"Kakashi!"

Indeed, he heard someone calling him, but he had absolutely no idea why the scream seemed so panicked to him. After all, Rin didn't scream when she was dying...

It had to be another one of his nightmares.

Involuntarily, the young shinobi clenched his hands into fists as the memory of his old friend flashed into his mind. Hatake hasn't come to terms with her death to this day, and the memory of that moment, whenever it came alive in his mind, always made him feel a real fury.

Kakashi jerked his hands and suddenly realized something. Until now, he had only seen the darkness, thinking it was an ordinary dream, but when he tried to move his hands again, he was sure that someone had trapped him with his arms wide apart so that he couldn't form any seals.

"Kakashi!"

Another spine-chilling scream made him open his eyes at once, gasping hard as he realized he was indeed trapped, and when he looked around the room he found out he was right. However, it was much worse than he had expected. Now, his head was terribly heavy, he could barely keep his visual acuity, feeling that excruciating throbbing.

He groaned loudly in a slightly hoarse voice as he tilted his head back.

He should have come to his senses long ago, after all, he was on a mission. He had to think straight and stay alert. Someone needed him, after all he heard his name being called.

Suddenly Kakashi realized he knew the voice well. Immediately, the young Hatake regained his clear-headedness and looked carefully around the room, searching for the source of the scream.

"Kakashi!" the pink-haired girl shouted again.

"Sakura," he hissed furiously.

He noticed a frail figure dressed in some kind of linen robe that was much too large, with her hands tied above her head and hooked by the rope on a metal handle stuck in the wall.

Kakashi glanced at his bound hands and noticed that his mechanism was more complicated, since they were separate metal shackles that were attached to the wall at the sides of his head, set wide apart. The seventeen-year-old jerked his hands, but the metal didn't budge.

However, his torturer forgot to take one more of his weapons from him — Hatake still had the Sharingan that his friend Obito had given him years ago.

He could use it to save Sakura, all he needed to do was find Orochimaru and finish what he had already started, namely finish him off with his chidori. This time it'll be a clean shot and Kakashi won't use up the excess of his chakra. This time Orochimaru will die once and for all.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" he shouted to the bound girl on the other side of the room.

"I-I don't know. The last thing I remember is... is... coming home with my mom."

Kakashi gritted his teeth in fury. He thought the girl would be safe with her parents, but it turned out that she was as vulnerable with them as she was when the two dweebs took her. And to think that he trusted Sakura's parents, mainly her father, since he was the son of one of the shinobi, he had to know how to protect his family... Damn, every father should protect his loved ones! And not to leave them...

Kakashi was furious. His old wounds came back to life and began to burn with the real fire, and he felt helpless in the face of it, but he had to save Sakura. He couldn't allow Orochimaru to once again commit the atrocities he had done to those children who were being held against their will, and experimented on them, wishing to possess the unprecedented ability of the First Hokage. What did he want this time?

"What about your dad?" Kakashi asked.

"I came back with my mom, dad stayed with you then..." Sakura replied.

Kakashi frowned, cursing under his breath.

He was trying to think of a way out of this situation when he himself had his hands tied up and didn't know how to get out of it.

Suddenly, loud snoring came from the corner of the room.

Hatake glanced in the direction from which the irritating noise was coming, and he saw it was his rival

"Gai!" the seventeen-year-old shouted, wanting to somehow wake up the older boy, who would surely help him to quickly get rid of these shackles. "Gai! Wake up!"

But the called one didn't move.

The young shinobi frowned, looking in the direction of Sakura, whose hands were tied with a simple rope, hooked on a metal hook protruding from the wall. Perhaps, if she had just torn it a little, she could free herself and run to Gai to wake him up...

Kakashi gave the unconscious teenager one more helpless glance. Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe he wasn't sleeping at all? What if he was given a strong hypnotic or other poison? Orochimaru was a champion in this field after all.

It was always worth a try. At least Sakura would break free and be able to get away, or maybe Pakkun instead of going for reinforcements found a second entrance where he could lead the little one and hide in a safe place, and then...

"Sakura," Kakashi said, a repercussion of his voice echoed through the room, where, so far, only the crackling of flaming torches and Gai's snores were heard. "Your hands are tied up with a rope. Try to move them back and forth to break the fibres somehow."

At first, the girl was still trembling with fear, though at the seriousness in his voice she took on a fierce expression on her face. The words he had said to her still flashed in her head: You've got be brave. Shinobi of the Leaf Village are never afraid.

Pink-haired girl frowned furiously as she looked up at the ropes bounding her. It was unfair that her tormentor didn't perceive her as an enemy, as he hadn't even tied her up properly, as Kakashi or his colleague, but at least it allowed her to break free and prove to him how much he underestimated her.

Sakura started rubbing, moving her hands back and forth.

