Ilusion's Folly
Chapter 14
Mistakes
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Sunlight burned into Iruka's eyes as he awakened. He hurt in places he had forgotten about and being reminded of them as he moved around. Gathering what strength he could, he raised himself into a sitting position. His clothing was bloody and torn. How had that happened? A flash of memory and he had his answer. The four Missing nins had attacked him. Now he remembered. Groaning at the images that followed that vision, Iruka stared at his hands. He had killed again and hadn't remembered it until it was over. Would the pain of death ever leave him?
Another, older vision crossed his mind. A man was running for his life as a white masked ghost followed close behind. Wearing ANBU clothing, the masked man, more like boy from his height and weight, chased the man through a rocky canyon. The man was screaming in terror and suffered from several cuts, all superficial, but carrying immense pain. The man turned and Iruka saw the Rock symbol flash from around the man's neck before the white ghost engulfed him.
Iruka was shaking as the vision cleared. He didn't know who the masked ANBU was, but he knew that he was from Konoha. He didn't know how, but he reminded him of some long forgotten person. Maybe it was the sword. It looked an awful lot like the one his father used to have. Iruka shook his head to clear the horrible images from his mind. Why had he seen that? He didn't know who that person was or who the Rock shinobi was. It was confusing to say the least.
Reaching up to clear the hair from his eyes, Iruka winced. He was hurting and would need to take care of the wounds before they became infected. Groping for his pack, he pulled out what little salve and bandages he brought with him. As carefully as he could, he undressed and set about cleaning the myriad scrapes and cuts along his arms and chest. There were probably wounds on his back, but there was no way he could reach them on his own. Shaking from the effort of patching himself back up, Iruka fell onto his side. The salve would deaden the worst of the pain, working its magic as it healed.
What seemed an eternity later as the burning salve turned icy, Iruka sat up again. It was early afternoon by the set of the sun's rays against the rocks outside. It had taken a long time for the medicine to work and his stomach was growling. It was time to eat. Again he reached for his pack and pulled out some soldier pills. They would sustain his body until he was able to make a fire to cook over. Taking two, he felt the surge of energy he would need to clean what he could of his clothes and put fresh ones on. It was going to be getting cold later and he would need the warmth they afforded from the still chill nights in Grass.
The pills having given him enough of a boost to leave his rocky hideout, Iruka gathered up some firewood. He sniffed the air. Yech! The bodies were a fair distance away but they would have to be taken to another spot before they became anymore foul. It wouldn't help his wounds either if the very air was poisoned. Leaving the firewood, Iruka went off to dispose of the bodies. He found the first two slumped together. Luckily they weren't very heavy. Taking an ankle from each of the bodies, Iruka channeled extra Chakra into his arms and legs, pulling the bodies to a nearby ravine. An hour later saw him kicking the last of the bodies over the lip and into the blackness of below.
He had never thought that killing another human being would be so easy, but it was necessity that had prompted him to kill these men. He hadn't looked at thier faces as he tossed them over. He didn't want to know what they looked like or how old they were. It would be to painful to remember. Sighing, he turned away from the ravine, making his way back to the hideout.
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Kakashi had been tracking the idiot's movements for most of the night. Pakkun was nearly useless as they sprinted through the forests, trying to catch Iruka's day old scent. He was tired, hungry, and just a bit pissed at the hand that fate had dealt him. Why was it that he had to track the Chuunin down and not Genma? It was his fault for making the man run away. A wave of guilt washed over him on the last thought. Well, not entirely Genma's fault. He should have said something instead of taking off like he had. He grumbled to himself.
"Heads up, Kakashi!" Pakkun snapped. He was sitting a few meters ahead staring at a far off rock shelf.
Kakashi came to a stop and knelt beside the little pug. "What is it?"
Pakkun looked back over his shoulder. "He's in those rocks." He stopped Kakashi with a short bark. "But, I smell blood and death."
Kakashi went white. Please don't let him be dead.
"Let's go, Pakkun. I need to know," Kakashi whispered through a too tight throat. "If anything, we'll have to take the body back for burial."
