I may have misspelt Shikaku's name in the last chapter, whoops. Fixed that up now. Enjoy the new chapter!

"Okubo-san, ar' you a med-nin?"

The dark-haired girl doesn't answer, but spares him a fleeting glance as they turn right down another flight of stairs. Naruto tried his best to keep on his feet, but the stinging pain shooting up from his legs made it hard for him to even stand properly.

"Well you're pretty good at patchin' people up," the boy's words slurred together like he was drunk, and he was hobbling along with his right arm around the girl's shoulders to keep balance.

She sighed. "You must conserve your energy."

"Huh?" The Uzumaki's head hit her left shoulder gently. "Ow..."

Okubo stopped, trying to assess the damage using her ears only. She didn't hear anything, so deemed him to be alright, and continued down the stairs with a light patter. Naruto tried to keep up as best as he could, but his droopy eyes made it hard for him not to miss steps. He groaned, "I don't remember this many steps..."

She doesn't say anything, but Naruto's eyes widen as she pulled him higher over her shoulder. The boy's feet now barely touched the ground — he wasn't tall and his legs were short — and that was when he realised how tall Okubo really was. She was even taller than he thought, probably a whole head and a half taller.

Then after a moment of admiring, he blinked. "I can walk myself, y'know—"

"It's better not to stress your wounds," she said quietly. They take another right, then a left, and then a series of turns that had the boy dizzy from the sheer size of this basement. How big was this underground dungeon?

Somehow, they arrived at the cell, Okubo setting Naruto aside to open the cell. Naruto could barely see anything. The switch from the brightly lit stairways to the dark hallways made the boy blink a couple of times to adjust, and by the time he could make out the outlines of Kakashi at the darkest side of the cell, he was already inside. Okubo had gently pushed him in, before closing the metal door behind him and leaving with only a brief glance inside the dark cell.

"Ah," the Jinchuriki completely collapsed onto the cool floor into a heap, "my 'ole body hurts."

"What did he do?" Kakashi asked gently, raising his head to look at him.

"Started with F," the boy said lightly, stretching awkwardly while trying not to aggravate his wounds. "Nothing too bad."

Sakura crawled over and settled gently beside him. "Alright. If it's not so bad, let me have a look."

Naruto blinked, looking up at the only adult in the cell.

Kakashi chuckled. "She picked up medical ninjutsu much faster than you."

"She's better too," Sasuke grumbled, and the blond boy jumped at how close the voice was. The Uchiha snorted. "I'm right here, didn't see me?"

"Shut up," Naruto mumbled, before shying away from his female teammate. "Oh nah, I should be fine. Plus, you just practised so you should be really tired, so now's not the right time I think and uh—"

"Naruto," Sakura's eyes narrowed, "you said it was nothing bad. If it's nothing bad, then all I have to do is take a look at it, right?"

The Uzumaki let out a soft awkward laugh. "I'm all fine, see?"

He flexed his arms, but the sharp pain that shot through his system made him spasm on the spot. The cry of his name was lost somewhere into the white noise that washed over the boy, and he felt his body fall to the side. Someone's hand caught him on the side, and someone else pressed their cold hands to his startling hot arm. His eyes flickered upwards. He didn't think he'd ever seen Sasuke without that scowl on his face, nor Sakura's face filled with so much concern.

Sakura exchanged a quick glance with Sasuke, her mouth moving but no sound coming out. The dark-haired teammate shook his head, and Naruto realised that his own head was currently propped on the Uchiha's knee.

"Sasuke, Sakura, bring him over."

Naruto blinked, the voice all distorted. Was there something wrong with his hearing? The pain shot up his arm again, and he let out a choked breath. He distantly felt his body being pulled gently by the legs, and he saw Sasuke's mouth form a disapproving frown before his vision got darker as they moved away from the light.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Naruto winced at the ringing that echoed after Sakura, but it went away faster than he thought.

"He will, once we mend him a bit."

"I don't have enough chakra, though."

"That's okay; can you reach my hand?"

"It's too far up, Kakashi-san."

"Sasuke?"

Naruto saw his whole world swim as his teammate shifted him onto the ground with a tenderness that Naruto would've never expected from him.

