Iruka moaned softly, a short low sound in the back of his throat. He tried to move, but there was someone draped over him in this large futon. He attempted to shift his hands and legs, but this same person had limbs like an octopus, tightening around him even as he tried to pull away.
Iruka wormed his fingers between their bodies and pinched the clinging person right in their side, underneath the ribs. The person rolled away with a surprised, garbled yell and Iruka sat up in satisfaction.
Immediately, an overwhelming sense of terror assailed him; it seemed as if his whole body was doused in ice-cold water and then pushed into a blazing inferno. His chakra seemed to be the cause of this; he felt as if it was being shredded into tiny jagged pieces. Iruka curled up, pressed his face into the soft sheets and tried not to scream out loud. He had never felt this before, so desolate and wretched. It was worse than the night of the Kyuubi's attack.
Arms hauled him up and wrapped around him tightly. In an instant, his chakra calmed down from the panicked tumult it had whipped itself into and the pain, both emotional and physical, faded away. The peace that washed over Iruka was so unexpectedly wonderful that he almost burst into tears; as it was, a few rogue drops slipped out of his eyes and slid down over his cheeks. Confused and embarrassed, he looked up into Kakashi's face. Kakashi was wearing a blue kerchief wrapped around his lower face, another as a makeshift patch over the Sharingan, and his revealed eye was completely disapproving.
Iruka, of course, frowned back reflexively, raising one hand to dash away the unsolicited tears from his face. "Why are you holding me like this?" he demanded and squirmed. "Please let me go, Kakashi-taichou."
"If I let you go, then our chakra will go crazy again," Kakashi said, and his voice sounded as if it was coming through a block of ice. "Just keep still."
"What?" Iruka blinked rapidly, but Kakashi looked away. Iruka was sprawled sideways over his lap as Kakashi leaned against the wall. Iruka looked down at himself; he was dressed in some soft robe, folded close around his body and belted at the waist. He raised a hand and touched his hair; it was pulled free, hanging around his shoulders. "Where are we? Where's Hiromasa? What's going on?"
"Those are the questions I expected first, sensei, instead of you trying to gouge out my side," Kakashi said with mocking humour but Iruka felt some strange knowledge touch at the corner of his mind: Kakashi wasn't really as amused as he sounded. As a matter of fact, he was downright pissed-off and Iruka was currently the single focus of his ire.
"Well, what are you angry at me for?" Iruka blurted out and pushed at Kakashi's chest, trying to get away again. He couldn't deal with Kakashi's proximity right now; his chest was so warm against Iruka's arm and side, their legs tangled together.
"I'm not angry with you," Kakashi said in a monotone, not letting him go. He winced, loosening his hold just a bit when Iruka's fingers began to poke his side again. "Stop that."
"No, you stop that," Iruka hissed. He knew the moment that Kakashi's annoyance at him increased. "Stop being angry with me, unless you're going to explain what-"
Iruka stopped speaking abruptly and gazed at Kakashi, aware that a confused look was probably dawning on his face. "I can tell what you're feeling."
"And I can tell that you're very confused right now," Kakashi shot back. "It's all over your face. You're like an open book, really."
Iruka was about to tell him what he was like (it involved an assand a hole) when a screen-panel slid open and Hiromasa peeped in on them.
"Oh, you're awake," he breathed, relieved. "May I enter?"
"Yes, that's fine," Kakashi replied lightly and then looked at Iruka, who was gaping up at his face. It wasn't fine at all, for Iruka could feel the other man's discomfort building. Kakashi wasn't too keen on holding onto Iruka like this, and while he appeared perfectly at ease on the outside, he seemed to be a seething mass of twisted emotions internally. Iruka felt them slide against his mind, sharp edges and jittery corners, and barely restrained the urge to flinch away. He glanced at Kakashi out of the corner of one eye, and looked away at the sight of his unreadable visage.
Iruka gazed down at his own lap, pushing down his own confusion to consider what little he knew about Hatake Kakashi. It was very likely that he didn't like physical contact at all. He had never seen him touch anyone else, unless it was to carry a hurt colleague. This was probably a very unusual situation for him.
Hiromasa came in quickly, kneeling on the floor and reaching out to Iruka with a calmly questioning expression. Iruka nodded and let Hiromasa stroke chakra-wrapped hands to his temple and sternum.
"Well," Hiromasa said cheerfully, "Physically, you're quite fine. I can't see it very well, but Kakashi-taichou can, with his Sharingan."
