MTLNOVEL Chapter 7: Kowasareta memori
***
Chapter 7: Kowasareta memori
Memory that has been broken
***
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work. You don't give up.
Anne Lamott
***
A Day From Now
: :Training Ground 5, Konohagakure: :
Kurenai had made Jōnin late by most standards. Stalling at chunin for several years and teaching at the Academy while she honed her genjutsu in her off hours.
Many of her peers think it makes her one of the weakest of their rank.
She thinks it's made her one of the strongest.
Kurenai has seen a part of the shinobi world many Jōnin simply forgot once they've achieved rank and go from spending most of their time in the village to out of it.
They forget what it is they're actually fighting for.
And as much as she respected ANBU, she'd never had any interest in that branch.
Or T&I, despite Ibiki's flattering recruitment campaign.
She preferred teaching, and maybe it was her arrogance because she was willing to admit some, but her genin team was overall the strongest of their generation. The others had crumbled at one time or another in the wake of rivalries, clan loyalties, and manipulation.
Kiba, Shino, and Hinata had not.
She was fiercely proud of them and found that the thought of having to kill some of her superiors or peers to protect them didn't bother her as much as she'd expected it would.
But we're not there just yet.
***
Present Day
: :Konohagakure Village: :
Word had already spread about Asuma and Neji and had most likely reached the edges of the village by the time they'd actually walked out of the Hyuga Gates.
For a village cloaked in secrecy, the gossip lines were far more impressive than the intel ones.
Kakashi hadn't been able to get the image of the ANBU posted outside the Hyuga Compound out of his head.
It made sense, but something about it left a tight feeling in his chest, and his head throbbed.
Danger. Danger.
But from what?
Kakashi couldn't focus enough to figure it out.
Kurenai had almost caught him the other day. If she'd been any less distracted by Asuma's return, Kakashi would never have gotten away with it.
He was still functional.
Mostly.
But even he was getting to the point where he knew he'd have to tell Tsunade.
He'd been lucky to come back to himself before anyone had noticed at T&I, but the attacks, because he couldn't think of anything else to call them, had been coming more frequently, and nothing Kakashi had tried had stopped them.
He'd barely gotten through questioning some of the older Jōnin and ANBU members about the Hanta without having an episode, and the fact that he'd turned up nothing but rumors of black masks and black blades hadn't helped.
There were a few missions people had heard stories about, but the reports for those were blacked out completely.
Which was concerning in and of itself.
Because they weren't supposed to be.
Mission reports were frequently the only way to hold shinobi accountable, and instead of being edited, they were locked away behind the strongest wards Kakashi had ever encountered, just in case.
Even Kakashi's ANBU mission reports weren't edited.
Tsunade was on a kick about Umino too now, and Kakashi only had so many hours in his days, even when he was extending them with soldier pills. The sensei had held admirably against Neji, slightly curious but most likely explained by the mind control that had made Asuma fight like a genin.
He registered the chunin's chakra without thinking, turning mid-leap and landing on a streetlamp lining an empty park.
Night was falling, and the neighborhood was quiet. Kakashi's own apartment wasn't far and beyond that, Iruka's if the rumors were true.
Though why he lived in the poorest part of town with two jobs seemed odd.
Really, Kakashi could blame what he did next on a complete lack of rest in the last few weeks.
Anyone else would have been dead from exhaustion days ago.
***
To be fair, Iruka had been completely lost in thoughts, stupid, but still, when he registered the whistle on the wind that came with kunai at high speeds.
Only one of the four managed to clip him, and even then, it was harmless. A small tear in his pant leg.
Iruka was far, far more concerned with the glint of moonlight off silver hair on the blur flying towards him.
He launched himself further into the park on instinct -Fugaku had lectured endlessly on the value of cover and concealment during his training- but Kakashi was right behind him.
It had been foolish to think he'd be able to put space between them that easily. Kakashi was far too good.
It figured he'd be the one sent to kill him.
Koharu would love the symbolism.
Iruka killed by the one Sharingan the village controlled.
But…
Why wasn't he attacking?
A few feeble blows as Iruka fought for space, and Hatake wasn't pressing the advantage.
Was he waiting for backup? Was Root on the way?
Koharu and Homura had long given up any wish to take Iruka alive if it came down to a fight. There was no way they'd sent Hatake just to capture him.
Kakashi threw a lazy round of senbon and it was almost insulting how little effort he put into it.
Iruka's temper flared. "Seriously? You're not even going to try?"
Hatake just cocked his head to the side, like a damn dog, and waited.
Well, he could fucking wait as long as he wanted then.
Iruka jumped out of the tree and headed back for the sidewalk, turning his back on the fight and the shinobi nicknamed Friend Killer.
It was a good thing they'd never actually been friends, he thought.
Never enter a fight you won't kill to win.
