Kakashi was breathing heavily, barely in control enough to do so silently. He was pressed into the hollow of a tree, gaining a few precious seconds to restore his strength as his targets searched for him. The woman was drawing steadily closer and Kakashi prepared as well as he could for a brief battle. One on one, he would have had far less trouble with these people, but not as weak as he was. He needed to down her and gain some more ground.

Silently, he shifted the stolen knife, brutish and inelegant compared to a kunai, but more than capable of inflicting some damage. The woman was close enough now to attack, but he held his breath, letting her take another two steps. She spun without warning, sensing him just as he charged from his hiding spot. Kakashi used small movements, sharp blows and close to the body to economize his strength. It gave her more time to block though and the two struggled for a moment in a lock.

There was a flare of chakra on Kakashi’s right, anger and murderous intent. He shifted his feet to put the woman between him and the threat, but another chakra blazed suddenly to his other side. No time to make a decision, Kakashi fell back a step, letting the two new arrivals face each other with nothing in between. The woman took advantage, breaking the copy ninja’s footing and starting to force him to the forest floor.

Past the woman’s head, Kakashi could see a white and brown projectile leap into Adel’s face. The larger man cried out, clawing at the small dog before it leapt away again. Kakashi could sense weapons flying towards him and forcibly stayed still, trusting them to hit the scarred woman and not him. He hadn’t gotten that good a look at the dog, but it had been enough, and if Akamaru was here, then he knew who had thrown the kunai that suddenly forced the woman to retreat.

Kakashi released her, allowing the escape, but did nothing to stop his fall backwards to the ground. In the same motion, he threw his arm out, hoping his injured fingers didn’t mess with his aim. The knife grazed Adel’s throat on one side as the man dodged. Kakashi let his arm fall, shaking, before he sat up to watch him run further away. It was a fatal blow, one of the carotid arteries severed.

The scarred woman was running as well, racing through the forest. A second shadow dropped from the trees and gave chase, but Kiba hesitated, glancing at Kakashi. “Go to Iruka,” he said after a moment, pointing back into the trees before following the fading ANBU mask.

Kakashi’s eyes widened and he stood quickly, ignoring the wave of dizziness the move brought on. Iruka was here? And he didn’t know where the little fuck that had tortured him was, shit! He took off at a run, frantically sensing for the teacher’s chakra.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka stumbled back, barely holding his own. This man was better than him, there was no arguing the fact, but Iruka would give him a fight. He darted in, a small length of rope in one hand, shuriken protruding between the fingers of his other hand. He used the weapons as distraction and tried to hook his trap around whatever limb he could reach.

The shorter man shifted, the rope catching around wrist, but also the kunai he held. He tugged sharply, breaking the line and forcing Iruka a step closer, within easier striking range. The teacher shifted, dodging almost fluid around the sharp strikes. He was able to retreat, but only a second later he realized the pouch of scrolls was gone, pulled free and looped onto his opponent’s belt.

The man smirked at him and darted forward again, exploiting the teacher’s weaker defenses. Iruka blocked a kick, taking the full force on one arm and getting within his opponent’s guard. He struck out, managing a solid blow to the man’s chest. There was no reaction as he returned the blow, forcing Iruka back again. A feint with a kunai before he struck at the teacher’s head. Iruka cursed himself for falling for such a rudimentary tactic and was barely able to get his guard up in time to block the blow. The force still spun him slightly, his raised arms blocking his view of his opponent for one critical moment. The other was already moving, weapons unerringly seeking the opening.

There was the sound of metal hitting something, but it wasn’t the soft sound of flesh or the sharp clang of another weapon. Utterly baffled as to why it hadn’t hit him, Iruka whipped his head around to see the man again. His eyes widened at the sight; Kakashi, back to the teacher, one arm braced against the man’s kunai, what looked like a plank of wood strapped to his arm. Shocked, Iruka let his body move without his brain at all involved, driving weapons into his opponent’s now unprotected gut. The small man dropped like a stone.

Iruka’s breath was shaking as he looked up, turning wide eyes on the silver haired man that seemed to have miraculously appeared. He smiled widely, looking for all the world like he hadn’t been held and tortured for the last several days. Iruka couldn’t blink, afraid the man would disappear again. He had the wrong hitai-ate and his mask was missing, but it was Kakashi. “It really is you, isn’t it?”

The overly bright smile faded slightly and the man’s eye opened to look at Iruka. “I’m so sorry, Iru-chan. But I’m okay.”

He took a step toward the brunette, but stumbled slightly on weak legs. Iruka had a hold of his shoulders instantly. “You are not okay, Kakashi.” Finally daring to look away, Iruka looked through the trees frantically. Where the hell were Sato and the medi-nin? “Gods, Ka-kun, what happened?”

