Title: Senses

Pairings: Future Kakashi/Iruka

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. I'm doing this for fun, not profit.

Summary: Iruka gets hit with an unknown jutsu while protecting Naruto. Betrayal and possibly war cast a shadow over Konoha. What role will Iruka play and what are Kakashi's motives?

Author's Notes: I'm aiming for six chapters with this. We'll see how it goes. ^^

Senses Chapter One

Loss

Four figures make their way along the road about a day's march from Konoha. Sunlight flashes across the metal of their hitai-ate, giving pause to anyone who might mistake their slow, meandering pace for that of an easy target.

They can afford to walk openly on the roads of the Fire Country, as ninja of the hidden leaf it might even be considered their duty to do so. To serve as a casual reminder to the criminal element of Konoha's continued presence and strength. It has been, and will always be, a ninja's greatest honor to-

"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yell, halting Kakashi mid-sentence.

"Ichiraku's is less than two hours away if we ran up in the trees," Naruto grumbles, patting his stomach as though comforting a kicked puppy, "We're only taking the long way cause you've got your face stuck in that pervy book!"

Iruka tries to stifle a laugh behind his hand. It's been hard work, keeping a straight face through the duration of their mission. As an instructor at the Academy he can't often afford to enjoy the entertainment that his students unwittingly provide him as it generally involves sharp objects and a willful ignorance of their own mortality. It's much easier to laugh at Naruto's antics now that he isn't the one responsible for reigning him in. Still, he doesn't want to set a bad example or encourage Naruto's occasional insubordination and has tried to keep all visible signs of his amusement to a minimum.

Luckily, Naruto doesn't seem to have noticed his former sensei's reaction.

"This is sooo boring," Naruto grumbles, glaring disgruntledly at the jounin.

"Hnn..." Is Kakashi's only reply, gaze fixed on the little orange book in his hand. This unsatisfactory response is met with The Look.

Iruka can spot The Look from across a crowded practice yard in the pouring rain while dodging wayward kunai with a head cold. In a normal classroom The Look portends paint in places you didn't know you had, pulled hair, stubborn insubordination and the creative, if vaguely obscene, use of paste. At the Academy Iruka got all that plus a room full of hyper pre-genin with delusions of death-defying heroics who were also heavily armed. For an Academy sensei, shutting down The Look wasn't just a way to get through your day, it also significantly cut down on your medical bills.

But Naruto isn't Iruka's student anymore and if Kakashi hasn't learned to spot this particular sign then it's entirely possible that he deserves whatever chaos the boy's about to dish out.

Naruto jogs ahead and turns around grinning as he brings his hands up to his face, forming a seal and muttering something under his breath. There's a puff of smoke and for a moment Iruka is worried that Naruto will reappear with blond pigtails and some added anatomy. He's initially relieved when this is not the case before he registers what he's seeing and has to slap both hands over his mouth to stifle any sound before it can escape. In place of Naruto there is now another Kakashi, a henge just as distorted as the ones Naruto used to do of the Hokage during his time at the Academy. Tall and gangly with hair that more closely resembles a small shrub, the most shocking difference, however, is the missing mask and the buck teeth the lack of apparel uncovers.

A quick glance to the side reveals that Kakashi is still slouched over reading his Icha Icha, his only reaction is to lift one hand to turn the page.

Sakura, on the other hand, has started to stalk forward, adjusting her gloves with a very unladylike growl.

Naruto has yet to notice his impending doom and has started making faces in an attempt to get Kakashi's attention, pulling at his cheeks, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes. When this fails to get a reaction he starts to mimic the jounin, pulling out a dogeared little book and pretending to read it as his finger travels across each line of the page. Very slowly the Kakashi henge grins, brings his hand up to cover his mouth and giggles like a demented chipmunk.

"Naruto!" Sakura yells as her fist slams into the middle of the bushy white hair. The henge's eyes bug out before Naruto reappears in a puff of smoke clutching his head.

Iruka tries his best not to laugh, making fun of one's sensei should most defiantly not be rewarded, but he feels about ready to burst and his eyes are burning so he really can't help it when a highly strangled but undeniably amused little hiccup bubbles out.

He's mortified and he shouldn't look but he does, as Sakura and Naruto wrestle up ahead, and is more than a little surprised to find that Kakashi still isn't paying attention. Not to his students as Naruto whines about Sakura beating him up and certainly not to Iruka who can't help but wonder if Kakashi is so absorbed in his porn that he didn't even hear Iruka's embarrassing slip. Until Kakashi's single visible eye flicks up to meet Iruka's gaze, one eyebrow quirked ever so slightly.

"Something funny, sensei?" Kakashi asks, innocently.

Iruka blushes furiously and turns his head away.

"You know, Naruto," Iruka says in an attempt to change the subject, bringing one hand up to scratch at his scar in order to hide his flushed face, "You've been a lot of places with Jiraiya-sama but some of us don't leave the village all that often. It's a nice day out for a walk, we should enjoy it."

Naruto looks up from the strangle hold Sakura has on his head and grins. "Hey, that's right! This is the first mission you've been on in a while, huh Iruka-sensei? It's been great, right? Sai should get sick more often- Ouch!"

"We really appreciate you coming with us, sensei," Sakura says, her radiant smile completely incongruent with the way she's grinding her fist into Naruto's head. "Hey! There's a meadow up ahead, we should have a picnic! We've only got ration bars and soldier pills but it'll still be nice to sit in the flowers and eat and it's not like we're in a hurry." This is followed by twin glares directed at Kakashi.

"No picnics," Kakashi says, looking up at his students for the first time that morning.

