It took me awhile to think how to continue this... and the frequent boring lectures of my History professor. Personally I think it's a horrible continuation, so I may rewrite it later, but for now I must focus on my finals next week and how much of a zombie I'm going to be after working 7:30 to 5:30 at the same time... Wish me luck, especially with Sociology...blah

Again, this story implies malexmale, if you do not approve of the pairing be courteous and keep your opinions clean.

I'll try to update my other story soon!!

Name Upon the Stone Chapter Two.

The pale figure on the bed did not move. Long fingered hands lay limply at Kakashi's sides, their lifelessness unnerving the man sitting at the bed. Iruka calmly took one of those hands, shuddering when his warm hand touched the chill flesh. It was strange to feel such a corpse-like chill in the hands when the bandaged chest moved up and down clearly indicating life.

The Copy-Nin's mask was off allowing him to breathe better through his newly healed lungs, but his breathing still had a reaspy quality. Hopefully his lungs were healed all the way. Tsunade said that she had to patch him up quickly, maybe she did it too quickly and missed something. A dark grey eye and its Sharingan counterpart were hidden behind pale eyelids rimmed with dark, exhausted circles.

Iruka frowned as he watched his lover's eyes twitching underneath their lids, as the sleeping man dreamed.

"Either that or he's having a nightmare." Iruka thought. The recumbent body then started to tremble, the movement just barely perceptible. Iruka gently squeezed his lover's hand, reassuring him that someone was there for him. Someone would take care of him.

"What are you dreaming, love?" He asked his silent lover.

--FLASHBACK--

"You don't recognize this body, do you?"

That strange question plagued Kakashi as he dodged another attack. The Akatsuki called Tobi threw another fiery jutsu, hoping to fry the Copy-Cat.

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Kakashi drew in his chakra for chidori. There was nothing extremely special about the Akatsuki's body; the only thing of interest was his orange masked face. What, is he expecting me to remember him from a beach party or something? Who is this guy?

Tobi giggled, then ran over through the woods in the direction of the Memorial Stone. Flying past the trees without looking to see if his opponent was following.

"It means, silly, that you forgot your old friend."

Kakashi followed cautiously, leaping from branch to branch, ready to deflect any traps or attacks. But the coast was clear, no traps, no attacks and he found the orange masked Akatsuki in front of the stone. As the Copy-Nin approached, Tobi made no move to attack, the only movement he made was to run his hand down the names on the Memorial Stone, stopping at one near the bottom of the list.

"So many names already upon this stone. In the short life of this village so many have died protecting it. Look even I'm on here…well, kind of." The voice was no longer childish, but very much the voice of an adult.

"So you're a missing-nin from the Leaf village? I thought Itachi was the only leaf missing-nin in the Akatsuki. Who are you?"

The figured gave a grandiose bow. "I am Madara Uchiha, but this body is a different person entirely. Honestly, you don't recognize this body?"

He couldn't see what name Tobi lingered over, but the Copy-nin could wait until the Akatsuki was dead to find out his "body's identity".

"That's not a fair question, you're wearing a mask." Kakashi quickly sent out a rain of shuriken. The pointed weapons flew toward the enemy, Madara unmoving as they came closer and closer.

Then all of a sudden, the shuriken were on the ground, deflected by Madara's seemingly invisible movements. And there in front of the Memorial Stone, the Akatsuki member stood just as calmly as before. A gloved hand slowly reached up to grasp the mask… and pulled it off.

"Kami" Kakashi looked at the face, so familiar but different—the adult version of the face he remembered. "It can't be, he died years ago, how is he alive? How did his body age?"

Spiky black hair stuck up in all directions, one side of Tobi's face entirely lumpy as if the bones underneath had smashed but healed awkwardly and his Sharingan eyes—correction, Sharingan eye. The socket where the other eye should be was nothing but a void, as if that eye had been plucked from its socket.

Plucked from its socket and given to another. Kakashi thought remembering a young dying spiky haired boy giving another boy his eye.

"…I'm already… going to die…but … I can become your eye…and from now on I will see the future…" Came the dying boy's words, echoing out of the memory.

"You took Obito's body." Kakashi accused, raising his hand to throw more shuriken at Madara.

"Yes, I did. Unfortunately, he was my only option at the time. My own body was growing too old, and in order to keep my Sharingan and its techniques I needed the body of another Uchiha. I was forced to steal young Obito's corpse and repair it to the best of my abilities. Once I was instated into this body, I noticed a huge defect."