"You'll have to run up and wake up Gai, then get out of here. My dog, Pakkun is circling around this fortress. He will take you to a safe place," Hatake explained to her the plan of action.

The pink-haired girl nodded her head vigorously, then returned to the activity she had interrupted for a moment.

She clenched her hands into fists, continuing to move. The fibres began to heat up and burn a little her wrists, but she bit her lower lip painfully to focus on the task Kakashi had given her.

She had no idea with what admiration the grey-haired boy on the other side of the room was watching her actions. Hatake was surprised with what fierceness Sakura was able to fight for freedom. In fact, she had the Will to Fire in her. Kakashi smiled proudly. Maybe he wasn't such a terrible man after all, if he could awaken a deeply hidden warrior in a little girl.

Sakura dug her nails into the palms of her hands so that the pain radiating from them distracted her thoughts from her wrists burning with the real fire. She continued to fight. She had to break free. There was a lot at stake here. She fought for her safety, and maybe even for her life.

She blinked a few times to get rid of the insistent tears that were pressing in her eyes and continued to fight for her freedom.

Kakashi during this time was controlling the surroundings with his Sharingan. He couldn't see their opponent anywhere, but he knew what to expect from Orochimaru, so he couldn't allow himself on a moment of weakness. He stayed alerted all the time, ready to attack. By the way, his opponent was a bit of a fool since he didn't consider trapping Kakashi's legs as well. If he only got close enough, the young shinobi could not only attack him with his sharingan, but also sell a few kicks.

With this in mind, Kakashi began to see the whole situation positively. Another moment and Sakura will free herself, wake up Gai, and then run away. He and his older colleague will take care of the rest. Only to wake up his rival, and they will get it made. The two of them could handle Orochimaru. There was no doubt about it. Well, maybe he was a little worried about Sakura getting away in time.

Pain imprinted itself on her face, and tears ran incessantly down her cheeks as she fought bravely for her freedom. If she had been a little taller, she would have been able to climb on her toes and unhook the shackle from the upward curved hook, although he still admired her attitude in the throes of danger, where more than one girl would tremble with fear and would do nothing.

"You're doing great," Kakashi muttered, and she nodded without stopping.

"Just a little more," she gasped, ignoring the fact that her voice sounded teary as her throat burned with fire from restrained sobbing, and the enormous lump made it difficult to swallow, and she felt as if she was going to explode, but then she bit the inside of her cheek, not allowing herself to another moment of weakness, it was enough that Kakashi had already noticed her tears.

Just a moment more and the ropes binding her will let go, and she will be able to run to wake Kakashi's friend.

Just a little more...

The young shinobi glanced towards the door, guided by instinct, as well as his sharingan, that maybe someone would enter the room right now, but it didn't. The teenager breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened, and the hunch turned out to be false.

Sakura tugged again and finally managed to free herself. The broken ropes fell to the floor near her feet. The surprised girl stared at the ties for a moment, then looked at her reddened wrists. She blinked in surprise.

"Sakura," Kakashi urged her with a soft hiss.

The girl nodded, instantly returning to reality. She ran towards the snoring nineteen-year-old.

Hatake jerked his hands, but the handcuffs didn't budge, stuck firmly to the wall. He felt something was wrong. It was too easy.

Therefore, at the moment when the screech of the lock on the only door sounded in the room, the young shinobi and Sakura looked at each other. The girl was already halfway to Gai, but she wouldn't have had time to wake him up and free him in time, so she quickly made up her mind and ran towards Kakashi. The seventeen-year-old wanted to help her somehow, but there was nothing he could do. However, when Sakura appeared at his side, he ordered her to hide behind him as far as possible so that Orochimaru couldn't reach her. Hatake had an idea how to defend her.

As soon as their opponent was inside, he cast a curious glance at the empty place where Sakura stood imprisoned a moment ago. Then he looked at Kakashi, smiling wickedly. His disgusting tongue slipped from between his lips.

"Kakashi," he said through his teeth. "There are always some problems with you."

Hatake looked closely at his interlocutor, clenching his jaw. It wasn't Orochimaru at all. Although he sounded similar to him. His face was half covered in snake skin. The eyes had vertical pupils, like snake's. And he obviously knew Kakashi from somewhere, but it was definitely not Orochimaru.

"First you almost killed my master, and now..." The half-human, half-serpent shook his head. "Such an inconspicuous kid creates such a threat."

He smacked his lips dissatisfied and looked at Gai, who was snoring his best, then he shifted his gaze to the little Sakura, hiding behind the back of the grey-haired shinobi.

"Orochimaru won't be pleased when the next material for the experiment doesn't arrive on time..." he said, staring at the shaking Sakura.

"Let him test it all on himself," Kakashi growled, and his opponent laughed bitterly.

