Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Truth	By : emethyst Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kakashi/Iruka Views: 4096 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: i make nothing from this piece of naruto fanfiction. all characters and original plotlines of the manga and anime belong to their rightful owners.

Chapter List
- 23
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iruka lay in bed for quite a while, for some reason he just couldnt fall asleep. he knew it propably had to do with the fact that he was still in shock that someone spoke up for him, kakashi had even gone so far as to try and become one of his examiners. he didnt have to do that, but it gave the chunin a warmth inside to know that his growing friendship with the man seemed to be expanding more than just a mission handed to the copy nin from the hokage. turning onto his side he whispered to mayonaka.

"kakashi really is something isnt he?"

the dog opened its eyes and reguarded him for a moment before closing them again. smiling at the dog, iruka got as comfortable as he could to try and settle down to sleep.

***********

"time to get up iruka, grab a shower,food and gear and were gone"

groaning iruka didnt even bother to look at the clock. he knew it was dreadfully early and muttered his way through his chores the whole time cursing jounin and their inability to sleep in. he vaguely heard kakashi laughing, but ignored the man for the sake of having a hot shower, warm food, and getting the last of his gear together. finally ready to go, he secured his sandals and they were out the door.

walking in the early morning iruka took a deep breath of the early morning air, it was damp with the rainfall they had gotten overnight and he knew that the ground would be moist from it. he wondered idly if he could use that to his advantage while training or if it would slow him down. turning to his companion he couldnt help but ask.

"so whats on the agenda today?"

kakashi was reading and walking and although iruka despised the porn, he was somehow getting used to its presence when around kakashi. without looking up kakashi replied.

"well were going to be practicing the three cores of jutsu's again, might throw in some weapons training while were at it, i know you can aim well enough, but sometimes making trick shots can give you the upper hand in a battle."

iruka nodded as they continued down the street. it wasnt long before they came to the beginning of the anbu training field. like always kakashi had to drop the protective barrier to let them in. making there way down the well worn path iruka waved when he saw kakashi's teammates. they smiled back to him.

"good morning iruka, are you ready for more training?"

nodding his head, iruka told them he was trying to think up of new ways to piss off genma last night. said man just frowned at him, while raidou laughed at his lovers expense. it was kakashi that pulled them to focus.

"so we have a bit of news"

oh yeah, kakashi's team didnt know about the new date for his exam, in a way he was glad he was around to see their reactions.

"oh? what news?"

"the council has decided to move up the date for his exam"

the anbu just shrugged, it happened all the time, a slot would open up because people constantly dropped out when they heard the horror stories about it. it was iruka who continued.

"so yeah, we have two weeks"

they just stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. iruka just smiled, he figured they wouldnt believe him, but he just smiled to kakashi and the nin took over.

"he's being serious"

that stopped the laughter dead in its tracks. the anbu just looked between the two before kurenai spoke up.

"but why so soon? thats hardly anytime to prepare"

kakashi shrugged before stating that he never got an official reason. iruka held his tongue even though he wanted to tell them it was because they found out it was him taking it. they would come around eventually and see things for what they really were.

"two weeks, are they friggin nuts"

genma barked out, his senbon nearly falling out of his mouth.

"its alright guys, at least they didnt bar me from taking it right?"

the anbu just frowned at him, iruka sighed, they really didnt understand how much the council hated him.

"so whose going to train me first today?"

there was a long silence while the anbu just continued to process what they had heard. two weeks to train iruka and get him ready to survive a three day exam against high level ninja.

"guys?"

snapping out of their reverie, it was raidou who stood up and motioned for the chunin to walk into the center of the field. iruka did as told and prepared to have his ass handed to him again in taijitsu.

**********

sitting amongst his teammates, he was about to continue reading his book when asuma asked.

"did the hokage really not say why they moved up his test?"

