"This way!"

The four shinobi followed the two ninkens.

"Yes, I can smell Kakashi much better here," Shiba agreed.

"Before, I was confused by too many smells, but now I feel that we are getting closer," Pakkun added.

Naruto just frowned more and accelerated.

"You've been saying this for several days," Tenzō muttered, and Sai nodded his agreement.

"We've been wandering for at least five days, and you say Kakashi's scent is getting closer," admitted the former member of Root.

Pakkun frowned.

"I agree...!" Gai gasped, he could barely keep up with the rest of his companions.

"I could have been wrong, they must have wandered for a while to confuse the trail," Pakkun said glumly.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"How is it possible that you only sense Kakashi-sensei, and what about Sakura-chan, dattebayo?"

"They probably smell their master better as Kakashi's summons."

"No, it's not like that. I know the smell of Sakura perfectly well, the more that she still uses the same shampoo as me," Pakkun said, realizing not on time how much he confused his comrades with this information.

"Then why do you only sense Kakashi-sensei? Does this mean that Sakura's not with him?"

Shiba and Pakkun exchanged meaningful glances. They didn't know if it was a good idea to tell the four of them about Kakashi's true relationship with Sakura. Especially at this stage when they were about to save them, and if they would sneak out a word more, Naruto might not want to let one of them come back in one piece to Konoha.

"What is it? What aren't you telling us?" Tenzō wondered.

Then the ninkens sensed a different scent and spun sharply.

"Kakashi! This way! I can still smell the familiar scent I picked up from one of the rebel clones!" Shiba snapped.

Nobody protested. Everyone rushed after the trackers, focused on the task, not the understatements.

~ * ~

Nothing mattered more to him right now than that everything was in its place, and his whole world was held firmly in his arms as they both lay in their makeshift lair. Despite the dampness in the cell and the bare rocks that must have been part of the mound where the prison had been carved, or the entire rebel hideout, Kakashi was still able to smell that wonderful floral scent of Sakura's hair, which after a few days in the dungeon and before that on battle, they bore traces of dust and a missing of hairbrush. Though matted and greasy, they were the most beautiful sight for him. Especially when he could feel her breathing steadily, which meant she was alive and she was safe and sound.

Sakura was lying on him with her head resting on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of the man's heart, running her finger over his shirt. In this way she traced the imprints on his cloth and plotted out various shapes.

It was a moment of respite. They didn't have to think. They knew help was on the way, and with no chakra, they had no way to get out of the dungeon, much less face the enemy, so they decided to breathe. Especially after the revelation she dropped on him like a bomb. They didn't talk about it, they didn't want to. It was all too fresh to analyse, but if Sakura was actually pregnant, then... No, Kakashi didn't want to think about it right now.

He passed his hand unwittingly from her shoulder to her elbow and pressed a feather-light kiss on top of her head.

"Forgive me for being such an asshole to you, but..."

"Okay, I hurt your pride," she replied. "It's understandable, I would probably act the same in your shoes."

Kakashi shook his head.

"I rather doubt it," he sighed wearily.

Sakura blinked in surprise and, rising on her elbows, looked at him questioningly.

"How's that?"

Kakashi gave her a warm smile before crushing her dignity with his reply, "I would probably end up with internal bleeding after crushing my ribs and even Tsunade wouldn't be able to put me together, and you would make sure that there was no one to heal me."

Sakura hit him gently with her hand on the chest.

"How could you?!" she snorted indignantly.

Kakashi laughed.

"Or I would end up dismembered."

This time her fist hit his shoulder.

"I still have respect for you, sensei," she said cheerfully, though the title sounded strange in her mouth.

Kakashi groaned in a pained voice.

"Don't remind me..." he muttered, covering his face with his hands.

Sakura laughed.

"Oh, sensei, don't be like that..." He didn't let her finish, placing his hand over her mouth when he heard the shuffling from the cell across the hall.

"Everything's all right?" Kakashi threw to their companion of misery.

The man cleared his throat. You could still hear him taking the next steps, his feet shuffling across the floor.

"I'll live," he muttered, though there was pain in his voice.

Sakura opened her eyes wide, completely unaware so far that they weren't the only prisoners.

"What did they do to you?" Kakashi asked.