One hand brushed against Iruka’s chin, turning his eyes back to him. “You’re bleeding.” His thumb brushed along the tanned man’s scar, wiping away a bit of the dried blood there. In reflex, Iruka’s hand went to the barely-there cuts; he’d completely forgotten about them. Kakashi was staring at them intently. “I tried to protect you. Iru-chan, I did everything I could-“

“You did! Ka-kun, you did. They barely touched me.” Honestly, where the hell was the medi-nin, and Kiba for that matter! His desperation growing, Iruka sent his chakra out, hoping to find them that way.

Almost at once, a woman clad in white dropped to their side. “The others are dealing with the last of these people. Kakashi?” The copy ninja was still staring at Iruka, the side of his hand brushing absently along the top of his head. “Kakashi,” the woman said, louder this time and with more authority.

He sighed, but didn’t shift his gaze at all. “Dislocated my left shoulder and wrist. I set them, but it’s not quite right. Blood loss, chakra burnout. I’m fine.”

At the mention of the injuries, Iruka’s eyes skipped over the mentioned body parts and further down his arms. He suddenly couldn’t look away from the pale man’s slender hands, pointer and middle fingers both at odd angles. The medic’s voice almost made him jump. “We need to get back to Konoha.” Iruka looked back into Kakashi’s eye before looking at the woman and nodding.

Together the three began through the trees, their path less straining, but their pace still swift. After ten minutes, Kakashi hesitated a moment before putting on an extra burst of speed and pulling even with his boyfriend. “Iruka,” he breathed, stopping and making the other man stop as well. Without another word, he hooked one wrist behind the brunette’s neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. The teacher responded at once, arms locking tightly around ribs he knew were probably bruised or worse. Kakashi didn’t seem to mind, but pulled away after a moment. “I knew you’d find me, I knew you would figure it out.” Iruka moved to kiss him again, but Kakashi shifted to avoid it. “Iru-chan, I’m going to pass out.”

The brunette’s eyes widened and his grip tightened, but Kakashi smiled surely at him. As if on cue, his eye slipped closed, body falling limp into the other man’s arms. The medi-nin had stopped, backtracking the few yards to Iruka’s side and she reached for the unconscious man, but Iruka pulled back, shaking his head quickly. “No.” He shifted the man onto his back, draping limp arms over his shoulders and hooking his own arms under the man’s knees. “No, I’ve got him. Let’s get back to Konoha.”

The woman hesitated a moment, but then smiled at the other. Without a word, she darted into the trees again.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka followed the medi-nin into the hospital, patiently holding his ground as three more rushed to meet them in the reception area. One man hovered by Iruka’s elbow while another began shifting Kakashi’s weight into his own arms. The third had a gurney and she helped with Kakashi, while the woman that had led Iruka began listing injuries. “Be careful of that shoulder!” she snapped and the others quickly shifted their grips. “Watch his hands as well. Blood loss and chakra depletion, we need to deal with those first.”

They began to wheel the copy ninja down the hall and Iruka shifted to follow, but the last medi-nin took hold of his arm, keeping him where he was. Iruka tried to simply shift out of the hold. “Let go, I need to go with him.”

The man tightened his grip. “No, Sensei, you should stay here. Come with me.”

Iruka looked back at the man, no attempt made to hide his anger. “I said let go. Kakashi-“

“He’s being looked at by the finest medics in the village. You need to come with me so we can make sure you’re all right, too.”

Iruka ignored the man, pulling again at his arm and turning to look back down the hallway. “He’s not going into surgery, I can follow him! You can look at me there!” A distant part of his mind knew he was being irrational and needlessly argumentative. In all reality, he probably couldn’t follow Kakashi, not if the man needed blood. But that part of him seemed very, very small compared to the need to stay by the other man’s side.

The grip on his arm shifted, though not the strength, and there was a sudden pinch at the crook of his elbow. Needle, drugs, something to keep him awake, the prelude to an interrogation he knew he couldn’t withstand. Iruka twisted suddenly, breaking the needle and knocking its wielder to the ground. One hand went to the bleeding pinprick, the other flashing through a series of seals.

A hand materialized around the teacher’s throat, a strong presence at his back and the sound of something metal being unsheathed. Iruka hesitated, freezing his actions. He swallowed thickly, remembering where he was, and focused on not presenting a threat. “I’m all right,” he mumbled, barely moving his lips at all. “He startled me is all, I’m okay now.” The hand disappeared and Iruka took a deeper breath, turning slightly to see behind him. No one was there, whatever ninja already melting back into crowd and shadow.