"she just said that the council was doing it on purpose because they wanted to see him fail"

"thats not right"

kakashi nodded, it wasnt right, but they couldnt go against the council any more than the hokage could argue the unfairness of it all. they had too much power over the village for them to have a real chance of them being able to argue against the order. besides no one would speak up on the behalf of a chunin being forced to take the test early, they wouldnt see it for what it was, an obvious mistreatment of the system to fail someone who would guard konoha with his life. sighing kakashi came out of his wanderings to wince as he watched iruka get thrown into a tree.

"well at least raidou is taking it seriously"

they winced as the chunin fell again to their teammates abilites.

"maybe a little too seriously"

"we cant baby him, we only have so much time before he's going to be going against people who will hurt him, they might not go for the kill like an enemy would, but people have still died during the exam"

the group nodded, it was rare, but it had happened before. another crash resounded in the field as iruka was slammed harshly into the ground. he waited only a few more minutes before stating.

"he went to see mizuki"

four head swiveled instantly to look at him with wide eyes. they all understood what the man had done to the chunin.

"why?"

"doesnt really matter, i dont think he'll go back after this time. he broke down because of the prick."

"how badly?"

realizing what they were asking kakashi soothed their frayed nerves.

"he didnt hurt himself, other than collapsing due to stress. when he woke up he just broke down. we talked and i think it might be starting to sink in that mizuki is never going to change. the things he said to iruka-he was trying to cause the most damage he could while still in chains"

asuma knocked the ashes from his cigarette and frowned at the news.

"is he doing any better since then?"

"apparently ibiki threatened him, not the best solution to the problem, but it helped reinforce that he shouldnt go back oh and that he really doesnt like ibiki. other than that he's been doing fine."

they smiled a little, they were used to ibiki threatening people. ibiki really didnt know how else to interact with people. they turned their heads as a large thud resounded, it was only iruka getting thrown again so they returned their attention to kakashi.

"i paid mizuki a visit"

genma was smiling quite evilly as he asked.

"he still alive?"

"of course, like i would get thrown in there with those ingrates just for getting rid of that cockroache. though i might have been banned without a chaperone"

the group laughed and asked what he had done to which kakashi explained that although he thouroughly threatened the man, it was pakkun who made sure the words were driven home with a well placed bite to the mans privates. they roared in laughter. hearing a shout of excitment they turned to see raidou getting off the ground, the next kick he sent the chunin's way stopped the man's cheering and threw him back to the ground. shaking their heads they couldnt help but smile at the chunin's antics. leave it to iruka to try and celebrate from a single blow getting his opponent down.

"he's like a little kid"

"let him have his fun, he hasnt been able to touch raidou yet, so he must be feeling proud of himself, even if he just got thrown on his ass again"

genma knew first hand how tough his lover was and didnt doubt that iruka deserved to have a moment of celebration. he just hoped that he wouldnt make any costly mistakes when the test came around. it was kurenai who spoke up next, warning the others.

"im going to try a harder memory today, im hoping that he'll realize its just a memory and that he can escape it, but we'll have to wait and see"

the others nodded, they knew that iruka had the most trouble with genjitsu simply because it used his past against him. it was kakashi who asked.

"is it one about mizuki?"

"i thought about using one with him, but with iruka having visited him just a couple days ago and his reaction, it might be too soon"

kakashi shook his head to the kinoichi and reiterated that they couldnt afford to go easy on him, they were trying to get iruka through the jounin exam after all and going easy on him now would just make the exam that much harder for iruka when he was seemingly alone in a forest full of enemies. kurenai nodded before returning her gaze to the taijitsu match infront of them.

"still, i dont like hurting him"

"none of us do"

asuma told the truth of the matter, they'd come to like the spunky teacher and were hoping that he'd continue to improve not only in his ninja skills but in his ability to overcome his past.

it seemed the match was over because raidou and a limping iruka came back to their circle. the chunin collapsed into the damp grass, sighing once he was seated. they chuckled a little at the chunins obvious relief to be off his sore body.

