Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ What He Wants ❯ Part 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Part 9

 

 

Tsunade is arguing with Shizune when they arrive, though the heated exchange ceases before Iruka can materialize enough to make out more than a couple of loud, disembodied syllables.

 

Tsunade makes a sign with one hand, and both Shizune and Iruka's ANBU escort melt away with a bow. The Godaime looks very harassed, and Iruka isn't surprised when she slams open a drawer in her desk and hauls out a huge bottle of plum wine and two cups. “Drink with me, Iruka,” she orders, pouring for both of them and pushing a cup toward the seat across from her.

 

Iruka feels like he should protest the Hokage getting liquored up in the middle of the work day, but he's really not himself today. He sits down without even a courteous greeting, and dutifully takes a sip. The wine is decent, sweeter than he likes but he can't complain about the quality.

 

The Hokage eyes him worriedly, a frown line creasing the center of her forehead. “How are you holding up?” she asks, draining her own glass.

 

Iruka pours for her. “I'm bored out of my skull, Hokage-sama. I'm not used to having nothing to do, and I'm trying not to think too much,” he answers.

 

Nodding her thanks at him, Tsunade sips at a more sedate pace. “I'm sorry about that, Iruka. I was expecting that we'd be working on retrieving your memories today, but then we found out about Kakashi's giant stash of scrolls.” She scowls, eyes narrowing into slits. “If I find out that he's leading us on a wild goose chase, I'm going to roast his nuts and eat them on toast.”

 

Iruka crosses his legs unconsciously. “I hope that's not the case, Hokage-sama.”

 

“Of course you do.” Her eyes are open again, and she smiles. “I'm sure Ibiki's team will have some information by tomorrow, but if they don't, I'll find something for you to do that doesn't require clearance, Iruka.”

 

Iruka smiles back. He'll be cleaning windows or swamping out septic tanks, most likely, but at least it'll be something to do. “Was there something you needed from me?” he asks, since it's not possible that Tsunade sent for him just to drink in her office and make small talk.

 

The smile on Tsunade's pretty face falters. She leans back in her chair and gulps down her wine, snatching up the bottle and pouring some more before Iruka can reach it, then refilling his cup as well even though it's over half-full. “To be perfectly honest, Iruka, I'm kind of at a loss,” she admits, frowning into her cup. “Something like this is unprecedented. For the Sharingan to be used against one of our own, without a missing-nin involved, I mean, and by one of Konoha's most outstanding, dedicated servants. There's no rule-book to go by, not for any of this, and dealing with Kakashi and his half-truths and riddles is like looking for a specific drop of rain in a hurricane. To be perfectly honest, this whole situation didn't even begin to come together until you showed up at the hospital yesterday afternoon. We were forced to detain Kakashi that morning, but it was only because Shiko's parents were raising such a fuss and threatening to bring the matter before the council of elders.”

 

Iruka's eyes widen. After what Tsunade told him before about the possibility of treason, he can understand why she would be willing to go along with them. He has no idea what kind of standing Shiko's parents have in the community, but the elders would definitely want to distance themselves from any shinobi who exhibited such a degree of instability and tendency toward scandal. Kakashi's service record would go a long way in his defense, but if Kakashi were put on trial and he was arrogant and unrepentant—as Iruka has no doubt would be the case—the elders could undo that without much trouble.

 

After all, if Iruka has his history right…they'd done it to his father, Hatake Sakumo, who had been considered on the same level as the Sannin and was still disgraced. Knowing that the Godaime will go to great lengths to protect Kakashi from that, even though he's done something awful, increases Iruka's fondness for her quite a lot.

 

“It took us hours of Kakashi's tergiversating before we were able to even give any credit to Shiko's parents' story,” Tsunade continues. “We had a lot of trouble deciding how we should proceed. Some of Ibiki's team thought we should detain you as well, others thought we should observe you from a distance, and no one at all knew—knows what to do about Kakashi. Once it was established that something had been done to your mind, of course I was planning on bringing you in, but you pre-empted me because of the headaches. Which I didn't know about until you came to the hospital, I might mention, or I would have brought you in immediately. I think Kakashi is actually a little ashamed of causing them.”

 

The corners of Iruka's lips turn up bitterly. “He told me he doesn't like seeing me in pain.” It's his turn to gulp down the fragrant wine, and he snatches the bottle to refill his own glass. Having the Hokage pour his wine for him makes him feel like he has pretensions of being far above his station.

 

Tsunade's fulvous eyes regard him with understanding. “I think that's probably true. Iruka…this is by far the thorniest problem I've had to deal with since becoming Hokage of this village. I'm at a loss.”

 

Iruka, terribly uncomfortable with his leader confiding such vulnerability in him, just sips his sake and waits for her to continue.

