Break the Seal

Note: I know how worried you all were about Iruka, and now he’s getting some help. Thanx again for all the kind reviews, and I hope you like where this is going.

Chapter Eight: A Way Out


Kakashi reached for Iruka’s doorknob, hesitating before turning it. He knew something was terribly wrong inside the apartment, and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to see it or not. But he had to know if Iruka was okay, and taking a deep breath he opened the door, being hit immediately with the pungent stench of blood. He stepped in slowly, taking in his surroundings. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but the smell told him other wise.

“Iruka-sensei, are you here? Are you alright?” He didn’t get an answer, but he heard a muffled gasp coming from the back of the apartment. He walked to a bedroom door and pushed it open. What he saw twisted his stomach.

Iruka was tied to his bed, blood and semen pooled around him. His skin was pale and almost iridescent in the light spilling from his window, bringing out the almost black cuts on his marred chest. He looked to be in immeasurable pain, his breath coming in short, fitful gasps and his eyes shifting madly behind his lids. Stifling a horrified gasp Kakashi ran to his side, withdrawing a kunai to cut the chuunin’s bonds.

Iruka moaned as his hands fell onto the bed, and Kakashi picked him up to cradle him in his arms. He started to mumble incoherent calming sounds as he brushed back Iruka’s sweat drenched hair. Blood began to stain Kakashi’s clothes and seeping to touch his skin, but he didn’t even notice as tears of malice rose in his eyes. Someone had raped the poor chuunin, and quite savagely. Kakashi couldn’t figure who would want to do such a thing to a kind man like Iruka. He was harmless, the most kind and gentle soul he had ever met. He would make sure the man who did would not only pay with their life, but with a very large amount of screaming and blood.

Kakashi scooped Iruka into his arms, wrapping him in the bed sheets to cover his broken body. The jounin walked to the door when he heard Iruka mumbling in his sleep. “... must help....” Kakashi cocked an eye. Help? Help who? Kakashi figured Iruka was talking about himself, and he muttered lovingly into the chuunins’s ear, “It’s okay Iruka. I’m here now, and I’ll never leave again.” Before placing a chaste kiss on Iruka’s forehead. Again Kakashi vowed revenge, and he hastily made his way to the hospital, sprinting all the way there.

~*~*~*~
(Around the same time Kakashi finds Iruka)


“Dammit, where is Kakashi? I asked him to be here over an hour ago.” Said Tsunade out loud to herself. She needed to give Kakashi the scroll she had found, and he was being late? The man would never learn. Sighing and rubbing her temples she gazed at the scroll once again. She had read it several times since finding it, and every time she did it made her feel sad for Kakashi. It wasn’t really like her to do so, but she could sense the emotion seeped into every word. She never realized Kakashi’s tastes had run that way, but it really wasn’t all that surprising. He was a very attractive man, from what she could tell, and could have anyone he pleased. Including it seemed the great fourth Hokage. She wondered idly what it was like between the two. Yondaime had been his sensei after all, and if they had been found out they would have been shunned. Was it really worth it just so they could be together? Yondaime should have known better.

She wondered what would possess Yondaime to seek the comfort of a man, but quickly banished the thought. Something such as this was best left unsaid, and as big a gossip as she was, she would hold her tongue if not just for Kakashi and Yondaime’s sakes. They deserved that much.

Jerking herself from her thoughts her eyes rove lazily back to the neatly rolled scroll sitting only inches from her hand. She debated reading it again, but soon gave out as she reached for the parchment. Her hand quickly pulled back when she heard shouting in the hall, and rising from her chair she was met by a panicked knock at her door.

“Come in.” She said hastily. A young jounin flung open the door and ran into her office, flustered and covered in dirt. “Hokage-sama, there’s a disturbance outside. Several enemy ninja are attacking, but every time we take one down they turn to sand. An enemy is close by, and we require your assistance.” Tsunade furrowed her brows in worry but nodded, and was ushered out before she could grab the scroll on her desk. She assumed it would be alright, and walked past the unfamiliar jounin to deal with the new threat.

He bowed as she passed, and smiled wickedly as she disappeared down the hall. Mizuki dropped the spell in a cloud of vapor, and walked confidently into her office, closing the door behind him. Strolling over to her desk his grin widened, and he picked up the scroll laughing to himself. The fools of Konoha were too easy; they’d jump up to any threat to their dear village no matter how small it was. Gently he unwound the scroll, too curious to it’s contents no to. He never was one to follow orders, and didn’t consider himself to a servant to the Kazekage. He played by his own rules, and in time would kill every single Kage to get what he wanted.

His amused smirk soon turned into a devious grin as he continued to read the graceful kanji belonging to the fourth Hokage. “So, Kakashi-sensei was banging the Yondaime. Very interesting, but I really should be going now. Things to do... people to kill.” He then rewound the scroll, and tucking into his vest pocket he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Outside the enemy dopplegangers vanished, and Tsunade looked confused as they all turned back to sand. Why would they suddenly disappear? Unless.... Cursing to herself she ran back inside, and ran into her office to find the jutsu scroll for Kakashi had been stolen. Berating herself for falling for such an obvious ploy she called for the jounin to sweep the building and surrounding area, thought she knew it was already too late.

