As they pulled away, Iruka peeled off his mask and took a deep breath of fresh ocean air. From the movement behind him he assumed the abbot was doing the same. Kakashi lowered his mask too, grinning self-consciously.
"What? …Nothing you two haven't seen before."
Ookami Island retreated behind them, looking more and more like any other part of the rocky archipelago.
Sampo sighed with satisfaction and regret. The ancestral home of the Ookami's and, he'd discovered, the tomb of the Wolf Mother. He sat straighter, feeling the heat and nervous tension in the chuunin wedged against him. Kakashi's chuunin. The man Kakashi had chosen, over him. He inhaled the spicy odour of the copy nin's sweat from the bare skin of the teacher's neck. Well, his old friend obviously hadn't wasted any time in marking up his territory.
"You know Kakashi-kun, if you two are in danger, under attack, I don't think we should go back through Wave. There were ninjas there when I left."
That was an interesting development. "Ninjas? Really, where were they from?"
The monk laughed uneasily. "How would I know? You don't think I actually saw any do you? If I hadn't grown up in Konoha I wouldn't have noticed them at all."
Kakashi looked back at the white line of foam spun in the water by the outboard, watching it spread and dissipate into the random patches of foam already gathered around the rocks. So they were waiting for them at the fishing village, probably at other nearby ports too.
He scanned the open expanse of ocean ahead, and something caught his eye. "Then how do you two feel about a sea cruise? We'll go home through Cloud Country, it's not much further."
Iruka could barely suppress a squawk. His position pressed against the large monk… the large monk who just a short time ago had made it very clear that he'd like to fuck him into next week, was making him increasingly uncomfortable. Maybe it was just paranoia, but he was almost completely sure that there was something hard nudging into his waist at the back.
"Kakashi! We can't make it all the way to Cloud like this, er, in this. This er, boat, it's overloaded with three of us as it is, we'll be lucky to get as far as the mainland."
"Won't have to." Kakashi pointed out a grey shape in the mid-distance. "See you on board." He tugged his mask back into position and disappeared.
Iruka lunged for the rudder, relieved to be away from the abbot, but nervous too. They were ninjas, not pirates, and he for one knew nothing about seizing a ship. And that shape hadn't been a fishing boat or a trading vessel, it was lean and sleek, like a naval gunship or something the coastguard of a wealthy nation might use against smugglers and… pirates. Just how did Kakashi plan to pull this off?
The copy nin was already in action. He sensed fourteen people on board The Mermaid, and as expected, he recognised one of them. As luck would have it Kamo was alone on the deck, presumably keeping look out. Except the only thing he was looking at was his comic books.
"Hey she's pretty cute, but too many clothes. This one's better." Kakashi flipped Icha Icha open to a full-page illustration in front of him.
"Wow you're right, she's hot, woohoo. But I don't like that kind of book, it has too many words. I just like to look at the pic…" The word died in his scaly throat as he noticed who was sharing with him.
As his mouth gaped open, the cigarette rolled out, and fell onto the book. Kakashi flicked it off casually, then ground it under his toe. Giving torturous meaning to even that tiny movement.
Kamo's mouth was still hanging open, but with his lips drawn back, revealing nicotine stained teeth. "You! Fucking hell. How the fucking hell did you get here? Have you any idea how much shit you dumped me in?"
The copy nin's eye curved into a smile. Faster than the eye could follow, he picked up the flattened cigarette and pressed the hot tip into the palm of the other man's hand. "Didn't your Momma warn you that if you played with fire you'd get… burned?"
Kamo flinched and flicked his hand, then stared at the red blister starting to form at its centre. He backed up to the rail, leaning against the shiny brushed-steel, and glanced over, as if weighing the odds of facing off with the ninja against jumping and swimming for it.
"So what the hell do you want with me?"
Kakashi moved close and put one arm around him, whilst using the other to locate his weapons and toss them into the ocean. "Mmm I don't know, how about… take me to your leader?"
