This chapter is kind of slow and not very exciting. But after the past two chapters of fighting, I wanted a chapter that could bring the story away from the previous events into what will happen next. This is one of the last few chapters I would be writing.

pink.raine: actually I think Orochimaru wouldn't have cared less if Jiraiya died.. but I didn't want Jiraiya to die and I don't think Jiraiya could have beaten him so there had to be a compromise somewhere. but thank you for being willing to accept that there's a possibility they couldn't bring themselves to do it. (:
americanXminority: hidden affection? Haha.. one can fantasize...
Horong: thank you! I'm happy that I interpreted the characters to your liking.
Taita: I definitely agree that I need more work with the fight scene. But... I was too lazy to research and write a good one that would do Orochimaru and Jiraiya justice. Haha... But I think I cut it much too short. Oops! But yah, thanks for the helpful comments. (:

Heartfelt thanks goes out to J.M.Captein, Jazz-jazz011, Senna-chan, daisukiangel42, pink.raine, americanXminority, Horong, flowing tears, and Taita for your wonderful reviews!

Chapter 14

Pain. Excruciating pain. It tore at his body, it robbed him of his breath. Iruka tried to thrash out, but his limbs refused to obey him. His head felt like it was about to explode and his heart slammed hard against his chest. I can't take it anymore! Give me anything to make the pain go...

Through the red haze of pain, Iruka dimly heard Sakura's voice, as if from very far away. "Dammit sensei! Don't you dare die on me! I refuse to let you die. Naruto, help me hold this. I need to get the poison out. Thank God he's unconscious and can't feel the pain."

Not unconscious. Iruka wanted to scream out. Just chained and trapped in this cage of suffering.

"We need to get him to the hokage now!" another voice called out from the distance. Kakashi, was that Kakashi? Does that mean he's alright? Iruka struggled against the thick fog pressing down on him.

"Don't move around Kakashi-sensei! You're hurt too!" Sakura's commanding voice sounded again, except this time it was softer and fainter. Another wave of pain hit Iruka, it felt like someone was clawing his brains out. A silent scream erupted from Iruka's throat.

Please... just... just let me die... release me from this torment. Iruka gasped silently. Through the agony, Iruka stumbled into the cold darkness. The chill numbed his senses and lessened the pain he felt. Iruka burrowed deeper into the dark, letting frost and ice gather around him. At least now the pain had lessened and was almost gone. Cocooned in shadows and shade, Iruka surrendered himself to the cold. Better to feel nothing then be tortured by the pain.

Why am I still alive?

That was Kakashi's first thought when he opened his eyes to stare at the pristine white ceiling at the hospital. His shoulder was wrapped up in bandages and he was put on a drip. Gingerly, Kakashi managed to prop himself into a sitting position. Every small movement he made sent dull pain shooting through his entire body.

How many days had it been since Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru brought me back to Konoha?

A moment later, Jiraiya entered the hospital room. "Oh good, you're awake," he said. Apart from chakra burns on various parts of his body and minor cuts and bruises, Jiraiya appeared none the worse for wear.

Kakashi took a sip from the glass of water Jiraiya handed him. "How long?" he croaked out, his voice hoarse from unuse.

"3 days. Tsunade wasn't please at the state you got your body in."

"I wasn't supposed to survive." Kakashi said.

"You almost didn't. Where the hell did you learn that jutsu from? It nearly tore your internal organs apart, not withstanding the fact that it disrupted your entire chakra system."

Kakashi gave a wry smile. He gulped down the rest of the water and put on the mask someone had thoughtfully left at the side of his bed. Taking a deep breath and fisting his hands to keep them from shaking, he asked Jiraiya what he had been dying to know but was afraid to find out, "How is Iruka?"

Jiraiya stared at him for awhile and then he looked away, as if he was afraid to hold the jounin's gaze. "He's alive."

A breath Kakashi wasn't aware he was holding escaped softly through his lips.

"But..."

"But what?" Kakashi's head snapped up, dread pooling in his stomach.

"He may never wake up."

The door to the hospital room 407 burst opened and Kakashi limped out of the room. Grabbing the first medical staff he saw, he demanded, "Where is the room of Umino Iruka?"

Jiraiya hurried out of the room after him. "Kakashi, you can't go around in this condition, you..."

But Kakashi had already strode off, taking large purposeful strides. It hurt to walk but it didn't feel half as bad as what his heart was feeling. Iruka...

Jiraiya sighed and followed Kakashi. Tsunade had given him the task of looking after Kakashi and she wouldn't be happy to see her patient wandering about.

