The Assassin and the Dolphin

Author: jabotus

Rating: T

Pairings: Kakashi x Iruka, Neji x Sasuke

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

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Another update! And this time it didn't take a month! Anyway, please enjoy this next installment of 'The Assassin and the Dolphin' and don't forget to review!! Thank you!

Chapter 17

"Iruka!" Sasuke called out as he sank farther into the pool's depths.

"I'm here." Iruka was sitting at the bottom of the cave pool.

"He's an asshole. You're better off without him."

"I knew. When he tried to push me away that first day, I knew it wouldn't work, but I still wanted it to work. I'm a fool aren't I?"

"No more than anyone else who's ever been in love."

Iruka sighed and straightened his tail. "Could you keep an eye on him for me this afternoon? I don't want to be around him right now."

"Sure, but no promises I won't drown him."

"Don't tempt me." Iruka swam up to the exit.

"Do you want me to take him back?" Sasuke called up to him.

"No thank you, Naruto and I will handle it."

"About Naruto…he's disappeared."

"Oh?" Iruka glanced down in surprise at Sasuke who looked miserable admitting it.

"You guys have another fight?"

"Yeah, but we'll work it out. We always do."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me."

"I'll see you later then."

"See you Sasuke."

Iruka swam through the maze, trying to keep his mind on his brother's dilemma. It was what he needed right now. By helping someone else, he could keep from thinking about his own problems. What problems? He didn't have any problems. He had chest pains. It was only physical. Iruka would have to stop by and see Sakura or Tsunade. Maybe they had something to stop the pain overwhelming his heart.

Swimming free of the cave, Iruka stretched out his arms and tail before setting off towards the beach where he first found Naruto. The blond always went there when he was upset and after the first time Iruka had a panic attack because he couldn't him, Naruto reluctantly told him where he went. His brother had made him promise not to tell anyone else though. It was to be his spot, his get away from the other merpeople.

Get away. Kakashi apparently wanted to get away from them too. No, more like just Iruka. The human had said he 'didn't want to deal with him' so it must be Iruka alone that did something wrong. Iruka had naively thought Kakashi was telling the truth about liking him. Kakashi had told him about losing his best friend, and had kept his promise about not trying anything while they slept…mostly anyway. And less than an hour ago, Kakashi had said he was going to stay.

Well, Iruka at least had his answer for why Kakashi had told him that tragic tale last night if it was even the truth. Kakashi was planning on never seeing him again after today.

"NO NO NO!" Iruka shouted, turning a loop in the water. He wasn't supposed to be thinking about this. He had to find his brother and find out how bad the fight between him and Sasuke was. Since he had just made the biggest fool of himself ever over a human that didn't give a shit about him, Iruka wanted to prevent someone else from doing the same. He would help fix Sasuke and Naruto's friendship if it was the last thing he ever did…which it probably would be if his heart didn't stop aching anytime soon.

Raising his head above the water, Iruka looked down the beach. He couldn't come too close to shore if any humans were around. Luckily, it was more rocks than sand here and being winter, the place was abandoned except for one lone blond digging in the sand.

Iruka swam closer before calling out Naruto's name. The blond lifted his head to acknowledge him, but then turned it downwards again. Iruka swam as far as he could before he was forced to drag himself closer to the blond. The tide still reached them, bringing and taking away shells, driftwood, seaweed, and human trash.

"Were you here all night?" Naruto nodded. Iruka flopped around until he managed to sit next to his brother.

"Sasuke's looking for you." Naruto made a strange noise, but said nothing. "He's worried about you. You shouldn't disappear like that."

"He deserves to worry then after what he said to me." Naruto remembering something else glanced up in worry. "I'm sorry about last night Iruka. I didn't mess anything up between you and Kakashi did I?"

Involuntary, Iruka's fingers pressed against his lips as he recalled the kisses, but then this morning forced its way back into his thoughts, the chest pains following them. "No, you didn't mess anything up. I…I think I did though."

"What happened?"

