Chapter 27: Hints of Deception: Chapter 5: Old Habits, New Hope

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Iruka was grateful when the school day was over and he had some time to himself. It was Friday and after the very trying day of children with highly dangerous weapons, he was more than ready for the weekend break. Iruka thanked Shikamaru for his help, but the two of them parted ways at the school entrance. The young chunin was putting his mind to what to do about the Kakashi-imposter, but until he thought of something, Iruka was forced to continue as normal.

He spent the afternoon going around the village, effortlessly slipping into old habits of avoiding going home for as long as possible. He wanted to avoid as much confrontation as possible, at least until he had a plan to find his Kakashi. He knew he was being watched, though, Shikamaru had confirmed it. This man, whoever he was, was watching Iruka closely. Not that he could do anything about it - Iruka couldn’t go to anyone else for help yet – but now that he was aware of it, he could feel it like a tangible thing. He found himself stealing glances in shop windows and the hitai-ate of passing shinobi, trying to catch a glimpse of the man.

He managed to think of things to do until well into the evening, but at dinnertime, he had to finally admit defeat and made his way home. As if on cue, the Kakashi-imposter appeared by his side like an escort as Iruka approached his building. One long arm was draped over his shoulders and Iruka focused on not shuddering at the touch. After a pause, the man shifted to look into the teacher’s face. “You okay, Iru-chan?”

Iruka wondered how he’d figured out to change nicknames. Most likely someone called him on it without realizing how significant that little slip truly was. Iruka reached his door and carefully undid the locks, but an idea had occurred to him. “I need to be alone,” he mumbled and slipped out of the loose embrace. He went to the window first, shutting it with heavy hands; slow, deliberate motions.

This man didn’t know the dance, he didn’t leave, didn’t even give Iruka space as he activated the few traps he still kept. “What’s wrong, love? Let me help?”

“I’m fine,” he snapped, not sounding fine at all. Kakashi had seen this before, he knew that when Iruka got like this, it was best to give him space. Clearly, whatever they’d learned from him, this hadn’t been on the list. “I need to be alone tonight, that’s all!”

Whether he knew the routine or not, the man backed away from the sudden flare in temper. “Iruka-“

“Leave! Just, just for a little while, please.” Iruka turned away, hiding his expression and staring out the window.

“This is about Mizuki, isn’t it?”

Shit! They did know about it, at least some of it. Gods, what had they done to Kakashi to get something like that from him? Iruka paused, taking a deep breath. Something so personal, it was the sort of thing Kakashi was using to hint that something was wrong, like the nickname. Whatever they knew, Iruka was suddenly certain it wasn’t the truth. “I miss him,” he whispered, taking the risk and not talking about that pale haired bastard at all. He wasn’t even talking to the man behind him anymore as he breathed, “I love you, Ka-kun.”

The barest touch at his shoulder as the man leaned close. “It’ll be all right. Try not to think about it, all right?”

Iruka spun on him, letting the anger show clearly in his eyes. This man was still talking about Mizuki, whatever he thought that meant, but it hit too close to the teacher’s fears about his lover. “Out! I told you to leave!” Startled, the man began to back away. “Go camping tonight, please, just . . . just go.”

Iruka could see the frown beneath his mask, but the man left without another word. Iruka forced himself to wait, watching the door carefully for a full minute before he slumped to the floor. He couldn’t do this. His mind was going in circles, thinking about what had happened to his boyfriend, amazed and angry that he had risked so much to make sure Iruka knew what was going on. And he still had no idea what these people wanted!

Drawing on strength that Iruka was sure he’d exhausted long ago, the teacher stood and went to the kitchen, throwing together a microwavable meal to save himself the effort of cooking. Once he had something warm in his belly to offset the cold fear that was trying to latch onto his mind, he stumbled to the office. He wanted to sleep and he knew the bed would smell like Kakashi, even if it wasn’t real. Instead Iruka found himself looking over the bookcases that lined one wall. Despite his flaunting of porn in public, Kakashi actually had a quite varied taste in literature. Still, Iruka found himself picking up a well-worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise and holding it to his chest.

“Please,” he whispered, sinking to the floor, “please be all right. Be-“ Iruka clung to the book, trying his best to keep some control. “Be able to be rescued.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

It took a very long time for Kakashi to realize that he wasn’t dead. It took even longer for him to realize he was awake. Somewhere in his mind he thought he should have reached those conclusions in the opposite order, but it was exceedingly difficult to think at all. They’ve drugged me he realized gradually. His mouth felt like cotton and his head swam, making him nauseas if he even thought about trying to move.

Every ANBU and most jounin and even chunin knew the chakra trick to counteract truth serums. Kakashi knew several variations that protected him against a wider range of toxins, but at the moment his chakra was so overtaxed that knowing them did him absolutely no good. It was far less common in Konoha to have built up tolerances to those drugs and Kakashi thanked Ibiki, his boring lectures and the man’s ancestors that he was one of the few that had made the effort. But he could still feel the drug working through his system. Either his tolerance was lower than he thought, or these people had used an awful lot of it.

