Chapter 7: The Rescue.

"Akamaru! What is it boy?" Kiba looked up at his rather large dog. "Bark!" Akamaru barked. "Yeah I smell it too boy." Kiba scrunched up his nose.

"Hey guys!" Kiba called out to the rest of the squad. "I have Kakashi's scent. He's this way!"

"Shikamaru! We found him. He's ten kilometers to the north/west." Kiba explained.

Shikamaru signaled Sai to get Jiraiya and Shino.

Once they were all together again, they began forming a plan of action.

"Alright guys, here's the plan." Shikamaru announced, getting every ones attention. "We'll need to do this fast. Jiraiya, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, Sai, if you all use the same search tactic, we ca cover more ground in less time, with your bugs, rats, toads, byakugan can see ad sense through walls and doors, therefore we won't have to waste time by opening and closing doors, while Kiba and Akamaru use their hearing and smell to watch for enemies. Naruto and I will serve as back-up. Guy, Shikaku, and Iruka you guys are to keep Sakura safe, for every ones sake. And god only knows what state Kakashi is in. It's basically the same formation that it's been since we started the mission. Is ever one clear on what to do?

They all nodded as they approached Orochimaru's hideout.

"I found him!" Shino called to the rest of them. "He's in there." He pointed to a plain wooden door.

Iruka stepped toward the door, grabbed the handle, twisted and hesitated before Naruto pushed him out of the way bursting through the door, every one gapping at the horrifying sight before them.

"Well?" Iruka asked looking at Shikaku.

Shikaku nodded. "He's in here alright. He's in bad shape but he's alive."

Iruka ran over to the group, looking at Kakashi, he froze, his body gone rigid, eyes wide, the fear struck in his eyes clear for ever one to see.

"Get him out of here and start treating him right away." Iruka said between gritted teeth, holding his tears back.

"Let's all get out of here before we're discovered." Shikamaru insisted.

There was no hesitation, they all nodded and turned toward the door to leave.

"Sasuke!" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.

"What do you all think you're doing?" Sasuke sneered.

"We're saving Kakashi." Naruto looked Sasuke in the eyes. "Don't make us fight you. 'Cause we will." Naruto threatened.

"Naruto go on ahead, I'll catch up to you." Iruka glared at Sasuke.

"But sensei!" Naruto argued. "I can't leave you here..."

"Naruto! Take Kakashi and get out of here!" Iruka commanded. "Now go!"

Naruto and Jiraiya grabbed a hold of Kakashi carrying him away.

"The rest of you go with Naruto, I'll be right behind you." Iruka nodded reassuringly. "Now go."

They all nodded and left following Naruto to safety.

"I advise you rethink your plan and leave him here, otherwise there will be severe consequences. Orochimaru will be very angry you took him without his permission." Sasuke said informing them of the obvious. "Tell you what, for old time's sake and to make this a little more interesting, I'll let you take him, I'll see to it that you have some sort of head start, perhaps a month. That should be sufficient enough time for Kakashi to heal and for the Leaf to prepare for Orochimaru's revenge for taking his beloved Kakashi away from him. But I'll be able to convince him to wait about a month, may be less perhaps longer, but give or take a month." Sasuke sneered. "I suggest you leave before I change my mind."

Iruka nodded. "I suppose we'll be seeing you soon then."

"See you soon, sensei." Sasuke smirked wretchedly.

Iruka shivered as he turned around and headed back the way they came in. finally he found the opening they made, and without looking back or even a second thought, he left the building, hurrying to catch up with the squad.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called. "We're over here!"

"Iruka, we don't have time to sit, we need to get Kakashi to a hospital, Sakura has done everything she could." Jiraiya spoke calmly. "I can carry him if you're tired."

"No." Iruka said as calmly as he could manage. "I'll carry him. Now let's get out of here before they come looking for us."

Jiraiya tempted a smile as he helped Iruka hoist Kakashi over his shoulder.

"I'm ready, let's go." Iruka nodded.

Everyone nodded, as they began running towards the village.

xXx Back in the village xXx

Kakashi opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light. "Where am I"? He mumbled, his voice raw. He looked around noticing he was no longer in the dark room Orochimaru had left him in, it almost looked like he was in a hospital… he looked to his right, out the window, the beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds and warmth of the sun on his face. He sighed, allowing the beautiful sight sink in, hoping it was real, that it wasn't a dream. He took a deep breath and turned his head to the left, only to see Iruka sleeping in the beat up chair next to his bed. This has to be a dream he thought to himself. Then he hear a door open and a familiar voice, it was a woman's voice.

"Good, you're finally awake." Tsunade peered over. "Welcome home Kakashi."