"we saw you get a hit on raidou"

iruka smiled, one of his rare true smiles.

"yeah, then he handed me my ass again, practically made me eat my own foot"

the group laughed at the chunin's remark. they let iruka catch his breath a minute before genma said he'd run the man through his paces in ninjitsu. the group watched them walk over towards the beginning of the forest and werent surprised when iruka darted for the cover of the treeline. they could hear genma cursing at the chunin already.

laughing, they filled raidou in on everything they had been talking about, he didnt like what he heard, but knew that like them there was almost nothing they could do about the situation besides prepare the man as much as possible. the ground suddenly shook and a large plume of dust came over the tree's in the distance.

"think that was one of iruka's traps?"

"might be, he's used a couple earth jutsu's before"

they all nodded as they watched the dust settle back into the forest. it wasnt too much longer before they saw an explosion, more than likely from a tag. kakashi just shook his head at the mans antics. iruka did love his traps.

"think he'll be able to catch the examiners off guard with his traps?"

"its possible, not many people focus on those these days."

they watched as a couple trees a few rows back split apart from one another before crashing into the forest below. they could tell that the fight was heading back towards them because they began to hear the sounds of metal on metal. weapons clashing against each other as they fought and ran, throwing as they dodged one another. the entire group however jolted when they heard a startled scream. looking to one another they began to worry.

"was that genma or iruka?"

raidou shook his head,he knew his lovers voice, but screaming other than when he had the man crying out in pleasure was completely different. that was a scream of pain. the silence was deafening as the listened for anymore movement in the forest, finally they saw two figures coming through the forest, they all sighed in relief, if they were walking under their own power than chances are it wasnt something dangerous. then they heard the bickering.

"would you let it go"

"but i-"

"for the last time, im not angry"

"but your arm-"

"will be fine"

finally the two figures came through the tree's and an anxious looking iruka was walking besides genma who was holding his left arm to his chest. they could tell he was trying to alleviate the chunin's concern about whatever had happened. raidou stood and met them halfway. the taller man ignored iruka's continued attempts to apologize and instead focused on genma and his apparently dislocated arm. shaking his head he tsk'd his lover which got him an icy glare. returning to the group kakashi pulled iruka away from the two and forced him to sit down.

"hey asuma wanna help me with this"

the smoking anbu nodded his head and got up to go around to the other side of genma, looking at the dislocation they nodded before asuma braced the man's shoulder and raidou shoved the limp arm back into place. there was a loud pop before genma who had been gritting his teeth sighed.

"oh thats much better"

coming to sit down they saw kakashi trying to calm down iruka who looked like he was going to be sick after witnessing their version of first aid. genma leaned against raidou, moving his shoulder in circles to help with the flow of blood and chakra.

"iruka he's fine"

"but-he, your not supposed to do that"

the group laughed which only seemed to confuse the chunin. finally it was kakashi who explained.

"if we waited to get treated while out in the field, we would be dead ten times over, sometimes you just have to make due with field kits and your own knowledge. we've set bones, stitched each other up, put shoulders and knees back into place. it happens"

iruka just looked greener from the mans speech.

"im fine iruka, you did what the challenge called for, you evaded and injured me without allowing yourself to be caught or injured yourself."

iruka just nodded at genma, but they could all read the emotion on the mans face. he was still feeling ashamed for having hurt genma. deciding to distract him, kurenai pulled out a scroll and summoned the basket of food she had prepared for their lunch. that did the trick, iruka was just staring at the basket that had been summoned and at kurenai in astoundment.

"what?"

"i've never used a scroll for anything other than weapons"

she smiled before stating that they had alot of uses. nodding he excepted the bento box from her, thanking her in the process. the men took their meals and dove in with gusto, they were used to kurenai's cooking and iruka soon caught on. she was a great cook. they finished their meal with iruka only apologizing two more times to the annoyance of genma and the amusement of the rest of them. clearing away the remenants of food, asuma stood up and stretched. pulling out his blades he motioned for iruka to go get ready. they saw the trepidation in the mans eyes, as he did as he was told.