"See what?" Iruka found himself snuggling back into Kakashi's hold and stiffened at the realization. Kakashi himself was sitting rigidly and Iruka tried to pull back as carefully as he dared. His chakra, however, seemed to take issue with this movement and rebelled grimly; he could feel it arching back in Kakashi's direction, as if it had been hooked and was being reeled in. With a sigh, Iruka leaned back, trying not to melt with the sensation of renewed contact. Kakashi was so solid and warm, and if Iruka just turned his head, he would be able to smell Kakashi even better; he could settle his nose in the hollow at Kakashi's collarbone, where sweet shadows seemed to reside. He was halfway to doing just that, and Kakashi shifted away, bringing Iruka back to his senses.
Iruka's face felt hot enough to melt off his face.
"I can't tell the details of it," Kakashi said gruffly. "We need a Byakugan-user for that."
"See what?" Iruka muttered and Kakashi shifted again.
"Didn't he tell you?" Hiromasa gave Kakashi a stern glance before giving his full attention to Iruka once more. "The ceremony that the priest was performing on those poor children... it was to bond them together. He was going to join their chakra in a kind of, um, marriage."
Iruka stared at him for a very long time, speechless. Poor Hiromasa shifted awkwardly and opened his mouth to say something, when the screen was pulled aside again, and the kidnapped princess stalked through. Her eyes, wide and very beautiful, went even wider as the Konoha team stared at her.
"Oh! You're awake, good! KIYO-KUN! THE SHINOBI-SAN ARE AWAKE!" she screeched over her shoulder. There was a very long dignified pause and then the son of the crazed priest glided in, carrying a massive book in his small, pale hands.
Kakashi was very guarded, Iruka could tell, but for his part he was charmed by the boy's small smile and careful manners. Unlike the brash Princess Hitomi, he bowed politely and introduced himself as Kiyoshi.
"Thank you all," he said shyly, kneeling down beside the futon. He tilted his head and glared at Hitomi, who rolled her eyes, but flopped to her knees unceremoniously. "Shinobi of Konoha, you have spared us from a life of unwilling union. For that, we are grateful and will pay you most deservedly. We also deeply regret that you have been caught in this powerful seal."
"Yeah, I'm really glad though, 'cause who wants to be married to him," Hitomi muttered. Kiyoshi didn't glare at her this time, but his nose wrinkled in distaste.
"I am sure you want to know exactly what happened." Kiyoshi shuffled closer and opened the book he was carrying. It fell open to a chapter on bonding-seals. "This is my father's book. He took it from another priest, one that was travelling from village to village. My father used it to research a seal that would keep me and a potential partner bonded together, through our... what is the word?"
"Chakra," Hitomi said in a bored voice. "I have it too, don't think you're special."
"It is special," Iruka cut in quickly, because Kiyoshi's delicate face had gained a murderous quality. "Most shinobi have chakra, some in great quantities. If you two were born in a hidden village, you would be trained as ninja."
The children seemed intrigued.
"It seemed that your father wanted to unite your chakra?" Iruka ventured and cleared his throat, trying to get that dry, nervous feeling out of it. He didn't really want to hear the details, but he'd have to know, sooner or later, in any case.
"Yes. This is the Bijozakura seal, an ancient chakra-bond." He handed the book to Hiromasa, who held it so that Iruka and Kakashi could see it. A drawing of a seated couple was on the page, a shower of small purple petals raining down over their heads.
"That says the bond is meant to be unbreakable," Kakashi said slowly. Kiyoshi nodded.
"It would have forced our people together, by tradition. Our powers would be shared," he answered.
"Ten Ravens would never go with that!" Hitomi yelled passionately; she quieted down, expression sheepish as Iruka pulled out a Stern Teacher face and used it on her.
"Neither would Archer," Kiyoshi told her archly. "It was only my father and some of his followers that would force something like this on us."
"Why do I have to keep touching Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi cut in, sounding as if Iruka was some kind of rotten fish that someone had thrown on him. Iruka felt his top lip curl in anger, and Kakashi's disdain seemed to bristle against his wrath.
"That is the first stage of the bond," Hiromasa answered, reading the text; he had the book held up to his face so close that it was almost touching his nose. "It says here that, to prevent the escape of a reluctant spouse, the chakra are bound tightly together, and the bodies follow suit. This will enhance emotional and...physical intimacy."
"Oh my," Iruka muttered, flushing slightly as Hiromasa cleared his throat, and the children looked a little confused. But a wave of mortification emanated from Kakashi; Iruka actually turned his face and looked at that bored eye in amazement.
