Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Sins of the Family	By : RyalsShoal Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kakashi/Iruka Views: 2043 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not have any affiliation with the Naruto Franchise, they belong to their respective owners and companies. This is a personal work for no profit.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter 5: Cabin Fever

Okuda Matsuri was a regular at the rundown ‘Green Dragon Inn,’ and had been for the last fifty years of his life. The old man visited the bar almost every day after a hard day’s work of maintaining one of the few rice mills that were still operable in the village. Hard times had fallen on the village of Gizan, but that all had started many years ago after the ‘incident’ that few were still bold enough to openly talk about. Matsuri leaned heavily on his cane as he limped towards his regular table in the back--and stopped cold in his tracks.
Someone had dared to take his table! Scowling darkly, the old miller made his way to the back of the room and thumped his cane against a table leg to get the intruder’s attention, who was boldly reading one of those Icha Icha novels in public. “Oi! This table’s taken, now get outta my chair!”
The stranger poked his head out from the book. Matsuri was momentarily startled by the black eyepatch the aged stranger wore over his right eye. “Oh, my most sincere apologies!” The intruder bowed his head respectfully and moved to stand. “Please, I can sit somewhere else.”
Now that did it. Matsuri was not mean spirited at heart, and he immediately regretted his childish behavior. “No, its fine” he mumbled, and was about to turn to find a different table when the stranger spoke again.
“Why don’t you pull up a chair and I’ll share my sake in exchange for some good conversation.” The stranger gave a crooked grin. “Good company is hard to find for a peddler like me these days!”
That got Matsuri’s attention. His mill was in desperate need of spare parts, and he was always on the lookout for small trinkets for his grandchildren. The rice miller nodded and pulled up a chair. “The name’s Okuda Matsuri.”
“Nakayama Takahiro.” Kakashi replied as he handed Matsuri a cup and the sake bottle.
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Kakashi had worked hard to establish a ‘drinking buddy’ relationship with some of the locals, but instinctively knew that the ‘Hashibara Curse’ was too sensitive a subject to suddenly delve into. He had to gently ease his way into his contact’s confidence before prying into Gizan’s closet to dig out the skeletons. The Jounin gathered that whatever had happened to the Hashibara clan had directly resulted in the eventual impoverished state of the village. Most likely, the Hashibara clan was once a family of great importance that contributed greatly to the economic stability of the Gizan village. The clan’s slaughter was a blow that its citizens apparently never fully recovered from.
From what Kakashi could see in the distance, the ruined Hashibara clan house stood alone and abandoned at the northernmost point in Gizan. Nature and the elements had taken control of the old house--which was more accurately a fortified mansion. The once elegant courtyard was overrun with weeds and small sapling trees, and rotted beams collapsed to create gaping holes in the roofs. ‘What I wouldn’t give to take a peek inside.’ The Jounin thought as he peered through the night with his Sharingan from the top of a building. He did not dare to even attempt to get closer than fifty meters from the mansion; his senses prickled with warning that unseen eyes were watching the abandoned estate and an unmistakable malignant aura seemed to be radiating from the house itself. No, he would rather infiltrate the villagers for information than expose himself and his charge’s presence in the area.
Kakashi could not fully conclude that this ‘Hashibara Curse’ was what he had been looking for without solid proof, but he felt that he should now assume so even if he could not find evidence that Iruka’s grandfather Torichi once lived here. He still needed to know the particulars of the clan’s extermination in order to get a better idea of the enemy they were facing, and if they acted as a single shinobi like Uchiha Itachi did, or as a bigger unit.
‘Every jutsu has a weakness.’Kakashi’s brown and red eyes scanned the position of the crescent moon. ‘It is a long range attack, so it is likely that the shinobi behind it is fairly weak in close combat, which is an advantage for me now that I can neutralize the effects of the jutsu… but it still does not explain why they did not attempt to use it on Iruka.’ The Copy-nin shook his head at the mystery. ‘There must be a flaw that I can exploit, but it is too soon for me to confront the enemy.’ With a resigned sigh, Kakashi turned to head back to the cave.
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It had taken the entire day and most of the evening for Iruka to make the small cave somewhat dry and slug-free. Since the cave was set partially into a mountain, it was already elevated and took the Chuunin little time to create a natural looking drainage to spill out the excess water that had collected on the floor. Rainwater had backed into the cave due to a small rockslide some months ago and provided an ample environment for algae to flourish, which then in turn attracted the slugs and predatory frogs. Kakashi’s suggestion of torching the slugs and algae proved to be a good one, except for the horrid smell it made. Fortunately, the smell of fire was enough to chase the frogs out. The exasperated Iruka had decided to sleep outside that night while the stink aired out enough to not make him gag.
