Wild-filly: lol… I felt exceptionally cruel leaving off at that point; don't worry, I assure you that Kakashi's face will make its grand appearance in later chapters and my updates won't be slumped too much (sweatdrop). In response to Ero-SENIN's comment, yes, I'm aware that the Hyuuga clan is exceptionally important, but didn't mention it based on the fact that it didn't really connect to much of the plot as of the moment (grin) Was in no way purposefully ignoring its wonderful-ness or placing it lower in lower stance to the Uchiha clan… I think Neji's great, so I can assure you that this was not a case of mis-information or selectiveness – just topic. Thanks for the help though. Huge thanks to all other reviews, including Tora Macaw, JapanAnimeGirl, Sky Spade, Ero-SENIN, Katzuki, Grummur, fan, kimpster, shadowkazul, hiddenwindmill, Dboon, Andrea and Anime Lance. Am truly flattered by some of your comments – I'm really happy that you enjoy my fanfiction so much!

Disclaimer: Don't own. That simple enough? At least the force is with me (happy grin)

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Okumen Gokurakuchou: Chapter 18

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Having sighted a convenient window, Kakashi, followed closely by Kurotaka and Masurao bailed out of the crowded doctor's treatment room and were soon hastily heading towards the nearest market, hoping to put a few innocent bystanders in between themselves and pursuit. Kakashi lead the way, winding in a disturbingly casual fashion through the crowds and purposefully heading into the most heavily populated areas; anything to make it harder to mark their presence by. Camouflage was hardly necessary with so many people around, but their skin and hair colouring was a little incriminating at close range. Well, Kakashi's silver locks were; the other two could blend in with less trouble. Damn that beautiful head of hair of his.

Kurotaka was now alongside him, both eyes constantly surveying the crowd and softly keeping in step with the taller ninja. "Did they see us leave?"

Kakashi shook his head, frame rigid with suspicion. "That seemed a little too easy. They wouldn't have forgotten to secure any possible exits".

Masurao gave a grunt of agreement behind them. "From what I could gather, they have a pretty damn strong police force here; criminals from all the nearby towns get sent here to come kind of prison on the outskirts. Not a very nice reputation to have for a town I suppose, but on the bright side, it has a remarkably low crime rate and people here can feel safe on the streets any time".

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi grimaced. "Just what we need. Never mind. I doubt they've had much experience trying to capture Shinobi".

"What about Gai and Akiraka?" Kurotaka muttered at his shoulder, staring pointedly at a nosy fruit seller until they averted their eyes in submission to the superior glaring skills. "I doubt they would have been taken without a fight".

Kakashi glanced back a Masurao. "What was the deal behind their capture?"

Masurao shook his head. "Couldn't get the details on that without exposing myself. It was hard enough to find out that they had been in this town at all, let alone where they were and how they got there. The people here are very racist; racist to the point they try to pretend that other cultures don't exist. I'm amazed it's such a trading nerve-centre with the native attitudes". He pulled a disgusted face. "They probably went without a fight, hoping they'd get off easy. It would've worked as well, had this whole stupid war thing not come out again".

Kurotaka sighed. "Will a peace treaty ever last for more than three seconds? I'm beginning to think that we'd be as well living on the battlefields".

"Such is the life of a Shinobi; tool of the nation, sword in the hand of his master, shield clutched to defend the ideals" Kakashi was cut off by a swift kick to the kneecaps from behind, with Kurotaka nodding in approval to Masurao. "No philosophy please. A nice, simple plan to save our sorry hides from this little mess would be much more appreciated".

"It would have been kinder to mention this beforehand" grumbled Kakashi, massaging the backs of his knees. Damn Masurao. Damn him for what felt like the thousandth time that day. He was still pissed off about the fact that neither he nor Kurotaka could get a moment's peace together without this spiky-haired, awkwardly grinning, downright lazy excuse for a ninja bursting in on them and making unhelpful comments.

"Actions speak louder than words, Kakashi-kun" chirped the aforecursed ninja easily, draping one arm across Kakashi's shoulders despite the fact it meant he had to crane upwards uncomfortably in the process, being somewhat shorter than his younger friend. "And at this rate, the actions of these people are screeching in my ears. D'you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?"

