Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Recherche	By : Eggburtshamslice Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kakashi/Iruka Views: 4188 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any profit from this work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Recherché: Resumption
Life in Konoha carries on its normal pace; ships unload their cargo, children scurry off to school and farmers head out from barns to fields. In the waiting area of the Administrative complex, the atmosphere buzzes with the latest gossip; who wore what to the tsuya last night and how large would be the procession to the gravesite this morning. Inside her private office, in a small handheld mirror, hazel eyes sparkle despite the puffiness beneath them; a smile beams bright, despite heaviness of heart.
“Ma’am … Inspector Morino is waiting in the outer office. Should I prepare tea?”
“What seems his mood?”
“He was pleasant, almost jovial--”
“That’s not good. Run along now … tell him I’ll be there directly. Oh, and hold off on the tea Shizune; this meeting may not last long enough for that.”
A final look at the image in the mirror before a side drawer shushed closed, a shaky hand smoothed down silk brocade as she stands. No need for nerves, she thought rising from her desk. I’ll just walk right in there, tell him the truth and be done with it. Passing through Shizune’s office, she paused to calm her breathing. Ibiki is a reasonable man, he’ll understand ... I hope.   Standing outside the conference room, clammy palmed and dry of mouth, she again tried to comfort herself. Well, here goes nothing.  With counterfeit confidence, she pushed open the door; a tight smile on her lips. “Morning, Inspector … please, keep your seat.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Encouraging … he’s nervous too. “Sorry we didn’t have a chance to talk after our little bust up, and then again at the tsuya,” she said, sitting across the table from him. “Fortunately, time apart gave me a chance to think.”
“So,” he said with a slight smile, “you couldn’t sleep either huh?”
“Nope," fell her relieved laugh against the table, "gnawed at me all night. Felt terrible about the way we left things yesterday--”
“Yeah. About that ma’am... I um ...shouldn’t have ... you know--”
“I started it,” she sighed. “After meeting with the Hyuga yesterday morning, I was sad and angry ... touchy about every little thing. But I’ve come to a conclusion--”
“As have I, Lady Tsunade… you see--”
“I think you might be right,” they chorused.
“What? Ibiki… are you drunk?”
“No of course not ma’am. You?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she laughed, “slightly hungover is all.”
His posture relaxed as he chuckled to himself. “Thank goodness … convinced myself you were still angry; was tempted to clean out my desk before I came over here.”
A genuine smile spread across her lips as she settled back into the chair. “What a couple of clunkers we are Ibiki, like concrete, all mixed up and set in our ways.”
“Too true, ma’am."
“So, how’d you work off your aggravation?”
“You know me … I headed straight for the woods--”
“And I went to the park for some quiet time; failed spectacularly, by the by. If only we could’ve met halfway … saved ourselves some grief. Then again, I might not have met that interesting young man.”
“Speaking of interesting, I stumbled across something odd in one of the clearings--”
“Please don’t tell me you found more bones,” she said clutching at her Manju-netsuke.
“No, but what I saw led me back to the old family farm. Going home felt good ... got my hands dirty, finally cleared the air with my brother. We even sat around the dinner table going over stories our grandmother used to tell--”
“Ah, wish I could have gone with you. I spent the afternoon trying not to punch two old men in their throats.”
“Huh? Yes, well … lots of strange things happening these days, ma’am. Must be something in the air ... even the animals are feeling the effects of whatever the hell is going on.”
Staring off into space, she breathed, “Rumors abound about Hyuga Hiashi. They say he’s ready to give up his seat in local government; explains why Danzou and Orochimaru came sniffing around yesterday.”
“The two old men you mentioned earlier?”
“Bastards! All they want is power over the people and Hitomi’s death removed another obstacle to that goal.”
“Wait a minute. You think Danzou and Orochimaru played a role in her murder?”
“You’re surprised?”
“To hear you insinuate such a thing? Yeah. But to be honest, they were numbers one and two on my suspect list after the third murder--”
“Perverse and unscrupulous men ... they’d stop at nothing to get what they want.”
