Bringing You Home

Chapter 7 Epilogue Part II

Finale

XxX

Three Years Later…

The fire didn’t burn bright like a fire should. It was black. Pitch black. It engulfed the house that Kakashi and his family had lived in for seven long, magnificent years. Those years were singed away along with his memories of Iruka and his only son; the family that still lingered within the burning walls. He had lost everything.

No one said a word as they ran past the infamous copy-nin to extinguish the merciless fire. They tried to seal it into a scroll, but it proved to be too large. They tried to quench it with water, but the fire continued to burn stubbornly.

Kakashi was on his knees, crying. He had been since returning from his mission. He never looked away. He wouldn’t look away, because there in the window, staring straight back at him with eyes as fierce as the black fire was his son. “You did this…” He wondered if Iruka was still alive. That little gleam of hope that he would still cling on to until he could see for himself that his lover, his life, was still breathing and was held securely in his arms.

He still didn’t look away from the lone figure in the window.

“Why?”

The spirals shifted, twirling into something that Kakashi recognized as Karasu’s unique way of expressing fear and loss. And now he could understand. None of this was meant to happen. Something had caused Karasu to surrender to his own treacherous emotions. The overwhelming flood of it pushed the teen to his limits. He lost control.

Kakashi slowly climbed to his feet and then cautiously made his way toward the house, ignoring the pleas of other ninjas for him to stay back. “Please don’t do this…” His visible eye widened as the flames swallowed the image of his son in the window. Had it only been his imagination or had it been a sign from his son? “Karasu…Iruka…”

He was alone…just like before.

XxX

After seven days and seven nights, the fire finally burned out and the rescue team was finally able to rush in and salvage what was left of anybody inside.

Kakashi never even noticed when the last small spark died at the doorstep of his ruined house. He sat desolately in the front yard, his back pressed up against a tree, his face concealed by his knees. It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat that he looked up with a jerk.

Sakura flinched at the sight of the heavy, dark rings under the jounin’s visible eye. She supposed there was a five o’clock shadow from beneath his mask that she was nearly glad to be unable to see. “Kakashi-san? We’ve…found Iruka…”

Kakashi straightened slightly. His hopes hadn’t burned out with the fire. They withered, but they didn’t die.

Sakura didn’t look that pleased about the information. ‘What’s the matter with her? Didn’t she know that Iruka could live through anything?’ Being an academy teacher from day to day was proof of that.

“He’s alive, isn’t he? I knew he would be alive!” Kakashi got to his feet weakly, his hands reaching out for the tree to support his feeble body. “And Karasu…he’s alive, right? Of course he is! He’s my son!”

For a moment, Sakura wanted to reconsider telling her former sensei the news, but she couldn’t leave him in that state. She couldn’t blame him for his delusion, though. Kakashi hadn’t eaten or slept for seven days or nights. “Uh…no, Kakashi-san. We couldn’t find your son…and…Iruka…Iruka is… dead. I’m…so sorry, Kakashi.” Her voice cracked as tears trembled at the bottom of her eyelids.

Silly girl. She didn’t know what she was talking about. There was no way his Iruka could have died. Then…why was he crying too? He gnawed on his bottom lip until he could taste the blood and finally spoke, wincing at how his voice rasped and scratched against the back of his throat. “He can’t…he can’t be…”

“He is though, Kakashi,” Sakura stated firmly despite her sobbing. “Iruka’s body had been saved by a chakra shield… but it was too late by then. He had suffocated from the intoxicating fumes and smoke. Once again, Kakashi-san, I’m sorry.” She walked stiffly, professionally, away to join her crew to head back to the hospital, Iruka’s body in tow.

Kakashi pressed his forehead against the tree trunk and slid down it, ignoring the rough texture scraping against the skin of his forehead. He didn’t care. Why should he if he didn’t have his family to comfort him anymore? He yowled in despair, the tree muffling his cries. The limbs trembled in the wind, as if mourning for the jounin in his loss.

XxX

One Day Later…

Two figures stood at a distance, neither knowing that the other was still alive; one grieving over his own death as the other grieved for himself and the other that had died in the fire.

Long, bristly black hair wiped out from behind him as he released the swirling nicotine that was residing within his lungs. His green and black eyes shifted toward an area long since forgotten. It was the playground where he and his best friend used to make promises and show each other better ways of ‘feeling good.’ He puffed on his cigarette for a second, closing his eyes and bowing his head in respect for the two photos sitting on two black, granite headstones. “Rest in peace, and may Kami save your souls.” He turned away from the village and threw his cigarette over the edge of the rock he stood upon, only to reach into his chest pocket for another.

“Toka, you know better than to be here where the ANBU could easily find you,” a slick, yet gruff voice lectured. “Kakuzu would have a fit if he found out that his great grandson was here mourning over a simple man’s life.”