It was an exhausted and bone-weary Chuunin that waited for Kakashi that night. More than once Iruka had to pause in his work to allow himself to rest. The stab wound Shizu had inflicted weeks ago still throbbed occasionally with needle-like pain, as if the thin knife was still stuck in his side. Kakashi had relayed through Tsunade that she had been unable to properly heal Iruka with her medical ninjutsu due to the enemy’s interference of trying to possess her, and because of its sensitive location the injury would give phantom pains for a while as it naturally healed.
‘What a bother.’ Iruka thought as he carefully started the campfire with an improvised torch made from a tied bundle of twigs coated with tree sap. He leaned back on his knees as the fire slowly licked at the bundles of dry wood then added the torch to the pit. He doubted that Kakashi would object to him setting a few well concealed snares around the cave, he had not been able to properly enjoy his meal of rabbit the night before and did not relish living off of dried pack rations while he was alone in the bountiful forest.
As if by magic, a heavy box of bento plopped into his lap. Iruka blinked in surprised then twisted around to see Kakashi holding out a pair of chopsticks. “I thought you might have been missing civilized food” the Jounin said with a smile.
At that moment, Iruka could have wept with joy. The shallow box trembled in his hands as he accepted the chopsticks. “By the Gods…rice!” Iruka’s eyes gleamed as he uncovered the lid to reveal the bounty of an unremarkable bento meal. It was just a simple fare of rice, steamed vegetables and smoked trout, and a little old at that. But to the Chuunin it looked like a feast fit for a king.
“It looks like you’re finally enjoying the little things in life.” Kakashi mused as his companion savored the day-old bento with obvious delight.
“I’d never thought that I would miss rice so much!” Iruka exclaimed as he picked at a generous helping of the said food and popped it into his mouth. “Any luck today?” he asked around a mouthful of rice.
“Hmm? I met a busty young lady today who took one look at me and got down on her knees and proposed on the spot. I think that is luck.”
“Liar.” Iruka barely seemed bothered by the obvious evasion as he tackled the smoked trout.
“I’m sorry that the bento so old, I had to buy it during the day.” The Jounin seated himself next to the campfire and watched the flames lick at the dry wood while his companion ate. Kakashi was hesitant to reveal too much of his investigation to Iruka just yet, he was wary of the Chuunin getting too curious and searching the village on his own. Kakashi himself would have done so under the similar circumstances, as would their mutual student Naruto. He probably would have allowed the Chuunin to tag along at night, but he now considered Gizan enemy territory since he had a good look at the decrepit Hashibara Estate and sensed the enemy’s presence lurking about the premises.
“The cave looks very cozy.” Kakashi said after turning to sniff in the direction of the hidey-hole. “It smells a bit stinky.”
“Fried slugs and cave slime have that effect.” Iruka sighed in contentment as his empty belly filled. “That’s why we’re sleeping outside tonight.”
Kakashi shook his head. “I have to stay at the Inn tonight, I have a meeting with a rice miller who wants to purchase some gears in the early morning. I have the feeling that he’s the sort that would invite me to stay the night in his home if he takes a liking to me. So I may be gone for a few days.”
“Oh.” Iruka averted his gaze from his companion to look at the glowing embers in the fire pit, and stuck the last morsel of the bento meal into his mouth.
Sensing his mood, Kakashi stood up to squat down besides the Chuunin. “I’m sure you can handle a few evenings without my charming company” he teased.
Iruka rolled his eyes at that. Kakashi’s musky scent mingled with the campfire was rather nice, despite the flawed personality that went with it. Iruka was suddenly made uncomfortably aware of his own body odor; he had not been able to do more than a few discreet quick towel scrubs in the last few weeks.
As if reading his thoughts, Kakashi leaned over to sniff his companion. “You smell like bad escargot.”
“No thanks to you.” The Chuunin replied dryly before he set the empty bento box aside and tossed the used chopsticks into the fire. “I need a bath to get all this slime from my hair.” Iruka paused long enough to give the Jounin a hard look. “And I don’t need a babysitter to watch me bathe” he said flatly.