"No."

"Alright, then my feet. I know it's a little disturbing, but touch one of my feet each."

Naruto blinked as he could make out the faint blurred outline of the man pinned against the wall. He pointed weakly, squinting. "You look like you're being crucified, Kakashi-san."

The man's soft laugh sounded loud on the boy's ears. "I know. Alright, I'll be doing the chakra transferal technique. You both know what that entails, right? A transfer of chakra from one being to another, nice and simple."

"Of course."

"Why me?" The Uchiha moved Naruto back into his lap, ignoring the incredulous look from the boy. When had he ever — ever — been so gentle?

"I don't have the chakra," the ex-nin said shamelessly, "it's being sucked out of me. I'll show you how another time. So the transfer is from Sasuke to Sakura, using me as a conductor. I don't have the time to teach the two of you how to do it between yourselves, so just bear with me. Sakura, you'll feel a zap of electricity. That's completely fine. Anything but electricity is not right, so withdraw. Sasuke, you'll feel faint. Understood?"

Sakura nodded from the corner of Naruto's vision. "Hai."

They all look at Sasuke, who scowled. "Whatever."

Naruto let his eyes drop from Sasuke's face to the white bandages wrapped over his shoulder, barely comprehending what was going around him. All he could hear was the voices of his teammates and the low smooth lull of Kakashi's voice, before his eyes close. He just caught the Uchiha's glance down at him, and he forced a smile, wanting to do a thumbs up, but his hand was in Sakura's cold ones.

He saw a faint flicker of light before he fell asleep.

.

The three of them were silently watching one another in the cell, except for the one snoozing Jinchuriki, who was laying gently in Sakura's lap. The Uchiha had pushed him away as soon as the female had finished mending all the broken skin, giving the boy to her, as if he was finally relieved of the burden.

"Flaying, huh?" The girl said tiredly. "Sorocho's sick."

"Not mentioning his name would be ideal," Sasuke muttered. "Names hold power."

She doesn't even bother to argue. The dynamic between the whole team had changed drastically in the last twenty-four hours, and the Haruno could almost remember the bright blue sky and the times where Naruto and Sasuke would bicker to no ends. She herself would always defend the Uchiha, but now, seeing the extent of torture Naruto had gone through, realised that the boy wasn't stupid and clueless and many — including herself — made him out to be. He even came back with a smile and joke.

She brushed a strand of blond hair out of his closed eyes. He was probably mentally stronger than both her and Sasuke combined.

Sakura's head fell backwards and hit the iron bars behind her with a soft clang. "We have some awful luck, don't we?"

The Uchiha doesn't respond.

"I mean, being assigned to one hell of a sensei was bad enough, but now?" The girl's green eyes filled up with tears, and she berated herself internally for being so weak. "We're being toyed around with left and right. Why us?"

No one answered, and she could sense Kakashi's unease. He didn't know them too well and different know how to communicate smoothly with them, so he probably thinking of ways to comfort them without being too overbearing. The girl sighed to herself. They were relying on some nukenin they had never met before, not because they were expecting an adult, but because they weren't strong enough to bear the burden themselves. Sakura didn't say it aloud, but she knew that the Uchiha was thinking the same thing too.

The boy finally spoke. "You have horrible luck."

Sakura's head snapped towards him, her face twisted in a scowl. "Excuse me?"

"You had the luck of being in my team," the Uchiha shrugged, but his face betrayed his slight shock at her unexpected outburst. "I wasn't expecting this, but I was expecting some hardships. You got unlucky with me."

The girl snorted. "So what, now it's because of you we're in this mess? Please, the world doesn't revolve around you."

Sasuke muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

"I said," his voice turned sharp, "you were acting like it was just two days ago."

Sakura's face turned red. "Well that was because I didn't know you were such a jerk — I mean, look at Naruto! — to not even care about what other people are going through — did you see his body—"

"You didn't." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You didn't care when I walked in, shoulder completely obliterated."

"With Naruto wrapping you with bandages!" The Haruno paused. "Is this about your pride?"

"What?" The boy turned defensive.

