'Tryin' to Get to Heaven,' Part 9
May. 15th, 2005 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
midnightdiddleBecause I finally decided to work on this...
“Ibiki-san, what happened?”
Ibiki rubbed his hands together then shoved them into his pockets. “My team was attacked yesterday morning, at eleven hundred hours. We were pushed north, until we were adjacent to the Sound’s eastern lines. We moved south and east, then came west, looking for our line. We found you.”
“How many of your team are dead?”
“Thirteen.”
Kakashi wasn’t interested in the mini-interrogation of Ibiki, but it was either that or watch the way Asuma clinging to Kurenai, his arms wrapped around her thin waist, her head resting on his shoulder. It made him sick, watching them and thinking about Iruka, buried alive, screaming and suffocating and breaking and dying. He tried to ignore the couple, tried to focus his attention on Ibiki, on the way the larger man answered the questions, the way he shoved his big hands into his pockets, the way he shifted on his feet.
“Are you alright?” Kakashi asked, not caring about the answer.
Ibiki turned from the shinobi questioning him, looking at Kakashi for a moment. “I’m cold.”
Kakashi opened his bag, pulling out the folded blanket. He could smell Iruka on it, the younger man’s scent of coffee and papers and rain-covered grass. “Here,” he forced out, shoving the blanket at Ibiki. The jounin took it, wrapping it around his shoulders, and smiled at Kakashi.
“Thanks.”
!-!-!
Gai had fallen into a rhythm. Every few strides he'd listen for a breath, and each time Iruka breathed he'd take another few strides. Iruka’s breaths were faint and slow and Gai could smell them, sickly-sweet with the scent of vomit and blood. Gai took a jarring step and Iruka coughed sleepily, shoving his face against Gai’s neck. Gai could feel something drip down his neck and he let go of one of Iruka’s legs for a moment, touching his fingertips against his neck. When he saw red blood smeared across his fingertips he grabbed Iruka’s leg, running faster.
!-!-!
“Have you slept?” Asuma was standing in front of Kakashi and Ibiki, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He looked better, he looked happy, rested, relieved. Kakashi looked down at his hands, clutched around a cup of growing-cold coffee.
“What about Sound?” Ibiki asked the question and Kakashi looked over at his hands, shaking where they peeked out from beneath the blanket the bigger man was wrapped up in.
Asuma glanced back over his shoulder, flicking his cigarette in a manner like Genma used to flick his senbon. “They haven’t been seen, but there’s guards around the whole perimeter. Reiji and Heisuke think they’re going to attack during the night again, so everyone’s sleeping in shifts.”
Kakashi glanced up at the sky, squinting against the sun. “It’s not even noon yet.”
“Yeah, well you ran from Konoha, and Ibiki’s been fighting since yesterday morning. Reiji said you two should sleep first.”
Kakashi grumbled at Asuma and rolled over, turning his back to the older man. He stiffened when a blanket was draped over him, muscles bunching up, then relaxed when he smelled in Iruka's scent. He closed his eyes to the cold midmorning sun and, to the sound of Ibiki's soft breathing, fell into a quick, light sleep.
!-!-!
Iruka was standing in front of Kakashi, wet and muddy, looking decidedly bedraggled. He looked sad, as though he were about to cry, and Kakashi had never seen the teacher cry, and never wanted to.
“Kakashi,” Iruka said, “you didn’t come. I waited for you, but you didn’t come.” Each time Iruka opened his mouth Kakashi could see blood bubble up his throat.
“Iruka-”
“I waited so long, Kakashi. It hurt, but I waited, and you didn’t come. You never came.”
Kakashi wanted to scream at Iruka for sounding so resigned, wanted to grab the teacher and shake him and kiss him and wipe the blood and mud from the younger man’s face, but his body wouldn’t move. His legs were stiff and frozen and no matter how he tried to move, to walk towards Iruka, his body remained motionless.
“Iruka,” and he ignored the way his voice cracked, “Iruka, I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“-shi?”
Iruka was on his knees now, shoulders bowed under an invisible weight, hands laid out flat against the ground. His eyes were still staring at Kakashi, wide and hurt and so sad. Kakashi forced his hand to raise, forced his fingers to open and reach for the younger man.
"Kakashi?"
