I'm not going to waste a lot of our time apologizing for the long delay - I had to make a decision when I found myself in a situation seriously short on time to write, and I chose to finish Bury It Forward first. I would have bogged down and never finished either story otherwise. So! I am indeed sorry to have left this hanging, but now I can give my full attention to this story and I won't stop until it's done! You have been warned!

Chapter 25

xxxx

"I think that it's good for them to see you," Sakura said as she lead the unusually subdued tall blond down the hallway. "They can both use a little distraction right now."

"Kakashi-sensei didn't say much. He seems pretty down. I sat with him anyway, but he was really anxious for me to go visit Iruka-sensei. He wants me to come back afterward. He wants to know how he's 'really' doing."

"He's 'really' doing as well as can be expected, considering. Lady Tsunade has been working on his case since he got here. He hardly knew who he was or where he was at first. But he's improved. Just be prepared. He's kind of…" She tipped her pink-maned head in thought, searching for the words. "regressed, in a sense. There's still a long way to go. The procedure is incremental. He was so badly in need of repair that she had to seal off his memory back to his youth to start with, and she's been releasing it back to him slowly while she works on restoring his normal chakra paths. I'd say he's barely up to his academy sensei days so far."

"Really?" Naruto suppressed a selfish swell of hope. He missed Iruka so badly since the first the injury sent him into estrangement; then even worse, when Danzo's evil training twisted him into something far more unrecognizable. It seemed that the Iruka he'd come to love as his first and closest special person was gone forever. Now, maybe, if only for a short time, that long-lost soul might stand before him again.

"Oh, yeah. But it's not quite the same as just turning back the clock, though, Naruto. I'm sorry. He's not in very good shape, so go slow when you're with him and pay attention to how he responds. You'll see what I mean when you talk to him. Just be patient, and try not to react too much if he does something that seems strange; if he says inappropriate things, or if he, well, if he exhibits odd emotional behaviors."

Naruto blanched at the warning. What did she mean by that?

"Is it okay to, you know, give him a hug?"

She smiled and lightly smacked his head with her clipboard. "You're something else, you know it? It would be fine. Better than fine, just pay attention and make sure he doesn't object to it. If he'll let you, I bet it would be good for him. He's had tons of tough love and difficult healing procedures. Hugs, well, not so much." Her look grew a little guilty. "Actually, now that you mentioned it - I don't think anyone's tried to give him a single one."

The orange ball of energy started shifting from foot to foot and looking past Sakura, aching to turn that last corner that lead to his sensei's room.

"One more thing. You remember the situation. This isn't something you can tell anyone else about. Be on the alert when you're in the room with him. And no fooling around at the door, security has to be maintained at all times."

"I will, I will. But I gotta get in there first!"

"Okay, okay…but, Naruto…I'm serious about taking it slow, okay? Remember what I said? Don't get too comfortable with the way he is today, because he changes every time Lady Tsunade advances his memory. When she gets to the time when he was injured…and when he stopped working at the Academy…"

"Yeah." Naruto stopped fidgeting and nodded heavily. "I guess there's no way she'd just stop now and leave well enough alone."

"Go on. If you need me, press the call button. If there's any sign of trouble, get help immediately."

"Sure." Subdued once more, Naruto went past her and moved alone into the next corridor.

A tall, imposing figure stood staring down at him, arms folded, boots planted wide. Naruto walked up, a little cautiously. He sensed this man's eyes drilling right through him every time they met. He wasn't really afraid of him, though, despite his hostile vibe. He made people uncomfortable for legitimate reasons.

"I'm here to see Iruka-sensei," he said quietly.

"I'm aware. Just remember, his memory is being returned in stages. Even though he knows he's not supposed to, he can't help slipping and asking about things he still hasn't remembered. You can't tell him about his past. It could be harmful to him. I'd try to explain it, but it's complicated. So just know this: you're to tell him nothing, even if he asks, and that's an order." Naruto had gained height, and a more mature face and body...but Ibiki wasn't going to waste a lot of time making a lengthy explanation on the random assumption that his intelligence had increased as well.