"He'll never do that. After all, he can die and he wants to live forever," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Just look at me! I was a test subject too," the mad laugh that escaped his throat was a clear confirmation of his words.

"Yes, and it suits you," huffed Hatake.

His interlocutor laughed madly once again.

"I think so too!" His eyes widened, and compared to his wide smile, it looked grotesque. "I am grateful to my master, because thanks to him I have access to unlimited number of techniques, and my body is very durable!" he exclaimed happily.

"You don't have to have any extra skills or become such an ugliness to have a tough body," Kakashi retorted.

The half-snaky-faced man narrowed his eyes as he examined the imprisoned 17-year-old narrowly. The young shinobi clenched his fists, shifting a little to cover the pink-haired girl hiding behind him with his body.

"Maybe we'll add you to the list of children for another experiment," he wondered aloud. "I wonder what you're hiding under that mask?" He scratched his chin, and there was a glint in his snake's eye.

"Come here and see for yourself," Kakashi muttered, slowly spreading his legs so that he could properly take off and attack his opponent. The grey-haired shinobi felt tiny hands clench on the back of his T-shirt. "Sakura, stand back," he whispered in her direction.

Without a word, the girl let go of his T-shirt and pressed as tightly as possible to the cold brick wall behind her. She was no longer trembling with fear, now all she had to do was cooperate with Kakashi, as she did when she obeyed his command and broke the ropes. But she couldn't face their opponent... he terrified her. So she squeezed her eyes shut with all her might, putting all her trust in Kakashi.

The attack came unexpectedly.

He didn't signal it with a shout, nor could have been heard the pattering of his feet against the stone floor of an underground room carved in the rock. However, Kakashi had a sharingan at his disposal, so he could use it at any moment, especially when the serpent man suddenly found himself right in front of him, trying to reach for his mask with one hand and grab Sakura with the other.

Hatake pursed his lips into a thin line and immediately proceeded to attack. He jumped on his feet, clenching his hands around the cold metal shackles to somehow hold himself in that unnatural position, sent a little chakra into each limb to help him keep his balance, then kicked his opponent right into the solar plexus.

The man stumbled back, gasping loudly, and when he pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi, the one smirked as his opponent completely forgot to avoid his eyes, and the young shinobi immediately captured him in his sharingan.

Within a millisecond, the man was writhing in pain on the ground.

Well, Kakashi didn't treat him very nicely, catching the man in his genjutsu, in which he restrained him just like he did it to him and exposed him to his blows. Immediately, the body of the serpent man was covered with bruises, and from numerous wounds on his body blood was leaking, although in fact Hatake didn't touch him at all.

"Now set me free," the grey-haired boy ordered.

The huddled figure on the floor trembled, but didn't budge. Kakashi knew that he was still trapped in his genjutsu and at his mercy.

"Free me," he repeated a little slower, his tone becoming icy cold.

The serpent man got up from the ground and, staggering on his feet, walked over to the young boy to free his hands. The man made the seal and one of the handcuffs fell off, then did the same on the other. Right after that he fell to his knees, resting his weight on his trembling hands, and laughed madly.

Hatake quickly formed the appropriate seals, and the room lit up under the influence of his authorial technique. The singing of the birds made the echo around the small room, making it tremble.

"Now tell me where are the rest of the children you kidnapped," muttered Kakashi, putting his hand to his opponent's chest.

The half-human, half-serpent looked at the teenager with a sly twinkle in his eye.

"I don't know!" The mad laughter echoed again to the not very beautiful accompaniment of chirping of the birds. "I'm not in charge of this! This hideout once belonged to Orochimaru, but he hasn't come here for a long time, and he has no idea what I was preparing for him here..."

Kakashi frowned.

"How's that? You're not the one behind the rest of all these kidnapped children?" The seventeen-year-old was surprised.

"No," he growled in response. "I had the idea to kidnap all the prettiest. I only started today, hoping that I will be able to collect enough for Orochimaru to have someone to experiment on, but... unfortunately, it didn't work," he muttered dissatisfied, although after a while he laughed again.

Hatake looked over his shoulder at Sakura who was leaning against the wall with her eyes tightly closed.

"Then my chidori will be your salvation," the young shinobi replied, then pierced the man's chest, who fell limp on the floor after a while.

Kakashi turned to Sakura and grabbed her hand.

"It's over now. We're going to wake up Gai and get out of here," he announced, leading the little girl across the room towards the snoring man.

It seemed that the perpetrator of all these kidnappings was still at large. Kakashi had to report it to the Hokage, but first he wanted to make sure Sakura will be safe. He glanced surreptitiously at the girl at his side, who was biting her thumbnail while thinking about something.

That was when something occurred to him and he looked around the room with his Sharingan again, until someone else... caught him in ones genjutsu. A much more monstrous genjutsu...