Unbreakable (Book 1) #Wattys2015

The Faintest Hope-Kakashi

Kakashi didn't know how long he'd been unconscious but he wished more than anything that he hadn't awoken.

The small room he lay in was dank and musty the temperature easily below freezing. But he wasn't focused on any of that. He was a bit too distracted. His breathing was labored, his whole left side practically on fire. He was being torn open. That was the only way to describe the excruciating pain that was coursing through him. Never before had he felt something so agonizing.

The snake, he remembered ruefully. He groaned in awful submission as he felt the traces of something cold running through his veins. Something freezing that burned at the same time.

"Finally awake, I see," came a cold voice from the shadows, permeating through the darkness. A voice like that of a serpent's, that is, if one could speak.

"Where am I?" Kakashi wanted to ask but all that came out was "W–W...W–Wh..."

"I would not try speaking if I were you," the voice spoke again, an edge of cold amusement evident. "The poison is still in your system, I'm afraid. We were able to remove the majority of it, but I figured I would leave a few traces circulating. Just to keep you reasonably weak."

Kakashi growled and braced his hand beneath him as he would in order to stand. But his arm couldn't support his own weight. This was not 'reasonably weak'. This wasn't weak on any scale. This was utter torment. His heart was beating so slowly...

"Extraordinary, isn't it?" the voice asked, every word enunciated carefully. "What damage such a small amount of venom can do to a human's body." The voice genuinely sounded intrigued.

Kakashi ground his teeth together, squinting his eyes shut in determination. "W–W...Where..." He groaned as his side and leg blazed unforgivingly. Perspiration beaded his forehead, and his clothes were drenched with the stuff. His Jonin vest was gone, his black undershirt and mask remaining, along with his pants. By the weight of them, he could tell his pockets had been emptied of weapons.

"One of our most secretive prison cells," Orochimaru answered, dismissively.

Kakashi heard several footsteps approach his location on the hard stone floor. Reopening his eyes, his vision slowly adjusted enough for him to conclude that he was in a predicament very much like one he had been in seven months ago. though he couldn't see the full expanse of the small room he lay suffering in, sure enough, the dim lighting was disrupted due to bars blocking a circular hole cut in the wall before him.

Fantastic,  he thought with disdain. He didn't have Katsu with him this time to break those bars using her miraculous kekkei genkai.

Katsu,  he immediately thought, sitting up straight. What immediately followed was a scream. But from where?

The pain was so intense that it took Kakashi several moments for his mind to realize that the cry had come from none other than his own throat. He collapsed backward, half his back against the wall behind him. His chest heaved with each labored breath, his heart continuing to beat ever slowly.

Orochimaru took another step forward, his face finally appearing in the dim light. His yellow eyes were intimidatingly inhuman.

Kakashi mentally changed the similarity he had thought he recognized between Orochimaru and Erika's eyes. Where as Erika's revealed competitive devotion, his revealed nothing but wickedness.

Kakashi glared contemptuously up at the treacherous Sannin only proving to trigger his eerie laugh.

Where were the kids?

"Oh, they're being dealt with as we speak,"  Orochimaru had said, the night the snake had bitten him. How long ago had that been? And had he only been bluffing about knowing the others' location? Or...

"You wish to know the location of the others," Orochimaru said intuitively with amused cruelty, examining his fingernails as if checking whether they needed to be trimmed.

Without breaking his glare, Kakashi nodded once, stiffly, before wincing.

Orochimaru smirked and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling in genuine consideration before saying, "Well, because of your current state and location, I do not see any harm in telling you the truth." His smirk turned into a sneer, his yellow eyes glittering. "My apprentice, who I do believe you are quite familiar with, has taken the girl while leaving the children due to a request by her. Apparently Uchiha was feeling generous. I, on the other hand, am not."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. What could this freak possibly mean? What demented plan was he playing at? If he were, in fact, telling the truth, it was great that the kids were safe but that didn't make him much less worried.

"The girl will stay under Sasuke's watch for the time being," Orochimaru said as if not understanding he wasn't just  inflicting physical pain on Kakashi, but also mental pain. No, he knew, Kakashi thought. He just didn't care. That was his aim, after all.

"She is worth quite a price, you see," the man continued casually.

Kakashi's brow knit together. "P...P–Price?" he asked feebly.

"Indeed," Orochimaru responded before adding, "She did tell you, did she not?" His slim eyebrows raised in question.

Kakashi's blank expression must have been answer enough because the raven–haired man went on, "Well, I won't spoil the secret then. But to put it simply, she is not completely who she says she is." His eyes suggested he knew something huge, something Kakashi couldn't possibly be knowledgeable of. "But to sum it up, we are keeping her for ransom."

The last sentence was a knife to Kakashi's heart. His girlfriend for ransom? He was utterly bemused.

"No harm will come to the girl," Orochimaru promised with false authenticity. "That is, if you can behave yourself." He grinned ruthlessly. "But, of course, there are exceptions to every promise."

And that's when Kakashi remembered the ring. The custom–made ring. Where was it?! He searched his pockets, his hands weakly fumbling with the material.

Orochimaru smiled. "Ah, yes. This." The snake–man raised a small velvet box into the dim lighting for Kakashi's eyes to fall upon. He opened it and gazed upon the small object within. "How lovely," he commented with mockery not taking his eyes off the glimmering token of Kakashi's affection for Katsu.

"Give it here," Kakashi said, not once faltering in his speech but groaning loudly afterward.

"Actually, I think I will," Orochimaru said, peering at him over the box's lid.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Had he not heard the Sannin right? He became even more wary. "W–W...Wh–y?"

Orochimaru shut the box, holding it in the center of his palm. "Because keeping it with you will be a constant reminder of something you can never... live up to." He tossed it to Kakashi who caught it with frail hands.

With that last heart–wrenching comment and one last savage grin, the Sannin dissolved into ash, pieces of the grey substance fluttering to the ground in his wake.

And then Kakashi was left alone to his depressing thoughts and worries. The flame of hope in his heart was fainter than a candle flame on a windy day. And soon that flame would completely diminish.

Guys, stay with me. XD I know this is awful but it's crucial to the plot of the story. DON'T FRET, My Lovlies XD. Trust me. Hope never fully goes away. And it's amazing how easily it can spark up again. :D Stay with me!  Your LOVING author, GoalieGirl :) <3

Image: http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/7700000/Orochimaru-orochimaru-sama-E2-99-A5-E2-99-A5-E2-99-A5-7734482-637-480.jpg