This boy radiated potential, and for that, the torture specialist gave him credit. But more importantly, he was one of the straightest arrows of all the shinobi it had been his job to analyze. It certainly didn't appear that way from his delinquent behavior early on; but beneath that rebellious bravado was the complete opposite of anti-village sentiment. Naruto was loyal and determined to be a champion of the Leaf from the beginning. Nothing had ever swayed him from that goal. People might have mocked him for his overt stupidity, as if he were a hopeless idiot, but Ibiki always knew better. His potential for growth and his soul-deep loyalty more than made up for the lack of a genius-level I.Q.

Still, that didn't mean that he would ignore Naruto's unique talent for making tremendous blunders at just the wrong moment.

"I'll be careful."

"See that you do. If you fail to follow any of my instructions, I'll have your visiting privileges revoked altogether."

Naruto nodded, still not looking away from the dark, grumpy stare.

Ibiki nodded back. There weren't many people who would meet his eye without flinching, much less maintain eye contact as they spoke. He reached out as he stepped past the young man and swept his arm against the door, pushing it open abruptly, taking a quick look inside. The lone occupant of the room was alive, awake and had his back to the door. He didn't seem to notice the movement, or their presence.

Morino kept his regrets to himself and let Naruto go in alone.

xxxx

It took some effort to drag his hands away from his head. The quiet of the blank white room was exerting uncomfortable pressure in his skull again, creating awareness of the barriers that the medical ninjutsu had erected to cordon him off from… something within. That something seemed to be alive and kicking, more dynamic than just the memories they claimed to be suppressing. He couldn't sense it clearly, had no idea just what the problem was - nor could he fathom what could be so very wrong with him that such extreme methods were necessary to treat it. Beyond that, he could scarcely believe that he was being so complacent in this situation. They told him so little - and yet here he sat, just accepting it.

That just wasn't his way. But that strong inner drive to push back seemed to have gone dormant. Maybe he was a little depressed - make that a lot depressed - and that was the only explanation he'd managed to come up with. The days had a lost, endless quality to them, yet he made no complaint, somehow patient with this assignment to simply wait in limbo.

At least he'd finally reached a stage where his mind and body were starting to behave reasonably. While they were said to be advancing his memory with each treatment, cohesive thought hadn't really returned until the last one. He suspected that his relative wellness was the reason they now put his progress on hold - but he felt that he wasn't a good judge of that, either. There was just a hazy recollection of the other treatments, and the timing of them. For all he knew, it could have been weeks of waiting between the prior treatments as well.

He was able to move from bed to bathroom to chair now without help. He kept to the walls, always keeping something solid in reach for support to counter the inevitable misstep or touch of vertigo. At least now if he went down, it was usually just to one knee, and after a few seconds of holding still, he could rise and resume whatever small journey he'd been on.

Getting to the chair had been unexpectedly beneficial. Sitting by the window quickly became his favorite pastime, ever since he spotted the rope swing and crudely-hewn kunai target situated directly outside at the bottom of the gently sloping field. At some point each day, he would be rewarded for his patience when the kids came out to play. He finally gave up on getting the window open to hear them, though. There was a powerful security field locking the window down, one he was no match for in this condition.

He was sitting in the chair peacefully observing the dynamic of the energetic kids, feeling a bit like he was keeping in practice for yard duty when he was well enough to go back to work. That older boy standing off by himself seemed to need a little push to get him to try and join in; he lurked shyly and spent more time gazing at the windows of the infirmary than seemed natural. Pretending to find some irrelevant object fascinating was a lame but common form of defense against human interaction. And when a mis-thrown object or breathless chase came too close, he swiftly moved away from whoever approached, and Iruka never saw him talk with any of the other kids directly. Yet he went to all the trouble of coming out to the play area every day, no doubt in hopes of fitting in somehow; no one would believe his silly act of feigned fascination with hospital windows. This was the sort of situation that an observant academy instructor could intervene in and perhaps make real difference in a kid's life; to help him become a team player instead of a loner. He had a lot of advice for that boy, but no way to communicate with him. Still, he was turning it over in his head, imagining the conversation and the positive effects it might have, when the distinct sound of the opening door broke his chain of thought.

It took a moment for him to surface from his contemplative state, reluctant to end his time at the window watching the children play. He turned his head slightly to acknowledge the sounds of someone approaching, glancing at his visitor before looking away. It seemed to take too long for the image to process; he cocked his head sideways for a moment, then looked back in a long-delayed double-take.

