Chapter 12

Of Torture and Unexpected Twists

Daniel settled Jack more comfortably onto the ground after making sure that he truly was just unconscious, like the boy had said. Now, he sat watching that same boy lean in closer to Kakashi and switch from speaking in clipped English to the unique version of Japanese that he associated with Konoha.

When Kakashi instantly slipped back into that dialect as well, Daniel had the feeling that he shouldn't let on that he actually understood their conversation. After all, these enemies of his friend seemed to make as many assumptions about their superiority over the human race as the Goa'uld did. So there was no way that he was going to let on that he was nearly fluent in the language variation by now, thanks to countless hours conversing with Kakashi.

When the two shinobi went strangely silent, he had a strange feeling that something more than a staring contest was going on. But as quickly as the standoff had started, it was over. The boy, Sasuke, released his hold on Kakashi and took an unsteady step to the side. He held one shaking hand to his eyes, and after a moment, he regained his decorum. Meanwhile, Daniel turned his attention back to where his silver-haired friend was now breathing hard and looking a bit worse for wear with his head flopped forward toward his chest.

"Kakashi..."

Daniel had whispered the man's name, hoping to gain his attention, but at the utterance, Sasuke spun on

his heel to face him. If he'd thought that the boy's eyes held hatred before, he wasn't sure what to call the look held within those orbs now. In fact, those eyes were like nothing he'd ever seen before. Although the irises were a deep red like Kakashi's left eye, that was where any similarity ended.

Rather than the three comma-shaped marks within his friend's eye, the boy's eyes held strange pinwheel-like designs within them. But before he could do more than catch a quick glance of them, Sasuke's hands covered them once more while a low groan left the boy's lips.

"What's wrong, Sasuke? Are you finding it harder to live up to your brother's legacy than you expected?"

Daniel frowned at how exhausted Kakashi sounded as he taunted the boy. But, if Sasuke noticed it, his reaction certainly didn't show it. In a flash he was again next to Kakashi, pulling his head back by the silver hair once more before responding to the man.

"On the contrary, Sensei. I don't want to leave you that unresponsive quite yet. As I've said before, you need to be aware of the suffering for it to be effective."

A half-smile crossed Kakashi's lips before he responded to the boy. "I'm sure that must be why you broke off the Tsukuyomi so soon. After all, you are the pride of the Uchiha."

Daniel heard the growl come from Sasuke's throat just before the boy spun on his heels and glared in his direction. "You! Come here!"

Before he could do more than flinch at the sudden command, Kakashi chuckled. "His name is Daniel. And he might respond a bit more if you had bothered speaking English to him."

It became quite clear that Sasuke hadn't appreciated his captive's comments when, from one moment to the next, the boy disappeared from where he'd been, only to reappear at Daniel's side. A firm grip on his elbow was followed by the a command hissed into his ear.

"You will come now."

Even if Daniel had wanted to resist the ominous order, he wasn't really given a chance. The boy's strength was impossible to ignore as he was herded toward where Kakashi was tied up and still breathing rather hard. There was an unreadable look in his friend's eyes, and Daniel had the sinking suspicion that he was most definitely not going to enjoy what came next. Which was confirmed when Sasuke spoke.

"I already know, Sensei, that you can withstand much torture without truly suffering. But tell me this...will you be so stoic if your torture results in this man's suffering?"

Daniel swallowed back his urge to react...after all, he wasn't supposed to be able to understand what was being said. Instead, he locked eyes with Kakashi, and he was certain that the man could read the fear he'd felt at Sasuke's words. But the only response was a very subtle shake of his silver-haired head; a clear signal to Daniel that he should remain silent and not react.

"Do you think that Daniel is so fragile that he will cower at the mere thought of my torture?"

Sasuke snorted in derision. "He is not shinobi. He will break."

Daniel wanted nothing more than to tell this ignorant boy just how wrong he was, but it was clear to him that Kakashi truly wanted him to continue letting the boy think that he could not understand their conversation. So he played his role to the best of his ability.

"I don't understand you. What do you want from me?"