Slowly Iruka turned back to the medic; the man was still on the ground, doubtlessly waiting to ensure the teacher really had calmed. Iruka swallowed again and lowered his eyes, guilt making his voice soft. “Sorry. You were going to show me to a room?” At those words, the man stood, leading the way quickly to a small examining room. Iruka was still holding his elbow; he’d broken off the needlepoint beneath his skin. He sat without protest and waited for the man to examine him.

His hands were sure as they drifted over Iruka’s chest and face, examining other injuries before dealing with the one he knew about for sure. “You said I startled you?” he asked conversationally. “Training instinct?” Iruka said nothing and after a moment the man asked again knowingly, “Flashback?” With a sigh he moved Iruka’s hand, grabbing a small pair of tweezers to fish out the tiny bit of metal. His eyes lighted instantly on the second puncture mark and he fingered it suspiciously. “What’s this?”

Iruka could feel himself flush as he remembered it. “They injected me with something. Uh.” He knew the name, he knew the drug family that affected sleep, but he couldn’t think of it. “To keep me awake,” he finished lamely, frustrated and embarrassed at the failure of vocabulary.

The medic frowned at him, abandoning his task to study Iruka’s eyes. “You didn’t sleep last night?” Iruka shook his head and the other man’s frown deepened. “How did you sleep the night before?”

Iruka remembered waking up in the office, though he didn’t actually remember falling asleep there. “I slept,” he answered vaguely.

“And Thursday?”

Iruka’s flush deepened, he could feel it creeping up to his ears. “I got a few hours,” he muttered. “Nightmares.”

With a sigh, the medic went back to his elbow, extracting the needle tip and slapping a temporary bandage in place. “I’m going to get a sleep specialist in here. Stay put, Sensei.” Iruka nodded numbly, watching the door close behind him.

It wasn’t long before they returned, the medic going immediately back to treating his injuries while a young redhead – Iruka could only assume she was the sleep specialist – tilted his head and looked into his eyes again. “No sleep through the night? And, what, jutsu?” It didn’t seem to require an answer, so Iruka remained silent, only offering the barest nod. “But you slept Friday. How long?”

Iruka floundered, he had no idea. It hadn’t been restful and he hadn’t looked at a clock at all that evening. “Until my alarm went off, I guess.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Where did you sleep? Your bed?”

Iruka’s eyes darted away, belaying the truth before he spoke. “The, ah, office. I fell asleep, uh, reading,” he mediated. Medic or not, this woman didn’t need to know he’d been clinging to his boyfriend’s porn, so stressed he’d fallen asleep without even realizing it.

With a sigh, the woman turned away, sorting through a bag she’d brought with her. “After your nightmares Thursday, did you get back to sleep?” Iruka mutely shook his head and she sighed again. “And Wednesday?” She sounded frustrated, determined to find when Iruka had last slept through the night.

But of course Wednesday had been when Ka- that thing had arrived in the village. “I slept all right, just not straight through. I slept fine Tuesday. All night. No interruptions, no nightmares.” If she was going to keep up this line of questioning, Iruka could save some time at least.

The woman nodded, pulling a vile and needle into her hand. “All right, Sensei. How long have you been awake now, thirty, thirty-two hours?”

Iruka was already shifting nervously away from the woman’s needle. “Probably a bit longer. What’s that?”

She glanced at Iruka before looking back at her work, drawing more fluid into the syringe. “Any drug in your system will keep you awake for hours still. You need to sleep so your chakra can rebalance and you can rebuild your energy.”

“Honestly, I’d rather be awake.” The redhead glanced at him before putting one hand to her mouth, giving a rather obviously fake yawn. Regardless, it had Iruka yawning moments later and Iruka glared at her. “That doesn’t prove anything,” he said around a second, smaller yawn.

She ignored him, preparing the shot. “Your body is telling you it needs sleep, so I’m going to make sure you get it. This will keep you unconscious until the other drug wears off and once you pass into real sleep, it will amplify any benefits.”

Iruka scowled harder. “Kakashi-“

“Will still be here when you wake up.”

Those words made Iruka pause, anger fading as he raised an eyebrow at the woman skeptically. “Have you ever tried to keep Kakashi in a hospital?”

The woman paused, too, for a moment before she smiled. “And on that note, I think his room should be my next stop. Trust me on this, Sensei, you’ll thank me Monday.” She took his left arm, the one that hadn’t had a needle break off already today, and slipped the tip beneath his skin. “I assume you’ll be wanting to go to class in the morning?” The teacher nodded, watching as the plunger was depressed. “Then you’ll be doubly glad. Goodnight, Sensei.”

Iruka’s eyes were already slipping closed. Strong hands closed around his shoulders, guiding him down onto the cot gently, asleep before he even got there.

-o-o-o-o-o-