"I didn't realise you were such a vain little brat, Uchiha." She leaned back into the cool embrace of metal. Her past self would've never expected her to pick a fight with Sasuke, but right now, he was irking her and she felt a burn of annoyance spread through her body. "Naruto could've died from his wounds if we didn't do something—"

"So could've I."

"—and you're sitting there whining about how you don't feel great? Well news flash, you're not the one dying!"

"I could've," he said lowly. "And does it matter? We're shinobi, we face death all the time. We should always be prepared for the worst possible outcome."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't need to know your philosophy on becoming a genin."

"They're my thoughts," the Uchiha's eye twitched, "not my philosophy."

"Cool. You didn't have to broadcast your thoughts to the universe, genius."

Sasuke scoffed, his head hitting the bars behind him. "Thanks a lot, Sakura," he mocked, copying her tone, "because your opinion is worth just so much to me."

Sakura knew she was being petty. But so was he. They were sitting opposite each other, shooting daggers at one another. It looked as if the girl hadn't fawned over him for years leading up to this moment, and the boy wasn't injured with a hole in his body.

"I think that's enough," Kakashi said quietly, but his voice was firm. "Let Naruto sleep peacefully."

"Tch," Sasuke turned away, looking at the metal door. His face was twisted in a mix between his signature scowl and a sneer, but there was also something a little harsher. Embarrassment, maybe?

The pink-haired girl snorted. "You're such a jerk."

"Sakura, that's enough." Kakashi gave her a warning glance, but she was too heated to see what he was trying to say.

Seeing that she didn't understand, the man sighed, "Pain changes people. Sakura, don't forget, Sasuke's also gone through something similar to Naruto. And Sasuke, be more understanding. Sakura's never seen the flesh of a boy whose skin was ripped off — she shouldn't have needed to."

Sasuke's muttered something quietly again.

The girl didn't hear. "What?"

"I haven't either," the Uchiha repeated, venom in his tone. "So let's not get too sensitive about this stuff."

The green-eyed girl narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to retort.

"Enough." Kakashi cut in before it could escalate any further. "Both of you are not in the right mindset to be arguing right now. Calm down for five minutes. Or take a nap. Don't make a sound, because frankly I want to sleep and Naruto is sleeping. If you want to duke it out, try another time when someone isn't resting from hours of torture."

The pointed tone had both twelve-year-olds huffing and avoiding eye-contact.

Naruto stirred, rolling onto his side. Sakura's attention instantly diverted, hands moving to cushion him. He still had a possibility of feeling pain, since she only had the capacity only mend the skin but not the damage underneath, but Naruto snuggled comfortably into the cool metal. hHs blond hair tickling the girl's legs, and when the Haruno pressed a cool hand to his forehead, his high temperature seemed to be going down. He didn't seem to be in pain either.

"Good," she breathed. Then her head titled backwards, and she felt her own eyelids close.

She could just take a nap. A small nap. A nap so short that when she woke up, time would've passed and she could do another checkup. A couple of hours, she mused, that's what Kakashi said. But the fire down in her stomach raged on, and she frowned, too worked up to sleep.

What was going on with Sasuke?

Did he have to be so, so...infuriating? The girl sighed to herself, knowing that there was something wrong with her too. She would never in a million years would've thought that she'd see the Uchiha as irritating, because, well, she always saw him as an idol. He was the one with top marks, perfect record. He was the one who could do everything flawlessly. But now he seemed, unsure. Not as confident as he always was.

Sakura grit her teeth, forcing herself to forget the thoughts. She needed sleep and rest. Then she can do her job with medical ninjutsu. She wasn't going to be useless. She was going to sleep, then do a checkup.

And as she drifted off, her teammate's electric chakra flowed through her system, back and forth, up and down.

.

She was in a pool of cool water, yet she wasn't cold.

It was dark, yet she could see everything.

And it was silent, yet she could hear whispers.

Sakura lifted a hand, and water ran down her fingers as they broke the surface. The small ripples and drops echoed through the silence, and she looked around, trying to make sense of where she was. A small voice brushed past her ear, and her pink hair ruffled in the non-existent wind. It felt like someone else was here, but the girl's gut feeling was telling her that she was alone.

