Set in my Not Over Till The Paperwork Is In universe. However, this story easily stands alone.

Warnings: Off-screen torture, and death.

As far as B-rank missions go, this one had been rather standard. Infiltrate, investigate, gather intelligence, withdraw immediately: Iruka undertook similar missions on a regular basis, usually during academy breaks or exam week, when his presence as an assistant teacher was not required.

Unfortunately, becoming too comfortable with your work is a mistake few ninja live to regret. Even "standard" missions can go hideously awry.

One incident in particular made this mission decidedly dissimilar from any other Iruka had undertaken. This time, he and his partner were captured.

His partner, Kyasha, had been promoted to chunin last year. Her appearance was plain, with mousy brown hair that frizzed when it got humid, coffee brown eyes framed with short lashes, and a forgettable face. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't particularly good looking either.

This, of course, was part of the reason she was selected for spywork. Iruka laughed at those cheesy movies starring gorgeous secret agents. Really, how far could an undercover worker get when his brilliant smile and eye-catching figure turned every head in a half mile radius?

Since Kyasha's promotion to chunin, the Sadaime paired her with Iruka on missions, allowing the older teen to show her the ropes. With their similar age and coloring, they easily posed as brother and sister, cousins, boyfriend and girlfriend, or whatever their role happened to be at the moment. Iruka took the responsibility of training her seriously, and Kyasha progressed quickly.

Now he found himself teaching by example another aspect of spy work: resisting torture and interrogation.

Morino Ibiki's lessons came back to him, and Iruka for the first time was fiercely grateful for Ibiki's sadistic, unrelenting training. Now he was prepared for the real thing. If he ever got back to Konoha, he'd complain less and show more appreciation for the time and effort the man invested in him.

They were still in the early stages of torture, Iruka noticed, when he could think of something other than the pain. He and Kyasha had not yet been separated.

The enemy would try first to disconcert and demoralize them with their teammate's pain, Ibiki had warned. If that failed, isolation was next.

Oddly, the teen was looking forward to the isolation. Iruka hated when they tortured Kyasha in front of him, knowing as he did that she had yet to complete her Advanced Torture Resistance courses. Besides that, he'd grown a bit protective of his protégé, despite being only two years her senior.

He hated when they made her scream, but he hated it more when they made her cry. With tears streaming down her face, she looked too much like the fifteen year old girl she was, and not enough like the battle-hardened kunoichi she needed to be.

Iruka hated how weak he felt, utterly helpless to protect her.

At the end of the torture sessions, the two were tossed back into their cramped, musty cell. Iruka hated that their captors didn't need to bother with chains. They were trapped even without being physically restrained. Chakra draining cuffs prevented them from using any jutsu. They were too ravaged physically to fight. And of course, they had no weapons.

In fact, they had no clothes. Keeping them naked was part of the psychological torture. Ibiki had explained that it's designed to make captives feel exposed, vulnerable, and humiliated.

Iruka hates that it works.

At the present, alone in their cell after a hard session, Iruka ventures to talk to his partner, while keeping his eyes respectfully on the floor. "You did well today, Kyasha," he encourages, though his voice rasps and his throat burns from the effort. He's so desperately thirsty, he would trade just about anything for a single glass of water. Anything, except the information their tormentors seek.

She doesn't respond.

"Really, you should talk to me now, while you can." Iruka quietly urges. "Before long we'll be placed in isolation. Then we'll be fairly desperate for companionship. Unless we're rescued first, of course." He forces a smile into his voice, though he can't make it reach his face. He had to be strong, despite the pain and humiliation they put him through. For her sake, and for Konoha. Still, he cannot coax her into conversation.

"Kyasha, please, talk to me." Was that really his voice, sounding so needy and far more pleading than he'd intended? "I…I need to keep my mind off the pain."

Silence.

Just when Iruka has abandoned the notion of conversation, she speaks. "I can't do this anymore, Iruka-kun."

"What? No, Kyasha-chan, you can. You have to. The Leaf Village is depending on us! Think of our comrades."

Iruka hears quiet sobs and finally looks up at her. She is huddled against the wall, arms hugging her knees close to her chest. It strikes Iruka again how achingly young she looks when in tears.

He drags himself closer, ignoring the protests from abused, lacerated muscles. "Is it okay if I put my hand on your shoulder?" He figures he should ask. After what she's been through, she may not appreciate another man's touch.

