A/N: Sorry this is so late. My grandma is in the hospital with pneumonia, and I will be spending a lot of time with her there. So for the next week or two updates will be a little later. Sorry everyone who is reading this, but it can't be helped. And a special thank-you goes to Valinor's Twilight, who has put something in for every chapter and waiting so patiently for it all. Thanks again!

Chapter 8

At first, Kakashi couldn't move. Tsunade's grip on him was as strong as Yasu's had been, and he could feel new bruises rising to the surface under Tsunade's hands.

"Tsunade-sama," he whimpered, squirming in her grasp.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade said quietly, and she released him, gently moving him away to arm's length to inspect his wounds. "You okay?"

"No…but I will be…in about a week…" Kakashi moved closer to Tsunade again, almost crowding into her chest. Tsunade wrapped her arms around him, acutely aware of his pain.

"What did they do to you?"

Kakashi decided not to give a response.

Tsunade focused healing chakra to her hands and pressed them to Kakashi's back. A sting immediately rose to the surface of Kakashi's skin as the wounds closed over, and he pulled away slightly in pain. Tsunade took her hands off Kakashi's back.

"It's okay," she said softly, stretching out her hand to Kakashi. "Come on, come here."

Kakashi slunk back into Tsunade's arms and she silently embraced him, somewhat afraid of how traumatized he was. This was bad: it was completely out of Kakashi's character, to act up this much and to be this submissive. Tsunade slowly lowered her head to Kakashi's and placed a light kiss on his bared lips.

"I love you, you know."

Kakashi nodded, and Tsunade could feel his hands find their way around her waist. Tsunade lifted his face to hers, and kissed his soft, pale lips. Her kiss was gentle and understanding; Kakashi couldn't help but draw comfort from it. Tsunade held Kakashi as close to her as possible, unwilling to let him go again. Kakashi felt something warm and moist slip down his cheek and fall onto Tsunade's hand. Tsunade looked up, and Kakashi could see her on the brink of tears as well.

For a moment, no one broke the silence.

"Wimp."

Tsunade laughed at Kakashi's teasing insult. "Yeah, yeah, you started the whole thing."

Kakashi gave her a weak smile and pulled his mask back up. "I probably did."

Tsunade's lips twitched into a small smile. "Oh, be quiet, you. I'm going to heal you, and it might hurt a bit. Just don't move, okay? The less movement you make, the faster it'll go."

Tsunade's hands glowed a gentle green as she pressed them to Kakashi's back once again. Tsunade's sensitive fingertips picked up a very faint shiver go through Kakashi's body, but he made no move away from her. Tsunade finished relatively quickly; the wounds were all superficial. To Kakashi, Tsunade had a gentle touch for someone who had beaten Orochimaru to a pulp.

Tsunade let the chakra taper off as she removed her hands. "Better?"

Kakashi nodded, not even bothering to lift his face from Tsunade's shoulder. Tsunade slid her hands under Kakashi's body. She lifted him extremely carefully, keeping him as close to her as possible.

"Get some rest," she murmured, taking the three steps to a bed in the corner of the room they were in. "You're going to need it."

"One last question," Kakashi asked. Tsunade smiled and set him down on the mattress, brushing his hair away from his face.

"What?"

"Where am I?"

Tsunade's smile widened. "In my bed. Now quiet down and get some sleep."

Kakashi was too tired to disobey.

OOOOOOOOO

Tsunade waited until Kakashi fell asleep to pick up his palm and look at it. The slice on it, still oozing blood, confirmed her worst fears. So Yasu truly was trying to bind him to her…Kakashi's muscles twitched as Tsunade brushed against the inside of his wrist. Tsunade's eyebrows came together and the corners of her mouth turned down in a frown. What the-? She had studied precise human anatomy, for various purposes, and she knew all of the sensitive spots on the body.

The wrist contained none of them.

The back of the ankle, the neck itself, right between each rib, between the rib cage's two halves, just underneath the collarbone-the bottom line, not anywhere near the wrist. Tsunade fitted her hands into the sign of the tiger.

