Disclaimer: Not min.

Finally found the story I was looking for before. It is "You're Not Alone" by Wordsplat

Chapter 4

Iruka held on as tightly as he could as Kakashi ran through the trees. He could feel his attackers gaining on them and couldn't help trembling slightly. He was shinobi, he should be strong and yet the thought of ending up in their hands again terrified him. He wouldn't last through another round and he knew it. And it wasn't like he had the information they wanted, no one except maybe the Hokage knew where Naruto and Jiraiya were. And the thought of getting Kakashi caught up in this too made him feel sick. He didn't want the older man to be tortured or killed because of him. Iruka looked at his still swollen hands, could he do it? He took a deep breath and then removed a hand from his hold on Kakashi and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood before going slowly through torturous hand signs. He could feel broken bones shifting as he forced himself to complete the jutsu. In a cloud of smoke three slender figures appeared around them to Pakkun and the other ninken's surprise. "What happened Iruka-kun?" One of the felines demanded angrily as the three Golden Cats took in their summoner's condition.

"I'll be okay Choko." He smiled tiredly at her.

"Right, so you summoned us to tell us you'd be fine." The only male of the cats grumbled as they easily kept pace with the running group.

"No Hisoka, I summoned you so you can delay the two S-ranked missing nin chasing us."

"Idiot." His final summon smirked at her brother. "Don't worry, we'll handle them." Junko purred dangerously and then the three vanished into the shadows of the trees.

"You summon the Golden Cats?" Pakkun asked in disbelief and Iruka nodded tiredly, he hadn't really been ready to try such a powerful jutsu. "Crazy human." The ninken muttered and the rest of the pack made noises of agreement. Kakashi remained silent as he ran, the cats had smelt like Iruka otherwise things could have gotten messy when he had summoned them. Iruka slumped against him, feeling very lightheaded, it had definitely been too soon to try something like summoning. He knew the triplets wouldn't be able to kill the two men but they could slow them down. "Oi, stay awake sensei." Pakkun growled, seeing the way the man was slumped.

Iruka shifted a little to lay his head against Kakashi's shoulder. "I don't want you hurt because of me." He mumbled tiredly. Kakashi shifted and then a hand brushed his and Iruka smiled slightly. "Don't know what's going on with you and I don't care as long as you're safe."

Kakashi eventually dropped to the ground and gently lowered Iruka onto the dead leaves, letting him lean back against a tree. Iruka stared into Kakashi's uncovered eye and saw the golden flecks. Kakashi swallowed hard. "Okay?" He forced the question out and Iruka smiled tiredly.

"Sore and tired, but I'll live." He reached out and took Kakashi's hand, tugging his glove off carefully, staring at his claws. "Are you okay?" Kakashi stared at him but then nodded jerkily. Pakkun and the rest of the pack just watched in awe as Kakashi let the sensei touch him. Iruka ran his broken hand gently up Kakashi's arm to rest against his masked cheek and Kakashi leant into the touch, a soft whine coming from his throat. He turned his head and gently nuzzled at the damaged hand. Then he dug out his canteen and held it to Iruka's lips, the teacher drinking eagerly. Once done Kakashi swiftly picked Iruka up again and took off running through the branches.

Kakashi gently lay Iruka's sleeping form down on the cot and covered him with a blanket before moving to activate the seals around the perimeter. Few knew of this place, a relic left over from the last war, so it should be safe for now at least. He moved to the fireplace and set the wood alight for warmth and then sat beside it, shivering slightly. He ripped his gloves off and then his vest, wrapping a jacket around his shoulders. He stared at his hands and concentrated, relaxing a little as the claws eventually retracted into human nails. He slumped against the wall as he finally wrestled his instincts into submission. He was exhausted and feverish but he couldn't rest, not with those two on their tail. Iruka needed him, the poor teacher wouldn't stand a chance in a fight, not with his hands in the condition they were. It was utterly amazing he had managed to summon those cats earlier. And who knew the sensei even had summons? Usually they either ran in families or a sensei would give you their contract. It was rare for a chuunin to have a contract but apparently Iruka was not the average chuunin. And honestly if he had thought Iruka summoned he would have assumed snakes.

"You okay?" Pakkun asked and Kakashi looked down at him, the ninken relieved to see his features were totally human again.

"I'll be fine Pakkun."

"Sow hat's the plan boss?"

"I don't know." He admitted, taking out a scroll and scribbling out a message for Tsunade. Someone in the village had sold Iruka out once, taking him back while he was injured was too dangerous. "Ūhei take this to the Hokage only." He ordered, handing over the sealed scroll and his summon quickly ran off with it.

Tsunade took the scroll from the exhausted ninken and quickly unsealed it, anger growing as she read the report. There was at least one traitor inside her village. What had they been offered to sell out one of the most popular Academy teachers? It had to be someone on the very short list who knew the truth of the kid but who? She knew it wasn't herself or Anko, the two were too close for her to sell him out even if she did hate her old sensei. She closed her eyes and incinerated the scroll before summoning Ibiki, she needed help since the most likely to have sold Iruka out where her sensei's old teammates and Danzo. Most of the Council who knew weren't brave enough to risk her wrath by selling him out to get rid of him and Naruto. And she had been working closely with the medics, yes Iruka made many of them uncomfortable but they didn't hate him or Naruto. Sarutobi-sensei should have dealt with this years ago but he allowed the Council to gain too much power and now this mess was hers to deal with. So she would deal with it her way.

"How do you feel?"

Iruka blinked sleepily up at the ceiling and then very slowly moved to sit up, feeling familiar arms wrap around him to help. "Better." He looked up at Kakashi, finding his eye was back to grey. "Where are we?"

"An old outpost from the last war. Most of them were destroyed so no one ever thinks to check them, plus all of the security seals still work so we should be safe here for a while."

"We're not going back to the village?" Iruka frowned in confusion and then accepted the ration bar since he was starving.

"Not while whoever sold you and Naruto out is on the loss. Tsunade sent a message saying she's hunting for the traitor now. She'll send word when it's safe."

Iruka nodded and wriggled his fingers only to wince in pain. "By that time most of the breaks will be well on the way to healing." He whispered.

"Yeah." Kakashi looked at the still swollen fingers. "Tsunade is the best Iruka, she healed Lee after all the damage Gaara did. I'm sure she'll be able to help your hands even so long after the breaks."

Iruka nodded absently and then looked up at Kakashi. "What happened to you back there?" He asked and Kakashi fought back a flinch. Iruka thought his secret was bad but compared to his own Iruka's parentage was nothing. So what could he tell him?

TBC….