Unless Hatake was actually going to kill him, this fight was pointless.
***
Kakashi stared after the chunin in shock.
He was walking away?
From Kakashi?
In the middle of a fight?
His hands blurred, and he appeared right in front of the teacher, startling him backward with a yelp.
"Did you just turn your back on me?"
Iruka scowled as he straightened, "Did your eye stop working recently?"
"I'm going to kill you."
For half a second, it looked like Iruka might believe him, but it was gone just as quickly, and HE ROLLED HIS EYES AT KAKASHI.
"Right. Look, I'm tired, stressed, and hungry. What do you want so I can get on with my night?"
Maybe he hadn't heard Kakashi correctly the first time. "I'm here to kill you."
The flat look he got in return suggests Iruka did, in fact, hear him the first time. Apparently, facing a classroom full of pre-genin was enough to make even a desk chunin brave.
Plan B, then.
"Just curious."
Iruka's eye twitched. "Curious?"
Kakashi shrugged, doing his best to radiate the smug superiority that always drove Umino up the wall in the mission room. "You fought the Hyuga boy with a surprising amount of skill, sensei. I didn't think you were that good."
The crickets in the forest started up.
"You attacked me in the middle of the night…because you're surprised I can do my job?"
And the cherry on top: Kakashi beamed, reached out, and clapped Iruka forcefully on the shoulder. "You should be proud, Umino-sensei. You surprised a lot of people."
Iruka let out an inarticulate sound of rage and punched Kakashi in the stomach.
That had actually hurt.
Iruka had reacted faster than Kakashi had been expecting.
Another pleasant surprise.
Kakashi backflipped and landed in crow pose, ready to go….
Only to have Iruka walk away.
Again.
Well, this time, it was more like storm off based on the heavy thud of his footsteps, but still….
"Too afraid, sensei? All those years of paperwork and teaching slow you down? Maybe you do belong at a desk."
***
Fine, if that was what Kakashi wanted, Iruka would give it to him.
Rule number ten, Iruka, do what your opponent expects least. Even if it's the obvious.
One of the things Iruka had learned in his years of teaching was that there was one strike that always hurt a lot more than people were expecting.
He stalked back to Kakashi and stuck his in face in the older man's.
"That really what you want, Jōnin-sama?"
Kakashi practically purred, "If you think you can, Chūnin."
"So be it."
Iruka kicked him in the shin.
Hard.
With the steel edge of his sandal.
Kakashi's surprised shout of pain was definitely worth his throbbing toes, and watching the stunned Jōnin hop around on one foot, even if it was only for a second, was a sight Iruka swore to relish for the rest of his life.
Even if it was just the rest of tonight because Kakashi actually decided to kill him.
You can never, ever let them know who you are, Iruka. You will end up alone against enemies you cannot defeat. Do you want to go the way of the others? Lock it down. Your chakra. Your eyes. Your anger. Your hurt. Your love. It must all go behind a vault behind a wall in your mind, and you must destroy the key. It is the only way.
Iruka hated hiding. He understood the value of it, the reasoning, but he hated it. Some days, he looked in the mirror and forgot who he was looking at because it had all been locked away for so long.
If he hadn't needed to hide, he and Kakashi could have fought. Sparred. Maybe Iruka might have even won a round or two, and they could have shared notes after.
In another life.
That was always the answer to what Iruka wanted.
Maybe in another life.
Kakashi was glaring at him, aloof superiority gone. "Cute, sensei. Who taught you that?"
His obvious sulk made Iruka smile. "The one who came down from the mountain."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed, but he'd never been interested enough in clan history to understand.
He had no idea, and he had no idea how much he had no idea.
Sakumo had kept his only child far from the Hanta in a desperate attempt to keep him safe. And even though she'd been present at his birth, he'd never met Kikyo. The demon who'd drilled Iruka and the others until their fingers bled and laughed when they complained about being tired.
It was always amusing to hear someone complain about his stubbornness.
They had no idea what true stubbornness looked like. Kikyo was at such a high level that she couldn't even die.
Speaking of…
"Did the Hokage send you?"
"Does she have something to worry about?"
Not the Council, then. That was a relief.
"No. Goodnight, Hatake-san."
"Stop walking away from me!" And for the first time that night, Kakashi sounded truly angry.
It wasn't like him to be so open with his emotions.
Iruka turned back, tired. "What do you want, Kakashi?"
"Who trained you?"
"Several people. They all taught me different things."
"Like what?"
Iruka laughed, helpless, because he couldn't give Kakashi the answer he was looking for. "Take your pick. Rule five, blind loyalty is fine, as long as you know when to dissent. Rule two, run far, run fast, kill first, kill last."
"You don't like killing. It's why you struggled in the field."
"Rule seven, only the strongest are capable of mercy."
"Interesting philosophy. Are there any rules about respecting the chain of command and your superiors?"
