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A one-shot drabble that's been screwing with my mind since last night. Beware. It's implied KakaIru, IbikiAnko, and IruAnko. All implied. Some more than others. And it's angsty? Tragic? A mind-screw? And not the fun, smexy kind of screw, either.



There's a door in Iruka's house he never opened. It'd been shut for over thirteen years, since the night his parents didn't come home, and he never opened it. He was twenty-four, and he'd learned to ignore it, just like he ignored the pain, the little pangs in his heart. He never gave it a second glance when he passed it in the hallway, and one night, as Kakashi followed him down the hallway, the older man paused, looking at the door that might as well be nailed shut.

"What behind here?" Kakashi asked curiously, reaching out for the wood. "I've never even seen the door open-" Iruka was between him and the door before his fingers could even curl around the doorknob.

"Get out," Iruka snarled, back pressed up against the wood. "Get out, get out! I swear to God, I'll kill you!" Kakashi stepped back, stunned, and Iruka pushed him further away, hard. "Get out!" Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then fled the small house, trying to repress a feeling of hurt, because he wasn't even sure why he felt hurt.

The next day Iruka smiled and waved at him, beckoning him over to the teacher's table in the mission room, and Kakashi went slowly.

"Ah, Kakashi," Iruka said sheepishly, a finger scratching the scar across his nose. "About last night, I'm sorry. I just don't ever open that door, and you surprised me. I mean, no one else has ever even seen it, and it just threw me off." Kakashi nodded, pretending to understand, and Iruka beamed.

When Kakashi went back to Iruka's house, days later, he studiously ignored the door, just as Iruka did, and he felt a sense of sorrow from the younger man, though he didn't know why. Things fell back into something that could be a routine, and time passed. People lived, and people died, and the seasons changed. Years later, during the summer, they sat under a tree, watching children running and laughing, waiting for classes and missions. Iruka shifted in the grass, leaning against the tree trunk, and said something that Kakashi would never expect.

"Anko's pregnant."

"What?" Kakashi asked, stunned. "Who with?"

Iruka gave him a look as though Kakashi was particularly slow. "She's been with Ibiki for over a year. Where have you been?"

Kakashi grumbled something and tackled Iruka, puffing them away to somewhere much more convenient.

Two months later Iruka answered a knock at his door, stunned when Anko looked up at him from under messy bangs, eyes red-rimmed and blank.

"He's dead," she whispered, and he pulled her, the first person since Kakashi, the second since his parents, into the house. "He lied, he said he'd never leave me, and he's dead."

He set her on the couch, kneeling to lay his hands on her knees. "Ibiki?"

"He's dead." She reached out, tousling Iruka's hair carelessly, eyes far too empty. "I should have known, 'Ruka. It was too good, and now I'm screwed over. Oh, God, he's dead." Her face began to crumble, first her mouth, lips wavering, then her eyes, eyelids clenching shut. "He's dead."

Hours later he laid her on his bed, covering her with a blanket. She clung to his hand, avoiding his eyes, and he sat next to her. "Stay here," he said softly, brushing her bangs back from her forehead.

"What about Kakashi?" she asked, voice hoarse.

"He doesn't live here, no one does, except me. Stay." Her face wavered again and he tightened his hand around hers, leaning forward to kiss her lips softly. "Just stay."

He stayed until she was asleep, and then he left. He padded down the hallway, until he was standing in front of the door. He reached out, touching the knob with his fingers, curling his hand around the cold metal. He opened the door slowly, wincing as it squeaked out a protest. When it was fully opened he took a slow, cautious step inside. The window's drapes were hanging limp and ragged, letting in the pale moonlight. He took another step and his barefoot waded through the thick dust. He repressed a sneeze and took a few more steps into the room before he stopped and spun around slowly, looking.

It was just as he remembered. The walls were half-painted, a job he never got to finish with his father. The paint that was on the walls was cracked and warped, discolored with age and dirt. The shelves and dressers were covered in inches of dust, and the pieces of soft cloth were nearly decayed, moth-bitten and full of holes, about to fall apart at a single touch. In the center of the room was his mother's pride and joy. He pushed it gently, then a bit harder, smiling when the crib didn't budge. It was still sturdy, just like it had been when he was a kid. He'd helped his mother drag it from storage to the small house, those many years ago, and he could still remember how happy she'd looked, beaming in the room, talking about how they'd paint the walls a pale yellow, and how she'd sorted and resorted the tiny clothes again and again, folding and unfolding them until his father had told her, laughingly, that they'd fall apart long before they were finally worn. He remembered how his mother had shut the door that night, closing it for the last time, not to be opened again, until tonight. Iruka ran a finger along the edge of the crib, blowing the dust off with a breath.

Yes, he decided, as he closed the door gently. He'd show Anko in the morning.



And...end! I don't even know what I was thinking... Except that I really, really want to write an IrukaAnko fic. Really, really badly. But until I do...that is that. A strange, weird, crazy ficlet about the tangled relationships from hell. :)

And I was so pissed with this! I had it nearly complete in Word Perfect, and the damn application errored on me, and I lost it all. So, I rewrote it here. *hiss grumble moan*



And...off to bed! And I really, really need to stop saying 'and.'