Toka merely glanced sidelong at his partner and blew a cloud of smoke out through his clinched teeth that were clamped around his newly lit cigarette. “His life was not so simple, Kisame-sempai. He was my best friend, and the only one that wouldn’t look down on me for my bloodline. Even Granny Fukai had a furtive disdain for me and mother.”

The shark-nin sneered as he approached his young apprentice and pushed him from behind playfully. “The one who unwillingly took Itachi-san’s eyes, am I correct?” His voice carried a sort of grief in it as he asked. “Like I said before, Toka; I’ll help you get revenge for what he did to Karasu-san, as long as you help me get revenge for what Sasuke did to Itachi-san.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Toka murmured. He made a sign with his hands and disappeared with a cloud of smoke and leaves. Kisame smirked at the trademark departure for a Konoha shinobi before following the teen’s lead shortly after.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, another teen focused on the irregular chakra waves within the copy-nin’s body. They were weak. Not even a strand of it flowed toward the Sharingan in his left eye socket.

The teen sighed dejectedly as he deactivated his own Sharingan and pointed his face up toward the sky. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” His eyes narrowed slightly when something wet landed on his forehead. He reached up and wiped it away with the back of his hand. “Rain?” And just as soon as he had said it, the skies opened.

He didn’t budge. He was just fine letting the heavens cry on him. At least these tears weren’t salty.

Blinking rain away, Karasu shifted his attention back onto the crowd below him. Reactivating his Sharingan again, he decided to focus on the person next to his father this time- Naruto. The blonde’s chakra waves were equally as dull as Kakashi’s, but was in no way fighting back tears like some of the others- his father.

However, Kakashi did wrap his arm around the younger man’s shoulders and hugged him close. Karasu knew Naruto craved touch in grief; it was the willingness to touch another by his father that surprised him.

Karasu watched his father’s lips move as he spoke to Naruto quietly, but he didn’t really have the willpower to read what was being said. His chakra was draining quickly from watching the dreary activity, which now that he thought about, was pointless. Of course, what the people of Konoha didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. He sighed uncomfortably at the thought and moved away from his viewing spot. They really didn’t need him there either.

XxX

Kakashi embraced the cold hand one last time and ran his fingers through the stiff, dark locks of his lover’s scalp. “Please, save a spot for me if you can.” He leaned carefully over Iruka’s inert form and planted a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll miss you until then,” he whispered and exited the room.

As soon as the room darkened and fell completely still, a chorus of ominous whispers crept across the cold tiles and plastered walls, approaching the corpse on the metal bed. Iruka’s body trembled violently and his eyes snapped open. He cautiously slipped off the bed and stared blankly out the window, his mind slowly processing why he was alive and what for.

A name immediately came to mind: Karasu.

The whispers grew louder, more wearying in his mind. He put a hand up to his left brow, feeling a painful twinge there. “But…why…?” His eyes dulled and his hand dropped back down to his side. He grabbed the blanket that had been covering him to use as a toga. He escaped out the window, following a name.

The next morning, no one could find evidence of who had been in the room after Kakashi.

No one had the gall to tell Kakashi what had happened. All anyone was concerned with was that Kakashi only knew that Iruka’s body was to be cremated this morning, and he wouldn’t be there to witness it because of a mission with Naruto. Of course, no one wanted Naruto to know of it either. All three of them had a close bond in one way or another. They’d be twice as devastated.

Tsunade rubbed her forehead, trying desperately to rid herself of the quickly impending headache. “Damn it! Why would someone want a corpse? Did you find anything suspicious about Iruka before you put him in the morgue, Shizune?”

The assistant shook her head anxiously. “No, Tsunade-sama. I didn’t find anything wrong with him. He just showed the normal signs of suffocation.”

“Get me the reports on grave robbers of Konoha, Shizune,” Tsunade demanded hastily.

Shizune nodded with a ‘right away’ and made her way down the hall toward the Hokage’s office.

XxX

“The stray has returned,” Suigetsu sneered as he turned his attention to the teen approaching them. “How he could find us while being blind is a mystery…”

Suigetsu dropped suddenly, gasping, like he was choking.

Sasuke gave a small sign that he was impressed with the boy’s new abilities. “Very good, Karasu. You’ve learned a lot from your father. I suppose you would like to ‘feel’ your other father now?”

Karasu turned his head sharply toward Sasuke, dropping his assault on Suigetsu who quickly ambled out of the teen’s vision to regain his breath. “Damn brat,” he hissed loathingly.

Karin snickered with amusement. She obviously liked the kid.

“What do you mean ‘other father’? What did you do?” Karasu was building his chakra up, ready to strike out at Sasuke when a familiar voice called out to him. His heart skipped a beat to that beautiful voice that he thought he’d never hear again. “I-Iruka?”

Sasuke didn’t seem the least bit deterred by the teen’s building rage. “Yes. He came here bright and early this morning to see you, Karasu. Apparently, his will to live and to take care of you has allowed him to return to the living.”