“Bodyguard.” Kakashi corrected. “And no, you don’t. The stream is close enough to the cave.” He added a few twigs to the fire. “Besides,” his single eye turned into an unmistakable leer. “It rather sounds like a plotline in one of my Icha Ichabooks.”
“I wouldn’t know” Iruka snorted. “I’ve never read one.”
“Never?” Kakashi stared in wide eyed disbelief at his companion. “Seriously?”
“No!” Iruka knew that his face was turning red under Kakashi’s stare. “I wouldn’t be caught dead with one of those things!”
“They are the epitome of modern literature, unbound by the constraints of our so-called ‘moral’ society.” The Jounin shook his head in bemusement as he poked the embers with a stick. “I will never understand how our culture approves of teaching children the ways of shinobi warfare, but looks down upon the more harmless and enjoyable art of sex.”
Kakashi had a valid point, but Iruka wasn’t about to readily agree with him. He had yet to forgive the Copy-nin for abandoning him earlier to clean up that disgusting cave. How could Tsunade stand to make a pact with slugs, let alone a giant one?
“I’ve got it!” Kakashi leaped up and spun around to face the Chuunin. “The answer to your boredom!” The Jounin pulled his mask down to bite down on a thumb as his other hand unfurled a small scroll that had been stuffed in a back pocket. He muttered a few incoherent words as he smeared a long stripe of blood across the scroll before disappearing in a burst of smoke.
‘He’s summoning?’ Iruka gasped as the smoke cleared to reveal the Copy-nin standing proudly before a huge orange chest bearing a very familiar symbol of a circle with a diagonal line in the middle. “I don’t do this for just anyone. You are very lucky man, Iruka-Sensei!”
Not fully trusting the Copy-nin, Iruka cautiously cracked open the lid and peered inside. “What the--!?” He threw open the lid to reveal a hoard of brightly bound paperback novels neatly stacked in long rows with the printed spines in view. “You’re giving me pornto read!?”
“My emergency on-the-road collection.” Kakashi looked extremely pleased with himself. “I recently put it together for long missions such as this; it is one of my most treasured possessions!”
Iruka gaped at the rows of novels, some were of the Icha Icha series, but most were by different publishers and authors. “Don’t you have a dictionary or something instead?” he asked weakly.
“Pishaw,” Kakashi scoffed. “Dictionaries are overrated unless you are trying to look up something rude.” He leaned over to press a small button under the lid. The stack of books momentarily shuddered then slid to the left as if on a conveyer belt to reveal a new collection of novels. Kakashi released the button with a satisfied grin that lit up his exposed face. “This jutsu connects to a parallel dimension” he explained. “It can hold the entirety of my collection in a minimal amount of physical space.”
Iruka was dumbstruck. “How did--?”
“How did I get so many?” Kakashi patted the chest lovingly. “I did a lot of A and S rank missions over the years, and good pay is one of the perks of being a shinobi in high demand. I am able to afford to be a connoisseur of sorts!”
‘He used such a powerful jutsu to make something like this for his PORN?’ Iruka wasn’t sure if he should be immensely impressed by Kakashi’s feat, or extremely mortified by it.
The Jounin raised a hand to shield his eyes from the firelight as he scanned the night sky. A frown tugged on his lips. “I should be going soon. There are a few places I want to scout before dawn breaks.” Kakashi smiled at Iruka, who felt his heart skip at beat at how young and handsome the man suddenly looked. The magic of the smile disappeared when it turned lecherous, and then the Jounin echoed his own words from earlier that day. “And don’t have too much fun without me, Sensei!” As expected, the Copy-nin disappeared in a puff of white smoke, leaving the Chuunin alone in the firelight with a ridiculous amount of smut to drag into the cave.
‘I think I will kill him.’ Iruka decided with a nod as he grabbed a handle on the orange chest. ‘But with slugs, he deserves a death by slugs.’
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“I am impressed, Takahiro-san!” Okuda Matsuri exclaimed as the intricate mechanics of the mill groaned back into life. “A little oil and she will be just fine!” the old man smiled and clicked his tongue in approval.
“I have a few more gears stashed in my cart if you need them.” Takahiro Nakayama/Kakashi replied while he grinned at the whirling gears and spinning sprockets that were nestled inside the cabin of the old water mill. “One cannot afford to be too laid back on your own livelihood.”
Matsuri let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You are a shrewd man, Takahiro-san, but a correct one at that.” He suddenly grew solemn and scowled. “My family can no longer afford any more delays. We are behind enough as it is with our taxes.”
