Title- The Rescue
By- InuVampireChan
Genre- Romance
Pairing- KakaIru (Kakashi x Iruka)
Words- 10,657
Characters (no spaces) 47,626

Chapter 1

Tsunade had a difficult job, as was expected of someone of her position. But what made it even more difficult was when her subordinates didn't want to listen. About a month ago the head of Konohagakure had set their most useful asset out on a three-man cell mission. Or… it was supposed to be a three-man cell mission. She had specifically ordered her Jounin to find two people he thought was suited for the mission, debrief them, and then depart. What the man failed to do was everything but depart, and who was that insubordinate man? Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's Copy Nin and infamous for his thousand Justus's. He was respectable, intelligent, gorgeous, a prodigy and genius—and he was also infuriating and pigheaded. All of that though, didn't help her current problem that was sitting less then a few inches from her face on top of the paperwork she was tempted to force off onto her most prominent mission room attendee. One of the Copy Nin's dogs Pakkun had stumbled into her office looking near death's door and barking something about how Kakashi was in danger. Tsunade has quickly moved to heal the dog and asked him, somewhat calmly, to spill exactly what he was talking about.

It was then that she learned the reason why she was having less of a hard time finding the ninja she wanted, Kakashi had left with absolutely no backup but the summons that he used when things got bad. The idiot had thought that it being a simple assassination mission that he could handle it like any other job that wandered it's way though his door. He was incredibly poorly mistaken and learned quickly that perhaps when Tsunade thought a mission could use backup it more then likely was smart to follow that order! The overly exhausted Hokage filled her empty cup with some Sake and drank it down before slamming the glass onto the table and turning her attention to the Anbu that was stationed quietly in the shadows. "Get me Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi and Iruka Umino now!" Kakashi needed help, he needed saving, and if two of her best Jounin and one of the most intelligent people in Konoha weren't enough to save him… Tsunade didn't know what she would do.

Tucked away behind his desk as his students worked furiously away at the papers he had given to them, Iruka Umino scribbled away on some paperwork while keeping a close eye out for any form of cheating that was more then likely to happen. None of them dared attempt it recently since during the last exam so much cheating had happened that Iruka just started throwing Kuni with the letter F engraved into it singling not only had they failed the test but they also failed completely at being stealthy. Honestly, did any of them even learn during his lessons?

Iruka had finished off another scroll when the distinct presences of someone was felt in his room, making the hairs on his neck stand up and his eyes instantly snap up in a search of the intruder in his classroom. At the very back of the room the haunting red and white masked stared directly into Iruka's soul, making a shiver of fright and cold dread suddenly wash over him. Iruka's eyes took in the mask it wore and the symbol that was etched into the masks forehead, Snake. "Class, hand your papers in will finish the test tomorrow, you're all dismissed for today." None of them even waited to ask why, the papers were slammed onto his desk and they rushed out the door, leaving Iruka and the Anbu completely alone in a matter of seconds. Iruka stood from his desk and met the Anbu halfway across the room, a pleasant smile crossing his face. "Anbu-san, how can I help you?"

"The Hokage has requested your presences, Iruka-Sensei." With the message delivered the Anbu bowed and fled, his assignment complete. Iruka blinked in slight confusion, not to sure what the Hokage could want from him so early in the morning. He was sure he hadn't done anything that would require her to be upset. Rolling his shoulders Iruka returned to his desk and gathered up his things before vanishing from the classroom and heading the short distances to the Hokage tower. At least the academy was close to where he needed to go.

Once he reached his destination Iruka was lead inside by the same Anbu who had come to fetch him. Genma and Raido were already there, tucked into the couch and waiting patiently for what Iruka assumed was himself. Genma had stuck another senbon in his mouth and was chewing away at it when his eyes met Iruka, offering him a simple smile before turning to the Hokage when she cleared her throat. "Iruka-Sensei, please take a seat so we can begin."

Iruka, though a bit hesitantly, slumped into the couch next to Raido, making the other man squish himself up against Genma. If they were uncomfortable at the fact Raido was practically now sitting on top of Genma, neither voiced it. "Alright you three, we have been presented with a problem. About a month ago I sent Hatake Kakashi on an assassination mission. He was supposed to bring two other people with him but the arrogant pig headed idiot failed to do that." Her hands visibly clenched on the table and it was then that Iruka noticed Pakkun who was curled up in her lap and appeared to be sleeping with several bandages around his entire body. However, the visible twitch of his ear told Iruka the dog was clearly awake and listening. "A few hours ago Pakkun, Kakashi's Ninken, returned and informed me that not only did Kakashi fail the assassination but he also ended up getting kidnapped." Iruka's body stiffened at this, his eyes widening visibly as the shock settled in. Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi, got kidnapped?! Who did it superman!? The guy was practically invincible how did someone like him managed to get kidnapped?

