Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Iruka's obsession ❯ part 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Part 12

 

Iruka held his breath as long as he could, not fighting the initial flow of water. Instead, he relaxed and opened his eyes after five seconds, knowing the stupidity of trying to swim blind in a churning mess. The flood of water had pushed him towards the river and the river itself, with the addition of a large quantity of water, was a choppy, foaming monstrosity.

 

Iruka broke to the surface, gasping, and looked around for his two companions. He could not see much, apart from a large branch coming his way, and was forced to dive to avoid getting hit. He surfaced further downriver and looked around again, wet hair sticking to his face like annoying strings. Iruka relaxed as the worst of the debris was washed away; the water was still choppy, but he could handle that. He looked around, eyes half-closed, spotted his companions, and breathed a sigh of relief. Gai still had Shizune with him, and they were churning their way through the water towards the far shore.

 

Iruka gave himself a wry grin when he saw that Gai's face was bright red and his hair was standing on end - the man had opened one or two of his chakra-gates to swim across the torrent. Even as he swam towards them, Iruka noted that Gai was swimming all wrong; his feet were kicking powerfully but above the water most of the time - like nearly all the ninja who depended on their walk-on-water chakra control, Gai wasn't a great swimmer. Ninjas swam for fun, but fun and real life did not usually mix, and any body of water they came across in their missions was crossed on foot. Swimming was not advisable when carrying enough metal gear to sink a small boat.

 

But Iruka had been one of those people who'd enjoyed swimming, and he was also the part-time swimming instructor for the Academy. He swam easily towards the other two, letting the flow of the water help him. He kicked powerfully underwater and did not wheel his arms like Gai was doing; instead he swam with slow, regular strokes, reserving his strength. When his feet hit firm ground, he stood up and waded the rest of the way towards the shore, pushing back his hair with one hand.

 

“Iruka-sensei.” The panting and spluttering Gai looked surprised to see Iruka emerge almost unscathed from the water. “You're all right?”

 

“How's Shizune-sama?” Iruka asked, falling to his knees beside the two and helped Gai lower her carefully to the ground. Of course he was all right; their medic was the one who was injured.

 

“I'm fine,” she said, her voice unwavering. “I might not be Tsunade-sama, but I can still heal my legs. I just need some time…” Iruka noted with a wince that her legs were still broken and were bleeding sluggishly now. “…and I should be grateful the water washed away the worst of the mud. It's going to take at least a day for the bones to mend properly -- you should leave me and move on.”

 

“No,” Iruka said firmly.

 

“My rival would never forgive me if left an injured teammate behind,” Gai declared. “In his words, `In the world of the ninja those who violate the rules and laws are called trash. However, those who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash.' One of us should stay, and the other should go on with the mission.”

 

“Is this mission still top secret or can you tell me about it?” Iruka asked, looking at his two bedraggled companions.

 

“You want to be the person to go on,” the med-nin observed as Gai picked her up again. Iruka picked up her backpack wordlessly and moved towards the undergrowth behind Gai, knowing their position on the river bank was far too exposed.

 

“I can hardly fight off five or six ninja if those on the other side come across,” Iruka pointed out. “But I can meet up with one civilian and escort him here.”

 

“Very well,” said Gai after a few seconds of contemplation. “If Neji had been here he'd have said it's destiny. In your backpack is a scroll you'll need. Go northeast from here, and in two hours you should get to the city limits of the Waterfall country's main City. It's small so doesn't have an official name. There is a small bar called Citadel - you can hardly miss it. Go there ,and if he wants, our contact will approach you.”

 

“How will he know m…?”

 

“You should hurry,” Shizune said. “If the ambush we walked into was because his cover was blown, we might not have much time. But first, there are some medical supplies I need from that bag.” Iruka handed it over, scowling when he realized they'd lost nearly all their traveling gear in the flash-flood. Being Konoha ninja, they were able to survive in the wild easily, but it did not mean they liked it.

 

“You're going to a civilian bar, so shall I suggest a disguised sensei?” Gai said brightly. “We could have Shizune-sama shave your hair off and…”

 

“I'll get going,” Iruka said hastily as he stood up and shouldered the backpack, much lighter but still dripping wet. He broke off into a rapid jog before disappearing into the undergrowth, hoping that the other two would be all right. He set a steady pace, unsure whether the predicted travel time was based on traveling at Gai-speed or at normal ninja speed.

 

Iruka reached the edge of the city in about three hours, tired from his unexpected swim, clothes drying uncomfortably against his skin, hungry and thirsty. The edge of the city was nothing breathtaking to look at - rubbish heaps, skinny dogs and even skinnier kids; obviously the Water country was not exactly a prosperous place.

 

He opened the backpack and took stock of its contents to see if it would give him any indication of what to do next. The scroll turned out to be a medical drawing with an outline of a man. On the outline were three points and read, ”to unseal, hit all three point at once.“ Iruka frowned; he was supposed to unseal someone. That was not very helpful.

