Escort

II.

Jounin are special for various reasons. They don’t need excuses to do crazy things simply because it’s an unspoken belief that jounin are just insane. Jounin are big children with killing skills among other things, and so can’t be held responsible for, say, getting drunk and singing really bad karaoke songs from old anime series. That’s not to say all jounin are completely psychotic, but enough of a majority were to cause enough people discomfort when their routine to the day was disrupted. At first, not seeing Iruka at the Academy gave Kakashi no reason to worry. Kakashi figured Iruka was only sick and decided to vacate the premises to find the chuunin something of a get well present. Neither of them had been quite the same after Team Seven’s break up, he knew, and though Iruka was normally so cheerful, Kakashi had noted slips in the chuunin’s demeanor.

There was one time that Iruka had been on duty in the missions office. Kakashi had gone in to visit but had stopped just short of Iruka’s desk. Iruka had been staring down at the papers in his hands, the ones he was supposed to file away, and he had been frowning, his eyes darkened with unshed tears. Kakashi had wanted to go over and wrap his arms around Iruka and comfort him but the moment he had taken a step forward toward Iruka, the chuunin spotted him and the sadness went away and Iruka smiled. Kakashi should have recognized the smile as one of hiding true pain, because he had smiled that kind of smile when he was younger, but even for all that, he hadn’t connected it with Iruka’s mood at all.

The silver haired jounin ended up forgetting the get-well gift after he was tricked into a contest of strength by Gai. He spent the night awake and playing with his cat trying to remember what it was exactly he had forgotten. He probably shouldn’t have allowed himself to have a case of insomnia because he overslept the next morning and missed his chance to catch Iruka leaving his apartment for school. He didn’t even realize that Iruka had been gone for a day before this. That alone would make him reel and wonder how the chuunin could have escaped him, could’ve disappeared before Kakashi even noticed.

Kakashi dropped by the chuunin’s classroom the second day and found again the substitute. Iruka really was sick, then. Kakashi frowned and started to wonder if Iruka was avoiding him again. They were the sort of friends that you’d go to if you didn’t want to be alone for the night, the ones you’d go drinking with if you didn’t have better things to do. Not that they went drinking – well, Kakashi did – but they were still on talking terms.

Weren’t they?

The third day – Kakashi didn’t bother to go to the Academy – the jounin found his perch watching Iruka’s apartment. The curtains were closed so he couldn’t see inside. By then, he’d begun to wonder if they really were friends, or if Iruka was just pitying him for his massive screw-up with Team Seven. A part of him screamed Iruka was too kind a person for that, while another goaded on the self-destructive thoughts. Kakashi had failed his team, his village, everyone. Iruka, especially. After the chuunin exams, the brunette hadn’t spoken to him at all, barely looked at him for more than it took to hand him a mission and kick him out the door.

After Sasuke had defected, they’d found each other nursing genin-shaped holes in their hearts and talked over dinner. Kakashi found himself at the receiving end of ‘Good morning’s when they passed each other on the street or a ‘Hello’ in the missions office. They talked rather than yelled at each other and Kakashi began to make seeing – talking if possible – Iruka part of his daily routine. It was just so important for the jounin to at least see the brunette every day, and Kakashi didn’t know why. Still he just HAD to see Iruka.

Kakashi staked out the chuunin-sensei’s apartment for five more days before his nervousness drove him to break in to the brunette’s personal sanctuary. The jounin couldn’t hear any movement, so he explored. Each room was empty, with no sign of the chuunin. Kakashi was trembling, scared though he wouldn’t admit it. Iruka was missing. Just gone. Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke and burning ozone. He had to find Iruka.

He wouldn’t rest until he did.