They were interrupted by small boy who cracked open the door. “Grandpa?” Sunlight streamed into the mill as the boy timidly walked into the room. He couldn’t have been more than six years old. “That lady is here again.”
“Speak of the devil.” Matsuri grumbled. “Thank you Shinjiro, please wait in the house while I talk to her.” The old miller turned to face his companion. “I apologize for the interruption Takahiro-san. I have some rather unpleasant business to attend. Would you mind waiting inside?”
“I would prefer to be outside.” Takahiro/Kakashi replied, his one unpatched eye glittered in the bright afternoon sunlight. “You might need another person to stand behind you.”
“As I said, you are a shrewd man.” Matsuri said begrudgingly, but his mouth held a grim smile at the offer.
Outside, a tall middle aged woman waited with arms crossed before the mill. She stood out from the Gizan villagers by being dressed in a tight fitting black uniform that revealed well toned muscles. Two olive colored scarves bound long coppery dreadlocks from her face, and a similarly colored wrap was tied around her waist, a red kanji symbol reading either ‘Malice’ or 'Grudge' was stamped on the latter. She scowled at the two men exiting the building, Kakashi could tell by both her aura and how she stood confidently that she was a kunoichi of some skill, though she wore neither Hitai-ate nor obvious weapons.
“You are late with your payment” she stated bluntly. Her voice had a low gravelly tone of that of a heavy smoker, though Kakashi could not smell any tobacco on her person.
“Apologies, Lady Akiyuki.” Matsuri bobbed his head in a bow. “My mill has been out of commission for the last few weeks, I only now have been able to fix it thanks to Nakayama-san here.” Takahiro/Kakashi nodded his head in acknowledgement to the claim.
“Hn.” Akiyuki shot a brief dismissive glance at Kakashi. “This delay will require an additional percentage on top of what you owe.”
“Yes, yes” Matsuri nodded. “Fifteen percent on top of the usual fee, it will be ready by next week.”
“I am glad we are able to reach an understanding on this matter.” Akiyuki smiled unpleasantly. “Accidents are very prone to happen in these old rice mills, as you know.”
Matsuri’s lame leg trembled slightly as he leaned heavily on his cane to bow. “It will be done.”
The dreadlocked woman snorted derisively and turned to leave.
“Curse that woman and the rest of her like!” Matsuri snarled under his breath once Akiyuki was a tiny speck far down the road. “They rob us blind with threats and claim that it is for protection fees. Protection? Feh!” He spat vehemently in the woman’s direction. “Kanzaka and his gang are nothing more than common thugs. Things would have been very different if Hashibara Yasunori-sama were alive when those criminals came into town.”
“Hmm? Who was this Yasunori?” Kakashi idly asked.
Matsuri paled visibly at his slip. “No one” the old man muttered as he lowered his head to stare solemnly at the ground. “A family friend. Dead and buried long ago.”
‘Shit. And I was so close too.’ Kakashi thought with frustration. ‘At least now I have a solid name, what little good it does me. Even so, this ‘Kanzaka’ fellow might be of some interest.’ The Jounin was hardly surprised that an impoverished and isolated community like Gizan was being extorted by a band of renegade shinobi, especially since the village lacked any decent protection that the Hashibara clan once offered. He took charge of the awkward silence by stretching his arms and yawning loudly. “I could go for a drink at this hour. How about ‘The Green Dragon?’”
“Their prices are ludicrous, even for a backwater town such as this.” Matsuri watched his companion out of the corner of one eye. “I would be honored if you stayed with my family tonight, Takahiro-san. Not many around here would freely offer back-up in the face of a member of the Kanzaka gang.”
Kakashi/Takahiro made a polite smile and bowed before the old Miller at the offer. “Please, you honor me Matsuri-san.” ‘Perhaps I will get my answers after all.’
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To Iruka’s chagrin, he found that he was starting to actually enjoy reading Kakashi’s dirty books--though he would drop dead before he admitted as much to the Copy-nin.
He was nestled quite comfortably on a bedroll in the dry tolerably-smelling cave with a small fire for both warmth and illumination against the chill evening. A small pile of late wild strawberries he had foraged earlier were neatly stacked on a clean broad leaf. His eyes widened with anticipation as he flipped to the last page of The Adventures of Ayumi the Accountant Vol.3: Ledgers of Love.
