Chapter One

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 slow lapping of water against the beams supporting the house. A slight chill was 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 closer to the center of the room.

Closer to the window, and slightly off center in the small room lay two futons, each meant to be occupied by the only two women in the house. Weak moonlight coming in through the window aided his sight.

With growing incredulity, Kakashi saw that Sakura has pinned a frightened Tsunami, the lady of the house, to the futon on which she lay.

"Where am I?" Sakura 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 whimper in reply. Kakashi intervened before the situation could escalate.

"Sakura!"

Sakura's 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 face shifted in the direction of the kunai in his hand.

Quickly letting his kunai 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 came to protect the bridge-builder? 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, her hands coming up to protect her throat from further damage. She was coughing and crying quietly at the same time.

Unable to move away from her attacker, Tsunami remained as still as possible in order to remain inconspicuous to her attacker.

"What—Wave country…?" Sakura murmured, looking highly confused for all intents and purposes.

Within that moment of silence, multiple footsteps were heard thundering down the hall. The door was pushed open by a dishevelled Naruto holding his pillow as a weapon. Sasuke lurked just behind him, weapons drawn and peaking 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 staring at Naruto. He watched a myriad of emotions pass over her face before it settled on incredulity.

"What the fuck?" She said, stumbling away from Tsunami and flattening herself against the nearest wall.

Tsunami used that opportunity to scramble away and escape into the arms of her father.

Kakashi barely even noticed.

The spot where Sakura stood perfectly illuminated her features; from the strangely familiar jewel on her forehead to the fact that Sakura Haruno seemed to have aged 10 years overnight.