Fanning the Flames

Chapter Fifty-Four

Ibiki glared at the crowd of people who had invaded his apartment. “You're what?”

“We're staging an intervention, dumb-ass.” Genma poked the tall interrogator in the center of the chest. Hard.

“Don't touch me,” the scarred man snarled warningly. “I want all of you out of my apartment right now.”

“Uh . . . no,” Iruka shot back. “You will sit down, shut up and listen. That's an order, shinobi.”

Ibiki started to move forward, only to be grabbed by his upper arms and slammed into a waiting chair. “You're going to regret that,” he hissed. Yamato, however, remained unimpressed and even tightened his hold.

“I'm not afraid of you,” he declared boldly. “You're nothing but a bully and a coward. I heard about what you said to senpai today. If there weren't so many witnesses here I'd kill you myself.”

“Over a whore?” the interrogator spat contemptuously. “What sort of genjutsu has he cast on all of you? The man is a walking pocket of perversion. Not only are you not doing anything about it, you're on his side. I demand you order him to remove the tattoo on his neck.”

“Listen very carefully, you great oaf.” Itachi grasped the interrogator's chin in deceptively frail appearing fingers. “Kakashi-senpai adores you. At this moment I have no idea why. We're going to help you remember your life together and then you're going to go grovel at his feet and pray he'll take you back.”

“I will not.” Ibiki was almost apoplectic in his outrage. “You can't make me have feelings for someone.”

“That someone got you released from the dungeons in Rock,” Iruka remarked conversationally. “That's what his 'whoring ways' are all about, you know. They were mission assignments. Some of the worst I can possibly imagine, spread over decades. I doubt you would have survived what he has. I know I wouldn't have.”

“I never said he wasn't a talented ninja,” the interrogator grudgingly admitted. “I expected him to be named Hokage after Tsunade. But, apparently, the world has gone mad.”

“You're the one who turned the village on its ear.” Ibiki was shocked to see the dour Hyuuga Hiashi among the copy-nin's supporters. If anyone would be automatically on his side, he'd assumed that person would be the Hyuuga patriarch. After all, who else was more of a stickler for adhering to rules, regulations and tradition.

“Inoichi's going to help you retrieve your memories,” Hiashi continued smoothly. “Once they're restored I expect you'll head over to the hospital.”

“It will be a cold day in hell when I go visit that slut.” The scarred man crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes, stubbornly refusing to engage in the activity surrounding him.

“You can't just ignore us and hope we'll go away,” Genma insisted. “We've watched the two of you suffer for long enough.”

“I'm not suffering,” the interrogator insisted. “I'm perfectly content with my life. Or, I would be if you all would just leave me alone.”

“Bullshit,” the senbon sucker insisted. “You're angry and unfocused. Something isn't right but you can't figure out what. This won't be fun. It might even be painful. If it is you deserve it for the way you've acted.”

“The way I've acted?” Ibiki roared. “I'm not the one getting tattoos of his name.”

“Actually, you did,” Iruka informed him. “On your ass. It's what Kisame cut away when he attacked you. Now relax and try not to fight. Inoichi will be out of your head in no time.”

Before the interrogator could voice his protest the mind control specialist had invaded his thoughts and he slumped back in the chair, slack-jawed, while the silent watchers waited patiently.

* ^ * ^ *

Kakashi looked up in surprise when the door to his room slid open. “Hatake-san.”

“What brings you here tonight Neji?”

“Gai-sensei wanted me to come talk to you,” the stoic Hyuuga explained. “I am sorry to intrude.”

“I don't need looking after, Neji. But you're not intruding.”

“I don't understand.” Neji looked both confused and non-plussed. He wasn't used to being second guessed.

“Gai means well, but I'm sure you have better things to do with your evening. We'll be just fine,” the copy-nin assured him.

“I assure you I had no other plans. Sensei says I need practice relating to people. And who is this we you keep talking about? I don't see anyone here but you.”

“Well, let's see there's Obito over there in his crib.” Kakashi waved an arm in the direction of the slumbering infant. “And then there's this little princess waiting to be born,” he concluded as he stroked his swollen abdomen.

