Warlord

Chapter Seventeen

Raidou woke in a panic. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, he thought as he tried not to hyperventilate, I need to go try and explain. He jumped out of bed and began to dress frantically, completely confused when his clothes seemed to have shrunk.

“Those are mine.” an amused voice piped up from the bed. “While it’s kind of kinky you want to wear them, I really don’t think they’ll fit.”

The general nearly broke his neck snapping to look at the man in his bed and the clothes he was trying to squeeze into. “I . . .I . . .I” he stammered, completely unable to put together a sentence.

“You, you, you need to get back in this bed. I talked to Hatake this morning, give him a few days to calm down before you see him.” Genma explained with a smile, “I’m supposed to keep you out of his sight and out of trouble, so . . . get back here in bed so I can do that.” he reached out and snagged the clothes that the general was struggling with and yanked hard, toppling him back into bed.

“You TALKED to him?” Raidou practically shrieked, “Oh I so have to go fix this now.”

“You need to wake up,” the courier stated firmly, “and stop chasing someone who clearly isn’t interested.”

“You need to mind your own business.” the general snapped back, “This is between Kakashi and I.”

“You made it my business when you told me about it . . .hell, you made it my business when you had sex with me even though you wanted him.” Genma retorted angrily, “You know what,” he yelled as he began pulling on his clothes, “you do whatever you want, I’ll make sure to come to your funeral . . .other than that I wash my hands of you.” he whirled and stormed out of the tent.

I certainly fucked that up, the general thought as he hastily pulled on his own clothes this time, I’ll go talk to him right after I fix things with Kakashi. He rushed out of the tent and hurried toward the warlord’s, eager to apologize and move past what he had done. As he drew closer, however, he slowed. I can’t fix this, he thought in horror, I raped my friend . . . we can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.

His feet carried him relentlessly forward, even as his mind began to backpedal, and he looked up in surprise to find himself at his destination. He called out before entering this time, “Oi, Kakashi, you in?” before lifting the flap and peering into the gloom. He slowly entered, stopping when he realized the only occupant was Iruka.

Raidou studied the sleeping figure, recalling how he’d looked the last time the general had seen him, eyes closed in pleasure as he pounded into a clearly ecstatic Kakashi. I was jealous, he admitted, I am jealous. His heart clenched as he thought of everything he and the warlord had shared over the years, the easy comradery that would now be forever beyond his reach.

He rushed outside with a hand over his mouth, afraid that he’d let the scream that was building inside him loose and wake the man slumbering a few feet away. That’s all he needed, to be found hovering over the warlord’s sleeping slave. He headed toward the mess in a daze, hoping to find Genma and apologize for being an ass.

Raidou’s luck was hovering between bad and worse he decided. When he got to the mess he quickly spotted the courier . . . with someone else. A tall good-looking man he didn’t know had his arm slung over Genma’s shoulder in a possessive manner as he whispered in the smaller man’s ear.

The general was surprised at the rage he felt watching another man touch the courier. He walked toward them purposefully, hovering directly in front of them awaiting acknowledgment. “General, sir,” the tall man began with surprise, “is there something I can help you with.”

“You can take your hands off Genma,” he replied flatly, “and get the hell out of my sight.”

The soldier was quick to comply, muttering, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” before dashing out of the mess.

“Just who the fuck do you think you are.” the courier began angrily, “I told you I washed my hands of you, and I meant it. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he continued as he pushed past Raidou, “I need to go catch my friend, I’d like to get laid tonight.”

The general snagged his wrist as he passed. “I can help you with that. Come back to my tent, please?”

“No,” Genma gritted out, “I think I’d like to have sex with someone who sees me . . . and I know I’d like them to not run to someone else the moment we’re done. You had your chance, too many of them, and now it’s too late.” With that he pulled his wrist from the general’s grasp and headed after the tall soldier, leaving Raidou wondering if there was anything else he could ruin that day.

The nobleman banged his hands on the table in frustration. “What do you mean he didn’t buy a pleasure slave. What was Ibiki thinking?” he roared.

The soldier sitting across from him shrugged “We’ll never know now, it was stupid of him to involve Tetsuyami, he should have known he’d regret it. In any event, it’s too late now, we can’t remove the slave. We’ll have to find another way to get to the warlord.”

“But the plan was perfect. The pleasure slave we planted could still work, we just need to get them together. . . maybe we should present him as a gift from the city council.”

“I doubt that would do any good, apparently Hatake has a thing for his scribe, he even freed him. If he didn’t have interest in the pleasure slaves before he certainly won’t now.”

“Well,” the nobleman said, stroking his chin, “then we need to lure the scribe away. He’s free now, perhaps we can lure him with a good position here in town . . . what is his name, I’ll approach him.”

“He goes by Iruka . . . if he ever had a family name I haven’t heard it.” the soldier supplied, “It should be on the manumission papers when they get filed.”

“Iruka . . . no, it couldn’t be.” the noble murmured, “What does this Iruka look like?”

“His coloring is very similar to your’s, my lord, only he’s smaller with a scar across his nose.” the soldier replied.

“I will go and see him, this WILL work, we are tiring of Hatake’s turning things upside down. By this time next month I hope to have power back in the hands of those who deserve to wield it . . . the nobles. After all, we have been trained for generations in the ways of leadership.” He smirked before continuing, “With the army in the control of our friends we will have no problem cementing our position.”

“I will convey your wishes to my superiors,” the soldier replied with a curt bow, “if they have questions I will contact you again.” He turned and swiftly left the building, heading back to camp to report on this meeting.

Umino Toyo sat silently for a moment after his departure before breaking out in a wide smile. So cousin, he thought, you survived and landed on your feet. Too bad I’m going to wreck your world again. He stood and headed for the market, he needed to pick up the pleasure slave and prepare him. Then he’d go find Iruka.