Chapter Text
Many dark blurs zipped through the forest, leaping from branch to branch in the exhilarating thrill of a chase.
“Genma, to your left!” shouted a voice, echoes quickly deadened by the loud rustling of the forest.
“Dammit, dammit!” yelled the blonde man, spitting out a senbon to his left, before abruptly jumping to the right. He didn’t expect to hit a hard wall of steel armour and yelped loudly when he crashed face first into somebody’s steel-clad chest.
Genma felt strong arms immediately trap his arms against his body, and then a hand circling his neck. He closed his eyes in defeat as he felt a cold steel collar click around his neck, and his silver-haired captor let out a deep chuckle.
Two more bodies landed in a whoosh beside Genma and his captor.
The thick branch of the tree that all four men were standing on started shaking vigorously from the laughter that three of the men were producing.
“Fuck you, you bastards. I hope you all get shat on by Orochimaru’s pet snake,” spat Genma venomously, sporting a bright pink princess-style choker necklace which was studded with numerous heart-shaped, fake jewels.
His only response was howling laughter from the three men in standard ANBU uniform, and soon, two other men wearing similar gaudy, bright and sparkly choker necklaces grudgingly landed on the tree.
“At least yours isn’t lacy,” pointed out one of the new arrivals, remorsefully picking at his chakra-enhanced, delicate-looking lace choker.
“Yeah, well, I’d rather have the lace than this satin shit,” snarled the third man wearing a silky red satin choker.
Genma looked over at his two other teammates caught in the undignified accessories, and despite his anger and embarrassment, he couldn’t help but suppress a snort at the picture.
“Maa, I think this means that we win again,” declared the silver-haired man cheerfully. “You guys are buying the drinks tonight.”
“I would like to try the fruity wine that is poured by the lovely waitress at the Acacia!” shouted one of the non-bejewelled ANBU. He flipped his shiny bowl-cut hair and grinned, white teeth putting the jewelled necklaces’ sparkles to shame. “The one with the strawberries in it! I, Maito Gai, will not settle for anything less than delectable red strawberries steeped in red wine!”
“Aw, but that’s the expensive one!!” whined the lacy-necked ninja. “We always end up buying, man, give us a break!”
“Yea, Raido’s right! We’re running out of money,” grumped Satin-neck. “It’s bad enough as it is that we have to wear these for the whole night. Mine’s itchy as hell.”
Genma glared at his two teammates. “Aoba, Raido. This is the last time we are losing to this group of skidmarks. Let’s just get it over with.” The blonde man irritably jabbed a senbon back in its usual place between his teeth and jumped down to the ground with a very un-ninja-like thump.
“Senpai, don’t be like that, it’s just a game,” said a brown haired man with a steel hitai-ate framing his face. “We’re just having fun.”
Genma took a deep breath and tried to forcefully calm down. Yamato was right, since he lost, he should be a good sport and not ruin the night with too much grumpiness. He turned around to say something witty and cool but –
“It’s not our fault you guys are too old to win any more of these challenges,” drawled the silver-haired man.
“I’ll kill you, Hatake Kakashi!” Genma snarled and threw himself at the ninja, and all six men were soon engaged in another chaotic skirmish, insults and taunts being hurled as much as weaponry.
Genma had just thrown a forceful punch right at someone’s face, when the other person ducked and sent Genma stumbling forward into a clearing, right into the back of a tanned ninja.
The tanned ninja jumped away with a burst of speed, and it was too fast for the group of immature fighting ninjas to have seen who it was. The group stopped their fighting but it was too late to catch up to the other ninja.
“That guy, he wasn’t wearing a Konoha uniform, was he?” asked Aoba.
“I couldn’t see, Yamato’s ass was in my face,” said Raido. “Genma should have seen more than us. Right, Genma?”
“I only saw a really nice ass. The ass of a god. Shoulders fit his clothes really well. And his neck was a tanned color,” mused Genma.