"think he's going to hold back?"

kakashi just nodded his head, iruka was a gentle person, sure he could be deadly if he wanted too, but that just wasnt him. the group talked back and forth as they watched iruka narrowly avoid asumas blades as they danced around the field. iruka seemed to understand that going for the forest was off limits and didnt try to escape to the brush this time, instead he just danced around the stronger man and his chakra blades. it was a rather boring match, iruka just skirting by the hairs of his head to avoid the blades at all cost without attempting to hit the man back.

they could tell that asuma was growing frustrated with irukas lack of involvement. it wasnt until asuma dissapeared only to reappear behind iruka that the man reacted purly on instinct. in the next moment they were quite shocked as asuma stumbled backwards, iruka's head having nearly broken the man's nose when he headbutted him. pulling away from asuma, iruka used his speed to his advantage and was able to disarm one of asuma's hands, taking the blade with him. standing apart, iruka smiled as he showed the stolen blade to asuma who was rubbing his face.

"go ahead and try and use it"

frowning iruka looked down at the blade in confusion before returning his attention to asuma, the man charged his blade with chakra to show what he wanted iruka to try and do. he knew the basics behind it, you just let your chakra flow outwords and focused it on an object. doing just that he yelped and dropped the blade when it somehow managed to cut his hand open. asuma laughed at the chunin before walking over to collect the blade from the ground. iruka pouted at the man as he winced as the blood dripped from the open cut in his palm.

"how'd you do that?"

"my little secret"

pouting some more he followed asuma back to the group who were smiling at them, they had seen asumas little dare to the chunin and had all known what was going to happen. it was kurenai who leaned forward to help iruka bandage the hand after cleaning it with some bottled water. the man hissed but otherwise didnt react as she finished tending to it.

"good headbutt though"

iruka smiled at his teacher before commenting.

"your face is really hard"

rubbing the back of his head got him a couple laughs from the group. sitting back kurenai waited for iruka to settle a bit before asking him if he was ready. the chunin smiled at her and told her to have at it. smiling she got comfortable and activated the genjitsu.

the group watched as iruka's eyes glazed over as he entered whatever world or memory kurenai had cooked up for the chunin.

**********

he was laying in bed, alone for once. it was cold, he was cold. sitting up iruka tried to think what memory this was or if it was something else altogether. it had to be a memory because they were in his old apartment before he had moved. he saw the bathroom door open, the light on inside. sliding out of bed he approached the open door carefully. coming to stand in the doorway he froze for a minute. he could see himself, laying in the bathtub, the water a deep crimson. he remembered this, how after a particulary violent arguement with mizuki he had retreated to the bathroom to soak his wounds. he'd let the water grow cold, too cold and had ended up in the hospital with phnemonia. turning around he jolted a bit when he saw mizuki standing there a blade in hand. frowning iruka pulled back. this was where the memory and fantasy began, being able to identify it he pulled himself out of the dream world.

*********

they watched as the pair suddenly blinked, iruka's eyes clearing as he beat the genjitsu that he had been placed under. kurenai smiled to him.

"good work"

iruka shrugged before stating that he had remembered that night and when she added mizuki he knew it was false. the group didnt know what she had shown him, but apparently even with the use of his ex lover the man had been able to fight through it.

"lets try another"

nodding his head he waited to fall back into a different reality.

*************

something was dripping, drip.drip.drip. it was really beginning to annoy him. but he didnt want to open his eyes, for some reason he didnt have the strength too. fighting against the fog clouding his brain, he opened his eyes and froze. turning his head to the side he could see the senbon sticking out of his shoulder. his blood collecting at the tip of the pointed needle to drip to the floor over and over again. looking forward he saw him. orochimaru. he was seated in a chair and just staring at him, but it was really more of a glare.