The teen didn’t move as deathly cold hands wrapped around his face. His eyes widened in trepidation when he couldn’t feel a pulse in either of the hands. “H-He’s…”

“Now, now,” Sasuke warned. “No need to get all worked up…”

“But he’s dead,” Karasu exclaimed as he broke away from his second father’s grip and noted that the man became quite docile when contact broke. “Iruka? Iruka-otosan?”

Iruka’s eyes lit up to the title. He reached out for the teen again. Karasu allowed it. “What have you done to him?”

Sasuke smiled weakly. “I brought him back for you. He’s at your beck and call.”

Tears burned unmercifully in Karasu’s eyes. He clinched them shut tightly to keep them from falling. “I hate you! I hate you, you fucking bastard!” He gasped softly when Iruka’s embrace tightened, as if to reprimand him. It worked slightly, but the chill that radiated from the once darker man was enough to make him breakdown and cry like the child he’d been.

Just then, another presence made itself known. He remembered an aura like that when the change happened. It was like a blanket he never wanted to get rid of, but had no choice. “Juugo?”

“It’ll be okay,” Juugo murmured and stroked the teen’s hair soothingly.

Karasu didn’t have the strength to argue; especially seeing what had happened to his father. It was all too much to take in. He needed a moment to himself to reflect, but he didn’t see that happening any time soon. How was something like this even possible? “Why do you need me anyway? What good am I to you?”

“I’m sure Naruto has told you about Orochimaru, am I correct?” Sasuke tilted his head inquisitively. “Or am I wrong and that idiot kept his mouth shut?”

The teen cringed at the title for his former sensei.

“Naruto is not an idiot, Sasuke-san,” Iruka responded drearily. “And he did tell Karasu.”

Sasuke’s eyes widened for a mere instant at the defiance in Iruka’s tone. Apparently, the man still had some soul left in him. He cursed at himself mentally for not properly reviving Iruka, although as long as the teacher wouldn’t be able to feel anything except complete devotion to Karasu, he didn’t suppose there was any harm in the mistake. He snorted skeptically before continuing. “We’re the only ones that are capable of defeating him.”

“Why couldn’t Itachi help you?” Karasu could feel the cringes from everyone except Iruka and it made him slightly on edge.

The young man’s pale face twisted into a cynical sneer. “My brother was too far gone by the time it came to that. Besides, he wouldn’t have cared. Orochimaru wasn’t his main concern.”

Suigetsu shifted uncomfortably. Sasuke’s tone was achingly grating on his nerves. He could always tell when their leader was about to snap, and recently, Suigetsu had been at the blunt of his frustrations. He was wondering how Karin and Juugo always stayed on his good side... Well, not so much for Juugo. Suigetsu already knew, for a few years now, that the relationship of ‘master and slave’ went deeper than that. Karin was clueless about their relationship, which was probably for the best. It almost made him crack a smile though…almost. “Can we just get this show on the road folks? I feel like we’re sitting ducks out here,” he indicated by swinging his arm out toward the expanse of nothing but grassy plains.

Sasuke glared half-heartedly at the former mist-nin before nodding in agreement. “Juugo, make sure that Iruka and Karasu stay with the group. We don’t need them wandering off.”

The water ninja noted how Sasuke’s tone had softened incredibly for the tall man. Suigetsu wasn’t jealous. He was far from it in fact. Maybe their leader hadn’t had a good fuck yet, that’s why he’d been so edgy as of late. He sneered at the notion that perhaps Juugo needed to be coached into it and Sasuke was the only one capable of doing that.

Karasu leaned into Iruka exhaustedly and allowed the man to hold him up against his side. He was blearily aware of Juugo walking close behind them. What he was more aware of though was the fact that he couldn’t feel any negative energy of retaliation in Iruka’s aura. That calmed him slightly.

“Iruka…otosan… What color are the skies?”

The former academy sensei tilted his head up, his pale eyes narrowing as if trying to keep the sunlight from blinding him. “Blue… Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious.” Karasu smiled weakly at Iruka. “Maybe today will be a good day.”

How today could be good, especially when you were dead, was beyond Iruka. He looked back up to the sky with a saddened expression. Why did he feel like he was forgetting something: a name, a face…someone?

“It’s best not to think,” Juugo explained in a mellow tone into Iruka’s ear. “You are only meant to obey Sasuke and protect Karasu.”

Iruka knew he meant to glare at the taller man, but it faltered by the time he had his head turned midway. And when he had his eyes fully on Juugo, he stared blankly, almost with uncertainty. He realized then, even though he wasn’t supposed to and it only lasted for a second, that he wasn’t permitted to think under any condition. But when he peered at Karasu, a deep feeling of affection and devotion warmed him. That at least, was familiar, natural. That, at least, wasn’t an order from Sasuke.

However, Iruka couldn’t shake the feeling that this was going to fade as he continued to exist.

To be continued in a comic…