Questionable Loyalty

CHAPTER 59



“Actually, that would be my lover, not yours.” He slowly intoned. “Once, I told him, I promised him, and myself, that I would kill you if you ever hurt him. I always keep my promises.”



Iruka stared up at the red-head’s elegant, pale features, taking in the straight, pierced nose, the full lips, the fury simmering in his peculiar eyes and almost missed the black rod that emerged from his sleeve and comfortably fell into his hand.



“Which one of us hurt him more, I wonder?” he said, feeling ridiculously calm under the circumstances. “I, who was seduced and used by him, or you, who sent him here to do that. You, who poisoned his mind against us!”



The hand that held the rod began to tremble.



“How dare to speak to me like that!” Nagato angrily demanded.



“I dare because it is the truth!” Iruka yelled, looking up at the man as he was still sprawled on the dusty ground. “All that happened to him is your responsibility! You claimed to love him, and yet you asked of him to betray all that was dear to him, you sent him here to further your agenda, whatever it is, knowing perfectly well what would happen to him if he was discovered! His blood might stain my hands, but yours are soaked in it!”



The man roared in rage at those words and swung the rod at him. Iruka saw the sharp tip descend towards him and closed his eyes in acceptance of his impending doom, only to hear the distinctly familiar sound of a teleportation, smell the ozone scent of the cloud that accompanied it and hear the clang of metal striking metal.



When he dared to open his eyes he saw that Naruto stood above him, proud and defiant, dressed in a red robe similar to the one that Namikaze Minato used to wear, his Kunai blocking the attack of the Akatsuki leader.



“Are you alright, Iruka-sensei?” Naruto asked without turning back.



He nodded before realizing that Naruto couldn’t see that, so cleaned his throat and said:



“Yes.”



“Good. Run. Take cover. I will deal with him.”



Iruka swallowed again and got to his feet, following his former student’s order. Still, he didn’t go very far, opting to hide behind a large mound of rubble and watch the developing battle. There they stood, two men, so similar and yet so different in appearance, equally determined and, it seemed, equally powerful, like the two sides of a coin, mirror images of what was and what could have been, had their fates been exchanged.



He watched them talk for a little while, equally incensed, equally angry, he watched them fight, full of pride at Naruto’s progress as a Ninja as he dealt with the additional bodies which appeared. He was already on the same level of the late Jiraiya, so fast, smart and powerful, taking the red-head’s attacks head on and not even flinching.



Iruka’s heart sank though, when the Leader finally managed to get the upper hand, at a great cost to himself – all of his additional puppet bodies gone, destroyed by Naruto. It hadn’t been enough to stop him, no, not nearly enough, because now his student lay on the ground, pinned by those horrifying black rods, the man crouching next to him and talking to him. Desperate, he pulled out a Kunai and foolishly ran towards them, but he was far, too far away to be able to do anything but to watch as the man, Nagato, prepared to take Naruto away. Or he would’ve done so, if it hadn’t been for Hinata.



Where had that girl come from? She had stopped Nagato’s attack, foolishly put herself between the Leader and the incapacitated Naruto, even if she must’ve known that she had no chance against someone this powerful.



And truly, he swatted her away as if she was a fly, struck her down with one of the rods without even looking at her, all of his attention focused on Naruto. He said something to the blonde and then all hell broke loose.



Nagato didn’t aim specifically for any vital points when he struck the foolish girl down. She wasn’t of any importance, but her fierce determination to protect her friend at whatever the cost reminded him painfully of Konan. It made him hesitate, for fraction of a second, before he diverted his blow and the Chakra rod pierced her body in a way that wouldn’t kill her immediately. He had struck her down to make a point, to try and force the Jinchuuriki to understand what personal loss was, to shatter the idealistic glasses through which he saw the world around him.



He didn’t aim, though, for setting the Kyuubi loose. When the dark, menacing Chakra exploded around the blonde’s body, Nagato regretted his decision to hurt the girl. His aim had been to crush Naruto’s spirit, not break him so utterly that the Bijuu would take control. This was going to be a problem, no matter how powerful he was.



The Kyuubi quickly proved him right, throwing him around as if he was but a rag doll, small and almost helpless in the face of such rage and might.



There was nothing else to do but to flee, to leave Konoha and bring Yahiko’s body closer to the source of his power, where he would be able to have fuller control and divert more of his Chakra to the actual fighting rather than simply using it to control the puppet form.



And yet, no matter how much he struggled, the Kyuubi seemed unstoppable, tearing through the Chibaku Tensei itself.



And then, all of a sudden, Kyuubi’s form disappeared, and the Jinchuuriki appeared again, healed, whole, and all under control.



