Chapter Text
Kakashi Hatake awoke with a start and he didn't know why. Naruto's loud snoring aside, the house was quiet and peaceful. Outside, he could hear the gentle lapping of water against the beams supporting the house. Crickets chirped in the distance. A slight chill was slowly seeping into his bones.
Wave country weather did not agree with Kakashi's Konohan preferences.
He glanced to his right, where two boys were huddled together in their sleep. With rising amusement, he noticed that Naruto was spooning Sasuke with great enthusiasm that belied their boyhood rivalry.
He chuckled quietly, wondering how either boy would react to waking up in such a predicament.
A sharp scream pierced through his musings.
Kakashi reacted before he could think. Using a sliver of chakra, he transported himself straight into the adjoining room from where the scream emanated. Heart in his throat, he berated himself for letting Sakura sleep separately.
Taking in the room at large, he quickly took note of the closed window in front of him as well as the similarly closed door behind him. Brandishing a kunai, the only weapon he brought with him, Kakashi took a step towards the center of the room.
Closer to the window, and slightly off center in the small room, lay two futons. Each was meant to be occupied by the only two women in the house. Weak moonlight coming in through the window aided his sight.
Two shadowy figures were halo-ed by the waxing moonlight. Kakashi noted with growing incredulity that it was Sakura who was pinning a very frightened Tsunami, the lady of the house, to the futon on which she lay.
"Where am I?" She hissed quietly, forearm choking Tsunami, pushing her deeper into the cushioning. "Who are you and why have you brought me here?"
Tsunami, for her part, could only gag in reply. Kakashi intervened before the situation could escalate.
"Sakura!" He called out sternly.
Her head snapped in his direction, body stiffening in recognition.
"Sakura, let her go. You're safe here."
She didn't seem to be listening. Her obscured face shifted in the direction of the kunai in his hand.
Quickly letting his weapon clatter to the ground, Kakashi brought his arms up in a placating manner. He spoke in the softest voice he could muster, not wanting to spook the girl further.
"We're in Wave country right now, remember? At the bridge builder's House? That's his daughter Tsunami. You remember Tsunami right? Inari's mother? We have a mission to protect her father, the bridge-builder Tazuna? Do you remember that, Sakura?"
To his intense relief, halfway through his blundering, Sakura let up on choking the woman, but she did not get up.
Tsunami was shaking harder than a leaf, hands coming up to protect her throat from further damage. She was coughing and sobbing in equal measure. Immobilized under her attacker, Tsunami shrunk in on herself to remain inconspicuous.
"What—Wave country…?" Sakura murmured, shaking her head in confusion. She tilted her head to the side, allowing a glint of light to illuminate her cheek. “How did...?”
During that moment’s pause, multiple footsteps were heard thundering down the hall. The door was pushed open by a disheveled Naruto holding his pillow as a weapon. Sasuke lurked just behind him, weapons drawn and peeking over Naruto's shoulder. Beyond them, Tazuna shot Kakashi a questioning look, carrying a frightened Inari.
"Kakashi-sensei! What happened?! Sakura, you okay?!"
Kakashi looked back at Sakura to see her facing Naruto. She was shaking her head more vigorously now, one trembling finger coming up to point at Naruto.
"What the fuck?" She said, stumbling away from Tsunami and flattening herself against the nearest wall.
Tsunami used that opportunity to scramble away with a cry. She ran past him and into the arms of her father, whimpering quietly.
Kakashi scarcely noticed. He was barely breathing as it is.
Because the spot where Sakura stood perfectly illuminated her features. From the strangely familiar jewel on her forehead to the fact that Haruno Sakura seemed to have aged 10 years overnight.