something he liked better here. If he was a captive he was a willing one. Suddenly he was desperate to get away.

Fleeing the scene of horror like an exorcised demon, he made for the boat and the mainland, to the landmark he knew best, the Naruto Bridge. The bridge was strong and sturdy, the link between Wave and the mainland that was the foundation of their prosperity. Just as Naruto had been his link to Iruka, the foundation of their friendship, and later their love. Or so he'd thought. He felt like blasting the damn bridge into a million pieces.

The edge of the precipice was dangerously close and the abyss below it just as dangerously enticing in its emptiness. Why was he holding back? Clinging to this shred of human existence? He pulled out a kunai and ran a finger along its edge. One small step was all it would take to free him from this pain. The knife slipped from his fingers and lodged in the boards at the bottom of the boat with a dull thud. He stared at the ringed handle and triangular blade. It had found its mark perfectly in a knot in the wood. A blade was a weapon, a tool. It cut, it stabbed, and it killed. He was a tool as well, a killer. It had been his mistake to think that a dangerous weapon like him had any right to be a human being.

He let the rolling surf hold the boat against one of the piers, and wept for the first time since he was a small child.