There was pressure on his jaw and slowly Kakashi translated the feeling into someone holding his head up. “I know you’re awake, open your eyes.”

It frightened Kakashi that he didn’t even think of disobeying the order, slowly fluttering his eyes open and wincing at the brightness surrounding him. Frowning slightly at the little man in front of him, he put conscious thought into controlling his reactions.

“What have you done?” his interrogator spat. “What lies have you told us?” Kakashi scowled, but didn’t answer. The man tangled one hand in Kakashi’s hair and pulled him forward, causing him to choke as something tightened around his neck. “Tell me or I will make sure you see it as your little ‘Ruka is skinned alive.”

Whatever they’d given him, it took that phrase and turned it into a vivid image in Kakashi’s mind and he squeezed his eyes shut against it as if that would help. “Iru-chan,” he choked out, grateful when his captor lessened the hold so he could breathe more freely. “H-hates being called ‘Ruka.”

There was a pause before a woman’s voice spoke up. “He says he figured that out already. It’s something else.” Kakashi forced his eyes open again, noticing for the first time that the scarred woman and the muscled man were standing just behind the little interrogator.

The shorter man focused on Kakashi again. “You’ve done something to make him kick out our man. What was it?”

The news wasn’t good. If that’s all it was, it didn’t mean Iruka had figured anything out. “Nightmares,” he heard himself say. “Just needs space, happens sometimes.” Kakashi ground his teeth together, trying again to control himself. But if Iruka was having a bad day and just kicked him out for the night . . . the name could have done that, and if that’s all it was, then he hadn’t accomplished anything.

The woman was speaking again, mumbling into a small radio. After a moment she looked back towards her companions. “He says Mizuki’s name came up. He might be telling the truth.”

“Fucking bastard.” There was a pause and silence as the short man focused on Kakashi. He’d told them a little about Mizuki, but had made it seem like he and Iruka had been friends, actual lovers. He’d mentioned Itsuo, too, turning him into the mastermind behind everything. If either name had come up . . . maybe Iruka had figured it out.

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Suddenly the man was moving, snatching away the radio and yelling at the man on the other end. “What did he say? Tell me exactly what was said.” A pause and his eyes narrowed in a dark scowl. He threw a glare at Kakashi before speaking into the device again. “He knows something. Get Yuki and move as soon as possible. Adel, you watch him.” With another glare, the man walked off, the scarred woman following.

Kakashi’s chest seized up, afraid for Iruka, but at the same time he was glad. They’d screwed up; Iruka did know something, and they’d just given Kakashi names. The big guy, Adel, forced his head up, pouring something liquid into his mouth. It was water, but it tasted slightly sweet – no flavor, just sweet. Summoning his courage, Kakashi spat the fluid into the other man’s eyes. He pulled back with a furious growl and cuffed the copy nin hard across the cheek, sending him into darkness once more.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka woke to a soft buzzing and flung his arm out on instinct to silence his alarm. His knuckles hit against the wall and Iruka was suddenly awake, looking around frantically. He’d fallen asleep in the office and was still crouched beside the bookcase. Slowly his panic wore off and Iruka pushed himself up. The buzzing was coming from the bedroom where his alarm clock believed he was sleeping soundly in bed and Iruka hurried down the hall to silence it.

Iruka had barely gotten the noise taken care of when someone knocked lightly on his front door. Stifling a groan, the teacher frantically changed into a clean uniform and dashed to the closed portal. The door opened to reveal Sato, a jounin Iruka knew was friends with Kakashi. He looked slightly grim, and his eyes flicked over the living room before focusing on Iruka. “Do you know where Kakashi is?”

The teacher’s eyes fell shut as he fought to keep his composure at the innocent question. “No,” he answered honestly. He looked up, an idea suddenly occurring to him. “Sato-san. I know you’re friends with Kakashi and Keiko, and I know she’s ANBU. I know you both helped him, with me . . . Please, Sato-san, are you ANBU?”

The man’s gaze hardened suddenly, but shifted to look past Iruka into his home again. From behind the teacher there came a quiet ‘Yo’ as the Kakashi-imposter climbed in through the window. Iruka kept his body relaxed, but facing Sato, his face slipped a little, showing his distress. He said nothing, waiting for his visitor to draw his own conclusions and do something.

Finally the man shifted, after taking a few moments to think. “Hey ‘Kashi. I was just looking for you; Tsunade wants you to know you’re up for review soon. You might want to actually attend your boyfriend’s advanced class, brush up your techniques.” Iruka could hear the man’s noncommittal grunt and Sato turned his attention back to him. “I also need to take you over to the Inuzukas. You’ll have to ask Hana-san why, but she needed you to come over right away.”