Pakkun sensed the fear coming from his master, but let it be. The man had kicked himself enough over the last few hours and it would kill him if another of his friends were dead. He could only hope that the little brown teacher was still alive.
Nodding, they set out. It was late in the afternoon and it was getting darker. The winds were blowing downwind and kept thier scents away from the shelf. Before reaching the last kilometer, each masked thier Chakra and crept into the rocks below. Pakkun alerted Kakashi when he caught the sounds of movement ahead. Signaling the pug to go higher, Kakashi silently made his way forward. Taking a kunai from the holster on his leg, he peered over the top a large boulder and had to duck in the same instant.
"Shit!" he breathed. Crouching, he looked around the rock again. Again he had to dodge a kunai. Not good. Leaping away, he heard the clink of metal hitting rock and looked behind him to see a shuriken bounce away from where he had been a second before. Definitely not good.
Lifting his hitai-ate, Kakashi felt the Sharigan whirl as it tried to track the next incoming missile. There! Swiftly, he turned and launched from a small boulder, speeding away from the rocks and into the small stand of trees below. If he could just...Ah! Another kunai was thrown and Kakashi quickly followed its path. He knew where the person was now. All he had to do was make it there. Dodging another shuriken and three more kunais, Kakashi finally spotted movement. He was fast, he would give him that, but not fast enough. The Sharingan locked onto its target, Kakashi sped through the trees, keeping the shadow in sight as he gained on it. Taking aim, he threw his own kunai and was rewarded with a strangled yelp and the shadow going down gripping it's right calf. Bingo!
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Iruka tried to keep the pain from clouding his brain. He needed a quick plan to get rid of whoever was tracking him now. It had been blind luck that he had seen movement above his camp. He hadn't been sure what had made him turn to look up, but he had caught a flash of color and reacted. He didn't care who or what was after him, but all he had wanted was some peace and quiet. It hadn't taken long to figure out that whoever was after him now was highly skilled and he didn't stand a chance. The only thing he could have done then was run. Look at what it had gotten him. He pulled the kunai from his calf and waited for his attacker. Spotting movement from his left, he watched the lengthening shadows as a figure came walking out. Shock seized his brain, then anger started his eye to twitching. Hell would be paid and it was coming out of one silver-haired Jounins hide!
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kakashi?" Iruka screamed as the man got within shouting distance. "You could have killed me, you asshole!"
Kakashi stopped. Blinking his eyes, he could only stare as the Chuunin screamed at him. Iruka? The man was covered in bandages and he could smell the medicinal salve coating the wounds hidden under them. What had happened? Regaining his composure, he casually stalked to Iruka.
Bending down, Kakashi narrowed his eyes and glared. "And what were you thinking to throw your kunai at me? Were you wanting to be killed?"
Iruka's back stiffened and he glared right back, malice filling the brown orbs. "How was I to know who it was? I saw movement and I reacted. If you hadn't wanted to be attacked you should have announced your presence before sneaking up on me!" Iruka winced as another wave of pain swept over him. Another scar to add to the growing number he had acquired recently.
Kakashi groaned and shook his head, settling the protector over the Sharingan. "You look like hell. Let's get you back to camp and get you cleaned up. We have a lot of ground to cover before daybreak." So saying, he lifted Iruka into his arms. Ignoring the threats to his life and other bodily damage, Kakashi quickly took them back to the makeshift camp. He carefully put Iruka onto a nearby rock and stepped back.
"What do you mean by covering a lot of ground by daybreak?" Iruka asked, a frown marring his face.
Kakashi fetched water and set it to boil as he pulled more bandages and salve from his own pack. He could only wonder where Pakkun had disappeared to. Kneeling in front of Iruka, he cut his pant's leg away from his right calf. "Did you know that you are to be declared Missing in the morning?"
"Yes," Iruka answered, careful to keep his tone neutral. "I was already Missing when I left the borders of the village and hadn't left word of my whereabouts. But why tomorrow?" He hissed in pain as Kakashi cleaned the wound.