~*~*~*~

Kakashi lay half bent over on the hospital bed, holding Iruka’s hand in both of his as the heart monitor bleeped consistently in the corner. Iruka had suffered major blood loss, and had gone into shock. The doctors were surprised he was even still alive to be left in his condition unattended to for so long. Kakashi’s eye was shining with unshed tears of anger, and his grip tightened unconsciously on Iruka’s hand at the thought of someone violating him so ruthlessly. He had never been so livid in all his life, and never had he felt the need to kill someone so slowly as to be able to visibly see their life force flow out of them. He wanted to kill whoever had done this, and would be searching for the bastard now if not for Iruka’s still critical state.

Sighing Kakashi laid his head down onto the bed, gazing up into Iruka’s pale face. His lips had taken on an almost purple hew, and black bruises began to rim his eyes. Kakashi finally let a tear slip. If he hadn’t been such a fool none of this might have happened. If he would have just given in to Iruka’s advances then he would have been there to protect him. But then he might have died, and to Kakashi both outcomes seemed infinitely unfair, although he had brought it upon himself. He would have removed that damn jutsu long ago if he only knew how, but the signs to break it were unknown in this day and age. Kakashi doubted one had even ever existed.

Just as the jounin felt himself start to fall asleep to Iruka’s now even breathing, he heard the chuunin cry out in his slumber. Raising a wide eye to his friend, Kakashi waited for Iruka to utter more. The chuunin rolled his head around on his pillow, his eyes straining behind his lids. Kakashi sat closer to Iruka, and ran a gloved hand down the other man’s face to try and console him. It didn’t work, and Iruka cried out a name from his nightmare. “M.... Mizuki.... why...” Kakashi’s brows narrowed. Mizuki? He had heard the name somewhere before, but he couldn’t place it. Why would Iruka be saying that name? Then suddenly it dawned on Kakashi; Mizuki had been the coward that was banished from Konoha some years ago, right before he had started teaching Naruto and the kids. He was a chuunin like Iruka, and a fellow teacher who had attempted to trick Naruto into stealing a forbidden jutsu only to be beaten by Iruka and Naruto. So the bastard came back for revenge. Kakashi snarled at the sound of the man’s name, which was like a poisonous curse coursing through his mind. He would kill him, and make sure this time there was nothing left to banish.

With a flame of hatred burning in Kakashi’s eye, he gently kissed Iruka’s hand before placing it lovingly back at his side. “I promise Iruka, he will get what is coming to him, and I’ll make sure he does not lay a finger on Naruto.” Iruka didn’t react to Kakashi’s heartfelt words, but the jounin knew the chuunin had heard him. Taking one last glance back at the broken man, Kakashi stepped of his room only to be met with two sparkling blue eyes belonging to his Hokage.

He very quickly he tried to cover the hatred he sure was visible in his eye, and looked at Tsunade questioningly. She took a step back from Kakashi, not really knowing why. He seemed.... dangerous at the moment, and she wondered if she should tell him about the scroll at all. The she noticed his vest had a large black stain on the front, and she hoped he wasn’t injured.

Kakashi stared blankly at Tsunade, and when she didn’t say anything, he said, “What is it Hokage-sama. I have something I need to take care of, so if you have something to say, say it.” The tone in which he spoke was cold and dismissive, and Tsunade ignored it just this once knowing that getting upset with him now would be foolish. “I needed to tell you something. Why weren’t you in my office this morning?” Kakashi just cocked his head, surprised that she didn’t know. “Iruka was badly beaten last night. I found him in his apartment and had to bring him here.” He said this in such a detached manner that it worried Tsunade, and her eyes went soft at the news. “I am very sorry. I didn’t know. Is he alright?”

“He’ll live.” Was all Kakashi said as he went to move past her. Tsunade turned around to see Kakashi walking away, and said, “I know about Yondaime.” That made the jounin stop in his tracks, and with a threatening look in his eye he said, “What about Yondaime?” She swallowed hard as she outwardly kept her composure. “He left something for you in the archives, and I found it last night. It’s a letter from him, with some sort of seal breaking jutsu at the bottom.” Kakashi’s visible eye went wide in shock. A seal breaking jutsu? “Where is it?” It came out as a sharp demand, and Tsunade flinched mentally at it. “It was stolen this morning. A distraction was staged outside of the building, and was taken during the commotion.” Kakashi thought for a moment before asking, “What kind of commotion?”

“Sand dopplegangers.” Kakashi nodded. So he was dealing with a sand nin, eh? It didn’t matter what kind of tricks Mizuki had, the end result would be his still beating heart clutched in his hand. “Thanks for the information. I’ll see you later.” And with that he turned back around, sticking his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the building. Tsunade thought she had done the right thing, but now Kakashi was on a rampage of revenge, and an out of control Copy Nin was not something she desired to deal with, but she herself didn’t want to feel his personal wrath for stopping him. Leaning against the wall with her arms folded over her chest she sighed heavily. She hoped Kakashi knew what he was doing.