After a hesitant nod, he does so in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. "You're strong, Kyasha. Stronger than you think. You can endure this."

"N-no. I…I…" The sobbing became louder. "I can't take this," she choked out. "J-just look at us." Tilting her chin towards his hand, she adds, "You'll never be a ninja after this."

The hand he'd placed on her shoulder, Iruka admits mentally, does look a bit grotesque, with the fingers sticking out at such odd angles and the patchwork of blue, purple and red adorning the skin.

"This? This is nothing, Kyasha. Trust me. When we're back in Konoha, they'll just re-break the fingers, set them properly, and after a couple months of physical therapy, it'll be good as new," Iruka says. "I'll be performing hand signs as well as any ninja. I'll work on my penmanship, even. After this, you'll never have to complain about my handwriting again. I promise. Just don't give up on me, okay?"

"I'm not as strong as you, Iruka," she declares, dissolving into tears once again. "I can't...I can't..."

"Hush, not so loudly." He tries to keep the worry from his voice. "What if they hear you?"

The sobbing decreases as she realizes what he fears. The interrogator will hear her, realize she is weakening, and finally succeed in breaking her. Kyasha looks straights into her partner's eyes. "You have to kill me," she states firmly.

"What?" Iruka blinks, taken aback by the sudden steel in her voice. "No. I can't. Don't even ask m-"

"You have to." Kyasha insists. "I'm going to break. I know I am."

His throat is too dry, and he vainly attempts to swallow. "You can't just give up," Iruka asserts firmly, though he is suddenly feeling dizzy. "Sadaime-sama, he will send help. You just have to hold on until they find us."

"Even if they find us," Kyasha murmurs, misery laced in her words, "I don't want to live. I'd rather die than live with what they've done to me."

Iruka slips an arm around her shoulders. She tenses, then relaxes into him. Her ear is against his chest, and she can hear his heartbeat. It's too fast.

"Don't say such things. You'll be fine. You're a Konoha ninja. Think of your village."

"I am! That's why you have to kill me now, Iruka-san, before I talk."

The sound of footsteps in the far end of the hallway interrupts the debate. The floor is designed to echo, in order to announce the interrogator's approach and heighten the captives' fear.

Kyasha stiffens. "He's coming!" Her face turns white. "Iruka, hurry. Do it now before he gets here."

Iruka looks at her, torn and uncertain. Hadn't she thought of what this would do to him? How is he supposed to keep himself from breaking after killing his own teammate?

As if sensing his thoughts, she grabs his shoulders and shakes him. "Do it for the village, Iruka. And…and for me." She looks away. "Please, I don't want to die a traitor."

The footsteps are closer, though slow. He can't sense the chakra with those cuffs on, and the echoing hall make it difficult to determine just how close he is now, how many seconds are left until his arrival.

"Okay." Iruka relents. His left hand grips her right shoulder. His mutilated right hand lies flat on her left cheek, the heel of his hand slightly cupping her chin. "I…I just want to let you know…I was glad to work with you…and-"

"Just do it," she whispers, closing her eyes and waiting.

He pushes hard with his right hand while pulling forward with his left. The sound of her neck snapping makes him sick. When he drops her body, her neck is angled as grotesquely as his fingers.

He stares at her numbly, nausea rising in his throat, and doesn't look away, even when he hears the prison door swinging opening. He knows he'll be severely punished, but Iruka will bear it, in honor of Kyasha.

"Finally! We found you." A masculine voice sighs.

Iruka flinches. Turning slowly to face the speaker, he feels himself dying inside. Standing before him was Raidou, a Konoha jounin, uninjured and covered in blood not his own. At that moment, Iruka would have given anything, perhaps even that classified information, to be faced with the interrogator instead.

Raidou strides forward and kneels beside Iruka to better assess his condition. The jounin's breath catches when he sees the dead kunoichi. He curses angrily, and shakes his head, "I'm sorry that we came too late for her."

Raidou continues speaking to him, but his voice seems too far away. Iruka belatedly drags his attention back to his unwelcomed rescuer. "What?"

"I asked- Did she talk? Did they break her?" the jounin repeats.

"No," Iruka murmurs. "They didn't break her."

"And what about you?" Raidou's serious eyes bear into his. "Did you break?"

Did he break? Iruka almost laughs, but holds back, not wanting to give Raidou a reason to doubt his sanity. He keeps his eyes on his comrade. "No, I didn't break."

And it's true: Iruka isn't broken. He is shattered.