Blood for Blood: Chapter Fifteen
First off, I'm pretty sure everyone has forgotten about this fic by now, it's been so very long since it was updated, so you might need a refresher course, so go here for all the chapters prior to this one. I confess to having had a lot happen to me in the past span, and while I did have this chapter finished months ago, I was unable to get in touch with my cowriter for her input on the chapter. I have her on skype now and I'm not losing her again. So with luck there will not be any more such lengthy and ludicrous delays.
Title: Blood for Blood
Chapter Fifteen: Regrouping
Authors: kita_the_spaz and demondreams
Addition Beta provided by kiterie
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Nothes: This is slightly-AU concerning events after the timeskip.
Summary: When a noble is murdered and the blame falls on Iruka, trouble comes in spades and Iruka might have to take his life into his own hands.
Chapter Fifteen: Regrouping
One by one, the ninken straggled back in, soaked to the skin and abjectly reporting failure at tracking down the culprit. Whoever it was, they were almost diabolically clever at disguising their scent, using the rain to their advantage.
Urushi had found Serpent lying sprawled in the mud and had nearly frightened them all to death by baying mournfully until help had arrived for the fallen ANBU.
Monkey and a newly-arrived ANBU wearing the mask of a horse had brought in the unconscious man and laid him out on the dojo floor, not far from where Kakashi lay under the Hokage’s hands.
Iruka watched Monkey show a thin silver dart to Ibiki, who had arrived only moments ago.
Ibiki scowled at the piece of metal, and examined the bloodied end carefully. “A sedative, and a damned strong one, to knock out an ANBU,” he growled, dropping the dart back into Monkey’s hand. “Have it analyzed.”
“Ibiki-san,” Iruka interrupted quietly, rising on shaky legs to stand near the Interrogation specialist. “Before he collapsed, Kakashi-san looked as if he had caught something. I think it might have been a dart, as well.”
Ibiki strode over to the group huddled around Kakashi, reaching around Sakura to pry open Kakashi’s rigid fingers. A thin sliver of metal gleamed against the pale palm. Ibiki picked it up carefully, passing it to Monkey. “Looks like a match, but have it analyzed too.”
Ibiki stared at Iruka for a very long moment, and the chuunin had to force himself not to flinch from the weight of that regard. He did twitch when Ibiki’s heavy hand rested on his shoulder.
“Good work, Iruka-sensei.”
Shaking his head numbly, Iruka staggered back a pace. “Good work, how?” he rasped, shaken. He raised a finger that was visibly trembling to point at where Tsunade and her assistants worked over Kakashi’s disturbingly still form. “How?” he asked again. “He was poisoned because of me, because I’m the one they want dead.”
Ibiki fixed him with a strangely bland stare until Iruka subsided, shaking with a combination of emotion and weariness.
“Iruka-sensei.” It wasn’t a reprimand, but it felt like one; the mildly reproving tone stinging like salt in raw wounds.
Uuhei rose and limped over to lean against Iruka’s leg. She fixed Ibiki with her own penetrating gaze. She huffed and nudged Iruka’s hand until he looked down at her. “Not your fault, pup,” she informed him crossly. “There’s more than enough blame to go around without you trying to take the bulk of it on yourself. We’re- the pack and I- at fault because we didn’t catch this bastard the first time he came lurking around.”
She tipped her head at where Serpent was being tended by an ANBU medic. “The ANBU share the blame, for allowing themselves to be caught off-guard by a single assassin.” Her ice-blue eyes fixed on Ibiki again. “You share in that blame, Ibiki-san, and you know it.”
Snorting, she looked mournfully over at Kakashi. “Even the Boss shares in that fault.”
Iruka sighed and rested a hand on her narrow head. “It still feels like I’m the one to blame.”
“Speaking of faults,” Pakkun’s gruff voice interrupted. “What were you thinking, you idiot?”
Iruka looked down to see the small pug bristling, his hackles up and his ears flattened to his skull. His brown eyes weren’t glaring at Iruka, but at the female ninken leaning against his leg. “Any one of us could have gone for the Hokage!” Pakkun barked harshly. “You’re injured! What if you had hurt yourself worse?”
