The Assassin and the Dolphin

Author: jabotus

Rating: T

Pairings: Kakashi x Iruka

Warnings: AU – yaoi (two guys in a relationship), Kakashi and Iruka are a bit OOC

Disclaimer: Don't own.

'…..' - thoughts

Chapter 11

Iruka maneuvered his way through the familiar tunnels which led to the cave. Two fish clutched in his left hand. It was late, but he had wanted Kakashi to get as much sleep this afternoon and evening as well. If there was nobody there, Kakashi would resort to sleeping out of boredom, or so he hoped.

In the meantime, Iruka had spent the afternoon searching for Kakashi's shell which he'd forgotten about yesterday. After a few hours when he couldn't find any trace of it he decided to take the chance to climb up to the rock shelf. After the sun set, Iruka waited for high tide to make it easier for him to reach the shelf. When there was nobody in sight on the beach, he lifted himself out of the water. It didn't take long to find the shell, but it was in pieces…and there was blood on it.

Iruka hadn't seen anyone but Kakashi on the shelf yesterday, but one of those men could have been there after Iruka swum away with an unconscious Kakashi. He wondered if one of them had broken it. Gathering the pieces, Iruka returned to the ocean. He couldn't help but feel it was somehow his fault. Before Kakashi had known he was the one who returned the shell, Iruka felt it was his only link to the sad human he watched over. Now that he'd actually met and spent time with said human, Iruka wondered what had happened to the sad man he watched for hours on end.

Tightening his fist around the broken shell, Iruka felt bad about delivering the broken pieces to Kakashi, but it was all that was left of the shell. He just hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

The tunnel gradually widened and then opened into the bottom of the cave pool. With his treasures in hand, it took only a few powerful pushes with his tail to send him to the surface. Kakashi was awake and playing with the deck of cards they had found earlier.

"Yo, Iruka."

"Kakashi."

"You bring me supper?"

Iruka held up the two fish. Kakashi set down the cards in his hand, and moved to the pool's edge to take them from him. Iruka hesitated revealing what else he brought so he inched over to where he knew a small crevice was and set the broken pieces there. It was out of the water so he could retrieve them later if he ever gained the courage to show them to Kakashi tonight.

"I've already started the fire." Kakashi had begun scaling one fish. Iruka felt the man's eyes on him as he lifted himself up and out of the water. Iruka didn't think Kakashi would ever tire of seeing his tail; it was embarrassing to be stared out so, but at the same time, the attention from him was nice.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Yes, mother." Kakashi mockingly quoted Naruto from this morning.

"I'm just trying to help you recover."

"I know." Surprised at serious tone, Iruka glanced up from his tail drying. Kakashi gave him a reassuring smile.

"Well, you could be nicer about it. You probably want to get out of here as soon as possible and forget this ever happened."

"I'm not going to forget this happened, Iruka. And I am thankful. For everything you're doing."

Iruka swallowed at his comment. Forgetting may not be an option, but that was for later, not tonight, not when Kakashi's behavior was reminding him of the man he first thought him to be. "You're welcome."

Kakashi returned to his task. "Will you join me for dinner tonight? It's a bit lonesome here."

"I already ate."

"You can stay and talk though."

"Sure."

Iruka picked up a pair of shorts and slipped them on and then grabbed a t-shirt. Thankfully, Kakashi was no longer looking his way when he dressed. Standing up, Iruka glanced around the cave, admiring their hard work. The cave really was more pleasant this way. Then seeing Kakashi's make-shift bed was jumbled up, Iruka stepped over to it and began straightening it out.

"You don't have to do that you know."

"I…it's better than doing nothing." Iruka folded the towel in his hands before laying it at the foot of the pallet.

"Naruto did say you were a neat freak." Kakashi speared the first fish and leaned the stick against a bucket so the fish would cook over the fire. He began scrapping the second fish's scales off.

"Well, it's easier to find things if you know exactly where they are."

"But then you don't get to swear and throw things around in an attempt to find where they hid themselves."

"Then you only have a bigger mess to clean up."

"Only if you clean it up, it's why people hire maids."

"Do you have a maid?"

"Nah. I travel too much to be in a place long enough to mess it up too much."