"Ah, actually, no, there aren't." Iruka had never noticed that before. There were a lot of rules, and absolutely none of them said anything about that.
"Shocking." Kakashi was in line to succeed Tsunade. Was he worried Iruka was going to argue with him the way he had with the Sandaime and the Godaime?
"Beating me up in on a dark street isn't going to stop me from arguing with you in the mission room, Hatake."
Kakashi let a howl then, something animalistic and pained, and tugged at his own hair in frustration. "I am not trying to beat you up, Iruka. I'm trying to understand you."
***
And now Iruka looked insultingly wary. "Why?"
"Because you yell but never say anything. Your touch is everywhere, but you never are. You lecture about respecting those who are stronger than you, but you never do. Because you pick fights you know you're going to lose, and I don't understand how someone like you raised Naruto."
Iruka blinked, lost. "I, is that an insult?"
"You aren't the only one who's tired and stressed, Umino. It would be helpful if you'd just be straightforward and honest."
"Me!? You could have just asked instead of attacking me in the street! How is that straightforward or honest?"
Well…he might have a point there, but most of the shinobi Kakashi knew would have gotten it within a few minutes.
"Your friends are as crazy as you."
Ah, had he said that out loud?
"Yes. What's wrong with you?"
Iruka looked….concerned.
Huh.
That was…something warm gathered in Kakashi's chest.
"You're interesting, Iruka-sensei."
"Is this some weird psych test? Are you having a breakdown? Are all your pieces here?"
"I wouldn't mind playing with your pieces, sensei."
Wow. Kakashi hadn't realized someone with Iruka's skin tone could turn that shade of red.
"You're like a kid with a crush," Iruka whispered in disbelief.
Then he started yelling.
"What were you thinking? Have you lost your mind? Too many head injuries? I've got first-year students with more common sense than you!" He reached a dull roar by the time he finished.
"Love looks different to everyone, sensei."
"Is that from one of your stupid books?"
"They're not stupid! It's the highest-selling series of all time!"
"That doesn't make it any better, they're written by a moron!"
"Actually-"
"I know who wrote them, Hatake."
"Ah."
"We've barely ever spoken without arguing."
"You're the one who yells."
"Because you make me!"
***
Iruka does not need this right now.
There's too much….
Too many to worry about…
He cannot add Hatake Kakashi and his weird crush to the list of things already keeping him up at night.
"We have a spark, Iruka-sensei. I don't enjoy anyone yelling as much as you. I'm not opposed to a strong hand."
So.
Many.
Issues.
Iruka opened his mouth, then shut it again. His entire family thought arguing was a sign of affection. If you didn't care enough to argue, then you didn't care enough to have an honest relationship. The rows that took place when he was a child were loud, sometimes bloody, and frequently demolished personal property, and they always resulted in immense joy nine months later.
And what the fuck was Iruka supposed to do now? Pretend it never happened?
Let him down gently?
"Sensei."
Oh boy.
Kami, that was hot.
"You have to stop saying it like that."
And then he was pulling a startled Kakashi in and his mask down and doing his level best to stick his tongue as far down the Jōnin's throat as he could.
By the time they pulled apart, between the heavy breathing and the wide eyes, Iruka was gone. He fumbled, trying to explain. "Look, I don't, I haven't dated. I don't have time. I'm not good at it."
"I don't do promises, Sensei." Kakashi sounded as scared as Iruka, and that was, honestly, a relief.
And then they were in an apartment too nice and too quiet to be Iruka's.
***
In the tall oak tree at the edge of the park, Itachi smiled as the smoke cleared.
"Finally, brother."
***
"Stress relief," Iruka muttered as they rolled across cool, crisp sheets.
"We are very stressed people," Kakashi agreed and pulled diligently at their wrappings.
Iruka latched onto his neck and sucked, and the shudder that resulted was easily one of the hottest things he'd ever felt.
"Harder," Kakashi demanded, reaching up to hold Iruka in place. Iruka laughed and, for once, did what he was told.
It was a good thing Kakashi wore a mask that covered his neck.
Kakashi hooked a leg over his hip as he shook, so Iruka ripped off his shirt and muttered something about owing him a replacement.
God, Kakashi was so pale. Like a statue carved from marble.
Iruka was not a good man.
He was going to leave so many marks.
All that power and strength, twitching and twisting as Iruka sucked and bit his way across acres of skin.
"Fuck, sensei. You-" Kakashi was muttering, struggling to rid both of them of their pants at the same time."You have t- get them off!"
Iruka mumbled something around the nipple in his mouth.
"I will Chidori your ass if you don't get your damn pants off, Iruka."
That actually made Iruka stop and look up, and they stared at one another until they both started snickering, and it devolved into a wrestling match as they finally got them off.
"Your-"
"It's fine."
