The Assassin and the Dolphin

Author: jabotus

Rating: T

Pairings: Kakashi x Iruka

Warnings: AU – yaoi (two guys in a relationship)

Disclaimer: Don't own.

'…..' - thoughts

Chapter 6

Outside the tunnel, the ocean spread out before Iruka. He sunk to the bottom and began combing through the sand for a large rock. There was little chance of finding one here, but he searched anyway. He needed to do something to calm himself.

Iruka never meant to tell Kakashi so much. The human made him nervous and unfortunately he rambled when nervous. He had told him about his village before realizing what he was saying and then Kakashi demanded he tell the truth. And Iruka couldn't lie; he was a horrible liar if he believed what Naruto said. He had never thought he would ever speak to this human, let alone reveal what he was. Nonetheless, Iruka found himself telling Kakashi he was a merman.

He shouldn't have been so disappointed when Kakashi didn't believe him. Humans were very thick-headed when it came to anything they couldn't understand. They could even ignore what was right in front of them. Iruka could prove what he was, but he wished it wouldn't come to that. Once Kakashi knew the truth, Iruka would loose what chance he had to get to know the human.

The handful of humans who did learn of their existence merely brushed it off as a dream or a trick of the mind. It was better that way. It kept them safe. But most of those incidents lasted mere seconds. Kakashi's situation was different. Kakashi had not only seen them but talked to all of them.

There didn't seem to be much choice but to show Kakashi his tail and hope he didn't take it too badly.

Iruka sighed and stopped his movements. They had already moved all the rocks from this area long ago. He would have to swim further out to find one.

He really should have known better to become involved. What had he been thinking by stalking a human? Kakashi would be dead now if he hadn't been watching him though. Iruka shuddered. He couldn't help but wish he had Hinata's luck. Her human knew and understood at once.

Hinata had been trying to rescue Mika, a dolphin, from a fish net and only managed to get herself entangled as well. The son of the merchant who owned the ship happened to be there when Hinata and Mika were hulled up along with all the fish. He fell in love with her the moment he saw her.

How he loved the story of how Hinata met her husband Gaara. It was just like a fairy tale, or would have been if the Hyuuga clan had not disowned Hinata for marrying a human. She was then forced to live with her husband's family who lived, in all places, a desert. Okay, so fairy tales weren't real, not the happily ever part any way, but was he wrong to want to find his own true love at the very least? Of course the first person he'd been interested in would think he was crazy. And showing Kakashi proof that he wasn't crazy probably wouldn't help, but what else could he do? He couldn't just slip inside the cave only when Kakashi was sleeping.

So when he returned to the cave and Kakashi saw he was telling the truth…then what? Iruka would just have to deal with Kakashi's reaction, whatever it might be.

Iruka had a plan, sort of, now he needed a rock and he might as well grab a fish or two.

Kakashi found a chipped bowl and parts of an old grill. He set the metal grill over the fire. It wasn't at a very good height, but it was the best he could do. After setting the bowl on top, he filled it with water and started a fire underneath the bowl. Once the fire was going, he put one of the lobsters in the water. Failing to notice they were still alive, he nearly lost a finger or two, but finally managed to subdue one of the creatures to stay in the bowl of water as it heated up.

Never having cooked lobster in his life, Kakashi hoped he was doing it right. He didn't have a clue how long it took, but as long as the lobster still moved, he would assume it wasn't done.

While waiting, Kakashi mulled over what Iruka had implied and the glimpse of cuts on the black haired boy's sides…could those have been gills…like what sharks had? Kakashi shook his head. What was he thinking? Mermaids…merpeople didn't exist. They couldn't exist! Besides none of them had tails…only his mind brought back the glimpse of webbed hands. Could he be hallucinating? Maybe this was a dream…but his shoulder hurt too much to not be real and he always thought hell would be less wet.

All right, he needed to look at the facts. He was probably trapped here for the time being. Nobody had tried to hurt him, only help him, even if one of them didn't seem right in the head. He didn't know for sure who had tried to kill him, but he had a notion of who was behind it. He really shouldn't laugh in the face of the mafia, significant personal or not.

