Thank you so much to ShipperTrish for betaing all of this, you are a joy!

Chapter 16: Belly of the Beast

Cool green chakra poured into bloody mangled flesh, a scaffolding of bone and cartilage being slowly reinforced and shaped under torn, bruised skin. Bubbles of red hued liquid foamed and burst from sunken nostrils as the nasal cavity was painstakingly reformed. Gradually, the rattling wheeze quieted to a soft, wet whistle as air found an unblocked route down to oxygen deprived lungs.

The nurse wiped a tired hand across her forehead and turned to prepare another syringe of painkilling sedative.

A chubby, sweaty hand gripped her wrist like a vice as Hiroto struggled to sit up. He turned his misshapen head towards her and the nurse stared blankly back at the cold fury burning in his open eye, the sclera was mottled with crimson where the blood vessels had burst behind it. His other eye, the left, had sealed totally shut from ugly purple swelling, and the whole left side of his face was almost completely concave with his cheek split, exposing yellow, fatty tissue. Meanwhile, clear liquid wept from the numerous cuts despite her best efforts to stem them.

"No nore n'edicine," he said almost incoherently, blood dribbling from his almost toothless mouth as he clawed at the IV line stuck in the back of his hand.

"Hiroto-san, this will just help regulate your breathing and take the pain away," the nurse replied robotically.

Hiroto moved with surprising speed, sweeping his arm up and knocking the syringe from her waiting hands. It skittered across the linoleum flooring.

"No nore n'edicine!" he demanded wetly, wincing as pain shot through him.

"Trouble?" came the flat voice from the doorway.

"Kuma-san, Hiroto is refusing to allow me to minister another sedative," the nurse said, plucking up a roll of bandages and a packet of gauze then turning her vacant stare to the masked figure.

"How much progress have you made?"

"I've managed to reopen his airway and stop the haemorrhaging behind his left eye. The doctor will need to rebuild the rest. I don't have the skill or control to do it."

"So he'll live?"

"Yes." she said, easing Hiroto forward and starting to wrap his head.

Kuma nodded and then turned to the man sprawled across the hospital gurney.

"Hiroto, please take the medication."

"I wan 'o see 'hat man."

"You want to see Hatake?"

"I wan 'o wa'ch you kill 'im. I wan 'o wa'ch you break 'im apart."

"I think in your current condition it's best if you don't exert yourself Hiroto."

"-ook wha' he did 'o me!"

Kuma seemed to consider this for a short while before nodding his acceptance.

"Very well. I suppose this is your estate and I can't stop you. It would also be detrimental to our business relationship if you held this against me." He clicked his fingers at the nurse to gain her attention and she finished knotting the bandages. "Get him moved into a wheelchair. The doctor will be a while yet. I have him working on a new patient."

The nurse merely nodded.

Kakashi worked quietly, wriggling the joints that secured him to the wall, hoping that the brickwork was old enough to give a little. Occasionally, there would be a small sifting sound as the cement between the bricks crumbled slightly, but these tiny signs of progress were followed only by the grinding whine of metal on metal. If he could just get the full use of his hands back, he was sure he could get out of here. His breathing was fast and shallow as he strained his arms almost to the point of dislocation against the bonds. His wrists, wet with blood and sweat, slammed against the wall in frustration.

"Dammit! This is useless!" he growled to himself.

Of course, it would help if he could see what he was doing. The woven cloth bag over his head was making it difficult to keep up a sustainable pace. The double layer of fabric - his own mask and the bag - were lessening his intake of oxygen and making him feel lightheaded, and the cord securing the bag and chakra collar were rubbing uncomfortably against his windpipe.

Were these restraints routed into the foundations of the building? They certainly seemed impossible to rip out. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been at it because he couldn't see if there had been any change in light.

The muscles in Kakashi's shoulders were screaming, his injured hands throbbing along in time with his elevated heart rate. It all seemed like a futile effort.

"Kakashi, it's the tattoo…It's a seal! It's as if it's wedging their chakra gates open…"

Her voice was clear as a bell to him. If they did that to her, he didn't know how he could live with himself.

"Leaving even the smallest crack open in their chakra system would eventually kill them."

That little speech he had given her on surviving torture, on his own success in similar situations, it was suddenly feeling bitterly redundant.

He had to get to Sakura before they finished the seal on her.

With a massive heave, he wrenched the first shackle from the wall and cheered mentally as his right arm gained some slack.

"Trying to escape?" Kuma's low voice sounded disembodied in the echoey cell.