“Please,” Uuhei scoffed. “Even hurt, I’m the fastest of the pack. There’s not one of you who can outrun me on my worst day.” Her look turned disdainful and her voice took on a subtly venomous note. “And Pakkun? Don’t ever call me an idiot.”
She lowered her head until she was muzzle to muzzle with the pug. “I’d sooner die than let him die, so if I have to run myself to death to prevent it, I will. And there's not one damned thing you can do about it," she snarled.
“Enough.” The Hokage’s ringing tone stopped them all.
“Kakashi’s stable for now, but he’s going to the hospital where I can do more. Ibiki, that analysis better be on my desk within the hour, clear?” She didn’t even wait for the jounin’s nod. “Have Serpent moved to the hospital, as well. Iruka-sensei, since I have no place more secure at the moment, you’re coming to the hospital as well.” She rose, dusting off her knees and leveled a glare at all the ninken. “You either stay here or make yourselves useful, looking for the bastard who did this. Uuhei, Ox will take you to the Inuzuka compound and get them on the search. And you are to stay there until further notice. I won’t have the brat freaking out when he wakes up because I didn’t make sure you were cared for.”
Uuhei opened her mouth to protest, ears canted backwards and hackles raised.
“That is non-negotiable. That is an order from your Hokage,” Tsunade snapped. “And let’s not forget which of us is the bigger bitch.”
Iruka felt her growl rumbling through his leg and rested a quelling hand on her head. "Uuhei."
Uuhei sighed heavily and lowered her hackles. "Yes, Hokage-sama," she grumbled sullenly. She glanced toward Kakashi and whined softly under her breath.
Tsunade's expression softened. "I'll have you informed as soon as he's awake." At Pakkun's soft growl, she glanced down at the pug, and her generous lips quirked upwards. "All of you."
Pakkun slowly nodded. "We're going to get this bastard. He's hurt the boss and that's unforgivable."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Iruka was pretty sure that there was some rule somewhere that stated all hospital rooms had to be the most boring rooms imaginable. Because, if there were, Konoha's hospital had taken it to heart. Four off-white walls, broken only by a door stained golden-brown on one wall and a small window on the opposite. Pale white curtains framed the window and its singularly uninspiring view of the backside of the Hokage tower and one scraggly little tree. The bed was furnished in institutional tan and white, Kakashi's shock of silver hair pale against the pillow. His dark mask was practically the only color in the room.
They'd moved Kakashi and the fallen ANBU here in one of the largest teleportation jutsu Iruka'd ever seen, a communal effort involving four ANBU and the two medics. Shizune and Sakura had been the lynchpins, directing where they would go, and the ANBU providing the power. Kakashi had been rushed off to treatment while Iruka had sat in a waiting room made only a little less boring by hideous paintings.
After Kakashi had been treated and placed in the dully white room, Iruka had sat in the uncomfortable chair beside his bed, watching medics and nurses drift in and out like flotsam on the tide, each busily checking on Kakashi or providing him with treatment.
He glanced up at the sound of the door opening, expecting yet another in the seemingly endless parade of medics. Beneath a messy bun of bright pink hair, weary green eyes met his, and Sakura offered a tray from the hospital cafeteria with a tired but triumphant smile. "Join me for lunch, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka found a chuckle rising in his throat and rose to take the tray from her long enough for her to bring in the chair the ANBU stationed outside the door offered. He set the tray on the bedside table.
Sakura unfolded and positioned the chair, plopping down in it with a weary groan. She snagged a cup of steaming tea from the tray and sighed. "Tsunade-sama's had me in the lab with the analysis team since we got here." she explained, rubbing the back of her neck ruefully. "The poison used on Kakashi-sensei was a derivative of one of Stone's more powerful neurotoxins. Thankfully you got an anti-toxin into him in time. Another minute and his organs would have started shutting down."
Iruka shuddered, reminded of those precious few seconds needed to test the poison, knowing that every second could have cost Kakashi his life. "And the ANBU?" he asked, pleased to note that his voice was steady.
Sakura grimaced into her cup, lips pursed in a moue of frustration. "The sedative used on him is an extremely powerful one and very rare. Tsunade-sama says it's imported from one of the unaffiliated island nations, and nearly impossible to get over here. It is one of the few sedatives that ANBU aren't immune to--" She clapped her hand over her mouth, green eyes gone wide.