"Hello?"

Her voice bounced back to her, broken. "H-hell-hello-o?"

A shudder ran down her spine. Her bright green eyes darted from side to side, looking for a sign of an exit. But despite the low light, she could see nothing but a vast horizon. She was curled up in the water, knees to her chest, head the only thing above surface level. There was a

"It's a dream," she murmured. "Feels very real though."

Sakura was no stranger to dreams. From the moment when she could first speak, she was dreaming. Fluffy white clouds and cotton pink skies were slowly replaced with dark thunderstorms and eery forests once she grew older, but this scenery was a first.

A drop of water echoed from behind.

She turned her head slowly, as if contemplating if she actually wanted to see what was behind.

It was nothing she'd ever seen before — could one dream about unknown things? — and it shone despite the lack of a light source. The glimmer of the blade made the girl shrink even closer to herself. The warm skin of her chest pressed against her arms, but her attention was far from her nakedness, it was too far away, her thoughts distant. Maybe she had seen it before. But where? Maybe it was an illustration from an Academy textbook. Maybe?

The katana gleamed, the hilt a hand's width away from the water's surface. The silver metal of the blade was shimmering even underwater, and the small white strand of rope tied to the hilt swished to the left as the wind blew gently. Sakura's hair followed, and the long pink-strands obstructed her eyesight.

A large splash erupted from the side. The girl's first reaction was to run, and so she scrambled to get to her feet and run as far away from the left as she could. The wind blew harder, sending cold shivers down the girl's bare spine.

She looked down.

And tripped, falling face forwards into the water. Her hands shot out to catch herself, barely managing to push herself out of the water when she hit the surface. She quickly pulled herself together, arms wrapping around her knees.

"Why," she muttered, "why? I'm so cold, why am I cold?"

She looked to the katana, but it was gone. A scream floated past her ears, and she whipped her head around. "Naruto!"

Her eyes caught something orange. It wasn't the Naruto-orange she was used to, but an orange that seemed alive and it lured her in. A faint whisper flew past her again, and she knew it was her teammate. Her mouth formed his name again, and she rushed towards the orange. "Naruto—"

"Naruto?"

She stilled at the familiar voice. Something was pressed to her jaw, and she felt the chill settle in her bones.

"Naruto, huh?" The boy behind crouched, placing a hand on her wet shoulder. "He's fine, remember? You healed him."

Sakura trembled, not daring to turn around.

"What about me? What happened to your love for me?"

"Sasuke—"

"Don't move," he snarled, and the katana pressed deeper. A drop of blood dripped onto the cool silver blade, and the Haruno didn't dare even inch her head away. She took in a shaky breath, training her eyes forwards. She didn't even know if this was a dream anymore — was it? — because the metal was too real to be fake—

"I said, don't move."

Sakura's trembling became spasms, and she didn't even know tears were flowing out until she could taste salt.

"Y-you're—"

"If you want to touch her, you better do it when she's awake, asshole."

"—h-hurting—"

"Yeah, awake. Never heard of the word?"

Sakura's eyes snapped open, gasping for air. A shadow was covering her, and when she looked up groggily, it was the famous fan symbol that had startled her wide awake. Her voice was messy and raw when she asked, "Sasuke?"

His body seized up. Then he sighed. "Well fuck, Sakura. Fuck."

"She's awake now," a male voice said. "I'll be taking her."

Sakura's eyes widen as her teammate doesn't move. "I'll go," the boy suggested. His voice was still the same monotone, yet Sakura couldn't pin it, but there was something else.

"Sorocho-sama has called for the girl, and I will bring the girl." The man's voice took on a warning tone. "Step out of the way."

"Sasuke," the girl touched his back gently, "don't worry."

He turned back to look at her, a scowl on his face. "What? Why would I worry?"

The Haruno smiled. "Take good care of Naruto, okay?"

Without warning, Sasuke suddenly whirled around with a leg in the air. The man in front of him doesn't even blink when a kick lands on his side, but he didn't seem to receive any damage. The man, who Sakura noticed had dark olive skin and sharp dark eyes, batted the boy's foot away as if it was a fly.