"decided to wake up i see"

iruka tried to reach for the senbon in his shoulder, but his body wouldnt move, looking to his other shoulder he winced at seeing another senbon holding him in place. looking down to his hands he found that they were untied, yet they refused to move. looking to his sensei he pleaded with the man

"what.what did i i do?"

"you know what you did iruka-i warned you, over and over again i warned you and yet you still dont listen"

the man stood from the chair abruptly and violently, causing the chair to tip over and crash to the floor. iruka winced at the sudden noise as much as the fact that his sensei was approaching him.

"im sorry sensei"

orochimaru nodded his head as if he was accepting the apology. he felt the cold hand of his sensei raise his chin up to make them look eye to eye.

"i only do this because i care for you so"

"i know"

"good, then explain why iruka, why did you do it again?"

"i-i couldnt help it, they needed my help-they would have died if i didnt go back for them-"

his face jerked to the side as his sensei struck him suddenly. letting out a sob iruka waited for more abuse to rain down on him, when nothing happened. he was able to lift his head to face his sensei again.

"do you know where we are iruka?"

looking around he couldnt recognize his surrounding at first and then it dawned on him. the cabin. he started to shake.

"the old cabin"

"good. and do you know why were at the cabin?"

"because i was bad"

"very good iruka"

the man pet his students head, trailing his hands through the soft brown locks only to jerk irukas head back as he violently came forward to sneer at his student.

"we are staying here until you learn your place in this world boy"

iruka sobbed but was able to nod his head in his sensei's grasp. this seemed to please the man, because he loosened his hold on iruka's hair.

"good boy, now what do we say when we get home?"

"training accident"

"and if he doesnt believe you?"

"lie"

"and if he still doesnt beleive you?"

looking into the slitted eyes of his sensei, iruka swallowed hard before answering.

"kill him"

orochimarus smile widened, letting go of irukas hair he turned his back on his student before stating.

"you might just become my little assasin yet"

iruka lowered his head, watching the small pools of blood below his dangling feet.

"sensei"

"yes iruka"

unable to look at his sensei while he asked this he silently prayed that he wouldn incur the mans wrath any more today.

"why-why do you want me to kill him?"

"because only you can, only a child could get close enough to that old fool for him to let his guard down. with your kekkai genkai, not even his anbu guard could stop you"

iruka was facinated by the pools of blood below his dangling feet. he was starting to feel a little dizzy, but contributed that to the head wound he could fee on the back of his head. finding what little strength he had, iruka spoke up knowing it might be the last time he could.

"i cant-i cant do that for you sensei"

he screamed as a senbon pierced his thigh.

"you will do it iruka"

shaking his head iruka sobbed, he couldnt do it, he'd do anything for his sensei, anything he asked, but not this.

"i cant sensei"

another senbon imbedded itself in the opposite thigh. crying out iruka panted as the pain registered to his brain.

"please sensei, please dont make me do it"

he didnt have to look up to know that his sensei was in front of his face, glarring at him coldly. he could sense his presence almost anywhere now.

"please sensei"

he cried out as his hair was roughly yanked back and his sensei hissed at him.

"you will kill him or i will kill you and leave your rotting corpse on his doorstep as a gift"

iruka sobbed, shaking his head as much as he could back and forth while still in the man's firm grasp.

"do not challenge me boy, you wont win"

he let irukas face drop before storming out of the small building, leaving his student to hang from the wall by his injured shoulders and continue to bleed as sobs racked his small frame.