"Kakashi wants to leave. He couldn't even ask me to take him back, but asked Sasuke. I overheard them. He…he said he 'didn't want to deal with me' so I must have done something."

Naruto seemed surprised. "He didn't say anything to you last night?"

"Not really." Iruka blushed when he thought about how he spent the night. He knew Naruto noticed but the teen didn't comment. Iruka forced the blush away. He came here to help Naruto and Sasuke, not talk about what happened between him and Kakashi.

"You should find Sasuke, Naruto. If he was worried enough to be looking for you, I'm sure he's sorry for whatever he said."

"Wait…you said you overheard Kakashi and Sasuke talking?" The blond's eyes narrowed.

"Yes. I went to get breakfast. When I came back, Sasuke was there."

"And Kakashi hadn't said a word about leaving until after he was alone with Sasuke?"

"Y…yes?" Iruka tried to follow why this would make Naruto so upset.

Naruto stood up clutching his fists. "That Bastard! I should never have told him!"

"Told him what? Naruto?"

"I…I saw Kakashi's memories the first night he was here. I'm sorry I didn't tell you Iruka. Last night, when Sasuke and I were fighting, I might have let some things slip out. I swear I never meant to!"

"It's nothing to apologize for Naruto."

"You don't understand. This is my fault. I'm sure Sasuke used what I told him to scare Kakashi away. That jerk always messes up everything! I'm going to find him right now!" Naruto began stomping into deeper water.

"Naruto don't. Please, don't fight with him anymore." Iruka couldn't move nearly as fast as Naruto with his tail half out of water.

"But Iruka this is all a mistake. You don't want Kakashi to leave do you? I will talk him into staying."

Iruka managed a weak smile, but shook his head. "Kakashi doesn't want to be there any longer. I can't force him to stay and neither should you. He'll only hate us."

"But…"

"No, please Naruto. Let's just return him back to the surface as he wants."

"Are you sure Iruka? What if you never see him again?"

"Then I never see him again. I don't think he likes me much so it was never meant to be."

"I don't like it, but…fine. I still think you're making a huge mistake."

"Like the one you made when you told Sasuke you didn't love him?" Iruka slapped his hand over his mouth and winced when Naruto's eyes darkened. "I'm sorry Naruto."

"The circumstances were different." Naruto crossed his arms and looked out to the ocean. "Sasuke chose a really bad time to tell me. I thought I was losing my mind until we realized I was tapping into other people's dreams. I wasn't ready so I lied. By the time I had sorted myself out, he had Neji. If he had really cared, he would have realized this and waited until I was ready." Naruto sighed and when turned back his eyes were their usual shade of blue. "Are you really sure you want to send him back? There were people shooting at him last time he was on land, remember?"

"I remember, but it's what he wants. I want him to be happy. That's all that matters."

Naruto sighed and went back to sit next to Iruka. They both contemplated their own wrecked love lives.

Iruka finally spoke up, "I thought I could take away some of that loneliness I saw in his eyes as he stared at the ocean. I guess I was wrong."

"You still have the power of youth." Naruto joked, but it was a feeble attempt. Iruka smiled at the gesture. Naruto nudge his shoulder with his elbow. "Maybe Lee and Sakura could set you up with Lee's Uncle Gai. It would be an interesting date if nothing else. Get your mind off of stupid humans."

"Maybe."

They sat in silence a few minutes more as they watched seagulls flying and swooping along the modest shore.

"Naruto?"

"What?"

"There is something you could do for me…"

Kakashi waited in vain for somebody, anybody to come back. He paced, he sat, he drank water to ease his growling stomach, and he tried playing solitaire, but was too agitated to concentrate on even the simple game. The hours passed in slow torture. What if they had left him for good? He'd just broken his dolphin's heart, who knew what the merman was capable of in that state.

'Damn it. There I go thinking of him as mine again.' Kakashi swore silently.

Kakashi had made a mistake in opening up to him last night…and the kisses…his betrayal this morning was that much worse. But this was what he had originally intended to do right; to push him away? So instead, he had been stupid and selfish enough to give Iruka encouragement only to slam the door in his face.