~~~
Ayumi watched with full lips quivering as Benito paused before the doorway; his radiant black eyes seemed to bore through her soul. “Come with me Ayumi.” Benito held out a hand to beckon her. “With my superior Bookkeeping talents and your Super Accounting skills, we can rule the District of World of Finances together!”
~~~
“Don’t do it” Iruka mumbled before he popped a strawberry into his mouth.
~~~
Ayumi the Accountant sighed with a great heave of her enormous bosom, a few buttons on her tight red blouse popped out to reveal the swollen globes of her ripe body. “I can’t Benito-kun! For you see…” Her sparkling blue eyes turned hard behind her glasses as she stared down at the devilishly handsome man. “I am in love with another!”
~~~
“No way!” Iruka gasped. It all made sense now, but who could her new lover be?
~~~
“My true love waits for me in the Niishi Accounting Firm!” Ayumi declared. “His passion to calculate numbers is as great as the cup size of my breasts! You cannot have me Benito-kun, for I know now that you are no good for me!”
~~~
’Good girl!’ Iruka smirked.
~~~
“Curses!” Benito screamed. “You will rue this day, Ayumi the Accountant! Someday I will possess your Super Accounting skills for my diabolical plans!”
Ayumi leaped upon the windowsill and shot her former lover a scathing parting glance. “Farewell Benito-kun, and may you rot in hell!” Her black mini skirt fluttered in the wind as Ayumi shot off into the night. A new adventure of accounting was sure to await her in the new firm, as well as the tender embrace of Akira, who was sure to make mad love to her the moment she arrived at the office the following day.
TO BE CONTINUED IN VOLUME 4: A CALCULATING AFFAIR
~~~
Iruka snapped the book shut with satisfaction. “Ha! I knew that it had to be Akira!” He stood up to stretch. Beside the bedroll were several tall stacks of books he had finished reading. Being both a teacher and a Konoha office worker had honed Iruka’s speed reading skills over the years, which now came in handy since most of the books were not at a very difficult reading level. Though, he had to admit that some of the Icha Icha series were worth a reread.‘Who would have thought that some of those books would actually be halfway decent? I can now understand Jiraiya-san’s fan base behind them.’ He was quite surprised to have discovered that many of the novels had enough interesting plotlines and characters to hold his attention even if a great deal of the grammar left much to be desired. Iruka was sincerely grateful now for Kakashi lending him the collection; the Chuunin probably would have otherwise had gone mad from the two days of isolation he had to endure in the small cave.
‘I think I am done with ‘Ayumi the Accountant’ for now.’ Iruka yawned as he pushed the button inside the orange chest. ‘Let’s see what else Kakashi has to offer.’ The rows of books filed past before Iruka’s eyes at a slow enough pace for him to browse through. At random he pulled a sky blue book and read the summary on the back.
~~~
The Trials of the Shonibi Lover: Follow the harrowing adventures of the beautiful and buxom Hinako as she escapes her village with only her life and the handsome but lecherous Moriyama to protect her. Together they must travel the lands while fighting off hoards of shinobi assassins. As the days start to grow cold, their nights become heated with the throes of their passions. WARNING: For mature readers only.
~~~
Iruka’s brown eyes narrowed. ‘This sounds FAR too familiar!’ He opened the book to skim through the pages. The plot was what Iruka would have expected, sex, sex and more sex, and very little constructive storyline. The bulk of the story centered on the sexy Hinako being kept secluded in a cave while her hero defended the sanctuary from would-be-assassins. The heroine eagerly expressed her gratitude to Moriyama every night with a new sexual position as a reward.
The book shook in Iruka’s hands and he felt an eye start to twitch. ‘Is my predicament a cliché?’ he thought with utter mortification. He was sorely tempted to tear the book in half and throw into the fire before the Jounin rediscovered it and got any ideas to tease him with, but he was sure that Kakashi would at some point find the gap in his collection and demand a replacement. Iruka did not want to risk the humiliation of purchasing that book, or any of those smut novels in a public bookstore. EVER.
Iruka compromised his urge to destroy the book by stashing it under his bedroll. ‘They should have written how boring waiting all day in a cave actually is’ he thought with irritation.‘Then again, I’m in no stupid perverted story.’**
Determined to rid his mind of The Trials of the Shinobi Lover, Iruka browsed through the vast collection to find something explicit enough to wipe his memory of the last five minutes.He paused when he stumbled upon a collection of black bound novels that stood out starkly from the hundreds of bight gaudy covers. ‘What are these books? They must be particularly taboo.’ He pulled one out to inspect the picture, and froze.