"sensei"

iruka watched as the memory played out, he'd almost forgotten this, he could feel his heart clench as the memory played out before him. he knew he should be fighting against kurenai to end the genjitsu, but another part of him wanted to just watch and really look at what had happened that day. he knew that kurenai and the others would have many questions about this memory, if she brought it up to them. reaching up, he felt the tears sliding down his cheeks. he hadnt even noticed when he had started to cry. turning away as his younger self continued to suffer, he finally gathered his wits about him, he didnt need to see the rest of it, he knew what his sensei had planned for him when he came back. he'd spare kurenai from having to see that. fighting against the genjitsu he found it hard to push the woman away, she was really fighting to make him stay. giving another try he was almost able to unbalance her claim on his mind, about to try again he jumped when the door to the cabin swung open violently admitting orochimaru who held a small satchel. getting desperate he fought with all his might as he watched his sensei approach the younger version of himself. the small tan satchel coming to lay on an overturned barrel like the perfect sized table for its evil doing. growing frustrated iruka slammed against the barriers in his mind and winced as he felt the pain from the resistance. gritting his teeth he prepared for his final attempt, he wouldnt let kurenai see this, this memory wasnt for anyone to see. ever. with the last of his strength he tore through the barrier of the genjitsu and launched them both back into their bodies.

***********

it had been a while since the genjitsu started, but neither seemed to be upset, they seemed calm and collected as they ran through the illusion.

"what do you think she's showing him?"

kakashi shrugged, he had no clue what all was in iruka's head. all they could do was wait and watch. they knew it was bad when it wasnt iruka who started to cry but kurenai. asuma frowned as he watched his lover start to cry as she continued the illusion. he knew he couldnt break the genjitsu, so he did what he could, he wrapped his arms around her gently and held her to him.

"thats not a good sign"

genma muttered as he leaned back against raidou, his lover nodded against him. it took alot to shake up kurenai, even though she was the most connected with her emotions, the woman had seen enough in her days to not flinch at most things they encountered.

it was more than ten minutes later that iruka showed the first signs of distress, his body tensing as if he was fighting something. jerking sporatically as if he had been hit by some unseen force. but just as the jerking started it stopped. whatever assault he was under had either abated or he had started to fight against the genjitsu itself instead of the memory. it was another five before iruka started to cry. sighing kakashi moved himself behind the chunin, prepared to lower the man safely to the ground once the memory had run its course.

all of them were surprised when both kurenai and iruka gasped suddenly and grabbed their heads as if they had been struck by something. their eye sewn shut as the genjitsu was broken. asuma gathered his lover into his lap as she cried and tried to clear her head from the pain irukas forced exit of the jutsu had caused.

it was only a second after he grabbed his head that iruka slumpped against kakashi's chest, his body going limp. laying the chunin down into the soft grass he looked up to kurenai, they all wanted to know what had happened. it took the woman a minute to gather herself and to wipe her face from the tears that had been shed. taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around one of asumas.

"he broke the genjitsu, but with more force than was nessasary, he was doing more from desperation than on purpose at that point"

the group waited for her to continue, but when she remained silent kakashi asked what she had seen.

"if the council found out about this, if this had come out while we were investigating him. he'd be dead-its disjointed he was hiding things from me, i could tell and at the end there was something he didnt want me to see. thats why he was so desperate for the jutsu to end."

none of them liked what they heard.

"what was it about kurenai"

looking to kakashi, she gave a small smile to the man, before looking towards the chunin who was passed out in the grass.

"he was being tortured, thats the only way i could describe it, it was a type of conditioning, break him down so he'd comply with the order given to him, but iruka refused to break. he kept fighting against the order and he paid dearly for that-the wounds he received, he should have been in the hospital, but i know there's no record of him being seen with those injuries."

taking a deep breath, she calmed herself enough to continue.

"orochimaru knew about his kekkei genkai and was trying to get iruka to assasinate someone for him"

their eyes widened, if iruka had actually acted under the command of his sensei and killed someone in the village for the man, there would be nothing anyone could do for him.

"we need to find out if he carried out the assasination"

kurenai nodded solemly. she knew that she would have to probe more into the man's mind and find out if he had gone through with the snake sanins order.

"did orochimaru say who the target was?"

shaking her head she continued to stare at the chunin.

