All for the Sake of Pleasure

Chapter 42

Sasuke leaned against the doorway, his eyesight going in and out of focus as he fought against sleep. He had spent who knows how long watching over Kakashi. It seemed like an eternity that he stood there, numbly watching a man who was far too pale even for his naturally colorless complexion. He would say it looked like his old sensei was just sleeping, but no one should be that still. No one should look so bloodless...so lifeless. It was as though Kakashi was frozen in time as the rest of the world continued to spin around them.

He took a deep, shaking breath as he leaned more of his weight against the door frame, too exhausted to even stand on his own two feet but refusing to rest for even a moment.

A man who was more brother to him now than Itachi could ever have been, Kakashi had meant the world to him for so many years, it seemed impossible to imagine a life without him. And yet one of the most important people to him now lay a mere ten feet away, fighting for his life. Last Tsunade informed him, Kakashi was through the worst of it. They were able to heal his wounds and pump enough blood back into him to make up for the loss. But there were some things that not even Tsunade could fix. There were some wounds that no medic could ever touch.

Naruto and his team had been gone for at least a day in search of Iruka – in search of an explanation. At least, Sasuke guessed it had been a day since he had last seen his fiancé. But the hours blurred together in a monotony of the sounds and smells of a hospital. For all he knew, it could have been a week that he stood here, refusing to pull his attention away from his best friend except to let his mind race as he tried to think of a reason Kakashi would be on the verge of death and his husband not at his side.

Kakashi was unconscious by the time he appeared in the hospital. Amidst the chaos, it was hours before Naruto and Sasuke were informed that their brother-in-law had been dropped into the hospital half-dead. As soon as word reached them, Naruto threw a team together and raced off to find Iruka. Sasuke had not heard from his fiancé since.

Sasuke had opted to stay behind, not because he did not want to go on the mission, but he felt one of them should stay here with Kakashi for when he came to. One of them needed to stay behind with Saki and Keiko. If he could have, he would have raced off with Naruto. Iruka meant more to him than words could describe and this waiting was tearing at him. Orochimaru's years of torture were child's play in comparison to the hours upon hours of standing here, helpless. His family was falling apart around him, and there was nothing the genius could do. Years of training, of fighting and surviving the worst horrors imaginable could not have prepared him for this.

What could have happened? The shields protecting Iruka and Kakashi had been perfect. There was no way someone could have gotten near them, much less try to kill Kakashi. But how else could he explain the jounin's sudden appearance and condition?

How could someone get close enough to harm his family? Naruto had checked the area thoroughly when Iruka had summoned him – there was no sign of the seals weakening. There were no clues or tracks from an attacker which Naruto could find. His fiancé's inhuman instincts had not picked up anything – no strange, unfamiliar scents or sounds or chakra lingering in the area.

When Naruto had appeared with their hysterical nephew in his arms the other day, he had said with certainty that Iruka and Kakashi were fine. He had checked and rechecked to make sure his brothers were safe. There was no way Naruto could have missed something. He knew his fiancé was, at times, a little scatterbrained and not always the brightest crayon in the box, but Naruto would never put the lives of his family in danger. If there had been anything that made him uneasy, he would have dragged Iruka and Kakashi back without hesitation. If there was anything that made the Kyuubi nervous, Naruto would not have cared how much his brother argued with him. He would have brought Iruka and Kakashi back, kicking and screaming, if he even for an instant thought they were in danger.