A/N: Hey everyone! As always your reviews have been so inspirational! I'm glad to hear your feedback. Sorry this took so long to get up. I've had it written for awhile now, but getting it typed took more effort than I'd expected. Not to mention I've been unexpectedly busy. Anyway, hopefully things will be calmer now. I won't be having any more 10 hour long classes on safety... That was like hell... But on the bright side, at least now I know how to prevent myself from losing limbs in a factory. I'll pretend that I'm not a waitress just to make that worth my time.

Okay, apparently this didn't take that long to upload... it seemed like forever to me though. Strange.

Iruka woke to an empty bed. Kakashi's side was cold. He hadn't been there for quite some time. The apartment seemed barren, and Iruka suddenly felt oddly lonely. He'd been prepared for Kakashi's departure, but he hadn't expected this. He'd expected a quiet breakfast and a kiss goodbye. What he got instead was a note explaining that Kakashi would be back in a few days time. There was little else contained in the short message. No signs of affection, no well wishes or vague plans for dinner when he got back. Nothing. It was almost frustrating. Almost. Mostly it was just Kakashi. This was how the jounin did things, and no matter how much Iruka didn't like it, he couldn't really blame Kakashi. The man had come a long way, but there were some things that would never change. Could never change. Kakashi needed to be alone before a mission, that was understandable.

Iruka ate a small breakfast alone. Showered and readied himself for work. His class was unremarkable. Konohamaru wasn't particularly active. Iruka couldn't even find a reason to be upset, but he was in a foul mood. Not outwardly. Outwardly he smiled and laughed and pretended not to notice Kakashi was even gone. But he wanted to yell and scream and throw a tantrum. He wanted to stomp his feet and shout about how he never got what he wanted. He wanted to complain about how he was always the one to sacrefice, and no one seemed to care. He knew that wasn't true. It was far from true. Kakashi had given up his privacy for Iruka, and that was all Kakashi had. But Iruka still felt like complaining. So he did.

He plopped down behind the mission desk and scolded jounin because their reports were impossible to read, or late, or dirty, or incomplete. He shouted and threatened and threw sharp objects with deadly accuracy. By the time his shift was over Raidou had to drag him from the room while he shouted at Gai about how the color green is really never appropriate. Raidou dragged the fuming chuunin half way through the village before Iruka regained enough sense to jerk his arm away and snap about how he was fully capable of walking himself, thank you.

There was a long silence during which Iruka mentally ranted to himself about just about everything and how annoying it was, just to keep his anger boiling.

"Wanna talk about it?" Raidou offered, interupting Iruka's mental tirade.

"No." Iruka spat, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance at the world. "Yes." He corrected after another moment of silent fuming.

Raidou raised an eyebrow, encouraging the younger man to continue.

"No one can ever seem to turn in a proper report. Ever. It's ridiculous. I'm sick of always staying late and fixing the filing, or correcting small mistakes that people have over looked, or waiting around for people who feel the need to turn things in after the mission desk has closed. I have a life too, ya know? It's like people forget that I have other things to do."

Raidou nodded. "That's pretty inconsiderate."

Iruka nodded sharply. "More than inconsiderate. It's downright rude, and then people are surprised when I yell at them. Really? Are they above being scolded? Maybe if they would do things right I wouldn't have to scream at them, does anyone ever consider that? No. Of course not. Everyone just thinks I'm bipolar or something. I'm always the one with the problem. Not them."

Raidou nodded his understanding, climbing the stairs to his and Genma's apartment.

"I'm stressed enough being a teacher. I mean, most jounin can't even handle taking on a genin team, and they get the little hellions after I've whipped them into shape, and I deal with a whole room full of kids, not just three! I'm the one who has to teach the crazy, little blood thirsty beasts how to use weapons and jutsus. It's a miracle I haven't at least lost a finger yet! And somehow, I'm crazy for snapping at people every once in awhile? Sure. Whatever."

Raidou opened the door to the apartment and held it open for the ranting chuunin. Genma stuck his head out from the kitchen where he had been boiling water for tea. Raidou nodded to Iruka and held up three fingers, indicating that Genma should make enough for all three of them. Genma nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"And then everyone's constantly asking about Kakashi! I don't have time for that crap. I mean, everyone knows how Kakashi is. I can't just tell them everything. Kakashi's a really private person. I don't want to ruin my whole relationship for the sake of gossip. That's ridiculous. I swear to Kami if I have to hear one more person ask about Kakashi's face, I'm going to skin them with a dull, rusty kunai!" Iruka blushed then, realizing what exactly he was saying. Genma was probably the most likely person to ask such a question.

Just then the senbon sucker strolled out of the kitchen carrying the tea tray and smirking. "Go on." He he nodded.