Kakashi groaned in pain, which made him happy, feeling pain meant he was awake and that this wasn't a dream, it was real.

"You took quite a beating." She examined him with her eyes. "How are you feeling? I healed you up, to the best of my ability, and the condition they brought you back in, wasn't exactly, good."

"I'm fine thanks." He answered wincing every time he took a breath. "I'm just glad to be out and far away from the wretched place."

"I see." She nodded, knowing exactly what had happened. Give she was the one who examined him when they first brought him in. "And Sasuke?"

"He won' be returning. From what I saw he's a lost cause. Unfortunately he's sided with Orochimaru, Sasuke claims that they're 'in-love', which from what I saw and experienced, it's true… They have some sort if fucked up relationship going on…" Kakashi felt a slight tinge in his chest. "There's absolutely nothing we can do to help him now, at least not until Orochimaru show him what kind of lover he truly is, which he isn't really a good one. As I'm sure you already know from mine and Orochimaru's past, I'm sure our late Hokage has informed you of said events, in case of a scenario like this one?" Kakashi asked rhetorically.

She nodded. "Well, I sup…"

"I'm sorry…" Iruka mumbled pathetically.

Both Kakashi and Tsunade turned to see Iruka, a sad, almost depressing look in his eyes.

"For what?" Tsunade stared at him in confusion. "You saved his life, you argued with me about the mission, you were willing to be labeled a rogue ninja to save his life. You put together a perfect team, you handpicked them yourself, you walked right into one of Orochimaru's lair, you alone carried him all the way back to the village, refusing to let anyone else help you carry him, refused to stop for a break, other than to allow Sakura to stabilize him, then once you got here, you demanded that I personally tend to his wounds, and on top of all that, you haven't left his side since he's been in this bed. What could you possibly be sorry for?"

Kakashi felt a strange tingle in his chest, his whole body going warm. He bit his lip, trying with his entire being not to turn into a giggling pansy. He smiled, though the smile quickly faded, noticing that the feeling he had in his chest, was all too familiar, the last time he'd felt like this, was the first time he'd ever kissed Orochimaru, before Orochimaru became a dick face.

"I couldn't protect you." Iruka answered her staring down at his feet. "I let them take you, I let them hurt you, and I couldn't stop them!" His eyes welled with tears.

"It's okay Iruka." Kakashi smiled under his mask reaching over placing a hand on Iruka's knee. ad you ""Had you of done something we'd both be in the hospital, or worse you'd be dead, and it'd be my fault. And when I told you to back down, I had a good reason, I knew Orochimaru didn't have any intentions of killing me, I knew he'd torture me, ad inflict immense amounts of pain on me, but I know he'd never take my life. He's still in love with me." Kakashi sighed. "You did absolutely nothing wrong Iruka. And plus, you saved me from having to endure more of his punishment sessions, so thank you."

Iruka nodded. "You look hungry."

"Huh?" Kakashi looked down at his now growling stomach. "Yeah I am, I haven't eaten since well, I don't honestly don't remember, I don't even know how long I was gone for… the lack of sunlight, and the darkness in that place, I guess I lost all concepts of time…"

"I'll go out and grab us something to eat, then we can talk some more okay?" Iruka smiled.

Kakashi nodded.

xXx half hour later xXx

Iruka came back with two large ramens with extra pork, handing one off to Kakashi.

"Ichiraku's?" Kakashi asked a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Only the best." Iruka smiled.

"Iruka?" Kakashi looked over to the ma sitting in the chair next to his bed. "How long was I gone for?"

"Nearly a month and a half." Iruka replied sadly. "W-what did they do to you in there?"

"Well I don't remember all of it…" Kakashi whispered. "They did several tests, I think that four eyed freak Kabuto injected me with some sort of green shit, and they…" Kakashi's eyes went wide, fear stricken on his face. "They…" His voice trailed off.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Iruka looked at him sympathetically. "I understan…"

"They raped me!" Kakashi blurted involuntarily. "They took turns… Sometimes even two went in at the same time…" He looked down at his lap.

Iruka's eyes went wide. He stood up walking over to the bedridden Kakashi, sitting next to him, and wrapped his arms gently around him. "I'm so sorry…" tears beginning to fall.

Kakashi's eyes went wide with shock, calming himself he collapsed into the brunet, and began to cry shakily. "T-thank you." He whispered.

There was a knock at the door and the two men jumped and separated.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura poked her head through the door. "Oh! Iruka-sensei! You're here too!" She said walking into the room, Sai and Naruto in tow.

"Sensei!" Naruto called. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better, thanks." Kakashi looked over at the three young ninja.

"That's great! Well we have to go now, we were on our way to see the Hokage and decided to stop in to say hi." Naruto explained enthusiastically. "We'll see you later sensei! Bye Iruka –sensei!"

