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“ You’re nothing but a liability to me”. Iruka sucked in a breath. “ Kakashi?” Kakashi stood with his back to him, and Iruka could see him shake before he sighed and said in a cool voice; “ I can no longer be seen with you”.
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Iruka went along with his life after that. He woke up in the morning, taught at the academy till late afternoon and took more and more mission desk shifts. He started taking missions on weekends and holidays. He pretended not to notice the bags around his eyes, his gaunt face, and the fact that he had lost weight and his ribs poked out. He moved on, showing no emotion, like a good shinobi, for once. He thought of Naruto occasionally, but stopped after that, because thinking of his favorite student led him to remember the one person he wanted to forget.
Genma never commented on the tears that slid down Iruka’s cheeks during their mission desk shifts
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Iruka wheezed and grasped the strap of the scroll holder tightly as the big red gates of Konoha came into view. He ignored the strange burn he felt as he limped forward, only to pass out after setting a single foot inside the village.
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Everything was hazy. He glimpsed doctors leaning over him, needles being poked into his arm repeatedly. He saw Tsunade once, looking down at him with what he thought was worry, before he blacked out again. He felt himself being wheeled somewhere, but he was too far gone to care.
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Iruka landed on something hard as he flailed around. He opened his eyes and stood up in a flash, as he eyed the room around him. Glass. He was in some sort of a glass enclosure. Iruka limped to the side that faced a door and leaned against it. Quarantine. Isolation. Hollow. Iruka felt hollow, as he looked at the pristinely white futon set neatly against the wall. The door opened. Iruka gasped, eyes wide, as he fell and scooted backwards.
It was Tsunade. She looked tired and drawn out.
“ Iruka-kun”, She greeted him. Iruka nodded in acknowledgement. His voice wouldn't work. She sighed. “ You have been diagnosed with a rare disease that is an after effect of the poison you encountered during your mission. Our knowledge regarding this ailment is limited; But we know that it affects the chakra, completely disabling it, and is highly contagious. I'm sorry, you have to be kept under quarantine”. There was silence.
“ Am I going to die?”
“ There is a possibility, but-”
“ Good”.
Saying this, Iruka turned his back to her and closed his eyes.
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They had given him some paper. The first thing Iruka did was write letters, to Naruto, and, with a lot of hesitance, To Kakashi. The remaining sheets he used for doodling, scribbling; Anything that made him forget where he was.
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He finally lost track of time. He could feel his body, and mind, get weaker with each second.He lay pressed against the glass, tracing abstract shapes on it, when the door banged open.
Startled Iruka stood up, to find an angry Naruto enter, followed by Tsunade. Iruka pressed himself to the glass, eyes wide as he mouthed “ Naruto”.
“ Sensei? Sensei, look. I’ll get you out of this, alright? I will find a cure”.
Iruka smiled as he shook his head, tears making their way down his cheeks. He pressed his hand against Naruto’s through the glass, as he slumped to the ground. “ I love you”, he mouthed again.
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Naruto visited him everyday. Iruka was happy. He longed for human contact after being isolated for such a long time. But he settled with pressing his hand against Naruto’s through the glass; he could not afford being picky.
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The door opened and Iruka willed the dizziness away as he waited for a glimpse of familiar blond hair, but what he got was silver.
Kakashi stared at him as Iruka scrambled to his futon, whimpering. Why was he here?
“ Iruka?”
Iruka pressed his hands over his ears and choked on his breath. Kakashi walked forward with wide eyes, as he kneeled in front of the glass and touched it hesitantly.
“ Iruka! Love, what did they do to you? Iruka?”
Iruka rasped out, “ Stop c-calling me that-at!.”
Kakashi banged lightly against the glass as he looked at Iruka, who looked like a caged animal.
“ Iruka...I am..sorry, Please come here, Come to me so that I can tell you why I did it”.
Iruka shook his head the first few times, but listening to Kakashi’s pleading voice willed him to crawl forward and settle against the glass. Kakashi sat cross-legged in front of him as he told him of the undercover mission he was on, and how he could not risk Iruka’s life. Iruka was sobbing by the end of the monologue as Kakashi pressed his hands against Iruka’s through the glass. He kissed the glass Iruka was leaning against as if he were kissing Iruka himself, and whispered words of encouragement. Iruka believed him.
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Iruka blinked at the image of Kakashi sleeping, their hands connected. He shuddered as he felt his body weaken; He did not have the power to live anymore. He knocked slightly against the glass, and Kakashi woke up with a start. He gasped as Iruka held out a note which said,
’ Won't last much longer...My last wish is to see the sun with Naruto and you’
He had never seen Kakashi look so heartbroken, with tears slipping through both his eyes.
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He lay on a stretcher, one hand grasping Kakashi’s, the other; Naruto’s. He revelled in the afternoon sunlight as the pair stared at him anxiously. He smiled at them and croaked out, “ I want you both to know, I will never haunt you”.
And with that, Umino Iruka breathed his last.