And Kakashi's forehead protector followed his mask to the floor.
For a moment, he looked down at Iruka, one dark grey eye, a painful reminder of a lost parent, one slowly turning red, a painful reminder of a friendship he hadn't deserved.
Too late, he realized he probably should have asked first, but Iruka just reached up and gently ran a finger across the scar, eyes soft.
Then he leaned up and followed the same path with his tongue.
Well…that was that, then. Whatever sense Kakashi had left was gone.
"On your stomach, Hatake."
"My, my, sensei. Punishment already?"
Iruka's teeth were somewhere along his spine as Kakashi dug for supplies in the nightstand drawer.
"Teach you a lesson," Iruka growled, and wasn't that pleasant?
Then Iruka put his tongue to work, and Kakashi had to bite down on a pillow before he made a sound Iruka would never let him live down.
He was going to have to hunt down anyone else who'd ever shared Iruka's bed.
Yessss.
All of them.
Everything was wet and warm and wonderful, and Iruka's fingers were getting involved, and then suddenly, he pulled away, and the fissures of pleasure stopped.
Kakashi looked over his shoulder in outrage. "Don't you dare-"
Iruka's eyes were wide and wild, lips red and swollen. "Is this alright?
Oh, that was actually kind of sweet.
"Iruka, do you seriously think you overpowered me?"
"Based on the noises you were making?"
Which, fair.
Smartass.
"You get the first round, sensei. I get the second."
"Deal."
And then his tongue was back where it belonged, and Kakashi's face was back in the pillow.
At least until Iruka reached up and yanked it away with a raspy order to make noise.
Since he was doing such good work, Kakashi obliged.
Somewhere between the moans and the curses and the "Oh, fuck, Ru-" something a lot harder and a lot hotter pushed in, and Kakashi's toes curled.
"Fucking hell."
"Kakashi-"
"Move!"
And then Iruka really did pin him down and put it to him with enough force that it's almost too much and a rhythm that wouldn't let Kakashi catch his breath, and all he could do was lay there and take it and shudder on Iruka's cock until they've both gone over the edge.
It occurs to him, laying there with Iruka gasping against his back, that he's lost control of the situation and he has no idea how to get it back.
***
All those hours spent together, playing, talking, laughing, lovemaking... I should know him by now, surely. I should know the secret, vulnerable corners of his brain. Shouldn't I? But then, he did always keep part of himself hidden away, I remind myself. As though he couldn't trust it with anyone, not even me.
Sophie Kinsella
***
Meanwhile
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Kohonagakure: :
The initial fervor had died down. A couple hours of emotional upheaval had left all of them exhausted and a little shaky.
More so than Itachi had been in a while.
Naruto had cried longer than he'd thought possible.
Sasuke had made a point not to cry at all.
Itachi had made a point not to apologize.
Sakura had just muttered that they were definitely brothers and hid in the kitchen cooking until Naruto stopped crying.
Ino and Choji had ducked in to help her, and the others were much more interested in talking to Shisui than Itachi.
Which, rude.
But he supposed Shisui left with a much better reputation than he did, so it's understandable.
There were a lot of questions Itachi couldn't answer yet. He needed to talk to Iruka and put a plan together before they risked dragging the kids in more than they already were.
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke had taken that well, also understandable, and it had been a fight to get everyone to settle down to sleep. In the end, their friends had out-voted them, and they'd reluctantly agreed to drop everything for the night.
Since Iruka was a mother hen to the nth degree, he'd always had two spare rooms thanks to his take-over of the neighboring apartment. Naruto had taken over one, and Itachi had checked the other, expecting to find Sasuke, but had instead found Tsume's boy and his teammates.
Iruka's room was empty. Itachi had already claimed it.
Shisui had slipped out to make his way to the Inuzuka Compound, and three of Tsume's Jōnin had just happened by around the same time to make sure he wasn't bothered.
Tsume was getting bold. Normally, she didn't make it that obvious that she was acting without the Hokage's knowledge.
Absently rubbing his wet hair with a towel, he opened the door to Naruto's room and couldn't help but smile.
His baby brother curled up around the blond, head on Naruto's shoulder while they both stared out the window above the bed.
Both of them with a white knuckled grip on the other.
Adorable.
"What are you looking at?"
Sasuke glared at him, but Naruto smiled.
"The stars."
"Ah."
"Do you know the story, Itachi-nii-san? About what they are?"
***
10 Years Ago
: :Forest Outside the Gates of Konohagakure: :
The Annual Academy Camping Trip never failed to be the most exhausting night of the year.
And Naruto's class had decided to put all other classes to shame.
Iruka'd had to bring back up in the form of Kotetsu, Izumo, Yajirobi, and Anko. Though a couple of them had less than honorable motivations.
If Anko and Kotetsu scared his kids again, he was going to tie them up, cover them in honey, and leave them to the Forest.
