Kakashi woke up freezing.
Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around, curiosity awakened. Funny-he remembered being rescued, and Tsunade had just put him in her bed to sleep-so why was he here?
Chains encircled his neck, wrists, and ankles, holding him fast to the wet ground. Kakashi tried them, but they held fast. Again with this crap! But…what had happened? Surely he would have woken up if someone had tried to recapture him…and what about Tsunade? Maybe that was all a dream, and he was still in this hellhole…
Footsteps sounded, so lightly, that at first, Kakashi could barely hear them. They halted just a foot away from him, and a dark figure knelt down next to his head.
"Got you back," the person whispered. "I'm glad. That 'Hokage' is so clueless." An icy hand traveled across Kakashi's face, and he gave a small mewl of terror when he realized who it was. He was surprised; this time, he had not been gagged or blindfolded. What was the meaning of all of this?
Itachi leaned over and kissed him through the mask, gently caressing his face. "You little brat," he murmured. "You really are a nasty one, sneaking out like that. Well! It won't happen again."
Kakashi looked up in fear, already envisioning the terrors Itachi had in store for him. He began to tremble uncontrollably, and Itachi smiled as he felt this.
"What's wrong?" he asked, cold hands still stroking Kakashi's face. "Scared?"
"Let me go," Kakashi whimpered, trying to slide out from under Itachi's hands.
"Oh, come now," Itachi said, holding Kakashi down. "You know you want this."
"No!" Or had he said yes? Kakashi yelped as a hand descended to his stomach, and Itachi couldn't help but laugh now.
"You're most amusing when you are in pain," he murmured, slowly drawing a kunai. "Don't worry-soon I'll have you crying out in pain."
Kakashi felt muscle tear and rip from where Itachi had shoved the kunai into his shoulder. He gave a short scream of pain and yanked again the chains holding him down. Itachi twisted the kunai, and Kakashi quieted with a small whimper, afraid of injuring himself further.
"Good boy," Itachi said quietly, removing the kunai. Kakashi trembled as the weapon was withdrawn, and agony again exploded as Itachi roughly yanked it out of his shoulder.
"Scream for me," Itachi whispered. "It is my name alone you should speak."
"Get away!" Kakashi screamed, lashing out against Itachi. "Leave me alone!"
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi sat bolt upright in bed. His sides were streaked with blood and sweat from where he had been tossing and turning in the nightmare, reopening several wounds. The sweat stung as it dripped into his wounds, and Kakashi found that his mask was gone.
"Kakashi, calm down!"
Kakashi's chest heaved, but he resisted the urge to lie back and turned to look at whoever had awoken him and saved him from himself.
"Tsunade-sama…I-"
"Kakashi, are you okay?" Tsunade cried. Her hands moved to his sides, checking the wounds. "You were screaming so hard I thought someone was killing you!"
Kakashi shook his head, and Tsunade pulled him into her lap. She reached over his back and pulled the sheets up over his body and began to rub his arms, trying to warm him up. "Are you okay?"
Kakashi exhaled softly against her chest and shook his head. Tsunade gently kissed him and settled back against the headboard of the bed.
"Do you want me to stay with you?"
"Please."
Tsunade remembered one time, when she was young, only about four years old, she had had a nightmare and went into her parent's room. Her mother had let her sleep in her lap that night, and Tsunade would never forget it. Now, she repeated her mother's actions, and allowed Kakashi to sleep against her shoulder the rest of the night.
OOOOOOOOO
Yasu was bored.
There was absolutely nothing to do. Everyone except her and Itachi were out on missions, and the only reason Yasu and Itachi were still there was because they were tired. Personally, Yasu thought wrestling with Itachi for position of seme was fun. She had just wanted to give him a hard time, and it was well worth it for the sex she got. But now they were both exhausted. Itachi was dozing on and off, and Yasu was holding the missing-nin in her lap and stroking him like a domestic pet. In a way, he did belong t her-now that they were a couple, things might be a bit different between them. Itachi could probably get away with more, and Yasu would probably be challenged less.
"Yasu-sama?"
Yasu looked down and brushed a long lock of black hair out of Itachi's face. "What?"
"I think Kakashi's close."
OOOOOOOOO
Tsunade watched, apprehensive, as Kakashi darted through the trees, teasing in and out of sight. Tsunade knew Kakashi was purposely trying to draw attention-specifically Yasu's. Tsunade waited as he pulled to a stop right in front of her, then reached out and drew him into her chest.
Kakashi returned the embrace, but only for a moment. Tsunade was forced to relinquish him after only a few fleeting seconds.
"Go," Kakashi said softly. Tsunade remained where she was, unsure.