"That's enough," he said calmly. "I will be taking the girl. If you do not move, I will have to resort to violence."

The Uchiha let out a 'tch', face twisted in annoyance. Sakura saw it, albeit briefly. Sasuke had enhanced his attack with chakra, yet the man who stood before them was standing there as if he wasn't hit with force that would normally break bones.

"Thank you," the man said politely when he shoulders past the genin to get to Sakura.

Sasuke sneered, and his heel came slamming down on the man's foot. Sakura's eyes snap shut, waiting for a crack, but instead, there was a thud. The girl's eyes bursted back opened as quickly as she shut them, and she saw the Uchiha laying down on his back, rolling slowly in pain. The man's face was stoic when he leaned down to pick the boy up, and Sakura shot forwards to stop him with anything — a punch or a grab—

"Daido, I think that's far enough."

The man stopped at Kakashi's voice, Sakura's hands reaching with a second's delay to grip his wrist.

"He may be new, but the snake likes him," the nukenin continued. "Don't injure the boy any more than he already is."

And to Sakura's surprise, Daido straightened and bowed in the silver-haired man's direction. "Of course, Hatake-san. I will take the girl."

"Here," the Haruno said quietly, moving Naruto's head off her lap. How he could keep on sleeping through all of this was astonishing, but it was probably one of his many talents. She was careful to lay his head on the cold concrete, but surprisingly, Sasuke's hand came to become a pillow.

She looked at the Uchiha. He looked just as blankly back.

"Thanks," she murmured. "I'm sorry for earlier."

As if that could patch up the harsh words she said — it probably couldn't. But the girl offered a small reassuring smile anyways, because if there was something she knew about her dark-haired teammate, it was that he never did something without reason. There must've been a reason why he snapped back at her.

His dark eyes trailed after her as she followed Daido out of the cell, and his body didn't relax until she was out of sight.

When she was gone, his body slumped against the ground in defeat.

"You tried," Kakashi said quietly.

"Not enough," Sasuke grit out. He looked to Naruto, whose head was resting in his hand. Pulling himself painfully to sit up properly, the Uchiha moved silently as he copied Sakura's former stance, placing his teammate in a more comfortable position.

"You tried." Kakashi's voice was calming and it weaved through the boy's system like magic. "That's enough."

Sasuke doesn't answer.

"It's okay to be afraid, Sasuke."

"I'm not," the genin bit back, voice harsh.

The nukenin lets out a soft chuckle despite the tone. "Don't worry. Sakura will be fine, she's strong."

And the boy cursed, hanging his head down. His long dark strands of raven hair fell into his eyes, and he made no effort to brush them away. He didn't want to be afraid, no one did. He wasn't scared, he just wanted to prevent Sakura from feeling the same pain that he did — what Naruto did.

It hurt.

It wasn't something that a twelve-year-old civilian-born girl should undergo. (And there would be repercussions, and he'd have to take care of her and make sure she didn't drag the team down, obviously. Not because he was worried about her wellbeing. Not because of it.)

"It's okay to be afraid," the man repeated, his voice soft. "It's okay."

The Uchiha didn't know how long he had sat there in silence, but when he heard Sakura's first screams, he felt a shiver run from head to toe.

And for the first time, Sasuke believed in fear. He believed in the stone that seemed to live permanently at the bottom of his stomach, in the fake whispers from the fake ghosts, in the cold shivers that always came over him whenever it was a stupidly important moment.

Because that was what it was.

Fear.

.

Hotaru Sojitz was a man who valued his survival above everything else.

It wasn't his fault that things turned out like this — it wasn't, it was simply a tight situation. If he wanted to continue living the life he was, then he had to make sacrifices. The genin team got unlucky, it was all luck and fate. The man at the cabin just wanted children, and Hotaru knew immediately that he couldn't fight. If he was to get out alive, then he'd have to make sacrifices, like before.

Plus, he was more valuable to Konoha than the three children were.

So why was he so nervous to go back? There was no need, and the sooner he got back, the faster they could get a rescue team together to storm the cabin.

"Sir?"

