Kakashi shifted from his spot leaning on the wall after he was sure his breathing was going at an acceptable rate. With a slight grunt, the man hoisted himself up from his sitting position and pushed himself off the wall in one movement. Not the smartest of ideas, he found, after he almost face-planted on the ground that he was already getting sick of staring at.

Cursing a few times to himself, the Copy Ninja steadied himself with a hand on the wall and gathered his bearings before slowly pushing off again, now more successful. Shortly, the man glanced about the room, looking for any other means of escape. Granted, he didn't expect to find much, but one could always hope.

Of course, Orochimaru had a way with making whatever hope someone had wither away into nothing. One of the reasons, Kakashi was sure, why he had become such a threat to every village he came in contact with over the years.

The gray-haired man sighed heavily and staggered over to different corners of the room, taking the opportunity to both asses his current situation and stretch his tired legs out:

"As I expected…" He thought dryly after a few minutes, glancing one more time up at the ceiling that covered him, "No other obvious exits. Knowing the snake bastard, there probably aren't any hidden ones either." Kakashi wished his pessimism wouldn't keep sneaking up on him like this. He was beginning to actually succumb to it.

The ever-approaching tap of hurried footsteps quickly got the man's attention. He turned his head to the iron bars that separated him from freedom cautiously, at this point not knowing who or what to expect. Shadows bounced off the walls in the dim torchlight, showing a head of spiky hair making its way steadily toward the Copy Ninja. His mind automatically went to the only spiky-haired person in this damned place he knew of: Masaru Tomichi. He sneered to himself when he saw and heard that he was right.

Masaru skidded to a halt in front of Kakashi's cage, his face immediately lighting up with enough brightness to outmatch five torches when he saw the man standing upright. His lips curved into what was becoming an annoyingly familiar crooked grin, though this time there was wildness in his eyes to match his smile. Without taking his eyes off Kakashi, the younger boy shouted back to his right:

"He's standing up, sir!" He was ecstatic, "Quite an impressive ninja you are, Hatake," His eyes glimmered with a sort of dark anticipation that made Kakashi's stomach twist. He made his best effort at a sneer, which just made the feverish excitement in Masaru's face grow tenfold.

A low, dark chuckle that echoed off the walls reached Kakashi's ears and made him freeze him his place. A tall dark silhouette morphed into sickly yellow eyes and hair darker than death. Kakashi realized dully that Masaru's dark look of anticipation was only a shadow of his masters'.

"You really never cease to amaze me, Kakashi," The way Orochimaru hissed his name was enough to make the man spit. He would have if he was, under no circumstances, going to pull off his mask again. The Sannin continued like he didn't even register the dark look his prisoner gave him, "Just having the Curse Mark moving along so fast so soon is truly a feat in itself," His yellow eyes appraised the Jounin carefully, "And now you manage to come back into consciousness only a few hours after being subject to some of my more rigorous tests," His smile widened, "Truly your father's son, aren't you?"

Kakashi wanted to rip the man's throat out, "Go to hell," He jeered venomously, hands clenching up into fists. Masaru made an excited- almost laughing -sound and took an eager step forward when Orochimaru calmly extended a hand out to stop him. He followed suit almost regretfully.

"Now, now, Masaru," He cooed gently, like he was scolding a child, "Don't get too excited. You have to let me explain to our dear guest first."

Kakashi stiffened. Part of him didn't want to know what was going to happen next; he felt knowing would only make whatever it was worse. Orochimaru's attention was immediately brought back to him, "Though I'm quite impressed by how well you've been doing, Kakashi, I've decided to administer some discipline."

Kakashi's breath caught in his throat for half a second before he muttered through gritted teeth, "Discipline? And why's that?"

"Oh, it's really very simple, my boy," Orochimaru waved the apprehension in Kakashi's voice off like this was going to be some sort of lovely training session among friends. Suddenly the door to the iron bars was opened and Masaru stepped inside zealously, causing Kakashi to take a surprised step back. As the cage clanged shut, Orochimaru's teeth glinted in the torchlight:

"I just don't like that fire in your eyes. And don't think I've forgotten the disrespect you showed me yesterday," Kakashi's gaze was full of fury as he locked eyes with the Sannin for only a moment, remembering with somewhat pride how he had spat at his feet, "Even the wildest of wolves can be broken, boy. And I'll make sure you're groveling at my feet soon. "

The Copy Ninja's gaze was hard, at first unbelieving, as Orochimaru stepped casually away from the bars and strolled down the dimply lit hallway, laughing manically as if he had just told or heard a good joke. Masaru's voice made his gaze center again:

"I've been told not to kill ya, Hatake," He said, "So, I won't. However," His dull red eyes gleamed, "I've been very jumpy lately, which is bad news for you. I won't kill you," He laughed, "But that's all I'm promising!"

Kakashi barely got into a battle-ready stance when the younger ninja leaped toward him viciously. He took a startled bend backwards as Masaru lashed out at his face with a hand that looked much more like a claw. He quickly caught himself before falling all the way over, jumping back to anticipate his attacker's next move.