"Go!" Kakashi said again, stronger this time. "You have to get out of here, for my sake. Just go; I'll be fine!"
Tsunade hesitated, then reached forward and gently kissed him through the mask. "Fine," she said quietly. "But I swear, I will never be more than a few yards away."
Kakashi nodded and slid away. "Go now," he whispered. "I hear someone."
OOOOOOOOO
Yasu leaped through the trees tops, sharp eyes scanning the ground below.
"Lady Yasu!"
Yasu pulled up smoothly next to Itachi. "There," he said, pointing down. Yasu followed Itachi's line of vision into the undergrowth. Her eyes moved quickly across the grass, shrubs, and rocks, finally coming to rest on one particular figure:
The injured Hatake Kakashi.
Blood slowly seeped from a gash across the jounin's side. It didn't look that serious, but Kakashi was clearly in pain. Yasu wordlessly jumped out of the tree, landing a few feet away from Kakashi.
"Kakashi."
Kakashi shot backwards, smacking the tree with full force. Yasu darted forward and caught him as he fell, holding him close to her body.
A sharp intake of breath was made against her chest, and Kakashi pushed against her. "Lemme go!"
He shoved at her furiously, and Yasu suddenly felt the sting of blood rising to the surface as Kakashi raked his fingernails across her face, chest, and arms.
"Itachi, get his hands."
Infuriated, Kakashi drew back a fist and punched Yasu hard in the stomach. Now Yasu had really had enough; in turn, she whirled, pinning Kakashi to a tree by the neck.
"Don't fight," she said. A small whimper of pain slid forth from the back of Kakashi's throat, and Yasu released him, letting him fall into her body. She could feel Kakashi shuddering against her shoulder, and pulled back slightly to see his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, sliding her hand under Kakashi's chin and lifting his face. "Did something happen?"
Kakashi lifted his left hand to the ninja headband covering his Sharingan. He felt Yasu lift her head from the stretch of muscles in her upper chest and swiftly lifted his headband, shoving at Yasu and ducking out of her arms. "Tsunade-sama! Now!"
Yasu wheeled the second she felt Kakashi move, but even that was too late. Tsunade had leaped down, picked up Kakashi, and sprang away.
"Shit!"
Tsunade pulled up short to avoid running into the blur of black and red that had just appeared right in front of her. Tsunade whipped back and forth, searching desperately for an escape route.
She found none.
All around her, black and red swirled into existence, obliterating all chances of escape. Kakashi carefully peeled himself off of Tsunade, hands forming the sign of the tiger. The Akatsuki was immediately on their guard; hands strayed to kunai pouches and shuriken holsters, while others began the first signs of a jutsu.
"Release!"
The wound in Kakashi's side vanished immediately.
"A genjutsu?" Deidara cried. "No way!"
"Yes, way," Tsunade said. She turned to Kakashi. "Fight or flee?"
Kakashi glanced around. "I dunno…"
"You cannot be serious," Itachi muttered. "It's a pain, dealing with rats, but I guess I can deal with one to get to the prize." He gave Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori a look. "Sic 'em."
Sasori took a puppet off his back, connecting his chakra strings in a flash. Deidara's fingers were suddenly laced with kunai, and Itachi's Mangekyou glared harshly at Tsunade.
"Well, little brat?" he asked, striding towards Tsunade with a slow, taunting step. "I can pound you now, or you can surrender and keep your life. And if I'm really in a good mood, I'll chain you both to the same wall."
"You are a disgrace to shinobi!" Tsunade cried, reaching behind her. "I am the Hokage, and it is my responsibility as Hokage to protect that honor, that all shinobi carry! And it is also my job t protect my shinobi subordinates, and I will do both if it costs me my life!" Kakashi watched as she shoved a small pill down the back of her throat. "And I don't take crap from kids like you." She turned to Kakashi, grinning broadly.
"Ready?"
Kakashi gave her a weak smile in return. "Come on," she said in a tone that implied she had something up her sleeve.
"Yeah…" Kakashi said slowly. "I'll hold, and you punch."
"Fair," Tsunade said lightly. "I pick…Blondie."
"One…"
"Two…"
"THREE!!!"
A/N: My grandma is getting a lot better; she'll probably be able to come home this week. Thanks for waiting so patiently, everyone! Okay, dedication! Drum roll, please! Drum roll Okay, thanks. And the winner is…Valinor's Twilight!!! She put something in for every chapter, and she's a great friend. As winner of the dedication, she gets her own free one-shot! Anything you want, except the pairings listed in my profile are fine. Let me know what you want in a review or PM me. Thanks for everyone who reviewed; I'll have a dedication every ten chapters. Thanks again everyone!!!