"I-I didn't mean... Well... It's just..." Iruka stammered. Then his eyes narrowed into a glare and he seemed to reconsider his embarrassment. "You know what, no. It's true. You can't expect me to actually answer those questions. You've known Kakashi for longer than I have. You should understand how hard this is for me."

Genma nodded again. "I do. Which is why I tease you about it. You need to learn to laugh about it, or it'll kill you. Believe me."

"There's nothing to laugh about! This is serious! I spend all my time trying to make sure he's okay. I'm so tired of having to coddle him all the time, but I can't stop! I don't know what I'd do if I lost him, but I can't do this forever! I can't! It's too hard. I'm so busy taking care of him, I have no time for myself, and it's not like anyone else is going to take care of me! And it's not like I can explain it to him, cuz then he'd have some kind of mental break down about not being good enough for me, or taking advantage or he'd find something to brood about, and I'd be stuck picking up the pieces." Iruka rubbed his face in frustration. "What the hell am I supposed to do exactly? I love him, but I can't take care of both of us by myself, but he can't even take care of himself. Fuck he can't even take care of his friggin' house plant! And I can't even be mad at him because it's not his fault! He warned about all this. I knew this was going to be difficult, but he's worth it. But it's just so hard! I'm so sick of doing this all by myself."

Genma put his hand on Iruka's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "But he really is trying, and he's made some progress. You aren't in it alone."

"Yeah, but Kakashi's version of trying to make things work, only amounts to the average person's complete lack of effort! I feel like I'm in a relationship with myself half the time! I know he's trying, and that only makes it worse! That only makes it horrible of me to complain at all because he has to try for this when it comes naturally for everyon else! I don't know how much longer I can do this by myself! I don't want to give up on him, but this is all so much to deal with and I just can't do it forever!"

There was a brief moment of silence.

Raidou raised an eyebrow. "Are you done?"

Iruka glared at him, picked up his tea cup and smashed it on the ground. His glare faded then, and he seemed to deflate. "Yes." He looked pitifully at the shattered cup. "I'm sorry. I'll buy you a new one."

Raidou waved it off as nothing. "Wanna talk about what's really bothering you now?"

Iruka looked away. "He left. He didn't wait until morning or even say goodbye. I woke up and he was just gone. He wrote some stupid note that said he'd be back in a few days and that was it."

Raidou nodded. "And that's all that's bothering you?"

Iruka glared at a spot on the carpet intently, as though the small stain was actually the root of all evil. "What else would it be?"

Raidou shrugged. "Just asking."

Iruka sighed and leaned back into the couch. "I miss him..."

Raidou offered him a small sad smile. "I know."

"I wish he didn't have to go. Things were going so well, and I just want him to come home and be with me and I want things to go back to being fine. And what if this mission messes everything up? What if he breaks again? Or what if he doesn't..." Iruka choked on the end of his sentence as a sob escaped him. He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.

"He'll come home." Raidou promised.

Iruka just sat on the couch and cried.

---

Kakashi managed to get Yuuji back to his village relatively unscathed, but the man did seem rather shaken up. Someone had hired ninja to hunt him down and kill him. He had a right to be a bit worried. Kakashi assured him that he would do everything he could to ensure his safety before he left, but there was honestly very little the jounin could do. He managed to convince the guardsmen of the town to keep an eye out for the two ninja, and gave them a detailed description. Still, they were only ordinary men. If ninja wanted in the city there was very little those men could do to stop them. If ninja wanted Yuuji dead, there was a good chance he'd end up a corpse by morning.

Kakashi assured him that he'd inform the Hokage as soon as he returned to the village, but he needed to leave as soon as possible. He needed to get back to Konoha more quickly than he'd anticipated. He need to report what was happening. He couldn't risk starting a war with an unknown village for the safety of one man. But he didn't want to leave Yuuji to die. The man had a life. There were things that made him happy, people who loved him, people that he loved. He wasn't some empty shell trying to figure out how to become a person. He was a person, and he deserved to live.

Kakashi set a few quick traps before he left, and tended to his wounded thigh. Running with the kunai lodged into the muscle had caused a lot of damage to the flesh there. It was raw, and more painful than he would have liked to admit, but he didn't have time to fuss over it. He applied a mild localized sedative to ease the pain, and bandaged it as best he could before he took off for Konoha. He needed to get to Tsunade. He needed to make his report and let her know about the strange ninja, perhaps send someone to protect Yuuji. He needed to get back to Iruka.

Running on his injured leg was difficult. Not exactly painful, but numbing the muscle had made his movements more unsure than usual. He tried not to think about how the wound looked, gaping and bleeding everywhere. He hadn't even cleaned it properly, he was in such a hurry. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, and ran. He needed to get home.