Kakashi's low groan of aggravation was his only response. He hadn't heard Kuma coming as usual. Even if his attention hadn't been focused on his task, he still probably wouldn't have, but now that he listened, he could hear people approaching his cell.

There was a soft, staggered tapping against the wet concrete floor. It was the sound of a woman with a short stride wearing slightly heeled shoes. She was accompanied by the low, rolling thrum of something heavy that was moving at a steady pace, a rhythmic squeaking punctuating its progress…a wheelchair?

"I've brought Hiroto to see you. He seems to have some unresolved business that's interfering with his recovery. I thought I'd let him work it out."

The chain on his right arm was once again pulled taut and held in place seemingly by Kuma. Kakashi could hear the other two entering his cell now. Presumably it was Hiroto's wheelchair that clanged loudly against the metal stable door. He could hear the bloated man's breathing now over the squeaking of the un-oiled chair. It was a damp rattling sound and Kakashi congratulated himself silently. Hiroto must have been having more trouble breathing than him.

The lancing pain that tore across Kakashi's back was barely anticipated.

He clamped his mouth shut on a scream, his breath catching hard in his throat.

Thwack!

"Kuma, keep hold of 'hish son-of-a-bitshh."

It came again.

"He is secure." Kuma said, tightening his grip on the chain.

"I'll tear you 'o ribbon-ssh for wha' you did to my fa-shh." Hiroto snarled.

Panting hard, Kakashi turned his head towards where he estimated Hiroto was sitting.

"I'm sorry, I can't understand you for all that whistling. If you're not careful, you'll have every dog in the neighbourhood descending on you," he chirped.

Hiroto let out an enraged scream and brought the horse crop down again. It bit into Kakashi's flesh, seeming to get stuck there. Hiroto grunted with the effort as he yanked the whip free, eliciting a stuttering gasp from Kakashi.

"Kuma," the woman spoke up, "I don't think all this exertion is a very good idea in Hiroto's condition."

Hiroto whirled on her, bringing the crop around hard against her face.

The nurse flailed backwards, clutching her head.

"Who assh-ked, you bitshh!!" he screamed before laying into Kakashi's open back again.

And again.

…and again.

This process seemed never ending and soon witty comebacks were discarded in favor of quiet meditation as Kakashi focused on separating himself from the clawing sensation.

His back now felt slick and wet, each additional strike only spreading the pain until it seemed to wrap around his entire being.

Hiroto was only halted by Kuma's lightning fast hand, which struck out to stop the crop's progress.

Holding a hushing finger up, Kuma listened.

For a second the cell fell silent apart from the fat man's ragged breathing.

Kakashi, who bit down on his cheek to reorient himself, became immediately alert.

And there it was, the distant clash of weapons and muffled shouting.

"Hiroto, get back up to your room. We have intruders." Kuma instructed in a completely calm voice.

"But-" Hiroto started, quivering in rage.

"Go!" Kuma ordered.

The fat man roared his frustration as the nurse spun him around in the chair and began wheeling him away, now seemingly unfazed by the huge, red welt splitting her face in two.

Without sparing his prisoner a second glance, Kuma vanished on the spot.

Sensing he was alone again, Kakashi focused himself until he had only one task looming at the forefront of his mind. Ignoring the hot radiating pain of his lacerated back, he once again wrapped his wrists around the remaining restraint and started tugging.

"R-A-A-A-S-E-N-N-G-A-N-N!!!"

The bellowing cry sounded strong and clear above the thundering blood in Sakura's ears, her heart flipped at the familiar voice before she even had time to realize why or indeed who was screaming it.

The old doctor's face dropped in puzzlement a split second before he was physically lifted into the air and thrown clear across the room. His back slammed with a bone jarring crunch into the painted brickwork. He dropped hard and crumpled, milky eyes wide and glassy, his chest open like a book and leaking dark fluid onto the stark white floor.

The gathered chakra still sputtered in his open palm, growing dimmer by the second.

Then, two grubby identical faces filled her vision, blue eyes sparkling with concern.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" they asked in unison.

Naruto.

A fat, single tear spilled over her lashes and rolled down her cheek.

She wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure he wasn't a mirage. She wanted to be certain that the lovable idiot was indeed standing over her, open features twisted in worry, but her hands only twitched against the gurney's surface. She didn't have to wait long, though. His large hands enveloped hers, his thumbs rubbing circles across her palm, and the clone at his side gave a reassuring smile then bamphed into thin air.