On the cover in subdued colors was an image of two attractive scantily dressed men intertwined in a passionate embrace. “What the hell?” He flipped the book over to scan the contents.
~~~
The Dessert Mercenary:In the distant land of Korin, Prince Sakino has never truly known the extent of his loneliness until the day he hired a young leader of a band of mercenaries to protect his lands. Both Sakino and the mercenary Tobin’s friendship quickly develops into a love that the fiery sands of the dessert cannot easily quench. WARNING: Contains homosexual content. For mature readers only.
~~~
Iruka could barely believe his eyes. ‘Kakashi owns books like THESE?’ The Copy-nin did say that he was a connoisseur of dirty novels, so perhaps it was just a series to complete his collection. On the other hand, these books went against everything that the Chuunin had perceived of the Copy-nin’s sexuality. His mind reeled back at the last conversation they shared and how Kakashi had leered at Iruka at the mention of watching him bathe.
‘Has he been FLIRTING with me?’ At that thought, Iruka’s face grew hot and he felt his heart began to beat faster inside his chest. He had always known that he had no real interest in women, and his past few tentative experiences had always ended in disaster. Iruka hardly dared to hope.‘But…KAKASHI of all people?’ The idea was utterly laughable; surely the Jounin had no real interest in men, and even less interest in a pencil-pushing Chuunin such as Iruka.
This was uncomfortable territory. Iruka looked down at the book in his hands. The novel did look interesting however, and it intrigued him far more than any of the other trashy books he had read so far. He cracked open the book to start the first page.
“Iruka?”
The Chuunin yelped at the sound of Kakashi’s voice outside the cave. In a flash he tucked the book beneath the bedroll alongside The Trials of the Shinobi Lover. “Oh! Kakashi-san!” he cried as he hastily stood up to greet the Jounin. “I wasn’t expecting you so late.”
“Hmm?” Kakashi looked pointedly at the stacks of novels beside the bedroll. “Keeping yourself entertained, I see.”
“There’s hardly anything else to do around here” the Chuunin grumbled, then noticed the heavy sack Kakashi was holding. “What’s that?”
“Dinner,” Kakashi rummaged through the bag to pull out a large bottle of sake. “And appetizer to go with it.”
Iruka eyed the bottle. ”What for?”
“Should there always be a reason to drink?” Kakashi drawled as he produced two cups from his pack. “Let’s call it a celebration of your new title ‘Scourge of the Slugs.’”
“Heh, just don’t tell Tsunade” Iruka grinned as he pulled out the extra bedroll for Kakashi to sit upon while the Jounin set out two bento boxes and the drinks.
They ate their meal in relative silence. Kakashi seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts and only absentmindedly picked at his food. Iruka’s mind squirmed with the need to pester the Jounin with questions. He desperately wanted to hear actual news of Gizan for one, and secondly he was unsure of how to broach the subject of why Kakashi owned the gay novel that Iruka was currently hiding under his seat.
The uncomfortable silence elapsed for ten minutes. Now long finished with his meal, Iruka decided to take the initiative. He downed the last of his cup and set it down forcefully on the stone floor. “Well?” he pointedly asked his companion.
“Hm?” Kakashi’s one eye blinked to full attention.
“You were gone for two days” the Chuunin drummed his empty lunch box with his fingers. “And appeasing me with stale bento will not satisfy me this time. I have a right to hear what you’ve found.”
“Oh, you catch on quick.” Kakashi pushed aside his half-eaten food and refilled both their sake cups. “I have been staying with the miller’sfamily for the last few days. Matsuri-san is a tough nut to crack, but I’ve gained enough of his trust to learn that the Hashibara clan once had a young son with your grandfather Torichi’s name, and that his body and that of many others were never found after the clan’s massacre.”
Iruka gnawed on the bottom of his lip and slowly turned the sake cup in his hands. “So…this Hashibara clan was really my family?”
“I think so.” Kakashi shrugged as he wiped his bare mouth of a few drops of sake. “From what Matsuri-san has let slip, the Hashibara clan was once a powerful shinobi family over sixty years ago that oversaw Gizan and its villagers. The general belief is that they had some internal dispute and killed each other off in a single night, though I have a feeling that Matsuri-san knows more of the story then he lets on. The local gang that now controls Gizan may have been involved since they appeared shortly after the Hashibara clan was eliminated.” Kakashi threw back the rest of his alcohol in a single gulp and smacked his lips. “Hm, not bad for a local vintage.”