"They beat me up, gave me some measures that deprived me of more chakra, and I got some more because of your girlfriend who didn't allow them to touch you."

Hatake frowned, then lifted his brows questioningly, looking at Sakura. He also took his hand from her mouth.

"How did you do that?" He was surprised.

Sakura smiled mysteriously.

"I have my ways. How did you put it? Only the fiercest and slightly aggressive women are the most valuable." She laughed.

Kakashi frowned.

"Did I say something like that?"

"Probably," Sakura admitted, and her hand went to a shed of pale hair, sticking out in all directions. "You must have been delirious with this poison."

Hatake didn't seem to be pleased with her answer, as he tried to hide everything as deeply as he could. Especially this memory. The moment he never tried too hard to make sense of Kushina's words as the rage poured out of her, and the only thing holding her back from destroying Konoha was Minato's arms. This image of the relationship, though Uzumaki insisted that there was nothing between them then, stuck in his memory. Although, what could a four-year-old child who lived in his father's shadow, admiring his every step conceived. Nonetheless, Kushina had all Konoha on her feet that day, and little Kakashi somehow wasn't afraid of her, even though the White Fang wouldn't let him peek out from behind his back. Now, in a sense, Hatake understood what he must have felt. However, Kushina wasn't as dangerous as she appeared to be. Though it may have been influenced by Minato, and had it not been for his soothing words, Kushina would certainly have smashed at least half of Konoha. Especially after hearing a comment about being a Namikaze girlfriend while he kept saying "don't listen to them" in a reassuring voice over and over.

That moment had made quite an impression on Hatake, and wherever he looked, he was looking for this kind of relationship everywhere since then. However, Rin didn't fit this picture, although she chastised Obito more than he would like to admit, she didn't have the aggressive passion of the unpredictable Kushina Uzumaki, who in one moment could knock you on the head for being mean, and the next to carry you away, embracing when saying something nice, especially about her culinary skills or her hair. Kurenai and Asuma also didn't fit into this pattern, especially since she had a mild-mannered temperament quite like Rin or Hinata. Anko was a mixture of madness and pure fury, but she lacked the warmth that Kushina still managed to bestow. Ino, although she could shake off and throw mud, she usually didn't throw her fists at anyone from her family. The closest to Kushina's image was Sakura, who, as soon as he saw her in the company of Naruto, immediately put the facts together. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Naruto was Minato's son, because his sensei was gentle by nature and was able to tame Kushina's murderous impulses, and Naruto only fuelled Sakura's fury. Sometimes his jokes were just out of place, and sometimes he was just blown away for being himself. Kakashi never quite understood it. Sasuke never got hit by Sakura... come back, he got hit in the war for saying that he wanted to become Hokage, then she hit him in the head for being a completely absurd selfish. Soon after, he died at the hands of Madara. Naruto never forgave himself for not saving him then, but he was dying at the time, and the only thing that kept him alive was Sakura's rescue operation, who, holding his heart in her hand, was still pressing his life into him. She didn't let him die, and when Kakashi saw her tears, he thought that perhaps something would change between the two of them, however everything fell apart after the war. Even he himself has undergone a change.

And then that day came when Sakura came to him. And he was never the same as before. And the only one who knew about his pain was Pakkun and Obito's statue.

"I can't believe I said that," Kakashi muttered, and Sakura chuckled.

"You better believe it!"

Her radiant smile illuminated the darkness in the cell, and Hatake could have sworn that at that moment he loved her even more, though his heart clenched painfully at the thought.

It was at that moment that the door banged open.

Suddenly, Kakashi was deprived of his entire world.

The cherry blossom, the scent of which was so far dazed, has disappeared...

Torn brutally from his arms.

Hatake sprang to his feet.

"Leave her alone! Take me!" he screamed, rushing towards the rebels who captured Sakura. "I know a lot more than she does!"

The moment he grabbed her foot, he was pushed away by the force of the wind of one of the executioners and his body hit the rock wall with force, losing contact with reality. The last thing he remembered before the darkness covered him with its claws again was the excruciating scream that came out of Sakura's throat.

~ * ~

"It's here!"

"There's no one in those cells, and how in the next one?!"

"I'm here!" the byakugan user exclaimed.