It had taken three hours to re-gather his class after they'd demonstrated their summons and Iruka doesn't need anymore screaming about evil snakes and demonic squirrel armies.
After a long day covering tracking and concealment, everyone was filthy and starving.
Anko's impromptu cooking class had scarred everyone. Ino, Kiba, and Naruto were even swearing to be vegetarians for the rest of their lives.
He doubted it would last an hour after they got home, but they were very insistent right now.
And they'd added blood and gore to the mix of mud and leaves covering them. Iruka fully intended to return them to their parents exactly the way they were. The one year he'd returned them clean, he'd been accused of not teaching them anything, and the hell he was going to hear that shit again.
One of the Jōnin parents had complained about him taking the students to the same place each year, too, but Iruka was ignoring that.
This clearing was the best, a beautiful natural valley along a slow-moving tributary of the Naka with an old bridge he liked to teach them to fish from. The water ran through the Uchiha, Inuzuka, and Aburame Clan Compounds and was filled with brightly colored fish and huge lily pads and reeds the kids loved to play in.
Now the moon was out, a thin crescent visible just above the trees.
They'd all gathered on the bridge while Anko and Kotetsu cleaned up their little cooking experiment. Naruto and Sasuke tucked close on either side of him, arguing. Sakura and Ino were arguing next to Sasuke naturally, while Shino and Hinata quietly watched. Kiba, Shikimaru, and Choji were sprawled along the railing, enjoying the show.
"They're giant balls of gas, dobe."
"No, they're souls, teme!"
Iruka had to be very careful not to let them catch him grinning.
"Iruka-sensei, tell Sasuke he's an idiot."
"Tell Naruto he's too stupid to live."
"Alright, enough, both of you." He cuffed them both as they glared and mouthed silent threats. "I can hear you."
"You can't!" Naruto shrieked, but he was still young enough to believe anything Iruka said.
There was a selfish part of Iruka that hoped he'd never grow out of it.
Sasuke was much more suspicious.
"Look at the stars."
"Why?"
"Because they're beautiful."
"I guess?"
"Iruka-sensei's weird." Kiba's mutter wasn't nearly as quiet as he thought, but Iruka didn't mind, and he could feel the ripples of amusement from Yajirobi and Izumo's chakra.
"They're not going anywhere, sensei. We can look at them from home." Sakura, always dutiful and logical.
"That's true. I guess I mean, say hello."
"They're balls of gas," Sasuke muttered.
"Souls," Naruto hissed.
"The books all say gas, Naruto. Right, Sasuke-kun?" Well, always dutiful and logical, except where her crushes were concerned.
"Books can be wrong," Iruka pointed out and immediately regretted it when Sakura's face twisted in panic. "But you'll only be tested on the books."
Her relief was palpable.
"You have to look closely to see them."
"I thought we weren't supposed to look 'cause they'd blind us?"
"That's the sun, dobe."
"Alright, can you see the ones that shine brighter?"
"The constellations?" Ino, who'd be as smart as Sakura if she focused more on that than boys.
"They're the souls of every shinobi that has given their life for the village. The ones that died in the hospital. In distant lands far from home. Even in their beds of old age after a life of service."
"But why up there?"
"So they can be together while they watch over us and wait."
"Wait for what?" Hinata, so, so quiet.
"For us. They believed you were worth fighting for long before you were born, and they loved you without ever knowing your name. They are always watching over you, and when the time comes, like it always does, there is an army waiting to welcome you home with open arms."
They were all staring up, enraptured now. The brilliant field of stars is enough to quiet even the loudest arguments.
"Who told you that, Iruka-sensei?" Shikimaru, interested for once, and Iruka was going to put that on his personal review as a point towards promotion.
But for now, he just smiled and hoped the night hid the sadness he could never quite hide, "Someone who is already waiting up there for me."
***
Present Day
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Kohonagakure: :
"Iruka loves that story." He'd told it to Itachi hundreds of times, even after Itachi could repeat it back verbatim.
Naruto's eyes were starting to droop, and Sasuke wouldn't be far behind him.
He wasn't sure if he was allowed yet, so he didn't bother to ask, just gently poked them both on the forehead and tucked the blanket around them, slipping out as they slipped into sleep.
Sakura was asleep on Iruka's couch, wrapped in that stupid ratty blanket he refused to get rid of. Mikoto had given it to him years ago, a small part of her defiance of Hiruzen's order.
He studied her for a moment, wondering at how someone so strong and intelligent could fall prey to such low self-esteem. But she was still so young. They all were. They hadn't yet reached that age where they could understand their own worth and its value.
He picked her up and put her to bed with Naruto and Sasuke.
Even asleep, they pulled her in.
***
What you are trying to let go of...is already gone.