Date: 2005-05-07 09:28 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] marmaladecat
You're absolutely prolific when it comes to writing :D I wish I had as many stories to tell as you do!

That's lovely - and the premise/content/plot(?) was particularly fascinating.

Date: 2005-05-07 05:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
Originally, it was going to Iruka's kid. In the half-asleep, dreaming as I doze, rough draft stages. And there were going to be many, many tangled relationships. Thankfully, I changed it. >_<

But I'm glad you liked it. ^__^

Date: 2005-05-07 11:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kiasca.livejournal.com
So beautiful drabble, love the relation between the characters >_<
I'd love to read an IruAnko fic from you ^_^

I'm spanish and bad with words, I don't know if what I said has any sense -__-U Sorry

Date: 2005-05-07 05:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
I love your icon so much! Wack!

But would you really like to read a IruAnko? Yay! I just love the idea of them together.

And you make perfect sense. My dad's Spanish, but I don't know any Spanish. Alas...

Date: 2005-05-07 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alana2x1.livejournal.com
I don't know how you manage to keep writing such wonderful pieces. Everything you write moves me in some way or another. I mean I'm a total KakaIru freak but the idea of an IruAnko sounds fine to me when it really shouldn't. I'd definitely read it.

As for this actual drabble, Iruka's angst was very well wriiten and Kakashi's reactions to 'Ruka's outburst very believable. I liked the way you managed to move time on swiftly without it sounding out of place and rushed.

Overall, another wonderful drabble. ^___^

Date: 2005-05-07 05:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
It wasn't rushed? Oh, good. I was so annoyed with the timing, myself, but I didn't really want to flesh it out anymore than it is now. And I love the idea of IruAnko, just like I love the idea of GenmaIru *squee* and IruKabuto and IruAnyone-under-the-Sun. I'm such an Iruka whore. ^______^

Date: 2005-05-07 06:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luv-wiz.livejournal.com
:D

I like Iruka with Genma ... have you read that fic , " Faint " I believe , by shi-chan in ff.net ? :)

It's gooooooood ! XDXDXD

Date: 2005-05-07 06:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
I have. I think I've read most of the GenmaIruka fics on ff.net, and I just love the idea of them together. I love almost everyone with Iruka.

Date: 2005-05-07 06:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luv-wiz.livejournal.com
:D

* huggles * Aloha !

You , my dear , are just plain ... or well , not so plain ;D ... wonderful ! XDD

Just one question ... lol Does this mean that Iruka isn't with Kakashi anymore , like Kakashi is dead ? O___o;;

Cause , I hardly doubt Kakashi would let 'Ruka go that easily ... =P

Hmm ... I've never read ( or seen ) a IrukaxAnko pairing , but from you , I think I'd read it ( Even if I adoooooooore KakaIru ! XD )

Date: 2005-05-07 06:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
At the end? Kakashi's very much alive, and he's still very much involved in Iruka's life. Maybe I'll write another drabble, to follow that one.

I love the idea of IruAnko. I love interractions between them, like the mini-conversation/fight in Paper Cranes. It's so fun, because they're both so insane and crazy, though Iruka is calmer. Wow, talk about babbling. I'll hush now, and wander off. *wanders*

Date: 2005-05-08 03:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luv-wiz.livejournal.com
hmm ... I love Paper Cranes ! XDXD

I hope it gets updated soon ! :D * nudge nudge wink wink *

Date: 2005-05-08 03:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] midnightdiddle.livejournal.com
Paper Cranes...ah, Paper Cranes... At the moment, the fourth chapter is sorta half done. I have the major scenes/ideas written out, but they're not connected. Of course, this is the state it's been in for weeks. I don't know when then next chapter'll be done. :( Many apologies. Maybe in a while? I'll try to get it done by the end of next week, just for you.

Date: 2005-05-08 04:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luv-wiz.livejournal.com
:D

* glomps *

Diddle , marry me !

* thinks about it *

Erm ... nvm . I'm straight ; you're straight . * sigh and shakes head * It wouldn't work out . lol

Then ... I shall become your slave ! XDXD

* bows down * All hail Kiki !

Date: 2005-05-08 11:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fabledtruant.livejournal.com
very interesting o.O i wonder how kakashi would feel about this new development.

that anko seeks iruka out, does that mean there was something between them before? or they're just really good friends?

and that iruka opens his parents' room and asks anko to stay, has iruka always wanted a baby around? some sort of 'continuation' for that major disruption in his life? i'd wager it's harder to seek 'replacement' parents than a new baby that you never met anyhow. (uh, not that i would know!)

and ibiki died T^T

Date: 2005-05-09 06:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nezumiko.livejournal.com
Wow. Except for the fact that you like to kill of my favorite peripheral characters - first Genma and now Ibiki- I live it. Very sad and heartfelt!

Date: 2008-09-10 10:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anyjen.livejournal.com
Wow. This is messed up in a couple of accounts, but very sweet too. I never expected the door to lead to a baby's room, I thought it would lead to his parent's bedroom. It's just so sad to think that he not only lost his parents but also a little sibling who wasn't even born... *sniffle*

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