Yang Dimension - Blood Hound

Although the room was big enough to fit four patients, the hospital room suddenly felt very, very small as Minato stared at the unconscious patient. At some point, his mouth fell open. Who knows how much time had already passed when Minato noticed. His only saving grace was that his students had been too focused, for entirely different reasons, on the patient to notice his slip up.

The dried blood that clung to his hair had been washed out, restoring the former silver color. Bandages were wrapped around the entirety of his torso, spanning all the way to the back of his neck and disappearing into the waistband of his pants. The only bits of skin that remained visible was the upper third of his face.

His left cheek was buried into the soft pillow. Soft breathing, chest rising up and down in a rhythmic pattern. With both eyes closed, he seemed to be the picture perfect of harmless. Yet Minato couldn't ignore the jagged scar spanned from the top of his forehead to just below his left earlobe. He couldn't ignore the dirtied mask that sat on top of the dresser. Seemingly innocent, yet upon a closer look there were streaks and splotches of blood that couldn't be washed away.

Or maybe Kakashi had left it like that for a reason.

How could anyone ignore the fact that this was Kakashi fucking Hatake? Although he was part of the Anbu Root group, a squadron known for their anonymity, his notoriety proved to be the exception to that secrecy. With a slew of menacing titles associated with his name and an endless amount of horror stories to back those titles, Minato didn't even know where to begin to describe him.

The most memorable of them all was that Kakashi managed to amass flee on sight orders from all four other great nations at the tender age of twelve. Even Konoha's greatest enemy, Kumo, knew better than to provoke him. Even with a hotheaded leader backing them, Kakashi was the only Konoha shinobi that they never seemed to pick a fight with.

Maybe they never even stood a chance.

There were very few people in the world that could instill enough fear to warrant flee on sight orders from all of the great nations. Minato and Kakashi were two of them. Unlike Kakashi though, Minato instilled fear due to his prowess.

Kakashi instilled fear for his skills, his remorselessness, and most of all, his brutalness. The frightening streak of ruthlessness that was left in the aftermath of his actions was one that could keep the most seasoned shinobis trembling wide-eyed in the middle of the night.

And now, he was here, sleeping so soundly in front of him like he was utterly and completely harmless.

The induced coma kept him harmless, for now. Obito hadn't taken any chances either; from the moment he was placed on this hospital bed, he had ensnared all four of his limbs in thick, heavy metal chakra suppressing chains. A piece of cloth, scrawled with fuinjutsu, was wrapped around his eyes.

Minato suspected Obito would have done more if Rin hadn't been there to stop him. Minato himself was torn between wanting to layer precaution upon precaution in the event things went horribly wrong and wanting to loosen the strain on the injured man's body.

By all rights, with the extent of his injuries, Kakashi should be dead.

But he wasn't. And now he was located at the heart of their village, Rougyu, the same village he had dedicated his life to going against. Although Kakashi had never been one of their direct enemies before, that position had always been reserved for his other Anbu Root comrades, namely one with a Fox mask, the fact of the matter was, Kakashi was still on their side.

Danzo was the person he answered to. With just one word, Kakashi could easily switch from being Kumo's main antagonist to theirs.

If the rest of Rougyu knew he was here today, there would be immediate cries for his death. After all, it was better to get rid of an enemy before they became a threat. Being proactive, they would call it.

But Minato didn't really believe in mindless killing. Although killing was an inevitable part of being a shinobi, he always prided himself in never having to take someone's life unprovoked. If Minato ordered Kakashi's death, while he laid there completely defenseless, what made him so different from Danzo?

The sole reason they had defected in the first place was because they couldn't accept Danzo's greed driven motives and the stop-at-nothing-for-his-own-gain type of ways.

Minato's fingers pinched the skin right above his nose, letting out a long sigh.

"Obito, go...go get Inoichi san." Obito nodded, slipping from the room with nothing more than the soft click of the door shutting behind him.

And then, only the two of them were left in the room. An awkward silence hung between the two of them. This was the first time that Minato found himself blanking out on a conversation starter and Rin made no indication that she was going to begin a conversation either.

Maybe there was no way around it. Minato needed to address the elephant in the room.

Minato cleared his throat. "How...how is he?"

"In stable condition," Rin began, speaking in the same manner as she would with any other patient. Except Minato still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that it was Kakashi Hatake lying on that bed in front of him. "I placed him under a coma to help speed up his recovery. As for the burn marks, I think I'll be able to heal most of it if I work on it a little bit everyday. Burns are quite difficult, but I think I'm close to mastering how to heal them."

All Minato could do was stare at her, utterly speechless. How could she remain so calm and collected in the wake of a S ranked, enemy shinobi? If Rin had given him that update anywhere outside of the hospital room, Kakashi would have been the last person that Minato would have guessed she was speaking about.