Kakashi... was embarrassed? This couldn't be the same man that walked around with his face plastered to porn all the time. Was it because they were both men? Iruka didn't have a problem with that. Which meant that Kakashi... wasn't quite as open as he was.
Well; that could be tricky, to say the very least.
Hiromasa got to his feet and crouched behind the children so that he could see into the book."'As time passes'," he read, "'the necessity of physical closeness will fade, but the joining of power will remain. The Seal of Bijozakura is a true union of might and minds that none can put asunder.'"
"So basically, I'm stuck with Iruka-sensei until I die," Kakashi sighed, tragically.
"You don't have to sound so pessimistic about the whole thing," Iruka snapped. "I'll have you know, I'm a catch. Anyone with a working brain in their heads would want me."
Kiyoshi and Hitomi tittered at that as Hiromasa grinned, but Iruka only threw them a half-attentive smile. He was distracted by the sensation of hesitant amusement that Kakashi was giving off. It was warm, a complete change from the blanket of disapproval Kakashi had projected at him before, and it took Iruka's breath away a little.
Kakashi was throwing him off his guard almost completely. Seeing him walk around Konoha with his Icha Icha, handing in those messy reports, making Naruto hopping mad at his lateness... Iruka had thought that all there was to him was that odd, half-sociable brilliance. Since the start of this whole mission, Kakashi had been irritated, cool and amused at him in dizzying turns. It had been eye-opening; Iruka had actually been relieved, to be honest. Instead of the tall mysterious Sharingan no Kakashi, he was just another man.
Another man who is actually quite sexy and has you all cuddled in his lap, part of Iruka piped up helpfully and he struggled with the thought, desperately hoping that Kakashi didn't pick it up.
"What... are you hiding something?" Kakashi asked slowly, tilting his head so that he could look into Iruka's face directly. "You're hiding something from me."
"You sound just like a married couple already," Hitomi scoffed. "That's gross."
"We're not married, little princess," Kakashi told her with finality. "It's just an accident. We'll fix it soon."
"But, shinobi-san, it's supposed to be unbreakable," Kiyoshi said in innocent and scandalised tones. "Suppose you try to break it and... something bad happens?"
"Our Hokage is one of the great Sannin, and a wonderful medi-nin." Hiromasa's tones were brimming with confidence. "We'll be sure to find a solution to this quite soon. I think we need to be leaving now, and taking Hitomi-hime back to her people."
"Please do," Kiyoshi said, narrowing his eyes at the princess; she stuck her tongue out at him. "She's really loud."
. . . . . .
After the children and Hiromasa left, Kakashi found that dressing themselves back in their shinobi gear was a vaguely mortifying experience. They had both been unconscious when they had been brought to the finely-made house of the priest and apparently Hiromasa had been the one to strip and place those sumptuous robes on them; it must have been a struggle to keep them in some kind of physical contact, but Hiromasa had waved off Iruka's thanks and apologies with a small smile.
Now, they were wide-awake, standing and holding hands reluctantly in small, connected anteroom, looking down at their neatly folded clothes on a low bench. At least, Iruka was looking in dismay and Kakashi's expression was bland; internally, he was frowning at the whole world.
"This might be problematic," Iruka ventured and looked away when Kakashi gave him a quick look out of the corner of his eye.
"We're ninja." Kakashi shrugged and reached for his pants, placing it close at hand. "Let's treat it as a mission." He turned and looked at Iruka's red face; he grinned slowly behind his kerchief and began to slide his yukata from off his shoulders with his free hand. If they were to be supremely awkward, then he might as well have a little fun, right?
"It's not that fun, you know," Iruka muttered even as Kakashi pulled him forward to grasp at his dark pants. "I don't know what kind of missions you've been on, but this is not fun in the least."
Kakashi stopped and stared at him, surprised.
"What?" Iruka took up his own pants, turning them from side to side, as if clear instructions to putting them on while holding one hand with Kakashi were written somewhere near the fastenings.
"Did you read my mind, Iruka-sensei?"
"I don't think so?" Iruka stepped into his pants and pulled it up his legs, shuffling around comically. He finally gave up the one-handed approach and deftly snapped each fastening, the laced fingers of his and Kakashi's hands brushing close to his groin; Kakashi could feel the embarrassment floating through their link... and something else that was almost too faint to read because Iruka was dampening it, somehow.
Iruka wrinkled his nose. "But I could feel your amusement, though, at the prospect of making me uncomfortable. I don't need to read words inside your head."
Kakashi frowned at this. He didn't like that; the reason for his mask was to keep people at arms' length as much as possible. Now, here was Iruka-sensei, blithely reading his every emotion as easily as if it was a large sign plastered on his face.
