Drip, drip, drip... The monotonous sound rang through Hatake Kakashi's eardrums. The unpleasantness was not unfamiliar to him; in fact he had woken to it many times. Chills ran up and down his body, as the low dull ache in his right shoulder and lower left thigh began to ache from what, he did not know. Truth be told, he couldn't remember what had happened.
"How long have I been out?" Kakashi questioned himself. "It must be close to a week I have been lying here… but where is here? What happened?" These questions swirled around in his head threatening to take over him. Kakashi tried to pull himself to a sitting position but a sharp pain in his oblique kept him flat on his back. His cold, sweat-drenched body, convulsed with hunger. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. Rolling onto his side, Kakashi curled into a ball trying to stay warm. It wasn't long until the darkness took over him once again.
Kakashi woke not to the usual drip of water, but the hard crash of a body being thrown against a wall. And then there was another thud of a body. Another person being thrown against a wall he assumed. He strained his ears; he could hear two – wait - three people's footsteps. They were coming closer. Opening his mouth he tried to scream for help but nothing would come out of his parched lips.
"That was easy," the familiar voice of Haruno Sakura flooded Kakashi's ears.
"Too easy. Neji are you sure there is no one else in here?" Maito Gai's confident voice shattered the darkness of Kakashi's cell; a smile crossed the Copy Nin's face.
"Yes Gai I'm sure. They probably weren't after him," the calm Neji took a sideways glance at Gai. "Hatake is just ahead."
Wincing slightly at the sound of the door being opened, Kakashi tried to move but could not. He could hear Sakura stumble a little as her emerald eyes fell upon his bowed and disheveled figure. Again Kakashi tried to move but it was to no avail, his body was too cramped.
"Kakashi, don't move or you're going to make your injuries worse." Sakura knelt by Kakashi, the warmth of her knees on his back made his back muscles tense. After a quick moment of study she spoke again. "I am going to try to roll you onto your back, now this might hurt."
"He doesn't look so good Sakura," Gai pulled out his water sack and took a swig of its contents.
Kakashi tried to stifle a groan as the young Medic stretched out his body; her hands moved across his face. "Gai, give me your water please."
Sakura held out her hand demandingly. Gai rolled his eyes and placed it in the medic's hand. "So doc, what's the diagnosis?"
"I haven't started, but from what I can see, he's severely dehydrated, and is on the verge of hypothermia," delicately Sakura placed her hands on Kakashi's chest, a flow of warm chakra filling him. Kakashi could feel her chakra move along his highways. It hurt, beyond all reason and Kakashi was determined not to let show how much it hurt. Uncontrollably a moan of pain slipped from between the pursed lips of Kakashi.
"Kakashi sensei, I need you to drink some water okay. Do you understand me?" Sakura waited as the Copy Nin painstakingly nodded his head. "Neji could you lift him up please?"
Neji knelt behind the ill-treated Nin and gently lifted Kakashi to a sitting position. Kakashi's head lulled back unwillingly onto Neji chest. "Why do I have to be so weak? This is so damn embarrassing!"
Sakura smiled slightly as she gazed at the comical sight of Kakashi leaning on Neji. Kakashi could feel his cheeks turn pink as Sakura's eyes floated across him. She lifted Gai's water sack to Kakashi's lips and poured a small amount into his dehydrated mouth.
The cool sensation of water trickling down his throat made Kakashi cough/ Sakura's soft hands caught him from falling forwards. Again Sakura lifted the water sack to his lips but this time he was able to swallow. The water burned as it spilled down into his gullet, but he lifted his head to receive more. They repeated this process until Gai's water sack was completely empty.
"Sakura, I think it wise if we left," Neji stared past Gai his Byakugan glowing softly in the darkness. "We may have some unwelcome company."
"But I don't want to move him! He is already in bad shape; I don't want him to get worse!" Sakura said a little more forcefully then she wanted to.
"Sakura, if we stay here Hatake may not be the only one in critical condition," Neji's white eyes stared straight through Sakura's slightly tear filled eyes.
"You know Neji is right, and we don't want anymore casualties," Gai slung the limp Nin over his shoulders. "Once we get back into leaf country we will stop and you can work on him, okay?" Sakura nodded, knowing that Gai was right but she was still mad that they had to move.
Following closely behind Gai, Sakura's head was spinning. "Why did Kakashi decide to stay out in the field? What was he doing taking on three Hidden Cloud Nin? What was he trying to prove?" her eyes fell on the deep gash on the back of Kakashi's Anbu uniform. This cut had intrigued her mind for the past hours; the only thing that she could derive from it was that it was deep and had bled profusely and that he had being lying on his back while it was bleeding.
"Alright we'll stop here." Gai suddenly halted, lowering Kakashi gently to the ground. Sakura rammed into the backside of the doubled over Gai.
"Sorry Gai I wasn't trying to…" Sakura blushed deeply in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it! Ten Ten use to do the same thing to me, but next time keep an eye on what I am doing," Gai gave Sakura a big smile and his famous nice guy pose. At this, Neji couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.
Kakashi slowly opened his eyes to the warm sensation of someone else's chakra inside of him. He recognized that it as his former pupil, Haruno Sakura. The pain that her chakra had once caused was now gone. So was the scared little twelve year old girl he had once trained, instead a strong young woman had taken the place of the young girl. "She must be at least twenty-five now. Children grow up so fast..." Observing Sakura healing him he wondered how he could have ever thought that she would be completely useless. Waiting till Sakura took a break to wipe the sweat from her brow he whispered. "Sakura?"
"Shhh. Here, eat this," Sakura brought a soft piece of bread to his mouth. Kakashi opened his mouth. As she placed her fingers inside, Kakashi closed his teeth around her fingers gently. Kakashi smiled, as Sakura blushed as bright as her pink hair.
"Kakashi, could you release my finger?" Kakashi relinquished his grip on her finger. Sakura smiled at him thinking to herself 'what in the hell was that all about?' Shaking her head she refocused her energies back to healing his wounds. Kakashi's stomach rumbled loudly reminding him that he hadn't eaten for days. Sakura gave him another piece of bread this time making sure her old sensei didn't bite her fingers. Kakashi smiled again as she started to work on a wound on his chest.
An hour or so passed in absolute silence. Kakashi could tell that Sakura's chakra was almost completely depleted. "Sakura, stop you're going to drain yourself completely. I'll survive till morning. Honest." Kakashi tried to put on his most stern look in order to convince Sakura not to drain herself completely.
"Alright, but I have to stay right by you incase your condition worsens!" Kakashi could see that she was still worried about his condition.
"That's fine with me," Kakashi patted the ground next to him. "I promise I won't bite."
Sakura smiled as she lay beside her sensei. Kakashi pulled her close so that her head rested on his chest. She was glad that the warmness of his body had returned to him. "Just like old times…" Sakura remembered her old team as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