Even if all of the injuries fit the exact description.

"Why?" That was all Minato could force out. He took a moment to compose himself. "How are you able to treat him so indifferently?"

Rin's fingers curled tightly around the edges of the stark white bed sheets. "As a medical professional, we are taught that we shouldn't let our personal feelings get in the way of making a sound judgment."

Impartiality. That was something that Minato couldn't seem to achieve, no matter how he tried. Deep down inside, there were always some hints of feelings that were involved with his decisions.

"After we retrieve the intel that we need from him, what do you propose we do with him?"

Rin shook her head. "I don't know." In a quiet voice, she added, "If I suggested that we let him go, would you?"

That answer was a resounding no. His silence gave Rin the answer that she needed, but Minato suspected that she knew before the question even left her mouth.

"If you knew that we weren't going to let him go, then why did you bring him back here?"

"If I didn't, his only option was death," Rin explained. "If he didn't receive medical treatment when he did, he would have died within the hour. My first aid treatment was only enough to prolong his death for a couple hours. Either I brought him back or he died in that clearing. Maybe if he was conscious, he would have chosen death. I suppose I was selfish in making that decision for him."

Rin paused, like she was debating whether or not she wanted to continue. "Besides, it'll be good for us. For me too." Rin said so quietly that Minato strained to make out the words.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Her brown eyes flickered up to him in surprise, almost like she hadn't expected him to catch onto that part of her statement. "Did...did I ever tell you about the time that I almost died during the Third Great Shinobi War?"

That description seemed to tug at his memories, but Minato couldn't quite remember the exact details of the story. As far as he recalled, Rin shouldn't have been out on the battlefield at all, considering she was still a fresh graduate by the time the war ended.

"The medical camp that I was stationed at was attacked by Iwa shinobis." Ah, that's right. Due to a shortage of medical ninjas, Danzo had ordered everyone who knew a bit of medical ninjutsu, regardless of age, onto the battlefield. Being stationed at a medical camp was usually much safer than going out to the frontlines, but that didn't change the fact that it was war. Anything could happen during the tide of war.

"He was the one who saved my life. I realize at the time we weren't enemies, but that still didn't change the fact that he risked his life to save mine. Kakashi may have forgotten, but I haven't. How could I leave him to die when I know I'm capable of saving him?"

Kakashi...saving Rin's life? That sounded nothing like the Kakashi he knew or heard about. The Kakashi that had grown up to be a merciless soldier under Danzo's teachings only knew how to kill, not save. Only knew how to look forward, not look back. Only knew how to complete the mission, not fail the mission like his father did.

Minato wondered if he had been wrong about him this entire time. Perhaps, there was still a tiny trace of humanity left in him.

The two of them didn't get a chance to finish their conversation. Minato wanted the details and Rin wanted to convince him to not kill Kakashi. However, as fate would have it, Obito returned from his errand, with Inoichi right behind him. Minato would need to wait to get his answers another time.

"Minato san," the older man greeted with a slight dip of his head. Predictably, the second thing that Inoichi noticed was the man lying on the bed. The look in his eyes revealed the words left unsaid.

What was he doing here?

"I trust that you will keep this a secret," Minato stated. Inoichi nodded in agreement. The confusion was still present, but Inoichi had been a shinobi for so long that he knew when to push and when to accept things as they were. The latter was the clear option in this situation. "I need you to use your mind technique to get inside of his head. The more intel you can get out of him, the better."

Inoichi's lips turned into a frown. His eyebrows knitted together as he leaned down to get a closer look at Kakashi. The examination continued for three minutes before Inoichi's eyes swung to meet Rin's.

"He's under a coma?"

Rin nodded.

This time, Inoichi turned to address Minato. "I have never tried to invade someone's mind while they are under a coma. I don't know what will happen if I tried or if I can even get in far enough to dig through his memories. There's also the possibility that he might suffer permanent brain damage if anything goes wrong. Are you sure you still want me to try?"

Minato didn't answer right away. Obito didn't hesitate to do so, voicing out his thoughts. "Well, he's not going to tell us anything when he wakes up. Even if he wanted to, he has that damned cursed seal on his tongue."

"One that I figured out how to break," Minato gently reminded Obito, as if that had been the point of the discussion. It was his way of stalling, of having to make that decision. The Minato from ten minutes ago would have made the call right away. There was no doubt about it. However, his conversation with Rin made him falter.

"I bet he has a different seal. The more that a person knows, the more precautions Danzo will take. You know how paranoid that man is."

Obito had a point.

"I think you should still give it a try, Inoichi," Minato said slowly, half-expecting Rin to speak up on Kakashi's behalf. When Rin didn't interject, Minato wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. "But be careful. If you think something is off, you should leave his mind immediately."