~*~*~*~

Naruto slurped happily at his ramen as an annoyed Sasuke delicately placed the hot noodles into his mouth. Today was one of their few days off, and they decided to spend the whole day with each other. Naruto was happy as a clam, and though Sasuke refused to admit it, he was too. The pair sat at the Ichiraku, chatting between gulps of ramen as they were watched from afar.

Mizuki cursed under his breath for the hundredth time that day as he stared at the two ninja from his tree perch. He hoped he could somehow catch Naruto alone, but no such luck. The Uchiha boy stuck very close to his lover, and that proved to be a very annoying problem for Mizuki. Though Mizuki was strong, he doubted that he would come out unscathed from a battle with the famous Uchiha Sasuke. The boy was not to be trifled with.

Mizuki tried to get closer, hoping that maybe he could sneak up Naruto disguised as maybe Kakashi or Sasuke and take him to a more.... secluded area. He licked his lips at the thought of the little fox screaming in pain, but stopped his deviant thoughts in their tracks as a familiar grey haired nin approached the two boys.

Kakashi took a seat next to Naruto, surprising the young man into jovially greeting his former sensei with a mouth full of ramen, unknowingly splattering Kakashi’s vest with bits of stray noodle. Sasuke nodded in turn to the Copy Nin before returning to his own bowl. Naruto noticed that Kakashi looked tired, and to be spaced out more than usual. Slurping his last bit of lunch, Naruto turned to the jounin, his large cerulean eyes filled with worry.

“Kakashi-sensei, what’s wrong? You seem kind of down.” Kakashi was unsure whether to tell the boy about Iruka’s condition, or the extent of it. It would just break Naruto’s heart, but he knew if he didn’t tell his former student now, the little blonde would make him pay later.

“Naruto, something’s happened to Iruka-sensei.” Naruto’s worried glance increased ten fold, and the look in the jounin’s eye wasn’t making it any better. “What happened to Iruka-sensei? Is he ok?” Naruto then noticed the drying blood splattering Kakashi’s vest, and his heart skipped several beats. Kakashi sighed as he placed an arm over Naruto’s shoulder, knowing the outburst that would soon follow. “He was.... badly injured, and is at the hospital in critical condition.” Naruto’s eyes went wide with anger and sadness, and he tried desperately to get free of Kakashi’s grip. “Let me go dammit! I need to see him!” Kakashi roughly pulled Naruto to him, encasing the blonde boy in a tight embrace. Sasuke looked on as his lover cried in anguish, his own eyes somewhat glazed in trepidation.

“Why won’t you let me go see Iruka-sensei?” Naruto whimpered into Kakashi’s vest, knowing that fighting the jounin was pointless. Kakashi stroked his hair, and said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Because Mizuki is back.” Naruto pulled away from the jounin in shock, his mind knowing everything Kakashi implicated with just the man’s name. “Is he the one who hurt Iruka-sensei?” Kakashi nodded almost unnoticeably, and new tears sprung to Naruto’s eyes. “That bastard, I’ll make him pay for this!” Yelled Naruto as he tightly clenched his fists. His pupils began to slowly slit, and the markings on his face began to widen as he let his anger take hold of him. Sasuke panicked at the sight, knowing full well what would happen if Naruto lost control. He hastily grabbed Naruto from behind, and hugged him to himself, cooing in his ear. “It’s okay Naruto, Kakashi will deal with Mizuki. Let’s go to the hospital to see Iruka-sensei.”

Naruto immediately calmed at Sasuke’s even voice, and he cried as he turned to hug his lover. Sasuke gave Kakashi a look over Naruto’s shoulder that said, ‘I’ll look after Naruto. Go take care of the son of a bitch.’ Kakashi knew Sasuke was more than adept at defending Naruto if need be, and nodded his acquiescence as he rose from his seat, patting Naruto on the head as he walked past the boys. Naruto looked after the Copy Nin, and thanked him silently for taking on Mizuki for him and Iruka.

This was damned inconvenient. Kakashi was becoming a real nuisance, and Mizuki knew he had to take care of the jounin before he could proceed further. Mizuki sent out a wave of his chakra to catch Kakashi’s attention. The Copy Nin stopped in his tracks, immediately picking up on the unfamiliar signature, and frowned as he vanished into thin air. Mizuki smiled to himself as he left just as quickly, luring Kakashi with his chakra deep into a forest nearby so he cold deal with the jounin without being interrupted.

A/N: Well, there you have it, chapter eight. Forgive me if I got the whole ‘Naruto is still dealing with the kyuubi’ thing wrong. I haven’t seen the end of the series, so I don’t know if he alleviates the problem later or not. If it’s off, please tell me and I’ll fix it. Otherwise I hope you like it, and the climax is coming soon. I thing maybe two more chaps to go before it’s all over. How will it end? Will it be happy or tragic? Only I (and Irukichan) know that. Thanks again, and see ya next chap!!