Kakashi was slowly regaining consciousness, though the voices in the hallway continued to blend together. Just as he was about to get up, the darkness enveloped him again.

"Help me up, my legs are bruised, but I can walk," asked the same voice from the opposite cell.

"What about him?" This one, in turn, was panicked. "Why is he unconscious on the ground?"

"He tried to save her from questioning," the byakugan user said in a pained voice. "But she bought him inviolability in exchange for her..."

Kakashi groaned.

"He wakes up!"

The sound of rushing footsteps made Kakashi finally open his eyelids, and the sharingan examined the feet approaching him. He was probably hallucinating. Or maybe he was just lost in his unreal dreams?

Something wet touched his cheek.

"Kakashi-sensei, get up!"

Someone grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"He's so heavy, dattebayo!"

Then his other hand was pulled.

"Kakashi-senpai, get up!"

Another aching groan escaped from Hatake's throat before he was pulled to his feet, and something wet this time touched his toes.

"Is he okay, Pakkun?"

"Yeah, he's just dazed. What exactly did they do to him?" This question was directed at the byakugan user.

"Probably threw him with a wind element against the wall."

"Kuso," a voice hissed near his ear.

Hatake didn't know why, but it was hard for him to recover. Maybe because he was recovering from poisoning in the last few days and his chakra levels were drastically low.

"Kakashi-sensei, where is Sakura-chan, dattebayo?!"

Sakura... Sakura-chan... For a moment that name was hanging around in his head before understanding came to him. And then Hatake opened his eyes so suddenly that his sharingan whirled, looking around at his companions' faces for enemies. He almost caught Naruto in genjutsu but stopped it at the last moment when something hit him.

"Sakura!" he exclaimed, instantly awake and tearing his hands from Naruto and Tenzō's grip. "They took her for questioning."

Kakashi rushed to the pallet where they were both lying until recently, where he found her pouch with medicaments, and strapped it to his pants, then he rushed to the exit, where he bowed his head to Gai and Sai; and right then met the glance of two different coloured eyes on his way, including one that was pale. Only now did he recognize who the other prisoner was.

"Hello, Ao," he said shortly, before he ran blindly after Sakura, as her scent was still wafting down the corridor, and then he turned his head, giving a short command, "Pakkun! Shiba!"

The ninkens chased after him, helping him track down where Sakura was taken. Only after a long while the rest of the rescue team broke out of their dullness and ran after Hatake Kakashi.

~ * ~

"Again," the man said through his clenched teeth. "What are the weaknesses of the Hokage?"

Sakura shivered under the influence of hysterical laughter.

"Tsunade-shishou doesn't have such!"

At that moment, a few whispers between the gathered rebels echoed, and the captive sent a defiant glare to the man who was interrogating her. Until now, she had only some weaks who couldn't even last five minutes and changed every now and then, but this time they brought someone who obviously knew his stuff. Perhaps a commander?

Rage played in his eyes, and Haruno grinned bloody teeth in a devilish smile.

It was at that moment that the torturer slapped her once again. Sakura turned her head under the influence of the impact force and only gasped for a moment, then once again looked at the man, but before her green eyes met the man's gaze, she noticed a storm of white hair and a masked face somewhere in the entrance. Her smile widened as she finally looked back at the one who had questioned her.

"Why are you so happy?!" he roared at her. "What are you laughing at?! Give me the weak points of the Hokage, or I'll wipe that smile off your face, bitch!"

That was what Sakura meant. Her smile only widened as she saw the aura emanating from Kakashi.

"Go ahead," she said scathingly.

"We'll see if you get so much fun when I start cutting off your fingers one by one." So, saying, he took a kunai from his belt and with one hand held her tiny hand in the wrist, and with the other, holding the weapon, he brought the blade closer to the delicate skin.

~ * ~

"Kakashi, I sensed something strange about Sakura," Pakkun said.

"Yes, I felt it too," said Shiba, then added, "Your smells get mixed up too much... actually Sakura is soaked with you!"

Kakashi didn't say a word, just rushed forward, his lips pressed tightly together.

"Is that what I think it is?" Pakkun asked.

Hatake looked at the rest of the rescue team and judged that they were at a safe distance before he sighed, his shoulders hanging down.