His voice dropped to a murmur. "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

Summoning all her strength, Sakura slowly shook her head from side to side and tried to speak, but her tongue still felt heavy and unresponsive.

Breathing in deeply, she focused hard on isolating the paralyzing agent and speeding up her metabolism. She forced her chakra highway into action. Little by little, she could feel the lead weight in her head and limbs lessening as the compound started to break down. It wouldn't be too long before the drug wore off enough to allow her to move.

"You should pull her shorts up," came the smooth, even voice behind her.

Sai's head bobbed into view and gave her a pasty wide smile. "Hello, hag. Glad to see us?" he asked with the smallest flicker of mischief dancing in his eyes.

They both looked like hell. Hell, they both smelled like hell! But at that moment, to Sakura, her boys were the most beautiful things she had ever laid eyes on. Relief flooded through her chest, an emotion so overwhelming that her body couldn't hold onto it. Soon hot tears were trailing wet lines down the side of her face in torrents. They were safe and they had come for her.

Her voice was quiet and shaky. The words were thick and difficult to form, but she managed to work her mouth around them anyway.

"T-t-took. you. l-l-ong. e-enough." she managed.

Naruto shot her a toothy grin and her mouth pulled up into a beaming smile.

"Sai, in t-the d-doctor's pockets," she said gesturing minutely towards the broken body slumped against the wall.

Sai walked over and rooted through the stained white lab coat, holding up two small scrolls and a small brown journal. "These?"

"Yes." she sighed as Sai pocketed the items. "They m-might be of some use."

Sai stood and walked swiftly to her side.

"H-here. H-help me get u-up." she said slowly, threading her weak fingers into Naruto's hands. "W-we have t-to get to Kakashi."

Naruto carefully brought her arm up to hang around his neck and lifted her onto her feet where she awkwardly fumbled to pull her shorts up.

"Where is he?"

Sakura's head snapped to regard the tall figure in the doorway, instantly feeling a rush of fear and adrenaline as she stared at the white and red marked cougar mask.

Sensing her rising panic, Sai, now supporting her other side, spoke up. "Don't be concerned. He's with us."

Apprehensively, Sakura allowed herself to be slowly steered towards the man. He was obviously taller than Kuma, his scalp was covered in a dark bandanna, and his rich, honey coloured hair hung loose to just below his chin, but even with this as reassurance, she couldn't quite shake her nervousness around the tall, masked figure.

Taking in her frightened expression, Genma sighed and pushed his mask up for a brief moment. He flashed her his best rakish grin and gave her a wink before sliding the mask back down into place.

Sakura's face was instantly drained of tension.

"Genma," she breathed, "I n-never thought I'd be so glad to see your smug mug."

"Is that any way to talk to your favourite patient and rescuer?"

"Eh? Genma?!" Naruto asked, pointing open mouthed.

The "anonymous" ANBU shrugged. "Captain Beaver's identity is already compromised and I'll be back on desk duty by the weekend, so I don't think it really matters anyway," he said with warmth. "Where's Kakashi being held?"

"In a barn or stable of some sort. It's big with a c-corrugated roof."

"Okay, I know where that is. Can you walk on your own?"

"No, not yet." she said, experimentally taking a wobbly step forward. The cold prickle was fading fast, but hadn't totally dissipated. Her limbs still felt like soggy ramen.

"Fine. You two help her and stick close. Let's go get your sensei."

They made their way through the low ceiling corridors of the manor's undercroft.

Genma led the way through the large basement network until they came to a flight of stairs leading up into the main house.

Naruto hoisted Sakura up onto his hip and took the stairs two at a time until they found themselves in an expansive kitchen.

It was a grand house, Sakura realized as they crept as quietly as possible and passed a grand ballroom and several smaller reception rooms. They were airy and light with beautifully corniced ceilings and thick, heavy curtains. She was surprised that a horrifically vulgar man like Nakamizu Hiroto actually seemed to have good taste when it came to furnishings.

She was brought out of her tired musings by the sound of sandals slapping against the parquet flooring.

Genma dropped into a low stance ahead of them and raised a hand to signal a stop.

Kenta flew around the corner, a large duffel bag held close against his chest.

Recognizing the man, Genma relaxed.

"Did you get everything?" Genma whispered.

"Yes, it's all here."

"What's he doing here?" Sakura scowled, her hand tightening around Naruto's.

"I collected your equipment. It's all there: headbands, uniforms, and weapons." Kenta said, looking around him hurriedly and turning his attention back to Genma. "I've intercepted my men or at least the ones loyal to me, but you still have the mercenaries, Hiroto's personal guard, and Kuma to deal with."