Suddenly Madara disappeared, Kakashi whirled around, searching. A rough shove sent the Copy-Nin face first into the Memorial stone. Kakashi quickly picked himself up. Already he could feel a bruise purpling on his cheek accompanying the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Madara stood before him now, smiling at the shock on the Copy-Nin's face.

I didn't even see him move. Madara Uchiha, huh? I don't doubt it. This guy practically mastered the Sharingan, no wonder I can't see him with mine. Kakashi readied himself to ward off further blows, but instead Madara continued with his prior monologue.

"This body has one defect, one I intend to correct." His gloved touched the empty socket where his other eye should be. "You see, I'm half-blind. But I've come to fix that, and you're going to help me."

Another invisible blow knocked Kakashi around, but this time it didn't end. A punch landed directly on the silver-haired ninja's chest. The ribs broke under the blow, the splintered pieces scratching the soft tissue of his lungs. It hurt to breathe, the expanding lungs pushed the splintered bones farther in. Kakashi found himself laying at the base of the Memorial Stone, looking up at Madara. His Sharingan eye ached, threatening to water from the pain in his chest.

"That eye aches doesn't it? It remembers where it truly belongs… in this body."

A gloved hand reached down as if to pluck the aching Sharingan eye from Kakashi's head. He reacted swiftly, rolling to avoid the descending hand. There was no way that the Akatsuki member was going to get his eye. If he can kick my ass half-blind, then I'm terrified what he'll do to the Hidden Leaf Village if he regains the other eye.

Kakashi immediately drew in more chakra and began running at Madara at full speed. Blue lightning crackled as Raikiri formed in Kakashi's hand.

The once masked Akatsuki flew backwards as the lightning jutsu slammed into his torso. Smoke rose from the charred skin blackened by the jutsu.

Black robes with red clouds lay upon the ground, the figure in them did not move at all. The smoky smell of burnt flesh made Kakashi gag, causing his chest even more pain. He knew one of his lungs was punctured, he could feel the blood swirling around his lung as he breathed. Blood was mingling with the air going in and out of his body, sticking in his throat and coating his tongue.

I think I just drag myself back to the village now. Iruka will be pissed about my injuries, but I'm sure he'll get over it. He'll probably be the first to wanna play Doctor.

It was an effort to pull himself upright, the movements jarring the broken ribs. His body was in too much pain, accentuated by the chakra drain. A fine trembling shook his limbs attesting to his energy drain. He raised his head to meet a single Sharingan eye.

"Gotcha" said Madara as he trapped Kakashi in a Genjutsu.

Disturbing images whirled before Kakashi's eyes; his father's dead body, Obito's ruined corpse, things from his past that ate at him like salt at a slug. Then more images came; Iruka laying on the ground, dead, blood everywhere. Kakashi's own hands slick with the chuunin's blood, holding a kunai. Did I do that? No, this is an illusion.

But his senses overwhelmed him. That coppery scent burned into his nose as red blood dripped from Iruka's fatal wounds. More images flooded him, Iruka arguing with him, his very own hand striking that beautiful face. Chocolate eyes staring, utterly hurt. This is an ILLUSION!!

With a painful gasp, Kakashi returns to reality, Madara had obviously been interrupted in his genjutsu. Just the mere memory of the blood oozing out of Iruka made a cold sweat break out all over his body.

Iruka stood near him, gazing at his disabled lover. Then all of a sudden the tan chuunin was lying at the foot of a nearby tree, dazedly watching the Akatsuki member.

Iruka!! Kakashi could not move to help the young sensei. Please don't end up dead. Get out of here…please…

"Dolphin's not playin' nice." The voice that came from the now remasked figure was childish, not the voice he associated with Madara, but the other one, the voice of his persona Tobi. Tobi was talking to Iruka, sounded like they were playing a game or talking about a game, Kakashi couldn't get his mind to focus correctly.

A gloved hand touched his cheek; the voice had changed back to that of Madara.

"Guess I'll have to come back later to claim my prize." Something gently caressed the scarred lid of Kakashi's Sharingan. "Keep it for now."

Then everything went black, Kakashi lost himself in the dark void of unconsciousness.

--END FLASHBACK--

The hand in his was still chilled like that of a corpse. Four hours of sitting holding Kakashi's hand had done little to warm that flesh. Again Iruka glanced at the slack pale face. There was no sign of the Copy-Nin regaining consciousness any time soon.

Please wake up soon, you're worrying me.

So what did you think? Please review!! Thanks ever so much!!