Iruka mulled over the information. He wondered that if his grandfather had managed to escape the killings and travel to Konoha to start a new life, than it was likely that the other survivors of the clan might have done so in different countries as well. But if they had taken new surnames as Grandfather Hashi Torichi did, then it was virtually hopeless to track any of them down for straight answers, especially after so many years had passed.
Kakashi’s one half closed eye carefully studied the Chuunin’s grim expression. “There’s also somebody watching the Hashibara estate. I’ve tried every night to get inside, but I can sense a malevolent aura from the house.”
The glow of the small fire flickered across Iruka’s tense features. “The same one that was in Konoha?”
The Jounin nodded. “If it really is this ‘Kanzaka gang,’ I have already met one person in the group, a woman with dreadlocks named Akiyuki. She is far too young to have been behind the Hashibara attack, but I don’t know anything about her boss Kanzaka himself or even if he is still alive. So that is at least two members accounted for. I will try to press Matsuri-san for more information tomorrow so that we will know how many of the Kanzaka gang we are up against.”
“We?” Iruka raised an eyebrow skeptically at his companion. “You are actually willing to let me join you now?”
“Even with the danger, you can’t stay out of this mission forever. I had to exclude you up until this point in order to keep the innocent from being involved.”
“Of course” Iruka nodded, recalling both his incidents with Shizu and the old butcher Aoki-san before leaving Konoha.
“Besides, it’s not very healthy for a person such as you to be alone for so long.” Kakashi poured more sake into their cups. His teeth flashed into an unexpected grin “as much as I would like to keep you cooped up in a cave all to myself!”
‘There he goes flirting with me again…I think.’ Kakashi’s mannerisms were a little hard for the Chuunin to figure out, but then again Kakashi could be getting drunk after he consumed almost half of the huge sake bottle. Suddenly unsure of himself around the Copy-nin, Iruka stood up to get some fresh air outside the cave. As he did so, his left foot became caught under his bedroll and made him stumble clumsily against the cave wall. ‘Oh yeah, I drank the other half of the bottle.’
“Oh? What’s this?” Spotting what was hiding under the disturbed bedding, Kakashi snatched the two books Iruka had stashed before the Chuunin could react. His mouth curled into a smirk when he recognized both titles. “My, what interesting reading materials you have stuffed under your pillow.”
“It’s not what you think!” Iruka stammered, realizing then that he was slurring his words a bit. “I haven’t even read those!”
“But you were planning to.” Kakashi held up The Trials of the Shinobi Loverto better see it in the firelight. “This is rather inspiring material for our situation, don’t you think?”
Iruka wanted to slink away so that he could die peacefully from his embarrassment. He knew full well that guilt was written all over his face (he never really was any good at playing poker.) Iruka pointed to the other book Kakashi held in a desperate attempt change the conversation. “Well? What about that one? Why do you have it?” he demanded.
“The Dessert Mercenary? It’s an instant classic. Jiraiya wrote it after all.”
The Chuunin could only blink owlishly at that. “Bullshit!” he accused.
“He writes this series under a different pen name of course, but I can recognize his writing style anywhere.”
Iruka regarded the book dubiously. There was no way that the boob-obsessed Ero-Sennin could be the author of erotic male-on-male romance stories. It was inconceivable; the Jounin had to be pulling his leg.
“I got more if you’d like” Kakashi scratched his chin in thought. “Let’s see...including Jiraiya's books, I own materials by thirty-two different authors with at least three publications or more.”
‘He owns THAT many books about men!’ Iruka flushed as he did the calculations. ‘That’s a lot of books involving penises.’
Kakashi rolled his eye at the Chuunin’s reaction. “It is not as uncommon as you might think.”
Iruka fully understood what the Jounin implied, and chose the easy way out “What is? Having so many smut novels?” he scoffed as he sat back down before his companion.
Kakashi ‘s single eye gleamed with pride. “I own the biggest collection in all of Konoha! Even Jiraya-san is envious of my limited first press signed edition of ‘Boobzilla: The Adventures of a Pro-Wrestling Librarian!”
“ Why am I not surprised?” Iruka groaned.
“My point, however,” Kakashi continued “is that among the shinobi it is not uncommon to have a romantic relationship with fellow comrades. I’ve found that gender becomes less of an issue among many of the Jounin and ANBU ranks.”