"Why do you travel?"

"For work." Iruka perked up at this answer. Kakashi had avoided this question all morning.

"Is that…" Iruka's voice trailed off when he saw the muscles in Kakashi's shoulders tense. It was so slight he would have missed it if he hadn't been staring at the human's back. Why would Kakashi become tense over such a simple question?

"Is that why you don't always come to the ocean? You're traveling?" Iruka had already guessed Kakashi didn't trust people easily. He wouldn't gain any points if he pushed him onto a subject he was reluctant to speak about. The real question would have to wait…for now.

"The ocean…Oh I almost forgot you were stalking me for five months." Kakashi relaxed and so did Iruka. He would rather Kakashi tease him than get upset.

"I was merely observing you from the ocean. I never followed you past the beach so it doesn't count as stalking."

"So you also watched me from the beach?"

"Only last summer when there were more people on the beach. The first time I saw you, I was on the beach. You walked past me and caught my eye right away." Iruka reminisced.

"Was it the hair? Or perhaps the eye? Those are what usually get people's attention."

"No," Iruka shook his head, "you looked so sad. I'd never seen anyone who looked so sad and lonely before."

"Oh…" Kakashi lamely responded. Iruka glanced over at him, but he turned away to finish cleaning the fish.

"Kakashi?"

"Are you sure you don't want to try any? I'll admit the boiled fish last night wasn't that great, but these should be better." The second one was placed next to the first. "If I had some herbs, I could really make a tasty meal out of these guys, but what can you do when you're buried under the ocean?"

Iruka glanced over to where he left the broken shell. His thoughts were torn in two. Kakashi wasn't yet ready to talk about whatever it was he was hiding. Showing him the shell could make him even more reluctant. What Iruka needed was for Kakashi to trust him, but how? The only thing he could do was wait. Try to gain his trust little by little. And Iruka could do that by showing the human he trusted him. Eating food Kakashi cooked would be a step in the right direction.

"I'll try some."

Kakashi finally turned away from the fish to meet Iruka's eyes. He nodded slightly, but there was little Iruka could read from his expression. "Oh, okay. The first's one is almost done. Can you hand me plate?"

Iruka did so and watched as Kakashi placed the fish on it before dividing it into two shares. "Here you go, Iruka."

"Thank you." Iruka took a few steps away from the fire and sat down with his meal. He wasn't hungry, but it was a gesture to show he trusted Kakashi not to poison him….or himself since Kakashi was eating his half already. The smell was horrible, but lifting up a portion of the white flesh, Iruka dropped it into his mouth anyway. Cooking certainly made the meat chewier than he was used to. Iruka successfully finished chewing the piece and swallowed it.

Hearing a low chuckle, Iruka glimpsed over at Kakashi who was watching him. "That bad, eh?" Kakashi tossed the last piece into his mouth.

"No…I'm just not used to the texture." Iruka picked up another mouth sized portion.

"I never got around to asking, but I was wondering how you know English?"

"My mother taught me. In turn, I taught my friends. It was like we had our own secret language, but we could only use it outside of the water. We found this cave and this was where we worked on it, away from the others. Hinata's father would never have approved so we had to keep it a secret."

"How did your mother learn it?"

"She went to a surface school. She was a bit obsessed with humans. I guess that's why I go to the surface as much as I can; following in her footsteps. I didn't go to a surface school myself though. After my parents died, I found Naruto only a few months later. I couldn't leave Naruto on his own to indulge myself in going to school.

"Why don't you go now?"

"I'm too old, I guess."

"You can't be that old. You're younger than me, I wager."

"And you are?"

"26."

"23."

"People in their 40's go back to school. You're not too old. Naruto looks old enough to take care of himself."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"I can't argue with that."

Iruka smiled and finished off his last bite. Kakashi was checking on the other fish. Unintentionally, Iruka's gaze went back to the pool. He couldn't see it from where he sat, but it didn't matter.

"If you want to leave, go on. I can take care of myself."

