Title: Vindication
Author: Sparklehunter
Summary: Vengeance is the art of hate. Hate is the art of destruction. Iruka doesn't know how to let go.
Part: 3/3
Author's Note: Number eleven, part three in a series of snapshots about the aftermath of an almost-death. Sequel to Breaking Symphonies/Like This.
Author's Note II: I'm sorry. Very sorry. Watch me grovel. (grovels)
Author's Note III: there are a few people who encouraged me not to drop this, and the reviews almost always made me go work on this. You should know who you are. It took a while, but this is for you.
Vindicatiom
Interlude
by sparklehunter
Umino Iruka has been running for a long time.
A long time ago, in a village far, far away. . . .
He said, "Sensei, get drunk with me."
" . . . That sounded a bit too much like a pick-up-line," Iruka replied.
He said, "So, Naruto's –"
"I don't want to talk about it," Iruka replied.
He said, "if I were gonna torture you."
"You're a handful drunk, aren't you?" Iruka replied.
He said, "I think we need to talk."
"Not without alcohol," Iruka replied.
He said, "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Fuck you," Iruka replied.
He said, "Hokage said to talk."
"So talk," Iruka replied.
He said, "Have you seen Kakashi?"
"No," Iruka replied.
He said, "Someone recommended you."
"That isn't exactly what I wanted to hear," Iruka replied.
He said, "Can I have my flask back?"
"I'll mail it to you," Iruka replied.
He said, "You'll get him killed, someday."
"No, I won't," Iruka replied.
There are trees, and there is grass, and there are rivers. Iruka does not pay attention to the land. He is tired, and ill, and held together by the skill of a man he left for dead. He is also bloody, but any predators around let him alone.
He needs to get home, Iruka thinks. He needs to get home, to tell someone - something. In his mind, there are two images – or maybe three. One is a blond who was a boy and is now a man. The other is either masked, with one blue eye and one red, or long haired with one blue eye and one hazel brown, or perhaps both. Truth told, Iruka does not know which images are safe. He has been alone, and in pain, for a very long time. His dilemma is this: trust all, or trust neither. For him, at that moment, he cannot find a middle ground.
(he has not stopped for food, or drink, or sleep. he can hear people following him if he pays attention, but that might be the paranoia.)
In his mind, someone leans heavy on his shoulder and mumbles against his ear.
He hears, "You can't trust anyone. Even, especially, yourself," and the word 'torture' echoes in his mind.
Iruka has not trusted for 15 months. He is paranoid about people following him. He is running, fast and strong and stumbling.
Iruka doesn't have the energy to be suspicious of anything beyond the space behind him.
Eventually, Morino Ibiki almost stumbles over a mess of dirt and flesh.
He said, "Oh my god."
Iruka, comatose on the grass and dirt, said nothing at all.
The End
TBC in 'Ghosts,' with part 1, ' Haunt,' sometime within the next six months. No, really.