Gai had no idea how long he had been sitting in that ditch with Pakkun, who confirmed that the trail had broken off in this very spot. The young boy was waiting for anything, any movement, that would allow him to finally stretch his legs, as he had been squatting for several hours.

He sighed barely audibly, glancing at the dog at his side. "Did you hear anything?" he asked almost silently, at which Pakkun shook his head negatively.

"Be more patient," the dog added, thinking how much he missed his composed and overwhelmingly patient owner.

Suddenly they heard a soft rustling.

Gai jumped to his feet almost immediately, still crouched but ready to attack. Pakkun shifted slightly, sniffing for the unfamiliar smell.

They waited for another move from their enemy.

~*~

"Sakura!"

A woman with a tumbling of golden hair burst into the room, and right behind her came a man with dark pink hair, resembling a cherry blossom in shape.

Kakashi twitched with the little girl in his arms, and she shifted slightly, probably awakened by her mother's scream that sounded like a combination of relief and joy. The seventeen-year-old looked carefully at the girl's parents before he allowed himself to tear the little one from his arms. He let go of her only after confirming the resemblance of the child to the parents.

"There you are, my little sweetheart!" the mother exclaimed, cradling the awakened and frightened girl to her breast.

Pink-haired girl shifted her gaze to him and stretched her little hands towards him as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I want to be with Kakashi!" she moaned as her father joined her mother's hug, and the little girl almost completely sank into their arms.

Hatake looked at the Third.

Hiruzen Sarutobi moved slightly under the influence of the dark gaze that the teenager cast him. He was a young boy who had experienced so much pain in his life that more than one would break.

"If I could go to the place where I sent my summoner accompanied by Maito Gai. We promise to take care of it properly, so I am asking for permission to carry out this mission, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said.

Mebuki Haruno looked from her daughter to the Hokage, and then to the young boy who was holding Sakura in his arms just a moment ago.

"What mission? Does this apply to what happened to our daughter?" the nervous woman asked.

Hiruzen sighed softly as he studied the woman's fighting stance.

"Yes, it concerns Sakura and not only her. It applies to all of the Konoha's children," the old man replied, glancing at Kakashi. "And yes, Kakashi, you have my permission to carry out this mission, but..."

There was quite a stir before the Hokage was able to finish the sentence. Well, Sakura, who had been held in a strong embrace by her parents so far, broke free from them and ran towards Kakashi. She clenched her hands into little fists on the front of his T-shirt, cuddling against him.

"Please, Kakashi, don't leave me," she sobbed before she started to cry for good.

The young boy blinked in surprise, not knowing what to do. On the one hand, he felt obligated to this little creature, but on the other, he saw the look her parents were sending him — they were surprised by their daughter's behaviour, and also annoyed that she would rather go to some strange boy than stay safe with them.

Regardless of it, a smile appeared on Kakashi's face as he crouched in front of the girl, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura, I promise that I'll never leave you, I'll always be there for you, okay?" Kakashi made another promise, staring into her green eyes filled with tears. "You must go home with your parents now, you'll be safe there, and I'll... take care of those who tried to hurt you."

But Sakura enclasped her hands around his neck and pressed her against him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm scared," she whispered, shaking from either crying or fear.

"I promise you will be safe with your parents," Kakashi replied, enclasping his arm around her frail figure.

"I don't want to go where you're not around..."

"I promised you something, and I'll keep my word. I'll watch over you, I give you my word that I will never leave you," Kakashi said as the little girl looked back into his two-coloured eyes.

"Promise?"

"Yes," Hatake confirmed, placing his hand on her head, and ruffling the pink hair.

Sakura smiled, but still seemed scared. Hence, Kakashi leaned over her to whisper in her ear, "You've got to be brave. Shinobi of the Leaf Village are never afraid."

The girl nodded her head vigorously, then returned to her parents. Kizashi Haruno placed his hand on his daughter's head, looking towards the young boy, frowning. "What happened?" Mr Haruno asked.

The Hokage didn't know how to say this to the little girl's parents, especially when she herself was in the same room.

Meanwhile, Kakashi straightened, glancing threateningly at the window, then returning his gaze to Sakura, who was staring at him with wide eyes, though a fire was smouldering somewhere inside her, the real fire that burned in every inhabitant of the Leaf Village.

"Sakura was kidnapped and..." Kakashi started, but suddenly he didn't know how to inform her parents about it.

"Kakashi saved her from a cruel fate," Hiruzen finished what the young ANBU member has started. "Kakashi, I'm assigning you to complete this mission, but remember what I said before. We are shinobi, our lives are always at risk, we live briefly because we die quickly, but we're not monsters.

Mebuki and Kizashi looked towards Hatake, noticing a spark of anger that smouldered in his two-coloured irises. They knew who he was. He became famous as soon as he was assigned to team Minato, who later became the Fourth Hokage and incorporated him into the ANBU. He got the sharingan, but nobody but the Hokage himself knew how. He was also burdened with the sins of his father, which not all could forgive him, and others didn't know that they even existed. Mebuki belonged to the latter group, whereas Kizashi to the former, although it was mainly thanks to Konoha's White Fang that Kizashi's father survived that mission and lived long enough to see his only granddaughter.