 

Removing his flak vest, hitai-ate and weapon pouch, Iruka stuffed them into the backpack, leaving his favorite kunai in his pocket. As much as he hated the thought of going unarmed, he was going undercover, so he did not want to be obvious about it. His sandals and the rest of his gear shouted ninja, but he hoped it was not that obvious - some civilians wore ninja clothing when traveling, since it was easier to move about in. Then he strolled into the city, keeping a wary eye out for anyone looking official. He need not have worried about his torn and mud-caked clothing: he looked like everyone else in that part of the city.

 

The Citadel was not that hard to find; it was a glowing sign over a small wooden shack. Iruka knocked on the door, and a small panel swung open to reveal a pair of sharp eyes.

 

The man behind the door took Iruka in and frowned. “You haven't been here before, have you?”

 

“A friend recommended this place to me,” Iruka answered truthfully.

 

“What's your kink?” the man asked.

 

Iruka thought of Kakashi instantly but realized he could hardly say that. Anyway, what did kink mean, was it sexual or something else altogether? “Well…um…uh…” Iruka blushed, unable to think past Kakashi, even at that crucial moment when he was supposed to lie. “Uh….dogs…” he finally squeezed out.

 

The door swung back noiselessly to reveal a dirty stairway lit by yellow torches leading down. Feeling as if he was heading towards Orochimaru's hidden chambers, Iruka walked down, heart beating with trepidation. He wondered if he'd signed up for an orgy involving dogs when he reached the bottom of the staircase and another closed door. He pushed it open and walked into another small room, where a guy twice as big as Ibiki stood, holding out his palm.

 

“Weapons,” the man intoned in a voice that did not leave room for protest. Iruka reluctantly handed over his weapons and was handed a small receipt with a number on it. Looking at the shelves on the side of the room, he saw various ninja weapons stashed in the niches and nodded. He carefully noted where his own weapons stash was kept before he realized the man was holding out his hand, indicating some sort of payment.

 

“How much?' Iruka inquired shakily. He wasn't exactly loaded.

 

The man held out four fingers, and Iruka felt his pockets without protest, unearthing a small collection of loose change. From it he counted out the required amount,dropping it into the unmoving palm. The door at the other side of the room opened, and Iruka walked through - and gasped.

 

The smell, the sound and the sight made him pause. It was a large room, filled to the brim with people ,many of them from out of country, from the look of their dress Some of them were ninjas, more specifically missing nin, and they moved around as if they were proud of it. It was not, as Iruka had assumed, a brothel or anything resembling one. It was more like a rather open gambling house; the men moved from table to table placing bets, while the few women present were also professionally dressed and looked more interested in betting than catching the attention of a male. As they walked around, they sipped drinks, smoked pipes and sometimes inhaled deeply while holding their faces over small smoking wooden pots.

 

The betting table attendants were all males dressed in black and looked as if they were also retired ninjas who doubled as bouncers. They were probably able to catch anyone using ninjutsu to cheat at a table.

 

The smells were overpowering: unwashed bodies, expensive perfumes, drugs, cigarette smoke and even animals. He fought the urge to scrub his nose, since it would be considered impolite, but tried to move away from the entrance towards a discreet corner.

 

Iruka was not sure how exactly he was to meet his contact. The room was so large and filled with so many people, he was sure he could be there for the next few days and still not make contact with his target. For all he knew, the man he was supposed to meet there might not have arrived yet. If it was a man. He hoped he was not supposed to drag a woman through the woods - now that would be fun.

 

He moved around the edge of the room slowly, stepping over some broken glass pushed into the corner. The place was not a high-class gambling den; it was too dirty, and some of the people present were dressed in rags. There were a few well-dressed men, guarded by a ring of bodyguards, perhaps those who were not accepted in high-class betting shops or were reluctant to show their faces in more legal establishments. Iruka could see that all in all, it was an excellent place for picking up information. Ninjas from different villages talked as they gambled, drank and smoked away their brains. Apparently, this was not an exclusive club - if a person wanted in, he or she paid a reasonable price and walked in.

 

Iruka looked around, trying to blend in, wondering if he should place a bet on one of the numerous tables or simply sit back and drink like some seemed to do.

 

In the end, he settled for a drink, since he'd never gambled before - unless he counted the childish games he'd played when he was younger. He looked around for a place to order drinks and saw it was on the other side of the room, across a vast sea of people, most of whom were inhaling smoke. Moving closer to one of the many smoking pots placed around the room on three legged stools , Iruka sniffed carefully and identified a type of drug which put the user into a dreamy trance. However, from the smell if it, the amount of drugs in the pot was very minute.

 

“You can choose your flavor,” someone spoke right next to him, making Iruka jump. “Then proceed to the inner room and name it. You'll have to pay for it - what you get here is a free sample.”

