A/N: Oooookay. I really wasn't planning on doing anything else in 'Otherside' universe, I felt I left it at a nice (i.e. happy) place. However... Yesterday Boris decided to be a very VERY naughty plot bunny and bit me HARD, demanding that I write something else to explain some of the loose ends from the original (And to be fair knowing me, create a few more). I truly TRULY hate Boris because now I can't get the idea out of my head. This isn't a direct continuation of 'Otherside' and is set roughly six months after the end of that story.

So yeah sorry all you guys and gals who thought the torture was over, it appears I've only just begun.

Disclaimer: Really, REALLY, you think I own Naruto? Yeah right. Not mine, they belong to Kishimoto I just enjoy torturing them.

Darkside: Prologue

The early morning light spread over the village of Konoha like a protective shroud, encasing and gently warming the frigid winter air that billowed up in puffs from the numerous chimney tops. From the rooftops the numerous Jounin of the village watched over the slumbering occupants, a warm sense of pride and relief fluttering through their chilled forms as they watched the sun rise.

The long night was over giving birth to a new day.

The leaf Jounin were not the only beings awake at the early hour. On the dusty streets a figure could be seen striding with purpose toward the outskirts of his village, a bouquet of flowers clasped in his arms. His casual clothing gave nothing away but the sureness of his stride and controlled movement marked him as shinobi. As the man reached the gates he paused to greet the gate guards with a small but genuine smile breaching his tanned features, causing his distinctive facial scar to crinkle. Umino Iruka bowed politely as he walked through the west gate toward the training fields, one particular field at the forefront of his mind.

The memorial stone loomed, its presence a solemn reminder of the fragility of life and the honour in being shinobi. Iruka approached silently, reverently, the iconic status of the place not lost on him. If anything he understood the importance of this place more than most, having lost more than his fair share of precious people. The brunette came to halt before the stone, the black marble glistening eerily in the rising sun's rays. Slowly he dropped to his knees and placed the bouquet of flowers at the foot of the memorial before clasping his hands together and bowing his head in prayer.

He remained like that as time flowed by minutes feeling like seconds to the brunette. He was so absorbed in his remembrance that he didn't notice the presence of another person until they were practically on top of them. Feeling the flare of chakra behind him Iruka spun around and as his gaze fell on his companion the mocha coloured eyes went very wide.

"H-Hokage-sama..."

It was indeed the Hokage minus her usual attaché of ANBU, at least as far as the sensei could tell. They were after all experts at cloaking their presence when they chose to. She like Iruka was without her formal attire dressed in civilian clothing and clasped in her arms was a bouquet of flowers.

The exact same breed of flowers the brunette had brought.

"Iruka-san."

Tsunade replied, moving beside the younger man and placing the bouquet next to Iruka's. The brunette regained his composure at the unexpected arrival and bowed hastily feeling a blush stain his features.

"My apologies Hokage-sama. I did not mean to be so rude."

The blonde let out a wry chuckle and shook her head.

"I am the one who should be apologising Iruka, I didn't think anyone would be here this early. It's even too early for the brat."

Iruka let a small smile grace his lips at the mention of his infamously lazy lover, of course the brunette knew that Tsunade's comment was far from the truth (as did the Hokage herself) but who was he to tarnish Kakashi's carefully constructed reputation. Tsunade seemed to sense his thoughts and smiled in return, causing yet another blush to erupt on the tanned man's face. Scratching the scar across his nose Iruka turned his focus back to the stone.

"You remembered her favourite flower." The brunette muttered quietly.

Tsunade didn't say anything in reply immediately and a look of pain crossed her face for a fleeting second before she regained her composure.

"I never forgot, I'll always remember how happy she was the merchants brought them to the village. Although she would drive them up the wall until she got them to give her them for free."

Iruka laughed sadly easily imagining the feisty young woman haranguing the foreign merchants, Umino Kozakura* was a far cry from the fragile flower she was named after.

"I'll always remember the first time she gave them to me. I remember looking at them like they were diseased, I mean what young wannabe shinobi wants flowers from their mother? She just laughed and thrust them in my face explaining that they described how she felt for me. I was confused at first but curious and ended up stealing a book from the Yamanaka flower shop, I was caught of course but when I explained what I wanted it for Yamanaka-san was quite understanding."

The brunette smiled at the memory, his five year old self leafing through the old tome looking for the silly flower his mother had lovingly given him. When he had finally found the strange bloom and the meaning behind the purple blossom, his brown eyes had teared up and he had sprinted home to launch himself at his Kaa-san. Even as a child he had been quite emotional and his mother had laughed whilst squeezing the life out of him in a bone crushing hug. Coming back to the present Iruka reached out to cup one of the vibrant purple flowers, the meaning vivid in his mind.

'Amaranth- Immortal love'

"Ah yes, well you do have a way of making things difficult for yourself don't you Iruka-kun. Certainly something you inherited from her, I never understood how your father managed to control her... He was the only one she'd ever listen to. I ended up in front of Sarutobi-sama more times than I'd care to count."

The blonde smiled sadly as she reminisced about the vibrant young woman she'd had the honour of calling her student and saw her spirit glowing brightly in the younger man before her. Things between herself and Iruka had still been a little rocky at first since the whole 'Kakashi' incident but overall they were getting on better than ever. Both of them helping one another to overcome some of the more painful aspects of their chequered past. By remembering those who had gone before them both Hokage and shinobi had found a way to reconnect with something that they thought had been lost to them entirely.

A link to the past reforged.