 

“My first instinct is to do everything I can to restore your mind, and say to hell with Kakashi if he complains, since he brought it on himself. But that's oversimplifying things, and would be like caring for a symptom and ignoring the cause. Kakashi needs something—from you, from me, I don't think even he could or would say what or from who—something he's probably needed for years, without knowing it.”

 

Tsunade fists her hands on the desk as she continues. “You might know already that we have mandatory counseling for anyone who is or was in ANBU. But it mostly works as a way of keeping tabs on the morale and mental state of our elites, not as something helpful for them. We might have implemented a better system for them, but quite frankly, most ANBU die before they start exhibiting severe mental imbalance.”

 

Iruka tries not to wince.

 

“At any rate,” Tsunade continues, “counseling isn't effective if the person being counseled doesn't want assistance, especially if they resent being forced into personal disclosure. Kakashi, as I'm sure you could guess, uses the time to either sleep or amuse himself as much as possible. Even so, we've managed to deduce a few things about him.”

 

“What, that he's a lonely, antisocial, manipulative bastard? That seems to be the prevailing theory,” Iruka said, emboldened by the alcohol—he was on his third cup already. Or was it his fourth?

 

“Actually, he's not antisocial at all. I'm not going to sit here and pick him apart, but I will say that he has more friends than almost any ninja who's been active as long as he has—nearly twenty-three years, you know. It's really amazing how well he's done, personally and professionally, up to this point. He would probably still be doing well, if not for the dissolution of Team 7. Kakashi really loved that team, you know. It surprised me, how attached he is to those kids.” She grins wryly, her head slightly hanging. “He's never been a big fan of kids in general, even when he was one. Especially when he was one.”

 

“So…Hokage-sama—”

 

“Iruka, please, as long as we're behind closed doors, just call me Tsunade.”

 

“Er…Tsunade-sama…”

 

The Godaime rolls her eyes, and scowls slightly, but doesn't correct him.

 

“Why do you think he did this to me? Do you think it's because I taught his team? Like…I'm sort of what's leftover of them, now that they've dispersed to the Sannin?” He's now extremely glad of the alcohol, because that's a very hurtful thought.

 

Tsunade clucks her tongue, chastising. “I'll be perfectly honest, Iruka; I don't know why Kakashi's fixated on you. But give yourself a little credit, hmm? There's something about you that's got Kakashi so focused on you that he spent months figuring out how to steal you from your girlfriend with ninjutsu. If he was only interested in you for the sake of other people, I don't think he would have gone nearly as far as he has. I'm not saying this to save your feelings,” she says sternly, holding up a finger as he opens his mouth to protest. “This will make him far more unpredictable and dangerous once we fix whatever he's done to your mind. He seems confident that we won't be able to undo it all, but for all his genius Kakashi is not always able to make accurate predictions. Though if the disintegration trap around that Uchiha house is any indication, he might be right this time,” she mutters.

 

Iruka can't tell, at this point, if the prospect of no one being able to undo Kakashi's work makes him feel worse or better.

 

“Now I don't know if anything we've talked about will have any bearing on this or not, but I might as well get down to the reason I brought you here.”

 

Iruka's eyes widen slightly. “You didn't bring me here to talk about Kakashi?”

 

“Not directly. I brought you here because I need to figure out some course of action for after we restore your mind—at this point, I'm going to be optimistic until I have a reason not to be.”

 

Setting his cup down, Iruka folds his arms and gives the Hokage his full attention.

 

“I don't know how single-minded Kakashi is going to be about you, but from what I know of him, when he gets it in his head that he's going to accomplish something, nothing can dissuade him. He's subtler about it than Naruto or Sasuke, but he's just as hard-headed. Even if you get your memories of Shiko back, I don't think he's going to let it go. He's also indicated as much, when Ibiki and I have questioned him.” She raises a brow at Iruka. “He's really done a number on you, if the prospect of that is making you grin like an idiot.”

 

Mortified, Iruka slams his lips shut on his toothy smile. He's more than halfway drunk; the plum wine is much stronger than he'd thought. Tsunade is even pouring him more; is she trying to get him plastered? How can they have a serious conversation like this?

 

“So I've been considering what to do,” his Hokage goes on, pouring her own drink, and handing him his full cup when he makes no move to take it. “Kanpai,” she says, knocking her glass against his, and he's totally obligated to drink again, now.

 

“K'npai,” he mumbles, knocking back half the glass.

 

“This village needs both of you, but I'm not willing to sacrifice your happiness and the identity you've built yourself because Kakashi has an obsession with you, Iruka. The best way I can think of to preserve them is if I send you and Shiko overseas, secretly, either permanently or until Kakashi is stabilized.”

