Ah well, greeting's again fellow Kakashi/Iruka fans!
For anyone who DIDN'T read Stand Alone Scarecrow before stumbling across this, no sweat. This story picks up where SAS left off, but I intend for it to be a story in it's own right and not just a continuation. For those of you who DID read SAS, Wow! Yippee! What a fantastically devoted following you are! Much love to all of you!
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Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto nor any characters therein
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Warning: I try to stick to the canon time/story-line as much as possible. As far as that goes, this falls after Naruto left Konoha to go training with Jiraiya. Obviously, becuase this story involves a non-canon pairing, I've taken a few creative liberties, so this story can probably be considered slightly AU. But, as with my last fic, I'll have more specific notes concerning AU-ness as they arise.
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He sat huddled beneath a large overhanging of rock, it wasn't a cave, but at least it kept the worst of the storms fury from him. Rain trickled down the underside of the rock, and dripped onto his neck, sliding down the back of his collar. He shivered, and glared at the rock, like he wasn't wet enough already. With a sigh he pushed further back against the hillside and settled in to wait. This was going to be an excruciatingly long night. I shouldn't complain. I asked for this… smiling faintly, he scratched Pakkun's ears, and let his thoughts drift… home…
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He paced back and forth through the living room. The rain pounding on the roof could have drowned out an over-enthusiastic garage band. He hated waiting like this. Is he alright? Is he safe? Is he caught in this storm? Did he find shelter? He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through unkempt hair. He glanced at the couch, the middle sagged pathetically, and one of the front feet had snapped, a memento of their last night together… I should have that thing replaced… But that had been two days ago. It's only a C-class mission. Nothing he can't handle.
But despite his self-assurances, the uneasy knot in his stomach refused to dissipate.
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Tsunade sat at her desk, sipping sake. She didn't move to acknowledge the ANBU who slipped in through her window until the masked nin handed her a scroll. She nodded, and the ANBU slipped back out into the rain. She unfurled the scroll, her eyes scanning quickly.
"No…" Scroll in hand, Konoha's Hokage rushed out into the rain.
Several minutes later found her on the doorstep of Umino Iruka's apartment, the door was already open, he had sensed her coming.
She couldn't meet his eyes, he looked like a man about to break, "The situation has changed… It's no longer a C-class…Iruka..."
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He rested with his knees drawn up to his chin, shifting position every so often to keep his blood flowing. It's been too long since I was last on a mission… beside him, Pakkun tensed.
"What is it?"
"Someone's tracking us. They're closing in fast."
"A friend, or an enemy?"
"I don't think it's a friend."
The nin nodded,
"Then let's go."
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Tsunade silently surrendered the scroll, he moved aside to allow the dripping blonde entry.
"We were double-crossed." She said quietly
His eyes flew over the damp parchment, the ink had begun to run, but not enough to make it illegible.
"I'm going after him." he said. His voice was like steel, cool, calm, but the icy fury radiating from him was enough to make her take an involuntary step backwards.
She nodded solemnly, wrapping her arms around herself as if to stave off the icy chill of his killing intent, "I knew that you would say that." She spoke softly, barely more than a whisper.
He said nothing as he pulled on his flak jacket and ran a quick check over his supplies. Tucking the scroll into a pocket he nodded once to Tsunade, then vanished into the rain.
She watched him dissapear from the doorway, then with a sigh she slumped against the frame and slid to the floor, blonde head hanging.
...Iruka...
...Kakashi...
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He sped across the night. Flitting from tree to tree, his landings sure and silent despite the rain slicked branches. Pakkun kept close on his heels.
"How close are they?" he whispered, pausing on an exceptionally large tree. His blood pounded through his veins, all stiffness gone or obscured by the adrenaline coursing through him.
"They're here!" the ninken hissed,
The rain soaked nin melted into the shadow of the tree, a flash of lightning showed just the barest hint of movement among the trees, but it was enough. His kunai sung out through the rain with deadly accuracy, catching one of his pursuers in the throat. With a soft, bloody, gurgle the stricken nin crumpled and fell to the forest floor.
But he was already moving again, counting the seconds to the next lightning flash. Blending and merging with the storm tossed trees, he ran. The rain pounded down and gale force winds threatened to rip him from his precarious perch. With the lightning flash, a single kunai would stream out from the swirling shadows to catch another pursuer in the throat, and then he would be gone again.
By morning the storm had died.
So had four lesser nin.
In the clear for now, he stopped to catch his breath. I was lucky to have Pakkun with me... I might not have sensed them through the storm until too late...
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Well, there you have chapter one, more of a teaser than a chapter really, 'cause I didnt really give you a lot of concrete information. (Like WHO's actually on the mission, but maybe you can guess!) XD
Like I mentioned at the end of SAS I don't know whether I'll be running with this one or a Hakkai/Gojyo flick, or both! So I can't promise the same speed on updates that I had on SAS, but I'll certainly do my best!
See you next chapter!