Sanober Khan
***
An Age Ago
: :Unnamed Land: :
Calling it the Waring Clans Era was a bit of a misnomer.
It had begun long before ninja were focused on fighting one another, but those times were lost to history. No one had written them down, and humans did not remember things that hadn't been written down.
It was generations after Kaguya had first eaten the God fruit, and humans were still exploring the possibilities of the chakra that had resulted.
The world had still been ruled by the old gods then and the yokai and spirits that roamed freely between the dimensions.
Most of them were still convinced that humans would die out soon, too small and to survive.
It was during this time that Shinmoro was born. A weak little man with no talent to speak of and no chakra either. He went ignored by most, and that bothered him more than anything else.
Around this time, some ninja clans had begun honing their skills against the yokai who fed on humans. The Uchiha had discovered that their dojutsu and taijutsu were uniquely effective against creatures that required devastating blows to kill. The Inuzuka Clan was developing, the Aburame and Hyuga not far behind.
In the following decades, the Namikaze, Uzumaki, and a dozen others who would play significant roles in the foundation of the Hidden Village would be born.
None of these clans wanted anything to do with Shinmoro.
But as time went on and humans became more adept at killing demons, Shinmoro found an unexpected ally. An ink pot with a mind of its own.
All he had to do was give it a bit of blood, and Shinmoro was the master of a thousand demons. The more he painted, the more he had, and soon, he had assembled an army the likes of which had never been seen before.
Thousands of demons unleashed on unexpecting villages and towns, leaving nothing but blood and death in their wake.
Kikyo had retired to the mountain by then, leaving the leadership of the Uchiha to Seki, the great-great-grandfather of Tajima, who would father Madara and Izuna. The Senju, led by Tai, great-great-grandfather of the yet-to-be-born Hashirama and Tobirama, had only recently moved to the area, and it was during a lull in fighting between all the clans that Kaguya slipped into Shinmoro's heart and turned him on her traitorous children.
In the year that followed, Shinmoro's demons nearly wiped Shinobi from existence. It wasn't until a brief alliance between the clans resulted in a seal created by the Uchiha and Namikaze that was strong enough to hold Shinmoro.
Capturing and sealing him killed those who had created it, but with Shinmoro trapped in an empty dimension in-between, Kaguya had lost her weapon against the Shinobi, and the demons left behind were eventually hunted down.
A handful of wounded managed to find the seal and, using the last of their chakra, buried it deep beneath the ground.
Too far to ever be found.
Until generations later, when Hashirama and Madara's battle created a valley where a mountain had once stood.
But that was still to come.
Now, though the clans were decimated to the point of peace for almost a generation, they were able to survive.
Humans were like insects in that way. As long as there were a handful and they had time, they would come back.
It had all been forgotten by the time Tajima and Butsuma met on the battlefield for the first time.
Kaguya had been thwarted.
For now.
***
Present Day
: :Valley of the End: :
Every Hidden Village had sent shinobi to inspect the Valley in the months after the war.
None had reported sightings of the two shinobi left to their final battle, though they reported significantly more damage to the Valley than was recorded the day the war ended.
Over time, fewer and fewer teams were sent, and only Konohagakure had any true interest, but every investigator Ibiki sent and every ANBU Taka sent came back with the same news.
There was nothing.
No blood. No clothing or body parts. No chakra trail to follow.
Hope was dwindling.
Neko knew he would be one of the last sent to check. Tsunade could no longer afford the two-week journey it took to reach the Valley and return to the village. Rouge missing-nin and leftover traps from the war were dangerous to the dwindling number of shinobi left to serve the village.
Neko had volunteered to go alone to save manpower and time, with the forlorn hope that his wood affinity would reveal something the others had missed.
He'd found nothing.
And it broke what little he had left of his heart.
Kakashi would be inconsolable, though he'd never let anyone know. He would go on; they all would, but the world would be a little bit dimmer.
He doubted Kakashi would smile again.
Whatever Naruto and Sasuke had done to one another had destroyed any trace of themselves in this world.
Like they'd never even been there.
Like they hadn't saved it.
There was a gaping emptiness in Neko's chest that he couldn't identify. He hadn't been as close to either of them as Kakashi and their peers. He shouldn't feel like this.
It wasn't his right.
He went over the Valley three times. Reached out to the trees and the earth, but they knew nothing.
Or perhaps he was just so weak he could no longer hear them.
No one seemed to be the same now as they had been before the war.
And this big, empty valley seemed to reflect all of them.
But there was no point in brooding. There was nothing here, and remaining was a waste of time.
He turned back to the village, and that was when he saw it.
Just a flash of color out of the corner of his eye as he moved.
Faded orange and brown against grey stone.
A scroll so old the edge crumbled when he picked it up.
And the seals…
He recognized none of them.
