Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Loveless Suna ❯ chapter 30 ( Chapter 30 )

I must admit that I really like this chapter, definitely after it got corrected by my dear beta.

Beta: SilverTwilight88

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

It didn't take long for Kakashi to overpower the enemy nin and knock him unconscious. Not even turning to the fallen Iruka and me he summoned Pakkun.

“Get the Hokage here ASAP!” He ordered the dog cold, who with a quick glance behind his master left in a hurry. Then with his duty in mind the copy-nin created a clone of himself before finally turning towards us. The powerful protégé changed into a broken, scared man. He kneeled down in front of his lover and hesitantly ran his fingers over the jawbone that was getting paler and paler; by the second.

“He's still alive!” I said desperately. Even, as the breath I felt on my neck was very, shallow. During banding the wounds, I had moved the schoolteacher so that his head now rested on my shoulder. Both of us felt helpless and right now I wished I had learned a healing jutsu even if that was impossible. Glancing back at Kakashi I detected that his mask was wet underneath the hitai-ate that hide Obito's eye.

`He's breaking.' A voice in my head said and I looked back at Iruka, almost hoping my stare could heal him. It seemed minutes, but only a couple of seconds later Tsunade stormed in with her two assistants. I noticed her eyes widen for a second seeing the state Iruka was in; before she signed that I had to lay him back down. Without a word she threw the bandages, his vest and his shirt off and started to draw her chakra inside him.

Looking around I noticed Sakura heal her old sensei's minor injuries while Kakashi didn't dare take his eyes of his lover. My eyes shifted to the nin that had caused all this trouble and found him in the hands of two ANBU; Kakashi's clone had disappeared already. Behind me I registered Shizune's soothing voice and I turned around to see her talking to Iruka's students, who were looking frightened from the doorway at their beloved sensei. Turning back I saw the ANBU's teleport themselves with their prisoner.

`He's going to pay Hibiki a visit.' I thought, thinking he deserved it while Sakura settle down beside me.

“Are you okay?” She asked silently not wanting to disturb her sensei. Slowly I nodded and watched Tsunade's hand move quickly over her patient's chest.

“Warn the hospital I'm coming in with an emergency!” She ordered without looking up.

A `hai!' came out of Sakura before she quickly teleported. Shizune took her place laying her hand on my shoulder. I gave her a thankful smile before the Hokage directed her orders at her.

“Keep his breathing optimal. I'm going to blow his lung up again.” I got pushed back a little to create space for Shizune whose hands also started roaming over Iruka's chest. Suddenly I remembered Kakashi and found him standing a small distance behind Tsunade. He seemed just as lifeless as before and the drenched part of his mask seemed to get larger with the second.

“I'm going to move!” Tsunade pulled all our attention and the copy-nin took a step closer towards her. While Shizune was still poring green chakra inside Iruka, Tsunade picked him up and made hand signals. Her assistant quickly followed her lead and I saw Kakashi starting the same signs.

“Wait!” He looked shocked at me. Who was I to keep him from his cute, little dolphin?

“You're taking me with you!” His shock disappeared and he nodded walking in large steps towards me. His arms caught me around the waist and we were the last to teleport to the hospital.

-

It had already been an hour and still Iruka was fighting for his life. Kakashi and I were outside the operating room franticly waiting for good news. Every few seconds my eyes drifted to the red light hoping it would go out and hoping it wouldn't. As long as it was lit Iruka wasn't dead and there was still hope. Kakashi had been sitting motionless in the middle of a white bench with his hands crossed in front of his face, hiding it even more. It almost seemed like he was praying. I looked from the broken man to the light once more and sighed.

`I wish Gaara was here.' I thought wrapping my arms around myself. Quick footsteps were heard behind me and a cry of `Kakashi!' made me turn around. I saw Souta running towards us like a madman. The silver haired nin didn't react until the boy was close enough. In a single movement he had stood up, kneeled down and pulled the boy into his arms hugging him desperately.

“Where's Iruka!” The boy yelled frightened. I could imagine him repeating the memory of his parents' dead in his head.

“The Hokage is still with him.” I heard the copy-nin's say his voice barely above a whisper.

“He'll be okay, right?” Souta continued hiding his face in the clothed neck of his adoptive parent. Noticing the lack of response I took it for me to answer.

“He'll be alright. The Hokage was with him very quickly.” I tried and both parent and son looked hopefully up at me.

“Who are you?” Tear-stained eyes looked questioningly at me.

`You have to be a kid to change subjects so quickly in this kind of situation.' “I'm…Temari, a friend of Shizuka.” I decided in the end. How much I wanted to tell him who I was, but I had to think of the mission.

“Shizuka! Is she here?!” Souta yelled hopeful.

`Oh Kami… yes, I'm here!' “No, she couldn't come, but she did ask me to say hi.” I forced a smile on my face.

“Oh…” The sadness returned to the youngster's face. “How much longer before Iruka comes?” The boy changed subjects again looking hopefully at Kakashi, who was still wrapped around him. Again the copy-nin was speechless.

“Only the Hokage knows that.” I helped. The boy pouted and finally the silver haired man moved again. He picked the boy up and carried him to the bench he had been previously sitting on.

“We're not leaving until Iruka's better.” He said quietly and his son nodded eagerly.

-

It didn't take long before Souta was bored out of his head. You can't expect a five year old to sit still for more than ten minutes. As form of entertainment he had started to pull Kakashi's mask down to the copy-nin's frustration. The first time I was so surprised he dared to do that I saw the face for a second before turning my head. I knew what he looked like so I wasn't that curious, but still seeing it in the flesh in front of you was something else. From far he almost looked scar free, which was of course impossible for a ninja.