The three younglings turned to heading to the door to leave.

"Sakura." Kakashi said. "Will you give Lady Hokage a message for me?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes sensei. What's the message?"

"Please just ask her to come buy as soon as possible." Kakashi said seriously. "It's important."

"Alright then." She smiled. "I'll let her know."

The three younglings left, closing the door behind them.

"So they raped you?" Iruka asked looking at him sympathetically.

"Yeah." Kakashi mumbled. "The thing is, I don't think they're done with me yet…You rescued me, which leaves me to believe that they'll come here looking for me. I also over heard them planning an attack which is why I need to speak with Lady Tsunade."

"Sasuke mentioned something of the sort." Iruka nodded. "So we'll wait for Lady Hokage to get here to talk it over."

Kakashi nodded in agreement.

xXx an hour later xXx

Tsunade walked into the room. "Afternoon, Sakura told me you need to speak with me?"

The two men nodded. "There are a few things we need to discuss with you." Iruka added.

"Alright then." Tsunade replied. "Shall we begin?"

"Well." Kakashi began. "I overheard Orochimaru talking about an alliance with the Akatsuki."

"I see." Tsunade said pinching the bridge of her nose. "Tell me everything you heard."

Kakashi nodded. "They said that they're planning an attack on the Leaf for, from what I know, multiple reasons. They are in alliance to start a full scale war throughout the great nations. The Akatsuki's reason is to take the Jinchūriki to aid the global domination and Orochimaru wants to steal the forbidden scrolls and jutsu's, though now he may have more than one reason to attack the leaf." He looked over towards Iruka.

"If it wasn't for Sasuke we wouldn't have gotten away, he said for old time's sake and to make this more interesting that he was going to let us go." Iruka sighed. "He also said that he would give us approximately one month, give or take, that it could be a week depending on if he could hold Orochimaru off that long or it could be longer, much longer, Sasuke wasn't very precise… That cocky little bastard."

"Shizune!" Tsunade called.

"Yes ma'am?" Shizune came running into the room.

"Get me every available Shinobi immediately!" Tsunade demanded.

Shizune nodded, leaving the room quickly.

"Kakashi, before I forget, I looked over your recent medical exams and as far as I can see your wounds are healing well, so you can feel free to leave whenever you're ready." Tsunade smiled. "I'd like the two of you to be in my office when the others get here. I'll need the two of you to explain what's going on."

The two men nodded.

xXx thirty minutes later in the Tsunade's office xXx

"While we're waiting, Kakashi, how're you feeling?" Tsunade asked. "You seem to be doing much better."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thank you." Kakashi replied. "What exactly do you need us to tell everyone when they get here?"

"Everything." she looked at him with distress. "As much as the two of you can possibly remember."

"Alright." Kakashi stared down at his feet.

"Lady Tsunade, I gathered as many as I possibly could." Shizune called as she burst into the room. "I've found Team Guy, Team Yamato, Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, and I've managed to find six others, every one else is out on mission."

"Alright." Tsunade sighed. "Send word to all our Shinobi who are out on the road, tell them there is no time to spare, they need to get back to the village as soon as possible, tell them once they have completed their mission they are to report to me immediately."

"Yes my lady." Shizune nodded and left the room.

"Grandma Tsunade, what's going on?" Naruto asked as he looked around to see that everyone else was as clueless as he is.

"Kakashi, Iruka, will you please tell them what's going on, and please try not to leave anything out." Tsunade looked over towards the two men.

"Well." Kakashi began. "While I was being held captive by Orochimaru, I over heard them talking about and alliance with the Akatsuki, they're planning an attack on the leaf. I overheard Orochimaru say he was after more forbidden techniques and the Akatsuki are using this to make their move on the Jinchūriki, in other words they're most likely going to target Naruto. I was pretty out of it from something Kabuto injected me with, but I'm pretty sure I heard him say something about starting a full scale was between the Great Nations. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty sure. I think we should be prepared all the same." He looked around at everyone.

"There's more." Iruka added. "As some of you already know, we ran into Sasuke during the rescue mission, and as you also know, I stayed behind hoping to talk some sense into the boy, which obviously didn't work. Anyway, I'm sorry to say but as it is for the moment there's nothing we can do to help him, he claims to be "in-love" with Orochimaru. Though if it wasn't for him, we probably never would have escaped." Iruka sighed. "He told me that we have give or take a month before they come, but be sure that they are coming. He also said that there would be severe consequences for rescuing Kakashi. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki are coming, and they're coming at us with everything they've got. So we need to come up with some sort of plan, and we need to do so now. Sasuke said they'd be here in a month possibly less, and that was five days ago. The clock is ticking and we're running out of time."