"Release!" she commanded, dispelling any genjutsu in the area.

The bruises all over Kakashi's body told far too many tales.

OOOOOOOOO

"My sister did this to him," Kurenai said, looking over the bruises. "She looked for the most sensitive spots on his body, basically where he hates to be touched, and she hit them. It's part of the Yuuhi bloodline, to be able to see and strike with such accuracy."

Tsunade looked at Kurenai, who was sitting across from her. Kakashi was awake now and sitting in Tsunade's lap, putting up with her strokes and caresses for the time being. Tsunade knew he would push her off somehow at some point; Kakashi suspected it was more to comfort herself than him. "Than your sister must work for Orochimaru and/or the Akatsuki, more likely the former."

Kurenai shook her head. "I'm afraid it's worse than that." She looked fairly surprised at everyone's confused looks. "What? Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet!"

"But…Yasu did this," Kakashi said slowly. "She and Tayuya are the only females I know of who work for Orochimaru or the Akatsuki, and I've only come into contact with Yasu…" His eyes widened. "Then-that means-you and Yasu are-"

"We're half sisters," Kurenai confirmed. "I'm pure Yuuhi, she's half Yuuhi, half Kurosaki. My dad is her dad as well, and her mother is different than mine. Yasu is my younger sister, and she left home when she was fourteen. Our parents were hard on us, and discouraged our lives as shinobi. One day Yasu had just had enough. She pretended to suicide, and for a while, we all believed it. But then I went to…I forget where it was, and I saw her. I think it was up in snow country. Anyway, I knew then she was still alive. And she was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. At the time, though, she was still in training, under Hidan I believe. I was a full-fledged shinobi now; a jounin elite. And my parents despised me. The ninja and the political leaders of this land have always been on bad terms, and my family was very politically strong. My parents wanted my sister and I to be great Ladies and such; Daimyo, was the hope for my sister, because she did not take up ninja training until remarkable late for a ninja- ten years old! But when she did, she was mean-she was different. A Chuunin at twelve, and a jounin at fourteen. Not exactly a Hatake or an Uchiha, not a Hyuuga prodigy or anything like that, but still pretty good for a ninja. She was no ordinary kid.

"Then her bloodlines emerged.

"Our parents went nuts. They tried everything, but they could not get rid of her bloodlines or get her to give up her ninja dreams. One night, our mother took all her ninja things, locked her in her room with a bunch of political documents and left her there for at least a day. The next morning, they found her 'body' in a gruesome state-with a suicide note. It turns out, she had escaped with her ninja powers and cast an illusion, complete with a mind-cluttering jutsu on our parents. They really thought she had died, but the illusion was pretty pathetic. I kept my mouth shut, even though I knew, and then I went on a mission to Snow as my first jounin assignment. That was where I found her.

"And for those of you who's curiosity has yet to be satisfied, I broke away from my parents at fifteen, a year after my sister's escape. I rented my own apartment with the ninja money I made."

Tsunade shook her head in astonishment. "Amazing," she murmured. "She takes both clan's bloodlines?"

Kurenai nodded and pulled a scroll from her kunai pouch. "It's kind of like the seal the Hyuuga clan members use on the Branch family, and it's kind of like Orochimaru's curse seal. It binds and gives unimaginable power-but at a price."

"Keep going," Tsunade said. She discreetly checked Kakashi's pulse: she wouldn't put it past him to have fallen asleep in her lap. Kakashi was well known for falling asleep…wherever. Anywhere. Kakashi lifted his face gave her a look that clearly said, did you really think that I would fall asleep on you? Tsunade smiled. He gave some of the most innocent looks…

"A tattoo-like seal will appear wherever the blood is fused, on both victim and master," Kurenai continued. "When activated, like Orochimaru's curse, the tattoo will 'spread' over the victim's body, giving them unimaginable power."

Tsunade frowned. "The catch?"

"The victim is required to relinquish their soul to a master. Once they fully accept their master, they will gain their power. However, if they refuse in the middle of the jutsu…" Kurenai paused. "They will both die!"