The sun was setting before he'd made it half an hour out of the village, and Kakashi was beginning to wonder if he'd make it back in time for Tsunade to take action. He made it to the area they'd run into the two foreign ninja. There were no signs that they'd returned to inspect the area yet, but Kakashi sincerely doubted that they weren't already tracking Yuuji back to his village. He looked up at the sky, to measure the time. It would take him at least another four hours to reach Konoha, by then, it'd be relatively late, and he began to worry that there wasn't time.

He continued onward, not bothering to stop and check for any sense of Yuuji's pursuers. Luck was not with him, however. He'd barely made it past the combat area, when a kunai flew past him. He'd only barely dodged, losing his footing in the canopy of the trees and letting himself drop to the forest floor. He hit the ground facing his attackers, though they didn't look particularly interested in a fight.

"Hey." Mimoshi grinned, strolling casually forward as though he'd just run into an old friend. "That was a nice trick you pulled. I'll have to use that sometime."

Kakashi remained still and stoic, keeping an eye on the two ninja in front of him. Neither had weapons drawn, which was a good sign, but it also meant that he wasn't exactly sure what it was they wanted from him. He remained silent.

"So, you got the mark back to his village already then? Or is this more elaborate planning to throw us off his trail?" The kid was casual, as though the stunt Kakashi pulled was merely amusing and not a significant hinderance.

Kakashi remained silent and still.

"You aren't going to get anything out of him that way, Mimoshi." The man beside him finally joined in the conversation. He pulled out a kunai and twirled it menacingly. "I bet I could get something out of him though."

Mimoshi held up his hand to silence the older man. "No. We aren't here to start a war with Konoha." He turned his attention back to Kakashi. "Do you know who that man was you were escorting?"

Stillness and silence answered the young ninja.

"My parents are dead, as I'm sure you remember. He played a hand in their deaths." Mimoshi paused and seemed to size Kakashi up. "You don't believe me." He said bluntly. "That's fine. You have no reason to. It'd be a good lie if I were trying to trick you. We don't want to fight you."

Kakashi was trying not to listen to this. If it was true, that only meant that this kid was real. He was a person. He'd lost love ones and was human. He was better than Kakashi. Better than the monster Kakashi had let himself become.

"Come on, Mimoshi! Just let me have a bit of fun. He seems like a hard egg to crack. I can get your answers for you." The older ninja seemed to be getting giddy at the thought of torturing Kakashi. The jounin decided that Ibiki was much more intimidating with his stoic approach.

"Tomoei! Stop. We aren't here for that." The kid's tone was sharp, but not particularly loud. It seemed as though he'd grown tired of scolding Tomoei.

"One dead ninja won't bring Konoha's wrath down on us." The older nin mumbled miserably, but didn't push the subject further.

"I don't hold a grudge against him." Mimoshi was talking to both Kakashi and Tomoei. "But my parents were important to our village."

He didn't explain further because there was no need to. Important members of a village had been killed, the favor was due to be returned. It seemed a bit warped that they'd send this kid out himself, but Kakashi didn't bother commenting. Silent and still. He hoped they'd just leave.

Mimoshi smiled. "I hate politics." He turned his back to Kakashi. "Hey, Tomo, we'll set up camp here for the night."

Kakashi wasn't sure if his eye widened visibly at that statement or not, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Tomoei looked quite displeased with that decision, but didn't verbally protest.

Kakashi could see Mimoshi smiling as leaned against a tree. "You know, Konoha-san, you really ought to work on your conversational skills. I guess it's a good thing I understand people. I understand you, Konoha-san." He let out a comfortable sigh. "People do strange things, but they do them for a reason. People that is. I don't like Yuuji, but I like war less."

There was a lingering silence in which Kakashi remained still and silent. When neither ninja so much as looked back at him, he bolted. Everything out that situation was all wrong. He wasn't thinking like a shinobi. He was listening, despite himself, and he couldn't be sure what to trust. Ninjas were liars. It was just a part of life, but Kakashi's gut told him that there was something underneath the underneath.

That kid lost his parents, and yet he didn't want their murder dead? Kakashi's mind was swimming with thought as he ran for Konoha. 'People do strange things, but they do them for a reason. People that is.' What did he mean by that? He pushed that line of thinking to the back of his mind. He'd figure it out when he had time. Now he needed to get home. He needed to warn Tsunade. He needed to see Iruka. He needed to rest and think this all through later.

A/N: Okay, this chapter seems a bit scattered. Hopefully I'll clear some of this up next chapter. I hope no one is disappointed in how this mission is going. To me, this has all been about Kakashi figuring out how to separate shinobi life from his life as just a man, and this mission is like the bridge between both worlds if that makes any sense. So, it hasn't been particularly action packed, but my goal is for things to become clear to you and Kakashi next chapter!