He didn't like it at all, especially in the face of that elusive emotion of Iruka's that floated out of his reach.
Ignoring that for now, Kakashi reached for Iruka's other hand and unceremoniously planted them both on his shoulders. Ignoring Iruka's spluttering, he hauled on his pants as quickly as he could, then pulled off the loose robes over his head and placing them on the bench. He took Iruka's hands by the wrists again and set them on his own hips, dragging on his shirt and vest, pulling the mask attachment on top of the kerchief before undoing the knot of the soft blue material and removing the kerchief completely. He placed it on the rumpled heap of the robes, then looked at Iruka with one eyebrow raised.
"That was fast," Iruka said drily, and Kakashi buckled his vest. The chuunin-sensei was still without his shirt and flak-jacket, so Kakashi sat on the bench and placed his own hands on Iruka's waist.
"That's why they call me the Copy-nin." Kakashi tilted his head and slanted a look at Iruka's face. "Well? Put on the rest of your clothes, so we can go."
"Oh. Alright."
Kakashi raised both eyebrows this time at that funny, breathless little tone; he was getting a little cross with whatever Iruka was hiding behind his general mortification. He let his gaze focus somewhere around the level of Iruka's navel as the other man finally pulled off his yukata and bent forward to retrieve his black undershirt; Kakashi's hands slid up, resting on his waist. Under the fingers of his left hand, Kakashi could see a black curving line: part of a tattoo. Interesting. He kept his mouth shut, but he found his fingers moved gently over it without his express permission.
Iruka went red all over; it seemed that his skin heated considerably under Kakashi's touch. Kakashi stared at his stomach as Iruka pulled the shirt over his head, watching the delineation of his abdominal muscles with an attempt at detachment, until the undershirt covered the browned skin completely.
It was interesting how fair his skin was compared to Iruka's; but, Kakashi had always been pale. Just one of those things he had inherited from the White Fang of Konoha.
He started when Iruka's fingers brushed against his cheek.
"Are you alright? You feel... subdued."
Kakashi leaned away and stared up at him, surprised, and Iruka let his hand fall away without a word; his touch had been warm through the material of his mask, and his own hands were still placed on the other man's waist. He removed them instantly and grabbed onto Iruka's fingers before their chakra could complain, holding them as loosely as possible as he got to his feet.
"I'm fine. Just went wandering on some road in the past."
"Oh?" Iruka's lips lifted in faint amusement. "Well, make sure you don't get lost."
Hear that, ghosts of my past? Kakashi thought wryly. My dearly bonded here wants me to forget you."Let's go," he said and walked forward, stopping short when Iruka's lack of movement snagged him back. "Well? What's wrong?" He could feel streaks of remorse darkening the bond between them.
"I'm truly sorry, Kakashi-san." Iruka's voice was low, but steady. His earnest brown eyes were fixed on Kakashi's. "If it wasn't for me, we would not be in this position right now-"
Kakashi stifled a sigh. "We can't change what happened. Besides, you don't know how the seal would have affected those children. You did a good job, Sensei." He let the compliment ride on a lazy tone, but Iruka was still troubled, he could sense it. Kakashi breathed out and in slowly, hoping that some calming influence would spread to Iruka. It seemed as if it worked, because the furrow in between Iruka's dark eyebrows smoothed out and his lips quirked up tentatively.
Kakashi tore his gaze away from Iruka's mouth. It was the seal's doing, inducing all this staring at another man's face and skin, and Kakashi hated it. He didn't like having attachments like this and moreover, he didn't like being forced into it.
"Nevertheless, I am sorry," Iruka murmured as Kakashi led him out of the room. Their bond was suddenly drenched in a gloom that was worlds away from the calm that Kakashi had attempted to inject into it before; and that other feeling from Iruka, the one that Kakashi couldn't quite identify, was there as well, swirling around in desolate wisps, skittering out of Kakashi's mental reach every time he tried to classify it.
Kakashi was a man that preferred clarity; he didn't appreciate being in a confused state at all.
With an effort, he put the puzzling state into a neat little box and packed it away for now. He made a point to scrutinize the gaol in which the priest and his followers had been placed. He also spoke with the young Kiyoshi, now the nominal leader of the village, and his advisors as to the length of punishment for his father and possible ramifications when he was finally freed. He inspected the chakra-block that Hiromasa had placed on the priest, to make sure that his power was not abused in the near future. Kakashi did all this while walking around and holding to Iruka's hand tightly. He didn't feel any embarrassment coming from Iruka's side of the bond, just a solid blanket of composure that took the ends of Kakashi's fractious nerves and soothed them effectively, calming him to work with a clear mind.