After a moment, she uncovered her lips and laughed weakly. "Pretend you didn't hear that, okay? Nobody but medics are supposed to know about their immunity."
Iruka glanced down at Kakashi and stifled a wry laugh. "Who am I going to tell? The secret is safe with me."
Sakura dimpled at him. "I know you can be trusted with it, Iruka-sensei. Now," she turned on him with a smile that reminded him all too forcibly of her Sasuke-stalking days. "I have my marching orders from the Hokage, and they include getting you to eat, even if I have to force-feed you. Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard one?" Her grin widened. "I personally vote for the hard way. Revenge for all those pop quizzes when I was a student."
Surprised into a laugh, Iruka raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. But only if you eat with me. Tsunade-sama won't appreciate it if you faint from hunger after beating me into submission."
Sakura only laughed and handed him one of the wrapped sandwiches on the tray, taking the other for herself. "She's still not happy with me," she noted bluntly, tearing the wrap off of her sandwich and taking a vicious bite. "I'm stuck at home, if I'm not here at the hospital or being tortured by Ibiki-san and the ANBU he's assigned to teach me remedial stealth. I was trying to help!" Her tone became an aggrieved one and for a moment, she seemed that long-ago child from his class.
Just like he would have back then, Iruka fixed her with one of his sternest teacher looks. "Maybe you were, but you went about it all wrong. And Tsunade-sama and Ibiki-san have every right to insist on you taking remedial classes." He raised an eyebrow at her pointedly. With a calm he did not feel, he made a show of unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite that sat like sawdust in his mouth. It took two swallows and a sip of the tea to force it down his throat so he could speak. "I can't believe that one of my students would be so careless as to be seen."
The jab did its job well, and Sakura flushed. "I was distracted and got careless," her voice was defensive and she tucked her arms around herself, cupping her elbows. "I admit that. But I was trying to help."
"Even after I forbade you?" Sighing, Iruka reached out and ruffled her bangs. "I know, Sakura-chan. But you do understand that this is a far too dangerous game of political maneuvering for a novice to get caught up in. Tsunade-sama and I have been at this game for years and one misstep can be disastrous. You almost found that out the hard way, and that's not a lesson you can learn from if it costs you your life."
She flinched and Iruka could see her mulling that over and not liking the conclusions she was coming to.
Iruka glanced over at the still figure on the bed and finished his sandwich in three quick bites. The food felt like a lump of molten lead sliding down his throat and burning in his stomach. Swallowing hard, he drank the rest of the tea in the vain hope it would ease the fire. "And I've taken up too much of your time. You had best get back to work if you want to get back into Tsunade-sama's good graces. I'll see you later."
Impulsively, she hugged him. "You're right, and I won't be that stupid again. I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei."
He chucked her chin gently. "You were already forgiven. Just be careful. That's all I'm asking. And if you can, keep Naruto out of trouble too. He almost came charging to your rescue."
"That knucklehead." Sakura folded her arms and humphed, but there was affection for her teammate in her eyes.
"But he wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't go haring off wildly, you know that. And more often than not he still trips over his own feet. Keep yourself out of trouble, and by extension, him too." Iruka told her, ushering her back toward the door.
She nodded obediently. "I'll try, Iruka-sensei. But only if you don't give up either."
"I'll try." That was all the reassurance Iruka could offer her. With a small smile that felt surprisingly stiff on his lips, Iruka held open the door for her.
When he'd let it close behind her, he turned back to regard the still figure on the bed. With a mocking smile, he poked Kakashi's foot. "She's gone now. You can stop pretending to be unconscious, Kakashi-san."
The storm-colored eye opened slowly, bruised-looking lids sliding back. "Mah, who said I was pretending?" Kakashi rasped. He shifted a bit, sheet rustling around him.
Iruka could see him wince under his mask. Without asking permission, he bent and helped Kakashi into a more comfortable position against the pillows.
By the time he was resettled, the jounin's pale brow was sheened with sweat and he was panting harshly through his mask. "And... ow," he muttered, grimacing.
Iruka knew the muscles in his jaw were knotted tight, but his voice sounded almost normal. "You got hit with a neurotoxin from Stone. You'll probably be feeling it for a couple of days."