He reached absent-mindedly to his side, where his hand felt only cloth. Cursing to himself, he realized that he had no form of weapon to defend himself with. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. Kakashi's hand-to-hand skills were nothing to be ashamed of at all, but in his current state, he doubted how long and how efficiently he'd be able to fight with his taijutsu alone.

His Sharingan was out of commission too. Also a problem.

Masaru struck for him again with lightning speed, this time actually managing to nick Kakashi in the side a little before he jumped out of the way, eyes already blurring and stomach already churning. He didn't know whether he was slowing down or whether Masaru was just incredibly fast. The latter was confirmed when suddenly, the enemy ninja disappeared.

Kakashi froze, and suddenly a sharp and blinding pain erupted from his back. He cried out in pain, falling to his knees and feeling thick sticky warmness envelope his back and drip down to the floor. His vision swam with a variety of blacks and reds. Masaru's frenzied laugh seemed to bring him out of the pain momentarily, and suddenly his senses seemed to return to him.

He felt a strong chakra signature next to him suddenly, and closing in fast. As quickly as he could manage, the Jounin whipped up his hand and stopped the fist with only a small amount of recoil. He couldn't tell if the noise Masaru made was a low whistle of admiration or a single chuckle. He twisted his head to the side and glowered at the red-eyed boy menacingly, which made the ever-present grin on his face widen.

"I see you still got some fight left in ya!" He cried out happily, "That's good! I was beginning to think I wouldn't have much fun here!"

Kakashi's fingers tightened around Masaru's fist, nails digging into flesh, as he shoved him backwards, causing him to stagger only a little bit. The Copy Ninja stood up semi-shakily and immediately rushed forward to get the upper hand, sending a fist flying towards the face he wanted to break.

Masaru ducked quickly, and Kakashi adapted, crouching down and sweeping his foot back towards his opponent, catching him off-guard, though not quite as much as he would have hoped. Though surprised, Masaru still managed to flip over Kakashi's leg and regain his composure, howling happily.

"How the hell is he so fast?!" Kakashi wondered heatedly as he shot his forearms up to protect his face from another punch that made his arms pop unpleasantly, "And powerful… He's definitely stronger than the average shinobi."

"What's the matter, Hatake?" Masaru asked mockingly, "You look like you're thinking pretty hard about somethin'! This is a fight, genius, so thinking hard like that will only get you killed!"

He shot forward, grabbing Kakashi by the neck and slamming him into the opposite wall, causing some rock to shatter. The Jounin gasped sharply in pain as his back throbbed aggressively. Masaru grinned, pushing Kakashi further up against the wall and tightening his grip around his neck:

"See what I mean? Luckily for you, I'm not allowed to kill ya!"

Kakashi swiftly swung up both of his legs and shoved them into Masaru's abdomen, causing a crunching sound to echo throughout the empty room. The man gasped breathlessly and was blown to his back. Kakashi made sure his feet were planted firmly on the ground before gasping:

"Luckily for you, I'm not in the best condition right now. You'd be dead if I was."

Masaru lifted his head furiously right as Kakashi sped forward and raised his fist to hit him right in between the eyes. His eyes widened and he rolled out of the way, climbing up to his hands and knees just as Kakashi made contact with the ground, causing some stones to splinter around his fist. Seeing that he obviously didn't hit his target, the man stood upright, ready for whatever may come next.

Masaru's gaze settled shortly on Kakashi's fist as he caught trails of blood on his knuckles, seeping down towards his wrist and staining his dark blue glove a darker black-looking color. He grinned, locking his eyes back up towards his silver-haired adversary.

"Looks like you're doing more than your body can handle," He laughed, "Why so angry?" Kakashi's gaze narrowed, "Your eyes look a little glazed over too, Hatake."

Kakashi chuckled, a broken phlegm-y sound, "Pretty odd question, coming from the one who's trying to dismantle me."

Masaru tossed his head up and laughed shortly before his focus went back to his opponent, "Dismantle? I haven't gotten permission for that yet, unfortunately."

Part of Kakashi got a sinking feeling in his stomach and part of him scoffed when he realized that the man was completely serious, and had every intention of wanting to actually dismantle him later, when he 'got permission.'

Masaru launched forward again, throwing a punch at Kakashi that he blocked, and continuing with a seemingly fast onslaught of other strikes. It was only then that Kakashi noticed how clumsy his footing was getting, and how his vision kept on blurring in and out of focus. His breath was ragged, and his head pounded. This wasn't good.

He could feel his breaking point creeping up uncomfortably fast.

Slowing down considerably, Kakashi had left himself much more susceptible to attacks. Masaru took account of this rather quickly, and used it to land a hard blow to the ninja's side, causing him to grunt agonizingly and fly to the side, smashing to the ground noisily.

Kakashi coughed up a warm metallic-tasting substance that couldn't actually escape from his mouth because of the mask that covered it. But he wouldn't remove the material; not in the presence of that bastard. That would only be proving to himself that he had really lost all of his fight, and he wasn't ready to give that up. He struggled to get to his feet, hands awkwardly trying to push him up from his sideways position on the ground. They shook with the movement, and it seemed like all of his strength had just disappeared.