Sasuke's grip on Daniel's elbow went from a bruising pressure, to nearly bone-crushing, and for a moment he wished that he hadn't spoken at all. He was soon forced to kneel in front of where Kakashi was still bound to a section of the wall.

"You...will watch him bleed."

Daniel's heart raced, and he wanted nothing more than to knock the boy away from both himself and his friend, but even as that thought flitted through his mind, he felt his arms being pulled behind his back and bound tightly at his wrists with what felt like wire. He tried desperately to twist at his waist in an attempt to leverage himself to his feet, but the movement was stopped before it really started. Somehow, in the seconds it had taken Sasuke to bind his wrists, the boy had also wired them to his legs. A moment later, and he felt the boy's cold fingers brush against his cheek, and when he tried to turn toward him, another wire threatened to slice into his neck.

In essence, Daniel was unable to move so much as a muscle without the possibility of slicing one part of his body or another. And his current position meant that he would have a clear view of Kakashi throughout whatever the heck Sasuke had in store for the man.

The boy leaned in to whisper into Daniel's ear. "If you attempt to close your eyes, or avoid being witness in any way, you will both regret it. Do you understand?"

Daniel met Kakashi's gaze, and the look of acceptance within his eye was all that he needed to know that Sasuke would definitely carry through with his threat. He swallowed down the fear that was just beginning to rise.

"I understand."

What followed was something that Daniel doubted he'd ever be able to fully forget, even if he tried. The dark-haired boy spent what felt like hours going out of his way to inflict as much pain as he could to Kakashi. Throughout the majority of it all, his friend remained surprisingly calm and silent, and Daniel did his best to keep silent as well. But when it became clear that Sasuke wasn't getting the results he wanted, that torture took a turn for the worse.

What looked to be a modified katana was pulled free of the scabbard strapped to the boy's back, and dark blue coils of some sort of energy covered the blade a moment before it was pushed through Kakashi's right shoulder. The series of screams torn from his friend's throat increased in volume as the blade was twisted violently out of the man's body.

Cruel laughter from Sasuke's mouth made Daniel's stomach churn with the knowledge that the blade was already heading back toward the shinobi who'd only just stopped screaming. He had a clear view of Kakashi's eye as it tracked the path of that blade, and this time, even Daniel had yelled out when the length of steel was pushed through the man's left shoulder and that visible eye went glassy from the pain.

Once more the blade was twisted free, and once more the boy laughed at Kakashi's misery. Daniel couldn't begin to imagine the level of agony his friend must be experiencing, and he wondered just how much more the man could take. He gathered his courage and tried to defuse the situation as best as he could.

"Sasuke, please! You've proven that you are the one in control. Please! Stop it! You'll kill him!"

The blade paused in its path at Daniel's words, and for the briefest moment he thought that perhaps his plea had succeeded. But a moment later and that damnable blade was thrust through Kakashi's upper arm. Sasuke leaned in closer to his victim's ear.

"So much for your prediction that the man would not break, Sensei. Perhaps I should turn my attention toward him to see just how long it will take for him to share all his secrets, hmm?"

Even with all his injuries, Kakashi tried to lunge toward the boy, and he pushed one of the fiercest growls out of his mouth that Daniel had ever heard. "If you lay one finger on him, Sasuke, you won't live long enough to regret it!"

Again the boy laughed maniacally at Kakashi. "You've already killed me once, Sensei. You can see how well that took."

The sword was pulled free once more, and Sasuke raised his free hand up until Daniel could see that it was now covered in the same sort of energy that had been on the blade moments before. "Now...it's my turn!"

The boy lunged toward Kakashi, aiming that hand of sparking energy straight at the man's chest. But a moment before it could hit its mark, Madara appeared at Sasuke's side and gripped the boy's wrist before any more damage could be done.

"Sasuke, if I'd known that this would be how you would treat our guests in my absence, I wouldn't have left you alone for quite so long."

"You had said that he was mine to kill."

Madara chuckled. "True enough, boy." He released Sasuke's wrist before folding his arms in front of him. "But it will be at my say so...and not before."

