Scene 3

Kakashi was unable to stand for much longer. Itachi's genjutsu had been brutal. His mind was so torn apart as if he had really spent three whole days, seventy-two uninterrupted hours, being tortured with dual katanas piercing his body over and over again.

Someone yelled for him, it was Gai. As he struggled to not lose consciousness, he heard the voices of his friends.

"Don't look at Itachi's eyes, Gai. That's how his technique works."

"I already knew that. Kakashi has the Sharingan, right? I have ideas about how to confront it. Keep your eyes open. It's fine as long as you don't look directly into his eyes. We can fight him looking at his reflection in the water."

"Ok…"

"That sounds great, but there's only one person who can do that: you."

"You can do that... or fight him looking at his feet. There is a method to do it, but now we don't have time. Just try it."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Kurenai, take Kakashi to the hospital." Kakashi tried to stand when Kurenai grabbed him, but he could barely bear his own weight, "Asuma, you help me here. I've called for backup. For now, we'll keep them busy."

"Aren't you too confident?" That was the voice of Kisame.

"Kisame, stop." Kakashi shuddered when he heard Itachi's voice again, "It makes no sense to start a war, that wasn't our intention. We'll go."

"Are we going to run away? Unacceptable!" Even with his retort, Kisame accepted, because a second later the two chakras vanished from the area.

"Damn bastards..." Kurenai sneered, grabbing Kakashi harder, "Well, I'll take Kakashi to the hospital."

"No..." Kakashi managed to say, on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Kakashi..." Gai's voice sounded really worried. He must look terrible.

"Take me to my house. In the hospital... they can't do anything for me. I just... I just need to rest..."

"All right." Asuma said.

"And... Inform Iruka."

And, with that, he fainted.

The ninja academy was closed for many days. Too many days. Iruka looked at the building nostalgically; he felt like he hadn't taught in ages.

«Hopefully the new Hokage will be named soon» he thought to himself, and felt a pang in the heart as he remembered the Third. Losing Sarutobi Hiruzen was like losing his father all over again.

Another twinge of pain, this time physical, forced him to sit on a nearby stone bench. His wounded side was almost healed but the stitches still hurt. At least, for now, he wouldn't be sent to another mission. Iruka still had nightmares. Harsh, bloody nightmares.

Suddenly, someone came up to him to his feet, "Iruka-sensei" the stranger greeted. He was a young ninja. He was one of Kurenai's usual subordinates, Iruka remembered, "Kurenai-taicho sent me to find you. You have to come with me."

"Kurenai asks for me?" Iruka asked, puzzled, "Where do I have to go?"

"To Hatake Kakashi's place."

"What?" Iruka rose to his feet, causing another tug on his stitches, "Ugh!... Is there something wrong with Kakashi?"

"I don't know. I have orders to take you there alone."

"Let's go then."

Kakashi's apartment was not far from there. Just as they reached the building, someone ran out of the gate with his face twisted.

"Sasuke!" Iruka called after him, but Sasuke didn't respond. He just kept running and in an instant Iruka moved away to let him pass. Then came Gai who did the same, "What the hell…?"

They went up to Kakashi's apartment. Iruka had never been there before; it was a little bigger than Iruka's, and tidier than expected. Kakashi was in the bedroom, asleep in his bed; and Kurenai and Asuma were also there, standing. Both jounins looked at Iruka curiously.

"Thank you, Kei", Kurenai said to his subordinate, "You can leave now." The ninja did.

Iruka looked closely at Kakashi and realized that he was not asleep. He was unconscious and very pale.

"What happened to him?" he asked, trying to hide his anxiety. It was assumed that he and Kakashi were just acquaintances, or friends, at best.

"A genjutsu from Uchiha Itachi." Asuma explained.

"Itachi?! Itachi is in the village?"

"He was. With another ninja. But both have already left."

"Sasuke," Iruka remembered with a start. Sasuke knew of his brother's visit, that was why he looked so upset, "What did they want?"

"They want Naruto. We guess because of the Kyuubi."

Iruka felt the ground move beneath his feet. Two rogue ninjas, one of them the dangerous Uchiha Itachi, went after Naruto. Or better said, after the Kyuubi. Always the damn Kyuubi.

