Into the Fire

Chapter Eighty-Five

“No, stop please . . . I can't . . . please, just hurt me, anything but this.” the copy-nin whimpered, tortured sounds wrenched from the depths of his soul as he tossed and turned in an attempt to escape the terror threatening him.

“Sweetheart,” Ibiki ventured tentatively, “'kashi, you need to wake up, you're having a nightmare.”

“No . . . don't.” the sleeping man bellowed and the interrogator's heart clenched at the anguish he heard in the normally mellifluous voice.

“'kashi,” the scarred man tried again, reaching out to gently shake a bony shoulder, “wake up.”

The lanky jounin surged up from the bed, lip pulled back in a vicious snarl as he attacked the scarred man, strong hands wrapping around his throat and cutting off his oxygen.

Ibiki scrabbled for purchase, desperately trying to break the choke hold as wiry arms tightened inexorably, effortlessly demonstrating the skill which had earned the copy-nin his deadly reputation.

The interrogator redoubled his efforts as the world around him began to grow hazy, unwilling to be the catalyst that broke the fiercely proud, rigidly reserved sharingan no Kakashi . . . yet fearing even if he survived, this night might well put an end to the fledgling happiness he so wanted for both of them.

“Ka . . .shi . . . sto . . .” the scarred man managed to gasp out just as grey darkened to black and he let go of his grasp on the slender copy-nin to hang limply in his arms.

The silver haired man snarled ferally as he dropped the dead weight onto the bed, keen eyes searching the shadows for any other would-be attackers. Finding himself alone he quickly pulled on his uniform and slipped out of the quiet house, taking to the rooftops until he reached the gates and vaulted over, leaping into the trees and disappearing from sight.

“Shit was that Hatake-san?”, Izumo asked his constant companion.

“Hmm, where?” Kotetsu murmured, turning to look in the indicated direction.

“He's gone now.” Izumo grumbled, “Do you think I should call it in?”

“Nah, it probably wasn't even him.” his partner reasoned, “Just put it in the report.”

When shift change finally rolled around three hours later the pair of guards raced to the tower, anxious to drop off their report and go off duty. The report was read, checked, and eventually dropped in Ibiki's in-basket, where it waited, patiently biding its time for a man who never showed.

By nine am the Torture and Interrogation unit staff were in an uproar, not only had their rigidly disciplined boss not shown up for work that day, he hadn't even sent word of when he might return. Finally his aide trudged up the stairs to the Hokage's office, desperate to find out the whereabouts of the missing interrogator.

“Excuse me Hokage-sama,” the aide began tentatively, “have you any idea of Morino-sama's whereabouts? He never showed up for work this morning.”

“I'm on it.” Genma snapped, slipping out the window and racing toward the Hatake house, leaving Iruka to see what he could uncover. A soon as the tokubetsu reached the silent dwelling, he immediately reached out with his chakra, not wanting to walk in on anything intimate and incur the wrath of the two powerful jounin. Finding only a single, extremely weak, pulse of chakra the honey haired man quickly picked the lock and disabled the traps, rushing into the darkened house in search of the failing life force.

“Holy shit.” Genma gasped as he rounded the corner into the bedroom and caught sight of the interrogator's limp body hanging half on and half off the bed. He immediately checked for a pulse, summoning medical help before beginning CPR, never faltering in his ministrations until medics arrived and took over, pushing chakra into Ibiki's failing pathways before rushing him to the hospital for more treatment.

“We have a problem Ru.” the exhausted senbon-sucker declared when he reappeared in the Hokage's office, “I found Ibiki unconscious . . . someone had choked him nearly to death.”

“Where was Kakashi?” the Rokudaime asked worriedly.

“No sign of him.” Genma replied with concern, “There was a struggle, obviously . . . but the traps were in place when I arrived.”

“You think Hatake attacked him?” Iruka exclaimed in shock.

“It's certainly possible . . . Ibiki wouldn't have fought back.” the honey-haired man replied solemnly, “We won't know for sure until he wakes up . . . or we find Kakashi.”