They looked vaguely like something he'd seen in his research for Kakashi and Naruto, but they were so old it was looking like a distant, distant cousin of Naruto's Eight Trigrams.
Maybe? Far too old to have been left over from the war.
Carefully, he sealed it inside another scroll.
No matter what it was, it might be useful to the village.
***
The dead leave their shadows, an echo of the space within which once they lived. They haunt us, never fading or growing older as we do. The loss we grieve is not just their futures but our own.
Kate Mosse
***
Present Day
: :Hatake Kakashi's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
Kakashi was sprawled out next to him, more relaxed than Iruka had ever seen him. The Sharingan spun idly as they listened to the noise of the night through an open window.
It was odd to see it in someone else.
Obito had striven so desperately for it while he'd been alive, convinced it would be enough to save them all.
That he'd only achieved it in the moment of his death was irony on a level only the Uchiha seemed to be cursed with.
They hadn't even bothered to clean up yet, and it was hard to ignore that Kakashi was somehow more attractive now, covered in drying sweat and splattered evidence of both of them and glistening in the moonlight.
It's entirely possible that it's been far too long since Iruka got laid if he was waxing poetic about a man who dedicated his spare time to driving him up the wall.
"Shit." Kakashi's mutter made Iruka raise an eyebrow. "I need water."
"It's your apartment."
What the hell? This had already turned out much more pleasurable than Kakashi had been expecting. A repeat couldn't hurt.
"Oh no, you did the fucking, sensei, you get the water. Next time, I'll get it."
Iruka rolled his eyes at the insolent grin but got up anyway. "Nice way to treat a guest, Hatake."
"Hey, I'm the most hospitable host in history at this point," Kakashi openly leered at him as he walked across the room without bothering to cover up, "I let you into the deepest, darkest recesses of my sacred temple."
Iruka tripped over something on the floor.
***
"And bring a wet towel, or I'm using your shirt to clean up."
Iruka's muttered curses weren't loud enough to make out, but the tone was, and it actually brought a small smile to his face.
It was a miracle there'd been no summons or emergency to pull him away yet, and Kakashi figured they could enjoy the rest of the night.
No point in trying to sleep when Kakashi knew he wouldn't.
The Sharingan was suspiciously quiet, though Kakashi had selfishly used it to record most of the night.
Something for the future when Iruka inevitably got tired of him.
Iruka returned with a speed that was flattering, especially since he couldn't hide the heat in his eyes as Kakashi shamelessly stretched.
A wet towel landed on his face.
"Tease."
"I'm hurt, sensei."
"Stop calling me that here, please. I'm not going to be able to face my students."
Iruka whined as he set the glasses on the nightstand and sprawled on top of Kakashi.
The sheer heat of him was almost overwhelming. Like an inferno wrapped in skin.
Kakashi had never thought he was cold by nature, but compared to Iruka, he was a block of ice.
His warmth sank into Kakashi's bones like the most powerful pain reliever he'd ever experienced. Aches and pains that Kakashi hadn't even realized were there disappeared as they sank into the bed.
Any interest in starting things back up left as Kakashi found himself sinking into the odd place between sleep and wakefulness. Aware enough to know how relaxed he felt, only the cusp of fading into sleep.
Iruka didn't seem any more interested in moving, his face tucked into Kakashi's neck and his arms tucked around him.
Of course, this was when the summons came.
A flare of chakra to warn, then a tap at the window.
Iruka didn't move as Kakashi tilted his head back.
Hato was crouched on the window sill, his fingers flashing sorry-tower-asap in rapid succession before he disappeared.
Even ANBU had become softer, kinder in the wake of surviving the war. They would never have apologized before.
"Damn." Iruka pressed a kiss to his neck, and Kakashi shivered.
"Rain check, sensei."
"Better be worth my while," Iruka muttered, rolling to the side to let Kakashi up. Iruka watched him dress, and Kakashi briefly debated how awkward it would be to kick him out before he left, but before he could say anything, Iruka was up and gathering his things as Kakashi pulled on his vest.
Was a goodbye kiss a thing for a hookup?
They had plans for another one.
But they didn't really get along?
Iruka answered the question for him, pulling him in for a brief kiss and then stepping back. "Mind if I teleport out?"
That was, actually, very respectful to ask. Most shinobi homes had wards designed to prevent teleportation in and out; paranoia and survival went hand in hand, after all.
Normally, Kakashi would never have allowed it, but Iruka had been kind enough to ask.
He dropped them for a moment. Iruka pressed another quick kiss to his cheek this time and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
He raised the wards immediately and then took a second to dwell on the tight feeling in his chest as the exhaustion and aches settled back in.
Then he flung himself out the window and headed for the Hokage's Tower.
***
Present Day
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
Iruka had felt his chakra when it had first come into range. A few miles outside the village. The terrible urge to charge to meet it was defeated only by the knowledge that it could get them both killed and Itachi's message to continue as normal and ignore him, for now, had kept Iruka in the village.