"Joy," Kakashi muttered. He glanced up at Iruka, his expression inscrutable. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" Iruka deliberately tried for a careless shrug.
From the glare he got from Kakashi's heavy-lidded eye, he hadn't pulled it off. "Stop blaming yourself. I knew what I was doing. Of course, I forgot it would hurt this much," he chuckled wryly, obviously trying to share the joke.
Iruka was in no mood to be soothed. "It was me they were trying to poison." Iruka let himself slump back down in the chair beside the bed.
"So what?" Kakashi barked angrily. "How is it any different from taking a hit on the battlefield to guard a comrade's back? For that matter, how does it differ from you taking a giant shuriken to the spine to protect Naruto?"
"Because I don't want to be in this position of the one protected." Iruka hissed, his ire reawakened. "If you know about my protecting Naruto, you should know it's not in my nature to sit passively by and let others do my fighting for me!"
"And sometimes it's wisest to hold your strength in reserve for the appropriate moment to strike," came the softly amused voice of the Hokage.
Startled, Iruka looked up. He hadn't heard her enter over his own anger.
Tsunade leaned against the doorframe, her arms folded over her chest. Whiskey-colored eyes alight with mixed amusement and irritation, she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. "You need to pay more attention to the things Sandaime taught you."
Iruka drew a breath, more angry words crowding behind his teeth.
Tsunade stepped forward, into the room, letting the door close behind her. She rested a firm fingertip against his lips.
Stunned, Iruka could only blink.
"This has gone beyond a game of political maneuvering with yet another attempt on your life," Tsunade told him softly, her smokey voice underscored with steel. "Oh, mind you, we're still squarely in the middle of the political dog-and-pony show, but I'm playing by my rules now, and the gloves are coming off."
Kakashi made a soft sound of agreement.
Iruka sighed and deflated, his anger vanishing under the same world-weary weight he had felt the night he had been taken in chains to the Hokage tower. "But until we have the real killer, I'm still going to be the target of more attempts," he said quietly to the room at large, unwilling to look up and meet either of their eyes. "And more people will get hurt," he gestured toward the bed. "Despite the change of rules, there are some things you dare not do, begging your pardon, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade's voice went scornful. "Don't tell me what I dare not do. I can and will dare a lot when my people are at stake. I have lost too much to lose more."
A tap at the door cut off anything Iruka might have said in rebuttal.
Tsunade opened the door to admit Ibiki.
Iruka felt his stomach tighten.The sandwich he had just eaten threatened to make a precipitous reappearance. The bland look on the interrogation expert's face boded no good.
Tsunade sat down on the edge of Kakashi's bed. "Report."
Ibiki closed the door behind him, and regarded Kakashi on the bed. “So you survived.”
Kakashi snorted. “I’m too stubborn to die. You should know that by now. And you’re ignoring the Hokage.”
A small smile lifted the corner of Ibiki’s scarred mouth.
In Iruka’s opinion, it made him no less foreboding.
Ibiki tipped his head to the Hokage, dark eyes full of sardonic amusement. “Apologies, Tsunade-sama.”
Tsunade waved a hand irritably. “Yes, yes. Enough posturing. Get on with what you came to tell me.”
Ibiki reached into a pocket of his black leather coat and drew out a vial, less than half full of a clear, viscous fluid. “I thought you’d like to know, one of Kakashi’s ninken found this.”
Tsunade accepted the stoppered vial and studied it with an arched eyebrow. “What is it?” She tugged the stopper out and sniffed carefully. Her other eyebrow climbed to join the first. “This is...”
“The stone poison used on Kakashi,” Ibiki confirmed. “One of the dogs picked up its scent from the estate and found this. Where they found it is the really interesting part.”
Iruka felt an irrational urge to strangle the torture specialist.
“Oh?” Kakashi put in dryly. “Do spare us the suspense. In my weakened state, I’m just not sure I can take it.”
“This vial was found in Makimura’s possessions, hidden very carefully in a false-bottomed box. As you all know, the guesthouse he was in has been sealed against interference since the night of the murder.”
Tsunade carefully re-stoppered the tiny bottle. “Oh, now that’s interesting. So Makimura had it in his possession? Who was he planning to kill?” She tapped her chin with a fingertip. “Or was he carrying it for someone else, and if so-- whom?”
