OOOOOOOOO

The body on the bed had been inordinately still for several hours. The only warning they got was a couple of brief twitches of his fingers.

And then Iruka screamed, bolting upright. His voice was filled with pain and desperation, and when Kakashi caught him, he clawed frantically at the jounin. He pushed and struggled, and the other man finally released him for fear that Iruka would injure himself.

The screaming ended, but the chuunin's breathing became disturbingly erratic. His panted gasps were laced with pain, and each was shorter and farther apart than the last.

"Move!" Tsunade shouldered Kakashi out of the way, rolling Iruka's arm over to expose the vein as she dropped onto her knees on the bed.

"What's going on?" A jounin from the Investigations branch queried, and Kakashi shot him a dark glare for his stupidity.

"Come on, Iruka." Tsunade had injected the contents of a syringe into the exposed vein and was cradling the chuunin's head in her hands. "It's time to wake up now. Come on."

Much later, Kakashi would admire her calm reactions under duress. He would have at least added some expletives.

And he most certainly would have been yelling.

For a second before the dark eyes flew open, Iruka stopped breathing. And so did everyone else in the room.

Then his eyes snapped open, and he tore at his shirt, searching for the fatal wound he'd just been dealt. The whites around his eyes showed that he was on the verge of debilitating panic.

Tsunade took a strong hold of his chin and turned his face towards hers, forcing him to focus on her alone. "Iruka. Look at me. You're fine. You're not injured. You were dreaming."

"Dreaming?" His voice broke in the middle and his eyes rolled wildly, but Tsunade's efforts seemed to be grounding him and settling his idea of reality. "I was-"

The jounin from Investigations lunged forward and seized his shirt. The fabric pulled taught and hauled Iruka towards the narrow pointed face. "Who was it? The person who killed you, what was his name? What did he look like?"

Tsunade knocked him away and stared him down when he tried to make the same move again. "Not. Now." She snarled.

"Not now? It's the whole point!"

"How do you know?" Iruka's voice, weak and shaking, still managed to cut him off. "How do you know what happened? And…when I was dreaming like that before…I was in a coma…I was almost fatally wounded. How, then…?"

OOOOOOOOOO

16 hours earlier.

"Counting the attack last night, we now have four bodies on our hands and no leads as to the culprit." Mitokado folded his hands into his robe. "Though the abilities demonstrated by the criminal suggest that he is trained to the ANBU level. This significantly narrows our list of possible suspects."

"But we have no other evidence. No alibis for the times of the murders on that list of people. We can't even discount those who were out of the village on missions. As ANBU, they could have easily returned." One of the guild masters, a portly man who managed the small, but vital, textile market, piped up.

"Yes, we understand that." All eyes turned towards Utatane. "But given the report Tsunade-sama has just provided us, we believe we may have found a means of narrowing the pool."

Kakashi glanced sideways in time to see a muscle jump in Tsunade's jaw.

"Yes, yes. We've all had time to read the report. It seems to indicate an impressive level of insight for someone of his rank, but are we really going to put our faith in this? We might as well pull out the tarot cards and tea leaves while we're at it." He was the only one who seemed to feel the need to argue. All the others were in agreement with the elders.

"We are not suggesting that we place all of our faith in this method, simply that it is not something to be overlooked. If it bears fruit, then we are blessed, and if it does not, then we have wasted nothing." The guild leader cringed under her focused attention.

"And what do you suggest we do?" Ibiki towered over the majority of the congregation and had no difficultly making himself heard. "Run the boy through and hope he survives?"

"Tsunade-sama?" With a single word, Mitokado turned all attention to the Hokage.

She ground her teeth together. "The type of coma that Iruka was subjected to could be achieved with medication. But don't mistake me," Anger bit into the edges of her words. "Thought it is safer that skewering him, the amount of drugs I would have to administer have their own risks."

"There is also no guarantee that we can control what he sees." Kakashi broke into the conversation, unable to remain quiet any longer.

"Ah, Hatake-san. I'm glad you're here. You're the answer to your own question."

"Would you mind explaining that to me, Mitokado-sama?"

"According to Tsunade-sama's report, you featured prominently in Iruka's previous state. We believe that this will make his mind receptive to your suggestions if he is returned to that state. We can describe the process in more detail, but you will be the one guiding what he sees to align with what we desire. Also, you are the only ANBU with an iron-clad alibi."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow.

"At the time of the last murder, you were speaking with the Hokage."

"I think we should ask him – let him know the risks and make the decision himself." The same guild leader protested.

"We cannot do that. We cannot let him have any warning as to our intentions. It might corrupt the results."

"How?" Kakashi snapped. "He's probably never even met any of the ANBU you expect to be responsible."

"Even so." Utatane nodded to Mitokado. "This decision has been made and verified by the Hokage. Please proceed."