Ignoring the hisses, Kakashi explained, "You can thank Asuma for that boon. If he didn't love you, then you would have been toast by now." Kakashi smiled a litte at the man's sharp intake of breath. "We will be lucky if he did hold off the Hunters until tomorrow. I can take a lot of shit, but not from our own shinobi." He slathered the salve over the wound liberally.
Iruka gritted his teeth as the silver-haired man wrapped his calf. "Why are you out here?" He was still suspicious of Kakashi and he wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon.
Washing his hands in the now cooling water, Kakashi looked over his shoulder with a lazy look. "I didn't want to be blamed for your death."
Iruka paled. "M..my d...de...death?"
Rising, the Jounin went into the cave and pulled out everything that Iruka had brought with him. He lifted the sword, opening the sheath to test the blade. Not as sharp as he would like, but it would pass. He noticed the bloody and torn clothes in a pile next to a nearly empty salve pot. What had happened? He was really curious now. Snatching up the pack, a camera rattled around inside. Leave it to Iruka to bring a camera when he runs away, he thought.
"Asuma and the others were going to blame you dying out here on me," Kakashi stated, looking around the camp for anything else that would need to be taken back with them. "I have to work with these people and I don't want to wake up one morning and have enemies surrounding me."
"Asshole," Iruka muttered. "What are you doing?" Curous now as Kakashi gathered up what few weapons were around.
"What does it look like, stupid? Packing up camp," Kakashi shot back. "We leave in a few minutes, but in that time I want to know what happened to you."
Iruka looked down at his arms and nearly healed hands. "I was attacked last night."
"And?" Kakashi asked, throwing dirt over the fire.
Iruka became irritated again. "And what?"
Grumbling under his breath, the Jounin glared at the teacher. "Spill it or I let the Hunters come and get you."
"Alright! Geez!" Iruka told Kakashi everything that had happened to him with the Missing Wave nins. He finished by telling him that he had just come back from disposing of the bodies when he had seen the movement above him. "I thought it was more of those psychos from Wave." He shrugged.
Pakkun chose that moment to show back up. He trotted over to Iruka and sniffed at him. "We really must be going, Kakashi. It will take six hours to reach Fire and another four to reach the village. So cut the chit-chat and let's get going."
Iruka remembered why he was mad at Kakashi to begin with. "I'm not going back until we clear some things up." Pakkun sniffed, but otherwise looked to his master.
"We don't have time for this, Iruka," the Jounin snarled. He didn't want to get into this with him right now. "
"We have plenty of time for you to tell me why you left me wrapped around a tree the other night," Iruka snarled back. "Did you know that Genma had most of that planned? Did you?" An accusing look was shot from his eyes as he watched Kakashi.
Kakashi was a little surprised at the last question. "I did not know that Genma had it planned, but now that I do, I've some serious payback to deal him when I get home. As to why I left you there instead of taking you back to camp, would you believe I had a mission?" He rubbed the back of his head as he said the last with a masked smile.
"No." Iruka glared at him icily. "I want to see your face when you say that to me."
Pulling the mask down, Kakashi told him about Tsunade's summons, what he had done, and then waking to Asuma ranting at him. "I didn't know you where gone until late last night. I've spent all night tracking you down and was lucky to have found this place. If not, I would have spent the rest of the day looking and then racing the Hunters until I found you." Kakashi turned a light shade of pink. "Besides, it wouldn't look good if I came back without you."
Iruka was still pissed, but he just wanted to go home. He had been seriously thinking of going back the next day anyway. "Alright, Kakashi. Take me home. I'm tired, hurt, hungry, and I want a bath."
Kakashi smiled at Iruka. "Hai, hai!" Arranging his mask again, he called out Tomadochi and settled the his and Iruka's packs on his back as well as Iruka's sword. Moving to Iruka, he arranged him piggyback and the little group set off for Konoha.
"Don't think that I've forgiven you, Hatake. I'm going to enjoy getting payback from your silvered hide," Iruka whispered in his rescuer's ear.
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A/N: Okay, so A/K will have to wait. But it will eventually make it's way into here. I might just incorporate it into the next chapter. As it is, I have some lovely Kakashi torture in store and then there is the Spring Festival to look forward to. Fun!
So, until next chapter...Ja!