He slowly opened his eyes, staring up at Kurenai. "I was dreaming," he said absently, watching her red eyes narrow and widen and narrow again. "How long was I sleeping?"
"A few hours." She crouched next to him, resting her arms on her bent knees. "What were you dreaming of?"
"Men, dead men." He stretched his arms out, leaning forward. "Where's Ibiki and Asuma?"
"Asuma's on guard-duty and Ibiki’s talking with Reiji. They want to talk to you."
His eye curved up in a smile at her as he clambered up to his feet, blanket falling to messy folds at his feet. "I'm glad you're alive," he said, tapping her shoulder with the back of his hand. "It's nice."
!-!-!
"Gai-san?" It was sleepy and muffled against Gai's neck, Iruka's lips moving slowly and with effort. The jounin hesitated for a moment, then kept running.
“Yes, sensei?”
Iruka gave a tired sigh, arms clasping loosely around Gai’s neck. “It’s starting to wear off.”
“The morphine?” the older man asked. Iruka hummed his assent and Gai shifted the teacher carefully. “Do you think we can keep going for a while?” The was a moment of stillness from the teacher before he nodded. Gai smiled, unseen, and picked up his pace a bit. “We’re making good time, Iruka-sensei.”
“Are we?” He yawned and laid his head against Gai’s neck, eyes drifting shut again.
“Yes,” Gai said cheerfully, even if it was a bit forced. “We’re nearly around the Sound lines, I think. A few more hours and we can go straight for Konoha.”
“That’s nice,” Iruka said softly, and they fell silent. Gai’s rhythm broke as, over the minutes, Iruka’s breathing sped up, grew ragged, grew forced. His arms tightened around the jounin’s neck and his fingernails dug into Gai’s vest, dragging along the canvas. “No more,” he finally choked out, and Gai skidded on leaves as he stopped. The older man fumbled with the ropes for a moment, then lowered a coughing Iruka to the ground.
“Are you going to be alright?” he asked worriedly, and Iruka nodded as he coughed, smiling at Gai from behind his hands. Gai reached out, touching fingertips beneath Iruka’s eyes lightly. “Your face is pale, you need to eat.”
“Do I?” Iruka asked, almost amused. He shifted when Gai tried to tug the backpack off of him, lifting his arms helpfully. The older man opened the bag and rifled through it.
“Here.” Gai handed a rations bar to Iruka and took one himself, pulling the wrapper off with his teeth. Iruka picked at his wrapper, tugging at it half-heartedly.
“I’ll just throw it up.”
“We’ll wait to give you the morphine, and wait a bit before we start moving. You’ll keep it down.”
Iruka frowned, pulling the rest of the wrapper off the bar. “Gai, why are you doing this?”
Gai looked up, surprised, before he smiled at Iruka. “You’re my number one rival’s precious person, you taught my team, you take care of Naruto. You graduated Lee when he couldn’t use chakra-”
“You weren’t supposed to know that,” Iruka muttered, staring at the rations in his hands.
“-you tried to make Neji happy, you gave Tenten confidence. You made my team.” Gai pushed at Iruka’s hands impatiently and Iruka took a small bite, forcing the dry food down his throat. “You’re a very important person in the village, though I don’t think anyone realizes it, not even you.” Now Gai looked uncomfortable, flexing his large hands before he continued softly. “You’re the youngest out on the battlefield now. Did you know that?”
Iruka stopped chewing, looking at Gai strangely. “No, I’m not. All the chuunin were called out, and there’re lots of chuunin younger than me, even jounin.” Gai was shaking his head long before Iruka finished.
“They’re all dead, Iruka-sensei. You’re young, compared to most of the ninja fighting, and you’re one of the only ones who didn’t fight in the third war.”
“And that’s why?” Iruka took another bite of the chalky bar, chewing it tiredly.
Gai sighed and shoved the last bit of his bar into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, then looked over at Iruka. “I don’t know why, sensei, I just did. I saw you fall, and I didn’t want you to die, so I dug you out. Maybe there’s a bigger reason, but I don’t know what it is right now.”
“Alright,” said Iruka, taking a last bite. He swallowed it thickly, then gave Gai another smile. “Alright.”
And in other news, my ceiling's making weird noises. I think it's possessed.
“Ibiki-san, what happened?”