Iruka nodded, honestly not sure if the other man was lying or if that really was why he’d come over so early. Slowly, making sure he looked tired, but not worried, Iruka turned to the silver-haired man behind him. “I guess I’ve got to go then.” He darted forward, grabbing him by his shoulders and turning him so his back was to Sato. Only then did he pull down the mask, kissing this imposter and firmly picturing his Kakashi. One hand was on Iruka’s elbow and the grip tightened as if he wanted to stop the teacher, keep him there. Iruka pulled back slightly to smile up at the other. “Thanks for giving me the night, sorry I yelled at you.”

The grip was still tight, making Iruka’s mind race. Did he know he’d been found out? Did he suspect, or was he planning to go forward with whatever plans he had? Regardless, there was nothing he could do with Sato still poised in the doorway and after another moment, he released Iruka and pulled his mask back into place. “Come back here before your class?”

Iruka jogged back to the door, smiling over his shoulder. “It depends on what Hana-san needs. I’ll try, all right?” A large part of Iruka wanted to come back and face this man, devote his time to figuring out what he could possibly be after. But the more logical part of himself argued that he was this man’s target, for whatever reason, and being surrounded by chunin, jounin and ANBU for a few hours was easily the wiser choice.

Sato fell into step beside Iruka, leading him out of the complex and toward Inuzuka land. After a minute he spoke, not bothering to look at the teacher. “If you don’t know where Kakashi is,” he said slowly, “then who was that?”

Iruka felt his chest tighten and he looked up at the taller man from the corner of his eye. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice only shaking a little.

He was rewarded with a sideways glance and a slight scowl before Sato continued. “You’re lucky I am ANBU. Jounin might not have caught that look you gave, and then it would be him walking beside me. What’s going on, Iruka?”

“I honestly don’t know. But Kakashi’s been captured and this thing came home in his place. I know the safety of the village comes first and I know I should have gone straight to Ibiki or Tsunade when I figured out something was wrong.” He took a deep breath, running his fingers through hair he hadn’t actually brushed yet. “I’m just not ready to give up on Kakashi. He could still be alive and I – I need to try and get him back.”

A sudden weight on his shoulder made Iruka look up. Sato was guiding him, apparently trying to reassure him, but still looking straight ahead. “Any good shinobi would do the same.” For a while the two walked in silence, not speaking again until the Inuzuka clan tents were in view. “Have you told anyone about this?”

“Shikamaru Nara. I know he’s just a chunin, but he’s intelligent and clever. I had him as a student, I know what that boy can do if he actually tries.”

“Going to a chunin was very smart of you. They get underestimated a lot, you were for years. With luck, he won’t raise any alerts because he’s a lower rank. As long as you think you’re safe, and Konoha isn’t in immediate danger, I won’t act until we have a plan. At least until we know if this pup can help us any.”

Iruka’s brow fell, confused as he was led into Hana’s veterinary clinic, but the explanation was quite obvious as he was shown into one of the examination rooms. Hana was bent over the table, a trained medi-nin beside her, working on a small dog. Iruka gasped, hands flying to his mouth in horror: that was one of Kakashi’s dogs, a little golden puppy, only a few months old. Iruka had actually been present for the little creature’s birth, had brought it in to show his students.

The dog was sedated, but Iruka had doubts it would be awake even if it weren’t. One of its rear legs was completely missing and several deep cuts ran along its back and sides. Two shuriken tinged with blood were lying at the top of the table, clearly removed from the small animal. Iruka stumbled back from the scene, bumping into Sato’s chest, and turned his eyes away. “Gods . . . Ka-kun.”

Sato steadied the teacher again, hands on his shoulders. “He is still alive somewhere. He’s trying to reach us.”

“This little guy’ll pull through, Iru-chan,” Hana called from the table, not looking up from her work and apparently completely nonplussed by the teacher’s presence instead of Kakashi. “He’s not gonna be too happy for a few weeks, but he’ll be all right. He’s young enough now he won’t even notice the missing paw later in life.”

Iruka was relieved to hear that, on more than one level. “Then when he wakes up, we might be able to find out where he came from?”

Hana hesitated and frowned, but she nodded after a moment. “Yeah, I’ll get Kiba in here to help with that. Akamaru’s the youngest trained pup we have right now and this guy’ll be more comfortable with someone closer to his own age.” For the first time, the wild woman glanced at Iruka, offering a small smile. “Don’t worry, whatever’s going on, everything’ll work out all right.”

“In light of Kakashi’s apparent situation, I have a few things to attend to. Is it all right if Iruka stays here?” Sato asked, one hand already on the door. Hana nodded again, looking once more at her patient. Sato nodded back before catching Iruka’s gaze again. “Stay here until your class. Absolutely no contact with that imposter until then, all right?”

Looking completely miserable, Iruka buried his head in his hands and lowered himself into a chair to wait.

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