Chapter 14: To The Rescue

PLEASE READ: This is a thank you and an apology gift (for leaving you waiting so long) to everyone who enjoys this story, and a special thank you to everyone who leaves comments. I truly love reading them.

PS: I wrote this during work hours…don't tell my boss LMAO

HP/KH/IU

Kakashi clenched his hands into fists as he kept a lookout from the cave he'd found. The hushed yet pained noises seemed to echo through the cave as Naruto tended toSakura's wounds, and he didn't even have to glance back to know that Sasuke was still unconscious with his own wounds, given that he'd stepped in front of an attack that had been meant to take down a certain Jinchuuriki.

They had also lost track of Guy and Kurenai's teams during the ambush, or they had been purposefully split up, but it was too dangerous to leave Sasuke and Sakura alone to go looking for them or even just to go looking for them by himself since he was still a bit weak from using the Sharingan.

He was sure he'd have been out for the week again if Hadrian hadn't spent so much time working on the potion to ensure that he would still be able to move after straining his body so much, but Hadrian had told him that it hadn't yet been perfected to the point that it would ensure that he wouldn't feel any strain at all.

His mind jumped back to when he'd see the man last, and his thoughts unwillingly jumped to Itachi. Was the other man awake yet? Had it truly been a good idea to leave Hadrian there alone with Itachi in the same house?

He was sure the Hokage was keeping an eye on the place, but he knew how dangerous Itachi could be as well.

The image of Itachi coughing up blood before collapsing flashed through his mind, and his chest squeezed painfully as he wondered how long the man had battled with his illness for it to become that bad.

Soft footfalls echoed from behind him, and he instinctively knew it was Naruto before the kid sank down onto the floor next to him, but Kakashi kept his gaze on their surroundings.

They sat like that in silence for a while before Kakashi finally spoke, "Beating yourself up over what happened isn't going to change it, you know."

He felt Naruto stiffen next to him, but he didn't reply immediately, and Kakashi absentmindedly noted that it was one of the things that had changed ever since Naruto started living with Hadrian.

He might still have a temper, but he tended to think things through rather than simply charging in without a plan…mostly, at least.

Kakashi frowned as he remembered how they had just settled down at an Inn in a small town near their destination when they were ambushed.

The group seemed intent on getting any information they could about Hadrian, and they seemed to be familiar enough with the Hidden Leaf to know that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki, as the attack that they launched would have surely done quite a bit of damage.

Naruto had naturally seen the threat and decided to take it head-on so that the rest of them wouldn't be injured, but Sasuke had stepped in at the last minute and got hit instead…even as Sakura got hit with a sneak attack from behind as she tried to rush toward the duo instead of keeping an eye on the enemy.

Kakashi had been unable to reach them at the time, too busy fighting back the ones that tried to attack them from the side.

The resulting carnage was something Kakashi would never have expected from Naruto, but Kurama managed to step in and control him for a moment once there was no one left to attack.

Kakashi still felt that it was strange to be able to talk to a tailed beast, but Kurama had proved to be quite intelligent during some of their mission, so when he suggested locking away the incident from Naruto's mind, Kakashi agreed under the condition that they would talk to him once everyone had safely made it back to the village.

Kurama had merely nodded before another group of enemies had been upon them, and it was only during the latter part of the battle that Kakashi realised that Kurama must have switched out with Naruto again once most of the enemies had been taken care of and that he seemed to act as if they were still fighting the enemies that had been dealt with already.

Luckily, Kakashi remembered a cave in this location that he'd used before, one he'd only stumbled upon after he lost his footing during a storm, and they quickly made their way to it without any further incident.

Kakashi had many hours to think as Naruto treated Sasuke and Sakura with the potions Hadrian always sent with him, and he found it suspicious that their enemies knew so much about them but so little about Hadian, who seemed to be the actual target, but then he remembered the times when Hadrian would react differently to some situations and the way he sometimes skirted around certain subjects.

In a way, he was sure that Naruto, Sasuke, himself and maybe even Gaara were the closest to Hadrian, but it always felt as if there was a depth to the man that he couldn't quite grasp.