Iruka stilled, breath catching in his throat. “Tsunade-sama...”
She turned to look at him. “Iruka-sensei?”
Iruka swallowed. “Tsunade-sama, I have a confession to make...”
Title: Blood for Blood
Chapter Fifteen: Regrouping
Authors: kita_the_spaz and demondreams
Addition Beta provided by kiterie
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Nothes: This is slightly-AU concerning events after the timeskip.
Summary: When a noble is murdered and the blame falls on Iruka, trouble comes in spades and Iruka might have to take his life into his own hands.
Chapter Fifteen: Regrouping
One by one, the ninken straggled back in, soaked to the skin and abjectly reporting failure at tracking down the culprit. Whoever it was, they were almost diabolically clever at disguising their scent, using the rain to their advantage.
Urushi had found Serpent lying sprawled in the mud and had nearly frightened them all to death by baying mournfully until help had arrived for the fallen ANBU.
Monkey and a newly-arrived ANBU wearing the mask of a horse had brought in the unconscious man and laid him out on the dojo floor, not far from where Kakashi lay under the Hokage’s hands.
Iruka watched Monkey show a thin silver dart to Ibiki, who had arrived only moments ago.
Ibiki scowled at the piece of metal, and examined the bloodied end carefully. “A sedative, and a damned strong one, to knock out an ANBU,” he growled, dropping the dart back into Monkey’s hand. “Have it analyzed.”
“Ibiki-san,” Iruka interrupted quietly, rising on shaky legs to stand near the Interrogation specialist. “Before he collapsed, Kakashi-san looked as if he had caught something. I think it might have been a dart, as well.”
Ibiki strode over to the group huddled around Kakashi, reaching around Sakura to pry open Kakashi’s rigid fingers. A thin sliver of metal gleamed against the pale palm. Ibiki picked it up carefully, passing it to Monkey. “Looks like a match, but have it analyzed too.”
Ibiki stared at Iruka for a very long moment, and the chuunin had to force himself not to flinch from the weight of that regard. He did twitch when Ibiki’s heavy hand rested on his shoulder.
“Good work, Iruka-sensei.”
Shaking his head numbly, Iruka staggered back a pace. “Good work, how?” he rasped, shaken. He raised a finger that was visibly trembling to point at where Tsunade and her assistants worked over Kakashi’s disturbingly still form. “How?” he asked again. “He was poisoned because of me, because I’m the one they want dead.”
Ibiki fixed him with a strangely bland stare until Iruka subsided, shaking with a combination of emotion and weariness.
“Iruka-sensei.” It wasn’t a reprimand, but it felt like one; the mildly reproving tone stinging like salt in raw wounds.
Uuhei rose and limped over to lean against Iruka’s leg. She fixed Ibiki with her own penetrating gaze. She huffed and nudged Iruka’s hand until he looked down at her. “Not your fault, pup,” she informed him crossly. “There’s more than enough blame to go around without you trying to take the bulk of it on yourself. We’re- the pack and I- at fault because we didn’t catch this bastard the first time he came lurking around.”
She tipped her head at where Serpent was being tended by an ANBU medic. “The ANBU share the blame, for allowing themselves to be caught off-guard by a single assassin.” Her ice-blue eyes fixed on Ibiki again. “You share in that blame, Ibiki-san, and you know it.”
Snorting, she looked mournfully over at Kakashi. “Even the Boss shares in that fault.”
Iruka sighed and rested a hand on her narrow head. “It still feels like I’m the one to blame.”
“Speaking of faults,” Pakkun’s gruff voice interrupted. “What were you thinking, you idiot?”
Iruka looked down to see the small pug bristling, his hackles up and his ears flattened to his skull. His brown eyes weren’t glaring at Iruka, but at the female ninken leaning against his leg. “Any one of us could have gone for the Hokage!” Pakkun barked harshly. “You’re injured! What if you had hurt yourself worse?”
“Please,” Uuhei scoffed. “Even hurt, I’m the fastest of the pack. There’s not one of you who can outrun me on my worst day.” Her look turned disdainful and her voice took on a subtly venomous note. “And Pakkun? Don’t ever call me an idiot.”