Hotaru stared down into his empty cup, leaning forwards. His hand shook and the glass dangled dangerously loosely between his fingers, but he didn't know if it was the alcohol, or if it was the unease that was seeping through his body.

"Sir, would you like another drink?"

The man's head shot up, staring at the bartender. His troubled face morphed into a perfect smile within seconds, and he replied, "Yes, please. A bottle of sake."

The bartender nodded, and the jounin's eyes trailed after the young man's figure as he walked to the shelf of alcohol. Hotaru's glass cup slipped out of his grip and landed with a clatter onto the counter, but it was lost in all the jeering and loud voices of the pub. He swore under his breath and closed his eyes to focus. If he was going to get out of this situation unscathed, he had to make a plan worthy of the Naras.

"A week," he murmured. "It's already been a day, about five more days before I make my way back. Yes."

A week was long enough, he thought. By the time he got back, it wouldn't have been so long that it raised red flags but not too short that his cry for a rescue team would be dismissed. Yes. A week.

"Sir," the bartender returned, holding up a bottle and cup in a hand. "Here's your drink."

"Thank you." He couldn't wait to feel the warm alcohol burn his throat on the way down. Hotaru poured a shaky cup of sake and downed it in one gulp, smacking his lips together after he swallowed.

He couldn't forget the yellow eyes that bore into his mind as if they could read every one of his thoughts.

He drank more.

It didn't wash away the image, and his imagination betrayed him. Visions of the Fox child being whipped and the Uchiha being cut plagued the man's mind, but he ignored it. They weren't his problem anymore. And he'd save them, as long as they could hold on for a week. It wasn't a long period of time, he smiled to himself, they'll make it. It would make his image even better — the jounin who saved his genin team after they were kidnapped. Perfect.

He poured himself more alcohol, blissfully unaware of the curses the genin were screaming at him.

"Shinobi-san?"

His hooded eyes glanced towards the left.

"You are shinobi, right?"

His lips pull at the corners. He could always enjoy the week he had before doing business. "Yes," he leaned back, showing his hitai-ate tied on his right bicep.

The woman giggled. "Wow, aren't you impressive? What rank are you, shinobi-san?"

"Sojitz," he offered. "Jounin."

"Jounin?" The woman inched closer, leaning forwards to show her cleavage. "I heard that not many get to become jounin, Sojitz-san. Are you elite?"

"Of course," he boasted. "Was in ANBU not a while back too."

The woman laughed sweetly, a finger tracing his left arm. "So what's an elite jounin like you doing at a run-down pub near the border of the Fire Country, Sojitz-san? Looking for some fun?"

"I wouldn't say I came looking for fun, but I can certainly make time for some." A smirk made its way onto his face. This was why he never wanted a wife. Times like these reminded him that he was still young and that he had so many opportunities to relax.

"A bottle of sake!" The woman called, winking at the bartender. The young man didn't look amused, glancing at Hotaru warily before nodding politely and moving away. She turned back to the Konoha jounin, finger still on his body. "Well, I'm sure I can help with some fun."

"I'm sure you can too."

The children would be fine, he said to himself. They were shinobi, so they would be fine. He smirked wider at the woman, who tossed down her first cup of alcohol like it was water. He could finally enjoy his moments of peace, and there was no child or job to stop him.

.

Sakura's screeches cut through the boys' concentration, and not for the first time, Naruto winced and his flow of chakra significantly slowed.

Sasuke flinched, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "Stop moving. You're disturbing me."

"How are you not affected?" Naruto's face was pale and one of complete terror. "I — I can hear Sakura-chan and what's happening right now—"

"Best not to dwell on things like that," Kakashi advised.

"Is there no other way to improve chakra control?" Naruto complained, but his voice faltered when another one of his teammate's screams pierced the air. The two boys knew that the cell was far away from 'the room' — as they dubbed it, but the girl's howls of pain could still reach their ears.

Kakashi answered without a hint of annoyance, "There are some, but they aren't as effective as Chakra Meditation. We also wouldn't have the needed items to fully make use of those other exercises."

Naruto sighed.

"If you want to be able to help Sakura when she comes back, you're going to have to refine that control," Kakashi said, "and to be brutally honest, you're sloppy. At best. Sasuke's making more progress than you are."