“…You are a disgrace as a shinobi. You’re checking out some potential enemy-ninja? You saw his shoulders but you can’t remember what his uniform was, how the fuck does that even work? Is that a description you’re going to give in a report?” said Raido incredulously.
Gai clapped a hand on Raido’s shoulder, and grinned at him.
“Some children get led astray by new objects. Genma is such a child, but he will soon remember and come back to the things he most cherishes,” said Gai.
Genma looked over at them in confusion as Raido blushed and turned his head away. Genma’s stomach did a small but powerful flop at the sight of his long-time friend blushing in a lace collar.
“I think it’s past time for that drink you owe us,” said Kakashi, looking casually at the sky.
“Yes, let’s enjoy the village before we have to leave for Konoha in the morning,” said Yamato excitedly. “There’s also a special dango shop and a cake store that sells cakes that we don’t get in Konoha…”The group of men walked back to the village, talking about the village’s sights, dinner cravings and occasionally wondering about the godly ass of the tanned ninja.
*
A few hours later, the group of Konoha ninjas were having a good time, all of them more than slightly drunk and fed on delicious food from the village’s largest restaurant. The mission that the group had completed had been to get rid of a band of rogue Mist-ninjas who had been terrorizing the village. Kakashi would have had trouble fighting this group if it hadn’t been for his teams, and the fact that the rogue ninjas were slower than he expected. These two teams worked seamlessly on missions that the missions were nearly always completed neatly and without messy mistakes, and Kakashi felt lucky that Konoha had been well-staffed enough this time round to have been able to afford to send these two teams for this mission.
The civilian village was very grateful for Konoha’s help, and were showing their thanks by lavishing food, drink and local entertainment on their saviours.
Kakashi was cheerfully observing the dance performance and a drunk Genma was loudly whistling at the lead dancer, when the owner of the restaurant and the mayor came to greet the shinobis.
“As our night is winding down, we wish to present you with one final gesture of thanks,” said the short, fat mayor in an oily voice.
“Bring on more booze!! I- I wish to drink til my sorrows are drown-ed,” mumbled Raido.
“Raido, you’ve been talking to Gai too much tonight, your speech is sounding like his,” hiccupped Aoba. “And, and what sorrows? You don’t have any.”
Gai, who was also very drunk, slapped the restaurant owner’s back.
“Fair sir, we have received much already! Much recompense… recompension?? What I am saying is that we are very happy, thank you!!” he garbled.
“Ridding the village of those disgusting Mist-ninjas who were taking all our money and our women is not something that we can easily repay,” said the restaurant owner. “We were worried when Konoha sent their ninjas, in case Konoha ninjas were also going to pillage us after getting rid of the Mist-ninjas. We are very grateful that you are not like them.”
“Since you have not shown that much interest in our offered women,” continued the mayor, winking at the group of prostitutes batting their eyelashes in their direction, “We offer you, freshly caught mere hours ago; a Mist-ninja for your amusement!”
The drunk group of Konoha shinobi fell silent at those words. It was distasteful to play with another ninja’s life, even if they were enemies. The fat, oily mayor continued, taking their silence for interest.
“We caught him in a trap we had set up months ago, a tree that was lined with chakra-depleting wards that we bought to stop the Mist-nin, but it didn’t work for them because the other members of their group freed their captive ones. We paid dearly for that trap, but we forgot about it until today, when this Mist-nin fell into it.”
Kakashi shared a look with his teammates. They all shared the same look of confusion. Kakashi was sure that the rogue Mist-ninja group that they were sent to dispose of had been completely annihilated. Before they could come up with anything to say, the stage erupted in purple smoke and a theatrical poof. Everybody in the restaurant turned to look at the stage.
When the smoke cleared, a struggling man was revealed. A wide expanse of tanned skin and a perfectly toned body was showcased by oil that someone had rubbed on him. He had been stripped of his ninja gear and was clad in a tight pair of leather pants that was restricting his movement, and his wrists were bound together in front of him, by what Kakashi recognized as powerful chakra-absorbing cuffs. What transfixed Kakashi and everybody else in the restaurant was his face, fierce and alive and undeniably handsome. He had a thin horizontal scar across his nose and snapping brown eyes that seemed to spark off bits of his rage, even as his body fought and trembled in exhaustion.