“Duty.” the Rokudaime bellowed, and instantly four masked ANBU appeared in front of him. “You need to locate and retrieve Hatake Kakashi.” the Hokage informed them, “I would prefer it if he came peacefully, but if you must fight . . . be careful, he may be very dangerous.”

The ANBU fanned out, each one traveling in a different direction, scanning for the copy-nin's distinctive chakra signature . . . and coming up empty-handed.

Genma and Iruka raced over to the hospital as soon as the ANBU departed, hoping to get some information on exactly what had happened. The distraught Hokage grabbed the first medic he saw, pinning the man in place to demand, “Where is Morino-san? Is he going to be alright?”

“He's still being treated Hokage-sama.” the flustered nin stammered, “If you let go of me I'll go check on how he's doing.”

“Sorry.” the Rokudaime muttered, an embarrassed blush creeping across his cheeks, “That was uncalled for.”

The medic slipped into a treatment room and reappeared a few minutes later. “He's alive, Hokage-sama.” the young nin reported stiffly, “But the tissues of his throat are heavily damaged, he won't be able to speak for several days.”

“Is he conscious? Can he write?” Genma prodded, “We need answers and I'm afraid Morino-san is the only man who can give them to us.”

“Not yet . . . I'll tell the medics you need to speak with him. I'm afraid that's the best I can do.” the young man replied apologetically.

“Thank you, we'll be waiting.” Iruka responded with a warm smile, pulling the bristling senbon-sucker over to a pair of empty chairs and pushing him down into one. “Stop it Gen. There's nothing you can do until we find out exactly what happened.”

The silver-haired man woke with a start, dropping silently out of the tree top to carefully check his surroundings. He wasn't sure where he was . . . or who he was, for that matter . . . but he knew someone, or something, was after him, and he didn't want to be caught.

Kakashi relaxed slightly when he located no nearby chakra signatures, quickly locating a small spring and drinking a few handfuls of water before retreating to the safety of the treetops to puzzle out his next move.

He was still lounging casually in the crook of a branch when Bear dropped from above to land in front of him. “Kakashi-sempai,” he murmured respectfully, “the Hokage requests your presence.”

Hokage, hokage . . . the copy-nin turned the unfamiliar word over in his mind, eventually coming up with an image of a short elderly man with hard, hurting hands. “No, I won't go . . . you can't make me.”

“I don't want to make you do anything, sempai.” the ANBU assured him, “Genma and Iruka are worried about you.”

“Iruka-sensei?” the silver-haired man muttered unsure of why it sounded so familiar.

“Yes, Iruka-sensei . . . he's worried about you Kakashi-san. Would you come with me to see him please?” Bear urged.

“Not the Hokage . . . Iruka-sensei?” the suspicious copy-nin clarified.

“I'll take you straight to Iruka.” the masked figure assured him, “We'll teleport, shall we?”
The ANBU grabbed a pale wrist as his free hand flashed through signs, reappearing in the Hokage's empty office.

“You said you'd take me to Iruka.” Kakashi husked dangerously, “This is the Hokage's office.”

Bear frantically scanned for the Rokudaime's chakra, locating it in the hospital waiting room. “My mistake, sempai . . . he was here earlier. I know where to find him.” he quickly snagged the jounin's arm and jumped them once again, this time landing directly in front of a startled Umino Iruka.

“Kakashi, what happened?” the Rokudaime asked worriedly, noting the disheveled state of the copy-nin's clothes.

“He was in a tree outside the village. He doesn't seem to really know where he is . . . he definitely doesn't want to see the Hokage.” Bear replied softly, “I don't know what happened to him, but he certainly isn't himself.”

“What happened to Ibiki?” Genma asked the copy-nin pointedly, “He almost died, you haven't even asked where he is.”

“He's in Stone.” Kakashi spat back, “Everyone knows that . . . and he can rot there as far as I'm concerned. I'm not going to rescue him.”