The only signs that Sasuke had accepted the older man's words were when he narrowed his eyes, then cleaned and sheathed his blade, before grunting and walking away. Daniel tried to slouch his shoulders in relief over Kakashi's temporary reprieve, but when he moved, the wire around his neck dug sharply into his skin causing him to gasp in pain. Mismatched eyes that had previously been focused on the shinobi were now turned toward him, and he wished, more than ever, that this was all just a nightmare.

"Ah, yes...Doctor Jackson. How good of you to remind me that you are here as well." Madara squatted in front of him and sighed, tapping one finger against his temple as he spoke. "I'm afraid that the snake in my head isn't very forthcoming on exactly why it's so vital for you to be handed over to the Goa'uld. Perhaps you'd be willing to share that bit of information with me?"

Daniel found it curious that this man's relationship with his symbiote was closer to what the Tok'ra experience than anything, but more so, he couldn't believe that the two were actually able to keep information from each other. That might come in handy down the line...assuming there was a 'down the line,' that is. Still, he certainly wasn't going to let this lunatic learn about him any time soon.

Another deep sigh came from Madara, causing Daniel to look directly at the man. "I'm afraid I really do need to know more about you, Doctor Jackson."

He was about to deny having any real worth to the Goa'uld, when he noticed the comma-like shapes within the man's red eye had started slowly spinning and morphing into something similar to the pinwheel design he'd glimpsed earlier in Sasuke's eyes. The world around him became tinged in a haze of red, and a wave of vertigo similar to what he'd felt when being transported to his current location nearly took his breath away.

When his stomach and vision had settled a bit, Daniel took a moment to look at his surroundings...and he immediately wished that he hadn't. Very few people knew him close enough to know his innermost fears, but somehow, Madara managed to place him directly in the middle of some of his worst nightmares

To one side was the museum exhibit which had claimed the lives of both of his parents when he had been just a boy. Next to that stood the dais and throne from Abydos, complete with the Goa'uld Ra sitting there holding the golden amulet he'd received just before his first Gate mission. Next to that sat the vat in which Hathor had used him to create new Goa'uld larvae. Next to that stood one of the savage Unas from one mission or another. And then there was the simple tent building that Daniel recognized immediately as the one in which his Goa'uld-possessed wife had lost her life after birthing the child of Apophis.

He tried his best to ignore all the scenes around him, but no matter which way he turned, another event from his past would surround him and try to force him into reliving it. And when he tried to avoid concentrating on any of them, additional dioramas of other past memories would pop into existence.

It was obvious to him now that he was under some kind of grand illusion, because otherwise these scenes would never have co-existed. But, no matter how many times he tried to convince his mind of that logic, some overwhelming sensory detail would sneak into his awareness and try to prove him wrong. After all, no matter how good an illusion was, it wasn't ever supposed to feel so...solid...so real.

The closest he'd ever come to something like this had been when he'd been forced to drink the Blood of Sokar back when he and SG-1 had gone to that Goa'uld's version of Hell to rescue Sam's dad. Back then, he'd been able to discern that it was all lies. But this...whatever the hell this was...went so far as to surround him with smells and wind and heat, which was making that border between reality and illusion nearly impossible for him to tell apart.

Meanwhile, at the very edge of his perception he was starting to sense that Madara was actually rummaging through each scene, leaving Daniel's memories somehow feeling violated. None of this made sense to him, and with each passing moment it was becoming harder and harder for him not to simply fall into one scene or another.

But then, with no warning at all, the red-tinged sky swirled violently around him once more, and he was back where he'd started from. He'd wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and curl into a ball until the residual memories had left his mind, but the moment that he had tried to move, he was reminded of the fact that he was still trussed like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Daniel tried to find something to concentrate on other than the feeling of nausea that was threatening to overtake him, so he focused in on the form of Madara directly in front of him. The man was hunched forward a bit, and his face was hidden in shadow. His breathing was nearly as labored as his own, and a tiny part of Daniel's mind hoped that he'd somehow managed to hurt Madara while they'd been sharing those memories. Of course, when that head lifted to show the glowing eyes of Rāvana, Daniel knew that wasn't the case at all.