Iruka gave his companion a skeptical look. “I work among far more shinobi daily then you would in an entire week. I am aware of most romances that happen around the shinobi ranks, and the majorities arebetween couples of opposite genders.”
“Oh?” Kakashi propped a hand under his chin in interest as he regarded the Chuunin with a faint smile on his lips. “Are you sure about that?”
Iruka hesitated “Well…I don’t exactly mingle with the higher ranks…”
Kakashi lifted an eyebrow.
“...And I don’t leave the Academy much, other than to go to the main office…” Iruka trailed off. He could tell by the curve of the one visible eye that Kakashi was smirking again. “Fine! Maybe I’m a bit out of the loop on the gossip chain, but I’ve got better things to do with my time!”
“That’s a shame” Kakashi sighed. “I know several male colleagues who would love to jump you the first chance they could get.”
Iruka was stunned. He knew that nameless bisexual and gay men must have ‘looked’at him before, but by someone he actually knew and worked with? “Who?” he asked just a little too quickly.
“Hmmm? I don’t usually kiss and tell…” Kakashi’s voice sounded immensely amused.
Iruka tried a different tactic. “What about you? Have you dated anyone I know?”
“Ah” Kakashi lifted one finger at his companion. “If we’re going to play that game then you must go first, it’s only fair if I’m about to divulge my legendary date-scapades. So, give me all the dirt on your latest relationship.”
“Oh.” Iruka grimaced at the memory. “It was uh, a little while ago.”
“Who?”
“Tezuka Midori , a mother to one of my students about a year ago. It did not go very well.”
“Hmm? But was she any good?”
“By the Gods no! I mean, it never got near that far. She cornered me into a date and I had to go just to show her that I was not interested.”
“Ah. So you don’t like women.”
“I never said that!” Iruka retorted, though he could feel his burning cheeks betraying him. He was blushing quite frequently lately. “Besides, don’t try to change the subject now that it’s your turn to spill.”
“The last person I had a romance with…” Kakashi tapped a finger to his chin. His eye perked up with a glimmer of cheer. “Asuma!”
“As-As-Asuma??” Iruka stuttered, completely taken aback. “But he’s so...manly!”
“The one that got away” Kakashi made a wistful sigh. “The moment Kuranai had set her red peepers on Asuma, I knew that I could never compete with her magnificent boobs!”
“But…Asuma!?” Iruka could barely wrap his brain around the concept of the burly chain-smoking Jounin being with a person like Kakashi. “How long did you both date?”
“Oh, off and on for a couple of months. It was a casual relationship to say the least, though he was fantastic in bed! His muscles are not the only thing that’s big—“
“Okay okay” Iruka interjected, afraid to hear more. Just the thought of the Copy-nin caught in the throes of passion with someone like Asuma seemed very out of character of what he knew of Kakashi, and he still was uncertain if his companion was telling the truth. “Anyone else?”
“After that I’ve been living the bachelor life with mostly one-nighters, with either men or women if you must know.” The Copy-nin cocked his head slyly at Iruka. “Not fair for skipping your turn, so I’ll rephrase my question. Who haveyou actually slept with?”
“Ah well,” Iruka scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of a way to dodge the question. “There’s really no one--”
“What about Mizuki?”
“WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!” Iruka shrieked.
Before Iruka could blink, Kakashi had him thrown to the ground with a hand clamped over his mouth but the damage was already done, the Chuunin’s voice echoed damnably across the valley. A few seconds later a nin-dog barked in the distance.
“Remember where we are Iruka” Kakashi whispered with the unmistakable flat tone of barely controlled anger. “Stay put while I go check the area.” Without another word the Copy-nin bounded out of the cave and disappeared into the dark of the wilderness before his companion could reply.
Suddenly alone in the cold and silence of the cave, Iruka inwardly berated himself for making enough noise to jeopardize their position. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? And in hostile territory no less! Kakashi knowing about him and Mizuki had completely caught him off guard…though he really should have known better whenever Mizuki was involved.
“Shit.” Iruka cursed, feeling both humiliated and ashamed of his juvenile blunder. ‘Even with Mizuki gone, he still manages to ruin my life.’
Iruka did not see Kakashi for the rest of the night.

END OF CHAPTER 5
**Oh the irony…
-----Poor Iruka! I am sorry for this ending, but I promise that not all is lost between them!
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Sins of the Family