"Yes," he replied, to which Pakkun said nothing, but Shiba bared his fangs.

"If only they just try to touch her, I'll let them meet my fangs!"

~ * ~

He managed to get to the huge room where Sakura was interrogated, unnoticed. The group of rebels was too engrossed in the interrogation, which was too out of control and no longer limited to the art of genjutsu.

To say that Kakashi was furious would be an understatement.

He was overcome with fury the moment he saw the man slap Sakura. The rage was almost pouring out of him, and if someone stared at him longer, he would see his hair rising in a peculiar way, his whole appearance felt electrified. It was as if his nature was leaking out of him. The air around him thickened as if it were the calm before the storm, and even Pakkun and Shiba felt it. Besides, they also had their fangs bared. Ninken's earlier comment on Sakura's safety was perfectly appropriate, as the dog liked her too much to let the torturer hurt her, but before he was given the finesse of his own torture, Kakashi attacked.

By the time Naruto, Tenzō, Gai, Sai, and Ao followed him into the interrogation room, Kakashi was on the verge of endurance. The fuel added to the fire was also the fact that the leader of the rebels threw the insulting word at his victim, and when this bastard threatened to cut off Sakura's fingers, Naruto almost broke through the line of his friends, but Ao stopped him by putting his hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"Relax, it's not your fight," the byakugan user said, pointing his chin at Kakashi.

Hatake made no movement or twitched. The air around him almost sounded like his raikiri. It was the same silent rage that was seizing Minato-sensei when Kushina was attacked. It was apparent peace, but the fury that silently smouldered in his heart was perfectly reflected in his eyes and body language. Though apparently calm, this calm could kill and disembowel anyone who looked at Kushina even crookedly. The same thing was happening to Kakashi at the moment.

The torturer's blade barely brushed the silky smooth skin of the kunoichi as another kunai cut through the air, digging into the rock on the other side of the room.

There was a scream from a man who stared in horror lined with fury at his hand nailed to the rock wall. Disbelief crept into the man's mind, and when he tried to move the weapon stuck in his body, he realized that the blade had been pinned with such precision and force that there was no way it could be pulled out. He had one option left... He grimaced in pain, but before making a decision, he looked back for the owner of this attack.

One glance at Hatake was enough to understand that it was he who had executed the blow.

The rebels froze, staring at their leader pinned to the wall with a single kunai that Kakashi took from Sakura's bag. He didn't know how she had managed to smuggle it out, but he was indescribably grateful for it.

A darkened gaze wandered over the surprised faces of the rebels.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, and when the man didn't react, the boy handed him his weapon belt, as Ao had explained to him that Kakashi wouldn't be able to fight with his techniques due to low chakra levels.

A predatory grin twitched on Copy Ninja's lips as he strapped his gun belt on.

"Kakashi, let's go!" Shiba hissed, and Pakkun sighed, knowing that the other ninken was too hot-headed.

However, Hatake didn't object, even when Shiba added fuel to the fire with his statement, "We're going to rescue your dam!"

And they moved on. Kakashi in the company of his ninkens.

Naruto watched with bated breath as Kakashi-sensei made his way to Sakura through the sea of rebels who were throwing themselves at him like blind flies that can fly into the apartment but don't know how to left it. Shinobi was manoeuvring, avoiding blows from the rogues and launching a multitude of attacks himself. He was like an angel of revenge led by instinct towards his beloved one. By defeating a multitude of opponents to finally get her. Although in the case of Hatake and Haruno it was no longer about getting, but about saving.

Rage roared in his veins, filling every cell in his body with the power of hate and the power of destruction. Fury boiled inside him only and exclusively, fuelling the flame that smouldered in his heart over and over again with each victim he placed on the ground. So, by hitting the opponent's eye with a kunai, then hitting another's throat or cutting the attacker's neck on purpose. Kakashi forged ahead, completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Naruto, along with the other members of the rescue group, watched the amazing actions of Hatake against the entire criminal group, who, like an angel of revenge, broke through the swarms of rebels coming from nowhere. He swayed between them, cutting and slashing kunai or throwing shurikens. Uzumaki with wide open eyes stared at the new face of his sensei.

"He used to be like that," Gai muttered thoughtfully, studying Kakashi's posture. "Just like some god of vengeance... young and furious Kakashi."

