Monster:

A/N: Thank you all for the kinda reviews. It means a lot. I'm sorry if the end of this chapter is lacking a bit, I wasn't quite sure how to word a couple things, any-who, enjoy.

~xxx~ Chapter 1: Count Your Blessings ~xxx~

Kakashi held his knees to his chest, and counted every breath, relaxing himself as he stared at the cold, stone wall of his cell. He counted every drop of water, and every second that the wall dripped. He counted how many steps the guard took from his cell door to the one across the hall, and he counted the number of people that spoke in an hour.

Numbers were his only friends now, keeping him company in the cold cell he now called home. Three months seemed so long when the wide open freedom you once had was now a ten-by-six rectangle of rock and reinforced steel.

Kakashi held his hands out in front of him and stared at the metal bracelets blocking his chakra. Why should he care about escaping anyway? It wasn't like the village was going to welcome him back with arms wide open. He'd killed people, he'd slaughtered families, he'd destroyed homes, and worst of all he'd nearly killed one of the few people he'd promised to protect with his life. It wasn't even his fault. He had no idea what'd happened, all he remembered was being attacked by ANBU on top of the monument; when they told him why the village lay in ruins, he'd nearly cried. But he hadn't denied that it was he had had done it.

Not one person had come to see him since the attack, and he truly didn't blame them. Why would they want to see such a monster?

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his knees, and didn't move when the guard spoke to him.

"Hey, Hatake?"

Kakashi didn't answer; he just sat there holding himself together. He counted his breaths, the number of seconds before the guard spoke again.

"Hatake, you got a visitor."

Kakashi picked his head up slowly and look to the right of the guard where a woman stood; her viridian eyes peering through the bars, her pink hair standing out against the dark pastels of the prison.

He felt his heart flutter as he scooted to the edge of his bed. "Sakura?"

"Hi, Kakashi." She whispered as the guard left to patrol down the hall. She smiled at him, "Long time no see?" Sakura watched as he stood up and walked across the small cell to come face to face with her, the only thing separating them being the damn bars of his cage, as he so kindly called it.

He wiped the tear from his eye, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Yeah!" She laughed heartily, her hand scratching behind her head. He had to notice, he just had to!

Kakashi's eyes focused on the arm going behind her head with surprise before he smiled at her, with that common eye crease, "So how is everyone?" He asked with false interest as the guard walked by, talking to himself on the matter of shinobi solitary confinement. When he was past, Kakashi looked at Sakura, his smile gone, he cocked his head to the left, when?

She shrugged, "Their alright, I guess. Naruto is still in the ICU." She sighed, "You fucked him up good…"

Kakashi hung his head, "It wasn't me, Sakura."

She cocked an eyebrow, "People watched you do it."

Kakashi leaned forward and wrapped his fingers around the bars, "I didn't do it." He deadpanned. "It wasn't me, Sakura."

She leaned in closer, "I know."

He rested his forehead in between two bars, "I don't like it here. It's cold, dark, and these restraints…" he held his wrists up, "It hurts."

All she could do was look at him sympathetically, "I'd heal you if I could, but it would set the alarm on your blocks off."

He nodded, and stayed silent. He listened to her breathing, counting every inhale and exhale. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Believing me."

She smiled at him.

"It's time to go, miss."

"I'm coming," Sakura called back to the guard, as she looked back up at Kakashi, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"If you can get past the guards."

She waved goodbye as she left. Kakashi went back to his bed and scooted to the corner of the wall again; his knees pulled up to his chest, and went back to counting the seconds.

Ash grey eyes shot to the bars of his cell as the inmate across the way started calling to him.

"Who was the bitch, Hatake?"

Kakashi didn't answer as the man rambled on. One…

"She looks like the whore I killed! Yah gonna kill her?"

Kakashi began to breathe deeper, counting each second of each breath, trying to calm him of the pool of rage starting to fill him. Two…Three…Four…

The man sneered, "Yah hitting that then, huh? She any good? I bet she's a screamer, huh?"