"Tsunade-Sama, and I to presume that you called the three of us in here to rescue him?" Genma spoke up, a single brow raising as he shifted the senbon in his mouth from one side to the other. Tsunade nodded her head at the question and tossed the three men on the couch a scroll.

"Inside is the mission Kakashi was sent on and what you three will be doing. The objective is the get Kakashi and to finish the assassination. If it is impossible to save his ass and kill the target, just get Kakashi. I would rather have him back here and find someone else to finish the job then risk anything."

Iruka, at this point beyond confused, decided to voice his own questions. "Hokage-Sama, you realize that I'm a Chunin and that assassination missions are usually A or S right? Not to mention that Hatake Kakashi got kidnapped-So…. Why are you sending me?" He seemed like the least likely person to be able to contribute to such a mission. Sure he was strong enough to keep up with Genma and Raido, he could probably even at this point be promoted to Jounin if he wanted to—but to save Kakashi and do an assassination mission. Wasn't she overestimating him just the smallest bit?

Tsunade folded her hands on the desk and leaned forward a bit, her eyes connected to Iruka's and holding his gaze easily. "Iruka-sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third, talked highly of your ability to form the best strategies even when under pressure. You have a fairly high IQ and I believe that you will be of great help to Genma and Raido when rescuing Kakashi." The Hokage picked Pakkun up and sat him on the desk, making the pug look to her. "Will you be able to guide them to Kakashi's exact location?" The pug nodded and jumped carefully off the table, limping his way over to sit in front of the men.

"Boss is at least a day's travel from here. We can make it quickly and maybe in less then half a day if we move at top speed and don't take any breaks. I'm counting on you three pups. Meet me at the west gate." With that, the dog was gone and Iruka was moving before he even could form a thought. His legs just move instantly, already knowing what to do before his head did. A mission, he was given the task of saving the person who was probably the most infuriating man that Iruka had ever had to deal with. Why? Iruka briefly wondered what else the Third had written about him in his folder.

Iruka reached his apartment and unlocked the door and disabled the traps before heading into his closet and grabbing the mission ready bag. It was standard Shinobi knowledge to have a pack ready so if you got a mission you would be able to leave as soon as possible. When he checked to make sure everything inside it was there he headed out to the west gate where Pakkun was. Iruka was the first—besides Pakkun—one there and looked down to the pug that seemed a bit impatient. Not that Iruka could blame him if Naruto was here instead of off with Jiraiya he knew the blond would be storming out of the village and tearing the world apart to rescue Kakashi.

"Hey, Pakkun?" The pug turned up to Iruka and grunted, showing he was listening. "What should we expect? What type of situation is Kakashi in? What is the damage done?" It was something he thought he should know, had Kakashi been underground? Strapped to a tree? Was he dying? The last thought made his lips pressed together in worry. If the Sensei died Naruto would be devastated, and for that matter so would the rest of Konoha.

Pakkun shifted his paws and looked to the ground before back up to Iruka, clearly worried. "We were ambushed in the middle of the night, the Boss was resting outside the area where we knew the target was located. He was on high alert, barely even resting enough to call it sleeping when the men jumped out of the trees. He fought well, proudly, but the men just kept coming and then someone shot him with a dart. It was clearly some sort of poison, not a deadly on just one that knocked him out. I managed to get away, but they dragged him to the base. I'm not sure where exactly inside they are keeping him and I can't sense his Chakra, I tried."

Iruka instantly knew they were probably using Chakra suppressant chains to keep Kakashi both low and untraceable. If they also kept him dosed in some sort of smelling product they could keep Pakkun from smelling him. It was a dangerous situation clearly the captures knew who they had. A few moments later and the two of them were joined by Genma and Raido. The three men nodded to Pakkun to show they were ready and headed off.

A/N: Considering this is my first Naruto story (that isn't a crossover) I wanted to start with something small a simple one shot, this got slightly out of control the more I typed and it seemed that it almost wrote itself. I've never written so much for a fic in the span of two days. All that aside; I wrote this first and then broke it up so there is no specific word length for each chapter. I hope I did well I may write something for these two later they were a lot of fun!