"Thank you." Genma nodded and took hold of the duffel.

Already Kenta was striding past them.

"Where are you going?" Sakura hissed back at him.

"To find my daughter." he said with a wry smile and then disappeared around the corner.

Staring after him in puzzlement, Sakura allowed herself to be pulled onward.

Yugao wiped her bloodied blade clean against the shirt of the dead mercenary against her feet. Stepping over his body, she climbed onto the cast iron railing of the balcony and dropped into the dense foliage below.

Tenzou appeared behind her as she landed, his own uniform flecked with blood.

"How many?"

"Three." she replied without turning.

"That makes a total of seven and leaves eight."

"There's a pocket of four overlooking the courtyard and it'll be light soon. It's only a matter of time before they realize their friends are missing and send up the alarm."

"We should take them out now and hope we attract enough attention for Cougar to locate Sakura and Kakashi."

"Eight on two. I don't like those odds much, Captain, especially not if the personal guard gets involved," she said, running a hand through her long hair in agitation.

"The mercenaries are bold, but undisciplined. They shouldn't be a problem. The personal guard looks like more of a challenge, although I am hoping their reaction time might be compromised when they realize Kenta's men are not there as back up."

"Still, that's at least fifteen on two and if this 'Kuma' gets involved? From what Kenta told us of his abilities, he isn't a shinobi to be taken lightly."

"Did you notice Sai looking all anxious when his name came up?" Tenzou mused, readying his katana.

"Anxious? How the hell can you tell with that kid?"

His voice rising slightly in amusement, Tenzou said, "I've known him a while. He may be subtle, but you do start to notice little nuances here and there after a while. I'm just hoping he won't become a liability in this situation."

"Do you think he might betray us? He is Root, after all. We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"It's not like you to be so pessimistic, Yugao." Tenzou chuckled.

"It's not like you to be so reckless, Captain." she countered haughtily.

Sighing, Tenzou started moving forward towards where their quarry stood unawares in the courtyard parapets.

"You're right. It's a crappy plan, but it's the only one we have, so sharpen up and knock them down before they have time to realize how crappy it is."

"Yes, sir."

The hairs on Sakura's arms prickled in response to the amount of chakra hanging in the air as her eyes roved the decimated courtyard.

An otter masked ANBU stood back-to-back against an owl masked ANBU. A circle made up of at least nine ninjas were coming at them, taking it in turns to wear them down. Three of the enemies had already fallen and their bodies were lying twisted and discarded in the grass and shrubbery. The Owl's long, purple hair whipped erratically around her mask and shoulders as she ducked and parried a blow from a large, studded club.

The tall, brown haired Otter who was favouring one leg considerably, threw up a solid, wooden wall between the Owl and her opponent just in time to stop the mace from gouging viciously down her side. Instead, the spiked weapon crashed loudly into the wooden blockade, sending up a shower of fat splinters.

"Yamato-teichou, look out!" Naruto shouted from across the quad.

Tenzou's katana rose to deflect the oncoming barrage of kunais, but his movement was slower than it should have been. One struck him hard in the shoulder, biting into a soft bundle of nerves. His hand went slack and the weapon dropped with a muted clatter.

"Shit! They're completely outnumbered!" Naruto cried, loosening his grip on Sakura's arm as she broke away.

She was moving forward towards her former team captain, her feet still a little clumsy and unsteady from the paralyzing agent.

Naruto appeared beside her.

"Time to even things up a little." he said, righting her with one hand as she stumbled. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Ten Narutos jumped forward into the fray, pushing and shoving to allow Sakura the space and cover to tend to their former team captain.

"Yamato-teichou. Are you alright?" Sakura cried urgently, dropping to her knees and pushing healing chakra immediately into his lame arm.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Tenzou greeted tiredly, his eyes looking unfocused through the eyeholes of his mask.

"You're very low on chakra," she said with concern while feeding healing energy into the worst of his injuries.

"Is he able to fight?" came the rich feminine voice above her.

Sakura looked up to see the purple haired kunoichi standing guard over them, her head darting back and forth to pre-empt any further attacks.

"He'll be able to fight, but with minimal chakra."

Tenzou's good hand reached into his pocket to pull out a small, hard, black pill. He was just about to lift his mask to pop it into his mouth when Sakura's hand caught him.

"No, no more. I can tell you've already taken at least three of them today by the way your chakra field is jumping. Take one of these." Sakura said, reaching into her recently reacquired medic apron and pressing a large, brown pill into his hand.