She lowered her head until she was muzzle to muzzle with the pug. “I’d sooner die than let him die, so if I have to run myself to death to prevent it, I will. And there's not one damned thing you can do about it," she snarled.
“Enough.” The Hokage’s ringing tone stopped them all.
“Kakashi’s stable for now, but he’s going to the hospital where I can do more. Ibiki, that analysis better be on my desk within the hour, clear?” She didn’t even wait for the jounin’s nod. “Have Serpent moved to the hospital, as well. Iruka-sensei, since I have no place more secure at the moment, you’re coming to the hospital as well.” She rose, dusting off her knees and leveled a glare at all the ninken. “You either stay here or make yourselves useful, looking for the bastard who did this. Uuhei, Ox will take you to the Inuzuka compound and get them on the search. And you are to stay there until further notice. I won’t have the brat freaking out when he wakes up because I didn’t make sure you were cared for.”
Uuhei opened her mouth to protest, ears canted backwards and hackles raised.
“That is non-negotiable. That is an order from your Hokage,” Tsunade snapped. “And let’s not forget which of us is the bigger bitch.”
Iruka felt her growl rumbling through his leg and rested a quelling hand on her head. "Uuhei."
Uuhei sighed heavily and lowered her hackles. "Yes, Hokage-sama," she grumbled sullenly. She glanced toward Kakashi and whined softly under her breath.
Tsunade's expression softened. "I'll have you informed as soon as he's awake." At Pakkun's soft growl, she glanced down at the pug, and her generous lips quirked upwards. "All of you."
Pakkun slowly nodded. "We're going to get this bastard. He's hurt the boss and that's unforgivable."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Iruka was pretty sure that there was some rule somewhere that stated all hospital rooms had to be the most boring rooms imaginable. Because, if there were, Konoha's hospital had taken it to heart. Four off-white walls, broken only by a door stained golden-brown on one wall and a small window on the opposite. Pale white curtains framed the window and its singularly uninspiring view of the backside of the Hokage tower and one scraggly little tree. The bed was furnished in institutional tan and white, Kakashi's shock of silver hair pale against the pillow. His dark mask was practically the only color in the room.
They'd moved Kakashi and the fallen ANBU here in one of the largest teleportation jutsu Iruka'd ever seen, a communal effort involving four ANBU and the two medics. Shizune and Sakura had been the lynchpins, directing where they would go, and the ANBU providing the power. Kakashi had been rushed off to treatment while Iruka had sat in a waiting room made only a little less boring by hideous paintings.
After Kakashi had been treated and placed in the dully white room, Iruka had sat in the uncomfortable chair beside his bed, watching medics and nurses drift in and out like flotsam on the tide, each busily checking on Kakashi or providing him with treatment.
He glanced up at the sound of the door opening, expecting yet another in the seemingly endless parade of medics. Beneath a messy bun of bright pink hair, weary green eyes met his, and Sakura offered a tray from the hospital cafeteria with a tired but triumphant smile. "Join me for lunch, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka found a chuckle rising in his throat and rose to take the tray from her long enough for her to bring in the chair the ANBU stationed outside the door offered. He set the tray on the bedside table.
Sakura unfolded and positioned the chair, plopping down in it with a weary groan. She snagged a cup of steaming tea from the tray and sighed. "Tsunade-sama's had me in the lab with the analysis team since we got here." she explained, rubbing the back of her neck ruefully. "The poison used on Kakashi-sensei was a derivative of one of Stone's more powerful neurotoxins. Thankfully you got an anti-toxin into him in time. Another minute and his organs would have started shutting down."
Iruka shuddered, reminded of those precious few seconds needed to test the poison, knowing that every second could have cost Kakashi his life. "And the ANBU?" he asked, pleased to note that his voice was steady.
Sakura grimaced into her cup, lips pursed in a moue of frustration. "The sedative used on him is an extremely powerful one and very rare. Tsunade-sama says it's imported from one of the unaffiliated island nations, and nearly impossible to get over here. It is one of the few sedatives that ANBU aren't immune to--" She clapped her hand over her mouth, green eyes gone wide.
After a moment, she uncovered her lips and laughed weakly. "Pretend you didn't hear that, okay? Nobody but medics are supposed to know about their immunity."
Iruka glanced down at Kakashi and stifled a wry laugh. "Who am I going to tell? The secret is safe with me."