"no, he didnt say anyones name, just kept refuring to him as a fool"

with orochimarus love of people that could have been anyone in the village.

"we need to wake him"

the group didnt try and stop kakashi from attempting to wake the chunin, they just looked on as kakashi shook the man's shoulders, called his name and peeld back his eyelids to check for any response. knowing there was one sure fire way to get a response he looked to his team, they refused to look at him. taking it as a sign that they wouldnt try and stop him, kakashi grasped the mans injured hand in his own and pressed down as hard as he could.

irukas eyes snapped open almost instantly as he screamed at the sudden pain in his hand, kakashi let go as soon as the man's eyes opened but knew that wouldnt dull the pain from what he'd done to the man.

"iruka"

the man's eyes didnt seem to focus on anything at first, but they eventually stopped rolling in their sockets to focus on him. smiling at the chunin kakashi tried to keep his voice calm and pleasent, he didnt want to scare the man.

"iruka who was orochimaru sending you after?"

his teammates winced at the question. they all silently prayed that the man would just answer the question, but it didnt seem like luck was on there side because the chunin just stared at kakashi blankly.

"iruka-focus now, who did he send you after"

iruka was in pain, his whole body hurt from the training he'd recieved, his head felt like it had been cracked open on a rock and his hand felt like someone had tried to disect it and kakashi was asking him questions? listening as the man repeated his question, iruka's heart skipped a beat. so kurenai had told them. he should have fought the memory from the very beginning, he shouldnt have revealed so much. he could feel the tears that must have fallen during the memory, but couldnt find it in himself to be embarressed by it. all he wanted to do was leave, to dissapear and never have to answer anymore questions about his sensei ever again.

"iruka"

but that wasnt an option. taking a shuddering breath he let his body relax as he exhaled. the ache of his body now was different from the wounds in the memory, but the scars were giving him a phantom pain as his body remembered that horrible time.

"kakashi?"

"yeah"

closing his eyes, he had to try.

"please dont ask"

the group looked to one another, the way iruka was acting, it wasnt looking good.

"iruka, we have to know-who did he send you after?"

kakashi didnt want to have to force the man to answer him, but if it came to it he would do so for the saftey of the village. his chest felt tight as he thought about what the chunin had been through, but he couldnt allow his emotions for the man to get in the way of his duty to his hokage and village. about to ask the man again, he stopped himself as he saw the tears flowing down the sides of irukas face.

"it doesnt matter"

kakashi frowned at that.

"what do you mean it doesnt matter? orochimaru sent you to murder someone in the village."

"i know"

"who was it"

"the hokage"

the group froze, iruka had been sent to kill the hokage? that didnt make any sense. iruka loved the third, the third loved him.

"iruka, orochimaru sent you after the third hokage?"

"yeah"

they sighed, obviously the man hadnt gone through with it, the third had died at orochimaurs hands not irukas. there had been witnesses that saw the third die.

"then you didnt kill him, orochimaru killed the third"

"i couldnt do it"

they smiled, they knew how much iruka had looked up the third, it made sense that even with the threat of torture, of death that the man couldnt bring himself to kill one of the few people in the village to show him kindness.

"the third-he just hugged me"

ok that was confusing, looking to one another it was asuma who asked.

"he hugged you? is that why you couldnt do it"

iruka shook his head, his eyes still closed.

"he hugged me because i tried"

they froze, iruka had tried to kill the third.

"what do you mean iruka, your not making any sense"

"he hugged me after i attacked him, after i tried to kill him for sensei. he just held me and wouldnt let go."

they couldnt believe what they were hearing. iruka had actually attacked the third, where the hell was that in his file. nothing had been mentioned of third being attacked by anyone let alone iruka.

"iruka are you sure you actually attacked him? you might be confused with everything that happened between you an orochimaru"

kurenai tried to reason with the distraught man.