He slipped it up under his mask and swallowed it around a dry heave.

"I know it tastes gross. I haven't quite sussed the recipe out yet, but it'll help rebalance your chakra and give you a burst of energy, but this isn't a normal soldier pill, so no big jutsus." she finished, squeezing his bicep.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Sakura." he said sincerely.

"I'm glad you're-" she didn't have time to finish her sentence.

The air bent around them in an unnatural way and then her face was suddenly seized, strong fingers clamping hard around her cheeks and jaw. She felt herself being lifted off the ground as her hands struggled against the thick wrist.

"What the-" Owl started in surprise as she noticed the masked figure who had appeared in their midst. Her voice was cut off by a sharp kick to the stomach and she reeled back, winded and clutching at her ribs.

"It's unfortunate that your friends interrupted the process." Kuma said, lifting the struggling body higher.

Sakura was screaming around his hand, her legs lashing out in front of her, her feet full of chakra in the hopes of landing a lucky blow.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. You would have only been an added bonus." he finished flatly, then hurled her across the courtyard.

Her body hit the ground, tumbling and rolling until she came to a stop.

Kuma was already advancing towards her, taking long, purposeful strides.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, diverting a handful of clones to intercept the Root ANBU.

Without breaking focus, Kuma pulled his blunt tipped tanto from its holster on his back and thrust it into the first two clones which dissipated with a smoky bamph! The next two dove for his legs, but Kuma vanished then reappeared behind them, slamming a foot down hard on their sprawled forms.

Sakura pulled herself to her feet while gathering chakra into her fist. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she slammed it into the soil. The ground split in two with an almighty groan, throwing earth and rubble into the air.

Through dusty clouds she saw Kuma stumble, his body tipping violently sideways into the fissure. She allowed herself a split second of praise, but then the same cruel fingers that had been previously around her face fisted into her hair, pulling her head back roughly. The tanto was already at her throat, the quick blade biting into her vulnerable flesh. She swallowed dryly against it, her vision full of pale, glaring porcelain.

The damp sucking sound of tanto sliding into flesh filled her ears.

A fine rain of hot blood pattered against her face as the tanto thrust upward.

Kuma stared blankly down at the blunt crimson covered tip protruding from his chest, his hand releasing its abusive hold on her scalp.

Sakura scuttled backwards across the ground, turning to face both her attacker and saviour.

"Hello, Senpai." Sai's inflectionless voice sang out as he kicked Kuma forward and withdrew the blade, wiping its dirtied metal against his long sleeve. "Sakura, go find Kakashi." he said, turning his gaze to meet hers.

Nodding, she turned and ran towards where Genma was pulling his senbon out of the face of a large, well muscled man.

Kuma, now back on his feet, watched Sai with his head cocked and his hand pressed tightly against the seeping wound on his chest. He gave no other outward indication that he was in pain.

"You could have killed me." Kuma stated blandly.

"Yes, I suppose I could have."

"Hello, Sumiiro." Kuma said after a long silence.

Sai smiled. "Nobody has called me that for a very long time, Senpai."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Genma asked, pulling Sakura along with him by the arm.

Hello, Senpai…

"I don't know." she said anxiously as they navigated the uneven, body strewn courtyard while casting fearful glances back at where Sai and Kuma were conversing. Their weapons were lowered and they seemed to be completely ignoring the chaos erupting around them.

"Hm." was Genma's only response as they vaulted over the high wall.

They made it through to the main gardens of the manor with little resistance, the majority of the ninja having already flocked to the commotion in the courtyard. They continued down a dirt track to where the grounds opened up into grassy pastures. Nestled between several small brick outbuildings stood a large barn, its corrugated roof looking like a black fan in the dawning light.

"That's it." Sakura breathed, moving off at a brisk trot.

"Do you have enough chakra to heal him if he's seriously injured?"

"Yes." she said firmly, not averting her gaze from the large, open double doorway which was steadily drawing closer.

The heavy chains trailing behind him cut clean lines through the thin layer of muck and manure, exposing the light gray concrete underneath.

As Kakashi staggered through the length of the stables, it felt as though he were walking through the carcass of a great mythical creature. Staring up with both eyes at the interlocking beams above him, he thought they really did look like huge arching ribs.

The belly of the beast, he thought, recalling an old sailor's story he had once heard along the borders of Mizu.

A man trapped in the stomach of a whale...

He wished it would just swallow him whole.

