Iruka ran to the ANBU's house, stuffing numerous manila folders in the crease where his arm met his chest. He was late, yet again, and he was afraid it would start to become an increasingly bad habit. Things for him had just been out of whack since he met the ANBU, and it wasn't getting any better. Iruka knocked on the door lightly so as not to wake the ANBU up and frowned when the door opened, and he was greeted by a halfhearted wave. Iruka had yet to see the ANBU asleep since the day he picked the other up from the side of the road. Whenever he commented on it, the ANBU would become deathly silent or change the topic immediately.
"Good morning, sleep well?" Iruka nudged himself past the other and set his files for the Missions Office on the coffee table before entering the kitchen, knowing he would not receive a reply. The ANBU sat in his usual spot on the couch, holding up the usual book from the series. How many books were even in that blasted series anyway? Iruka cooked a simple breakfast, something that could be made in a couple of minutes: eggs and toast. He set it down on the table and moved the files out of the way.
Iruka ate his food quickly and put his plate in the sink to return just in time for the ANBU to re-mask himself. The ANBU took off his shirt, and Iruka took out the first-aid kit that was left by the sofa. Iruka took his time re-bandaging the chest covered in scars. He smiled softly to himself, "These wounds are healing so quickly, it's amazing! You should be able to start training again in no time!" The ANBU remained silent, and for the first time, Iruka wondered if the other considered him boring.
It made sense if he did. Iruka was a chunin-level schoolteacher while the other had been and seen so many places and things that it was understandable if Iruka's everyday life was boring. Still, the brunette smiled, "Would you like to walk with me to the school? It must get boring being cooped up here all day and having to recover." Hound nodded and replaced his shirt once Iruka was done.
"It does get a tad mundane." Unbeknownst to the brunette, Hound had already planned to at the very least stalk the teacher to the academy. He had also already started his training once again, but if he told Iruka that, he was sure to be scolded. The brunette smiled warmly, teeth and all, "To tell you the truth, I've been kind of worried lately. Sometimes during class, I feel like someone is watching me."
"I do believe that is part of the job." Iruka laughed nervously, "You're right. It must be my imagination." Hound adjusted his mask on his face, slightly nervous. Truth be told, the ANBU had lazily watched the teacher every day recently, starting after lunch while he trained in the morning. He also followed the brunette from the school to the Missions Office after what had happened with Mizuki the last time. Kakashi could not understand why the brunette would put up with the other, but he did.
"I'll check around just in case." Iruka relaxed at that, "Thank you. I can handle myself, but if they were to come after the students," He paused and scratched at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I prefer not to think about it." Hound put his hands in his pockets while he watched Iruka, the other shouldn't have been able to sense his eyes. He was famous for his assassination techniques, and no one had ever sensed him before that lived to tell the tale. So, one of two things had to be the answer: Iruka had phenomenal sensory skills, or he wasn't the only one watching the school.
The walk to the school was silent as the ANBU considered telling Iruka he did sneak out of his house every day to stalk him. He sighed his social skills were low, but he knew most people didn't take too kindly to being stalked by a killer. Iruka awkwardly waved him goodbye when they arrived, and Kakashi found himself wondering if perhaps he should have made light conversation. He shrugged and jumped onto the roof opposite the school, where he had a perfect view of Iruka's class. Kakashi lazily inspected the area, not finding anything particularly suspicious at the moment, but he didn't rule anything out.
Genjutsu was common when someone meant to conceal themselves, so anything he saw could be simply an illusion. His chakra level was still considerably low, but it wasn't as if he would end up nearly passing out again, hopefully. Kakashi put his hands together, "Release!" To his surprise, he could see the area change. Kakashi observed the area until he found someone lurking in the bushes watching the classroom. He was behind the enemy-nin with a kunai to the other's throat so fast the enemy-nin didn't even have time to draw a weapon.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kakashi smiled behind his mask as the other hand stilled at the weapons pouch. "Now, do you want to tell me why a mist deserter is stalking a schoolteacher?" The other put his hands up in surrender, "S-someone paid me to rough him up a bit when I had a chance." Hound dug the kunai deep into the enemy ninja's throat, making a thin line of blood trickle from the slice. "Who?"
"I don't know! H-he wouldn't tell me his name!"
"What did he look like?" The other shrugged, "It was dark, and he had on a hood." Hound was tempted to twist the other's head and break his neck, but that would be pointless. The bottom line, someone hired a nameless assassin and allowed them to enter the village. Kakashi frowned and gave the other a swift chop to the back of the neck, knocking him out. He picked the unconscious body up and tossed the nin over his shoulder, walked over to the window, and tapped lightly on the glass. Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight he was met with. He hurriedly crossed the room and opened the window quickly. Kakashi smiled at Iruka when the other stepped back in surprise, but it was unseen behind his mask.