Ibiki rubbed his hands together then shoved them into his pockets. “My team was attacked yesterday morning, at eleven hundred hours. We were pushed north, until we were adjacent to the Sound’s eastern lines. We moved south and east, then came west, looking for our line. We found you.”
“How many of your team are dead?”
“Thirteen.”
Kakashi wasn’t interested in the mini-interrogation of Ibiki, but it was either that or watch the way Asuma clinging to Kurenai, his arms wrapped around her thin waist, her head resting on his shoulder. It made him sick, watching them and thinking about Iruka, buried alive, screaming and suffocating and breaking and dying. He tried to ignore the couple, tried to focus his attention on Ibiki, on the way the larger man answered the questions, the way he shoved his big hands into his pockets, the way he shifted on his feet.
“Are you alright?” Kakashi asked, not caring about the answer.
Ibiki turned from the shinobi questioning him, looking at Kakashi for a moment. “I’m cold.”
Kakashi opened his bag, pulling out the folded blanket. He could smell Iruka on it, the younger man’s scent of coffee and papers and rain-covered grass. “Here,” he forced out, shoving the blanket at Ibiki. The jounin took it, wrapping it around his shoulders, and smiled at Kakashi.
“Thanks.”
!-!-!
Gai had fallen into a rhythm. Every few strides he'd listen for a breath, and each time Iruka breathed he'd take another few strides. Iruka’s breaths were faint and slow and Gai could smell them, sickly-sweet with the scent of vomit and blood. Gai took a jarring step and Iruka coughed sleepily, shoving his face against Gai’s neck. Gai could feel something drip down his neck and he let go of one of Iruka’s legs for a moment, touching his fingertips against his neck. When he saw red blood smeared across his fingertips he grabbed Iruka’s leg, running faster.
!-!-!
“Have you slept?” Asuma was standing in front of Kakashi and Ibiki, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He looked better, he looked happy, rested, relieved. Kakashi looked down at his hands, clutched around a cup of growing-cold coffee.
“What about Sound?” Ibiki asked the question and Kakashi looked over at his hands, shaking where they peeked out from beneath the blanket the bigger man was wrapped up in.
Asuma glanced back over his shoulder, flicking his cigarette in a manner like Genma used to flick his senbon. “They haven’t been seen, but there’s guards around the whole perimeter. Reiji and Heisuke think they’re going to attack during the night again, so everyone’s sleeping in shifts.”
Kakashi glanced up at the sky, squinting against the sun. “It’s not even noon yet.”
“Yeah, well you ran from Konoha, and Ibiki’s been fighting since yesterday morning. Reiji said you two should sleep first.”
Kakashi grumbled at Asuma and rolled over, turning his back to the older man. He stiffened when a blanket was draped over him, muscles bunching up, then relaxed when he smelled in Iruka's scent. He closed his eyes to the cold midmorning sun and, to the sound of Ibiki's soft breathing, fell into a quick, light sleep.
!-!-!
Iruka was standing in front of Kakashi, wet and muddy, looking decidedly bedraggled. He looked sad, as though he were about to cry, and Kakashi had never seen the teacher cry, and never wanted to.
“Kakashi,” Iruka said, “you didn’t come. I waited for you, but you didn’t come.” Each time Iruka opened his mouth Kakashi could see blood bubble up his throat.
“Iruka-”
“I waited so long, Kakashi. It hurt, but I waited, and you didn’t come. You never came.”
Kakashi wanted to scream at Iruka for sounding so resigned, wanted to grab the teacher and shake him and kiss him and wipe the blood and mud from the younger man’s face, but his body wouldn’t move. His legs were stiff and frozen and no matter how he tried to move, to walk towards Iruka, his body remained motionless.
“Iruka,” and he ignored the way his voice cracked, “Iruka, I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“-shi?”
Iruka was on his knees now, shoulders bowed under an invisible weight, hands laid out flat against the ground. His eyes were still staring at Kakashi, wide and hurt and so sad. Kakashi forced his hand to raise, forced his fingers to open and reach for the younger man.
"Kakashi?"
He slowly opened his eyes, staring up at Kurenai. "I was dreaming," he said absently, watching her red eyes narrow and widen and narrow again. "How long was I sleeping?"
"A few hours." She crouched next to him, resting her arms on her bent knees. "What were you dreaming of?"
