midnightdiddle

Another part. Woot!

Gai could feel Iruka slowly become more aware in the way the teacher’s hold on him tightened, the way his slow, steady breathing quickened ever so slightly. Iruka tilted his head so it was alongside Gai’s, and when Gai looked sideways at him, the chuunin was watching the trees and bushes blur by, eyes blank and dull. He blinked a few times, then slowly stiffened against Gai’s back, turning so his lips were next to Gai’s ear.

“There’s someone following us,” he murmured, and Gai nodded, still running.

“They’ve been on us for nearly half an hour now. I think there’s only one.”

Iruka winced, then spoke again. “The morphine’s wearing off.”

The jounin turned slightly to the left, darting into thicker foliage, and Iruka felt the chakra of their pursuer pulse, then follow.

“If I put you down, could you protect yourself?” Gai asked, smiling tightly when Iruka bristled.

“I’m fine,” the teacher hissed, and Gai ground to a halt, pulling the ropes loose. Iruka slid from Gai’s back, standing shakily, and Gai wrapped the ropes around his waist, patting Iruka on the shoulder.

“Be careful, sensei,” he advised, before melting into the bushes in the direction of the pursuer. Iruka watched him go, glancing around the trees anxiously.

The Sound nin had been tracking the two shinobi for nearly an hour. He’d been slowly catching up until, about half an hour ago, one of the shinobi had caught his chakra and had sped up. Now he was pulling up closer again, he could feel it. He fell to a stop, feet sinking into the moldy leaves. Gai stood in front of him, between two trees, and the young man shifted uneasily.

“Konoha’s Green Beast?”

Gai took a step back, falling into a stiff stance, and the young man raised his arm, a shuriken held between his fingers.

“But where did you hide the dying one?” The young man lunged at Gai, hurling the shuriken.

Gai jerked, eyes widening with surprise as the shuriken grazed his cheek, blood welling to the cut. He leapt to the side when the nin rushed him, stumbling. He pushed himself off a tree, turning to face the Sound nin again. Gai took in one shuddering breath, then another, and coughed. The nin straightened, eyes narrowing as he watched the Konoha jounin.

“Another dying man?”

There was a fizzle of displaced chakra, and another Gai appeared behind the Sound nin. The second Gai grabbed the young man’s head, snapping the neck with a sharp twist to the side. The Sound nin’s body fell to the ground, limp and heavy, eyes staring disbelievingly at the coughing Gai.

“A henge,” he croaked, face falling slack. The second Gai nudged his body with a foot, then rolled the young man over, already turning his attention from the dying body to the coughing Gai.

“You can drop the henge, sensei,” Gai said, and there was a puff of smoke. Iruka fell to his knees, one hand held to his mouth, the other wrapped around his chest. His body shook as he coughed, and blood dribbled between his fingers.

The dying man’s body convulsed, then lay still, blank eyes staring accusingly at Iruka. Iruka tried to look away, tried to look anywhere else, but he couldn’t. The eyes wouldn’t let go of him, wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t-

“Sensei!”

Iruka jerked and coughed, a clot of blood forcing its way up his throat. He gagged, then spat, confused. He was lying on his side, face turned towards the dead man, and Gai was pulling a needle out of his arm.

“You need to calm down, sensei,” Gai said softly, rubbing Iruka’s arm. “Just stay calm, and breathe.”

“Can’t-” he choked out, wheezing and gasping. There was a weight on his chest and he clutched at his vest, trying to pull it loose. Gai batted his hands away gently, and pulled the zipper half-way down.

“Just breathe, sensei, you’ll be fine.”

“No-” Gai didn’t understand, he never understood, and Iruka wanted to cry, hating himself for being so weak. The weight was growing, and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get his lungs to obey and just fill up with air. It was so simple, but it just wouldn’t work. “I can’t-”

“Just give the morphine a minute to start working. Here, breathe now, light breaths.”

Gai was watching Iruka too closely, and Iruka felt as though he was suffocating. The teacher stared at the dead eyes in front of him, trying to breathe. At each breath, he could smell the dead man as the corpse excreted its wastes. He felt sick and gagged on the smell and the metallic taste in his mouth. He dug his feet and fingers into the dirt as his body shuddered, twisting on his side. He coughed up another clot of blood, sticky and warm.

There was too much blood, Iruka was choking on it. Gai turned Iruka’s head a bit more, so the blood and saliva oozed from his mouth, slipping down his fingers. He coughed one more time, muscles tensing, then fell against the ground, limp. Gai gingerly grabbed Iruka, pulling him up, and Iruka let his head roll against Gai’s shoulder, wheezing unevenly.

“I need to get you away from the body so I can get rid of it,” he explained unnecessarily and Iruka stumbled to his feet, Gai holding up his deadweight. The jounin moved a few feet away from the corpse, Iruka dragging himself along with him, and he leaned the teacher against the tree.

“What,” Iruka asked breathlessly, sliding down to sit at the base of the tree, leaning back against the trunk, “are you going to-” He coughed wetly and pointed a red-stained, shaking finger at the corpse. Gai opened a pocket on his vest, digging through it with two fingers.

“An acid jutsu, to destroy it.”

He pulled out a small packet, flashing Iruka a triumphant smile. “Have you ever seen this? Usually people don’t, unless they’re jounin. You’ll like this, sensei.” He walked to the body as he spoke, ripping the packet open carefully. “See, I just put the powder on the body, like this, and then form a few seals.” He poured the last bit of the powder on the corpse, then dropped the paper on the body, using his now-free hands to form seals.

“Dragon, boar, and horse. You hold horse as long as you want it to decompose the corpse.”

Iruka watched the powder fizz and foam, eating away at the flesh and muscle, moving through to the bones. The body decomposed faster than he would have thought, and he felt sick, watching the corpse melt away. He closed his eyes, resting his head back against the tree, and focused his attention on trying to even out his breathing. He heard Gai approach a few minutes later, and he took in another shaky breath.

“Sensei?”

“I’m cold.” He opened his eyes, surprised at his own words, and looked up at Gai. The jounin reached out, touching his forehead, not roughly, and Iruka closed his eyes again.

“Your face is bloody,” Gai said softly, pulling his hand away. “Let me get the canteen.” Iruka could hear Gai move away, then move back.

“Do you think- I don’t think-” Iruka paused, confused, and Gai began cleaning the blood from his face.

“Think what, Iruka-sensei?”

“I don’t think I’ll-” He stopped again, then opened his eyes, looking up through the tree’s leaves. “Do you think Kakashi’s alright?”

Gai smiled, relieved, and tilted Iruka’s head so he could clean the cut. “My eternal rival won’t die easily, Iruka-sensei.”

“I will, though,” the teacher murmured. “I’d tell you to leave, and go back to the lines, but I don’t want to die.”

Gai froze, smile falling from his face, and his hand shook the slightest bit. He looked at his hand, formed it into a fist, and forced a smile back onto his face. “I said you wouldn’t die, sensei. I don’t go back on my promises.”

“Of course not, Gai-san.” Iruka leaned forward, until his forehead was pressed against Gai’s shoulder, and Gai’s hands shook. “Of course not.”