It had taken forever for Naruto, Iruka-sensei, and Granny-Tsunade to convince Ino's dad that they weren't all crazy. And then it had taken even longer for him to convince the rest of the Yamanaka clan that he hadn't gone nuts. But when it was all over, every last one of them agreed that maybe, just maybe, Naruto's logic might not be completely insane.

Which was why he was currently in Sage-mode, sitting in the middle of this furnace of a room, sweating through his clothes, and waiting for any of these supposed elite ninja to get their acts together so they could finally start trying to find Kakashi-sensei. He was just about to give up and shut down his Sage technique when Ino's dad placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We're ready to start, Naruto. We just need you to reach out and try to locate Kakashi. After you have confirmed that you can feel him, then we will take it from there."

"Right. Okay. Let's get going then." Naruto was ready to start, when he had a sudden thought. "Umm, I have a question before we do this."

Ino's dad crossed his arms. "Go ahead."

"How are you going to track Kakashi-sensei down once I tell you that I feel him?" He scratched at the back of his neck self-consciously. "I mean, you all don't have to mess with my head, do you?"

The look on the man's face made Naruto want to take back what he said, but he needed to know. When Ino's dad spoke, though, he was really glad he'd asked. "How else would we be able to track him down, hmm?"

Naruto could feel a low chuckle deep within his mind from the Kyuubi. He pushed the beast's thoughts regarding new playthings away and met the man's eyes directly. "No more than one of you should hook up to my head. The Fox may not be as crazy as he used to be, but I don't really want to tempt him too much."

After a silent moment, Ino's dad smiled at him. "I see that you've picked up some of Kakashi's habits."

"Huh?"

"You think about the safety of others before you do your own."

Naruto grinned back at the man. "Yeah...I guess he does always do that."

He watches as Ino's dad glanced around the circle of men and, after a moment, nodded his head once before looking back down at him. "I will be the only one to have direct contact to your mind, Naruto. The others will use me as a conduit for the information."

He frowned. "So if he tries something...?"

"There will be a dozen able-minded jonin ready to break the connection before the Kyuubi can do more than give you and I a headache."

Naruto took a deep breath and released it in one go before grinning at Ino's dad. "Right! So let's get going then!"

Naruto settled into a cross-legged position with Ino's dad right behind him. He felt the gentle pressure of the man's fingers as he placed them on his head, and a moment later he knew that he had linked into his mind.

"Go ahead, Naruto."

At those quiet words, he closed his eyes and centered himself before stretching out his awareness, just as the toads had taught him. He felt the life force of all of those within the room, as well as every member of Konoha, both shinobi and civilian. There was something reassuring to Naruto in feeling so much life all around him...especially after the War. But he couldn't afford to be distracted by it right now. He needed to concentrate on what they were trying to do. He needed to find Kakashi-sensei!

So he pushed away every single life-force one by one, until all that was left was the faint humming that Naruto associated with the silver-haired jonin. It was more difficult to find than the last time he'd done this, and he couldn't help hoping that it didn't mean the man was dying.

He frowned, and chased that thought away. Now wasn't the time for him to think that way. He needed to hold onto the fact that there was still some trace of his sensei, no matter how small. He concentrated on that fragile thread and poured his will into not losing sight of it.

"Okay. I found him!"

Naruto felt Ino's dad grab onto that thread of a connection and, before he knew it, he could hear them talking all around him.

"It's not much to go by."

"How the hell are we going to track him down with such a weak connection?"

"I've seen clearer connections on people who are dead. What's to say the Copy-ninja isn't dead too?"

"Are we even sure that's him?"

Naruto was beginning to get angry at the comments. But he calmed instantly when Ino's dad spoke to all those gathered.

"I've worked with him since he was a small child, and I can guarantee that this is Kakashi Hatake's energy. Now, let's work quickly and track him down."


Iruka stood away from where the Yamanaka were positioned around Naruto, and he couldn't help but feel relief when Inoichi acknowledged that, indeed, Naruto had actually felt the Copy-ninja, and hadn't just made it up. But it was the fact that Naruto had put the safety of the others ahead of the urge to find Kakashi that made him the proudest.