 

“Is it the same in each pot?” Iruka asked, looking at the speaker, a small man who appeared to be an employee rather than a fun seeker. Slight chakra flotation said ninja, but like Iruka, he had a low chakra level, and unlike him, pathetic control. Not much of a threat.

 

“Different flavors,” the man said firmly. “If you don't know how to name it, you can go ask by pot number.”

 

“I think I'll pass for now,” Iruka said with a shake of the head. “I'll just get something to drink.” Wanting to get away from the man, Iruka nodded towards the bar in the distance. If the man was his contact, he'd have some identification, but most likely he wasn't.

 

“What is your kink, sir?” the man inquired, sounding polite. The same question as he was asked at the door—should he give a different answer or say the same thing? Was this a test of some sort to see if Iruka was serious?

 

“Uh…dogs,” Iruka said feeling a little panicked. What if there was an inner room where people did despicable things with dogs?

 

“Ah,” the man nodded understandingly. “Dog fighting and dog races will start in a couple of hours. Until then, might I suggest you call one of the attendants and order a drink? Feel free to walk around and join in anything else that might strike your fancy.” The attendant bowed low and walked away, leaving Iruka sagging with relief. It was dog fights and racing he'd signed up for; while he did not really know much about that, it had to be better than screwing one.

 

Iruka looked around for an attendant to call for drinks. There were several boys walking around carrying trays of drinks, most of whom were chosen for their strength rather than for any aesthetic pleasure. He followed the movements of one of the boys, taller than the rest, with dirty blond hair plastered down around his head. The hair looked greasy, with pieces of dirt stuck to it, making it look particularly disgusting. He walked with a tray on his shoulder, partially covering his face, body stooped as if to hide his height or from weariness. Iruka saw that the boy was limping slightly - looking down, he could see that the boy was barefoot, like all the other attendants, and had cut his sole on broken glass. He left bloody footprints each time he took a step. Like all the other boys who served drinks, this one was dressed in old clothes, far too large for his slender frame. The large top hung to one side, baring one shoulder, and the trousers were held up by a piece of twine roped around his waist.

 

“Drinks,” one of the patrons would call, and a boy would run over to take an order.

 

Iruka shrugged mentally. “Drinks,” he called. No one came; maybe he wasn't aggressive enough. He just was not cut out for ordering people around. He looked around, spotted a small boy with a laden drinks tray walk by him and stopped him by stepping into his path. “Drinks,” he repeated, slightly embarrassed. Close up, the boy looked around nine or ten, face pinched with tiredness and dirt-smeared to boot. Iruka had the urge to tell the boy to wash his face and clean under his nails but decided his teacher mode was hardly going to be appreciated there.

 

“My tray is full,” the boy answered, eyes downcast, probably something they were told to do. “I'll call someone right away, sir.”

 

The “sir” grated on Iruka's nerves, and he bit his tongue. He was not here to stop child labor but to retrieve a person. However, he could not help thinking that if the children who worked there were treated that badly, just how much worse the dogs would be treated. He suddenly did not want to see dogs tear each others' throats out or anything that shocking.

 

The boy looked around, spotted the tall blond Iruka had noted earlier, and walked over to him. The smaller boy directed the blond towards Iruka then walked off rapidly. Iruka looked around now, feeling even guiltier about forcing a boy with cut-up feet to carry a drink for him from across the room as he approached him.

 

“Your orders, sir,” the boy said, not quite meeting Iruka's eye. His voice was pitched low so Iruka had to strain to catch his voice.

 

Iruka froze, seeing the face of the blond up close for the first time. One side of his face was dirt-smeared but looked pale and whole. The other side was ravaged, a scar as thick as Iruka's thumb ran down half his face, over one white, blind eye. A face Iruka was achingly familiar with, even though he'd only seen it once…

 

…a pretty face, bordering on beautiful, the type you'd expect on a girl or an Uchiha Sasuke. The only thing that saved the face from being perfect was the scar over his eye. It was a rather long scar, reaching almost to the jaw, making his mouth slightly crooked. A rather kissable mouth…

 

Things started to add up slowly before his eyes.

 

“Have a few things to get ready before my mission for the research division”

 

The research division, which specialized in everything from waterproof makeup to chakra sealing. The scroll in his backpack, used to unseal someone or rather someone's chakra pathways, so a ninja could pass for a civilian. The way Gai and Shizune had avoided answering his questions about the person they were meeting.

 

“We're meeting a civilian spy?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

Even Gai's almost ready agreement that Iruka come to meet their contact and the statement the contact would approach him and not the other way around.

 

The perfect disguise for a man whose true face was only seen by a select few. Even his first mission for ANBU…

 

... had been sent in as an assassin - disguised as the son of a poor village trying to earn some extra money.

 

“K…Kakashi,” Iruka breathed, eyes wide, his heart beating wildly.

 

A/N- would love some reviews. Plz, let me know what you think.

Thank you for all those who have reviewed so far.