His expression was confused and serious, his voice oddly strained when he managed an acknowledging 'hi,' nervously rubbing his eyes before settling the thumb and forefinger of his right hand to worry habitually at the scar on the bridge of his nose.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, quieter than his usual voice. It made it seem even deeper.

"Naruto?" Iruka gaped. "But…you're…a man."

"Um…well…you've seen Sakura, right?" Naruto asked, not sure what was too much to say per the rules.

"Oh! Yes, of course. She's grown, so…so you would have, too…stupid of me…you and she...and everyone... you'd all be..." his voice trailed off.

"Hey, no, no problem!" Greatly relieved that he wouldn't had to figure out what and how much to explain, Naruto approached and placed his large hands on Iruka's robe-covered shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

The shoulders stiffened in unconscious reaction; Iruka blushed and tried to relax them quickly to hide his unexpected discomfort.

The blond hesitated, about to remove the offending contact. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's all right." Iruka placed his hands over Naruto's to hold them there, vying to get control of whatever was happening in his own body. "Just give me a minute. Your hands are so big, they just don't seem like they could possibly belong to you."

He couldn't access the source of his discomfort: it was hidden beyond the memory barrier. The sensation provoked an adverse response to what felt like Jeninki's hands, evoking a deep reaction through his subconscious. That left him fighting against the inexplicable raw urge to resist contact, aroused by his sluggish survival instincts. He only vaguely understood what he was feeling, those powerful memories tainting his reactions in spite of Tsunade's suppression, without any recollection as to why he was experiencing them.

There was a soft, relaxing pressure that began to emit from the younger shinobi's palms, radiating his unique and benevolent chakra in a way that eased Iruka's mind immediately. This was no stranger, and the polar opposite of a threat.

"That better?" Naruto asked, smiling because the question was rhetorical - clearly his inspired move was helping. "It's good to see you up and awake. Before I went on my mission, you were still out of it. I was thinking about you the whole time I was gone."

"What did I teach you? You have to concentrate on your mission, you have to use every ounce of your ability or you might not come back alive!" Iruka scolded, in a tone that resonated from the past.

"Sensei, it was only a B-rank. I think Granny Tsunade just wanted to get me out from underfoot," he said with a chuckle, surprised and happy to be lectured. Long ago he had come to consciously recognize that this was a form of caring and not criticism. He supposed that on a gut level, he'd known it from day one - which is what prompted him to keep provoking the teacher relentlessly from the very moment when they first met.

"Just a…what do you mean, just a B-Rank! Why, you could have…"

"Hey, no, it was an easy one. You don't know what I can do now, so don't be worrying! I'm as strong as the jounin, stronger in some ways. Kakashi-sensei can't even beat me anymore, even with that cheater's eye of his."

Silence fell between them, Iruka slumping just a little, eyes drifting downward, hoping they would just stay like they were for a while. His own hands caught his gaze again. The scars and relative toughness still made him shake his head. These were some other shinobi's hands, stronger and battle-hardened far more than his own. People occasionally made disparaging remarks, rather hurtful ones, about his 'pretty' hands during his shifts in the mission room. Or…did they make them in the past?…they must have, because they really couldn't say that about him now.

The movement against his shoulder brought him back into the moment, embarrassed to have checked out of the conversation already.

Naruto stopped gently shaking him once he looked up, open-mouthed and wordless.

"Can you hear me all right, Iruka-sensei?"

"I…I'm sorry, I just…I missed what you said, that's all."

Naruto grunted and leaned over him further to repeat his question louder. "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

He managed to get his mouth to shut and shook his head. If he looked half the uncoordinated mess that he felt like, it couldn't be very reassuring to his favorite student.

"I'm glad! But you're really tired, huh?"

"It's all right."

"Should I come back later?"

"I don't want to keep you if you have things to do. It sounds like you've become an important…" Iruka straightened and twisted around to look closer at his suddenly adult student. "jounin, really? Did you say you're jounin?"

A whiskered grin stretched from ear to ear. "No, but I'm at least that good, no doubt about it! Pretty soon I'll be jounin, and rising! You'll see!"

The embattled brunette broke into a lop-sided smile. "I never had any doubt that you would, Naruto."

Naruto's grin dimmed just a little. Iruka's face wasn't quite equal, like maybe the left side was slightly paralyzed.

"You aren't keeping me, Sensei. I just don't want to bug you if you need to sleep."