Iruka followed the leader and… Kyuubi, as they fled the village, despite his raw fear of the Bijuu, despite the horrific memories that cropped up at the sight of his nightmarish image. None of it mattered. All that was important was that Naruto was somewhere in there, under all that rage and power, and if there was even the slightest chance to get that back, he had to do follow him, regardless of the risks he took by doing so.



Even he, though, hadn’t expected for Naruto to regain his senses on his own, suppressing the vast power of the Bijuu again, standing, or rather, hanging upside down from the enormous ball of earth and rocks that the Akatsuki leader created in order to attempt to contain the Kyuubi.



Iruka watched, with delight, as his student finally dealt with the man, delivering a killing blow. He finally dared to emerge from the trees and approached Naruto as his former student stood over his fallen enemy.



The Chuunin walked up and stood next to him, reaching to put his hand on his shoulder, feeling the slight tremors that ran through his muscles. His hand tightened.



“It’s over.” He said softly.



“No.” Naruto answered. “This was a puppet. I need to come face to face with the puppeteer.”



Silently, Iruka watched as Naruto reached and tore out one of the black rods from the still body and impaled his arm on it, stifling a moan of pain. He was silent for a moment before saying:



“I found him.”



“I will come with you.”



“Iruka-sensei…”



“I am coming, Naruto.” Iruka said firmly. “I too need to ask him a few questions.”



Naruto’s blue eyes darkened sadly.



“I understand.”



It turned out that the puppeteer wasn’t all that far away from the current location, hidden in a small niche on top of a high hill overlooking Konoha. Naruto led as they carefully walked among the thick vegetation, finally reaching the small clearing and coming face to face with the real Nagato.



Iruka blinked. That wasn’t what he had been imagining after finding out from Jiraiya’s coded message that the Nagato on the video was just a puppet. Actually, he wasn’t sure what exactly he had been imagining, but this sure wasn’t it.



It was a gaunt, frail man, strapped to a large machine, numerous Chakra rods emerging from his emaciated body, limp dark-red hair hanging around his bony face. Kakashi had fallen in love with this? It was mind-boggling, but Iruka, regardless of his bitterness, wasn’t so shallow to believe that lust and love were the same thing.



“Not what you expected, am I?” The gaunt man said, his voice a weak, hoarse whisper, nothing like the deep, velvety baritone of the main puppet body. Iruka shook his head.



“No.”



“Sorry to disappoint you.”



“Enough of this crap!” Naruto said sharply and took a step forward. “The only reason why you still draw breath is because I made a promise. I promised that I would give you a chance to explain yourself, rather than kill you outright.”



‘A promise?’ Iruka thought, surprised ‘To whom?’



The man appeared to ponder on his words for a while, his eyes moving from Iruka to Naruto and then back to Iruka.



“Didn’t you learn anything from what I already told you?” he said quietly. “Even if you understand someone’s motives, this does not automatically lead to mercy, or forgiveness, or peace. Why should I tell you anything?”



“Because Jiraiya believed in that. Because if we all adopted his beliefs, we could make this world a better place. Isn’t this what you want too?” Naruto asked, sounding weary for the first time since the start of the battle.



“Peace can never be a permanent thing in this wretched world, Naruto. Peace is but a short respite, a breath of fresh air before the foul waters of war close over our heads again.”



“That is a very defeatist view, don’t you think?” Iruka remarked. “Is this what Kakashi believed in? I can hardly believe that he chose to betray us all in return for a temporary solution.”



That made the other man quiet down for a while, his strange eyes hooded and distant.



“You are right about that.” He said finally. “He believed that it could be so much more.”



“Tell us then. Tell us why you did all that you did. If not to us, then you owe it to him.”



“Will you get him out of that place, after I tell you?” Nagato asked softly. He was tired, so tired, he felt as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and it was crushing him, because he was too weak and spent. He had no strength left to argue.



“What place?” Naruto asked tentatively.



“The dungeon where we last saw him.” Iruka answered softly.



“He’s still there?! I thought he’d be moved to a jail by now.”



Iruka looked away.



“So they haven’t told you what they’ve done to him.” Nagato stated before focusing on Iruka “But you know. Why didn’t you do anything to stop it? He wronged you greatly, yes, but wasn’t there at least a shred of basic human mercy left in you?” He didn’t sound angry anymore, just sad and tired and defeated. Iruka closed his eyes.



“I learned after the fact. I stopped it as soon as I found out but… it was too late.”



“Too late?” both Naruto and Nagato echoed.



“Iruka-sensei, what do you mean too late?!”



“Have they killed him, you bastard?!”



Iruka shook his head.



“He’s alive. But…” he sighed “There are some things worse than death. How did you know what was done to him?”



“Iruka-sensei, what are you talking about?!” Naruto demanded, but they both ignored him.



“I found out when I looked into the mind of the bastard your superiors sent to torture and rape him.” Nagato stated.



The blonde looked shocked.



