2
Ibiki smacked the sand from his head scarf, ignoring Sasuke's eyes on his scared head.
When the black cloth was back in place his eyes shifted for a moment to his sides.
He stood stalk still, quieting his breath.
In all his years as a ninja he'd never been so terrified.
He'd heard the tails of the sacred city, heard whispers of the giant yoma that protected it. But never, never, did he think he would be standing among them.
He decided to focus on his surroundings instead, scanning the room.
It was dark, with heavy drapes obscuring the day, and all but one large window lay hidden along the west wall, one clear pain daring to cast its light on the pale legs of Konogakure's queen.
She sat, legs sprawling, flung over the side of the dais. Her forest green and cream kimono hung loosely on her large milky breasts, tied at her waist with a chocolate brown sash.
It reminded Ibiki of Iruka's hair. Hair that fell in to the bright sunlight stretched across the floor.
The queen's head rested on the back of her seat and thin wheat colored hair spilled across her face as she stared across the vast room at Ibiki.
Iruka's body was still but disheveled on the raised stairs in front if the queens throne.
His pallid face tilted toward Ibiki, and he could see the blue of his lovers lips, the empty half lidded eyes staring at him, the dry breathless lips beckoning him.
Ibiki squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the flashbulb memory.
Suddenly the queen shifted in her seat.
She stood and knelt next to Iruka, lifting his face and peering in to his eyes.
"You," she addressed Ibiki. "You must relinquish the hold you have on this man's soul," she said softly. "The threads that bind you must part, on this day, before the slumber of the sun, if you want him to live." The queen looked up at Ibiki and then to the other occupants of the great room.
Sasuke avoided her eyes, accidentally meeting the gaze of the tall fox at his side. The creature's tongue took a quick swipe at his cheek and he blushed beet red rubbing away the wetness and grumbling at the floor.
To Ibiki's right another monstrously tall critter looked down at Rock Lee, resting on and encircled by its large paws.
It wrapped its bushy black and gray tail around itself as it settled down on the floor, sea foam green eyes watching everyone suspiciously.
On either side of those mythic creatures sat a quiet but fearsome looking hawk and a huge black scorpion. The hawk's purple eyes watched Ibiki knowingly and the scorpion sat down, snapping it's claws impatiently.
Silent and sad eyed, Sakura stood beside the hawk, and a lovely young human wearing a soft pink flowered kimono stood gently patting the scorpions side.
The queen narrowed her eyes at Ibiki when he came forward.
He walked slowly, tears pushing at his eyes, until he stood at the edge of the sunlight.
He looked down at Iruka. "He's still beautiful," he began softly. "Even now."
Ibiki knelt sliding a callused hand under Iruka's neck, lifting his body to look closer at the hardening skin.
"You have my heart, Iruka...and my soul. I gave that to you freely." The queen watched tears dangle from Ibiki's lashes. "But I take it back." Ibiki's shoulders shook slightly and he grit his teeth as he closed his eyes. "I take it back...so that you may live."
Ibiki pulled Iruka's face in to the shadows for a moment to place a gentle kiss on his lips, before lying him back down in the light. "Ikiru," he whispered to him.
When he sat back up the queen's hand shot forward and he was instantly paralyzed with pain. Her hand was buried deep in his chest and he could feel every vein and muscle in his body constrict and pulse. Her honey eyes were now red, a rich bloody red that glowed in the sunlight.
Ibiki couldn't even scream, his body was stricken, rigid with the grip of her fingers around his heart.
In seconds it was over.
Ibiki fell backwards, stunned, waiting for the feeling to return to his limbs. He peeked down at his chest expecting a gaping hole, but there was nothing, just the same dirty tattered shirt he always wore. He was confused and a few moments later he stood.
Ibiki's name formed on Sakura's lips but the large hawk nudged her to keep silent.
He turned, staring at an empty room and blank stone walls, before swaying towards a door at the far end of the hall.
When the door closed behind him the queen looked down at her bloody hand.
Slowly the liquid pealed and floated out of the window on a soft breeze.
A tall man draped in a long stormy gray robe appeared beside her. The hood hid his face but the deathly white hair that stuck out, and smirking gray wolf beside him, gave away his identity.
"Kakashi, do you recognize this soul," the queen said quietly.
"Hai, Tsunade Sama."
"Then, it is up to you to give it back it's form." She stood and looked at him sadly. "He will not know you, but his heart is open to you now." She turned her back to him walking toward the large terrace beyond the windows. "However, I offer you a warning. Umino Iruka must not venture beyond the walls of this city until he has completed the joining ceremony." She turned heavy forlorn eyes toward him. "Also, he must not come in to direct physical contact with Morino Ibiki until after the ceremony."
Her eyes asked Kakashi of his certainty and he nodded, dark eyes leaving her somber face to stare down at the fading sunlight still lingering in Iruka's hair.
Thin slightly clawed hands reached for Iruka's bloody shirt, taring it in two.
There were bruises covering his pale chest and Kakashi gently turned the man on his front. The kunai wound was ghastly. The flesh was ragged and caked with blood. A few brave maggots hung from unhealed tissue and his entire back was black and blue.
Kakashi cleared away the squirming insects and caressed the gaping wound before using one claw to slice a thin line in his finger. Finally he pressed the bloody digit deep into the hole.
The muscles were stiff and he dug until he reached the punctured lung and grazed heart.
Slowly he pulled his finger out and closing his eyes he began to chant. It was an old language that not many outside of the room knew.
Sasuke and the effeminate long haired boy knelt, while the raccoon, fox, hawk, and scorpion bowed their heads. Sakura watched the scene wide eyed, but mimicked the humans around her.
The wolf stood and circled the two, stopping in front of Kakashi; then it too bowed it's head.
As Kakashi and the wolf began to glow the queen turned back to the sunset. Tomorrow would be a long day.
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Authors Note: I'm sorry this was so short but I haven't updated this story in literally forever, and I wanted to post something.