Naruto had certainly come a long way since Iruka had first met the blond bundle of energy. And if he was being completely honest with himself, if anyone had told him that the boy he'd had to watch scrub every last speck of paint off of the Hokage Mountain would someday have the respect of the entire village, he'd have thought that they'd lost their minds.

But in this room sat the proof of just how far Naruto had come. He had one of the most respected Clans in Konoha working together with him. And the level of concentration and patience that the young man was demonstrating was just one more change that had Iruka thinking that Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage just might happen after all.

Iruka was so intent on the men in the center of the room that he nearly jumped when he heard the current Hokage's voice in his ear.

"So, is the Kid insane? Or might my best shinobi still be out there somewhere?"

Iruka turned and faced the leader of Konoha, and was shocked when he saw the telltale signs of fear showing in her golden eyes. But as soon as Tsunade noticed his attention, that look was replaced with one that made it clear she was waiting for his answer. He scratched at the scar that stretched across his face, even as he felt the heat of embarrassment across his cheeks.

"Forgive me Hokage. They've found sign of Kakashi, but they haven't really said much else since then."

The woman lifted her left hand up until she could easily chew on the side of her thumb. "Who said that they found him?"

Iruka frowned at the sudden thought that the woman might actually believe that Naruto had made it all up. He was about to give her a piece of his mind, Hokage or not, when Inoichi Yamanaka's startled voice interrupted them.

"What the hell was that?"

"Whoa! You mean you felt that too?"

Naruto's reply didn't do anything to help Iruka figure out what was going on. But, thankfully, the Hokage wasn't willing to try and guess for herself.

"Inoichi! Naruto! What the hell are you two babbling about?"

Naruto was grinning like a fool, but much to Iruka's amazement, he actually let Inoichi explain. "When we first made contact with Kakashi, it was as though he was here...but not here."

He watched Tsunade roll her eyes. "I've heard that one before. Tell me something that I haven't heard."

Inoichi chuckled. "How about the fact that our connection to Kakashi has actually strengthened?"

Iruka felt his eyes go wide. "Strengthened? What does that mean?"

"We're not sure yet. But if you'll let us continue, Lady Tsunade, we hope to have the answers for you soon."

The blatant redirection of the Iruka's question toward the Hokage made it clear that he probably shouldn't have been the one to question the Yamanaka Clan leader, and he dutifully remained silent. He watched as a ghost of a smile crossed over the woman's lips, and her words held more than a bit of hope in them.

"Find him, Inoichi. Find him...so that we can bring him home."

A single nod of the Clan leader's head, and everyone was once more working toward that common goal.


Jack was dragged back to consciousness by what sounded like a flock of birds. And he didn't mean birds like he'd hear at his cabin either. No, these ones sounded incredibly pissed off. It reminded him of one of those scenes from that Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. And by the sound of it, they were headed in for the kill.

Then, without warning, the birds were gone. And all that was left was the sound of voices speaking in that strange version of Japanese that he'd come to associate with the Tree Frog. And it was crystal clear by the tone that was being used that those speaking were nearly as angry as those birds had been.

He resisted the urge to groan, recognizing by the pounding in his head and the sharp pain on his neck that whatever the hell had happened to him, he probably wasn't supposed to be awake yet. The last thing he remembered was pointing his P-90 at that dark-haired kid from the Tree-frog's memory, and then...nothing. Well, unless you counted the nightmares filled with torturous screams, that is. The weird thing was that those screams didn't seem to been his own.

Jack opened his eyes a bit to try and get an idea of what the current state of things was, and he realized that maybe those screams hadn't been a nightmare after all. One look at where Kakashi was pinned to the wall with his head hanging down and gaping holes in various parts of his body was enough for him to figure out that there was no way the guy hadn't been screaming his head off during whatever the hell kind of torture they put him through.

He watched discreetly as the kid walked out of the area, and his attention shifted toward where the older guy was now squatting in front of Daniel. He couldn't quite hear what was being said, but the way Danny's shoulders had tensed up, it couldn't be anything good. Still, it looked like the snake-head's focus was solely on his friend, and as much as it killed him to think it, this would give him the perfect chance to go get the Tree-frog loose.