It also helped that Iruka was one of the more influential 'paperwork' ninja, it gave them both ample excuse to just while away the hours just chatting about everything and nothing. The man was a surprisingly good conversationalist something she had been surprised by now that she had bothered to get to know her students child better. Tsunade was sure that both Kozakura and Ezume would be proud of their son, he had grown into a fine young man... When he wasn't being a stubborn ass.

Seemingly at the end of their ritual both adults rose to their feet and bowed once more to the stone.

"Happy Birthday Kaa-san."

"Happy Birthday Kozakura-chan."

As they turned to leave a chakra flare signalled the arrival of another person. Tsunade frowned recognising the chakra at once, it was that of Ferret one of her top ANBU agents and she couldn't understand why the man had followed her this far. Surely what he had to tell her could wait until she reached her office, wasn't she allowed any downtime?

Apparently the answer was no as the figure steadily approached no longer bothering to hide himself, he paused momentarily as he felt a wave of agitated chakra hit him before continuing onwards only coming to a halt once he had reached the Hokage.

"What the hell Ferret, I asked not to be disturbed. Can't I have even half an hour of time to myself."

It took all of the ANBU's training not to flinch under Tsunade's pointed glared and sharp tongue. Normally he wouldn't have bothered with such a menial report, but the Hokage had been asked to be notified immediately of any changes concerning this particular subject matter. Still unwavering under the stony glare Ferret took in the blonde's companion and once again just about held off a wince. It wasn't that Ferret disliked the sensei, it's just that he'd received more than enough lashings (both verbal and physical) from the man outside his ANBU persona to know that staying on the brunette's good side was a good idea.

He still had scars from the last time.

Pushing the worrisome thoughts aside, Ferret cleared his throat and began to report.

"My apologies Hokage-sama but you specifically ordered us to inform you immediately should there be any changes to this particular prisoner."

A tawny brow raised in question "And which prisoner would that be?"

"Touji Mizuki."

At the mention of that accursed name Iruka paled and froze, the old scar that marked his back, Mizuki's memento, throbbing painfully. The brunette could feel his heart speeding up a deluge of conflicting emotions crashing through him at the mention of his old friends name, hate, anger, loyalty, sorrow, remorse, sympathy, camaraderie to name but a few. It really angered the Chuunin that he still felt some feelings of friendship toward the man that had not only once but twice tried to kill him but he was who he was. Mizuki had been his best friend for the longest time and those kinds of bonds were difficult to shatter no matter what strain was put upon them. If anything the time spent trapped inside his psyche had taught him that.

Tsunade turned to her companion, worry flitting through her eyes at the complete change in the brunette's demeanour. The normally confident man had seemed to shrink inside himself and pallid tint to his tanned complexion had not gone unnoticed, nor had the unconscious shake of the man's hands. It reminded her of the Iruka from the ordeal six months prior and it truly worried her, she had vowed to not let the man go back to that dark, dark place. Frowning she looked away seriously contemplating taking out her frustration on Ferret. Of all the times for that man to be brought up, it just had to be when the one person that could be most affected by it was with her.

"Maybe we should take this to my office Ferret."

The ANBU seemed confused by the request, it wasn't as if the information was highly sensitive and he was fairly convinced that the brunette had the necessary clearance to hear it. He just couldn't understand the problem, but he was ANBU and ANBU followed orders. Nodding he turned to leave but a pained hiss caught his attention.

"Hokage-sama." Iruka's voice was low, pleading.

Tsunade sighed deeply "Iruka..."

"Please Hokage-sama I have to, no I need to know."

"Hokage-sama, I don't understand the prob..."

Ferret's query was abruptly halted as the blonde rose her hand for silence. She narrowed her eyes at the ANBU and shook her head, indicating that he was not to interfere in this discussion unless of course he wanted the most horrific mission he could imagine. Not wishing to tempt fate Ferret remained silent.

The Hokage turned back to Iruka a stern look on her face.

"Iruka you understand why I can't allow..." Tsunade started but was cut across.

"How am I meant to get past him if every time he's mentioned everyone clams up like I'm going to have a breakdown. I can handle it, I'm a shinobi not some fragile doll made of glass and it pisses me off that you think of me that way."

There was a heavy sigh "Iruka..."

The brunette just grit his teeth and fitfully wrestled with his temper, he could feel the burning embers of rage beginning to cloud his mind and he took a deep breath as he fought for control. Honestly they way they avoided the topic it was as if they thought he would totally break to the point where he would be unfixable. It was so infuriating, he was not a child nor something that needed sheltering from the world. He'd seen more than enough of life's atrocities to attest to that.

"Hokage-sama, if you feel me unable to cope with this then you may as well retire me as a shinobi. If I can't handle this then I can't handle anything."

The words had their desired effect, Tsunade's face turned sullen and she glared with honey coloured eyes.

"Fine... For Kami's sake you're even more stubborn than the brat. Ferret report..."

The masked man appeared uneasy but continued his report to the Hokage.

"At your request you were asked to be informed of any changes to the condition of Touji Mizuki..."

"Yes, yes I know that... What's the change in his condition?" The woman's voice was coloured with impatience.

"He's dead."

"WHAT!" The shock and anger were completely unfeigned.

Iruka didn't register much beyond that the shock numbing his entire being. As the words registered in his brain they caused his head to swim unpleasantly and the last thing he remembered as the darkness closed in were concerned amber eyes and a mocking laugh echoing in the back of his mind.

~End Prologue~

A/N: So what do you think? Have I sufficiently wet your appetite? As usual reviewers will be showered with awesomeness and sweet treats ^_^.

*Kozakura means 'Small sakura tree.' (I think) Ezume means pure water.