“Enjoy.”
The mayor bowed and two large men holding onto the ropes tied to the man’s wrists tugged the man off the stage, towards the Konoha shinobi. The man struggled with admirable strength, considering his cuffs and his two restrainers.
“It’s him,” whispered Genma. “It’s the Ass-god I saw in the forest.”
Yamato got out of his chair and tried to take the ropes from the restrainers. Sensing danger, the captive man a sudden burst of speed and lashed out with a lightning-fast kick aimed at Yamato’s jaw. Only Kakashi’s fast reflexes pulled back the not-yet-sober Yamato fast enough to avoid getting hit.
“I’ll handle it, kohai,” said Kakashi, gaze transfixed on the angry man.
“You will handle my foot up your ass if you don’t back the fuck off,” snarled the tanned man dangerously. His voice sent a tingle down Kakashi’s spine, a shiver that was a mix of apprehension from the anger in the voice, and pleasure from the rich, low tone.
The man seemed to have used up most of his energy on that last kick. He trembled, muscles glistening and shining more tantalisingly than the fake jewels on Genma’s neck.
Kakashi lifted his hitaiate from its slanted position, revealing his left Sharingan eye. The tanned man, who had been glaring viciously at him, instantly collapsed, unable to fight the hypnotic power of the Sharingan.
Kakashi walked over and lifted the unconscious man onto his shoulders.
“We’ll take care of him. Where did you leave his weapons?” Kakashi asked.
“We put his things in a bag in your rooms, sirs,” answered the restaurant owner. “We hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in our village.”
With that, the restaurant owner and mayor took their leave, and Kakashi got ready to leave the hall.
“Sober up and meet back in my room. We will start questioning this man in one hour, when he should be waking up,” said Kakashi quietly to his teams.
“Hai, taicho.”
*
Kakashi opened his door at the inn, carefully juggling the man so he wouldn’t bump his head. He placed the man on the couch, and started to rearrange his limbs into a more natural position, minding to leave the cuffs on. The man was definitely not part of the group that Kakashi had killed. He looked too innocent, too warm. He must have been in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
From this angle, and the faint light of the lamp in the room, the man looked like he was dozing after a long night, and that Kakashi was his friend who had helped bring him home, or maybe even his lover –
Kakashi shook his head. Where had that thought come from? Kakashi had been an ANBU captain for years, and he had enough friends not to feel lonely, or so he had thought. He did not know this man, though the man’s expressive, delicately handsome face had so much life in it that Kakashi wished he did.
Kakashi felt mesmerized by the slow rise and fall of the man’s chest, glowing softly in the low lamp light. It was so inappropriate, Kakashi mused, that those dirty-minded old men had stripped a ninja and forced him into such an outfit. Not that he was complaining. Kakashi’s gaze crept lower and was captured by the sleek hipbones peeking out above the waistband of the leather pants. Kakashi’s breath caught in his throat.
Everything about this man was intoxicating.
Kakashi’s finely tuned senses were completely covered by the man’s smell, a smell that reminded him of sunlight. Kakashi’s gaze was trapped on the man’s body, and even as he felt extremely guilty that he was invading this man’s privacy, he could not tear his eyes or his nose or his mind away. Each second that he spent near this man made him feel like he was sinking in a huge pile of quicksand.
Before he knew it, Kakashi’s hands were braced on either side of the man on the couch, and both of his eyes were intensely, unconsciously drinking in the sight of the man’s face once more. Kakashi imagined the eyes opening, revealing the clear, intensely alive eyes of the man. Eyes that would recognize him and dilate in desire –
Kakashi reeled back as the eyelids he was staring at snapped open, revealing the clear brown eyes that he had been fantasizing about, but which had instantly narrowed in fierce anger. The man trapped between his arms gave a vicious snarl, and tried to kick Kakashi while simultaneously flipping backwards over the back of the couch.