And he was debatably more put-off than the Uzumaki was from the constant reminders of Sakura's voice. But Kakashi didn't add the remark, because he didn't want to go into the details of the massacre. It seemed the boy still hadn't gotten over it, and even the slightest movements from his blonde teammate beside him made him twitch. The screams might have resurfaced memories of something he didn't want to remember.

"Alright," the Jinchuriki grimaced. "Meditation..."

Sasuke cracked open an eye, leaning forwards to knock the boy on the head. "Focus."

Naruto poked a tongue out. "I'm trying! It's hard."'

"Sasuke, you get the concept of medical ninjutsu?"

The boy nodded at the Hatake's words. "Yes."

He didn't allow Sasuke to practice on him or Naruto because he knew that it would be better to save all that chakra for when he used it in real practice. He believed in the Uchiha's so-called prodigious talent, and he knew from the experience of overlooking ANBU subordinates that Sasuke was the type to adapt fast. That was his skill. Naruto was more of a creative inventor, and Kakashi considered teaching the boy fuinjutsu, what his father pursued. But it was going to be hard when his hands were pinned to the wall with nails.

Kakashi wasn't letting it show, but the sound of the children's screams had plagued his thoughts since the day they arrived. Sasuke wasn't exactly quiet, Naruto could match him, and right now, Sakura wasn't caring about the results of her throat.

He hated it.

He's only seen Sorocho twice in his time here — when he came to draw a wretched chakra transfer seal onto his chest, and when he murdered Kakashi's first 'handler' right in front of the man's eyes. After, doing some, very, very immoral actions.

Kakashi watched the boys with a close eye. His Sharingan was covered. but he could still sense the chakra in such close proximity. Sasuke was better at spreading it across his body, but Naruto was better at mass managing. They seemed like opposites, good at what the other lacked They made a good team.

He had to get them out before Sorocho touched Sakura where he shouldn't.

But that required time, and time wasn't on their side.

"Sorry for the disturbance," he said quietly, trying not to startle them too much from their meditation, "what's your most comfortable jutsu right now?"

Sasuke turned his head to look at the nukenin. "Gōkakyū no jutsu." He doesn't offer an explanation.

Kakashi didn't need one, he knew recognised it easily. It was one Obito constantly complained about. He hid a bitter smile at the thought of his former teammate, and nodded at Naruto for the boy to tell him his answer.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," the child murmured. "It's the shadow—"

"Shadow clone technique." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "It's a forbidden technique. How do you know it?"

The Uzumaki made some awkward faces. "Well...you see..."

"He was scammed," Sasuke said curtly.

"Scammed?" Kakashi chuckled. "Really? How do you get scammed into learning a forbidden technique from a scroll that's usually guarded by ANBU?"

Naruto coughed. "I wanted to graduate from the Academy — it's not my fault Iruka-sensei failed me three times! Well...I got desperate — anyways so Mizuki-sensei said if I learnt one jutsu from the scroll then I'd graduate."

"Desperate," Sasuke snorted. Naruto glared at him.

Kakashi let out a small laugh. "Sounds like a Naruto thing to do. How many can you summon at once?"

The boy pouted, but took a quick count in his head. "A couple thousand? But I don't really summon that much normally, it gets annoying to keep track of."

"That's good," the nukenin hummed.

Naruto saw it as uncertainty. "Is it not good enough?"

"It's way more than usual," Sasuke muttered. "Normal people summon three to six normal clones. A couple thousand?" The boy left the question unanswered, pulling away from his cross-legged position to prop a knee up and lean an arm against it.

"It's as Sasuke said, the thousands are a magnificent feat," Kakashi reassured the Jinchuriki. It must be because of the Kyuubi's chakra. His mind quickly churned through different strategic escapes, because the children are the main priority. He had to get them out.

He rolled his extremely stiff shoulders as much as he could without pulling too hard at his restraints. "Then what about supplementary jutsus? What's your most comfortable supplementary?"

Sasuke was again instantaneous. "Kawarimi, or maybe shunshin."

