Escort

VII.

Iruka was panicking. He knew he shouldn’t be, because the panic would only set off Kakashi’s alarm bells, but he couldn’t help it. He suspected Ruka. Kakashi suspected Ruka and he didn’t know how close to the truth he’d been when he compared Ruka to Iruka. They were the same person after all! Iruka felt a little proud that his disguise, his Oiroke no Jutsu, had fooled Kakashi. But for how long he didn’t know. Kakashi was a genius but most of all he was first and foremost a -jounin- and jounin were naturally suspicious of everything. Iruka always left the Abeko at a run, since he lingered until dark, helping clean up the restaurant with Yutenji-san, the Abeko’s co-owner, and Ukiyo. Iruka wanted to like Yutenji, as the man was careful about who he let into the back rooms, and he protected the waitresses when men tried to get some unlisted dessert from them. He didn’t talk much to the waitresses, but then, he was only there to make sure everything ran perfectly and without a hitch. Yutenji even snuck the girls in some candy or rice cakes he managed to acquire, and didn’t complain if the girls took breaks longer than they were supposed to. He truly did want to like the other man, but there was something about him that set off warning bells in Iruka’s head. A good ninja took heed of those warning bells; an excellent ninja listened and became suspicious. Iruka almost missed the shadow that passed above him as he turned the corner toward the apartment Shigure had rented for him, pausing and shivering, acting the part of a scared girl in the bad part of town. Anyone watching wouldn’t know the difference between his action and his true intention. He started moving again at an easy jog this time and he saw his follower. He swallowed and fought the urge to just bolt. Kakashi was following him, following Ruka, because he suspected something. Did he know? Had he figured it out? Iruka fought the panic down. He couldn’t panic because that’s what would only confirm Kakashi’s suspicions. Ruka would run home because it was dark and the neighbourhood wasn’t safe during that time, so Kakashi couldn’t attack her for answers because he'd be taken down by a single scream from Ruka. A woman screaming at night, here in the lower city, was like a mating call to those who wanted to play hero to get a little bit of hero worship from the rescued lady. Usually, the man who made the woman scream was often stoned or beat to death. Iruka climbed the stairs to his apartment and fumbled for his key, humming a children’s song as he did. He opened the door, stepped inside, closed and locked the door behind him before pulling off his jacket. Kakashi would probably find a way in, he was sure, but he wouldn’t risk it, not while Ruka was awake. Iruka moved to his bedroom to set out his pajamas and get ready for a shower, pulling his charm bag from his pocket. He studied the thing as he would a gift from a lover, and picked up a towel to take into the bathroom. He closed the door and pulled the blinds down over the window, pulling off his kimono and setting that, the towel, and the charm on the sink counter before starting the bath. He listened to what was happening in his apartment, and heard nothing but silence as he stepped under the spray.

When he stepped out, he wrapped himself in the towel and tied the charm bag to his wrist, gathering up his kimono and stepping out of the bathroom. His apartment hadn’t been touched. No, it had. The lamp by the eastern window of the den had been nearly knocked over and then replaced. Iruka shivered and hurried to dry and dress. If Kakashi were in here, he’d be attacked as soon as he was decent. Kakashi was many things, but he at least gave a victim the chance to make him or herself as decent as possible before they were attacked. Of course, it was a very small window of opportunity, and Iruka wasn’t going to waste it. He almost forgot to enact the Oiroke, but knew Kakashi would feel the flux of jutsu and closed his eyes. He should’ve enacted it in the shower. The water would’ve diluted the power just enough to go unnoticed and, well, no use crying over spilled milk, right?

Iruka pulled on his pajamas and moved to turn out all the lights, settling in bed beneath the covers. He fell asleep with the distinct notion he was being watched.

Kakashi was sitting outside the window of the bedroom, indeed watching Ruka sleep. When she’d disappeared into the bathroom, he’d lost sight of her. He supposed the fates hated him because he would’ve been able to see Ruka naked. With her vulnerable like that, certain suspicions would be assuaged. Instead, he’d missed something and he felt it had been important. When Ruka rolled toward his view, he sighed in disappointment. There was no telltale scar across her face, so she was most certainly not Iruka. But she could still know where he was. Akiko had told him Iruka’s scent began and ended here, so Iruka had been here and recently. Kakashi’s thought processes jumped a bit. Could Iruka be Ruka’s partner in whatever mission he was on? Maybe she was a contact, the insider. Or maybe she was his lover. They were suited for each other. The second option was much more likely than the first and so Ruka must be Iruka’s lover.

Which meant she had to go, because Iruka belonged to him. No one else could have him.

But she could have her uses first. If he seduced her, maybe that would draw Iruka out. Iruka could be possessive and Kakashi knew this because of the chuunin exams, how Iruka had wanted to test Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura before they even began the test. It made Kakashi feel angry that Iruka didn’t trust him to properly teach his genin, but Iruka had practically raised Naruto and the other two held a special place in his heart, so Kakashi had understood. He’d let the chuunin test the genin until he was satisfied and after that had come the silence. If he took Iruka’s woman, perhaps he’d get that silence again until Iruka decided to get over it. But he couldn’t enter the apartment now. He’d scare the woman to death and if she died then his chance of finding Iruka was close to nil.

So he watched her until dawn when she woke up and got about her day.

