Red Hand

Summary: A power is growing. Two forces are feared to be joining together and no one, except Kakashi, seems to understand what is happening. Will the young Hatake conquer his own demons in time to save the others he didn't realized he cared for? :.:.Naruto/HP Crossover.:.:

Genre: Drama/Angst

Author's Notes: Holy fuck... an update? Has Hell frozen over? -- :D -- Anyways... here's the proof that I haven't forgotten about this story yet. RED HAND LIVES ON!!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. They are both owned by other, much richer people, mkay?

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"blah, blah, blah" -- English

"blah, blah, blah" -- Japanese

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"Professor?" a young girl's scared voice breaks through the fuzzy haze that wraps itself around my brain.

"Professor Hatake?" she whispers again. I fight back a moan of pain and frustration that wishes to escape my lips.

Chains. I can feel shackles and chains around my wrists – suspending my arms above my head, my feet barely touching the ground.

"Professor?" that girl whispers again, her voice harsh against my ears and grating on my nerves.

"Shut-up," I mutter, not bothering to open my eyes. It's easier to pretend I haven't fucked up if I can't see the desperate situation I've landed myself in.

Silence falls upon us but I know it won't last for long. Not with that stupid far-too concerned and far-too nosey girl here.

"Professor?" she questions – yet again.

I knew the blissful silence wouldn't last for long.

"Professor, are you okay?" her concerned voice continues breaking the comforting silence.

"Didn't I tell you to shut-up?"

"But… but…" she stutters, "But aren't you going –"

"Go find yourself another hero," I coldly reply, "I quit."

"You can't quit!" a boy – Harry – yells at me.

"I never agreed to protect you to begin with," I state, "so it's only fair I get to pull our when I wish too."

"You can't just give up!" Harry continues to yell at me. He must know by now that he can't get out of this situation without my help.

I crack open my right eye to find myself chained to a wall in my own cell. The three children – Harry, Ron, and Hermione – are all in their own cells opposite me, side by side, and not chained up. Orochimaru must think they are of no concern, which is completely true.

"This isn't even my war." I stare into Harry's angry eyes. "So there's no point in fighting for something I don't give a shit about."

"But that guy," Hermione interjects, "Isn't he from your land? From your war?"

I blink, the only sign of my surprise over the fact that that girl figured that out, "Very observant. Too bad my mission isn't to protect you – or even to fight Orochimaru."

"So you're just going to abandon us?" Ron asks from his position on the floor where he's still clutching his injured, uncared for leg.

"Orochimaru is strong, I have to right to flee from him if I wish," I pull on the chains to test their strength – to strong for me to break out of.

"So you're just going to run away?" Harry spits out, "Do you not care for others?"

"You're not my responsibility," I reply calmly, "Nor are you any people I particularly care enough about to wish to protect."

"But—"

"Also," I interrupt Harry, 'the three of you are nothing but annoying brats who have only ever got in my way."

"But—"

"Shut-up," I mutter suddenly as a noise catches my attention.

Harry falls silent and I strain my ears to try and pick up the sound I heard earlier. There it is again – footsteps. Someone's coming, someone who is very, very strong.

"Orochimaru is coming," I whisper to the three children, "Don't do or say anything – you'll only piss him off and trust me, he won't show you any mercy."

The malice chakra grows stronger with every passing second – every footstep that echoes off the walls I'm not even near.

"Are you sure he's coming?" Hermione asks.

"Shut-up," I mutter in frustration. Do these kids never do what they're told?

A few silent moments pass. Well, silent for the children but not for me – I can hear Orochimaru's footsteps. I can also hear another set of footsteps now too. Softer, lighter, and uneven. Voldemort must be with him too – he's the only other person I know that could hold that strange chakra. Chakra that is both strong but very weak at the same time; it doesn't really make much sense.

I hear the lock of the door being fiddled with and then the door is pulled open. I turn my head to watch who it is that has come to see us – it is indeed Orochimaru and Voldemort, just as I suspected.

"So you're awake," the Sannin states in observation.

"Really? I had thought this was a dream, thanks for informing me." I roll my eye in sarcasm.

Orochimaru chuckles. "Still hiding your fear with jokes, nh?"

"Still a bastard, nh?" I coldly reply.