Sakura dimpled at him. "I know you can be trusted with it, Iruka-sensei. Now," she turned on him with a smile that reminded him all too forcibly of her Sasuke-stalking days. "I have my marching orders from the Hokage, and they include getting you to eat, even if I have to force-feed you. Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard one?" Her grin widened. "I personally vote for the hard way. Revenge for all those pop quizzes when I was a student."
Surprised into a laugh, Iruka raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. But only if you eat with me. Tsunade-sama won't appreciate it if you faint from hunger after beating me into submission."
Sakura only laughed and handed him one of the wrapped sandwiches on the tray, taking the other for herself. "She's still not happy with me," she noted bluntly, tearing the wrap off of her sandwich and taking a vicious bite. "I'm stuck at home, if I'm not here at the hospital or being tortured by Ibiki-san and the ANBU he's assigned to teach me remedial stealth. I was trying to help!" Her tone became an aggrieved one and for a moment, she seemed that long-ago child from his class.
Just like he would have back then, Iruka fixed her with one of his sternest teacher looks. "Maybe you were, but you went about it all wrong. And Tsunade-sama and Ibiki-san have every right to insist on you taking remedial classes." He raised an eyebrow at her pointedly. With a calm he did not feel, he made a show of unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite that sat like sawdust in his mouth. It took two swallows and a sip of the tea to force it down his throat so he could speak. "I can't believe that one of my students would be so careless as to be seen."
The jab did its job well, and Sakura flushed. "I was distracted and got careless," her voice was defensive and she tucked her arms around herself, cupping her elbows. "I admit that. But I was trying to help."
"Even after I forbade you?" Sighing, Iruka reached out and ruffled her bangs. "I know, Sakura-chan. But you do understand that this is a far too dangerous game of political maneuvering for a novice to get caught up in. Tsunade-sama and I have been at this game for years and one misstep can be disastrous. You almost found that out the hard way, and that's not a lesson you can learn from if it costs you your life."
She flinched and Iruka could see her mulling that over and not liking the conclusions she was coming to.
Iruka glanced over at the still figure on the bed and finished his sandwich in three quick bites. The food felt like a lump of molten lead sliding down his throat and burning in his stomach. Swallowing hard, he drank the rest of the tea in the vain hope it would ease the fire. "And I've taken up too much of your time. You had best get back to work if you want to get back into Tsunade-sama's good graces. I'll see you later."
Impulsively, she hugged him. "You're right, and I won't be that stupid again. I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei."
He chucked her chin gently. "You were already forgiven. Just be careful. That's all I'm asking. And if you can, keep Naruto out of trouble too. He almost came charging to your rescue."
"That knucklehead." Sakura folded her arms and humphed, but there was affection for her teammate in her eyes.
"But he wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't go haring off wildly, you know that. And more often than not he still trips over his own feet. Keep yourself out of trouble, and by extension, him too." Iruka told her, ushering her back toward the door.
She nodded obediently. "I'll try, Iruka-sensei. But only if you don't give up either."
"I'll try." That was all the reassurance Iruka could offer her. With a small smile that felt surprisingly stiff on his lips, Iruka held open the door for her.
When he'd let it close behind her, he turned back to regard the still figure on the bed. With a mocking smile, he poked Kakashi's foot. "She's gone now. You can stop pretending to be unconscious, Kakashi-san."
The storm-colored eye opened slowly, bruised-looking lids sliding back. "Mah, who said I was pretending?" Kakashi rasped. He shifted a bit, sheet rustling around him.
Iruka could see him wince under his mask. Without asking permission, he bent and helped Kakashi into a more comfortable position against the pillows.
By the time he was resettled, the jounin's pale brow was sheened with sweat and he was panting harshly through his mask. "And... ow," he muttered, grimacing.
Iruka knew the muscles in his jaw were knotted tight, but his voice sounded almost normal. "You got hit with a neurotoxin from Stone. You'll probably be feeling it for a couple of days."
"Joy," Kakashi muttered. He glanced up at Iruka, his expression inscrutable. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" Iruka deliberately tried for a careless shrug.