There was also a long discussion about getting some kind of basic chakra training for Kiyoshi; as they made their way out, Iruka diplomatically offered to arrange that one of Konoha's Academy lecturers would be spared for a few sessions.
"And me too," Hitomi had demanded, dressed in some borrowed ceremonial garb. She crossed her hand over her chest and peered up at them. "I have chakra like him! Ten Ravens won't be behind anyone!"
"Of course." Iruka smiled down at the young princess and received a bright smile; it was fortunate that he had dealt with Naruto's brand of loud determination, for she was very similar.
The villagers of Archer followed them to the inner mouth of the cave, waving and calling their thanks. Kiyoshi and a few guards continued with them to the outer entry, the massive rocks rumbling as they enclosed the small village once more. Their small team and the princess entered the quiet forest, the bright afternoon sun barely piercing the heavy layer of trees and branches.
"Hitomi-hime," Hiromasa said, kneeling down. "Please allow me to carry you, as we will be traveling very fast through the trees."
"Really?" Hitomi clambered onto his broad back. "Will this be fun?" she asked Iruka.
Iruka grinned at her and Kakashi looked at his face out of the corner of his eye. Iruka's love for children was pure and obvious, not only in his face, but in the content feeling that spilled from him over to Kakashi.
"Just hold on tight, but don't choke Hiromasa-san," Iruka warned her. "And yes. It will be fun."
Hitomi nodded and she let out a subdued shriek of delight as Hiromasa launched into the lush leaves. He was still smiling slightly when he turned his face in Kakashi's direction.
"How will we run like this, sensei?" Kakashi lifted their joined hands.
Iruka's smile faded and he gave Kakashi a narrow stare. "I can keep up," he answered shortly. "I only look slow."
"I didn't say you were," Kakashi snapped in return, feeling his skin begin to flush with what seemed to be mostly annoyance.
"You didn't have to." Iruka's eyes were still narrowed at him, with those thick black lashes and then... well, Kakashi really didn't know what happened. One moment, they were glaring at each other in mutual annoyance and the next, Kakashi had his mask pulled down to his chin and they were kissing. He tasted Iruka's surprised gasp, and pressed closer as Iruka's lips parted, their tongues tangling together.
Their chakra danced around them, curling and pulling them close, wrapping taut bands of power around them. Iruka's free hand stroked Kakashi's cheek tentatively as their lips moved together, and Kakashi felt something jab against his skin.
Surprised, he pulled away, fixing his mask before Iruka's eyes fluttered open. That... that should not have happened. Not with Iruka, not with anyone. The loss of control was unsettling, not to mention the odd feel of Iruka's chest against his, and how his strong thighs had pressed against Kakashi's. He gritted his teeth as his chakra ached in his bones, needing to be close to Iruka again.
"That... that was just the bond forcing us," he said in a monotone, looking away from Iruka's kiss-swollen mouth. Then, his exposed eye widened as his gaze landed on Iruka's free hand, still held up in the air, fingers curled loosely.
There were small sparks of blue lightning dancing around his fingers. Kakashi grabbed him by the wrist and stared at the tiny flashes until they faded.
"That's my chakra," Kakashi muttered and looked accusingly at Iruka, as if the other man had crept inside his skin and stolen all his carefully developed skills.
"I didn't take it on purpose." Iruka wrenched this hand from Kakashi's hold; their other hands remained joined, their fingers held stiffly against each other's. "And if I have a bit of yours, maybe you have some of mine."
Kakashi looked at his face again; Iruka stared back, still defiant but more than a little confused.
The words tumbled out of Kakashi's mouth before he could filter them: "I wouldn't find much use for your chakra."
Iruka went very still, his gaze fixed on Kakashi's face. While his face had gone uncharacteristically pale, it was also mostly unreadable, and Kakashi picked up on a tendril of hurt. Kakashi just kept on looking at him. Iruka's expression became as hard as rock.
"Of course you wouldn't, Kakashi-san," he said, and his words felt sharp. Kakashi actually had to refrain from flinching. "Anything else you don't want?"
Kakashi felt his lips curl under his mask in a sneer, but there was so much desire boiling under his skin for this infuriating and astoundingly prickly chuunin. Damn this seal. Iruka inhaled deeply and then pressed his lips together; Kakashi nearly bent in again to swipe his tongue across them, and snapped his gaze away, gazing towards home.
"Let's go," he said roughly, and they leapt for the trees.