"And he tells us to watch what we say," Ron whispers to Harry with a shake of his head.

Orochimaru unlocks my cell and enters, walking right up to me.

"Do you always have to stand so fucking close to me?" I question. "Seriously… I don't need to smell what you had for lunch."

He pulls a kunai out from a pocket somewhere in is clothes and uses the tip of it to push up my hitaiate. "I had decided to be kind and allow you to keep your hitaiate, but I don't think I shall anymore. Not after the words you've spoken to me." His voice is barely above that of a whisper.

"Oh no… looks like I'm being punished." I allow the sarcasm to hide the choking fear that surrounds my heart.

He removes my hitaiate with his other hand and tucks it into a pocket. The tip of kunai traces a path from my left temple down to my left cheekbone.

"It would be so easy for me to take that eye right now." The Sannin smiles at me. "It's a pity that it probably won't survive another transplant. Well… it's a pity for me but beneficial to you since it means I won't try to take it." He cocks his head and runs the kunai across my cheekbone, drawing blood. "But I think I may still remove it, you know, just to reduce your potential strength. I have to think about my future."

"Then why haven't you removed it? You've had plenty of opportunities… what's stopped you?" My voice holds a bitter edge now.

"I kind of enjoy watching you fight. You're very graceful, very beautiful… it's a lovely sight to behold."

"Great." I let the sarcasm come back. "Now I've got a stalker."

The Sannin chuckles then turns around. I let out a small sigh of relief as the kunai is removed from the general area of Obito's eye.

"Voldemort here thinks I should kill you Kakashi." Orochimaru locks the cell door behind him. "Says you're too much of a threat. Fancy that… he fears you more than he fears the Potter child. And apparently there's some sort of prophecy that says Potter is suppose to be the child to bring upon the death of Voldemort – or some shit like that."

"Really? I find that surprising," I state in complete truthfulness, "Potter killing Voldemort? That's like… I don't know what that's like. It's so absurd I can't even think of a comparison for it."

Orochimaru chuckles. "Don't get too relaxed here. Once I've done what I need to do I'll be back to see you."

I gulp, trying desperately to keep my panic in check. I think I've done a pretty remarkable job keeping my emotions in control this time around.

"Oh… and," Orochimaru speaks up as he opens the door to leave. "Don't try to do anything silly – I personally performed the seal on your chakra this time. There's no way you'll be able to break the seal without killing yourself."

I watch as the two of them leave and quietly lock the door behind them.

I close my eyes to block out the whining voice of that stupid girl. I dearly wish she would just be quiet so that I could focus and try to come up with a plan.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?"

"Shut-up!" I snap at her. "You're not helping."

She finally falls silent and I look at everything in the room and try to come up with a plan of escape. My mind goes over every possibly scenario but I can't seem to come up with anything that would work. This is all completely hopeless.

I don't know how long the four of us stayed in complete silence but it was long enough for both Ron and Harry to fall asleep. Though that annoying girl stays up and paces– I assume she's trying to figure out a way to escape on her own. Good luck to her.

I cock my head slightly as footsteps, other than Hermione's, catches my attention. "Stop pacing…" I mutter to the girl.

She stops and looks at me in question.

"Can you hear that?" I ask.

She listens for a few seconds than her face registers realization. Someone else is coming here. Quietly she wakes Harry and Ron with a few whispers and motions at them to be silent. A key jingles in the lock as someone tries to open the door in silence.

My internal clock informs me that it's well past midnight. Whoever is coming here must be coming against their orders.

The door creaks open and in walks none other than the traitor, the double servant, Severus Snape.

"Come to pay a parting visit?" I murmur, careful to keep my voice low so as not to alarm any guards that may be by.

He snarls at me. "It seems Dumbledore has instilled a gnawing sense of honor in me that I can't ignore."

I crack a sarcastic small smile underneath my mask. "Do you expect me to believe that you are risking your life and the wrath of both Voldemort and Orochimaru just to save the four of us?"

He shakes his head. "Believe whatever you wish but I will do what I feel I must. Be wary, this place will not be easy to escape."

I watch as he unlock the children's cells and then unlocks mine. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end in wary preparation as he reaches above my head to unlock the shackles then steps back.

"Go. But go silently and with speed. I trust that you will not have trouble finding your way out with that eye of yours."