They would be hunting for his body right now…maybe. He should have asked how long he had been out, a few hours likely. Kakashi didn't know what they would do when they didn't find a body, but they would have to give up the search sooner or later. More likely sooner, since they have more important things to do. So he would lay low here in this cave while his wounds healed. Then hopefully, one of those kids would show him out of the cave and back to the beach where Iruka saved him.

Damn, he should at least apologize to the young man. He had saved his life after all. Kakashi figured he would take four maybe five days before heading out. If the others had left Iruka in charge of him during that time, it would be easier for everyone if he stopped being rude to the young man. Fine, that settled that matter. When, if Iruka returned, he would apologize and go along with whatever he said. If Iruka said he was a merman, Kakashi wouldn't question it.

Now back to what to do later on. When he did leave this cave, he couldn't go back to his place. If they found him on the beach, they must have known he lived nearby. They probably destroyed or took anything of real value he kept there so it would be pointless to go back. No, what he needed to do was leave town, without being seen. They might have stopped actively looking for his body, but if they heard of a man fitting his description leaving town, they would investigate. They had to have known who he was and what he was capable of. It was too dangerous for them not to check it out. Good thing, Kakashi was more than good at his job. He could get out of town and back to New York easily. With better resources there, he could draw out his attackers and crush them before they could get a chance to assault him again. His life was difficult enough without having to worry about the mafia coming after him, especially if Orochimaru managed to work his way up.

Kakashi's had an advantage there since he knew just how Orochimaru was planning on working his way up, which was likely why he was attacked. Orochimaru knew he could take the information to Mr. Yamanaka. Getting anywhere near the head of the NYC's mafia would be extremely difficult and Kakashi didn't have any proof so the man may not even believe him. They had never met so why should he? Kakashi didn't take any jobs offered by the mafia, though he did keep on eye on their dealings just so he didn't step on any toes. It might be possible Mr. Yamanaka had heard of him…

Running a hand through messy hair, Kakashi checked on the lobster once more. It wasn't moving, but neither was the one sitting in an old cooler, no where near the fire. He would have to deal with one thing at a time. For now, he would rest up and deal with the people who more or less were holding him captive.

Kakashi poked at the lobster with a plastic toy shovel, the kind kids use to build sandcastles with. The lobster didn't care for that and grabbed the shovel with its claw. Kakashi tugged on it, but the creature refused to let go. Giving up Kakashi released the handle. Apparently the lobster was still alive.

Another search through the treasures began. Some of the treasures actually were treasures to his surprise, such as the gold coins and jewels. Not many, but the way they seemed to have been carelessly tossed in amongst the junk was odd. Didn't teenagers usually spend money on clothes and music? Wouldn't they have been anxious to cash in on the real treasures to buy that stuff?

A minute later a plate was discovered. Kakashi wiped it off with a fairly clean looking towel and used it to cover the bowl, hoping to bring the water to a boil faster. As he searched for eating utensils, he saw bubbles in the pool and a moment later, Iruka's head rose out of the water.

It looked like he was getting his chance to apologize.

Lifting his hands up, Iruka set three fish of a kind Kakashi had never seen before on the cave floor. They flopped around so he hurried to capture them before they jumped back into the water. Iruka didn't say anything to him as he carried them in a second cooler over to the fire. Nor did he look at him. Kakashi would just have to wait until he got his attention. He watched the dark haired man brace his arms just as the Naruto boy had done earlier and pulled himself out of the water.

Except where Naruto had used a knee to help balance himself, Iruka didn't because Iruka didn't have knees. Instead, Iruka's lower half was like that of a dolphin, a light grey color with fins and a horizontal tail. The cooler in Kakashi's hand fell from his loose grip. He couldn't be sure, but if felt like his jaw had dropped to the floor as well.

Kakashi blinked, but Iruka still had a tail as the man…eh thing turned around to sit on what would have been a human's butt. He had to be feverish. Too much blood loss or too much swallowed salt water…or he really was dead. He had drowned after becoming too cold to swim to shore. Why would a merman be in hell though?

Iruka finally noticed his staring and scowled. "Stop staring. I told you what I was. It's your own fault you didn't believe me."