Another chapter! I have nothing witty to say at this point. We're going into Kakashi's mind, and it's a dark, dark place. Why do I like it here so much?

I still don't own it, etc, etc…

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The long room that had been the Hound's prison was a pretty miserable place to be. Kakashi supposed he couldn't blame the Hound for always being in such a shitty mood every time he came to speak to his alter ego, now that he'd had a chance to experience how it felt to be confined here. Chained to the wall, without enough freedom to even scratch his nose or sit, this place was like a sensory deprivation chamber in hell.

He lost track of time almost at once. Most of the time–as far as he could tell, anyway–the door was closed, completely isolating him from the world around him. But the Hound was more generous than Kakashi had been about occasionally leaving it open. Through that door, Kakashi could see some of what the Hound was doing–traveling through the trees, stalking his prey, searching and then destroying the Sound's bases, viciously interrogating the prisoners the Hound sometimes took.

Kakashi's prison wasn't static. According to the Hound's mood, at times the room would lengthen so that the door was a distant point of light in the blood-tinted darkness. At others, the it was so close Kakashi felt he could almost touch it, giving him not just sight, but sound and smell as well. At those times, it seemed like he could almost will himself back in control of his body… but it wasn't that easy. No matter how close the door was, his Icha Icha book remained just out of reach.

And as though knowing that Kakashi needed it, the Hound always let him witness the fights, the battles, the brutal deaths of every Sound ninja he tracked down.

Still, the intermittent glimpses of the world gave him no real way of keeping track of the days, so instead, Kakashi counted kills. With each blood-splashed death, he burned for more. Suyo's still, pale face haunted him every second and the only thing that eased the pain was the revenge the Hound exacted on the Sound.

But when that door closed, when he was isolated for endless, unknowable amounts of time in the red-tinged darkness, Kakashi's thoughts turned to their unborn child.

And to fear.

He feared that he wouldn't exterminate the Sound in time, that he would return too late to witness the child's birth. He feared that Suyo wouldn't awaken, that the baby would be born without either parent there to welcome it into the world. He feared that the baby wouldn't survive until birth–well he remembered what had been done to Suyo during her captivity. Apart from the physical mutilations she'd been subjected to, Kakashi remembered Tsunade telling him that there had been poisons in her blood. Had she been able to remove them? What would that do to the child if she hadn't? Most of all, he worried that the Hound might miss a Sound enclave, that the rogue nin would attack again while he was away, while Suyo was helpless, that they would steal her, steal the child, torture and kill them, leave him with nothing but failure and pain…

Over and over, Kakashi told himself that these thoughts were pointless. He couldn't do Suyo a damn bit of good by tormenting himself with "what-ifs." But he couldn't seem to stop the fears. They played over and over in his head, tormenting him in the darkness until he feared he would go as insane as the Hound.

And then the door would open again, showing him scenes of the hunt, and Kakashi's entire life narrowed to that small glimpse of violent death. He bent every bit of his will on the outside world, hoping that the Hound would let him come forward, reach through the door, and that Kakashi could be the one to strike the next killing blow. It never happened.

The closest he ever came to that was when the Hound found Kabuto. Kakashi roared with rage, fighting his chains, struggling with all his might to surge through the door and kill the bastard himself, but the Hound kept Kakashi well restrained. Still, Kakashi threw his will into every blow, every jutsu, every snarl and curse the Hound hurled at Kabuto, hoping that somehow he could add his strength to the Hound's and help ensure victory. The bastard was a formidable fighter, there was no doubting that. Kabuto held the Hound at bay for nearly a full day before finally leaving a split-second opening.

It was all the Hound needed. Leaping with inhuman speed, the Hound's kunai shattered Kabuto's hitai-ate as he drove it straight through metal and bone and into the cruel bastard's brain. The sound of his body hitting the ground was the sweetest symphony he'd ever heard. Kakashi threw back his head and screamed out his triumph, his voice blending with the Hound's howl of victory. Never again would Kabuto touch his Suyo.