"It's not that." Iruka hesitated. He couldn't come up with anything fast enough. He was a horrible liar; so much for gaining Kakashi's trust first. With a sigh, Iruka set aside his empty plate and went to retrieve the shell. Stepping around the pool, he made his way to the crevice then knelt down when he was somewhere above it. It was harder to find looking from above it, but eventually he did and swept the broken pieces into one hand. Kakashi was watching him silently as he did all this. His gaze going from Iruka back to the fish he was taking off the fire.

"I went back this afternoon." Kakashi didn't ask where. "I…I'd forgotten about it yesterday so I went back to find it this afternoon." Iruka walked over to where Kakashi sat and held out his hand to reveal the broken shards. A red string was still attached to one of them. For a long awkward moment Kakashi said nothing. He merely stared at the pieces.

"It was broken when I found it on the rock you always sit on. I'm sorry about that."

"You don't have to apologize. I'm the one who broke it," Kakashi spoke softly. Then he held up his left hand, palm out. At the time, Iruka had been too concerned about his gunshot wound to even question how Kakashi's hand had been cut up. Iruka scanned over the healing cuts. None were serious, but they were still jagged red lines crisscrossing over his hand.

"You know, I think you're more obsessed about that thing than I ever was." Kakashi turned his attention back to the fish.

Iruka felt like he'd been slapped in the face. 'That's it! That's all he's going to say! After I spent hours searching for it and Kakashi doesn't even care. So maybe I am preoccupied by the shell, but it's no reason to barely acknowledge the effort I made.'

Iruka's temper was getting the better of him, something which happened rarely; he had after all raised the prankster Naruto and had much practice at restraining himself from yelling at his brother. But this was too much. Iruka had done nothing but help Kakashi and he'd been completely honest with him and in return Kakashi slammed the door shut in his face, refusing to let him learn anything

Iruka had already screwed up by showing the shell to Kakashi so he might as well push the limits. "What does this shell mean to you?"

Kakashi paused from slicing up the second fish to look up at Iruka. He was silent as he studied Iruka's face.

"Please tell me."

"It has nothing to do with you. Do you want any more fish?"

"I deserve a real answer. I spent a lot of my time chasing this shell so I could return it to you all those times."

"Nobody asked you to."

"I know that, but after all I've done for you, you could at the very least answer a simple question!"

"If you feel I owe you something, I can pay you money when you take me back."

Iruka was insulted by Kakashi's proposition. "I don't want your money! What use would it be to me here!" Iruka's fist clamped down over the broken pieces; the jagged edges biting into his flesh.

"Iruka…"

"I want a real answer this time."

"You certainly are stubborn. Fine then. It was a stupid gift from a friend of mine when we were children."

"And…?"

"And nothing. He's dead. End of story." Kakashi set down his plate, food unfinished.

"Kakashi?" Iruka's voice softer now and full of worry. He'd pushed too hard and upset the human.

"I'm feeling rather tired right now. I think I'll turn in for the night." Kakashi disregarding his uneaten food went to his pallet and laid down. Iruka stared at Kakashi's back feeling miserable and angry at himself for hurting Kakashi. Whoever his friend had been, they must have been very close.

Kakashi's voice once more filled the still air. "Could you put out the fire for me Iruka?"

"I'm sorry." Kakashi didn't respond and silence fell over the cave with the exception of the crackling of the fire to disturb it. For a few minutes, Iruka could only sit there and rebuke himself for his mistake. Kakashi wasn't ready to talk and by forcing him to admit even that little bit of information would only set Iruka back in gaining the human's trust.

Feeling a sting in his hand, Iruka opened up his palm and saw he'd been cut by the broken shards. He brushed off the pieces onto a clean plate and left them by the dying fire. He wiped off the blood from his hand with a rag. After that he stood and began cleaning up the leftover fish which would only stink up the cave if allowed to sit out overnight. He put out the fire as well before reaching up to turn off the light.

Iruka could tell by Kakashi's breathing that the man was still awake. Iruka gave up for tonight. There was little he could do after bringing up a memory which still deeply hurt Kakashi. He'd have to do better tomorrow. After all was cleaned up, Iruka slipped off his clothes and picked up the bundle of trash he'd made.

"Goodnight, Kakashi." Iruka whispered just before diving into the water. If Kakashi answered, Iruka would never know.