Kakashi cursed himself. His desire must have subconsciously transmitted through the Sharingan and awakened the man from the genjutsu. The man was still sealed by the chakra-absorbing cuffs which kept leeching his chakra, and his tired state was evident by the man’s trembling muscles.
“What you were planning on doing, you can shove down your throat,” hissed the angry man. “I don’t know what genjutsu you put on me, but I promise you, I will fuck you up if you get anywhere near me.”
The man was slowly stepping backwards as he spoke. The back of the man’s legs hit the mattress of the bed in the corner, and his eyes darted around the room quickly, but found no escape route.
Kakashi seized his chance to subdue the man properly, and quickly pinned the man down on the bed to try and tie his arms and legs up for questioning. His team would probably be heading upstairs to start interrogation in about half an hour, firm in their belief that Kakashi would be able to handle an unconscious man by himself.
How wrong they were, thought Kakashi ruefully, as the oiled up man proved to be extremely difficult to subdue or tie up, without resorting to the Sharingan.
In fact, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Kakashi to concentrate on anything. The man’s muscles were very warm and sleek, and the flexing and writhing of hard, lean muscles underneath him were proving to be more distracting than anything else had ever been in his life.
The bright brown eyes snapped up, glaring straight into Kakashi’s mismatched ones, and in that instant, Kakashi could not control his body or his mind. He brought his masked lips onto the man’s, who had stilled for that one instant, and it felt as though time and sensation had frozen.
Soft, moist lips through an excruciatingly tantalizing cloth barrier. The warm lips felt like the hottest burn to Kakashi, searing his lips and instantly travelling through all of his veins like scorching molten iron.
The man headbutted Kakashi’s nose.
Kakashi jumped back, holding his nose, and staring at the man who had made him lose all his perfected shinobi control.
The man on the bed slowly sat up, staring at Kakashi.
The man had a confused look in his face, as though he had been expecting much worse and a much longer fight.
“I…I’m sorry,” Kakashi half-whispered. “That was not my intention.”
At Kakashi’s rough voice, which carried the full weight of Kakashi’s turmoil, the man’s eyes briefly flashed a conflicted look.
It looked like the man was not going to attack him or try to escape for the time being. Kakashi cleared his throat and tried again.
“So, Mist-nin. What were you doing in this village and what should I do with you?”
The man looked at him for a long while, measuring, before he answered. His voice was hesitant and low.
“I was dispatched by the Mizukage to get rid of the rogue group that you took care of. I was just leaving when I got caught in that trap and those stupid civilian idiots tried to play around with me,” he said. “They did not listen to or believe my explanation, most likely due to their hatred of any man wearing the Mist hitaiate, whether it was scratched through or not. It is in the best interests of Konohagakure and Kirigakure for you to release me without any further…interrogation.”
Kakashi closed his eyes briefly. He had nearly molested and taken advantage of a high-ranking Mist-ninja because of an alarming surge of emotion that he hadn’t known he possessed. “The Mizukage sent one ninja to deal with that group of missing-nin?” Kakashi drawled in his patented bored voice, diverting his mind from its brief transgression. “A ninja who was tired or sloppy enough to fall for such a cheap trap as that tree.”
The man sat up ramrod straight at those words and blushed red in anger. Kakashi noted with a guilty thrill that the blush bloomed beautifully across his cheeks and ears, and he found that to be beyond attractive.
“I don’t care what you think of me at this point,” the man snapped. “Untie me so I can go on my way and you can go on yours.”
“How do I know you aren’t going to start a fight if I untie you? Technically, I should bring you back to Konoha to be interrogated and dissected for any classified information.”
The man swallowed. His adam’s apple bobbed with the movement, and Kakashi had to forcefully keep his eyes from glancing down at the slight movement.
“That wouldn’t go down well with the treaty our villages signed recently,” said the man in a tightly controlled voice. “I’m not a highly ranked ninja in Kiri and I won’t have any useful information to reveal, and my death will only cause the relations between our villages to suffer, without Konoha reaping any significant benefits.