"Harry, help Ron. And try not to hold us all up," I state to the shocked children still standing in their cells.

"It's not my fault I'm injured," Ron manages to mutter.

I ignore him. "Okay, if you three want to get out of here alive don't make a sound and do everything I say no matter how ridiculous or stupid it might seem like to you. Just do it. Because if you don't we'll just end up back here only Orochimaru and Voldemort will be even more pissed at us."

"Oh, and Kakashi," Severus whispers, "When Orochimaru spoke of your friends that he captured he was either lying or they've already been killed. There is no trace of them in this place."

I nod quietly and push away the grief that suddenly wants to assault me. Now is not the time to grieve over deaths that may or may not have occurred from a source that I may or may not be able to trust.

A nod at the frozen-to-the spot children tells them to leave and they do; silently and cautiously. My eyes stay on Severus so that if he decides to do anything I will be prepared to intervene. When the children safely through the door I walk through, keeping focused on Severus' chakra single even though he is now behind me.

Slowly I open my left eye to try and trace the way out of this place. A few steps takes me to the front of the huddled-together-children and a quick look behind me assures me that Severus is no longer a threat. Something tells me that I can trust him and that he's being true to his word.

Returning my gaze to the surroundings Obito's eye quickly finds the path that I could possibly lead to a safe exit. But there are guards about, wizards and witches mostly, but some carry the familiar chakra of those trained as Shinobis.

Nearly half and hour later, and twenty broken-necked and killed guards later, I find myself gasping for breath as a well placed and undetected kick sends me sprawling into the group of children.

A few deep breaths and quick blocks brings me back to a standing position in front of the children.

"Still running away, nh? Just like always," a voice whispers.

I raise my line of vision from the very skilled Shinobi's feet to his face.

"Sensei?" My voice is hoarse and dry with repressed emotion.

How can he be here? He is dead. Dead. Fucking dead. Sealed a demon and died. He shouldn't be here. He can't be here. This is impossible. Obito's eye tells me that this isn't a genjutsu that I've been trapped in. Obito's eye also tells me that the man standing before me is real – just as real as myself and the children I protect behind me.

He slowly walks towards me. His presence chills me to the bone. "You are weak. Your chakra is sealed," he states, "That's disappointing. How could you let that happen?"

"It was Orochimaru," I pitifully respond, my voice cracking with the tears I'm barely holding back. His presence alone is enough to lift the desperate depression that has weighted me down since his death. He is here. He is standing in front of me. He is alive.

Never mind that he's fighting me. Never mind that he seems to be working for Orochimaru and Voldemort. He's alive – and that is all that matters.

"Don't tell me you still freeze in the presence of Orochimaru. You should be stronger than that by now."

The disappointment in his voice breaks me. Shatters my last remaining thread of dignity and self-control. The desperate tears soak my mask.

"What are they saying?" I hear Harry whisper to Hermione but their voices mean nothing to me anymore.

"I don't know. They're speaking Japanese," she replies.

"Crying?" He chuckles. "Crying? How pitiful, how desperate, how un-Shinobi like."

"I've missed you," I murmur as he now stands inches away from me. So close that if I reached out I would be able to touch him. "I've missed all three of you."

"I know." He smiles. "I know the pain you feel but that is nothing compared to what you're about to feel."

Obito's eye flashes a warning. On extinct I shift my weight to the left in an attempt to dodge. The kunai in my hand, stolen from one of the guards I killed, pierces the chest of the one who stands in front of me.

I feel the warmth of blood pour against my arm… but it also soaks my clothes. I look down and Sensei's Rasengan as shredded the right part of my abdomen; torn through skin and muscle and cracked the first few ribs.

The sound of clapping reaches my ears and I lift my gaze from my injury and see Orochimaru walk around the corner… clapping.

"Very good Kakashi, as expected. Your training and your Genius extinct still overrides your emotions. You desire to live is stronger than your desire to see the ones you claim to care so much for." He smiles at me, smiles that stupid smug smile of his. "Too bad you have been tricked. I didn't think you would fall for it but you did. That, I can say, was unexpected."

I look back into the face of Sensei. Or rather, the face that used to be Sensei. Slowly that face begins to fade away and change.

"Asuma?" I whisper, fresh new tears falling from my eyes.

