Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The search

Iruka groaned slightly, pulling himself back from sleep. He rolled to his side, hand idly tracing the dull bruise on his neck. The last traces of sleep disappeared as Iruka remembered how he’d gotten that bruise. Quietly he stretched out his senses, searching for the bastard responsible. Satisfied that he was alone in the apartment, Iruka sat up in bed, tossing the blanket aside angrily.

He paused. Kakashi had put him to bed. He was still naked, but he’d apparently been washed and tucked into bed with some degree of care. Looking around the room, he saw his hitai-ate, his kunai and the rest of his weapons sitting neatly on his bedside table. Climbing out of bed, Iruka moved to the living area. His clothes weren’t where they’d been discarded. Instead, they were gathered up and folded neatly on the dining table. The small pile of dirty dishes that had been in the sink were gone – cleaned and put away.

Iruka stalked back to his bedroom. He grabbed the first clean clothes he could find – loose slacks and a button up shirt – and stalked back towards the front door. He hardly paused long enough to secure his weapons pouch before leaving the apartment and slamming the door behind him. He had a certain copy ninja to find.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi was lounging on the rooftop, for all appearances casually reading Icha Icha Violence. At noon he’d made a quick circuit around the village, calling on a few of his ANBU friends for a specific favor. Now, two hours later, he was expecting them to find him any minute. After all, they were busy ninja; he was pushing it asking for even two hours of their time.

Four shadows suddenly appeared on the roof and Kakashi closed his book, not even noting the page. He stood to face his friends, waiting for them to begin their report. One of the ANBU – Keiko – shook her head. “No one’s sure where the rumor started. I tracked it back as far as I could, but it’s not the beginning of the line.”

“This has been going on for several months, Kakashi,” Sato chimed in. “Since before the most recent genin graduation, at least. No luck tracking an exact time, though. People just can’t remember who they heard rumors from. Even in a village of shinobi, rumors have a way of staying secret.”

Kakashi was exuding frustration. If these people couldn’t find him answers, his options were severely limited. Another man, Ken, casually looked left and right before stepping closer to Kakashi. “There is one thing we’ve found out. Before it became a public game, Iruka had a few regular visitors. Several months, as far as we can tell, significantly longer in a few cases.”

Kakashi shook his head slightly, not sure why he should have to press for the information. “Names?”

The ANBU turned away slightly. “One of the earliest was Mizuki.”

Kakashi felt his jaw clench and his face harden. He was slowly slipping into mission mode as his anger grew. A plan was coming to mind and suddenly he knew who to go to that would know even more than these elite ninja, at least in this area. One of the men turned to him. “What are you going to do?”

A small laugh escaped Kakashi, out of place with his tense mood. “If someone has a secret they want kept from a ninja, who’s the most likely person to know that secret?”

Keiko crossed her arms. “The ninja that isn’t supposed to know.”

“And if someone is keeping a secret from a child?”

The woman lowered her head and Kakashi could hear the smile in her voice. “I can’t keep anything from my son and he spends twice as much time at school as he spends with me.”

Kakashi nodded as the shadows prepared to leave the roof. “I’m going to his students.” Three of the ANBU left, but Sato stayed, staring at Kakashi. The silver-haired ninja narrowed his eyes. “Is there any other information I should know about?”

“Iruka is looking for you. And he’s not being quiet about it.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

The bookstore owner pressed against the back wall behind the counter. “I swear, he hasn’t been in today. The new Icha Icha isn’t due out for another week!”

Iruka glared at the man and slammed one fist onto the counter, denting the pressed wood. “He comes in here every day, new book or not! You honestly expect me to believe you have no idea where he is?”

“Look, Sensei, please! I haven’t seen him in a week. I’m with you, it’s strange, but he hasn’t been in since last Wednesday!”

Iruka glowered at the man another moment before he turned and left. Stalking down the street, he knew he was earning odd looks, but he didn’t care. In minutes he’d reached the missions desk and repeated his interrogation almost letter for letter. “Where’s Kakashi?”

Raidou looked up, startled at the outburst. “Kakashi? Uh, hasn’t shown up yet. He’s only an hour late for his assignment, though, we weren’t really expecting him for some time still.” He frowned at the chunin. “You, on the other hand, are more than three hours late. I don’t mind covering for you, but you could have at least called-“

“I’m taking a personal day.” Iruka bit out harshly, walking around the desk.

“Shouldn’t you be anywhere but the missions desk, then?” Iruka ignored him, quickly flipping through the records stored behind the desk. Suddenly Raidou had the chunin by the arm, halting his motions. “Iruka, what’s going on?”

The teacher recognized the tone and realized just how suspicious he was acting. For a second he smiled before he thought better of it. Such a drastic change of demeanor would only raise the other man’s suspicions even more. He looked up at him, nothing but serious. “Kakashi hasn’t been himself lately, for over a week, if my source is accurate. Are you going to just sit there, or are you going to help me find his records?”