He knew the man had many secrets; the evidence was clear enough in the way he carried himself and the haunted look that would cross over his face for mere seconds at the most random times, and he refused to pry, but that meant their enemies knew him about as well as the rest of the village did, leaving only two conclusions…someone had either infiltrated the Village or someone had turned traitor.

A soft curse met his ears, and he glanced at Naruto.

Unsurprisingly, the kid looked exhausted, but there was a determined glint in his eyes that mixed with a deeply buried rage that now shimmered close to the surface.

It was the same rage and determination he'd glimpsed in another man whenever one of those close to him got hurt or was threatened, and for a moment, their images overlapped, causing Kakashi to smile sadly before he caught a glimpse of the bracelet on Naruto's arm.

It was only for a split second before he turned his gaze away.

Naruto seemed to notice his gaze, though, because he sighed, "I know he said I should use the bracelet if we ever find ourselves in a dangerous situation we couldn't get out of, but is it selfish of me that I don't want him to know?"

Kakashi regarded him for a moment before he shook his head, "No matter how you look at the situation, it would be a very bad idea to summon Hadrian here…"

Naruto was about to interrupt, but Kakashi shook his head, "That is the only possible use of the bracelet that I can think of, that it would act much like the Fourth Hokage's technique. Unless it is meant to send a message for reinforcements, but I highly doubt that."

Naruto frowned for a moment before he sighed and nodded, "I thought so too, and it doesn't seem to be a technique that was created after we tried to teach him how to use chakra."

Kakashi nodded, knowing what Naruto was trying to say and waiting for him to continue, but then his student's tense shoulders relaxed, and he smiled wistfully before his expression morphed into one of cold determination, "Nii-san…We can't let them get close to him."

HP/KH/IU

Naruto heard his words echo in his own ears as images of what could happen flashed through his mind before he stamped it down.

He'd already almost lost Sasuke; he wasn't going to allow Hadrian to get hurt as well. A shudder went through his body at the thought.

He'd felt a moment of pure cold dread, and everything had happened in slow motion as he'd felt Sasuke's hand on his shoulder, thinking that he was trying to drag him back, but, instead, that hand had been used to propel Sasuke toward the threat instead.

He didn't know how to describe how it felt when he saw the attack hurtling towards Sasuke, but he'd half expected it to be the end before something black seemed to cover Sasuke's form for a split second before he got hit.

Naruto didn't know what it was, but it seemed to protect Sasuke from the worst of the impact and that was enough, yet he hadn't thought so at the time.

Seeing Sasuke's body colliding with the hill to their left and crumbling like a puppet that had its strings cut had caused him to completely blackout, and he couldn't remember much after that, but he was sure that he had been the cause of quite a few of the bodies they'd passed once he'd regained consciousness and he was selfishly glad that he was not fully conscious at the time.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together, though, and he heard a slight grumble in his mind because of that, "I'm not just some kit that wants to become Hokage for recognition anymore, Kurama, you know that. Hadrian taught me that real recognition comes from skill, not titles, so if I want to become Hokage, I need to be prepared to do what I can to protect my people. Even if it means I have to kill…but that would be the last resort."

Kurama must have sensed his hesitance at the end because he snickered softly, but Naruto ignored him in favour of turning back slightly to glance at where Sasuke was.

He'd placed his own bedroll under Sasuke's to cushion his body a little more, just in case there was a major injury that they were overlooking, even though it seemed as if Hadrian's potions had healed any and all damage there may have been.

He was about to over to check up on Sasuke and then Sakura, but a shout suddenly sounded through the darkness, startling him from his thoughts, and he and Kakashi readied themselves for a fight, bodies tense as they struggled to see what was going on in the dark.

Though, even in the dark, there was no mistaking it as a giant snake suddenly appeared, followed closely by a giant toad…

Naruto watched with wide eyes as the summons started fighting; Kakashi had told him about the three Sannin before when he'd asked who the strongest people in the village were…and how they had all split up.

A worried thought formed as he remembered the meeting that had been held with the other captains, and he glanced back toward Sasuke, "Is he trying to use the chaos to take Sasuke away?"

Kakashi looked grim as he nodded, "That is the only explanation I can think of that would bring him here. Jiraiya is hot on his trail as ever, though, and he might have brought some reinforcements with him."