That was all? But then if the one eyed freak had come to kill him he wouldn't be breathing now. "Well sure… I guess. But I'll warn you he's still pretty mad."
The blue eye narrowed to a menacing slit. "Ah how sweet that you're concerned about my safety. So maybe I won't throw you overboard. This time."
Kakashi knew who the white haired man must be the moment he saw him. But he was older than he had expected. At least forty, even allowing for the aging effects of a life in the sun and the salt air. He was big too, strong and muscular like a powerful stallion in its prime.
The 'Boss' heard the grunt of introduction as Kamo opened the door to the bridge, and spun to face them. Kamo, sensibly, ducked and fled.
"You! You're the one who stole my boy. Where's Gep? What the hell did you do to him? Damn fucking ninjas, I should have slit your throat while you were still out cold. I could tell in my bones that you were one of them damn jounins."
So he knew about ninja rankings, that made him unusually well informed for a 'civilian' this far from the nearest ninja village. Up close Kakashi could tell that he had chakra too, although he'd obviously never learned how to use it.
"Then why didn't you?"
"Once I looked under that mask I couldn't help myself, you were just so damn pretty. I just wanted to fuck the daylights out of you."
Not the right answer. "And that's why Gep left. It wasn't what I did, but what you did. Or rather what you did to everyone else."
The pirate snarled like a caged animal. "Don't act like some fucking do-gooding saint. I know what murdering bastards your type are."
True, but right now beside the point. "How old was Gep when you met him anyway? Fourteen? Fifteen at the most?" Of course that was beside the point too. But geezers who seduced young kids just to satisfy their lust made him feel sick.
The 'Boss' took a step back, as if genuinely surprised. "Damn ninja freak, don't you lecture me on how to treat my boys. I just gave him what he wanted."
Kakashi knew he should leave it, but he just couldn't resist the chance to goad. "Mmm think so? Maybe he found something he wanted more. Someone a bit closer to his age?" He rocked his hips provocatively. "Likes white hair doesn't he?"
Suddenly Kakashi was facing into the barrel of an automatic pistol, at pointblank range. "You lying fuck. If you've touched my boy…"
The copy nin slouched a little more. "I don't think so. By the time you've flipped off the safety my…um… associate will have snapped your spine like a twig.
Iruka touched the back of the pirate's neck in confirmation as the smoke from the teleportation jutsu he'd just used swirled around the room and then trailed away in thin wisps. The gun fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Fucking unnatural evil freaks…"
Kakashi didn't bother hiding his smirk. "Now now, watch your language, we're about to bring a holy man aboard."
Iruka took his time patting the pirate down and removing the rest of his weapons. Then he took his lover's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "So… who's this boy you didn't touch?"
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Naruto and Sakura reached the forests surrounding Konoha, without picking up so much as a trace of either of their senseis. Naruto looked around at the familiar trees, for some reason he was still feeling creeped out. He shivered and rubbed his seal.
"Do you think we could have passed them?"
"Well yeah!" Sakura rolled her eyes. "No one's gonna see them if they don't want to be seen."
She knew that it wasn't the right answer. They had no reason to hide from them, unless… one or both of them was so badly hurt that they were shielding themselves completely.
But she didn't want to deal with that thought right now. "Chances are they've been home for hours and we're worrying for nothing."
Asuma and his team were on gate duty. They waved them through.
"Rotten luck getting stuck here." Naruto whispered to Shikamaru, who was leaning against the tower. He seemed to be watching the village blackbirds gather on the overhead powerlines to roost for the night.
"Huh wassat? Look the next one over there will join that group, but that little flock will form a new cluster by themselves. Gate duty's not so bad, almost everyone else is weeding or walking dogs. Except the poor bastards who got assigned to help with Iruka-sensei's classes while he's gone."
Sakura's ears pricked at the sound of the teacher's name. "Iruka-sensei just got back didn't he? He was with Kakashi-sensei, they should have been just ahead of us."
There was hidden urgency in her voice that made Shikamaru avoid her eyes. "Mmm we've been here all day and I haven't seen them, but then I haven't really been paying attention."