"Eeeehhh?" Naruto whines, "Why not?"

Kakashi closes his book with a snap. "Because we're being ambushed."

The ground groans under their feet and then erupts in a fountain of rock and earth, splitting the team apart as they jump away from the jutsu. Iruka lands with his feet planted against a tree, looks up to get his barrings and dodges to the left just in time to avoid a kunai to the throat. He lands in a roll, grabs three shuriken as he gets to his feet and throws them in the direction of his attacker. Using the distraction to his advantage, Iruka jumps up through the branches to gain some distance. He can hear Naruto shout across the road and the popping of displaced air.

Shadow clones, Iruka thinks and feels some of the tension leave his body. Grabbing onto a branch he switches direction and kicks out with his feet, sticking himself to a branch with a burst of chakra. He has a kunai in his hand and brings it up to guard his face just as the enemy ninja comes crashing up through the leaves. Iruka catches a glimpse of his face, hard and angry with blood dripping into one eye from a cut across his temple, focuses on his hitai-ate and gets thrown backwards by a kick he should have been able to block. He hits the ground hard, his breath rushing out of his lungs all at once, rolls until he hits a chunk of road and lies gasping as his attacker drops down in front of him.

The other ninja raises up from his crouch, cape flowing to one side as he brings one arm up in front of him, shifting into an offensive stance, ready to strike.

"What- why?" Iruka gasps. His kunai are scattered across the ground, his pouch must have burst open when he fell, none of them are in easy reach but if he rolls with the coming attack then maybe-

"Why not?" The man answers, bringing Iruka's attention back up. His eyes flick towards the nearest kunai, reading Iruka's intent. He tips his head to the side as he smirks, light flashes off his hitai-ate, the mark of Suna standing out in sharp relief.

The sand shinobi screams as a blast of fire hits him from the side.

"On your feet, sensei!" Kakashi yells, deflecting attacks from two ninja trying to take advantage of his diverted attention.

Iruka jumps to his feet, dodges the flaming ninja rolling on the ground and snatches up the nearest kunai, bringing it down on the man's head. He hears the bone crunch as his blade breaks through the skull. He ducks several shuriken as he gathers as many of his lost kunai as he can carry and darts behind a large rock. A swift look at the battle is all he allows himself before crouching down to avoid being seen. There are several dead attackers but most of them are still fighting, at least twice as many enemies as allies, all Suna ninja judging by their clothing (the betrayal hurts, he can't even imagine what Naruto must be feeling, but there isn't time to process it now – only time to act). Most of them seemed to be attacking Kakashi or Naruto's clones but he'd caught a glimpse of one kneeling in the middle of the ruined road.

"Chaaa!" Sakura roars somewhere to his right. The ground shakes as the boom of bursting rock explodes over the sounds of the battle, from the impact of Sakura's chakra charged fist, Iruka has no doubt of this. He uses the disturbance to break away from his hiding spot to get a better view of the kneeling ninja.

She's crouched in the center of the blast from the first jutsu, hands flying through seals faster than Iruka can make them out. The entirety of her focus is on Naruto, she spares none for the battle around her, not even when Naruto's last two clones converge on her kneeling form. The first gets taken down before it gets within 10 feet of her but the second clone's kunai comes within inches of her face before vanishing in a puff of smoke. She doesn't even blink. Iruka doesn't know what she's planning but the faint pulses of chakra she emits can't mean anything good. He dashes across the road jumping over ruble and dodging flying rocks, intent on disrupting her concentration. The hiss of metal cutting air is the only warning of the enemy behind him, he leans to the side, feels the sting of senbon slicing the skin of his cheek and brings his arms up to block the kick to his face.

"Naruto, behind y- Ugh!"

Iruka sees Sakura go flying behind the enemy ninja at his throat, sees the man smirk at something over his own shoulder. Sakura won't be able to land properly, Iruka realizes and his breath catches, but Kakashi takes care of that, throwing his own attacker and sprinting to catch his student before she hits the ground. Iruka looks up at the enemy ninja, sees the look of triumph on his face and slams his hitai-ate into the bastard's nose. He spins, pushing the flailing ninja away and screams at what he sees.

"Naruto!"

Naruto has his back turned, fending off an attack as the enemy kunoichi, no longer kneeling, lunges towards him, her raised hand sparking with a sickening chakra pulse.

It's stupid. About the stupidest thing any ninja can do and he knows it because he's spent entire lessons trying to burn it into his students' brains but he does it anyway. Forms the seals faster than he ever has in his life and transports himself between his former student and an unidentified jutsu in a swirl of leaves, taking it full force in the stomach.

The chakra rips at his vest and burns his insides, sending ice cold fire along his chakra pathways. In a split second the feeling peeks and then fades, leaving a stillness that is wholly unnatural. As he's flung back his vision tunnels inward, focusing on the enemy kunoichi, on the shock in her eyes as they roll back in her head and Iruka's vision fades to black. He hits two bodies on the way to the ground, slams into the earth and skids across the grass and moss and leaves. Hears his breath leave him for the second time, hears the grunt of another man landing not far from him and Naruto screaming, hurt and desperate and not quite human and that too fades away.

He turns his head, searching for the sound, for the boy with the wide grin and the sad eyes and can almost feel his sunny hair against his cheek. But it's just grass and it's not there for long. It's fresh scent lingers though, along with the musty scent of decaying leaves. Then it's gone and the only thing that's left is the tang of blood on his tongue. He holds onto it, desperately, weakly then lets it go.

There's nothing left for him to cling to.

So he sleeps.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.