The Shepherd's Dog
Author: remthedogsitter
Rating: M
Summary: It's been five years since Iruka left the village on an important mission and Kakashi has been searching for him ever since. Kakashi's journey leads him deep into iron country where he is later rescued by a shepherd and his eight dogs. Will Kakashi manage to solve the mystery and save Iruka in time?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or their characters in any shape or form
Chapter 10: Held Breath
Kakashi slowly lowered the body almost reverently like Iruka would have wanted before going to his lover's side. He tucked loose strands behind the shell of his ear, his heart clenching at the sight of his labored breathing.
"Kashi..?" the man squinted his eyes up at him.
"Hush love I'm here." He squeezed his hand tight, there was still a lot of blood surrounding Iruka's form and he was there right next to him, so afraid. So afraid that his world that this man right here held so carefully hands was going die and take his world along with him.
Everything was shimmering again with chakra and it looked like glitter had rained from the sky and reflected off the soft light being given off by the sun that was beginning to rise. Shinjiru had not moved from his spot. It was like an old skin falling away and the view became clear that they weren't in a clearing but rather the edge of a cliff overlooking the land of what is the ancestral lands of Shinjiru's kin.
Kakashi dared to blink his eyes, feeling dizzy as everything began to look sharper and he shut eye realizing the his sharingan was back. Iruka's blood was disappearing as if the earth was swallowing it and the tan man himself sat up and pulled the spear from an already closing wound. Iruka wrapped his arms around the jounin's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "I've missed you so much."
"I love you." Kakashi muttered in between kissing him again, relief, happiness and sorrow mingling as torrent of emotion in his chest that the thought of his heart bursting actually crossed his mind.
After a few moment of holding each other Iruka muttered to him. "Go. He needs you too right now."
Kakashi walked towards Shinjiru who still had his back towards him, he was looking at the sunrise and the view of the land.
"I had to kill my parents twice." He said slowly and painfully that his voice cracked and it was hoarse from howling all night. "I know it was an illusion but it doesn't change the memory. Me standing there in cold blood with my pack dead, I was a monster. A monster… A mon-"
"You're not." Kakashi said simply, a hand was placed on the wolf's neck. "I should thank you for all you've given to save Iruka and our family. So, Thank you. You've given more than I could ever imagine. I'm in your debt Shinjiru. The only real monster here is Orochimaru with all the lives he ruined like this."
Shinjiru sighed and closed his eyes, still pained but he leaned into the touch for the comfort that it would give. And they stood like that for a while, and over sized wolf easily standing a few feet above the jounin's head (dogs are after all taller when they're sitting down compared to when they're standing up) was leaning a little bit against the jounin and in turn the jounin was leaning against him as well as they watched the last of the sheet of chakra fall away of get blown away and fade into nothingness.
"Ai."
The two looked at Iruka who was first to break the silence. He was holding a bundle in his arms that if you squint your eyes a little it could have been the experiment that had them trapped in an illusion for so long. The two looked at it with nothing but surprise written on their face, it looked like a three month old puppy same color as Shinjiru, with two broken bony stubs poking of from it shoulder blades suggesting of wings, with a thin red line running its throat, it looked like it was sleeping, it looked like an angel. "I named her Ai."
"Before everything ended, she talked to me. Apologized for everything." Iruka said absently stroking the pup's head. "It was like a dark room somewhere in my mind. She was just looking for love and she didn't mean for all this to happen so I hugged her then. She wanted to thank us all by the way but she didn't say why." Iruka was crying at this point. "I think she wanted to lose. I mean, was it really that easy? In her world, we were stripped of jutsu, sharingan, memories and decent weapons while she was god."
His words hung in the air for a while before Kakashi approached him and gave him a well needed hug. "Ai is a good name." He kissed the top of the man's head. "It's never too late." The three buried her where Shinjiru knew were the burial grounds of the great wolves of his kin. They all return to this mountain after all, their souls walking up and waiting for the gods of the mountain to take them home. The pack caught up with them and Kakashi relief to see they were alright sent them lapping up at his face.
"Let's go home." Iruka said gently hugging his family, he missed the ninken and sense Kakashi would need his chakra more on the journey home. "All of us." He looked at Shinjiru and no definitely wasn't going to be taken for an answer.
"Iruka, with your character I never took you for the type to have cold feet." Kakashi said, cocking up his eyebrow in Iruka's direction.
He looked at him. "huh?"
"You've been putting our marriage on hold for so long that I'm starting to think you don't want to marry me anymore."
"IDIOT" the chunnin hit him on the head and Kakashi let him, laughing. "Maybe I forgot so you should ask again."
"Ok." The man got down on one knee and looked up at him like he was the only beautiful thing in the whole world. "Umino Iruka, will you marry me?" he said with the utmost sincerity, cradling his love's hand in his.
"Didn't I say yes the first time?" Iruka smiled and hugged the man close. "I love you."
"More than you can imagine." Kakashi muttered back, burying his face in the man's neck. He had half a mind to find a temple immediately in case anything else wanted to get between their marriage… again. It was going to be a long way home. Not to mention all the explaining he would have to do if he turned up, totally disproving his name and Iruka's name being on the stone monument.
Oh well, he smiled to himself, as long as they had each other it would be ok.
… but he had some explaining to do though, why Naruto and Sasuke were now somehow more than friends. (*refer to A/N)
A/N: Ai means love uhm yah those two little details are mentioned in the side story called Dog Gone Days (little chapters/ one shots or drabbles written in the Dogs universe) just a short epilogue to go!