---

Tsunade stared at the unconscious chuunin sleeping peacefully. Three days ago when Sakura brought Iruka in, she was ready to pronounce the teacher dead. The poison had turned his body hard and blue and he had lost too much blood to be alive. But Sakura had dragged Tsunade's fingers to Iruka's wrist and insisted on a pulse. Looking at Sakura's tearful face, Tsuande had tried her darnest to feel for any signs of life at all.

Her heart leapt and she felt a glimmer of hope when she located the faint but resilient pulse. Her relief was quickly replaced by an urgency and determination to save Iruka. Sakura had done an amazing job preventing most of the poison from reaching the heart. She had also stitched the chest wound and stopped it from bleeding. Now it was up to Tsunade to heal the teacher and for Iruka to have the will power to live it through.

3 days later, the poison had been extricated from Iruka's body. Blood transfusion had rectified the loss of blood from the chest wound. Iruka's conditioned had stabilized. The only problem now was that Iruka refused to wake up.

---

The door to Iruka's ward opened and a chill swept into the room. Before Tsunade could look up, Kakashi had grabbed hold of the front of her shirt. "Why is he still sleeping there?" he demanded harshly.

Jiraiya entered the room just in time to see Tsunade slap Kakashi hard across the cheek.

"Baka! Do you think I had not done my best to save him?"

Kakashi stared blankly at the seemingly sleeping Iruka, the imprint of Tsunade's palm on his cheek and his face stinging. Iruka looked so peaceful lying there, like a perfect angel. He's just sleeping. He'll wake up and smile at me again...

"I'm sorry." Kakashi murmured an apology for his brashness.

"It's alright." Tsunade ran a tired hand through her light golden hair. "I know you're worried about him."

"Iruka... ruka... can you hear me? If you can please open your eyes. Open your eyes and look at me." Kakashi took hold of Iruka's cold hand and spoke pleadingly.

"Kakashi, I hate to say this, but you have to be prepared to face the possibility that Iruka may never wake up." Tsunade said as gently as she could.

"No... you lie. Iruka will wake up. I know it."

"I... I should have never have let Iruka gone on the mission. I should have known that when a shinobi is clouded by his emotions, he tends to make rash and foolish decisions." Tsunade said regretfully.

From the side of the room, Jiraiya snorted, "Stop blaming yourself. Do you think Iruka would have listened to you? I've known that boy since he was a wee little kid and once he puts his mind to it there's nothing that can stop him."

"But why? Ruka... why did you risk your life for me?" Kakashi whispered mournfully.

"Baka. How can you be so dense. You mean the world to Iruka and he's already lost too many whom he cared about. Do you think he could bear to lose you too?" Tsunade sighed. "Talk to him, try to reach out to him. Iruka spoke of a connection he had with you. Maybe you can find it and bring him back to us."

Kakashi didn't even notice when Jiraiya and Tsunade left the room. His attention was focused solely on the chuunin.

Iruka wake up. Wake up. I'm right here beside you. Please open your eyes and wake up. I can't lose you now. I need you, I need you alive and awake beside me, so don't sleep anymore. Kakashi pleaded silently.

Tsunade had said something about talking to him. I'll talk to you until you wake up.

Kakashi settled himself beside Iruka's bed and began, "Hey Ruka... Kakashi here. I know you can hear me. Let me tell you a story. You can, no, you must wake up once I've completed my story. This is a story about how the scarecrow and the dolphin first met. Yep, you might have guessed, I'm the scarecrow and you're the dolphin. One day, a long time ago, the dolphin called the scarecrow to the office. Now the scarecrow was puzzled, why did the dolphin call him in. Then the scarecrow realized that it must have been about the new genin teams. The dolphin..."

And so Kakashi told the story of how he first met Iruka. But Iruka refused to wake up, so Kakashi continued with another story of the second time he met Iruka, but still Iruka remained in an unconscious slumber.

Naruto, Sakura and their friends all came to see Iruka. Naruto burst into tears when he saw the state Iruka was in. Several of the other genins cried too. Only Kakashi sat beside Iruka, eyes dry, throat parched as he continued talking to Iruka.

"You always wanted to hear about my past, I'll tell you now... I'll tell you everything, if you'll just wake up." Kakashi continued narrating. He told Iruka his entire life story, he told Iruka about Obito whom he'd never said a word to anyone else about. Kakashi didn't stop filling up the quiet room with his own voice. He stopped only to grab a few morsels of food and drink water when his throat was dry. Sometimes he was so exhausted he fell asleep in the middle of the story, only to wake up and say "ahh... as I was saying before I doze off..." and continue talking.

One week later, Iruka remained as unresponsive as ever. Only the gentle rise and fall of his chest gave evidence that he was still alive.