In his endless time, Kakashi thought of possible explanations, but they were all lame and all lies. Even if he should see Iruka again, he didn't know if he would be able to say a single word. The image of Iruka's pain when he said he would take him back was enough to daunt even Kakashi.

Giving up on making excuses, Kakashi distracted himself by coming up with other plans such as what he would do once he was back on land. At best, Kakashi figured he'd been here three days. Was that enough time for his attackers to stop searching for a body? That would depend on who it was. His bet was on Orochimaru. Orochimaru wouldn't have the sources to do a long search in such an out of way town. People would get suspicious, too.

Orochimaru had found him once before at the airport and the beach near his home. So he must have found out where he lived. None of his clients were supposed to know where he lived, so he must have been followed. It was almost the last mistake he ever made, but that wasn't meant to be. No, he had been destined to live only to hurt the person who saved his wretched life.

Kakashi forced the last thought away. He didn't want to think about that now. What he needed now was a plan if he wanted to stay alive once he was back.

If the attack had been set up by Orochimaru, Kakashi's best chance lay in getting to Mr. Yamanaka in person and telling him he had been hired to kill his daughter's boyfriend and why. Mr. Yamanaka then would see the underling was properly taken care of.

So all Kakashi would have to do was get to New York City undetected by Orochimaru, hope Mr. Yamanaka was in town for the holidays, convince Mr. Yamanaka's bodyguards he meant no harm, speak to the head of the New York mafia, and pray to all the gods that the man believed his story and didn't shoot him on the spot. That was all…simple enough right? Right.

Maybe he could try to go through the daughter? After all, it was her boyfriend he was asked to kill. Ino Yamanaka should be easier to get to and was more likely to hear him out before shooting him. She was a student at the university. It should be easy enough to corner her there in-between classes or something. Not much of a plan, but better than nothing.

In this way, Kakashi's time crawled slowly by, and without anyone popping in to bring him any meals, he lost all sense of the word. It felt like days later, before Kakashi began to finally nod off into sleep where reality was less harsh. It was then that he heard a noise. Glancing up, he saw Naruto standing over him, glaring down at him. A bucket at his feet, the noise it made when he set it down was what had woken Kakashi.

"Naruto."

"He asked me to erase your memories." Kakashi wasn't given time to dwell on that before the blond continued. "But I'm not going to. It's not fair that he alone has to remember these last few days. I think you're upset as he is and I don't understand why you insist on leaving if you like him."

"It's because I like him."

"Which is a stupid reason."

"I'm trying to protect him."

"Liar," Naruto accused. "I saw." Naruto crouched down so he was eye level with Kakashi. "You're scared he won't understand what you are."

"What I am? I'm a murderer. I'm dangerous."

"You had plenty of opportunities to hurt him, but you didn't."

"But I did hurt him," Kakashi pointed out to him.

"Only because you're leaving him. If you stay, you won't be hurting him."

"Yes I will. Somehow I will hurt him. Take for example when he finds out I'm an assassin."

"He doesn't know yet. You should tell him."

"Yes, I'll tell Iruka I kill people for money. I'm sure that will go over real well."

"You don't have much faith in him."

"Naruto, he yelled at me when I mentioned killing dolphins. I don't think Iruka will understand this."

"So you're set on going back?"

"Yes. Besides, I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"Does this have anything to do with a person named Orochimaru and his hiring you to kill someone?"

"You saw that too?"

"Yeah, I did." Naruto gave him a strange smile. "Good luck with that then. Maybe someday we'll meet again."

"Am I…am I asleep?"

Naruto nodded. "When you wake up, you'll be back where you want to be." The blond stood up and took a step backwards to the pool. The room began to blur at the edges.

"Wait! Please tell Iruka…"

"You should have told him yourself." With that, Naruto stepped off the edge, the dark waters swallowing him.

Kakashi dived for the pool, but before he could reach it, the cave faded away.