"We have to protect him!" he exclaimed. "We have to watch him. We can't let..."

"We won't let anything happen to him, Iruka." Asuma assured him, "Jiraiya is already with him."

That calmed down Iruka quite a bit. From what he knew, Jiraiya-sama, the legendary sennin, was as strong as the Third and Orochimaru.

With the issue of Naruto resolved, Iruka turned his attention to the motionless Kakashi. He felt again the curious stares of the jounins on him and coughed.

"Will he recover?" he asked.

"Yes, he just needs to rest. We don't know for sure, but we believe that Itachi mentally tortured him with a genjutsu for a long time in his mind. It might feel like hours or even days or weeks."

Iruka's heart sank. Poor Kakashi...

Suddenly there was an awkward silence in the room. Iruka coughed again.

"Why did you call me? Or was it just to tell me about Naruto?"

"We have called you because Kakashi asked us so before fainting."

The chuunin felt flushed, not only because of embarrassment but also anger. He was going to kill Kakashi. As soon as he woke up, he would kill him.

"Me?" he asked, faking surprise, praying mentally that Kakashi had not been telling his friends about them, "Why me?"

Asuma shrugged.

"We guess he considers you a good friend, Iruka." Kurenai said, although she seemed to know more than she let on.

"I guess so…"

"Well, we should go." Asuma grumbled, "We have to tell more people about Itachi's courtesy visit."

"Can you take care of Kakashi until he wakes up?" Kurenai requested, "Since he expressly asked for you."

Kurenai's words had a slight tinge of amusement in them, or so it seemed to Iruka. He just nodded.

"In that case, we can go. See you Iruka."

"Goodbye."

So Iruka was left alone with the unconscious Kakashi.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and watched the jounin carefully. Suddenly he didn't feel so angry anymore. Kakashi was too still, livid, and had huge dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. The genjutsu must have been excruciating. And knowing that he, Iruka, had been the last person who Kakashi had called before falling into unconsciousness, the person he wanted to have by his side after that horrific torture, that was touching.

"Do you love me that much...?"

With his knuckles, he caressed Kakashi's pale cheeks gently. On reflection, he decided to pull down his mask. Kakashi had already picked up on that habit when they were alone, so he guessed he wouldn't mind. Chastely, he kissed him on the lips and, when he stood aside, Iruka noticed something. A feeling in the stomach. Something that he hadn't felt for years. A familiar and terrifying feeling.

Many hours passed. Iruka received news from Kurenai and Asuma; Naruto, Jiraiya and also Sasuke had met Itachi and the other ninja, Kisame, but Jiraiya had made them flee. Now Naruto and Jiraiya were preparing to leave in search of the third sennin, Tsunade, to offer her the position of Hokage.

It was night and Iruka hadn't eaten since the morning, so he decided to get into Kakashi's kitchen and prepare himself something for dinner. He would also prepare something for Kakashi in case he woke up. It was no easy task as the fridge and pantry were almost empty. Apparently the jounin didn't eat at home.

He was boiling some broth with meat scraps and vegetables when he noticed movement in the kitchen doorway. He turned his head quickly and there was Kakashi, leaning with one hand on the frame, watching Iruka as if he were an apparition, when it was actually Kakashi who was the one who looked like a ghost with that pallor and those eye bags.

"Kakashi. You shouldn't get up yet." Iruka scolded.

"You're here…" the jounin said, ignoring the rebuke, visibly pleased.

"Of course I'm here. You called..." He wasn't able to continue because, with agility improper of someone who had been KO'd for hours because of a mental torture, Kakashi rushed and hugged him.

Iruka was paralyzed for a moment, surprised by this effusiveness, but soon returned the hug. He buried a hand in the jounin's silver-hair and stroked his neck.

"Are you feeling better…?" he asked with affection.

Kakashi didn't answer. Pulling back, he grabbed Iruka's neck, and hit their lips together. The chuunin groaned in surprise. He tried to respond to the kiss, but Kakashi was desperate. His tongue was everywhere in his mouth and Iruka couldn't keep up. With a flip the jounin ripped his rubber band and threw it to the ground. That had become a custom, Iruka realized.