Kakashi started panting, trying harder than before to control the rage pooling inside of him. If that bastard didn't shut up, he was going to kill him. He'd make sure he suffered for the words that fell from his mouth. Five…Six…Seven…Eight…

"If you get tired of her, "I'll make her scream for yah. Hell, I'll make her cry if yah want me too!"

Kakashi leapt from his bed to his bars, his arms reaching though as he yelled and swung blinded red with rage. He snarled and growled, dropping curses like a storm dropped rain as he swung his arms wildly through the bars of his cell.

The inmate recoiled to be the back of his cell as he watched kakashi's onslaught of anger. Kakashi's hands gripped his bars, and he pulled and pushed, back and forth trying anything to gain some room to move. The bars wouldn't budge and he turned and started punching the walls and tearing his bed from the floor, the heads of the nails pinging around the cell as he tore it up, and tossed it against the damp stone wall.

"Hatake!" A guard called through the bars, "Calm Down!"

Kakashi lunged for the bars, his hands wrapping around the neck of the guard. He dropped the man when he stopped struggling, and went back to destroying his cell. Using the broken metal post of his bed, Kakashi started beating the walls, raging like the animal he was.

The guard that had led Sakura in fell to his comrade's side, calling in for back-up through his COMM system, "This is Officer Sari, I need back up on level three, we've got a possible code blue! Hatake is going nuts down here!"

~xxx~

Sakura looked over the maps sprawled over her coffee table and living room floor. There were so many complex systems of vents, air ducts, water pipes, and just plain corridors that she didn't think she could memorize them all as fast as she wanted to. Just getting through level one's corridors was a weeks worth of information; no wonder it was recommended that the guards only be willing to take one position, but it hadn't looked so complicated when she'd gone in earlier. What was she getting herself into?

She rubbed her arms trying to rid herself of the chill she felt creeping down her spine. She needed to calm down, and think rationally about this. Kakashi was on level three, she should be focusing on the exits from that floor and the lines to such things.

But then again, if he was moved she'd need a basic know-how of all of the systems. She reached forward and pulled the map for the level four air vents, might as well start from the bottom.

~xxx~

Sakura smiled to the man standing in front of the door allowing access to level three. Perhaps she could use feminine charm to get past him?

"I can't let you through here Miss."

Sakura put her hand on her hip, "And why the hell not?"

"We had an incident. No one goes in or out."

"Who had an incident?" She sneered at him.

"Hatake Kakashi, ma'am."

"I'm here to see him, where is he now?"

"Padded room ma'am, no one is allowed."

Sakura scoffed, "I'm here under direct orders from your Hokage, sir! Kakashi Hatake is believed to have a rare mental illness, and I'm here to decide that, now I suggest you escort me yourself, or I'll tear this place apart looking for him. Is that understood?"

The guard panicked, "U-uh, yes, ma'am. Very clear, come along." He led her to a dark stairwell, that reminded her of those movies where people often got jumped and killed. She followed him down into level four. Top Security. Goody.

"What exactly happened to Hatake-san?" Sakura asked coolly, trying to sound as official as possible. Naruto was going to kick her ass for this, and Tsunade was going to kill her. All in a day's illegal work, she supposed, and if it meant saving him, then it was worth it.

The guard shrugged, "I'm not really sure, all I know is that he was tearing up his cell and just going crazy. He nearly killed one of the guards, and he injured a couple as well. What kind of psychiatric disorder do you think he has?"

Sakura silently cursed to herself, she hadn't thought about that, "It's very rare, and you've probably never even heard of it. It just makes it so he can't control his emotions at certain times, and when he's not a so angry, he seems aloof and reserved."

"That seems to fit the description." The guard commented, "Is it curable?"

"With proper evaluation, and therapy, yes."

"Then all the luck to you, Miss."