The second the crowd had cleared from her office, Tsunade turned to Kakashi, who had been glowering at her ever since the elder's statement. "I do not support this decision, but the entirety of the council, elders and guilds do. They want the blood to stop because they feel like they're getting it on their own hands. The drugs are not terribly dangerous, but that wouldn't particularly matter to them. They see a way out, and they're going to take it. I voiced my opinion on the subject very vocally and at great length this morning and barely made a dent in their resolve."

"I do not want to be a part of this." Kakashi stated. He had decided to help the chuunin, but was being forced into a position that required him to not only push the other man into a dangerous state between living and death, but to encourage him to seek out a shinobi who had murdered four other citizens in cold blood.

"If not you, it will be someone else. And whomever they pick will not give a damn about what this stunt might do to Iruka. Please, Kakashi. I know you. I know that you and Iruka aren't exactly drinking buddies, but I know that you will not allow someone to get hurt simply through apathy."

After a moment's pause, Kakashi swore creatively and violently.

"My sentiments exactly."

OOOOOOOOOO

Administering the drugs was simpler than he'd have thought. Iruka had been called to the hospital under the cover of a 'routine vaccination.' Within a few short minutes, he was unconscious and Tsunade was re-arranging his limbs into a more comfortable position.

"We should move him to his house." The jounin was a lanky man with a gaunt and pointed face. He served the Investigations department and had been assigned to this 'side-project' as he'd referred to it until he'd met Kakashi's gaze and realized that if he said it one more time the other man was going to gut him.

Kakashi had found over the years that two main groups existed in the shinobi camp – those who saw their compatriots as friends and family and those who saw them as tools. This jounin was most definitely of the later camp.

Not for the last time today, Kakashi was immensely grateful that Tsunade had bullied him into participating.

"We are doing no such thing." The Hokage's tone left no room for argument. "If he reacts badly to the medications, he needs to be here or he might die. So he stays."

Luckily the other man was not so much of an idiot as to argue with the Hokage.

"Alright." The jounin – Kakashi hadn't bothered to learn his name – handed him a thick envelope with classified markings across the front. "These are our current and past ANBU who are still living. You'll need to provide him with their descriptions, and we'll see if any get a reaction."

"I can give him all the descriptions that you want, but it's not going to make a difference if he hasn't met any of these people."

"Please, Hatake-san. You were an ANBU. You know that you are listed among the ranks of our normal shinobi and, as such, participate in everything your jounin and chuunin counterparts would. He has likely met or seen each of these people, if only in passing."

Kakashi shuffled through the papers. This whole stunt would require Iruka to be in a situation where he would meet all of these people…. He settled onto a stool by the side of the bed and tried not to feel too stupid as he started talking to the unconscious form on the bed. "Iruka-sensei. It's morning. You're headed too work."

When he'd asked how he was supposed to control Iruka's dreaming state, Tsunade had explained to him that, akin to what happens when you're sleeping, dreams in a coma could be controlled by external stimuli. Basically, she'd told him, you're going to tell him what he sees, and his mind should follow along. So I'm going to have to be very specific? He'd asked. No, she'd shaken her head. His brain will fill in the details or anything that might make it more believable. Though I suspect that having your voice in his ear throughout this will mean that you'll feature prominently – at least in the times when it'd be logical to have you there.

"You enter the Hokage's tower and head for the mission desk." Iruka's brows knitted together slightly, and Kakashi scrambled to figure out the source of the chuunin's consternation. Iruka worked at the mission desk; that much he was sure about. There was nothing special about today. It was just an average Friday.

Friday. Shit. He'd specified that it was morning, but on a weekday, Iruka would be teaching throughout most of the day and only serve a brief stint at the mission desk at the end of the day. "It's Saturday."

The crinkle on Iruka's forehead deepened for a moment and then smoothed as he accepted this change of events.

The Investigations jounin was scowling at him.

The rest went more smoothly. He passed descriptions of the ANBU to Iruka, assuming that his brain would fill in a busy day at the mission desk. It seemed to be a legitimate means of him crossing paths with all these people and getting a brief exposure. Expressions flitted across Iruka's face – everything from a pleasant, albeit a little forced, smile to a blank look of irritation. He read out five people's descriptions before he'd noticed the change. Iruka had stilled so completely that he seemed to be barely breathing. He smiled suddenly, but his hands clenched at his sides. His body language clashed with his facial expression, and Kakashi felt a creeping chill up the back of his neck. He dog-eared the set of pages he'd just read. If there was any possibility that this actually worked, he would wager good money that the murderer was contained in that group.

After another hour, he'd finished with the list, and sat back after having informed Iruka that he was headed home. All they could do now was wait for the chuunin to wake up, which, given the amount of drugs Tsunade had needed to apply to induce this state, would likely be awhile.

"So what now?" The man was not doing anything to get himself on either Kakashi's or Tsunade's good list.