“Ra-…No, I don’t believe you!” He exclaimed.



“Why, boy? Do you still live with the illusion that your village is all good and noble and humane, rather than face the cold, hard truth about it?”



Naruto had nothing to say to that.



“Alright. I will tell you my story. Perhaps then you will believe me about all the things I told you about your village.”



And he began to speak.



Iruka listened, even though sometimes he wanted to leave, bile rising in his throat as he listened to the man describe his childhood in his war-torn little country, the indifference, the violence done to him and to his people by the invaders, be they Iwa or Konoha Nins. He listened and more often than not he wanted to exclaim that it wasn’t true, that his comrades weren’t capable of such deeds. The part about Jiraiya-sama was a gulp of fresh air, quiet admiration for the character of a man who had dumped everything to care for three orphans, only to be revolted even more at the treachery and cruelty perpetrated by one of their own. In his heart, Iruka knew that all of it was true and even though he didn’t want to, he began to understand the other man’s bitterness and desperate need for a change. Still, he couldn’t accept the means through which that change would be realized, and nor could he believe that Kakashi had agreed to such things.



That explanation came a little later, when Nagato spoke of the creation of Akatsuki as it was now, and Kakashi’s capture. He alluded to even greater atrocities perpetrated by Konoha but refused to give any details, claiming that they weren’t his secrets to tell, finally telling Naruto to ask Sasuke when he met him.



He also told them of his relationship with Kakashi, of the love that had grown between them, two souls who had suffered so much loss in their life, both of them searching for love, for understanding, for support and finding it in each other.



Iruka wondered how could whatever he felt for Kakashi be compared to that. Could he, if he was ever put in Kakashi’s place, accept a lover who looked the way this man did? Iruka couldn’t answer that, not even to himself. He hoped that he would be able to, but between hope and conviction there was a great difference.



He understood now, though, why Kakashi had risked it all for this man, why he had held fast against the men who tortured him without mercy and kept his secrets. He couldn’t help but admire the strength of such love, even if it meant that he had never had any chance with the other man.



Naruto too seemed to understand what Nagato told him, even if it was obvious that he was still angry, that he still wanted, to put it not so politely, bash his face in. He stood there, his head bent, his fists curled by his sides, furious tears sliding down his marked cheeks.



“Even after all that you told me, I cannot forgive you. I can’t. What you did, it cannot be forgiven, no matter how wronged you were. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”



Silence filled the space between them.



“What answer would you give then, to the question I asked you earlier? How would you change the world into something better than what it is now?” The red-head demanded.



“By believing in what Jiraiya taught me. What he taught us both. I can make this world a better place by teaching it mercy, by finding mercy in my own heart. It was a lesson that you stopped believing in, even though I cannot condemn you for it, not after what you told me. You see, the difference between you and me is that I can still believe that there is goodness in people, even after all that you did – to Jiraya, to the villagers, to Kakashi and to me. I will show you mercy, even if you have shown us none.”



Iruka expected an angry outburst from the other man, but no such thing followed. If anything, he seemed pensive, humbled.



“You won’t kill me? Even after I killed so many of those who were your friends and family?”



“Yes. I will spare you, and Kakashi. I will let you both go, if you give me your word that you will leave Akatsuki and you will allow me to take on your, no our dreams. Yours, Jiraiya’s, and mine.”



“You will just let him go?” Iruka said dubiously.



“Yes. He has been defeated, and if he chooses to go back on his words, Sensei, I will defeat him again. But I need to start now, and I need to be consistent, if I am to follow Jiraiya’s ways. Please, understand that, Sensei.” Naruto said and turned to look at him, his blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I need to show mercy to him, to my greatest enemy, if I am to learn to show mercy to the smaller ones. Do you understand?”



Iruka nodded.



“Thank you, Naruto.” Nagato said quietly and they both turned to look at him. “Thank you for reminding me that there are still good people in this world, even if I don’t deserve your mercy.”



Naruto frowned.



“I am not doing it for you.” He stated.



“I know. But you will truly let us go? Kakashi as well?”



“Yes.”



“Then, I have a request.”



“I don’t think that you are in the position to make any…” Iruka began angrily, but Nagato continued:



“I need Yahiko’s body. My original body is too weak now, I spent too much energy to fight you. I won’t be able to carry Kakashi, even strapped to the machine as I am.”



“Yahiko? You mean, the body I last fought in the forest? That was your friend!?” Naruto exclaimed.



“Yes. He was my first vessel, and my most cherished one. It was the only thing left of my first love, and I couldn’t let go of him.”



Iruka and Naruto looked at each other, then the Chuunin shrugged.



“Very well. I will go and bring it to you. What do you need it for, exactly?”



“For a ritual.” Nagato said “I will give something in return to Naruto-san for his mercy.”