Kakashi…Kakashi had been a very welcome distraction, though guilt gnawed at him now. Ignoring Itachi's return for a night of fun with Kakashi.
Iruka wasn't a good man.
"Don't start."
Silent as always. Iruka looked up for setting his sandals on their spot on the stand by the door. There was barely any room for his now.
"Start what?" Iruka unzipped his vest and made a point to hang it up and straighten it.
"You are guilty of nothing, Iruka."
Iruka stiffened, horrified to realize his eyes were hot and wet.
"Also, you owe me 200 ryo."
That finally made him turn and laugh.
He was so much older now. Still not as tall as Iruka, but now they both knew he never would be. "Still got some inches to go, Tachi."
"I make up for it with IQ points, Ruka."
"Welcome home, little brother."
And then even Itachi was crying, and both of them were terribly glad the rest of the kids weren't awake to see them as they hugged one another for the first time in a decade.
***
Present Day
: :Utatane Koharu's Residence, Konohagakure: :
When Koharu had been a child her father had seemed like the strongest person alive. Big, aggressive, skilled. Everything the village needed in a shinobi. He'd served beside her sensei with pride. He never let anyone forget what he had done for the village.
She had admired him more than any other, and his death when she was a teenager had been devastating.
Even more so because Tobirama-sensei had refused to let her know what happened.
***
A failed attempt to protect his student that Tobirama would come to regret.
***
Koharu had carried the memory of him with her as the years went on. Unwilling to let go and determined to carry out his dreams of glory in the name of the village.
For glory wasn't selfish if it was done in the name of protecting others.
He'd wanted to be Hokage someday. Koharu had only briefly entertained that goal for herself before realizing she would never surpass Hiruzen and Kagami in their teacher's eyes.
The bitterness that had come with the realization had taken many years to defeat, but she had eventually snuffed it out, decided to support the one she thought best for the village, had dedicated her life to protecting it from the shadows.
A true shinobi.
Now, only she and Homura were left.
For now.
But they had managed to take most of their enemies down before they'd lost Danzo. The Uchiha were all but extinct. The Hanta disbanded. Even the Senju were almost gone. One foolish child left.
Now, she only needed to deal with the Inuzuka and the Aburame and there would be none left to challenge them. To threaten the stability of the village.
Tsume would not go quietly. Not that Koharu had ever expected her to. And she would have to be dealt with in quick succession with Iruka. Whichever one of them was left would know and trigger the Civil War Koharu so feared.
Iruka was contained for now. Controlled. Koharu and Homura had enough leverage that it was to his benefit to be silent.
How ironic that he was the last that they had to deal with.
She had always expected Itachi to be the last one standing.
Saigo no hikari.
One last flickering flame to snuff out.
It was unfortunate that Fugaku had not lived to see the error of his ways. Even Koharu would admit to being surprised at the end he had chosen.
On his knees.
The Uchiha die in battle, or they do not die at all.
Kagami had said that frequently when they faced terrible odds.
Tobirama had said it every time he'd sent a Uchiha into battle. Some odd ceremony that the rest of them had not been a part of.
She still had his journals. Locked away safely in her office here, unwilling to risk anyone else in the village finding them.
She would never be smart enough to master half of what he wrote of, most of it started half-way through or forgotten after the first few steps, the rest locked in his head.
It was unfortunate. She could have ended this secret war ages ago if she could finish but one of his works.
But they had succeeded nonetheless and ensured that the village did not remember Tobirama's trust in Kagami or the partner he'd had in Kikyo or the friendship he'd shared with Madara.
Gentle-hearted Hashirama could be remembered as an Uchiha lover, warrior Tobirama could not.
They couldn't afford both of them being seen as sympathetic.
Tobirama had written extensively on the Uchiha Clan from his early years when the wars were still going on through the founding of the village, but it had only ever been his observation of their behaviors.
The Uchiha seem to enjoy battle itself, battle for nothing more than the sheer love of it.
They drill constantly when not fighting, even at peace they prepare for the next fight.
They fight like beasts, like they cannot feel pain unless it is so great as to stop them completely.
The Uchiha are born half-dead, it seems, and spend the rest of their lives trying to be fully dead.
Such a stubborn people…just like us….is it any wonder that it was with them that we tangled so completely that it resulted in a new world?
Yes, Tobirama's writings could never be revealed.
Animalistic, he'd called them with something akin to admiration.
Barbarians, Koharu thought, who cared more for themselves than anyone else. They did not belong in civilization. In the village.
However, despite all her searching, it seemed Tobirama had never written about one thing…
The Sharingan.
What had he known that convinced him it could never be written down?
***
When the axe came into the woods, many of the trees said, 'At least the handle is one of us.
R.L. Stein
***
~tbc~