Seemingly satisfied, Raidou released his hold. Iruka went back to rifling through the reports, keeping an eye on the other man and knowing he was doing the same to him.

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-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi stepped from the trees, making just enough noise for the woman in front of him to know that he was coming. She acknowledged him with a slight tilt of her head, not once taking her eyes off the genin training in front of her. Kakashi let his eye wander over the children for a second before speaking. “Kurenai, I need to borrow your team briefly.”

“Something I should know about, Kakashi?”

“Just doing research. I think your students may be my best bet for learning the truth I’m looking for.”

Kurenai turned to him, her eyes narrowed slightly. “What did Naruto do this time?”

Kakashi laughed slightly, leading the woman on. “I’m sure you’ll hear about it by the end of the day. Can I speak with them please?”

Kurenai shrugged and waved the three over. “I’m calling training short today, Kakashi-sensei has some questions for you. I expect you back here bright and early tomorrow, got it?” The three children nodded and in seconds their teacher was gone.

Kakashi leaned casually against a tree, not letting any of his concern seep out to alert the children. Given whom he was talking to, this was quite a task. But if he was wrong and they didn’t already know about Iruka’s ‘nighttime rep’, he wasn’t going to be the one to tell them.

Shino was the first to speak. “What can we help you with, Kakashi-san?”

“I find myself at an interesting turn on the road of life. I’ve upset Iruka-sensei and I thought his students might know what I could do to get back in his good graces?” The three looked at each other quickly. Kakashi was sure of it now, these kids knew something. Kiba leaned close to Kakashi and sniffed before pulling back again. He nodded at Hinata and the girl ran off with one quick bob of her head. Kakashi frowned, letting the expression show in his visible eye. “Where’s she going?”

Kiba was staring at him, unblinking. “Are you going to help Iruka-sensei?”

Kakashi stood straighter, no longer feigning indifference. “What do you know?”

Kiba growled, dropping his eyes to the ground. It was Shino to begin the explanation. “Kiba noticed it first. He can smell it every time Iruka has a midnight visitor.”

“He smells like soap. Way more than usual, I mean, like he’d taken a bath in pure detergent or something.” Kiba trailed off, his eyes now drilling tiny holes into the ground. Akamaru whined at his feet.

Shino just continued. “He asked for my help and I agreed. There are bugs all over Konoha, it didn’t take long to find out what was going on. We were concerned Iruka-sensei would be hurt. Scent trails and flies on the wall are one thing, but they can’t compare to seeing through walls. After my bugs saw his visitor leave, Hinata would go to make sure he wasn’t hurt.”

“Where did she go now?” Kakashi’s head was starting to hurt.

“To get the only other student we know of who knows about this.”

Less than a minute later, Kakashi turned to greet the young Hyuga girl as she returned, another genin in tow. Neji was frowning, staring at Kakashi as he drew near. Kakashi nodded in greeting before turning his attention to Hinata. “Will you tell me what you’ve seen?”

Hinata nodded, blushing as she stared at the dirt beneath her feet. “Iruka-sensei has a ritual. Every time he-it-it happens, he goes into the bathroom and takes a bath, fully clothed. He uses water so hot, it leaves his skin red afterward. Then he puts his clothes in the washer and spends an hour or more cleaning his entire apartment before he goes to sleep. I-I really want to help him, but . . .”

Neji cut in, anger clear in his voice. “But if he knew that we know, that his students were the ones to stop it all, the damage would be worse than what he’s going through now. We couldn’t confront him about it and we couldn’t go to anyone else because we have no idea how many shinobi know about this. Dragging in more people would only make things worse, and what if we had gone to someone who had started all of this?”

Kakashi’s jaw was clenched tightly. He struggled to control his breathing, trying desperately to calm down and think things through rationally. When Kiba finally met his eyes, the real concern there helped quite a bit. “You are going to help him, aren’t you?”

Shino suddenly lowered his head, breaking eye contact for the first time. “Please, Kakashi-san. No one else cares enough to do anything about this.”

Kakashi’s eyes clenched shut, knowing it was a lie. A great many people in Konoha cared more than enough to stop this. The problem was that none of them knew anything about it. Knowing this didn’t stop the bile rising in his throat. The thought that anyone could do this to a fellow shinobi, a good man, a teacher for fuck’s sake. “I will put an end to this,” he ground out, opening his eyes again, “I give you my word.”

Hinata looked up, a strained smile gracing her pale features. Quietly, she and her teammates left the training area, leaving Kakashi alone with the elder Hyuga. Neji’s expression had, if anything, darkened more. “We made an agreement a long time ago, that if we found someone to help him, I’d talk to them alone. Even they don’t know what I’m about to tell you, Kakashi-san.” The copy ninja nodded, his stomach already tying into knots. Neji didn’t meet his eyes as he continued. “Without exception, those three observe Iruka-sensei from a distance or after the fact. I’ve seen some of what he’s been through. You need to know.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

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