Kakashi let his eyes flit over the milling crowds around them. It was true. Every so often a pair of eyes would affix on his short-cropped silver mane and then stare at him with distrust before hurrying on. Kurotaka and Masurao weren't so noticeable, due to their dark hair and bare faces, but Kakashi and his partially-covered face and pale hair were like a walking beacon. It was no wonder the police wasn't so worried about tracking them; Kakashi was practically walking around with a sign on his back reading "Suspicious Foreigner: Please randomly attack".

"I need to find a way to disguise my hair". Kurotaka and Masurao gazed at him thoughtfully.

"But we need to sort it out surreptitiously" he hastily added, realising that Masurao wouldn't hesitate to hack every strand of hair from his head and was probably now measuring him up for the "trim". "Some kind of liquid or powder to make it look darker, that way I can blend into the crowd as well as you two can".

One of Kurotaka's eyes twitched irritably, "what precisely do you have in mind? I only use a bleaching agent to get the white into my hair and it's not as if I'm carrying any of it with me, even if it were of any use". Kakashi growled to himself. "Something, anything… I'll rub sand through my hair if you reckon it'll hide the colouring a little".

"Actually…" Masurao cut in, staring up at a nearby wall that was still in the premature stages of completion. "I don't think we need to hide the hair as much as we need to give it an excuse".

"Meaning what?" Kakashi realised too late where Masurao's eyes were currently resting. By the time he had noticed, his fellow Shinobi and friend of many years had stuck out a leg and tripped him, sending him flying right into the path of a large, open tin of fresh whitewash paint.

……….

"So how precisely are we going to break into this place?"

"You know what… if it weren't for the fact that I'm partially dipped in whitewash, I'd have the strangest feeling of déjà vu".

"That doesn't help and would you mind moving? You've dripped whitewash onto my kimono. Again".

Shuffling over to one side a little more, Kakashi lifted one hand and attempted to smear some of the whitewash trickling a trail over his eye out of the way, trying and failing to shift the foul stuff. It was proving deceptively sticky and resistant to most of his attempts to remove it from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. On the bright side, it hadn't left their followers a trail to follow, since after Kakashi met with an unfortunate whitewash incident, several other people also found themselves in the same situation. With sufficient confusion and hair-lightening potion spread, the Shinobi had headed for the outskirts of town, infiltrating the first few barriers on the way to the secure centre where the other two were doubtless being held.

"Any bright ideas?" Masurao yawned widely, "the simplest way to get in would be to get arrested. There. That's my intellectual input". Closing his eyes and nesting his head into the circle of his folded arms, laid flat on the ground on his stomach with the other two, Masurao appeared to fall asleep. Kurotaka shook her head in disgust.

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with you". Kurotaka looked up, startled at Kakashi. "Those walls are completely solid, they've got guards lining every inner wall and we don't know where Akiraka or Gai are even being held".

Kurotaka shook her head determinedly. "No. There has to be another way. One of us could create a diversion while the other two break in and find them".

Kakashi frowned at her. "It would have to be one hell of a diversion to get all of the major guards out of the way, not to mention particularly risky for the one caught in the process".

She shrugged, tapping her right eyelid conspiratorially. "I've got this unwilling inheritance here to help, remember. If we can get a bit closer, I'll try to detect Akiraka's Chakra force. I used to train with her a lot, so I can recognise her signal whenever she uses a jutsu. If a big enough diversion causes her to activate a jutsu, even a minor one, I can tell instantly where she is".

Masurao revived long enough to open one eye. "What kind of a 'big diversion' were you thinking of? A minor earthquake or something?"

She grinned stiffly at both of them. "Weren't you complaining about Kakashi ripping off a jutsu of yours at some point? Maybe that'll come in handy…"

With a reluctant sigh, Masurao yawned, stretched and glanced at Kakashi. "No time like the present I reckon. If they've got until the standard dramatic sunrise head cleaving, we shouldn't waste any more time than is necessary".

Kakashi nodded. The sun was high, the sky streaked with orange highlights that signified that night was going to fall in a matter of hours, if that. Approaching darkness could provide them with some cover, but also give the guards an advantage, since they knew the grounds far better that the would-be-intruders did.

……..

Night was falling swiftly now, the fortress-like walls throwing dense shadows across the deserted area, silent apart from the clinking of weapons on belt-catches as the police diligently patrolled the outer walls. Pinned against the pocked concrete wall like a pale spectre, Kakashi stalked closer to one of the narrow, heavily barred entrances with a catlike grace, stepping lightly over the sand. He was in his element; a field he had spent most of his life training for. His heart pounded with excitement in his chest, the thrill of the hunt clamouring in his blood. Even the muffled, less-than- subtle motions of Masurao couldn't dampen his spirits with the chance of being caught. That could only add to the excitement of the chase.