Maybe together they could figure out a way to rescue Danny, and get the hell out of wherever the hell they landed this time. He took one more quick look around before he pushed himself off the ground. To his dismay, he was a lot less steady on his feet than he had expected, and he wondered about just what he'd been hit with.

Keeping to the edges of the room, if you could call it a room, Jack moved toward where Kakashi was looking more like roadkill than a tree-frog at the moment. If not for the obvious labored breathing of the man, he'd be sorely tempted to think that kid had killed the silver-haired man. Still, it was pretty obvious by the time he'd gotten next to Kakashi that his hopes of working together with him to free Danny might not be a go after all. Heck, he'd be lucky if the guy could stand on his own once he cut him free of his bonds.

Jack leaned in closer to see what was keeping the man attached to the wall and he saw what looked to be fishing line. He reached out and felt it between two fingers and was surprised to find that it was actually very thin wire. He smiled to himself. Good thing he used to be a Boy Scout. He pulled out his handy-dandy Swiss Army knife and tried to figure out which doohickey might do the trick. After all, how hard could it possibly be to cut through such thin wire?


Kakashi tried his best to bring his breathing back to normal after his session with Sasuke, and he had to admit that if Madara hadn't shown up when he did, then there was a very good chance that he would have died as a victim of his own original technique. Somehow, the irony of the situation did nothing to relieve his racing heart.

He wasn't completely sure where Sasuke had wandered off to, but he was glad that his former student wasn't being given the go ahead to kill him quite yet. Of course, that didn't mean that he was in the clear. He was still severely chakra depleted, he was injured in ways that he knew wouldn't heal properly without a medical-ninja's help, and he was still fastened to the wall. He had definitely had better days.

Kakashi would have sighed at that thought, but honestly, he didn't have the energy for it. He was about to try to lift his head and see what Madara was up to, when he felt a presence step up to him. He struggled to tell if it was Sasuke returning or not, but he couldn't feel more than a whisper of chakra. So, either his chakra sensing had become worse than a genin's since this ordeal started, or he was about to be graced with the presence of Colonel O'Neill.

"Hang in there, General. I'll have you loose before you know it."

Before he had a chance to comment on the horrible pun that the man had just used, he felt the wire holding his right arm in place tugged until it was cutting into his skin. Kakashi held back a hiss of pain while Jack continued to work his way through the various spans of wire that fastened him in place. Eventually the last cut was done, and he found himself sliding free of his bonds. When his feet touched the ground, his knees nearly buckled, but Jack was there to catch him before he could fall.

"Come on, General. Keep it together until we can get Danny and get the hell outta here."

Gritting his teeth against the pain coursing through his body, Kakashi couldn't do more than grunt in response to the man's words. His chakra pathways were still barely functioning, thanks to Madara's unique adjustments to the hand device, but at least he could access it enough that he could keep himself from having to rely too much on anyone's help.

"I'm fine, Colonel. Concentrate on Daniel."

He caught the look of doubt in the man's eyes, and had to push down the urge to laugh. Could this really be the same man who had tried to shoot him with a Zat-gun less than twenty-four hours ago? Still, when he pushed himself free of the arms holding him up, he had to admit that he was in worse shape than he'd thought. But the fact that he hadn't collapsed to the ground must have counted for something, because Jack's attention shifted to where Madara was still squatting in front of Daniel.

"Maybe I should just shoot the guy." The man's weapon was lifted up to emphasize his point.

Kakashi sighed and pushed the muzzle back down toward the floor. "What happens when Madara phases out and your bullets hit Daniel instead?"

"Damn freaks. So what do we do?"

Before he had the chance to respond to the question, Madara stood up abruptly and clutched his head in his hands. The Uchiha's voice echoed through the area, sending a shiver up Kakashi's spine.

"Try that again, Snake, and I'll kill Daniel before you can do more than watch!"

A moment later and that voice changed over to that of the Goa'uld that shared the man's body. "Perhaps I should use that same threat toward the silver-haired boy fastened to the wall?"