"So, someone was watching," Iruka exclaimed.
"Apparently so." Iruka cleared his throat as curious kids watched the interaction, "Well, thank you for believing me." Kakashi nodded and adjusted the body on his shoulder, "I'll look out for you from now on." Iruka blushed, "T-thank you." Kakashi smirked; now he didn't have to hide when he observed how the brunette's well-being was.
"I'll warn the other teachers," the ANBU said simply. Iruka smiled and said one last thank you. Kakashi nodded before he jumped onto the roof and walked to the side of the building, where he knew Mizuki taught. When the ANBU tapped on his glass window with his captive Mizuki's reaction was a mix of surprise and rage at the same time. He concealed it quickly with a fake smile as he opened the window.
"I just thought I'd let the other teachers know I caught someone lurking around the school," Kakashi said simply. Mizuki's smile faltered for a millisecond, "Your reputation precedes you, sir Hound. I don't know what this village would do without you."
Kakashi stood there momentarily, simply observing Mizuki face to face, "There are a few weasels in every village that would do something like hiring a thug to terrorize schoolteachers. I'm just thankful I caught him before something bad happened." Mizuki's eye twitched, "I have a class to teach," he said angrily and closed the window on the ANBU. Kakashi left knowing it was most likely Mizuki who hired an enemy ninja to kill Iruka. Maybe he could waterboard that information out of the mist-ninja.
…
"What have we here?" Kakashi took off his mask as he knelt in front of the Third Hokage, "A thug hired to presumably kill Iruka-sensei." Sandaime took a puff from his pipe before exhaling slowly, smoke filling the air.
"Who would want to kill Iruka?"
"Mizuki," Kakashi stated confidently. The Third nodded, "I take it there is no evidence to back up that claim?" Kakashi smiled lazily, "None whatsoever. Not unless I torture that information out of him." The Third chuckled, "Please watch out for Iruka-sensei. He is loved by many, and he plays an important role in this village."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"Dismissed." Kakashi slowly stood up to leave when the Third cleared his throat, "Don't overexert yourself before you're fully healed."
"Maa~ You worry too much," the silver-haired jounin said sheepishly. The Third waved him off, and this time Kakashi made it to the door. A chunin passed him in the hall to presumably take the unconscious man to Konoha's jail. The Mist Ninja was lucky that the Third Hokage wasn't as fond of torture techniques as the Head of ANBU. The lazy jounin had time to kill, but he needed to watch out for Iruka, so he made his way back to the school.
…
It was halfway through lunch when Iruka first spotted the ANBU lazily reading in a tree across from the window. Still hidden, but noticeable enough that Iruka could see him. Iruka opened the window, "Have you eaten lunch yet? I brought an extra sandwich." Iruka stepped back when the ANBU appeared in front of him in seemingly less than a second, "Y-your speed is formidable, Hound-sama." Kakashi easily took the proffered PB out of the teacher's hands.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. I learned from the best." Kakashi left it at that before casually leaning down onto his elbows on the windowpane. Talking about his dead sensei was still a touchy subject, so he opted for a topic change. "I will be sent on a new mission this week," he said matter-of-factly. Kakashi always had a three-day recovery period, and at least a week before they sent him on possible suicide missions.
"That's outrageous! Your wounds have only just now begun to scab!" Kakashi chuckled, "I don't think they'll send me on an SS mission right off the bat, probably something simple like an S or A rank." Iruka's eyebrows furrowed, "I've never heard of an SS mission before." Kakashi waved it off, "Maa~ It's not something a chunin would know about." Iruka's eye twitched, and he crossed his arms.
"I've been on S-rank missions before! It's not like since I'm a chunin, I haven't done important missions! Besides, I'm a teacher, I should know all about the mission ranks, and I just found out there was one I didn't know about, it has nothing to do with rank!" Kakashi smiled underneath his mask, and there it was, Iruka's feisty side.
"Maa~ Forgive me, Iruka-sensei, I didn't mean it like that. SS missions are only given to ANBU, thus why a chunin wouldn't know." Iruka's face heated like a furnace; he had never been a part of the ANBU like most high-level ninja. He turned his face away and cleared his throat, "I apologize for snapping at you." Iruka scratched at his scar, "It's just so many look down on me because of my rank."
"Why did you never become a jounin?" Iruka smiled, "I decided long ago that fighting wasn't for me. I always struggled in the final moment." He chuckled lightly, "Everyone has something they're good at, teaching is what I decided to do." Kakashi simply stared at Iruka, indifferent. Even amongst the ninja, ruthless killers like himself were few and far between.