"Stay, then, please?" Iruka startled himself with the request. He should be putting on a brave front, and let the young man go on his way. He'd just learned that Naruto was a working on becoming a jounin, which meant that his time was valuable. He shouldn't be wasting it with bedside hand-holding. "Just for a little while," he amended lamely.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure! Look, let me take a minute to go let Kakashi-sensei know how well you're doing, then I'll be right back. He's been pretty worried about you, too!"

"He's here?"

"Just a couple of rooms down."

"Worried about me? In a room here, is he injured?" Iruka began to fret, discomfited by another tiny edge of memory bulging at the dam holding back his past.

"Everything's okay. He overused his chakra on a mission, that's all. He, uh, knew you were here, and well, so, he wanted to know how you are."

"Oh." Iruka's tension subsided a little. "It's fine, then. If you're in a hurry to go see him, it's all right. But I really doubt he's in any sort of suspense over my condition. When you see him, give him my wishes for a speedy recovery, too."

Iruka didn't have to tell him twice. Naruto seemed to be anxious to get back to Kakashi, and it was understandable. They would share that exclusive jounin/jounin candidate camaraderie now, something he'd only observed from well outside. Although the thought struck a lonely note deep in his soul, Iruka felt grateful knowing that Naruto had found his way into that tightly knit circle of support.

"Right away, I'll tell him! Then I'll be right back. Stay put and don't worry. Just stay right there!"

In a silent flash of black and orange he was gone. Speed worthy of his rank, Iruka thought with satisfaction. Economy of movement and seamless coordination with the air currents - had his eyes been closed, his normal senses could not have detected that someone had left the room.

He lifted his hand to stare at it again and tried to calm the breathless touch of panic that whispered up his spine and settled in to clench his throat for the tenth time today.

The new silence in the room echoed in Iruka's quivering heart. His legs, his arms, his body in general - all accounted for. Nothing in the way of gross injuries; it wasn't chakra depletion either. He just seemed to have forgotten how to work his own body and chakra automatically. The lame answers they gave him about being damaged in a mission just didn't make sense. They wanted him to be patient…or was it just that they wanted him to remain a patient?

In spite of being safe and well cared for, which should have been cause for celebration, he felt a deep sadness and grief. Because of those feelings, he suspected that someone he was very close to may have been gravely injured in this mission. It seemed like the sort of facts that might be withheld if the events had been traumatic enough. The recently healed wounds, the worst of which was a large laceration across his chest, hardly seemed out of the usual range of mission injuries. They ached slightly still, but nothing worthy of hospitalization. His worst damage must have been mental, since his mind was the only significant source of pain now. But that didn't mean that he was the only one hurt, or that the only injuries to his team were psychological.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he might be responsible for whatever evil befell his mission partner or partners. He'd fallen short in the past, most notably on a mission with Kakashi as lead, and spent some time laid up here afterwards. But no one else had suffered for that mistake; Hatake-san had stepped in to curtail the damage caused by his inexperience.

It might not be anything related to a mission at all. The uncertainty was a hellish, aggravating scab his mind picked at day and night.

He absolutely was unable to follow the orders of the unfamiliar woman claiming to be the current Hokage; her command to relax and recuperate without worry left him as dumbfounded as the news that the Third had passed away, and that the next advancement of his memory should restore his recollection of attending the memorial service.

It did no good to stew over it all; the Lady Hokage had said so, and he agreed, at least in theory.

But without the distraction of company, worrying and waiting were the only options he had.

He watched the children blindly, no longer enjoying the sight, wishing that Naruto would hurry up and return.

xxxx

The silver-haired jounin was sitting up in bed, attended closely by Sakura, when Naruto barged in unannounced.

"He's okay. He said to tell you to get well quick!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. "Thanks for knocking, Naruto. Kakashi-sensei, please lie back now. You've gone past your time again."

At her patient's grumbling, she tried to placate him.

"You're up to fifteen minutes every four hours now. That's good progress."

The grumbling died down as she lowered the head of the bed.

"He can't be okay, you knucklehead. What kind of report is that?" the jounin snapped irritably, hissing as the change in position touched off massive cramping in his lower back,

"I'm telling' ya, he's okay. I'm going back to see him for a while, but…I just wanted to let you know."

"He mentioned me?"