As for me attacking you, you’re Konoha’s Hatake Kakashi. On the other hand, I am mostly drained of chakra and will be no match for you even if I was at full health. Also, I promise you, all I want is to be on my way.” The man’s clear brown eyes hypnotized Kakashi. Kakashi felt out of his depth, staring into those crystal depths, even as his rational mind pointed out that not all of what the man said must be true. If the Mizukage sent this man to clean up a rogue group, this man must be high-ranked, jounin at least, and a hunter. Also, the way the man could use his eyes must be some sort of high-level technique, because Kakashi couldn’t help but want to agree with what the man was saying. Which meant that at the very least, the body and the mid of this man would contain valuable information on Kiri, though thinking about the man in pain was terribly distracting and disturbing to Kakashi –
“Let me go.”
The words had a command ringing through them. If anything, that alone was enough to confirm for Kakashi that the man was not a low-ranked shinobi, but before Kakashi could shake himself out of the man’s presence, the man disappeared.
Kakashi rushed over to the bed where the man had been, and saw the cuffs unlocked and discarded on top of the sheets. Kakashi checked his weapons pouch, and there was a senbon missing. He must have got a hold on the senbon when Kakashi was wrestling on top of him on the bed, and unlocked himself while using some sort of genjutsu to hypnotize Kakashi while they were talking. Kakashi marvelled the man’s quick thinking in such a compromising situation. His admiration for the man whose name he didn’t even know was growing far beyond Kakashi’s comfort zone.
In that chakra-depleted state, he couldn’t have teleported a far distance. Kakashi looked out the window and contemplated going after him. The man was right about the village relations. Even if the man had valuable information, it wouldn’t be worth it to jeopardize the tentative truce that their villages currently had. Kakashi allowed himself to imagine going after the man for no other reason than to find out what hold the man had had over him.
It was this position that the others found him in ten minutes later, staring out the window into the darkened sky.
*
Iruka was exhausted and oily. This grease on his skin was getting on his nerves, and if he didn’t steal some civilian clothes soon, he was going to be the laughingstock of Kiri when he got back home. All his fellow jounin and the Mizukage would never let him hear the end of what he could only describe as a rent boy outfit. A very tacky, cheap one at that.
Kirigakure, unlike Konoha, had been suffering manpower shortages, with an ongoing minor war with Kumo, and a recent change in leadership to Mei Terumi. Iruka had been trusted by Mei to quickly sort out the mess of the recently defected group of Mist-ninja, and though ideally it should have been a team mission, there simply hadn’t been enough staff for that to be possible. Iruka, as one of the elite jounin in Kiri, should have been able to handle the mission by himself, and should not have fallen into the “cheap trap,” as Hatake had called it, but Hatake had been right in that Iruka was too tired and overworked.
Iruka stopped for a rest in the hollow of a big tree. Breathing heavily, he tipped his head back to rest on the tree trunk, and his mind wandered back to the scene in the inn. Hard muscles under a rough uniform, warm hands grappling with his, wide shoulders and brute strength trying to pin him down, mismatched eyes intense and focused. The piercing gaze and the surprisingly gentle kiss that seared Iruka whirled around his mind.
Iruka groaned and gripped his head, hard. He was a busy man, he needed to get back to Kiri and get the paperwork done for the Chuunin exam being held in Konoha later in the year. He needed to get his head out of this sudden, mindless desire. It did not make sense, he was not the sort of man who fell in love or lust so easily. His exhaustion must be getting to him, yes, that must be it. Hatake Kakashi, the infamous Sharingan-user, widely known for reading porn in public, was most definitely not his type. The arrogant bastard, and his deliciously low voice, saying sorry like he was tormented in one moment, and insulting his ninja abilities the next.
Iruka’s disturbed thoughts made his heart pump faster, and he decided that it was time for him to continue on his way. With a groan, he got to his feet and headed towards the edge of the forest, which would take him to a town near the coast, where he would borrow some unsuspecting civilian’s clothes before heading across the sea to the hidden village of Mist.