Disclaimer: I don't own it.
A/N: Final chapter. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. It is greatly appreciated and it made me want to finish it. Enjoy.
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Red. It stained his hands and no matter how many times he washed the color wouldn't go away. Logically he knew it was gone, washed away in the chill rain but every time he looked it was back. Drying his hands on a towel Iruka went to his room and collapsed on the bed, one arm over his eyes. The room seemed so much smaller without Kakashi at his side.
Stifling a low groan of pain he couldn't help but recall the day Kakashi had gone.
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Iruka jumped the alley, Gai half a step behind. It was pouring rain, numbing the two men and making travel across the roofs extremely dangerous. Common sense demanded he slow down but he couldn't, not when Kakashi was lying in the forest injured and perhaps dying. Instead he pushed more chakra into his feet and sped up.
He and Gai went over the wall at the same time and he could feel the sympathy coming form the older man. The jounin had shown up at his door, with a gash in his vest and splattered with blood he said was Kakashi's. He'd also said something about an ambush but Iruka had been slipping his sandals no, not really paying any attention to what the jounin had been saying.
All that mattered was that Kakashi was seriously wounded and perhaps even dying.
Landing in the trees he could feel several chakra signatures flickering and one that was steadily getting weaker. Fear coiled in the pit of his stomach and with a last push they came to the clearing where the ambush had taken place.
The enemy bodies were already gone, nothing but a charred spot left behind. The ground was a mess of mud and blood and even through the rain Iruka could spell the iron tang.
Asuma, Genma and Anko were standing in a semicircle around a limp figure on the ground. Iruka vaulted over their heads and slipped as he landed in the mud. Shock froze his heart as he dropped to his knees, hands hovering over Kakashi's chest.
A long slash sliced through the man's vest and shirt to reveal a sluggishly bleeding gash and his breathing was laboured. Beside the wound there was nothing obviously wrong with him but the injury did nothing to explain why his breathing was so off.
"Why haven't you taken him back to the village?" The three Jounin jumped and exchanged looks that he couldn't quite decipher.
Anko stepped forward eyes downcast. "He got hit by a blood jutsu. As near as we can tell his organs are slowly liquefying. He wouldn't survive a trip back to the village and we don't know if there are more enemies out here so we can't risk Tsunade out here. I doubt she would even be able to help."
"Don't worry about me Iruka. I did my job. I protected you and the village." Moving slowly Kakashi raised a hand to his face, fingers slipping under the edge of his mask. With a hitching breath he pulled it down to reveal a straight nose broken one too many times, thin lips and teeth that were a little crooked.
He reached out with his free hand and Iruka caught it, painfully aware of the iciness of the pale skin. "Told Gai to get you. Wanted to see you one more time. I've known for awhile it was go-" Coughing interrupted him, blood trickling from his mouth.
Iruka tightened his grip and brushed the blood away, heedless of what it might look like to the others. He pressed a kiss to the back of Kakashi's hand, eyes closed against the pain. It wasn't fair. Even with Kakashi lying in the freezing rain and mud, dying in an excruciating manner he couldn't say what he wanted to hear. "I'm sorry Kakashi. I can't say it."
Kakashi smiled, the movement tugging at his scar. "It was enough for you to say my name." His eyes drifted shut and all the tension seemed to drain out of his body, as if he had finally found peace.
He quickly lost track of how long he stayed there, kneeling in the mud and rain, never releasing Kakashi's hand. At some point the four Jounin had turned their backs, in the guise of standing guard but he knew it was to give them some privacy.
With one last shuddering breath Kakashi's chest fell, his hand going slack in Iruka's. Leaning forward he brushed a soft kiss across the Jounin's bloodstained mouth. He gently folded Kakashi's hands and got to his feet, meeting Gai's gaze. "Take him home."
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Rolling onto his side he reached under the pillow, fingers brushing over cold metal. He withdrew Kakashi's hitai-ate, eyes running over the diagonal slash bisecting the leaf. "You deserved better then me."