Haruno Kizashi cleared his throat significantly.

"My father was shinobi. I can bear even the worst truth," the man announced, glancing at his wife. "Mebuki, take Sakura out of here and go home."

As soon as the door behind the woman with the child closed, Kizashi stared expectantly at the young Hatake.

Kakashi took a deep breath.

"I saved Sakura from the rape," he said bluntly, staring into the man's eyes, enduring his bloodcurdling gaze.

Kizashi looked at the Third, who puffed smoke from his pipe.

"Don't fail this mission, son of the White Fang," muttered Haruno, before he left the room.

Kakashi frowned at the Third, whose face expressed so much emotion that the young boy couldn't read what the Hokage was thinking when he said, "I know you'll succeed, Kakashi. Just be careful, it can be a well-organized group."

Hatake frowned even more. "I can handle it."

~*~

Gai had the feeling that his ass had gone numb before he heard a soft rustle somewhere nearby. Pakkun began to listen for an enemy appearance and sniff around, sensing the familiar scent, but before he could warn his companion, the one fired forward when a certain figure appeared within their sight.

"Gai, wait!" the dog hissed, but the young boy wasn't listening to him anymore. "Oh, how much I miss Kakashi," Pakkun groaned before he followed Gai slowly, knowing exactly whose silhouette it was.

Maito Gai was about to knock down his opponent when the one gracefully dislodged from the striking distance, and the dark-haired boy rutted his face into the grass.

"Gai, what are you doing?!" Kakashi hissed.

The nineteen-year-old boy rose from the ground, spitting the remnants of grass and dirt from his mouth, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand, and then peeked at his eternal rival.

"You did it on purpose!" The older boy was outraged.

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Come on... what was your plan? Crush our opponent with the weight of your muscles?" Kakashi snorted, then glanced at his summoner. "Anything new, Pakkun?"

The dog sighed wearily, shaking its head.

"And this is where the trail ends?" Kakashi asked, and Pakkun nodded.

Hatake closed his good eye and looked around with the help of his sharingan for mysterious trapdoors or other jutsu that might keep the hideout from being seen by unwanted visitors.

Gai fell silent, knowing that Kakashi could see more than he or his friend's ninken. He was mainly counting on his rival's sharingan. He also wanted to unravel the case they came across. If it happened once, it might happen again. And that didn't bode well for Konoha's future.

"There's a trapdoor," Hatake announced.

Two teenagers approached a tree where Kakashi saw a tunnel leading underground. The seventeen-year-old frowned, sniffing around with Pakkun. They both sensed no other chakra, or any other human being around.

"All clear," Pakkun muttered.

Kakashi performed a seal that was blocking the entrance. It wasn't some fancy combination of symbols, so after a while the bark of the tree parted in front of them, spreading to the sides like sliding doors, revealing an empty interior.

Gai glanced at his companion. "Are you sure this isn't a trap?" the older boy asked.

Hatake sighed wearily. "We're not sure, but I can always use any of my techniques," Kakashi replied. "Pakkun, try to find another way inside, and if something happens to us, notify the Third."

The order was immediately carried out by the summoner.

Kakashi and Gai went into the darkness, hesitantly taking their first steps, because nothing but darkness was visible inside. Their feet hit a rapidly falling hard surface, as if someone had carved a rugged staircase into the rock. They both began to plunge deeper and deeper into the impenetrable abyss of blackness, walking down instinctively taking steps, though they couldn't see what was in front of them; until some light fell on the stone steps from a nearby torch at the beginning of the tunnel the steps led to.

The silver-haired shinobi looked around with the help of the sharingan, but the only thing he noticed was the endless corridor illuminated by torches from time to time. He exchanged meaningful glances with his companion, then they walked slowly forward, anticipating any ambushes or other traps along the way.

"These tunnels look familiar to me," muttered the seventeen-year-old.

Gai glanced at his companion out of the corner of his eye, completely unaware what he might mean.

"This is the first time I see something like this," replied the older boy.

"I know someone who is fond of such corridors and kidnapping children," Kakashi said, looking around suspiciously. "Someone who is Konoha's enemy."

Gai blinked in surprise. "Who are you talking about?" he wondered.

"This is just my guess at the moment, but it may turn out to be right," Kakashi muttered, reflecting on his guesses.

They didn't know how much time they had walked this way until they reached a larger room, which was still lit by torches placed here and there. There was nothing inside except a door leading in an unknown direction. The two boys looked meaningfully at each other.

"All right, I'll go ahead," Gai muttered, but Kakashi held his hand out in front of him, staring at the door with his sharingan.

It could have been a trap.

As soon as that word appeared in his head, Gai fell to the ground unconscious by his side. Kakashi's mind was working in full swing as he began to look around for an enemy. Before he could attack, the sound of thousands of birds singing inside the small room resounded, and his lightning bolt lit up the entire room.

Somewhere in the dark, a familiar laugh rang out.

"We're meeting again," a familiar voice sounded before Kakashi's mind was flooded with darkness.