Suddenly Kakashi pushed him, forcing him to walk a few steps backward until the bottom of Iruka's back hit the wooden table. The jounin grabbed his waist and lifted Iruka to sit on it.

«Oh, gods...», was all Iruka managed to think with his heart pounding when Kakashi laid on top of him on the table and tightened their bodies... well, there was no part of their bodies that weren't in contact, and, as if that wasn't enough, Kakashi was moving his hips against Iruka's in such a compromising position. Dry sex, young people called it. By now the two were more than excited and Iruka felt mad when the friction between their erections became almost unbearable.

"Kakashi…" he groaned when the other man finally released his lips from his own, "Ah!"

Then Kakashi paused the infernal movement of his hips, and with one hand he unbuttoned his fly. Iruka tried to say something, but Kakashi silenced him with another kiss while unbuttoning Iruka's pants.

Iruka panicked. What did Kakashi want to do? Until now, during the few weeks they had been seeing each other, they hadn't gotten so far, just kisses and hand jobs without removing clothes. But now Kakashi seemed willing to fuck him over the kitchen table, and Iruka was not prepared for it, physically nor mentally.

"Kakashi, stop..." Iruka pushed him with both hands by the shoulders, and at first Kakashi ignored him and tugged at his pants, but fortunately Iruka didn't help and they stayed in their place, "Kakashi, stop! STOP!"

The shout made Kakashi finally stop; he sat up and looked dazed and breathless. Iruka was panting too.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I can't..." Iruka whispered. Kakashi looked confused. Worse than confused, Iruka realized. "Kakashi, are you all right?"

"No..." Kakashi admitted, and immediately was slipping down the side of the table.

"Kakashi!"

Iruka jumped quickly to the floor in time to prevent the other to hit his head against the hard tile floor of the kitchen. The jounin was unconscious again.

"Shit, Kakashi... You shouldn't have gotten up!" Iruka scolded, even knowing that the other couldn't hear him, rocking his head against his chest. He sighed. Then he noticed that Kakashi's shirt had a few blood spots in the back area; he lifted the cloth and saw there was a wound, a burn abrasion, didn't seem very serious but would need treatment so not to get infected. "This will not heal itself. I'll take you to the hospital."

In the hospital they healed Kakashi's back wound; as to his mental state they couldn't do much for him, though they could at least watch him until he woke up again. So although Iruka hated hospitals, he stayed there all night with him. He only left the room to visit Sasuke who was admitted at the same hospital and also unconscious because of his brother.

The next morning Gai appeared. He didn't seem very surprised to find Iruka there.

"How is he doing?" the green beast of Konoha asked as he was looking at his best rival.

"No changes. Well, yesterday he woke up for a few minutes..." Iruka couldn't help but blush a little recalling the incident on the kitchen table, "But he fainted again. Then I saw he had a wound on his back and brought him here."

"Of course, the explosion," Gai murmured to himself, "We didn't know it had hurt him so much."

"Explosion?"

"Itachi blew a clone, and Kakashi protected Kurenai. That must have been when his back was injured."

Iruka looked at Kakashi with affection. He was always so protective, so heroic.

"I didn't know Kakashi and you were such good friends." Gai remarked suddenly, causing Iruka to stare. There was something in the jounin's tone he didn't like at all... It was almost hostile.

"We have Naruto in common." the chuunin murmured, "That boy connects a lot of people." Even if the answer was a joke, the tone he used was dry.

"I see. But when Kakashi asked us to call you, just before fainting, it didn't seem like you two were only connected by Naruto."

Iruka's jaw tightened.

"What do you mean?"

Gai smiled, but for once his smile was not brilliant and authentic, but tense.

"Nothing. Hey, if you want, you can leave. I'll stay with Kakashi."

"Sure." Iruka rose, he hadn't felt so angry in a while, "Let me know if there are any changes."

"I will. Goodbye."

Knowing that it would not wake Kakashi, Iruka slammed the door when he left.

TBC

N/A: I'm sorry to announce that I can't continue posting this story because I don't have an english beta right now. I'll return when I have one.