"I told him you were here," Naruto winced at Sakura's glare that clearly said he shouldn't have done that. "No, it's okay! He asked what was wrong with you and I just said that you had deprivation sickness from some mission. That's all."

"He doesn't have all of his memories yet, Kakashi-sensei. We talked about this before," Sakura warned.

"That's why there'd be no harm if I see him. We were on good terms back then."

"No harm to him – probably, I guess. But you're confined right here and it's for your own good. Look at this, just from sitting up a few minutes." She was forcing the muscles to release their painful hold with a glowing application of chakra.

"Couldn't Iruka-sensei come see him then? Just for a minute? He looked so lonely when I went in his room, just sitting and staring out the window like that."

"He's not able to walk very well yet, Naruto. He has some neurological complications." Sakura was careful not to reveal too much. Tsunade wanted most of the details of Iruka's mending schism kept quiet. Naruto might not catch on, but Kakashi would pounce on the wrong turn of phrase and never rest until he got all of the answers.

"So what's the problem with taking him out in a wheelchair? Man, no wonder he's bummed, if you never let him leave the room."

Sakura considered whether that would be a security breach. The housekeeping staffer continually doing busywork in the hall was an undercover ANBU shinobi; Iruka would still be in a room on the same wing. It didn't seem like that should make any difference, but any change that might impact security was not a casual matter.

"All right, all right, so maybe it's a possibility. I will ask. It couldn't be for more than just a few minutes. He gets tired very easily, and then it makes it harder for him to control his reflexes."

"That's more like it! That will cheer him up. He always kind of looked up to you when I was still his student, Kakashi-sensei. As far as I can tell, he doesn't remember all the bullshit you pulled on him - at least, not yet."

Sakura and Kakashi both grimaced, because Naruto had turned serious and unsmiling as he spoke this time, and a slightly acid tone colored his voice. It was a little too easy to forget that the maturing shinobi's enthusiastic banter often concealed very serious thoughts and his widening awareness of the great darkness in the lives of others.

Kakashi was relieved that Tsunade decided on discretion; the kids were still this tweaked about the minor public incidents surrounding their break-up, way back before Ibiki's life-changing assignments, and that was all they really knew, unless Iruka had shared more with them privately.

"Lady Tsunade decided to pause him at this stage for a reason, Naruto. It's important for him to be calm enough to use this time to build up his strength and work on his physical rehabilitation. Right now he shouldn't have major problems with anyone that we're aware of. Our job is to remind him that he always has our support and that he can trust all of us to help him."

Kakashi sighed, too worn to deal with the kid's thinly-veiled accusation head-on. His track record wasn't the important issue here, anyway. "I'm not much to look at just this moment. But if you think it would help him to see me, just do it."

"Then let's do it now," Naruto clenched a fist and turned to the door. "We need a wheelchair."

"You two! Don't be so rash. I told you, I have to clear this with Lady Tsunade first."

"Why? You think she'll say no?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not going to speak for her; I might not be aware of everything that's involved here, so I can't predict. Personally, I hope she approves, because I think it might be good for him. He'll have some hard days ahead, he can use all the support he can get. When she returns the memories of the rest of his life, it will be like living it all over again. And I've often wondered how he managed to get through some of it the first time."

Kakashi grew more restless. Once that happened, it was quite possible that he wouldn't be nearly so welcome. He touched the pink-haired healer's arm gently.

"Please."

She'd seen all manner of strange behavior in hospitalized jounin. But this was so un-Kakashi-like, it was startling. She glanced up; Naruto 's expression matched her own.

"No funny business, Kakashi-sensei. You stay put, and I'll go speak with Lady Tsunade. No guarantees. If I get the okay, and if I think he's up to it, then it will still be his decision."

"Well, I tried," Naruto shrugged, then added seriously, "Just remember, though - I didn't do this just for you."

Kakashi nodded as if he had been expecting those words and focused on the ceiling as his former students left the room.

The man in the white coat sweeping in the hall glanced up and watched the brightly-clad figure make the quick return trip to Iruka's room, an orange blur moving in the opposite direction the pink-haired healer had taken.

"I figured they'd try to stretch the rules," Ibiki's disembodied voice sighed. Without allowing any visible reaction, the disguised ANBU hummed agreement to his cloaked superior.