His Sharingan eye pulsed and ached, the chakra collar and cuffs temporarily blocking off his chakra highway so that the eye was firing on its own small reserves. It flickered like a lighter between red and black, skipped like a scratched record between slow and fast.

The thirty meter walk from his cell to the massive double doors ahead seemed to be taking a lifetime, his body on the verge of non-compliance.

Had he really only been here a few short hours? It felt like days, days since Sakura had been taken.

The wave of guilt that crashed over him was enough to halt his progress. He stood in the doorways shadow, his head hung low, eyes closed against the dawn.

"Kakashi?"

"Mmm?" he replied as if to himself.

Sakura frowned, tentatively stepping towards him. Her initial elation at seeing him alive and on his feet drained away as she took in his despondent body language and dishevelled appearance: his wrists were raw and inflamed from where the cuffs had cut into the tissue, his throat looked to be in much the same state, his hummed acknowledgment was croaky and hoarse.

The four chains leading from his ankles and wrists snaked behind him, a large chunk of brickwork still attached to the other end of one of them. One of his shoulders looked higher set than usual, popping upward and out of alignment with his collarbone. She winced as she realized he'd dislocated it.

Without another word, she closed the distance between them, pressing her hands against his chest and sending out tendrils of soothing chakra to diagnose the damage.

The sensation of cool pressure coursing through his highway caused him to open his eyes and stare down at her: her small, slim hands threading chakra into his system, her face pinched in concentration as she worked...Realization slowly rose to the surface.

"You're here?" he asked, his voice quiet and very, very deep.

"Huh?" she asked, meeting his mismatched gaze with confusion. "Of course I'm here, silly." she said, smiling broadly and trying to blink back the tears brimming along her lower eyelids.

"You're hurt." he said, eyebrows knitting together.

His hand came up without hesitation to trace the dark oval marks marring the pale skin along her jaw and cheekbones, moving down to inspect the shallow cut on her throat.

"It's nothing." she said, feigning casualness to disguise the fact that her pulse was thundering under his touch. "It's nothing." she repeated as if trying to assure herself.

The chains tinkled as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body and she yelped at the unexpected contact. In a moment of emotional vulnerability, he allowed himself to breathe her in: the shampoo, the sweat, the blood.

All of it.

He brushed his masked lips against her forehead and murmured softly into her hair, "I was scared. I was scared."

"I know. Me, too." she hummed back against his chest, knowing her tears were soaking through and making him wet.

"Ahem."

They both lifted their heads, Kakashi's hands dropping slowly back to their sides as he blinked dumbly towards the source of the noise.

Genma's mask was pushed up as he reclined against the wall, senbon perched between lips that were pulled into a large, lopsided grin. His eyebrows waggled suggestively. "Don't want to break this lovely reunion up, but we do have a mission to complete, bedraggled teammates to rescue, and a village crisis to avert. I don't think we'll get any of that done with Kakashi standing and bleeding to death in his underwear, ne?"

Sakura leaped back as if scolded, letting out an embarrassed squeak.

Kakashi, finally becoming entirely alert, tried desperately to stem the light pink blush that was blooming above his mask.

"I guess I am feeling a little lightheaded…and err…naked." he said, shrugging a little and wishing his boxers or black tank top had pockets he could stuff his hands into.

"Well, all's good 'cuz I brought you clothes and a nice little medic." Genma said smirking.

"About time you did something nice for me." Kakashi grumbled playfully and eased himself onto the ground where Sakura quickly knelt and began cleaning his wounds.

"Kakashi?"

"Yeah, Genma?"

"The boys are fine. Well, they were fine when I last saw them."

The sigh Kakashi released was loud and heartfelt. "That's good. That's really, really good."

The three lapsed into silence as Sakura worked, swabbing the huge lacerations on the Copy Nin's back with antiseptic and wiping down the inflamed tissue around his wrists, ankles, and throat.

Genma joined them, using his chewed senbon to pick the locks on the chakra cuffs and collar. Instantly, Kakashi's chakra highway flared back to life.

"Here, take this." Sakura instructed, passing him a blood replenishing pill.

The Copy Nin did as he was told and popped it in his mouth, chewing the bitter substance reluctantly.

"I'm afraid dislocated shoulders have to be done the old fashioned way." Genma said without even a hint of remorse.

With one sharp tug and snap, the shoulder settled back into its proper alignment.

"You arsehole." Kakashi grunted sorely.

"Now, now…"

"Genma?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming."

Smiling down at his former team captain, he slapped the mask back down over his face.

"What are friends for?"