A/N: Well I can't say that I wasn't surprised at the lack of response to the previous chapter. But I had most of this written a while ago so I finished up the scene with Kakashi and Iruka and decided to post it for Random, who was the only one who bothered to review after the story had been posted for nearly eight months. Also, I've reached a road block for Crimson Clouds so I don't know what I'll be working on for a while.
Chief of Police, Uchiha Fugaku, stared at the carnage laid out before him. Purposefully striding into the room, avoiding pools of congealed blood, he studied the way the corpses were strewn about the room. Bullets and knife wounds riddled the bodies, and he came to the undeniable conclusion.
This was the work of the Leafs.
Signaling to his lieutenant, he ordered, "Shisui, get Tekka, Inabi and Yashiro and tell them to clean this mess up. Burn the building down." Boards creaked under his feet as he left. Pulling a cell phone from his pocket, he flicked it open and it automatically dialed a pre-programmed number. He listened to the phone ring, hearing a low clicking noise that indicated that the phone's signal scrambler was working.
The other side was picked up, and a rough, raspy voice filtered through the earpiece. "Fugaku?"
A sudden blazing heat washes over his back, the bar behind him now engulfed in flames. "Everything is cleaned up, Hokage, sir." He responds stiffly.
"Ah, thank you, Fugaku. Your hard work is very appreciated."
"Thank you, sir." Fugaku replies, less stiff this time. "I need to go file the report now. Forgive me for leaving so hastily, the Third, sir." With that, he snaps the phone closed. He signals to his men, and they climb into their police cars, leaving the building-turned-funeral pyre to burn itself down to nothing but smoldering ashes in the early morning light.
Kakashi sat in front of a table, wearing a loose, white button down shirt over his black mask, along with a pair of black slacks. Spread out before him were his prized pistols, as he individually, piece-by-piece, cleaned and oiled them. His partner in crime, Iruka, sat across from him, wearing a dark green shirt and khaki pants, also cleaning his 'work tools.' They were sitting in a sunny, well lit room, just taking time to relax in silence after a job well done.
"Kakashi," Iruka said quietly, breaking the silence. "School starts in a week."
"Aa," he replied simply. Kakashi was wondering where this conversation was going.
"Are you looking forward to seeing them?" the milder man asked. Kakashi didn't need to ask to wonder who Iruka referred to when he said 'them.' He smiled wistfully at the thought of his three personal students, wondering what they had been doing during the break. He knew Iruka missed his little troupe of grade school kids, hoping that they had been faring well.
Sometimes, Kakashi wondered whether they knew that their warm, kind teacher could be a cold-blooded killer.
Kakashi's three knew what he did, though, and for that he was grateful that they could still care for him the way they do. Of course, for two of them, it was to be expected, especially since the Leaf gang relied so heavily upon their families. From the moment they were born, they were destined to the same fate that Kakashi had been given. Even so, if it wasn't for a noble cause, then Kakashi wasn't sure what he would do.
"Aa, I want to see them. You could say that I've missed them." The last was said with a dark humor as Kakashi remembered all of the strict training regimens he had put the three through. He grinned deviously as he thought of all of the new training plans he had put together over the break. Oh, this would be fun.
Iruka chuckled lightly at Kakashi's tone of voice. "I can't help but wonder what sort of tricks Konohamaru has come up with during the break. Or, worse yet, what he managed to pick up from Naruto." Iruka inwardly shuddered at the thought of the deviousness that would have been brewed if Konohamaru and Naruto met over the break.
"Give them a little break, Iruka. They're just kids, you know." Kakashi admonished jokingly.
"Like you should be talking, Kakashi." Iruka quipped back.
Kakashi just smiled pleasantly at the other man, the rhythmic motions of polishing soothing and relaxing him. After a few more moments of pleasant silence, Kakashi spoke up, "I heard from Hokage-sama that my brats have been training under the Three over the break. I'm curious as to how they have improved."
Iruka made a noise of agreement in the back of his throat, before replying, "Sakura would make a great medic and I'm sure Orochimaru-sama has taught Sasuke quite a bit."
"And what of Naruto?" Kakashi asked quizzically.
Iruka chuckled, "I'm just feeling sorry for Jiraiya and wondering if Naruto drove him to the brink of insanity."
Kakashi chortled, inordinately amused by that thought.
"Yes, well they do live to torment each other." He responded, and once again silence descended on the pair.