"Here". He hissed softly back to Masurao, not bothering to look back at the ninja following doggedly behind him. He heard the faint grunt of ascension from Masurao and reached back, feeling the wad of waxy paper of explosive stickers being passed forward to him. As his fingers tightened around the paper, he loped onwards and away from the other Shinobi, easily covering the distance between himself and the entrance.

Sprinting past the barred entrance, he barely paused to stick a handful of seals onto the middle of the door before barrelling on to the next opening. As he ran, pasting stickers on every door he passed, he heard a great explosion from one of the earlier entrances. Masurao had obviously started activating the spells on them. Part one of operation: obnoxious damage bill was now underway. Footsteps thundered above and shouts echoed from everywhere. Now was time to enter. Another great burst of flame erupted, blasting massive lumps of stone into the air and raising the cries of alarm to those of panic.

Scaling the wall nimbly, Kakashi casually concussed a lingering guard and then continued along the empty path until he met Masurao, climbing up with considerably more difficulty than he himself had had. Flashing his friend a quick eye-smile, Masurao nodded, pointing back the way he had come, indicating that Kurotaka had started to move. Kakashi clasped his hands into a seal and leapt over the wall and to the ground, seemingly oblivious to the substantial drop, ninja-running to the next of the series of walls. Plastering another explosive tag to the smooth concrete surface, he initiated it immediately, scarcely giving himself time to get out of range from flying rubble and flames. In the smoke and chalky dust, he sensed Masurao joining him and taking off in the opposite direction to plant stickers of his own. Loping off to do likewise, Kakashi dispatched of a couple of milling, confused guards with a remarkable lack of concern via a quick strike to the head with the flat of his katana's blade.

Another pair of explosions rattled through the fort and most of the inner wall collapsed, taking out a fair chunk of the next as well, sending shockwaves through the whole building. Kakashi gritted his teeth. How much damage did they need to do in order to get Akiraka free to spark up her Chakra signal? Obviously it would take more than handful of explosive tags at this rate. Clambering over a pile of rubble and into the next blocked area, Kakashi finally caught sight of Kurotaka, eyes blazing scarlet and expression anxious.

"Kakashi, I can't keep this up forever!" Her voice was shriller, bridging on fear. "My Chakra's falling too quickly and at this rate I won't be able to defend myself, let alone find anyone".

Kakashi stared at her, eyes wracked with fury and a terrible concern. "Why didn't you mention that you were so drained? We would never have set off on this scheme if you had mentioned this sooner!" The anger in his words could barely mask the terror he felt. What if she were attacked in this state? If it wasn't bad enough that she was injured…

"Now's not the time you two!" Masurao's voice was bolting towards them, a relatively unrelaxed expression writ over the other ninja's face as he rounded the corner and sprinted over to them. "We have a little more company here and it's not so easy to stick tags on!" A rabid, enraged snarling was becoming louder with every second. Kakashi blinked in amazement. Guard dogs? Even with the allergy, Masurao wasn't one to run away from a dog.

Almost as if he could read his friend's mind, Masurao skidded to a halt alongside the other two, face taut with fear. "Those aren't dogs back there… think bigger, hairier and with a lot more teeth".

"Gai?"

"Not as such".

As the source of the growling rounded the corner and eyeballed the clustered Shinobi, Kakashi thought for one horrible moment that he really would have preferred it to have been Gai.

A dank brown mass of shaggy fur roared at them, tiny red eyes maddened with pain and deep weals all down its body telling the story of abuse that had sparked such a hatred of humans. Long claws had not been hacked back, but the bald patches of fur clearly displayed where heavy manacles had been securing this animal in its own private hell. Kakashi stared in revulsion at the snarling, frothing bear; not in revulsion at the wretched creature itself, but at the creatures that had created it. As the great animal reared onto its hind legs, uncertain but still deadly, Kakashi moved to one side to shield Kurotaka from view and also catch what she was saying.

"They have poor eyesight, but are phenomenally strong. No chance with taijutsu against this one; I think we'll have to use something more permanent and in this case, it'll be merciful". He could hear the pain in her voice at the sight she was witnessing. Masurao was still catching his breath from his somewhat hasty distance-putting between the animal and himself. It looked like he'd have to do the work himself.