"Now we wait. If there was something strange about any of those people, he may or may not have picked up on it, but we can't do anything until he wakes up." He was sure Tsunade had noticed his marking of the pages, but considering the way this man seemed to be grabbing at any clues, he was not going to offer him any sort of unfounded lead like that. "And when that…" He trailed off. Iruka had returned to the bizarre mismatch of body language and expressions that he had exhibited before, and Kakashi remembered another aspect of Iruka's coma state that had impressed him. Not only had the other man been able to understand a person's nature, but he had an uncanny ability to accurately predict actions.

He seized Iruka's arm, ignoring the jounin's complaining shout about him interfering. "Be careful." He put as much intensity and severity into his voice as possible. Then he turned towards the other man. "The people who've been killed, who are they?"

"We cannot disclose that information."

Tsunade shook her head when he looked to her. "I don't know any specifics beside the number. They want to be certain of their identities before they release that information. Which I do not agree with." She added when the jounin had the nerve to look smug. "But the elders have approved this path."

"Then how about some generalities. Any specific group? Men? Women? Shinobi or not?"

"Men." The man snapped, egged on by Kakashi's tone. "Specifically young men…chuunin…" He finished in a mutter as he realized that he'd said more than he intended, but couldn't quite stop himself in time.

"What?" Tsunade punctuated the question by slamming her fist on the side table that was usually in the hospital to hold flowers, but now had an unrepairable crack down the exact midline. "You didn't think it was important to mention that he was likely to be a target!"

"He's dreaming!" He actually had the gall to shout at the Hokage. "So what if the man makes him a target! It's not like he'll actually be killed."

Kakashi opened his mouth to inform the man just what sort of moron he was being.

On the bed behind them, Iruka screamed.

OOOOOOOO

"I was drugged?" Iruka clutched at the shirt above his heart throughout the explanation of his comatose state, though Kakashi suspected the gesture was completely subconcious. "So that you could find a murderer? Why would you think I'd be able to do that?"

"All of that can be explained later. We need to know who was responsible." The Investigations jounin elbowed his way into the conversation.

Iruka's fingers were repeatedly tracing a short line across his chest under his heart. "Himura Shishi. That's what he said his name was."

"And you're sure he's the one responsible?"

"I saw his face in the mirror in my hall when he was killing me. That good enough for you?"

Kakashi snickered mentally at the stricken look on the jounin's face. Well done, Iruka.

But he couldn't help noticing what he was sure the Investigations man had noticed. 'Himura Shishi' was not a name on any of the papers he'd been reading from.

"Shit." The other man hissed. "Shishi..."

Iruka looked between the three in confusion.

"ANBU typically use animal names as code names. Cats are a particular favorite." Tsunade was rubbing her face.

"Damnit. Useless!"

Iruka pushed himself into a slightly straighter seated position. "If I may..."

"We don't need anymore of your help, chuunin." The jounin let out a strangled gasp as he turned to discover a completely different person sitting on the bed.

Non-descript and entirely forgettable – two traits that were a boon to any ANBU – but Kakashi was sure he'd seen that face in the files.

The ANBU that Iruka'd picked out was among the dog-eared pages that Kakashi had set aside. He passed the information sheet to the Investigations jounin as Iruka dispelled the henge. "I believe this is the 'Himura Shishi' you're looking for."

OOOOOOOO

Kakashi draped the limp arm over his shoulders and half-dragged Iruka to the chuunin's apartment. Apparently, waking Iruka up before his system had metabolized the drugs had some nasty side effects.

Like the fact that using even the slightest bit of chakra was exhausting. He'd basically collapsed after the henge, but Tsunade's exam had revealed nothing serious, so she'd asked Kakashi to bring him home and stay with him.

"When I don't feel as much like shit, you're going to explain to me what exactly they did to me and why exactly you were involved." The words were slow and slurred slightly, so Kakashi felt fairly safe to ignore them. At least until Iruka regained complete control of his faculties.

The bed creaked as he hefted Iruka onto it. The chuunin was almost completely asleep, but his hand snagged on the hem of Kakashi's vest as the jounin made for the couch. "I miss you..." A long sigh punctuated the sentence before he corrected himself. "Him."

Kakashi raised a tentative hand, changing his mind four times before letting it settle on the chuunin's head, smoothing the long, tousled hair. "We're not all that different." But Iruka was already asleep.

Kakashi undid his leg wrappings and stripped out of his vest before swinging his legs up onto the bed. Leaning against the headboard was minorly uncomfortable, but he wasn't sure he wanted to face the questions that would arrive if Iruka awoke to him lying in the bed with him.

Within moments of him settling in, Iruka squirmed across the mattress to rest his head on Kakashi's thigh, gravitating towards the body heat, and started snoring softly.

OOOOOOOOOO

See? Nothing to worry about. Hope you're enjoying the story!