Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

These new stories are being posted to see what you all think. Should I continue them?

Chapter 1

Kakashi fought the urge to fidget as he stood before his Hokage. If he was being honest he didn't really like the woman at all. He would serve her, die for her if needed but he did not like her. He missed the Sandaime and his understanding. Either she hadn't found Sarutobi's hidden files or she was disregarding them. There was a reason he always spent this time of year out of the village on missions after all. Instead she had kept him close to home and he had managed to annoy or anger most of his acquaintances by snapping at them. So far it hadn't gone further but it was only time.

"Umino Iruka is missing, you are to find him and bring him home." She handed over a scroll. "We have no idea exactly when he vanished only that he left the client at his home on schedule a week ago. He should have been home several days ago."

"You think he ran into trouble?"

"Possibly, it's unlike him to be late for anything. This far overdue is…concerning. Dismissed." He bowed and vanished, going to pack what he needed. He mentally went over what he knew about the sensei which wasn't a whole lot. He knew he was one of if not the most popular of the Academy teachers and that he was very protective of his students. He also worked the missions' desk when not teaching. And as proved during the chuunin exam incident he had a temper. But that was all he knew. He opened the scroll and memorised its contents before incinerating it and heading out. He may just be one of many chuunin but he was a fellow ninja and Naruto would never forgive him if the man died.

Kakashi dropped from the trees and looked around cautiously. He could smell blood and there were the signs of a ninja battle all around. He found a bit of cloth from a chuunin vest and summoned his ninken, letting them scent it. It had to be Umino's vest since it was green; no other village wore green vests. Tsunade had been right about him running into trouble but from the looks of it the battle had happened several days ago. If he had been badly injured he would be dead by now. There was nothing to identify his attackers which was concerning, they had been good enough to hide any obvious signs while fighting. If Umino was dead he hoped he had taken at least some of his attackers with him. At this point capture was the worst possible scenario as he had no way of identifying who had him.

Kakashi leant against a tree, panting for air as he struggled, the scent of blood making things worse. He had needed a combat mission, not a search and rescue one. He would not hurt one of his comrades, he would not! His nails dug into his palms through his gloves and then he felt small sharp teeth latch onto his leg, looking down to see Pakkun looking up at him in concern. He nodded and took a deep breath to calm himself. He forced himself to study everything closely looking for clues until finally he found the tiniest sign of a trail but it was all he had so he followed it.

Of course finding the man became a lot easier several hours later when a short, sharp cry of agony reached his sensitive ears. He may not know the teacher well but he knew the sound of his voice. Someone was torturing the younger shinobi and Kakashi snarled in rage at the very idea. Whoever it was, they were going to pay dearly for daring to lay a hand on a fellow leaf-nin. It was hard to go slow and careful, to look for traps, after hearing that cry but he had to. Pakkun moved at his side and he knew the pug was worried for him and the man they were here to save, if his control wavered for even a second….

He concealed himself in the bushes and stared into the clearing. He spotted Umino immediately, normally tan skin far too pale as he hung from his bound wrists. Lank brown hair hung about his face, concealing it from his gaze for the moment. His uniform had been torn to shreds and bits of cloth hung from his limp body, revealing far too many wounds. And yet the chuunin had been conscious enough to cry out only minutes ago, how much pain must he be in? Then he spotted his captors and his eyes widened in shock, Akatsuki. But why….Naruto, they didn't want Iruka but what he knew about Naruto.

"You can stop this anytime Iruka, all you have to do is tell us where the Kyuubi brat is."

Iruka shifted his head and Kakashi got a look at the injuries there, one eye was swollen shut and he was pretty sure the cheek below was broken. He was badly bruised and had several nasty looking cuts but his eyes were focused and furious. He spat blood at his captors and earned another blow for the act of defiance.

"No one is coming for you sensei, your own village sold you out. After all who cares what happens to a traitors son." Kakuza stated and Kakashi frowned even as Iruka swallowed hard. "Oh yes, we know the truth of your parentage sensei. You may look like your mother but I wonder how much of your fathers' son you might be."

"Not…my fa…ther." Iruka denied.

"Come now, you should be proud to have such a famous parent. No other sannin has a child after all."

Kakashi froze. Sannin and a traitor….it wasn't possible, was it? Iruka could not be Orochimaru's son, they had nothing in common. He was a trusted teacher of children! He was an Umino which meant he had known parents, he'd seen them listed on the Memorial stone.

"Loyal." Iruka mumbled, obviously beginning to drift.

"He's not gonna talk, just kill him." Hidan grumbled. Torturing a chuunin teacher wasn't his idea of fun.

"Last chance sensei, just tell us where the boy is and we will let you live. You could join us where you would be appreciated for your skills and not held back due to your father." The offer had Kakashi growling softly, if Iruka said yes he would die along with his captors. But he didn't answer as his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness. But in that last second of consciousness he seemed to look right at Kakashi and hope bloomed briefly in his eyes. That look had him moving instinctively to protect him. Hidan never even saw him coming as a chidori slammed through his heart. Kakuza turned to face him but Kakashi was lost to instinct and ripped him apart with his bare hands, not noticing the injuries he took as he fought, they healed almost instantly anyway. He was growling even as he gently freed Iruka's hands and then lifted him up and ran, cradling him tenderly to his chest. There was no thought, just the instinctive need to get the other somewhere safe and protect him. He didn't even realise Pakkun was directing him by nipping at him as they moved across the ground.

Eventually they came to a cave and Kakashi stopped, scenting the air warily. Detecting nothing threatening he entered the cave and placed his cargo down gently at the back. Pakkun approached cautiously but Kakashi made no move to stop the pug so he carefully looked the sensei over, he was a mess. But one look at Kakashi told the ninken he would be of no help, instinct had taken over completely. Pakkun shook his head, this was why he should be on a combat mission, not a rescue. Hopefully the chuunin could hold on until Kakashi snapped out of it and was able to offer assistance.

TBC…

The poll in my profile is asking for what people think Kakashi should be in this