A growl followed, with Madara bending down on one knee and bowing his head. When his shaky voice was next heard it was clear that regaining control over the snake had taken more than a bit of his energy.

"I already know that you're free, Hatake. But I'll be damned if I'll let this creature take the thrill of your death away from Sasuke." Madara turned to face him and the Colonel, and it was clear that the man was still struggling to maintain control.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Meaning what, exactly?"

The Uchiha frowned. "Meaning that I need to send you and the civilians somewhere that this snake cannot gain access to until he has learned his place."

"Who the hell are you calling a civilian?"

Kakashi sighed at Jack's outburst. "Now's not the time to argue semantics, Colonel."

Meanwhile, Madara simply ignored the comments altogether. He moved over to where Daniel was still kneeling on the floor and, with a single flare of chakra, released him from the wires.

"Go stand with the others if you wish to live, boy."

Kakashi was glad to see that Daniel knew enough to simply do as he was told instead of argue with the man. But still, he couldn't help thinking that this was just a way to make sure he could take them all out with a single jutsu. His chakra was already starting to fail him, and he did nothing to stop Daniel and Jack as they both slipped their arms around his waist to keep him standing.

Madara turned to face them, and Kakashi could actually seen the sheen of sweat covering the man's brow. It was clear to him that the battle for control was far from over. Still, the Uchiha's sharingan morphed into his form of the Mangekyo, and before they were pulled into the dimensional vortex once more, the man's words surrounded them.

"Try not to die before I come for you, Hatake. Sasuke would hate to miss out on your last breath."

With that, the floor spun out from under their feet, sending them careening toward wherever Madara had in store for them this time. The jutsu finished, and once more Kakashi found himself in a tangle of arms and legs on yet another cold stone floor. The three of them worked together to untangle themselves. By the time they were done, every wound on his body felt raw, but he couldn't afford to rest quite yet. He struggled to keep his awareness long enough to ascertain if they were in immediate danger or not.

They were in a cave of some sort, but before he could tell much more than that, he was tackled to the ground by an unknown assailant. He grunted in pain and tried to gather more than a spark of chakra to defend against whoever it was that was trying to squeeze the life out of him, but he simply didn't have it in him. Just when he had accepted that he was about to die in such an undignified way, the crushing hold was released and strong hands gripped him by the shoulders and pulled him up until he could see who his attacker was.

His blurry eyes locked on the grinning face in front of him and Kakashi wondered if perhaps he was dreaming. After all, there was only one person he could think of with such blond hair and a penchant for wearing orange and black. And what were the chances that Madara would actually send them back to Konoha?

"Kakashi-sensei! I told them I'd find a way to get you back!" The grin quickly turned to a frown as he seemed to notice the injuries scattered across his body. "Shit! What happened to you? You're a mess! And don't give me any of that 'lost on the road of life' crap!"

He tried to shrug off the boy's concern, but the movement pulled a groan out of his lips instead. That single sound seemed to trigger a flurry of activity. He was pulled away from Naruto's grip and laid out gently on the ground. He felt the comforting warmth of healing chakra begin to sink into his body, but he knew that he needed to do one more thing before he could allow himself to relax.

Kakashi pushed himself up until he was propped on his elbows. He scanned the dozen or so faces surrounding him for a familiar face and stopped when he saw Iruka Umino standing to the side.

"Iruka-sensei...please watch over the two men who were with me until I'm able to do so myself."

"Shouldn't I leave that to the ANBU?"

"They are not from the Five Great Countries, Iruka. But I can vouch for them. They are good people."

There was a moment where Kakashi feared that the Academy-instructor would deny his request, but it melted away when the chunin smiled wide and bowed in his direction.

"I'll do as you ask, Kakashi-sensei."

"If you're done worrying about everyone else, Brat, let my medics do their job."

Kakashi turned toward where he'd heard Tsunade's voice and was surprised to see her flanked by a handful of the Yamanaka Clan, each looking more than a bit winded. He had a feeling that there'd be one hell of a story to be shared all around, but for now he was content to do as the leader of Konoha ordered. He sank back to a laying position and allowed a smile to grace his lips even as the healing chakra lulled him into a deep sleep.