 

Iruka feels like he's had ice dumped down his shirt. “Overseas…you want to send me out of Konoha?”

 

“Of course I don't want to!” Tsunade snaps. “I'm trying to figure out what would be best for both of you, and it seems like the best way to resolve this would be to keep you as far apart as possible, which I can't do if you're both in the village! Sending Kakashi away wouldn't do any good, because I know he wouldn't stay away, no matter what, but—”

 

“Pakkun gave me some advice this morning,” Iruka interrupts, calmly even though his mind is whirling. To be exiled, maybe never to see his students again, his home, Naruto, Kakashi…

 

Luckily the Hokage chooses to overlook his rudeness. “Pakkun? What advice?”

 

“He said I should work with Kakashi, that I shouldn't run. Running will only make him chase me.” Like a dog, he thinks, and almost snorts. “He said I should work with him and get him to admit what he needs from me, and…and that maybe if I could get him to see me as an equal, he might let me go. If I wanted to.”

 

Tsunade looks skeptical. “Iruka—”

 

“I'll go overseas, if it's what your orders are, Hoka—Tsunade-sama. But I don't want to. I really, really don't want to have to leave Konoha. I'd rather have to fend off Kakashi every day for the rest of my life. I'd rather have to fend off Orochimaru every day for the rest of my life.”

 

“You might think differently when you have your memories of your fiancée back, Iruka,” Tsunade says quietly.

 

“Then I'll think differently, when or if that happens. But that's how I feel right now.”

 

“Alright. I won't make any preparations, for now. We'll talk about this again, after we are able to proceed further. And Iruka, I won't send you away unless you agree that it's necessary. I'll do whatever I can to make sure you can have whatever life you want, and that Kakashi doesn't interfere with it.”

 

“And what will you do for Kakashi, Tsunade-sama?”

 

She grins. “Again, I'll do whatever I can. He's done so much for this village, and doesn't have a lot to show for it. Relax, Iruka. I'm just as determined to care for him as I am to care for you, and even for Shiko.”

 

Iruka finishes his cup, sets it on the table and smiles brightly at his Hokage. He's beginning to feel like things might work out alright after all, though it might just be the sake talking. He has no idea how much of it he's had, but he's feeling quite good. Lighthearted, even, and his headache is a distant thrum, though now he is so tired he thinks he could sleep for several days. He supposes he should excuse himself before he passes out and starts drooling on his Hokage's desk. “Well, Tsunade-sama, if that's all for now..?”

 

Tsunade stands up and walks around her desk. “That's all, Iruka. Go get some sleep, okay? You're starting to look like Gaara.”

 

Iruka stands up and bows, and Tsunade puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezing fondly, as he straightens. Overwhelmed by sudden affection, as is his wont when he's this buzzed, Iruka steps into her personal space and hugs her, dropping a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Thanks for looking out for us, Tsunade-sama,” he whispers, and steps back. The expression on her face is priceless, though it will probably chagrin him to remember it tomorrow.

 

Tsunade's incredulity lasts only a moment, and then she bursts into loud, hearty laughter. “We'll have to drink together again, Iruka-kun, when we have absolutely nothing serious to discuss at all. We'll paint this town red. Or at least an obscene shade of pink.”

 

“We'll pee off the Hokage mountain in the sunrise,” Iruka mumbles, not even thinking about what he's saying.

 

This apparently strikes Tsunade as incredibly funny, seeing as she has to hold onto her desk to stay upright through her guffawing. “Oh, man, the—the elders would really get a kick out of that,” she chokes out. “Next you'll want to TP the Hyuuga complex.”

 

“Been there, done that.” The last couple of things Iruka has said to his Hokage finally register a little, and he feels his alcohol-hot face burning with blood. “Wow, I really do need some sleep.”

 

Tsunade snaps her fingers and the ANBU who escorted him here before appears once again. “Please take Umino-san home, Chelonian. Iruka, here.” She produces a ceramic sake flask from her robes and hands it to him.

 

He blinks. “I think I'm drunk enough, Hokage-sama, but thank you,” he refuses politely.

 

She presses it on him. “You don't have to drink it right now. Your head looks better when you're tipsy, so it probably feels better too, am I right?”

 

Iruka thinks for a moment. It's true; his head hasn't been bad at all since he started drinking. “Yeah, it does, actually.”

 

“So take this. Just don't overdo it, or you'll have the same problem for a different reason.”

 

Iruka accepts the bottle, feeling slightly nauseous at the prospect of being both hungover and having his memory headaches at the same time. He'll have to be careful. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

 

She nods her head, smiling warmly at him, and the ANBU wraps an arm around him and teleports him to his apartment, and then disappears. Iruka disrobes ungracefully and crawls into bed, falling asleep instantly.