Drawing the katana, he watched the bear carefully. The animal still wasn't moving; periodically snarling and rearing in a display of aggression, but not actually moving towards them. Maybe it couldn't focus on a target or maybe the poor damned creature didn't want to attack. Either way, they had more urgent matters at this moment to attend to. He needed to make this quick.

"Kurotaka". She nodded at his voice. "You and Masurao go on ahead while I take care of this. If you run into any trouble that you can't get out of, I want you to surrender without a fight. It's far easier for me to rescue a living person than a dead one. No, don't answer me back-" He cut off the retort he knew was about to come. "You're weakened and in unfamiliar territory. And I don't want to lose you". He closed his eyes at those words. There. He'd said it. He heard Kurotaka catch her breath, but mercifully Masurao remained silent.

"Go, now. I'll give you your diversion".

As he levelled the glimmering blade at the snarling, drooling creature before him, he heard the faint scuffle of ninja-sandals jogging away and over the last of the walls. With any luck the guards would all be too taken up with the damage caused to pose much of a complicated entry for them. He locked eyes with the large animal.

Forgive me.

With all the accuracy he could muster, he threw the katana over the head of the creature, shearing off a couple of matted locks of hair in the process. With a furious roar, the bear turned around, charging blindly towards where the katana had fallen as Kakashi clasped his hands together, Chakra flooding to his touch. Turning from the discarded blade, the bear leapt towards the immobile ninja, locked in the activation of Masurao's earth jutsu. Barrelling towards Kakashi, one great paw rose upwards and curved downwards in a slash, great claws fully extended. He didn't dare move; he wouldn't get another chance at this one.

Stance never wavering, Kakashi stood his ground as the heavy paw came crashing down, claws scoring their way through the fabric of his Chuunin vest, shredding through the thick material to slash deep into his exposed chest. Blood burst forth to the surface, streaming unchecked in a snaking red ribbon from the livid gashes as the hairy paw continued its downwards stroke. As it moved in its arc, Kakashi seized it, grasping it tightly as he released the seal, plunging both himself and the bear deep into the sandy earth, droplets of blood splattering to the sand as he dived. Several minutes passed and a great tremor rocked through the ground, walls shaking and buildings groaning strangely as supports buckled. A great fissure split its way through the sand, snaking and cracking its way directly through the prison, fortress heaving as the ground wavered under it. Sand erupted from everywhere, disturbed from its resting places in the cracks and joinings of the buildings, creating a thick dust cloud.

Hunched over in the crevasse created by the burst of Chakra he'd released, Kakashi groped forwards, seizing the partially buried hilt of his katana, having fallen through the fissure to join him. His breath heaved, blood soaking through his black shirt as he sheathed the katana. With one last gaze of regret, Kakashi leapt out of the Chakra-formed crater and away from the suffocated body of the tortured bear, crumpled and finally out of its prison. Staggering on the landing, Kakashi glanced down at the bear's last action having surveyed the extent of the damage he had caused to the fortress. Staring down at the great, bleeding tears down on his chest, Kakashi suddenly felt incredibly detached from the whole situation. The blood still pulsated from the gashes, oozing out in an incessant warm flow. They couldn't be that deep, but they were still doing a good job of emptying the blood from him.

He fumbled for his pack, forgetting that he had abandoned it on the way. His head felt warm and fuzzy, the night seeming to fold in around him and hold him protectively; a gentle blanket of numbness. His eyes were so heavy, so tired... He still had to find the others. Maybe they had been trapped by his earthquake under one of the destroyed walls. How could he have done such a thing? What had it all been worth. What was is all worth. They weren't even questions any more. He was sinking deeper into his mind and further from consciousness. Forcing his feet forwards, he swayed and fell, tripped by a mound of sand. The gritty particles chafed his slashes, mixing blood with sand and only making him feel worse. A wave of nausea rushed to meet him, but his chest ached too much to permit the heaving. He couldn't hold it back any more; darkness rushed to claim him.

………..

It was warm, so pleasant. There was pain, but it was far away; it couldn't get him here. "Here" wasn't really a place; it was dark and safe and that was all he needed to know. Why had he been so determined not to retreat here? It was all so much better in this place. He could hear noise far away, but it didn't concern him. There was this rocking, jarring motion that beckoned in the distance, so far from where he was now. Something inside him seemed anxious; anxious about something that didn't seem so important any more.