“Why do you keep wearing that? At home you don't hide your face!” Souta asked, frustrated that his father kept pulling the mask back in place. I looked back at them and noticed Kakashi searching for an answer. I could understand he wasn't going to tell the boy he didn't liked his face because he looked like his father.

“It's part of his image.” I mumbled aloud before I knew. Souta looked surprised at me.

“Image?”

“Yeah, we all want to know what's underneath the mask of the infamous copy-nin. You should here the rumors: thick lips, buckteeth, small mouth… You're privileged for getting to see it so often.” Now Souta's frustration was completely gone, instead he looked proudly up at his father. He wanted to say something, but a ping sound got our attention. The red light was out.

Without delay Kakashi removed Souta from his lap and stood up while Tsunade exited the operation room.

“He'll pull through.” She said with a smile and the relief was clearly to see on the copy-nin's face.

“Where's Iruka!” Souta asked feeling strong because of his privilege, but quickly grabbed Kakashi's hand when the honey colored eyes locked on him.

“He's resting inside. Sakura's preparing him to move to a room.” On cue the pink haired nin opened the door pushing an occupied bed in front of her.

“Iruka!” Souta yelled rushing towards the sleeping chuunin with Kakashi not far behind him. The jounin picked up the boy, who was struggling to see over the edge.

“Sakura take Souta-kun with you. Kakashi, Temari-san I need you two to make a report.” All three adults nodded and the silver haired nin put his son carefully next to his lover.

“I'll be back in a minute, keep him company until then.” He whispered and the boy nodded seriously, accepting the mission. While Sakura pushed the bed forward, Tsunade led Kakashi and me to her office.

-

Tired Tsunade fell down in her chair and grabbed a bottle of sake. She swallowed a mouthful before putting the bottle on her desk and looked at us. Kakashi knowing this was the sign to start quickly told everything that happened where after I filled in the blanks.

“Alright, I want you two back in an hour with a written report. Iruka-kun and Souta-kun must be waiting.” The Hokage decided before waving us outside.

-

After asking in which room his lover was, Kakashi sprinted through the hospital. He almost stormed the room in only to see Souta on Sakura's lap with both, small hands clenched around Iruka's. Without a word the pink nin stood up and walked towards us. The copy-nin hesitated a little before finally entering the room. He sat down in the chair Sakura had left open and let his son crawl on his lap. Still in complete silence the boy grabbed his hand and laid it over the sleeping Iruka's.

“Maybe we should leave them alone.” Sakura offered and I nodded, scanning over Iruka's form. This was a family moment we shouldn't interrupt. I walked with her to the nurses' post, asking for pen and paper. With a smile she gave them to me after a quick search and I settled myself down in the waiting room.

-

While I was busy rereading what I had written Sasuke walked in. When he spotted me I signed to the chair beside me.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, only Iruka got injured, but Tsunade said he'll pull through.” The Uchiha seemed to take this in and nodded approving.

“How's Kakashi?” He asked silently.

“Better… He… was at the point of breaking.” I answered honestly and the man next to me let out a sigh.

“The same way he was on Naruto's funeral.” My head turned a little surprised at the Uchiha. He was making a conversation.

“How did he get over it?” Onyx eyes smirked at me.

“Iruka.” Surprised, but curious I kept looking expectantly at him.

“He had started taking mission after mission, mostly A and S once. At one point even the Hokage had trouble to stop him since he had become emotionless… dangerous, but it was getting out off hand. Iruka was the one who stood against him. One night he visited him at home, I still remember that Iruka's voice could be heard through the whole village until he started to cry in his frustration and Kakashi had to comfort him.” Sasuke finished and I could hear the respect he had for the academy teacher.

“Kakashi got an overdose of emotions.” I smiled a little and my black haired companion nodded. “That reminds me I need to give him this for his report.” I said waving with a pen and paper. We both stood up and Sasuke followed me to Iruka's room. After a soft knock I opened the door and peeked inside. “I brought you a pen and some paper for your report.” I said silently. Kakashi nodded only glancing at me, but Souta jumped off his lap and ran towards me. As a good boy; he accepted what I was holding and rushed back to his silver haired parent. I looked over Iruka's form seeing that the patient was still fast asleep. “Don't forget about the meeting.” I reminded the copy-nin, who nodded while taking the pen from Souta, who had laid down the paper on his father's lap.

“We'll leave you alone.” I said silently, looking over my shoulder to meet Sasuke's face only a couple of millimeters away and a blush crawled on my face. I couldn't help it, he was a handsome guy. He noticed the red coloring of my cheeks and quickly withdrew himself.

“Close the door.” He mumbled getting me to act normal again. I listened and silently we walked back to the waiting room. I could see a couple of kids running around and then they started to spin. I fell against the wall next to me not knowing what was happening while at the same time Sasuke was keeping me from falling.

“How long have you been in this form?” He asked whispering.

“Oh…” That made sense the two hours must have already passed.

“Sasuke-kun! Temari-chan?” I heard Sakura in the background and when my face fell on the Uchiha's shoulder I could still see a pink-white spot before it got replaced by a dark wall and darkness took over me.

Stephke23: At the end Shizuka's chakra is at a minimum and her body isn't capable of functioning normally anymore. Sasuke realizes this and quickly teleport them to his house before Shizuka's hence is broken and she falls unconscious. Just imagine what Sakura must have seen ;). I do hope the explanation about Kakairu wasn't too rushed, but it was Sasuke telling the story. You can't expect him to explain everything, like Lee or Gai would do. Review!