And then the door slammed, locking him in the dark again. Until the next chase, the next battle, the next kill. Darkness, then death. Darkness, then more death. And in the darkness, fear.

Finally, after an eternity, light pierced the darkness once more. Kakashi lifted his head and stared at his alter ego as he stood in the distant doorway–the first time he'd arrived since Kakashi had released him. The Hound was as terrifying a specter as ever–gaunt, blood-stained, weapons strapped to arm and waist and thigh and ankle and grasped in both hands, all dripping crimson from this long orgy of battle and death. The porcelain Hound mask obscured his face, showing only his mismatched eyes behind the eye-holes.

After a long time, the Hound finally spoke. "It's done. They're dead."

Kakashi felt a wave of mingled relief and triumph swamp him. Over… it was finally over. "All of them?" he asked in a voice hoarse and rusty with disuse.

The Hound gave him a sardonic stare. "Death is my business, Kakashi. Do you think I don't know what I'm talking about? Yes, they're all dead."

"Perfect. Well done." Kakashi jangled his chains. "Now let me out so we can go home."

The Hound shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he growled softly. "You've had a taste of my world, Kakashi. Do you like it? Do you want to stay here forever?" He didn't wait for Kakashi to respond. "Neither do I. You released me, Kakashi. I'm not stupid enough to lock myself away again. I've had a taste of your world now, too, and I like being free."

Ice slid down Kakashi's spine. "You can't function in the shinobi world, Hound," he said, trying to sound reasonable when inside, his gut had frozen with dread. "Let me out. You need me."

"Really." The Hound removed his porcelain mask and crossed the distance between them, stopping beside the orange-bound book just out of Kakashi's reach on the floor. "If I drop this, you'll be free and I'll be back in chains. No fucking way. I'm not going back in the cage, Kakashi."

Kakashi lunged forward, rage filling him, but the chains snapped him back inches from the Hound, who hadn't even flinched. He just shook his head. "That won't work," the Hound said. "Believe me, I tried. I tried everything, but you never came for me until you needed someone dead."

The Hound leaned forward, and Kakashi met his own mismatched, cold eyes. "I've seen your woman, Kakashi. I know what you're going back to. What am I going back to? Nothing! If I let you out, you'll never need me again. I'll spend eternity in the dark, locked in this fucking cell, chained to the wall, forgotten. Well, fuck that, and fuck you. I'm not going back in the cage. Do you understand me?" Now the Hound was shouting, rage in every word. "I let you see the world. Did you ever do the same for me? Did you ever let me see the deaths of my enemies? Did you let me feel Suyo's touch? Anything pleasant? Did you ever give me anything, you bastard?"

Kakashi forced himself to hold that enraged gaze. "No, I didn't," he said quietly. Only now did he understand what he had done to the Hound, to this tormented, abused part of himself. He'd been so fearful of becoming this beast that he hadn't allowed the beast any chance to become part of him. How could he judge the Hound for not wanting to let him out? He was only acting exactly as Kakashi had been doing for years. "And I was wrong for that. I'm sorry, Hound."

The Hound sneered at him. "Sorry? You're sorry? That changes nothing and you fucking know it. I don't want your sorry." He spun on his heel and strode toward the door.

Panic swelled in Kakashi's gut. If the Hound walked out now, he was certain he'd never be back. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going back for what's mine." The Hound glanced over his shoulder, glaring at Kakashi. "You think I want nothing but death, but you're wrong. I want what you want, Kakashi. After all, I'm you, remember?"

Kakashi suddenly understood. The Hound, this killing machine, was going to take over Kakashi's life. He was going to go to Suyo, be their child's father, and Kakashi was going to be locked away in here forever. Screaming in fury, Kakashi fought the chains so viciously that his skin split and bones cracked, but the Hound didn't stop again.

The door slammed, and he was alone in the darkness again. Only this time, there was no hope to keep him company.

He had won against the Sound. And he had lost everything that mattered.

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