"What an anomaly, a ninja who doesn't kill," the ANBU stated flatly. Iruka chuckled, "I know, pretty weird." Kakashi briefly wondered if maybe he hadn't been involved in the war as a child, how he would have turned out. Would he have still been the same emotionless killer he currently was? Iruka struggled to take a life, while he could take a life at the smallest irritation. The tattoo on his arm burned, and he sighed, "Excuse me, Iruka-sensei, I'm being summoned."
"So soon? But you're still recovering!" The urge to pet Iruka's head to calm him was overwhelming, he was around dogs too often. Kakashi let a small smile grace his features behind the mask, "I'll be back soon, hopefully." Then he left, appearing in ANBU headquarters moments later. He had his mask off and was eating his PB , though behind the sandwich, you could still not see the rest of his face.
"I see your angel has been feeding you well." Kakashi replaced his ANBU mask when he was done with the sandwich, the Head observing quietly for a glimpse of the elusive masked man's face. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi had never let anyone see his true face in all his years, and he wasn't about to slack off anytime soon. "I take it as the angel has also nurtured your wounds as well." Kakashi spread his arms dramatically, "He fell from heaven! Such a kind soul."
The Head tapped his fingers lightly on the desk and leaned back in his chair, "Are you healed?" Kakashi shrugged, mood changing drastically from playful to serious in a second, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He would have preferred a longer rest period for his chakra replenishment, but he knew that was an impossibility.
"Good," The Head picked up a scroll containing an S-ranked mission. Kakashi picked it up, reading the scroll and memorizing it in a second with his Sharingan eye. Inside entailed a detailed description of how he was to get to the village hidden in the clouds and slay one of the lords by whichever method.
"How's Pig?"
"Better." Kakashi nodded as he rolled the scroll up and put it in his weapons pouch. He had two weeks on a solo mission to assassinate Lord Fukitachi of Lightning Country for his crime of stealing weapons and embezzling money from the Leaf village. The mission itself would be accomplished relatively easily due to the fact that he had met the man before when he was an undercover guard for the Hokage. Lord Fukitachi was an obsessively overweight man, with rolls you could probably find treasure in. He had beady eyes and wore nothing but the finest silks to flaunt his wealth, along with a countless number of gaudy rings. It would be easy to simply poison him and make it look like a heart attack.
Kakashi already had an idea what kind of poison would be ideal to use, one of the Aburame clan's hidden specialties, a poison derived from the toxins from a rare spider local to only the Fire Country. He stood there, hands in his pockets, already figuring out the quickest way to sneak into the Village Hidden in the Clouds. It would take him at least four days to get there, one to two days to assassinate Fukitachi, and another four on the way back, totaling around ten days. Kakashi scratched the back of his head, sighing softly, "I'm running low on supplies."
"The armory has new armor, a bottle of pills, a blanket, and two weapons pouches waiting for you. Ask for anything you think will be sufficient." Kakashi nodded, he already had the poison he wanted to use stashed away in an outlier hut near the border, where he kept anything of value. He had a personal mini-armory of weapons he kept from his travels. Kakashi was a collector of foreign weapons and poisons that any assassin could appreciate.
He had also received a bountiful supply of the poison from the Aburame clan for saving one of their kin, Centipede. Kakashi received a lot of unique things from saving his comrades in the line of action. He had received a specialized kunai from the Nara clan that, if aimed at a shadow, the person is paralyzed, and he can make a quick kill. They were also completely reusable, he had twenty. He'd also recently received specialized pills from the Akimichi clan, but he would never use them. Still, they were nice to have.
Kakashi himself had never had to repay some until recently with his so-called Angel. Iruka would probably kill him, or at least try, if he ever found out everyone in ANBU now secretly knew him as Kakashi's guardian angel. The Head secretly liked to gossip in his off time. Iruka was probably confused as to why almost every jounin would grin at him like they knew something he didn't. He could picture the confusion on the brunette's face as he smiled back at them.
Kakashi left the room to go to the armory, wondering if he should say goodbye to the brunette. That's what regular people would do, right? Say goodbye to their friend? He needed to take a lesson on socialization skills because then he wouldn't be so confused as to what was or wasn't normal. Well, Kakashi was never one for goodbyes; they were usually always foreshadowing something. He was also not known for being normal, so he decided he'd leave as soon as he got his pack of things.
Which was exactly what he did. It was different knowing that someone might care if he didn't make it back. It made him, well, not want to die. Wanting tolivefor someone was a feeling that he'd forgotten long ago, until now.