Warlord

Chapter Forty-Three

When Iruka woke again it was lunchtime. He slipped quietly out of bed and cleaned up, planning on going and getting them something to eat before waking the warlord.

He headed across camp on his way to the mess, whistling as he walked, at peace with himself and the world. He changed direction and veered off towards the medical tent, deciding that Kakashi should really be checked out after the morning’s exertions.

His whistle died in his throat at the sight that greeted him inside the medic’s tent, however. Yakushi Kabuto lay on a cot directly opposite the door, glasses long gone, covered in bruises and bandages and with a wild, wary look in his eyes.

The scribe’s heart clenched, warring with itself, torn between hatred for Kabuto and sympathy for his plight. He slowly moved forward, almost against his will, until he was directly in front of his former master. “Hello Yakushi.” he said softly, “Do you remember me?”

The broken man studied him cautiously, stopping at the scar across his nose. “Iruka?” he croaked, “So . . . you ended up as a pleasure slave despite your aspirations.”

“No,” he replied slowly, “I’m a scribe. I heard about your sentence . . . “ he paused, realizing his automatic next question, how are you, would not be well received, “are you badly injured?” he finally asked.

“I’ll live.” the grey haired man spat bitterly, “I don’t plan on being stuck here forever.”

“Really?” Iruka inquired, curious as to what he meant.

“My friends are working to rescue me.” Kabuto continued more confidently, “Then Hatake will find himself here instead of me.”

“You have friends here in camp?” the scribe asked, worried about the implied threat to his lover.

“Of course, Hatake’s a fool. He only scratched the surface . . . he’s not as popular as he’d like to believe.” Kabuto said with a grim smile, “I just wish I had more freedom, it’s impossible to make plans when I have no control over who I see or when.” He paused and studied the scribe, considering his next words, “Maybe you could help me,” he asked, “and take a message to my friends?”

“I suppose.” Iruka replied, not really wanting to deal with this man, but desperate to make sure the warlord was safe. “What is the message and who is it for?”

He listened carefully as Kabuto gave him the name of his contact and their meeting place before heading back out of the tent, his original plan forgotten. Once outside he headed towards Raidou’s tent, confident that the general was the one person who could help him with this.

“Hello, General Namiashi?” he called from outside the tent, “It’s Iruka . . . can I talk to you?” He hesitated, unwilling to enter without an answer, remembering all too well the interruptions he’d suffered through.

He was just turning to leave when Genma’s head popped through the flap. “Hey Iruka, what’s up?” he asked calmly, “Sorry to make you wait.”

“That’s quite alright.” the scribe replied distractedly, “I need to talk to the general . . . it’s about the plot against ‘kashi.”

Genma quickly ushered him inside, “Rai, hurry your slow ass up . . . Iruka’s here and he needs to talk to you.”

The general appeared out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist. “Hey Iruka, what can I do for you?”

“I just had a rather disturbing conversation with Yakushi.” he began slowly, “He asked me to get a message to his ‘friends’. Apparently they’re still plotting against ‘kashi . . . Kabuto seemed fairly confident that he was going to be rescued.” he hesitated before continuing, “We need to figure out who else is involved . . . maybe I should deliver the message and see what I can find out.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” the general replied slowly, “What if they recognize you . . . they’d never believe you changed sides, and if anything happened to you Hatake would have my head.”

“I haven’t been seen around camp much.” Iruka said hesitantly, “But I guess they could have heard about me. I’m willing to try though, because if we can find the other conspirators then you can eliminate the threat.”

“I guess we have to risk it.” Raidou replied slowly, trying, and failing, to come up with an acceptable alternative. “But you can’t go alone, take Genma with you . . . he can stay out of sight nearby in case of trouble.”

“Okay,” the scribe agreed, “I’ll come back later and pick you up on my way. Right now I better hurry back before ‘kashi wakes up and wonders where I’ve gone.” he turned to leave, cursing internally when he realized he still had to fetch the medic and pick up lunch.

Kakashi rolled over and opened his eyes, incredibly disappointed to find himself alone. He smiled broadly when he realized his soreness was due to their very pleasurable activities earlier rather than his injuries. I guess I’m getting better, he thought gratefully, I haven’t felt this good in weeks.

He worked himself into a sitting position before calling out to the scribe. “Hey ‘ruka, what’s going on?”

“Lunch.” was the brief answer from the man just lifting the flap.

“You went out?” the warlord asked softly, “Have you been gone long?”

“I just went to get lunch.” Iruka replied slowly, making a decision not to fill Kakashi in on his conversation with Kabuto or his part in Raidou’s strategy to uncover the conspirators. “And to ask the medic to come and check you out . . . I was afraid maybe you’d overdone it.”

“I’m fine silly.” the warlord replied with a heart stopping smile, “How could I not be after the wonderful way you took care of me. I’m just impatient to return the favor.”

Iruka sat on the bed and gathered the tall man in his arms, tangling his fingers in soft silver strands and kissing him sweetly. “I can’t wait for that either.” he breathed when the kiss finally broke, “Hopefully you’ll be able to travel in a few days . . . I can’t wait to get you home and have you all to myself.”

“All to yourself . . . in a house with Asuma, Kurenai and a baby?” the warlord chuckled.

“It’s a big house, you’ll never even know they’re there.” Iruka replied, “Besides, you know you’d go crazy without at least one of your buddies around.”

“The only person I want to be around is you.” Kakashi replied sincerely, “I’m looking forward to spending lots of uninterrupted time with you.”

“I just hope you don’t get tired of me.” the scribe fretted.

The warlord took Iruka’s face in his hands and turned it to look at him. “‘ruka, I love you, and I’ll never get tired of you. Please believe me.”

“I believe you ‘kashi . . . and I love you too.” the scribe replied, wondering if the warlord would still feel the same way after he found out about what he was planning.