Xxxx

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called in surprise as the door opened slowly, revealing the shopworn ninja in a wheelchair, wedged upright with pillows and sporting an IV tube that ran up to a daisy-chain of clear bags hanging from an attached pole. He looked even worse than he did just minutes ago.

Sakura gave a pained smile and kept pushing the chair. Tsunade had been cross with her for even asking, and then she offered the cruel compromise of allowing them to meet, but only if Kakashi were the one to leave his room. The jounin was in no shape to be anywhere but flat on his back at this point. But he was also crazy, as all jounin are, and he agreed to it as if it were nothing. Men of this rank were all a far cry from normal.

Iruka gasped, clearly thrown by sight of the man and his horrible condition.

"I'm only here for a minute. I just wanted to see for myself that you're doing as well as they say," Kakashi said. His lifelong gratitude for the mask increased yet again, as the dark cloth hid the grimace with which he managed that speech.

"I'm fine. Please tell me I didn't do anything that caused you to suffer such injuries," Iruka said. Although it had been half a lifetime ago, in his restricted memory, the poor performance he'd turned in as a teammate with the elite ninja was stingingly recent. It was the lapse in his ability to prove himself, on a mission with this very man, that caused the Third to relegate him to the academy, and to a lower professional and social standing, permanently. But he still had to go on two missions a year, and all this mess with the hospital might have centered around the aftermath of one of them.

It was really the only plausible explanation he'd been able to imagine so far.

That plea turned the grimace into a bitter smile. Iruka's tone of voice was warm and worried and caring, vibrant with the acceptance and goodwill he had pursued unto extinction. He thought he would never again hear his name and that priceless compassion strung together in the same breath.

"My injuries were earned in a mission. It's nothing you have to worry about."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope your team was...all...right..." Iruka's concentration broke; he suddenly felt compelled to check the window. The boy he had been watching, the one who always kept to himself, was gone; maybe he'd seen so many people in the room he became wary of being seen.

Sakura didn't like the look in his eye but Naruto beat her to it.

"Sensei, what is it? Is something wrong?"

Iruka jerked his attention back. He had no explanation for it, but when he thought of being in the room with Kakashi, it made him afraid for the lonely boy with the long hair. He was glad to see that he had gone, except for the hollow worry that he might decide not to return.

"No. Nothing." They were looking at him, smiling in a way that looked uncomfortable. Well, except for the man in the mask, for whom no complete facial expression would be revealed. His lone eye crinkled up a bit; his Sharingan eye covered with a taped gauze patch. The gauze was pure white yet it scarcely contrasted with his skin; the usual porcelain complexion was washed out and ashen. For what little was exposed, there was no concealing his grave condition.

So why were they all so worried about me? Am I somehow worse off than even this?

That seemed preposterous.

"Good," Naruto said lamely, not really sure what to say next. The atmosphere had turned heavy, but it was difficult to pinpoint what caused it.

The pain in Kakashi's back was growing by the minute. Elite or not, chakra sickness would drop him if he kept this up much longer. Sakura was eyeing him sideways, and he was actually surprised that she hadn't ended his visit already.

This was his opportunity to sow a seed that might help defray some of the damage when the memories were returned. Having seen how his behavior looked and felt from Iruka's shoes, he knew that he had better think of a very good seed. Simply saying he was sorry in advance couldn't possibly cut it.

"Iruka. I know they'll be helping you get your memory back. I want you to know that we...have worked together...we've been...an important part of one another's lives. But...you're going to find..."

"Wait! You agreed not to say..." Sakura started, Naruto shouldering up to support her protest.

Kakashi merely closed the lone eyes and increased his volume.

"...we had a basic lack of understanding. I never realized that I treated you poorly; I thought treating you as though you were the same as I am was a positive thing. A form of recognition of your worth. Because I was treating you as an equal even though I outranked you. But I didn't take into account how different my preferences are. I have a darkness inside me...that respects harsh handling; needs it, sometimes."

"Kakashi-senpai," Iruka blushed, confused, feeling exposed in his budding, and he assumed up until now completely hidden, deep admiration for his senior. "I wish I knew what you were talking about."

"Just know that there are times when I've been a massive jerk and a fool, and that I regret any pain that I've caused, and I hope you can forgive me," Kakashi said in one breath, because it spent the last that he had to give. In the end, energy and genius spent, he fell to that inadequate plea for forgiveness anyway.