She knew it was less than a half-truth. Shikamaru was lazy but he didn't miss anything.
The village seemed unusually tense as they made their way to the mission room. There were an unusual number of high ranked ninjas around and they seemed unusually grumpy. Amongst them they saw Shikamaru's father, walking down to meet his son as he came off duty.
"Nara-san." Sakura said, as they bowed politely.
He returned the greeting. "Sakura-chan. I'm glad I ran into you. You know Hokage-sama better than most of us. Please, won't you talk to her about this 'so called' emergency." There was a desperate edge to his voice that they weren't used to hearing from the easy-going man. "It's only been two days and my wife is already complaining about having both of us under her feet all the time. Couldn't you at least pull a few strings and get us assigned to a few patrol duties?"
"Emergency!" Naruto spluttered. "What happened while we were gone?"
Nara-san tugged at his ponytail. "Nothing, that's just it. She's got a bee in her bonnet about something, but no one has the faintest idea what."
"No one?" Sakura echoed. That didn't seem likely, it was hard to keep secrets in a ninja village, and Nara's in particular didn't miss anything.
She grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him into a run. "Come on, let's get over there and find out."
The mission room was tense too. And unusually full. Every seat was taken and there were people standing around in clusters drinking coffee. But few of them seemed to have any actual business there. The pair made their way to the desk where Sakura picked up a report to fill out, then dragged Naruto into a corner.
"Come on help me out with this. I've never done one on my own before." Once they were away from the crowd she lowered her voice to a whisper. You hand this in and I'll go around the back and see if I can 'accidentally' run into Shizune-san. She'll know what's happening if anyone does."
Leaving Naruto to look at the blank form in horror, she pranced out of the door. Shizune was hovering on the other side like a shadow.
"Sakura-chan, I'm glad to see you got back safely. Please come, Tsunade-sama would like to talk to you."
The pink-haired girl hesitated and shot a glance back to mission room. "Er, sure, just let me get Naruto."
"No." The woman's hand shot out with speed that came as a stark reminder that she was a jounin, despite her quiet, non-threatening ways. "She'd like to talk to you alone."
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Iruka was in the Boss's bathroom, dripping wet, with a towel around his hips, picking through the pirate's belongings. Ineffectively trying to smooth the tangles from his hair by running his fingers through it.
"Surely he has a comb somewhere, he must have."
Kakashi watched from where he was seated on the bed in the adjoining master cabin, similarly attired, rubbing at the bloodstains on his uniform with a sponge.
"He has hair like mine, doesn't need a comb."
Iruka snorted. "Yeah right. That's what you think. One day I'm gonna tie you down and comb through that mess you call 'hair' properly."
Kakashi ran his own fingers through his wet silver mop. They slipped through it easily. "See, combing it's a waste of time, it doesn't make any difference. But you could ask Sam, see if he has one."
"Funny." Iruka pulled off his wet towel and flicked it at him.
Kakashi caught it in one hand dropping the sponge, and hauled him in, so that they were chest to chest with just the one towel separating them. He licked at his catch's lips with the tip of his tongue, then nuzzled his ear, nipping the lobe between his lips.
"Mmm you smell clean. Funny soap he uses, sort of… fruity, like peaches."
Iruka felt his stomach clench and tighten into a ball inside. He took a deep breath to keep from groaning. "Yeah but I'm not complaining, except… I wish that shower was a bit bigger."
Kakashi ghosted his fingers across the other man's shoulder blades and down his spine, getting a shiver in response as the too-sensitive skin was barely stimulated. "Just as well. It's slippery and your back is still too raw, if you got pushed against the glass…"
"It's healing fine. I know what you're thinking and the answer's still no." Iruka bit his lip, he hadn't meant to sound so sharp. "I mean I'm fine, I don't want you to heal it. You need the chakra more than I do right now. How's the eye?"
Kakashi lay back on the bed. "Not bad, still aches a bit."
Iruka looked at him sternly. "I bet it does."