Naruto didn't take his eyes off his teacher, who taught him a lot of wisdom, and above all, not to get carried away. And now he slaughtered all the rebels just to reach Sakura.

If to look at his ninkens in this way, for the young Uzumaki, they never seemed particularly threatening, they looked more like trackers. But when they bared their fangs, gnawing the knuckles of their opponents to blood, even Pakkun, whose wrinkled muzzle seemed to Naruto sometimes even too gentle to ever look askance at anyone, now he looked like a furious monster.

"Don't be surprised," Ao muttered, who had noticed Naruto's eyesight.

"Yes, but he's Kakashi-sensei... a man who taught me how important it is to control my emotions and who never ever showed them, and now..." Uzumaki scratched his head. "No! That's too much information for me to process, dattebayo!"

Ao smiled thoughtfully before returning his gaze to the enraged Kakashi.

"And did you have someone in your life whom you ever wanted to defend against all evil, but you didn't always succeed or someone thwarted your plans?" the byakugan user asked.

The boy paused for a moment, keeping his hands in his hair. He looked at Sakura and back to his teacher and then to the interlocutor.

"Yes." His own answer surprised him so much that he blinked in surprise.

"Then you should understand him," Ao explained. "Kakashi was poisoned. Sakura healed him, but when he lay unconscious for several days, she made a pact with the rebels that she would go to interrogations in exchange for him, and that under no circumstances were they allowed to touch him. Somehow, they didn't refuse her, I don't know why, but they didn't dare to oppose her. And when Kakashi finally regained consciousness, seeing her dedication to him, he wanted to repay her but couldn't. And it shocked him. Especially since someone so gentle dared to intercede for him..."

Naruto shifted his gaze once more to the original members of team seven, and then back to Ao, catching the corner of his eye of the friendly smile Sai was sending him.

"There's something I don't understand..." he began, and Tenzō's weary gaze suggested that he should give it up. "Kakashi-sensei didn't know it works both ways?"

Everyone looked at him in dismay.

"He took care of us during each mission, so that we would come back alive and at the moment when he needs help and someone's standing up for him... he feels wrong with it?"

"He obviously doesn't like anyone risking their life for him."

"That's what friends are for, dattebayo!"

"The lovers' relationships are much more fierce." Ao 's words had the intended effect on Tenzō and Sai, but Naruto didn't fully understand the hint, and Gai completely didn't understand what was going on.

Kakashi finally made it to the other side, where Sakura was waiting for him, trapped in genjutsu again. That's why the grey-haired shinobi crouched down in front of her and formed a seal, whispering, "Kai."

The pink-haired kunoichi slowly opened her eyelids, looking at the disturbed mismatched eyes.

"Kakashi?" she whispered when someone came from behind them, but he didn't even have time to raise his armed arm to deliver a blow as three shurikens stuck in his eye sockets and neck.

Sakura blinked in surprise as she realized that it was Kakashi who had attacked their opponent without even looking at him.

"Are you okay? How are you? What about... a child?" His voice cracked on the last word.

"I'm alright. It used to be better and... don't worry, since it's Haruno and Hatake, you can't count on him giving up so easily," she announced, but when she noticed a flash of uncertainty in Hatake's eyes, she hesitated if she understood his intentions well.

At this point, the two rebels attacked, so Kakashi swiftly turned to deal with them in three blows, one hit for each of them, and another one piercing them both with the help of one of Naruto's swords, like he would use his raikiri if it wasn't for the low chakra level.

Haruno was once again impressed by Hatake's strong determination. And only when she realized that her wrists were freed and Kakashi's ninkens were jumping down the leader's throat, she tried to stand up and dropped back into her seat. The grey-haired shinobi caught her almost immediately.

"What's wrong?"

"It's okay, Kakashi. It's just a sprained ankle."

However, Hatake was already holding her in his arms, and just as Shiba was about to take his revenge for Sakura's treatment, Kakashi called his trackers.

The whole room was paved with corpses, or the survivors, still twitching in their deadly convulsions. Hatake scanned the entire room with his sharingan before deciding to focus on Sakura for good and leave the rest to the rescue team.

It was then that a monstrous roar rose through the hall.

A roar of pain and despair, as well as unjustified rage.