"he was at home, the guards didnt see me-i just went through the tree's through the walls, like he told me too. i snuck up behiind him while he was at his desk. just came right through the wall"

they looked to one another, how had iruka managed to get that close to the third without him knowing, iruka had only been a child then, he propably wasnt even a chunin then.

"iruka, there was no mention of an attack to the third, in his office or in his home. not by you or orochimaru"

asuma had to clarify the information for the younger man. he was sure that iruka was just confused.

"he never reported me, he knew what would happen to me if he did. i was just a stupid kid, he should have just called his anbu in, but instead he just sat there holding me."

opening his eyes, he looked at the sky, the clouds just driffting away. he wish he could do that.

"he never asked how i got in, or how i got passed his guards. he figured it didnt matter since he was now aware that i was a threat. thats when he started inviting me to tea, started making sure that i was looked after by his staff and showed an interest on who i became."

"but orochimaru?"

"he asked me why, and i couldnt tell him, i was too afraid, i was so scared by then of sensei, of what he would do to me since i had failed. he'd told me what would happen if i let it slip it was his idea. i knew he could easily get away with killing me, he'd already managed to get away with breaking my teammates neck. he always said that training accidents happened.

the third only asked me twice, why i had come into his home and tried to murder him. the first time was when i was in his arms, the night of the attack. the second time was a week later when i showed up to his office for tea with a fractured arm and some broken ribs. i was still to afraid to tell him the truth, i knew he was dissapointed in me, i could see it in his face. so i did the only thing i could do to warn him of what was going on behind his back. without telling him anything i told him everything he needed to know i showed him my wrist"

raising his hand up, the one that had the two puncture marks from a snake the group realized what iruka meant. he had revealed orochimaru to the third by showing him the scar that the snake sanin had given him in a training accident.

"if the third knew about orochimaru's plan to kill him-"

"at first i think he thought i was lying, i didnt have the best record that was for sure. it wasnt until some other things started happening concerning sensei that he started asking more questions and watching sensei and me more closely. when sensei abandoned the village, the third called me into his office. i figured he was going to have me arrested or something, but all he did was hug me and apologize for not believing me. he made sure that no one knew about my involvement with his attempted assasination, he didnt tell anyone of it that i know of."

the group didnt know what to think, up until a month ago they thought that iruka was just another chunin of the village, a school teacher of their students and nothing more. now they were finding out all of the man's deepest darkest secrets and it was painting quite a picture. silence rained over the group when iruka stopped talking. they werent sure what to say to the man. it was iruka who broke the silence by apologizing to kurenai for breaking the jutsu like he had. she smiled and told him that it was fine, but that he should be more careful in the future lest he cause himself harm.

sighing iruka nodded, this group of anbu had shown him more kindness than anyone except the third hokage. he wasnt sure how to take it, he didnt want to be babied, but based on today's training that was not happening any longer. he just hoped that his past didnt make them hate him. he jolted a little when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking over he saw kakashi smiling at him.

"i think we've done enough for today dont you?"

iruka sat up, wincing as his head throbbed from the sudden movement before answering.

"yeah, my head is killing me, again, sorry about your arm genma and sorry about the genjitsu kurenai"

the two anbu waved him off in reply. they knew the man didnt mean to hurt them and it was frankly not a big deal compared to some of their previous injuries on the training field against one another. getting to their feet iruka started for the entranceway to the training field. not even noticing when kakashi stayed back a minute.

"until we find out more, we should keep this under wraps"

the group nodded, they agreed that if the information got into the wrong hands that iruka would be facing more than a fine and some community work. he'd be looking at an execution. quickly catching up with the chunin they walked in silence to the apartment.

iruka was happily greeted by mayonaka and was about to head down the hallway to his room when kakashi stopped him.

"what you told us today-the group agreed to keep it silent"

iruka smiled at him.

"thank you-im going to go lay down for a bit"

the copy nin nodded his head and made his way into the living room to think about what all had happened during their training session. he iddly wondered what would happen tomorrow.
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