“Ma’am, but there were seven victims before Hitomi. Even if they’d hired assassins from another nation, there’s no way--”
“An attempt to show the randomness of a deranged mind,” she said leaning forward, her palms flush against the table. “By instilling fear and unrest among the citizenry, they hope to turn them against the current administration. Don’t tell me you didn’t know of the feud between the Shimura and the Senju--”
“Everybody knows that,” he said. “Since the time of your great grandfather, the Shimura have tried wresting control of the territory from your family. But surely even Danzou wouldn't resort to--”
“He thinks me weak because I'm a woman--”
“The fact he's aligning himself with Orochimaru is testament to your strength.   But accusing them of murder is one hell of a stretch--”
“I’ll be damned Ibiki. By conceding these murders might be the work of deranged humans, I’m officially on your side ... and you’re still complaining?”
“No … it’s just … it might be easier proving these slayings were the work a vengeful spirit than pinning them on those oily worms.”
“Oh, and now you believe a murderous wraith is the culprit?”
“Not exactly, but I find myself leaning in that direction of late; explains why we could never find solid clues at the crime scenes.”
They slumped against their chairs, chuckling at one another and themselves.
“What a difference a day makes,” she said. “Not sure what to do now. I’ve a meeting scheduled with Dr. Umino this afternoon; can’t cancel at the last minute--"
“A wise woman once told me to have an open mind about such things; said it wouldn’t kill me to hear the man out--”
“Throwing my words back in my face … nice touch Inspector. So, you will be present at the meeting--?”
“I’d rather not, unless that’s an order.”
“Consider it a strong suggestion or a humble request … your choice. I’ll send Shizune round soon as he arrives.”
Recherché
Dressed in his funeral finery, Genma burst into the constabulary. “Morning Ryota, the Inspector about?”
“Haven’t seen him,” he said without looking up from his papers. “Something I can help you with?”
“He’ll probably hand this off to you anyway. Went back to the shop last night, couldn’t rest … too keyed up from the tsuya; she looked good, didn’t she?”
“Like a slumbering princess. So … you at the shop … couldn’t rest--?”
“Right, burned the midnight oil I did, cause we both know how much the Inspector depends on me.”
Ryota rolled his eyes. “So, what you got there, Genma?”
“You know, I aint heard tell of that many hunters gone missing of late, you?”
“Just gimme the damn thing, please.”
“Read it and weep,” he said proudly. “... preliminary analysis on both sets of bones.”
Ryota cut his eyes up the arm fanning three slips of paper under his nose. “Both sets?”
“Yep, unless this guy had four arms and four legs,” he laughed as the other man took the crumpled papers from him. “The pelvises … that’s how I could tell they were men. Both of ‘em bout 30 years old, fractures confined to the thigh, like something chewed its way down to the femoral artery. Then again, it could be normal animal activity after the fact; a lot of marrow in a big bone like that, you know.”
“Sure they weren’t animal bones, Genma?”
“I know human bones when I see ‘em,” he said leaning down to the watch commander’s eye level. “Not questioning my knowledge of anatomy are ya?”
“Haven’t time for that argument. It doesn’t make any sense; patrols go through those woods every day and nobody ever found bones before.”
“If it eases your mind some, I did find evidence they’d been previously buried. Probably find a lot more of ‘em out there, if your men take time to look.”
“Can you give me some idea of how long they been out there?”
Smiling cagily, he scooped up Ryota’s matchbox. “If the Inspector wants answers, it’ll be a while.” A few puffs on his pipe later he said, “Couple of folks just dropped dead last night ... they hadn’t been sick or nothing … go figure. Anyway, I’ll be up to my eyeballs in corpses, what bliss. See ya round,” he said tossing the matchbox on the desk.
Ryota shook his head as the door slammed behind Genma.
Shit … Ibiki is not gonna like this.
Recherché
“Well, my day’s planned,” Kotetsu said as he barged into the room. “Apothecary's son has a cabin in the woods; sleeps four and the rent’s cheap, so says the lady at the front desk. Wanna come with me Zumo?”
Izumo waved him over to the small side table. “Sit down, lower your voice … Iruka’s working on something--”
“What else is new? Always working on something,” he said taking a seat. “Those papers look too big for origami, so what’s he doing?”
“How should I know? Whatever it is must be important … he hasn’t moved since I brought breakfast up twenty minutes ago. I thought the smell of food would’ve garnered a reaction but--”
“His loss ... my gain,” he laughed while reaching across the table, “means I can have his portion too.”
Waggling a serving spoon near Kotetsu's extended hand, Izumo threatened, “Don’t even think about it. That’s your portion over there, greedy.”
“But it’s gonna get cold--”
“We’ve eaten cold food before and survived. Anyway, I’m gonna see if I can wrangle some information out of the constables this morning--”
“Good luck with that,” Kotetsu laughed as he tucked a napkin inside his collar.