He leaned over him and brushed back the wet silver hair that was flopped over the sharingan with one hand. Pressing his mouth against the closed eyelid he kissed it gently, then kissed the pouting lips too for good measure.
"But I haven't forgotten your promise, and I'm keeping you to it. When you have the strength."
Kakashi grabbed for him.
But he was already out of reach, pulling on his uniform. "Come on, it's not fair to leave one pacifist monk to keep control over twelve cutthroat pirates on his own."
Kakashi growled in disappointment as he levered himself up and pulled a face at his still grimy clothing. "You wouldn't call him a pacifist if you'd ever sparred with him."
Somewhere in a deep recess of his brain he was mentally checking off the mermaid's crew. Twelve?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was strange but Jiraiya found that he missed Naruto. After living and working alone for more than twenty years, Tsunade and the council had practically had to twist his arm all the way off to get him to agree to train the kid. And he'd only done it then because he knew as well as they did, how important it was to put some distance between the kyuubi vessel and Konoha. But now being out on his own, alone, felt strange. The boy's loud brashness had rubbed off on him during the years they'd been together, rekindling the wilder, rougher side of his nature that had become stilled during his time as a hermit. But of course, being quiet had its compensations.
From his perch in a tall ash, he looked down at the two young women lying in the grass below, enjoying the last few rays of autumn sunlight. One of them pulled up a knee, making her skirt slide up her leg and baring the soft skin on her inner thigh. It was golden like her face and arms, except for the top few inches. Mmm, a tan line, he liked tan lines. She must have worn shorts all summer. Maybe there was a bikini line too, above it, with even whiter skin.
He twisted his neck to get a better view. So close, so close, now if she were to just crook that knee a little higher, then maybe spread the other…
The girl sat up and looked around blushing. She jumped to her feet and giggled as she tugged at her companion's hands. "Come on Koo, it's getting chilly. Let's go back."
They ran off, shapely limbs flashing and breasts bouncing, towards a cluster of farms in the near distance.
Jiraiya felt his cheeks prickle as he leaned back onto the trunk of the tree. Nice, very nice. Now where was he? Right, gathering information. Trying to identify the threat that was hanging in the air around Konoha like some kind of invisible fog.
He slipped out of the tree and set off towards the sun, along the same path as that taken by the women, continuing his circle around the village in an ever widening spiral. Doing what he did best, peeking and prying.
No one could launch an attack without thoroughly scouting the area first, and even the most subtle of spies left some kind of trail. There would be changes where their chakra had touched other living things, alterations in nature's energy flow. Even the grass he was walking on was changed by his presence. He could feel it, a streak of emerald, spreading behind him like a ship's wake on the fading green of the meadow. These were the kind of clues and inconsistencies he was looking for. Of course the whole area was laced with chakra trails, but spies had a distinctive flavour. One he was familiar with because he'd been a spy for so long himself. If the clues were there he'd find them, and when he did he'd track them to their source.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Something about seeing the pirate boss bound to his own chair gave Kakashi a profound sense of satisfaction. Almost like payback. He walked around and crouched in front of him… again.
"So there's absolutely nothing more you can tell me about the man with the black hair."
"I told you I met him twice. Quite a looker in his own way, I practically had to hold the women in the crew back with a lash, but not my type."
Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eye. "Try thinking with your brain instead of your dick. Didn't you want to know why he wanted you to get ninja fighters for him."
"Isn't that obvious? To fight! And I used my brain plenty. One of my traps caught a sneaky bastard like you didn't it?" He frowned and tried to shift his wrists against the ropes
"Look you and me we're two of a kind. Well just look at us, you could pass as my kid brother. That's why we can understand each other, come to an agreement. I've been thinking about this too. I've got a bargain for you."
The suggestion earned him a very cold look.
"Here's how it is, you two are Konoha nins right? Well I know something about Konoha that you don't. Tell me where to find Gep and I'll let you in on it."
That had to be the oldest trick in the book. "You think I'll fall for that? Your man Kamo hadn't even heard of Fire Country."