Inoichi didn't need Minato to tell him that; he knew when to proceed and when to retreat better than Minato ever could. Minato supposed that his way of alleviating some of his guilt - he hardly doubted that was the proper word for it - or whatever that feeling was.

The three of them watched with bated breath as Inoichi placed a hand on top of Kakashi's head. His eyes slid close, creases forming along his forehead as his chakra flared to life.

Inside of his mind was complete darkness. Everywhere Inoichi turned to look, all he could see was darkness that spanned for kilometers. Inoichi stumbled his way forward in the dark, arms poised in front of him to feel for any obstacles in his way. His hope was to find a source of light, even a dim one, otherwise he would have no way of knowing where he was located, much less find where Kakashi's memories were stored.

The chilly air seeped through his clothing, sending goosebumps appearing all over his porcelain skin. Yet despite the frigid temperature, Inoichi found beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face.

Cold sweat.

This sinister feeling made him shiver in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature.

Every instinct in his body screamed at him to get out of this place while he still could. Inoichi was close to caving, yet some part of him was still determined to at least leave this place with something. He didn't suffer through this only to leave empty-handed.

He took another step forward.

And then suddenly, Inoichi was falling. The sound of wind rushed in his ears. His arms flailed, grasping blindly for something to stop his descent, only for air to slip through his fingers. It was like a light switch had been flicked on. One moment, everything had been pitch dark and then the next, everything flared to life.

Burning red.

Despite the air rushing around him, Inoichi could feel the suffocating heat rolling off the ledge in hot, vicious waves. The intensity of the heat sent him into a coughing fit, gasping for the last dredges of oxygen that remained unconsumed by the raging fire.

His lungs felt like they were on fire. Right as Inoichi felt the awful constricting feeling in his chest, his back hit cold, freezing water. A loud splash sounded around him but the noise was drowned out by the water that seemed its way into his ears. His feet kicked. Arms groped blindly in the water, desperation fueling his jerky movements. Panic clawed at him, a hot, searing pain burned down his chest.

Then, Inoichi saw it, clear as day. Kakashi's maskless face. The corner of his lips were turned upwards, a menacing smirk stretched across his face. His Sharingan spun rapidly. The burning flames reflected from his black eye, the flames reaching higher and higher as each second ticked away.

His hand reached out towards him. A cold, slimy touch wrapped itself around his neck, fingers digging painfully into his neck. Once again, Inoichi was left gasping for breath, his hands desperately clawing at Kakashi's hands for him to let go.

And then he was pulled under.

Inoichi's eyes snapped open. He jerked backwards with so much force that he knocked over the chair. Stumbling backwards, the back of his knees hit the metal railing of an empty patient bed, sending him careening backwards. His back hit the firm bed, the impact knocking the air out of him.

Fresh air.

His eyes darted wildly around the room, taking in the drab white walls, the equally white curtain, the floor, the bed, and most importantly, the man on the bed. The only colors in the room were yellow, brown, and black; his mind was too muddled to make out anything but colors.

The burning red danced around the edges of his vision. Inoichi flinched, nails sinking into the mattress.

"Inoichi, what's wrong?" His eyes swung to land on yellow.

Minato.

Just Minato.

Air rushed into his lungs. His chest heaved up and down as Inoichi took in gulps of the fresh air. The suffocating and constricting was gone. Relief coursed through him.

Relief.

Inoichi hadn't imagined that he would be able to experience that feeling again.

He vaguely registered Rin by his side, palms already hovering above his head to figure out what was wrong with him. Inoichi opened his mouth to tell her it was a futile point; this kind of wound wasn't the kind that could be seen, much less healed.

The words remained lodged at the back of his throat.

Two eyes appeared in front of him. A mismatched pair of red and black. The burning flames dancing around his black orb. The red one spinning and spinning until a nauseous feeling washed over him. A guttural scream formed at the back of his throat, but nothing came out.

"Inoichi?" Minato tried again. His pale blue eyes swung to meet his. Inoichi was so certain that his eyes reflected an equally crazed look as Kakashi's did.

He had just gotten a glimpse of Kakashi's mind and it had been nothing but sheer horror.

Pure, unadulterated terror.

"Kakashi Hatake is fucking insane."

A/N: Hi again!

The scene of Inoichi getting inside of Kakashi's head was absolutely one of my favorites to write. Now you get a glimpse of exactly what exactly is going on inside there haha.

Ari: Thank you for reviewing! I will take those comments and consideration into mind - will definitely add that tw to chapter 1. I try to keep the violence to the realm of the extent canon was but as the writer, my perspective can be quite distorted so thanks for pointing that out. Thank you for the fic recs too; I will check those out when I have time! Hope you were able to enjoy the first bit of "interrogation" :)

Thank you for reading! Until next time.

-MM