From the glare he got from Kakashi's heavy-lidded eye, he hadn't pulled it off. "Stop blaming yourself. I knew what I was doing. Of course, I forgot it would hurt this much," he chuckled wryly, obviously trying to share the joke.
Iruka was in no mood to be soothed. "It was me they were trying to poison." Iruka let himself slump back down in the chair beside the bed.
"So what?" Kakashi barked angrily. "How is it any different from taking a hit on the battlefield to guard a comrade's back? For that matter, how does it differ from you taking a giant shuriken to the spine to protect Naruto?"
"Because I don't want to be in this position of the one protected." Iruka hissed, his ire reawakened. "If you know about my protecting Naruto, you should know it's not in my nature to sit passively by and let others do my fighting for me!"
"And sometimes it's wisest to hold your strength in reserve for the appropriate moment to strike," came the softly amused voice of the Hokage.
Startled, Iruka looked up. He hadn't heard her enter over his own anger.
Tsunade leaned against the doorframe, her arms folded over her chest. Whiskey-colored eyes alight with mixed amusement and irritation, she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. "You need to pay more attention to the things Sandaime taught you."
Iruka drew a breath, more angry words crowding behind his teeth.
Tsunade stepped forward, into the room, letting the door close behind her. She rested a firm fingertip against his lips.
Stunned, Iruka could only blink.
"This has gone beyond a game of political maneuvering with yet another attempt on your life," Tsunade told him softly, her smokey voice underscored with steel. "Oh, mind you, we're still squarely in the middle of the political dog-and-pony show, but I'm playing by my rules now, and the gloves are coming off."
Kakashi made a soft sound of agreement.
Iruka sighed and deflated, his anger vanishing under the same world-weary weight he had felt the night he had been taken in chains to the Hokage tower. "But until we have the real killer, I'm still going to be the target of more attempts," he said quietly to the room at large, unwilling to look up and meet either of their eyes. "And more people will get hurt," he gestured toward the bed. "Despite the change of rules, there are some things you dare not do, begging your pardon, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade's voice went scornful. "Don't tell me what I dare not do. I can and will dare a lot when my people are at stake. I have lost too much to lose more."
A tap at the door cut off anything Iruka might have said in rebuttal.
Tsunade opened the door to admit Ibiki.
Iruka felt his stomach tighten.The sandwich he had just eaten threatened to make a precipitous reappearance. The bland look on the interrogation expert's face boded no good.
Tsunade sat down on the edge of Kakashi's bed. "Report."
Ibiki closed the door behind him, and regarded Kakashi on the bed. “So you survived.”
Kakashi snorted. “I’m too stubborn to die. You should know that by now. And you’re ignoring the Hokage.”
A small smile lifted the corner of Ibiki’s scarred mouth.
In Iruka’s opinion, it made him no less foreboding.
Ibiki tipped his head to the Hokage, dark eyes full of sardonic amusement. “Apologies, Tsunade-sama.”
Tsunade waved a hand irritably. “Yes, yes. Enough posturing. Get on with what you came to tell me.”
Ibiki reached into a pocket of his black leather coat and drew out a vial, less than half full of a clear, viscous fluid. “I thought you’d like to know, one of Kakashi’s ninken found this.”
Tsunade accepted the stoppered vial and studied it with an arched eyebrow. “What is it?” She tugged the stopper out and sniffed carefully. Her other eyebrow climbed to join the first. “This is...”
“The stone poison used on Kakashi,” Ibiki confirmed. “One of the dogs picked up its scent from the estate and found this. Where they found it is the really interesting part.”
Iruka felt an irrational urge to strangle the torture specialist.
“Oh?” Kakashi put in dryly. “Do spare us the suspense. In my weakened state, I’m just not sure I can take it.”
“This vial was found in Makimura’s possessions, hidden very carefully in a false-bottomed box. As you all know, the guesthouse he was in has been sealed against interference since the night of the murder.”
Tsunade carefully re-stoppered the tiny bottle. “Oh, now that’s interesting. So Makimura had it in his possession? Who was he planning to kill?” She tapped her chin with a fingertip. “Or was he carrying it for someone else, and if so-- whom?”
Iruka stilled, breath catching in his throat. “Tsunade-sama...”
She turned to look at him. “Iruka-sensei?”
Iruka swallowed. “Tsunade-sama, I have a confession to make...”