The guard led her into a dark corridor and into a dark room with a two-way mirror. She looked into the room through the glass and fought back the strangled whimper that threatened to escape at the sight.

Her sempai sat against the white wall, his arms bound across his chest in a straightjacket. His face was bruised, and dirty from his earlier scuffle, and Sakura couldn't help but feel pain for him.

Kakashi picked his head up as his acute hearing picked up the sound of the door into the watching room opened. He couldn't see through the mirror but he could hear whispers of the conversation behind the glass, and he sighed, they were having someone test him for psychiatric disorders. He wasn't crazy! He shimmied his way up the wall to a standing position to ready himself for the doctor.

Kakashi nearly fell over when he saw Sakura walk through the door.

"I think I can handle him boys." Sakura smiled politely to the guards escorting her, "Go do your job or something."

Kakashi watched wide-eyed as Sakura walked closer to him, the smile on her face reminded him of the smirk she used when she had forced him to go to the hospital in the past. Had she lied about getting him out?

"Hey Kakashi-sempai." She smiled, "I'm here to make sure your all in one piece up stairs, alright?" She winked at him when her back was to the mirror and he immediately relaxed and sighed.

"You mean if I'm crazy or not?"

"Yeah, that's what I mean."

He nodded, "Whatever, Doc."

Sakura shook her head, "I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and I need you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind, okay?"

"Yup, sure."

"When I say tunnels, you think…?" She rolled her hand so the guards behind the glass would think she was coaxing an answer from him.

"Mainstream Complexity."

"Um…" She faked confusion, "Alright. The number three?"

"Weeks."

"Color?"

"Dark."

"Okay…" She leaned forward and whispered so the guards wouldn't here, "The systems are very complex. It'll take three weeks just for me to memorize the air vents, not to mention corridors, water pipes, and hidden hidey-holes."

"They map hidey-holes?"

"Yeah."

He thought about it for a second, "Take one of my storage scrolls and store everything you can in it, that way when the time arrives, if you forget, you'll have the maps."

She took a step back, "You're abdominal systems seem to be working fine, Kakashi-san, now may I have a look at your head?"

Kakashi shrugged the best he could in the restrictive jacket, "Why the hell not, you seem not to give a shit about personal space anyway." He pulled back slightly when her hands reached out to his head, "You could've asked to touch my stomach too, you know."

"Shut up and hold still." She chided as she grabbed the sides of his head, and her hands started glowing green.

Kakashi relaxed again, the quiet hum of her chakra entering his head felt amazing, if he wasn't locked up he'd ask her to do this all the time. "Wow."

Sakura looked taken back, almost confused. Kakashi cocked an eyebrow and just stared back at her silently asking 'what?'

She shook her head, "Nothing." She said, keeping it to herself. Sakura pulled her hands back, "You seem to be in tip-top shape up there."

"Goody."

She rolled her eyes, "Though I do think you have an anger issue that needs to be dealt with, have you tried counting to ten before you go on a rampage?"

Kakashi smirked cockily, running his tongue along the inside of his bottom teeth, "Counting to ten? I could count to fucking infinity and back if I wanted to before I loose it." He hissed, "That's all I do in here, pinky, is count. The hours, seconds, breaths, voices, footsteps, everything."

Sakura put her hand on her hip, "I have all day, old man, lets here you do."

"Do what?"

"Count to infinity."

He laughed sarcastically, "I don't have the patience."

"Sad." She said turning around to face the door, "I'll be back with more…things tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to that." He replied.

"I know you will." She said before opening the door and walking out of the small padded room.

Kakashi slid back down the wall into a sitting position. She was risking everything trying to help him out. She had no idea what she was getting into. He looked at his reflection in the glass and started counting the number of people he put above his own life.

One…

~xxx~

Well, I hope you liked that chapter guys. Chapter three is already written, I'm just editing it now, so it'll be up soon…

-regas