Masaru laughed heartily at seeing Kakashi's struggle, "You're really a mess, aren't you Hatake?? One kick to the side and you're on the ground," He walked casually over to the man who made every effort to glare spitefully at him. Masaru just laughed again, stepping on Kakashi's head firmly and earning a pained grunt, "You do look like you're half-dead though…" He almost sounded upset, "So I guess our playtime is over," He chuckled, "Lord Orochimaru wouldn't like it if I damaged you too much."

He slid his foot off of Kakashi's head and pivoted around, giggling like an eager child as he opened the iron gate to the cell, "That was exciting, Hatake! I hope you live long enough so that we can play again," His giggling turned into laughter as his footsteps tapped down the hall, growing farther and farther away until they could no longer be heard.

Kakashi lifted a hand slowly and shakily up to his face, ripping down his mask and proceeding to gasp, going into a coughing fit that rattled his body and caused blood to spurt out of his mouth. When the coughing finally subsided, he concentrated on taking as many deep breaths as he could, though they were shaky, and tried to get his vision to stop blurring so much. It was hurting his already throbbing head even more than it should've been.

Kakashi tried clumsily to at least sit up, crawling over to a wall first and painfully pulling himself up and twisting around so that his back was against the wall. He grimaced as his raw and bleeding back made contact with the hard surface. Exhaling, he decided to try and stop the bleeding of whatever injuries he could, even though he knew the work would be shoddy.

Reaching down painfully to his legs, Kakashi used whatever strength he had left to tear off a piece of the fabric. He slid off his now sticky right glove and started to wrap the cloth around it, trying to hold it down to try and stop the bleeding of his knuckles that had spread blood almost all the way past his wrist.

Ruefully, he realized he couldn't do anything about his back, which was still dripping blood, "Great," He thought tiredly, "It's the most devastating wound, and I can't even treat it."

The Copy Ninja shook his head slowly, even that movement becoming a liability. He realized that the only thing he could do now was rest and hopefully alleviate the throbbing pain that was racing through his head, and the soreness that was currently incapacitating him. Suddenly, his mind left him, and Kakashi's world tipped to the side.

He hardly registered the new short wave of pain as his head once again made contact with the ground.

……………………………………………………………………..

"… Are you sure it was such a good idea to let Masaru administer the discipline, sir?" Yuuka asked with a mixture of annoyance and nervousness.

"Are you doubting me, Yuuka dear?" Orochimaru's voice was silky smooth as his eyes narrowed in the woman's direction. A trace of fear shone in her red eyes as she bowed down immediately, orange hair falling in front of her face:

"Never, Lord Orochimaru. Please forgive my impudence."

Orochimaru's lips curved into a smile as he gently touched the top of her head with his palm, "Good girl. Of course I'll forgive you."

She looked up at him with a smile of relief, "Thank you, sir."

"As for why I sent Masaru…" The Sannin continued, "He was getting quite anxious. This was a perfect way for him to let out some of his anger, as well as teach Kakashi some… Manners."

"… He knows not to kill Kakashi?" Yuuka's already low voice went even lower.

"He won't," Orochimaru said calmly, examining some test tubes of various shapes and sizes laid out on the dining room table before them, "He knows what would happen to him if he did."

Yuuka shook a little involuntarily. She noticed Orochimaru pick up a certain test tube, gazing at it expectantly, and she stepped up beside him to eye it herself. Being the keeper of all of these chemical mixtures and compounds, she knew exactly what it was.

"Already, sir?" She asked curiously, an eyebrow rising.

"Yes…" He hissed contentedly, smiling widely, "He has performed marvelously so far. That and those Konoha dogs are nearing our home. I think it would be polite to have a little surprise waiting for them when they got here, don't you Yuuka?"

"Yes, sir," She smiled, "It's a splendid idea."

He handed his associate the slender tube carefully. She took it with the same amount of care, "Prepare the second dosage, Yuuka."

She nodded, "When should I have it ready by, Lord Orochimaru?"

He turned around to leave the Medical Bay, pausing only momentarily to answer Yuuka's question:

"We administer it tomorrow morning. In seven hours."

Author's Note:

"Why so angry?"

I was SO tempted to write 'Why so serious?' there. No joke. XD It took a great deal of self-control to not write it.

SO, SO sorry for being a total loser with these updates!! I really feel bad about it! But school's had me really tied up, and I had writer's block for the longest time… O.o But that is hopefully over, and I will try to get the next chapter up sooner, though I can't make any promises…

In other news, this chapter was all about Kakashi! (Mostly) Yay! Well, I don't know if you'd rejoice for that, because the whole chapter really just described the Sensei getting the crap beaten out of him. (*sweat drop*) But I really wanted to write a chapter only taking place in Orochimaru's Hideout. Of course, I wanted the plot to move along a little, so I added that little bit at the end with Orochimaru and Yuuka.

Thank you so much for keeping up with my story you guys! Your reviews really mean a lot to me! :)