"So there's no way around this," Tsunade said. She moved Kakashi's body so that he was in a sitting position in front of her. Kakashi slouched against one of her knees, refusing to sit straight. Tsunade's hands began moving in circular motions over Kakashi's back, running over the bruised muscle. As she worked, Tsunade inspected Kakashi's injuries. They seemed superficial, but a closer look might be a good idea. She knew where Kakashi's personal sensitive spots were, and where he hated to be touched.

That was exactly where the bruises were.

Tsunade's hands began exploring Kakashi's lower back, and there seemed to be a lot of bruises there. Of course-Kakashi had never really liked anyone behind him, and especially down low, in the small of his back. Now, that portion of his back was littered with bruises, and Tsunade let healing chakra leak through to heal him.

Kakashi jumped.

Tsunade stood up, waiting for Kakashi to calm again. "What?"

Kakashi shook his head and sat down again. "Nothing."

Tsunade sighed. Kakashi had always been stubborn about these kinds of things-it was best to let him be. She slid her hands down again-

Kakashi arched his back and slid away.

A hand dragged him down, fastening around his back and shoving him underneath a strong body-

He tried to move, but he was held by a vise-like grip-

A hand was pressed to his mouth, silencing his screams-

Kakashi gasped and collapsed to his knees. Tsunade reached forward and pulled Kakashi into her arms. "Yasu?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"Itachi?"

He nodded. Tsunade exhaled and held Kakashi close to her. No wonder he was so traumatized! To have that done to you-it was unthinkable.

Tsunade realized that Itachi had tried to get Kakashi to submit to him, and when Kakashi had refused he had been harmed further.

Kakashi gently hitched his shoulders, trying to indicate to Tsunade which part of his back needed the most attention. Tsunade moved her hands up, and Kakashi quieted again.

"Open that for me, please," she said, tilting her head towards the scroll. Kurenai wordlessly rolled it out and placed it closer to Tsunade. Kakashi leaned forward, trying to see more clearly what was in the scroll.

"…it's a diagram."

"Yes," Kurenai said. "And it took me years to make. It's a map of the Yuuhi/Kurosaki bloodlines. First you see the Yuuhi's, then the Kurosaki's, and then both combined. Most of the bloodlines are doujutsu, but there is a taijutsu part that utilizes chakra."

"So basically there are no weaknesses." Tsunade made a face.

Kakashi slipped forward and peeked at the scroll.

"No," he said slowly. "Look again."

Kurenai sat next to him. "You're right," she said. "Look closely, Tsunade-sama," she said, motioning towards the combined bloodlines. "Here; the back of the head, at the nape of the neck."

"What?" Tsunade asked pulling Kakashi back so she could see. He settled against her shoulder and allowed her to put her arm around his shoulders. He was cold, so he may as well get some warmth from her. With the other hand, she pointed to a spot on the scroll.

"Here?"

Kakashi nodded. "A blind spot. All the way from the nape of the neck, to just below the shoulder blades."
"So if we attack from behind-"

"We stand a much better chance than if we attacked from the front," Tsunade finished. "Okay, Einstein-make something up to go along with that theory."

"Won't work."

Kurenai shook her head. "No; it won't work. She's expecting that. She has adapted her fighting style to that as well. She spins as she fights, turning in a complete circle and releasing chakra along many points on her body at once. She does immense damage and protects herself at the same time. And through the rotations, you can't target a specific part of her body. That's why…up till now no one has ever injured her before!"

Tsunade gulped. She had been called the greatest ninja ever to live by some, and she was by far the top of the food chain, but even she had scars from battles and such. If this woman had never been wounded…they might have underestimated her.

Kakashi's exhale traveled across Tsunade's chest so lightly she barely noticed the change.

"What?" she asked, turning to look at Kakashi.

"I have a plan…"

A/N: Haha. I left you hanging. I pretty much said everything I needed to say before, so if you missed it, go back and read it, it's important. Thank you everyone who reviewed and made this story such a success. Hugs: )