“Remember that mounted patrol lieutenant we met yesterday?”
“You mean the guy that kept smiling at ya funny and laughing at your lame jokes? Better watch your step with that one Zumo,” he said blowing a kiss toward the other man, “he may want to give ya more than just information.”
"You're being particularly vulgar this morning. I don’t fancy men and you know it.”
“Yeah, I know, but does he? What … you blushing Zumo?”
“Shut up and eat.”
“Hear that Ruka? Your cousin is gonna "pump" a constable for information.”
“Yes, it is chilly this morning,” came the distracted response from the bed.
“Thought that would have gotten a snicker at least,” he whispered to Izumo. “I know you have a meeting with Governor later but while I’m working hard and Zumo is playing kissy face with his new friend, what else are you gonna be doing today, Ruka?”
“Now it makes sense,” Iruka mumbled. “They all lead to the forest.”
“He’s ignoring me Zumo … wave that spoon all you want, I’m just gonna help myself to his portion--”
“No, I heard you,” Iruka mumbled, “consonants and cabbages.”
“Ruka, what the hell are you doing over there?” Plate in hand, Kotetsu stomped over to the bedside. “What is so fascinating about these old maps?”
Iruka looked up, his eyes glazed over, “Huh? Oh, they’re floor plans. I’m hoping one of them is the layout of our target’s home.”
“Floor plans? Where did you steal 'em from?”
“I didn’t steal anythi-- Tetsu, give that back!”
“Be careful,” Izumo said as he came to stand at the foot of the bed. “Your greasy fingerprints will smudge the lines.”
"Where'd you get all this junk?"
“The fire brigade if you must know, Tetsu and they were given to me. One of the volunteers wanted to help with my thesis, so he let me have building and floor plans for some the older homes in the territory.”
“I thought you were done with homework stuff--”
“Tetsu, engage brain before opening mouth. Obviously he lied to get these things, okay? Which one belongs to Hatake?”
“Wish I knew. Found out too late that they're organized by lot numbers, not names. Maybe I should’ve been more specific with my request.”
"Well I can’t make heads or tails of this stuff, so here, take it,” Kotetsu said as he let the paper slip from his fingers.
Izumo caught the falling paper before it hit the mattress. “Not sure how helpful this information will be to whatever you’re planning, Iruka. If I had to guess, I’d say they’re at least seventy years old,” he said reaching for another drawing nearest him.
“Older than that,” Iruka told him as he scooted off the bed. “That style of architecture dates back over a hundred years.”
“Any renovations since the original build are probably in an archive somewhere--”
“That’s what I think too, still, they’re amazing; notice how tunnels run under the larger homes straight out to the forests? Must’ve been escape routes for the rich in case of attack.”
“So, what’s the big deal?” Kotetsu wondered aloud. “Just ask the Governor if you can see the newer ones--”
“That would raise too many questions… we don’t want anyone catching wise too soon.”
“And speaking of the Governor, what time is your meeting with him?”
“Her, Zumo … and it's at two o’clock,” he said as he sat down before his breakfast. “You two should be done with your errands before then, don’t you think?”
“Wait a minute … he wants us to go to the meeting with him?”
“Tetsu, we talked about this last night … remember? We’re all going to the meeting. "Don’t look so glum, the Governor requested my father’s assistance and I have a feeling she’ll be more accommodating than the Inspector was.”
Recherché
“They don’t make stuff like that nowadays,” spluttered the foreman. “We had to import--”
“That, my good man, is not my concern,” Kinoe growled. “You and your company were contracted to complete renovations within a six-month time frame. Yet eight months have elapsed and still you’re three quarters finished--”
"Sir, refurbishment of the grand ballroom took more time than we expected. We had a devil of a time finding replacements and once we did, refitting those gas lines was a nightmare--”
“I’m certain I don’t care. Lord Hatake has already paid an exorbitant amount for that room to be as it was in his grandfather’s time. And so it shall be. Need I remind you, ... only my entreaties have staved off your firing.”
“We’re working as fast as we can--”
“Then hire more laborers at your expense, for you’ll not receive another stipend from my Master’s purse,” he said before turning on his heel and walking away.
Rich folk, thought the grizzled foreman as Kinoe strode off, what a pain in the ass!

Notes:
Wraith: a visible spirit.
Stipend: a fixed sum of money, paid periodically to defray expenses.
- 16
- 17
- 18
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Recherche