The woman chuckled under her breath, then sheathed her sword. She stalked closer, circling Kakashi, then stepped over to look at Genma. Kakashi tensed, smelling the rising crest of fear on the air. He could see Genma's hands shaking; his ribcage hitching. Had a woman tortured him, or a man?

Baiji snarled. The woman slapped him hard in the face. "Bad dog."

A whip-crack order from Kakashi stopped the mastiff dead, a scant inch from tearing her face off. The woman smiled and stepped back.

"I think he's telling the truth," she said. "His friend's in a bad way."

"Mm," said the blue-eyed man. "I suppose he'd have to be, for the great Copy-ninja to show his face in these parts."

A little ripple of laughter rose from four throats, dark and nasty. Kakashi wondered how many of their friends he'd killed during the war.

"So you want amnesty, yeah?" The man continued. "Medical care for your friend. Anything else?"

Kakashi clenched his bleeding hand. "Food, water, basic amenities. No one lays a hand on him but your doctors. Everything that's detailed in the treaty."

The blue-eyed man glanced at the woman. "What d'you reckon, Yuuko?"

One shoulder lifted in a shrug. "The Tsuchikage's probably going to want to know about this. Bring them in, I say."

The man looked at his other teammates. "Daimon? Issei?"

A nod. An agreeing grunt.

Yuuko held up one slim finger. "On one condition, though."

Kakashi looked at her. Braced himself.

"Prove yourself," she said. "Prove you're not setting up an elaborate trap."

Kakashi didn't look down at his stained armour, or his weapons on the ground. Didn't look back at Genma, draped limply over Baiji's worried shoulders. Didn't listen to the way Genma was breathing far too hard. Didn't let himself think.

"How?" he asked.

She smirked. "Don't dodge."

There was movement, a hiss of air, all the time in the world to get out of the way, and an ugly crack as something hard came down on the back of his skull. Sparks shattered across his vision. Kakashi's knees folded. Everything went red, then black, then it just went away.