He left her briefly to get breakfast for him and his loyal Akiko, who’d slept beneath Ruka’s window playing guard dog. As he watched Ruka prepare to leave her home, an idea came to him. He couldn’t keep an eye on Ruka, but his furry companion could. Akiko could keep Ruka company and report to him on her. But he’d have to get Akiko to meet Ruka and get Ruka to keep her, somehow. He followed Ruka to the market, watching her buy food for her apartment, and it occurred to him today was her day off from work. Perfect. Kakashi slipped into an alley and called Akiko to his side, crouching down to tangle his hands in the husky’s scruff and pet her.

“I need you to follow Ruka around,”

“You can’t be serious,” Akiko replied, tail swishing back and forth. Her master’s gaze, though, told her he was completely serious. She sighed. “All right.”

"Good," Kakashi stroked the husky’s forehead, smiling. “I’ll make a situation, you rescue her.”

Akiko's tail tick-tocked once and she got to her paws, trotting out into the crowd to catch up to Ruka. The girl was meeting with a boy now, the two speaking in low tones that even she couldn’t hear from the distance she was at, but her ears pricked up anyway. The boy seemed to be a person of interest, certainly. A loud explosion rocked the marketplace, sending people screaming, Even Akiko looked over at the direction of the explosion, watching who she knew was her master running away from the scene and toward Ruka, who now stood alone. Akiko blinked in confusion; she hadn’t even seen the boy leave! Ruka gasped as the arsonist ran at her, only to be stopped by a snarling husky, the dog baring her teeth and snapping as the arsonist tried to grab the girl, biting onto the arsonist’s outstretched arm. Silently, Akiko apologized to Kakashi, but she felt this needed to look real.

She also considered the bite punishment, or revenge, take your pick, because what he was doing was such a dumbass thing to do. Honestly, if Kakashi wanted to call attention to himself, all he had to do was pull out whatever volume of Icha Icha he had at the present moment. He didn't need to waste precious chakra, nor exploding tags. Idiot.

The local yakuza and authorities soon took down the arsonist, and by that time, Kakashi had already pulled a kawarimi no jutsu, and gotten away. Ruka had run too, so Akiko followed the girl’s scent to an alleyway where the girl was catching her breath. Akiko whined quietly, looking up at the brunette girl and faking a limp as she came closer to her. Ruka jumped a bit before she turned to look at the white dog, her expression softening. Ruka crouched then, holding her hand out to the canine, which Akiko snuffled and licked as any stray looking for a home would do. Ruka’s hands were gentle as they slid through Akiko's fur, down to her supposedly injured paw. Akiko’s nose was assaulted with all sorts of scents; Ruka’s own, those from the street, the restaurant, and the scent of a foreign chakra. It didn’t make any sense to her, but she filed that away to tell Kakashi later. Right now, she needed to go home with Ruka and stay there.

“You poor thing,” Ruka whispered, stroking the dog’s injured leg as the canine pressed closer to her, seeking attention. Akiko thought her acting well done, because Ruka did her best to pick her up to keep her from walking on her injured paw, but when that failed, Ruka did her best to help her walk home to the apartment. Akiko settled herself on the couch and let Ruka wrap her paw, and sighed in mock relief. She winced at one point, when Ruka’s back was turned, because she certainly wasn’t acting the part of a real canine with a canine’s intelligence. She had to remember that she couldn’t act intelligent and constantly remind herself of that. Her brothers would make fun of her if they knew she had to act stupid, especially when she was the brains on most of the missions they were called for, with the exception of Pakkun. He was one of the smart ones and the voice of reason most of the time. No wonder Kakashi chose her for this; She, at least, would follow along against her better judgment and regret it in hindsight. Ruka scratched the dog’s ears and moved into the kitchen to put away her groceries. Iruka didn’t know what he’d just done by bringing Akiko into his home, an innocent love for animals potentially ruining his entire mission. Still, as Iruka waited for night to fall, he watched the dog sleep on his couch, unable to tell the difference between a sleeping dog and a waiting ninja dog. Akiko felt bad for deceiving the girl like this, but when darkness fell, Akiko opened her eyes to see Ruka -- but it couldn’t be Ruka, because this was decidedly male -- dressed in black, pulling a mask over his face. She’d missed any telling details to report to Kakashi and mentally kicked herself a little bit. The male moved over to her and crouched to scratch Akiko’s muzzle.

“I’ll be back,” the man whispered, and disappeared in a puff of smoke and burning ozone. Akiko jumped to her feet and trotted to the window, flipping the latch of the window with her paw to let her master in. Once she’d made her report, Kakashi was off in a flash, chasing after the mystery male. Akiko wondered, after a moment, if she’d made the right decision in letting Kakashi get a whiff of the chakra trail and then run off after the man. Well, it wasn’t like she couldn’t call him back now, anyway.

She also wondered why Iruka needed to hide behind the guise of a woman, but that bit of information Akiko had kept to herself. Iruka had to have a good reason to be using that sort of disguise and she was sure part of that reason had to deal with a certain silver haired jounin Akiko called master. Kakashi needed to learn on his own the right way to court his chosen mate. After all, Iruka was full of fire, and Kakashi needed to learn that some fires, especially the fires on which life was based, weren’t meant to be doused.