The only thing he really remembers about this particular mission is his panicked heartbeat, loud and thundering and pounding all the way to his ears, nearly sending him into a panic as he leaps through the trees and across the border of Leaf to Sound, the two ANBU escorts behind him struggling to keep up.
"Kakashi. I'm sending you on an emergency rescue mission to Sound."
"Who's the target?"
The Fifth is silent, and her eyes become sad. "...Sakura Haruno."
God, his stomach had dropped like an anvil, and he swore he was going to be sick. Tsunade had sent Sakura on a reconnaissance mission to report on the possible whereabouts of Sasuke Uchiha. A three-day reconnaissance mission. This was day six.
"Why the hell would you send her after Sasuke when you know that she-"
"I am well aware of their relationship, Kakashi! Don't talk down to me!"
The Fifth calms down, sighs, and seats herself at her desk.
"It was a spur of the moment mission. We had just gotten word about a possible hideout of Orochimaru's and Sakura was the only available ninja at the time we could utilize. She was never meant to engage or interact, only observe and report back to me. We were nearly certain that they would have fled by the time we got anyone out to investigate. However, I can see now what a mistake even that was..."
Kakashi pumps more chakra into his legs as his muscles push themselves to their limits as he bursts through the trees, moving as fast as he can. The location Tsunade had given him may have been in the Land of Sound, but it was dangerously close to the Leaf's border; he's nearly there.
"Kakashi. I know you and Sakura have had a falling out of sorts as of late. But please don't let that get in the way of this mission."
His fists clench. "I would protect Sakura with my life, falling out or not."
Tsunade nods, and a breath of relief leaves her body. "Good. I'm sending two available ANBU black ops members to accompany you, should things go awry. You're dismissed. But Kakashi-" he's already on his way out, but stops just shy of the door. "Please. Bring her back to me."
"On my life."
The lone copy ninja had never meant anything more in his entire existence.
He finally reaches the spot marked on his map, and he immediately begins scouring the area. San and Doh, the two black ops members sent along with him, don't hesitate to assist, though they are slightly out of breath. They are in a small clearing in a forested area, with endless evergreen trees and moss and fungi around them. The ground is muddy with rain that has since passed, but the silver-haired shinobi doesn't pay it any heed as he begins searching around the cliff overhang that rounds off their search radius.
There is a cave just a few yards off, expertly covered by brush and leaves, its open mouth black and uninviting. Kakashi Hatake has just enough sense left in him to radio back to San and Doh before pushing his way past the brush and ducking inside.
The cave is much more spacious on the inside than it appears from the outside, and he can easily understand why this would have been one such chosen hideout for Orochimaru and his 'apprentice'; had he not been looking for it to begin with, the average passerby would have never found it, except by pure chance.
He walks further into the cave, finding a single lit torch along its walls. He briefly examines it to make sure it's not booby-trapped, and takes it off its mantle to go further into the tunnel. The temperature drops the further in he goes, but that doesn't stop him; he has to bring Sakura home.
Kakashi comes to a fork in the tunnel, deciding to take the left first. If it is fruitless, he will go back and try the other way. He hears Doh, or maybe San, a ways behind him, but he hardly has any intention of waiting for the pair as he turns yet another corner, and his heart just pounds, pounds, pounds. This must have been a newer hideout, or perhaps a less frequently used one, for it is not nearly as ornate or elaborate as Orochimaru's usually are. The only sign that he had seen of anyone having been here at all had been the torch he now held in his hand, and that wasn't much.
The tunnel eventually opens into a cavern, generously lit with torches all around, but that's not what he sees; Sakura hangs on display in the center of the room, her wrists and ankles bound by chains, her body slouched yet pulled taut at the same time. A makeshift sign hangs from her neck, a large piece of paper crudely stuck through a large chain.
Kakashi drops his torch and checks her pulse, relieved to find her alive. Her heartbeat is just barely there, but it's there, and that's all he needs. He stops briefly to check the piece of paper - the brand, as it seems to be intended - that's attached to her person, and it reads in crude capital letters; USELESS.
Anger blooms inside him, and he crumples the note in his hand and tosses it from her neck and to the floor, chain and all. He examines the shackles on her wrists and ankles, sees that they all connect at a single spot in the ceiling, and builds up chakra in his hand.
"LIGHTNING BLADE!"
He jumps up to cut Sakura's binds and rushes to the floor to catch her before she falls, and it's not until he has her in his arms that Doh and San arrive on the scene.
The copy ninja holds the unconscious pinkette in his arms, shifting her body so that her head rests on his vest, and walks silently out of the cave, leaving a stunned pair of ANBU members behind him.
~*~
He doesn't remember much after that.
Only the immeasurable amount of time he spends in her hospital room, holding her limp hand in both of his own as he sits at her bedside, occasionally checking on her IV and vitals.
He keeps thinking about that note, wondering who left it.
The chains were no doubt Orochimaru's idea, the sadistic, torturous psychopath that he was. But the sign...as much as he doesn't want to believe it, in his gut he knows just exactly whom was behind it; his own student, Sasuke Uchiha. It had been done by the hand of the very man Sakura had long ago fancied herself in love with, and perhaps on some level still did, and Kakashi cannot help but blame himself for not foreseeing Sasuke's troubling thirst for power even back then when they were all so young, and for not having done anything more to stop it. To think that he had reached the point where he would do such a thing, and to his own teammate who had done nothing but shown him love and affection for the entirety of her existence...tospecifically prey upon one's own personal fears, especially by someone she had once considered an ally...
In all fairness, he is glad that Sasuke and his new 'teacher' were long gone by the time he and the black ops had arrived, for he's not so certain that his head would have been clear enough to not attack with intent to kill.
Snapping back to reality, Kakashi loosens his tightened grip on Sakura's hand, smoothing it out and running his thumb along her soft palm.
Tsunade comes in to check her vitals and debrief him on his mission, and the blonde formally thanks him for bringing back her student alive. She goes on to tell him that she expects Sakura to be awake within the next seventy-two hours, but that it will be some time before she is fully back on her feet and ready to take on missions - or even daily activities - again.
"She's severely dehydrated, and her body was almost completely drained of chakra when you brought her here. She has two cracked ribs, some internal bruising, and her wrists and ankles are practically worn to the bone. She'll need properly rehabilitated. Kakashi. I don't ask this lightly. Will you look after Sakura when the time comes? I'd do it myself, but...being Hokage has more inconveniences than perks."
He nods, no hesitation whatsoever. "I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to help her recover."
Tsunade nods, closing her eyes. "Good. That's what I was hoping to hear. Consider it your next assignment until no further duties are required."
She leaves them, and Kakashi spends the rest of the night at Sakura's side, intent on being the first person she sees when she awakes.