The door swung wide and Ibiki stood unamused, staring down the lot.

Listening. Of course. The bastard had the ears of a rat, Kakashi groaned inwardly.

"Are you all finished disobeying Her Lady's orders? he asked icily.

"I-I-Ibiki-san!" Iruka gulped, now even more off-balance. He would never talk back to the torture specialist, but here were the words flowing right out of his mouth on their own."I don't think anyone meant to do that!"

"You stay out of this. You refrained from asking them about the things you don't remember. You performed admirably. My issue is with your visitors. Just stay calm while I handle it."

"We didn't give him any new information," Sakura chirped.

"Yeah. So what's the big deal, saying we went against orders?" Naruto frowned.

Ibiki gave the wheelchair a tap with his boot, enjoying the copy-nin's sudden rigidity. The overblown ego was at a distinct disadvantage, completely helpless and well past his reasonable limit to be up and away from his life support equipment. He shouldn't be pulling shit like this in such a controlled environment. A clever intelligence operative could think of a million ways to make him suffer boundlessly here without anyone else being the wiser.

That one little toe-tap, resulting in excruciating spinal pain from the unexpected tiny jolt, telegraphed all of those warnings without a single word.

But Ibiki had words, as well.

"I appreciate that Hatake didn't reveal any particular events. But I'd scarcely say that foreshadowing his reprehensible behavior to try and make himself look better is following the restrictions; it's tampering. So I'll undo a bit of that. He wants you to believe that he's pure of heart and somehow only seems nefarious when his deeds are misinterpreted. But you should know that there will be memories of this man where he blames some very heinous actions on me, and he is telling a bald-faced lie. I'm capable of absolutely anything, but never degradation just for amusement. He doesn't have any qualms about that, however."

Iruka gaped, head spinning with the rise in Ibiki's chakra, an event that rightfully evoked the need to flee for survival. Kakashi had done something that even a person like Ibiki would call degradation? So, something far more than the usual disrespect the upper ranks enjoyed treating him with so overtly?

"I don't think this is good for them," Sakura said with a wince, glad that Naruto was perceptive enough to be at Iruka's side already, keeping him from toppling off the chair. Whatever this thing was between Kakashi and the torture specialist, it was getting out of hand, and for once it wasn't completely Kakashi's fault. In fact, as much as Iruka was starting to come undone, the figure in the wheelchair was hanging on to consciousness by a thread of stubborn determination. "You'll have to excuse us, I must get him back to his room. And I'd like to ask you to please stop upsetting Iruka-sensei."

Ibiki sniffed and looked down his nose at the pink-haired protege of the Hokage. She was feigning deference, when in fact he sensed that she opted for careful politeness as a strategy. From what he read in her chakra, her preference would have been to punch him in the face.

Uzumaki was even angrier, yet his impulsiveness was tempered with extreme worry for both of his former instructors, the sort of worry borne by those who wait with wringing hand while others perform the healing. The helplessness was very painful for the young man, and helping Umino hands-on was providing as much relief for the student as it was to the teacher.

He nodded and held open the door, much to Kakashi's surprise. Even more surprising, he followed them out and held the next door as well. It was all a blur after that. He lost consciousness, and never knew whose steely hands moved him swiftly from chair to bed, lending aid to Sakura as she worked furiously to stabilize him.

"It's okay, now, Iruka-sensei. They're gone. Are you in pain? What is it?"

Iruka waved him away weakly before gripping his head with both hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm fine. I just get dizzy, that's all. There's so much I don't understand. It's mortifying to be so weak and ignorant. My ego must be bruised, that's all. No one ever died from that."

"You can be damned sure that I won't let you die, not from any of this shit!"

"Language, Naruto!" Iruka shot back in a well-worn reflex.

The orange-clad nin began to giggle, like a child, like the child that used to hear that bark ten times a day.

Iruka managed to get a sideways look at the grinning, manly face and just had to crack a smile, too. Funny how they had shifted closer in place, temporarily. In his mind he was years younger; looking at Naruto, they were much closer to being the same age.

He told himself for the thousandth time how lucky he was to have met this adopted family member, and how careful he would be to keep him precious, always, in his heart.

Deep in his confused, half-sealed core, the ache of reliving that broken promise twisted and turned, waiting for release.