"Shunshin? You learnt it yourself, didn't you? I'm sure they didn't teach it in the Academy."

"Hn," the Uchiha shrugged noncommittally.

"Naruto?" Kakashi smiled.

"Eh," the boy frowned, thinking deeply. "Henge?"

The adult nodded slowly, and the boys could see his silver hair move in the dim light. "Okay. Good. Thank you, now back to meditating."

"Are you thinking of an escape plan?" Naruto asked brightly. "Can we get out of here soon?"

Kakashi had his fair share of failed escape plans — mostly from the guarding point of view — but he's also had his fair share of successful escape plans — from the captured point of view. There was stack upon stack of risks, and so far, the best possible escape plan the man could think of was enlisting the help of the two guards and the one handler he was acquainted with.

But seeing the children and how feeble they looked with all of their injuries, he had to rethink.

Sorocho was far from being a weak being, his speed was too fast for the human eye to follow and his strength was unknown. It was best to overestimate rather than underestimate, so Kakashi guessed that the man's strength was on par with his speed. This put him at a disadvantage, and with the children also here it didn't exactly spell out a high possibility of success.

"Kakashi-san?" Naruto's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

He sighed. "Well, I'll try to create a plan. It's a little complicated, but I'm sure we can think of something. In the meantime, we can't do anything rash because we can't provoke him. So try to keep everything lowkey."

"Is that why we're not training in taijutsu and strength?" Sasuke's tone was thoughtful. "He'll be able to figure it out faster."

Kakashi agreed. "Yes, and also because you all have injuries. Don't worry, strength and katas can be perfected later on. Chakra control is better to be done in your youth."

"Can't he sense chakra though? If our chakra's more refined, then he'll be able to deduce that we're training our chakra control."

"Good thought, but no." Kakashi raised his head. "I'll show you once Sakura's back as well, but he either doesn't have his own chakra, or he doesn't have enough of it to keep him alive. He's using me as a means of a battery, and I'm continuously pumping chakra out from my body into his."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"He means," Sasuke explained flatly, "that his chakra's being transferred to that bastard all the time." The Uchiha looked at the nukenin. "How are you not dead?"

"Teme! Isn't that insensitive?"

"No, it's a good question. I don't know," Kakashi answered honestly. "It may be because my chakra coils have gotten used to it and are fine with providing for two people rather than one."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "That's unheard of. You'd be dead of chakra exhaustion before you could even survive two days."

Kakashi simply shrugged as best he could. "Or it's a special talent of mine. I could be a hidden prodigy with amazing abilities that can rival a god, you never know. I am pretty high ranked in the Bingo Book."

The dark-haired boy raised his eyebrows. He hesitated, before asking, "What did you say was your last name again?"

"Hatake."

The genin paused.

"Never heard of it."

"We're an interesting bunch," Kakashi didn't care to explain. "There's only one left though."

Sasuke's mouth formed an 'ah', and to some extend, he felt he understood this man a little better. Though he was far from trusting every word blindly, the boy could feel something in his chest; he didn't know if it was uncomfortable or just there, but there was a small but not light stone that appeared over his heart when he didn't hear any remorse in the nukenin's voice. Did he accept the fact he was the last one? How could one do that?

The Uchiha sighed to himself. It wasn't like it was murdered by the to-be heir.

Naruto looked between the two. "So, your discussion's done? We go back to sleep?"

"Meditation," Kakashi corrected.

"Meditation," Naruto groaned. "So close! Fine, fine."

Sasuke closed his eyes, falling back into his cross-legged position. Naruto copied him, and Kakashi watched the two boys with a touch of satisfaction. He never really thought he could teach, he might actually be able to take on the sensei role.

When Naruto and Sasuke bump knees and the Jinchuriki turn to look at his teammate in total betrayal, the man grimaced, and ruled it a 'maybe'.

And when the Uchiha brought a fist down on the blond boy's head, the Hatake decided. He wasn't going to let himself be called a sensei until he could get these dumbasses to meditate together without it turning into a scuffle.

I do hope you enjoyed the Team 7 dynamic and the slight changes I've made. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review :)) I love reading your thoughts and ideas on what I'm developing!