"Neither had I. But the guy you keep asking about, the one with black hair, well he had us do a little side job. Picking up some stuff, and when we were bringing it back to the port I heard him whispering to the old man. One of them said Konoha. It was the first time I ever heard the word. I thought it was his customer and that if this Konoha was paying enough for them to pay me the way they were, well, I might like to try cutting them out of the deal next time."
So his insatiable greed had made him remember something worthwhile, men whispering about Konoha, and on the way to Port Kaizoku no less. Maybe this was worth hearing. "What kind of stuff?
"Boxes. Got 'em off a big freighter ten miles off the coast. I dunno what was in them, but they was heavy. And from they way they told us to handle them, either fragile or explosive… or both."
"You know where they are now?"
"The question is do you want to know?"
"You have to convince me it's worth knowing, before I agree to anything."
The pirate boss didn't bother to hide an admiring glance. "Damn, you are a sneaky bastard aren't you? We buried them, back in wind country. In the desert."
"You'll take me there if I tell you where you can find the kid?" Kakashi felt his heart sink. The only thing he wanted to do right now was get Iruka back to Konoha. But if this lead was for real he had no choice but to follow it.
"That's the bargain. Look I know I didn't treat him right, but I've learned my lesson. I care for him, always did. And I want him back. I really… want him back. I think you know what I mean." He looked from Kakashi to Iruka and back again.
Kakashi considered, it seemed fair on the face of it. Gep's village was the most well hidden he'd ever seen. If they hadn't run into the merchant they'd probably have never found it themselves. The pirates would never find it again without help. And if his suspicions were right about those boxes…
Back on the island the old man had said that he'd test his loyalty to his village against a more basic loyalty. Kakashi hadn't expected to be tested so soon.
He pulled Iruka outside the door. "Listen, I want you to go back through Cloud with Sam. He's strong, he'll take good care of you. You know that I have to follow up on this, but you must get back to Konoha as soon as possible."
Iruka put his arms around his lover's waist and pulled him close, resting his head on his shoulder. His voice trembled as he whispered. "No, Kakashi, please. Keep me with you, I'm not safe with anyone but you."
Kakashi pulled back so that he could look into is eyes. "Iruka, it's ok. Sampo's a good man, I know he came on to you before, he told me himself. But it won't happen again, I promise. I'd trust him with my life and I'll trust him with yours."
Iruka leaned forward again and shook his head so that Kakshi could feel his ponytail brushing against his hair. "You don't understand. It's not him I don't trust, it's me."
He straightened and adjusted the other man's headband, forcing him to look at him with the sharingan eye. "Remember what that sennin said. My blood is his blood now, and Yoko was his tool. I don't want to end up like she did, as his tool. Don't you see?" His jaw clenched tight. "It's hard for me to admit this, even to you, but I'm afraid. You know what happened before, and then I was just breathing his mist, now his blood is in my veins. Please don't make me go through another hell like that on my own."
Kakashi's heart ached so hard he thought it would burst. Iruka was right, he couldn't leave him. But he couldn't turn down the pirate's offer either. A detour around the peninsula to Sand would cost them two days easily. He used the sharingan to scan Iruka thoroughly, starting and ending with the wolf bite on his leg. He seemed perfectly normal so far, so maybe they did have time.
It didn't really matter in any case, clearly he had no choice.
He opened the door and stepped back into the bridge. "I don't remember exactly where Gep's village is, it was a tiny place, but I do know where you can find someone who can tell you. Show me where those boxes are buried and I'll show you where you can find them. I'll draw you a map."
A feral grin spread over the boss's rugged face as Kakashi slit through the ropes.
"Now you're not planning on tricking me are you?"
Kakashi's voice sounded strained with regret, but completely thruthful. "No. On my oath as a Konoha shinobi, I'll keep my promise."
The pirate stretched his arms and flexed his fingers as he yelled into the microphone on the control panel in front of him. "Full speed ahead mateys, change of plan, let's set a course for Port Kaizoku."