"Men, dead men." He stretched his arms out, leaning forward. "Where's Ibiki and Asuma?"
"Asuma's on guard-duty and Ibiki’s talking with Reiji. They want to talk to you."
His eye curved up in a smile at her as he clambered up to his feet, blanket falling to messy folds at his feet. "I'm glad you're alive," he said, tapping her shoulder with the back of his hand. "It's nice."
!-!-!
"Gai-san?" It was sleepy and muffled against Gai's neck, Iruka's lips moving slowly and with effort. The jounin hesitated for a moment, then kept running.
“Yes, sensei?”
Iruka gave a tired sigh, arms clasping loosely around Gai’s neck. “It’s starting to wear off.”
“The morphine?” the older man asked. Iruka hummed his assent and Gai shifted the teacher carefully. “Do you think we can keep going for a while?” The was a moment of stillness from the teacher before he nodded. Gai smiled, unseen, and picked up his pace a bit. “We’re making good time, Iruka-sensei.”
“Are we?” He yawned and laid his head against Gai’s neck, eyes drifting shut again.
“Yes,” Gai said cheerfully, even if it was a bit forced. “We’re nearly around the Sound lines, I think. A few more hours and we can go straight for Konoha.”
“That’s nice,” Iruka said softly, and they fell silent. Gai’s rhythm broke as, over the minutes, Iruka’s breathing sped up, grew ragged, grew forced. His arms tightened around the jounin’s neck and his fingernails dug into Gai’s vest, dragging along the canvas. “No more,” he finally choked out, and Gai skidded on leaves as he stopped. The older man fumbled with the ropes for a moment, then lowered a coughing Iruka to the ground.
“Are you going to be alright?” he asked worriedly, and Iruka nodded as he coughed, smiling at Gai from behind his hands. Gai reached out, touching fingertips beneath Iruka’s eyes lightly. “Your face is pale, you need to eat.”
“Do I?” Iruka asked, almost amused. He shifted when Gai tried to tug the backpack off of him, lifting his arms helpfully. The older man opened the bag and rifled through it.
“Here.” Gai handed a rations bar to Iruka and took one himself, pulling the wrapper off with his teeth. Iruka picked at his wrapper, tugging at it half-heartedly.
“I’ll just throw it up.”
“We’ll wait to give you the morphine, and wait a bit before we start moving. You’ll keep it down.”
Iruka frowned, pulling the rest of the wrapper off the bar. “Gai, why are you doing this?”
Gai looked up, surprised, before he smiled at Iruka. “You’re my number one rival’s precious person, you taught my team, you take care of Naruto. You graduated Lee when he couldn’t use chakra-”
“You weren’t supposed to know that,” Iruka muttered, staring at the rations in his hands.
“-you tried to make Neji happy, you gave Tenten confidence. You made my team.” Gai pushed at Iruka’s hands impatiently and Iruka took a small bite, forcing the dry food down his throat. “You’re a very important person in the village, though I don’t think anyone realizes it, not even you.” Now Gai looked uncomfortable, flexing his large hands before he continued softly. “You’re the youngest out on the battlefield now. Did you know that?”
Iruka stopped chewing, looking at Gai strangely. “No, I’m not. All the chuunin were called out, and there’re lots of chuunin younger than me, even jounin.” Gai was shaking his head long before Iruka finished.
“They’re all dead, Iruka-sensei. You’re young, compared to most of the ninja fighting, and you’re one of the only ones who didn’t fight in the third war.”
“And that’s why?” Iruka took another bite of the chalky bar, chewing it tiredly.
Gai sighed and shoved the last bit of his bar into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, then looked over at Iruka. “I don’t know why, sensei, I just did. I saw you fall, and I didn’t want you to die, so I dug you out. Maybe there’s a bigger reason, but I don’t know what it is right now.”
“Alright,” said Iruka, taking a last bite. He swallowed it thickly, then gave Gai another smile. “Alright.”
And in other news, my ceiling's making weird noises. I think it's possessed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-16 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-16 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 09:36 am (UTC)Well done on writing some more and if you lose interest I shall help you regain it, hehe.
Oh and possessed ceilings can not be a good thing...meep.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 07:12 pm (UTC)That's good, I need someone to keep me interested in this. I have such a short attention span... *shrug* ah, well. Glad you liked this part, I personally hate it. Ugh...