"Not now… please, not now".

There was that noise again, coming closer now. It was painful; pulling him closer to the confusion and coldness that was once far from him. He didn't like it, tried to push it away, but the noise just wouldn't go. Something was pulling him towards the coldness, towards the pain and jarring, towards the noise. Then something ripped into him, shredding him away from the comfort and dragging him, heaving him back into the agony he had deserted.

A ragged breath burst from Kakashi's lips, chest heaving and wracking, a choking cough closing his throat. Air denied, he thrashed, eyes still pinned tightly shut. Pain was everywhere, burning, scratching, bruising. He longed to back to where he was before, away from it all.

"Hold him steady!" A voice tore through his hearing, painfully high. It felt like his eardrums would burst. Some great weight was now pinning his arms, another his legs; he couldn't move. Claustrophobia gripped him and he coughed and spluttered, a mouthful of hot liquid burning his mouth. Vomit, blood; he didn't know or care. Someone ripped the mask off his face and a hand wedged his mouth open, ignoring his weakened protests. He still didn't open his eyes; he didn't want to see this.

"He's bleeding internally, we need to seal this up quickly or we'll lose him". There was that voice again. There was something familiar, about it, something strange. He could feel his mind wandering again, but something cold was plastered suddenly against his chest, forcing a pain-filled gasp from his lungs. His eyes flew open despite themselves and he stared in bewilderment at the people sitting all around him.

He was half-lying, half-sitting up on the desert sand, held up by someone sitting behind him and partially pinned by Masurao, who was sitting on his legs and clutching a handful of blood-soaked makeshift bandages. "He's opened his eyes!" By the light of the flickering fire beside them and the faint dawn rays, he could just read the expression of pure relief on the other ninja's face.

"I can see that". The voice was annoyed, but Kakashi could catch the strains of relief in it. The owner of the voice leant in close to his face, staring critically into his eyes. "You aren't going to like this one bit, Kakashi-kun, but I promise it's the only way you're going to make it back to Konoha in one piece".

He felt a hand press itself against his chest and at once he was almost overwhelmed by pain, exploding from every pore, almost tearing him from consciousness. Then suddenly it was gone, the hand removed. He blinked, eyes wandering weakly to stare at his chest, his vest removed and long-sleeved shirt in tatters beside him. The bleeding had stopped, leaving five deep scabbed-over gashes. He could feel a little of his strength returning, enough to clasp his hands to his face, pulled free from whoever was holding them. He still couldn't muster enough strength to sit up by himself.

"Akiraka… who broke your arms?"

The large green eyes softened, the pale skin of her face blackened with bruising and smile strained. "It's good to hear your voice again, Kakashi-kun. I thought we'd lost you for a moment then". He noted dimly that she hadn't answered him.

He coughed again, but mercifully no blood oozed up to stain his lips. Staring at her in confusion, Kakashi breathed a different question. "Where is Kurotaka? I heard her voice…" Akiraka smiled tightly "she's fine Kakashi-kun, just resting. You owe her a lot now, you realise".

Kakashi blinked, words struggling to form on his lips. "Where is she?"

Akiraka shuffled on her knees off to one side, revealing the sleeping form of Kurotaka, covered with a grubby blanket. "You'd lost a lot of blood from that injury. Kurotaka had to supply most of what I transfused into you".

Masurao nodded, face pale. "That's one jutsu I don't ever want to have used against me. I didn't even think you were into that kind of thing, Kira-chan". Akiraka pulled a face at Masurao, "there's a lot you don't know about me, Masurao-kun. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to let everyone know about my skills? I'm not much of a medic-nin, but hey, I'm still learning".

"You mean you've never used that jutsu before?" Kakashi probed his chest numbly, only to have his fingers smacked away by Akiraka's hand. "I was a test case?"

"Trust me Kakashi, not much could go wrong that hadn't already as far as you were concerned. You should be thanking Gai as well, since he's the one that spotted you underneath all that sand AND carried you here".

"Gai?" Kakashi could feel a horrible sensation that he had been missing some critical detail for some time now.

"Yes, of course Gai! Who else did you think you were leaning on?"

To those who knew Kakashi best, let alone to those who had seen the extent of his injury, the turn of speed he demonstrated in his haste to move away from his previous position was astonishing.

"Are you trying to kill me!"

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Wild-filly: See? Extra effort made to update faster… reviews pay off! (grin) That's a hint by the way… Thanks for reading!