“Holy shit, you're pregnant?” Neji yelped.

“Gai didn't tell you? Wow, I'm impressed. He's getting better at keeping his mouth shut,” the copy-nin decided.

“Gai-sensei never speaks of you. Except in generalities, of course. You are his 'hip and cool rival' and 'in the springtime of your youth',” Neji explained seriously. “It's very confusing. He claims to admire you. But he cautions me not to become like you.”

“My life has been . . . difficult,” Kakashi reluctantly admitted. “I don't blame Gai for wishing to spare you.”

“And you're really pregnant?”

“Would you like to feel the baby kick?” The copy-nin grabbed a pale hand and pressed it to his abdomen, covering it with his larger calloused one to keep it in place.

“I used to be so jealous,” Neji blurted out nervously. “I wanted you to be my jounin-sensei. Instead you never took any students and I got stuck with Gai-sensei.”

“Gai is an excellent fit for you. He's the very best opponent for your family's techniques. He wouldn't let you rest on your laurels either. It's too easy for a genius to coast and stop developing.”

“He's very green,” Neji griped. “And awfully loud. You, though, you're the most successful jounin in the village's history. No one's lived through as many missions as you have. I was so sure you'd choose me to train. I pictured the look on my Uncle's face when I told him. Then they announced the teams and I was with Gai-sensei. I was so disappointed. I was sure that you 'd looked at us all and found us, found me, unworthy.”

“Hardly,” the copy-nin said. “The last thing on my mind was running a team. Sarutobi never pushed me to take one because he needed me free to send out. And Tsunade . . . well, I'm sure you've heard all about that.”

“Actually, no, I haven't,” Neji admitted. “Everyone's been very quiet about why you retired. I thought perhaps it was because of your marriage. Ibiki must like having you close to home.”

“Those missions you admire so much?” Kakashi said hoarsely. “My specialty is male seduction. That's why Gai wanted you to take another path. I'm just an old whore, Neji. You need to find someone else to look up to.”

“I've done seduction missions,” the younger man insisted. “Sensei, wasn't happy about it, but Tsunade used to send me out every couple months.”

“You were still a child,” the copy-nin hissed. “Gai knew about these missions?”

“I told him about them. He wanted to protest, but I refused. It wasn't so bad. Not worth shirking my duty over. Nothing compared to being from the branch family. That torture went on for years.”

“Are you always so stiff?” Kakashi asked. He scooted over in the bed and patted the surface next to him. “Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I promise not to bite.”

“Bite?” The Hyuuga gulped loudly. “Uh, no, uh, of course not.” He tentatively perched on the very edge of the bed.

“Relax,” the copy-nin insisted, hooking an arm around the stiff figure and pulling him back to sprawl against the pillows next to him. “Isn't that more comfortable?”

“Um, yes. I guess it is more comfortable.” He began to fidget nervously with his hair. “So . . . why did you want me here?”

“It's easier to talk to you like this, Neji.” Kakashi turned onto his side and ran his eye over the younger man, assessing his mental state before continuing. “Don't you like talking to me? It sounded like you've been waiting a long time for us to have this talk.”

“I'm sorry.” Neji bowed his head formally, keeping his eyes down as he continued. “I sound like some obsessive stalker. It isn't like that. It's just . . . you were so cool. Everything I wanted to be.”

“So, are you disappointed in the reality?”

“No, never.” Brown locks flew as he shook his head vigorously. “I thought you were hot even when we were sure you were hiding some horrible deformity behind that mask of yours.”

“Are you trying to seduce me, Neji?” The copy-nin tipped his head to the side, watching with satisfaction as a bright blush bloomed on the Hyuuga's pale cheeks.

“Of course not. You're a married man.” The protest was a bit too loud to be believed.

“It's alright,” Kakashi assured him. “My marriage is over. I'm officially at loose ends.”

“He left you?” Neji gasped in shock. “What kind of a fool leaves someone like you?”

“He's better off without me. You two would be good together,” the copy-nin ventured.

“Not interested,” Neji assured him. “So, have you had dinner? I can sneak something in from the real world.”