"So what story should I tell you today?" Kakashi asked in a now hoarse voice. "Ruka-kun, you better wake up soon. I've got no more stories to tell and I'm damn sick and tired of hearing my own voice." Kakashi said, frustration creeping into his voice. Alas, exhaustion was catching up on him and his throat was beginning to hurt badly.

"Ruka, wake up!" As usual, there was no response.

Kakashi's patience broke. He grabbed hold of Iruka's limp shoulders and shook hard. "Um-i-no-I-ru-ka! You better bloody wake up now or you'll be sorry you ever lived!" Sadly, however hard Kakashi shook, Iruka remained passive.

A nagging doubt crept into Kakashi's heart. What if Tsunade was right. What if Iruka would never wake up?

"No..." a painful sob tore from Kakashi's throat. His heart felt torn apart and yet his eyes remained dry. It was as if he was too drained to even cry.

Tucking one of Iruka's hand under his chin, Kakashi gently caressed Iruka's face with his other hand. He closed his eyes and recalled all the happy times he had spent with Iruka. He remembered every expression that flitted across Iruka's face, he dug deeper into his memories and he found Iruka's scent, his touch. And still Kakashi pressed on, swimming through the tide of memories, and then he found Iruka's feelings for him. Every emotion that Iruka had showed during their time together and at last, Kakashi realized how much Iruka loved him.

In a way, Kakashi realized that he had always known of Iruka's feelings for him. He was just too scared to acknowledge it.

"Ruka-kun." Kakashi called out loud and also in his heart and mind. Ruka-kun, can you hear me? I love you. I love you so much. Please come back to me. Come back here into the light. It's too dark where you are and I cannot see you. Come back into the light where I can be with you, where I will keep you warm and protect you from harm. Come back to where everyone loves you... wake up and come back to where I cannot live without you.

---

Numb. Iruka was numb. There was nothing here in this void, except darkness and ice. Even then, he was too numb to feel the cold, too numb to understand the dark. This doesn't feel like heaven. Iruka was annoyed. He felt he deserved to go to heaven, so why is God punishing him by putting him here in this boring unfeeling purgatory?

And then out of nowhere there came a voice.

"Oka-san, is that you?" Iruka spoke out, except that his voice was frozen so no sound came out.

"Ru-chan."

That was his mother's pet name for him!

"Ruka-kun."

His father was here too?

"Ru-chan dear, it's not your time yet, you do not have to go."

"But I want to be with oka-san and otto-san!" Iruka called out in his head.

"No son, there's someone who wouldn't let you go and there's something in your heart that you cannot give up."

"Ru-chan, you have to go back to him, that is where you belong, for now."

"But.. but... "

"Be brave, my son, walk out of the cold and darkness. There's someone waiting for you to guide you out."

Someone? Kakashi? Oh yes, Kakashi needs me. I haven't punished him for leaving me. I need to find him and bring him back safely...

Iruka shivered as the cold slowly seeped into his bones. Funny, I hadn't felt the cold before. With a purpose in his mind now, Iruka struggled to free himself from the ice. As the frost around him slowly melted, the pain of regaining his sensations assaulted Iruka. Iruka gritted his teeth and wrestled with the cold.

Why is it so dark here... I need to get out of this place. Light... I need light.

Iruka broke free of the ice and began wandering about in the void, shivering and calling out in the darkness. "Hello! Is anyone out there? Kakashi! Naruto! Sakura! Tsunade!"

And then suddenly he saw a dim light in the distance. Iruka slowly advanced towards it. It seemed so small, so far away, nevertheless, Iruka got to his feet and slowly made his way there...

"Iruka!" There! Kakashi's voice was coming from the direction of the light! If only I can get to it...

---

"Iruka?" Kakashi stared at the fluttering eye-lashes and held his breath, hoping against hope...

Iruka opened his eyes to find Kakashi staring at him with intense emotions swirling in his eye.

"Kakashi... I found you at last." Iruka exclaimed in surprise. A broad smile spreaded across his face. Without saying another word, he closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

"Iruka!" Shocked, Kakashi shook Iruka hard. He wasn't going to let Iruka slip back into coma after waking up

"Mmm... lemmesleep..." Iruka mumbled.

Only then did Kakashi heave a sigh of relief. Eyes that had remained dry for the past week were suddenly moist with tears. Kakashi lay his head down on the edge of Iruka's bed and slept soundly for the first time in a long while.

End

Yeah, I know this chapter is kind of boring. But I promise the next chapter will be good! And it's going to come out real soon, as soon as I finish with abit of editing. Thank you for reviewing!