Did I just kill Asuma? Did I just pierce my best friends heart? How? Why? Why did he…?

"What the fuck is going on?" I blurt out. "What kind of sick game is this!"

"Oh, this is not a game Kakashi." The Sannin laughs. "No... not a game at all."

"Please… please…" Blood is gurgling out of Asuma's mouth now. "Had to… save… save her… Kurenai… forgive… please… forgive me…had... had to try... please..."

His body falls limp against mine and I push him away in blind anger now directed at Orochimaru.

"What is this?" I mutter in pure confusion and drained emotions.

How does Asuma even know the Rasengan? How could he try to kill me like that? How could he even concede to follow Orochimaru? Saving Kurenai, helping Kurenai, couldn't cause him to join forces with Orochimaru… could it? It seems so wrong, so very unlike him.

In a blind rage I charge forward but suddenly I stop as I find myself in a completely different place.

Great, now I'm trapped in a genjutsu. Just fucking awesome.

I blink a couple times to get my bearings. A small metal room, I'm on the outside of a small metal room with a window that I'm looking through. There's people in that room – people I don't recognize. They seem scared. Some hold on to others in fear while others stand in silent acceptance of their fate.

I watch in horror, unable to tear my eyes away, as a few showers turn on within the room. The liquid that they spurt out is not water… no. The liquid burns the skin of the ones within the rooms. Turns their skin black and burns it off. Their screams echo of the walls and gurgle for a few seconds before stopping. But their pain continues as they writhe around in a desperate attempt to escape the burning that melts their skin and slowly kills them.

The liquid is acid.

The showers shut-off when the last person stops moving. People come in and hose the bodies down before dragging them out. I find myself unable to control my body and I simply walk out a near door to find myself outside. The bloody and black-burnt bodies from the acid shower are being dragged out of the room and dumped in a ditch. The stench in unbearable and makes me gag as I desperately try hold back the urge to throw-up.

I turn around and a line of people, nearly a hundred, stand nearby. They're of all ages, from young to old. They stand in silence and clear acceptance as a man walks down the line – stopping in front of each person to slice their throat and kick their dying bodies into the ditch behind them. Some of the children begin to softly cry but their soft cries sound like screams to me in the cold silence out here.

I can still smell the burnt flesh from the acid shower.

I turn to my left to find myself looking at a single-file line of people with ropes around their necks, standing on barrels. A gust of wind blows by and knocks the barrels down, causing the people to fall and the ropes to tighten around their necks – the ropes attached to seemingly nothing. Their faces turn white with lack of oxygen and some of them futile kick their feet in an attempt to free themselves from their nooses.

Thousands of them suffocate to death. And as soon as their bodies finally give up they fall to the ground. One person takes nearly seven minutes to fall to the ground – he's the longest one, the strongest struggler.

I suddenly begin to recognize them. These aren't strangers... these are people I know. Their faces are familiar.

They're from Konoha.

I gasp in shock and desperate, chocking grief. I tear my eyes from the suffocated corpses and run to the ditch of the ones whose throats were being cut. The faces there are easy to place.

The faces are the Shinobis; Jiraiya, Sarutobi, Genma, Kurenai... the list goes on and on. Every Shinobi in all of Konoha. Every Shinobi I've ever seen, even the ones I hadn't worked with.

I jerk around as a hand touches my shoulder. I find myself face to face with Orochimaru himself. He pushes me down to my knees and leans down so that his nose is mere millimeters away from mine.

"Seems like you've failed again," he whispers.

My eyes catch a small glimmer as light is reflected off of a kunai in the Sannin's hand.

And then nothing but darkness and pain. It takes me a few moments to realize that the screams I'm hearing are my own voice. The pain is causing my ears to ring and blocking out all other thoughts.

Eventually I focus enough on my deep, gasping breaths that I can finally begin to focus again. And the pain starts to subdue, just a little, but enough that I can begin to calm down.

But everything's still black, and I'm surrounded by nothing except darkness.

"I wonder how hard it is…" Orochimaru's voice reaches my ears. "…to be a blind Shinobi."

A sense of panic grips me as I lift my hands to touch my face. I can feel the sticky blood on my cheeks and slowly I feel the gaping holes where my eyes used to be.

The gaping holes that are my now-empty eye sockets.