"Follow me you two" Gamamaru ordered leaping head first into the water, Hagoromo and Hamura shared a quick look before jumping in after the toad, only when they emerged, the orange toad was no where to be seen, the brothers looked around cautiously sensing many different things.
Deciding that it would be in their best interests, they started forward peering around them warily in case someone tried to attack, "Somethings not right Anija" Hamura pondered out loud pale eyes sliding left and right.
Hagoromo found he couldn't disagree with his brother "Yes, let's just hope we find someone soon" he nodded keeping his eyes forward and senses spread out, he wasn't going to be caught unawares in their current situation, in a place they knew nothing about.
They trekked for endless miles before ultimately ending up taking a break "What do you think is going on?" Hamura frowned slightly not liking the fact they were in unfamiliar surroundings at all, even with his Byakugan, there was only so much he could handle.
"I don't know Hamura, something happened when we jumped into the water after Gamamaru" Hagoromo bit his cheek in thought, one thing he knew for certain was that their Mother was going to be positively murderous if they couldn't figure out a way to go back.
Hamura sighed looking around with his dojutsu activated again and finally he sensed someone heading their way, whoever it was, was powerful "Oi Anija we've got company" he tilted his head in the direction the person was coming from.
Both of them stood bodies tensed and eyes narrowed ready to fight, but when that person skidded to a halt before them, kicking up a cloud of dust blocking their view momentarily before it cleared, neither brother could stop their jaws from dropping open.
Because there stood before them was a young girl, with bright emerald eyes that peered at them with caution and curiosity, but the oddest thing about this girl was her bright cherry pink hair and the unfamiliar headgear she wore atop her head.
They weren't the only ones, she was looking them over just as much as they had her, "Who are you two?" she questioned in a soft voice blinking her eyes at them as the two young males stood there in open mouthed astonishment.
And then to her surprise the one of the right with the pale red hair smirked "Oh what's this now" he strutted forward and her body tensed like a coil waiting to spring into action, he seemed to notice this and frowned a bit.
"I'll ask again, who are you two?" she repeated hoping they gave her answers this time and didn't act so cocky, though she didn't doubt for a minute that she'd be able to defeat them, one chakra wafted off of them in waves, pure and unadulterated, two, she was still learning under Tsunade.
Deciding it wouldn't do any harm to give the girl their names, in hopes that she would help them, Hamura cleared his throat softly drawing her viridian eyes "I am Hamura, that's my brother Hagoromo" he started.
Thankfully she relaxed "Do you have last names, and where did you come from, everyone in the village is on edge because of the powerful chakra that rolls off of you two in waves" more questions and Hagoromo felt his face twitch in agitation.
"Otsutsuki and we aren't really sure, we're kind of in a pickle right now" for all he was hot headed sometimes, between himself and his older brother, he was definitely better at remaining calm during an interrogation.
Her eyes widened and confusion flashed through her eyes "I'm Sakura Haruno, and what kind of pickle are you in" she finally decided to introduce herself and took a hesitant step forward, all while chewing her lip furiously.
Glad that the girl was at least willing to try and help them "We aren't to sure, but we were following some toad named Gamamaru, but when we emerged from the water we were here and everything was different" Hamura frowned slightly.
Sakura creased her forehead trying to remember where she'd heard the last name Otsutsuki before, "Hmm" she hummed softly closing her eyes to think without getting distracted 'Otsutsuki, Otsutsuki, Otsutsuki..." her eyes snapped open.
"Oh my god" she slapped her hands over her mouth and a chill ran down her spine as she realized just exactly who was standing before her "I think..." Sakura trailed off with a grimace "That somehow you got stuck in some kind of time travel jutsu" she started fidgeting beneath their gazes.
Until "Hahaha, I think you're insane little girl, just lead us to a woman named Kaguya, she's our Mother" Hagoromo laughed the explanation off not quite getting it just yet, but Hamura sent him a worried and concerned look.
Shocked, though not really surprised because it did really seem impossible, and maybe just a tiny bit pissed off that the young male wasn't taking her seriously, Sakura ground her teeth "I don't know who this Kaguya woman is" she glared.
Feeling extremely put out with his older brother for the moment "Anija, I believe she's telling the truth, look around you, somethings obviously happened, because where we come from, only you, I and Mother have chakra" Hamura shifted his gaze to Hagoromo.
His brother froze getting a good look at the pinkette who was glaring at him and sensed the chakra within her "But how, this should be impossible, time travel I've never heard of it before" Hagoromo felt dread pool in his stomach like a sack of rocks.
"Neither have I, perhaps it was a glitch or something who knows" Sakura threw her hands in the air getting fed up with all the crap that had been going on recently, Akatsuki, Tailed Beasts, and now this two time travelers from over a thousand years ago.
A heavy silence hung in the air for a moment until all three of them felt the incoming chakra and Sakura went impossibly still emerald eyes narrowing becoming completely on edge, it also alerted Hagoromo and Hamura to the fact that this person was in fact not a friend.
Then he was there before them looking Sakura over "If it isn't Lady Tsunade's little apprentice" he smirked and both brothers knew immediately that the man wasn't there for them, just the pinkette who took a defensive position in front of them.
Just before she was to leap forward fist raised high and ready to pound the guys face in Hamura put a restraining hand on her shoulder "Don't kill him" he warned not liking the idea of seeing someone die, Sakura craned her neck to meet his gaze before nodding seriously.
"I understand, I wouldn't have though" she smiled softly shifting her gaze forward again and then she was jumping at the man and he leaped back to avoid the kick to the stomach "SHANNARO" Sakura exclaimed fist impacting with the ground destroying it.
Hagoromo felt his eyes widening and he choked just a tiny bit on his saliva "Kami" he breathed witnessing Sakura give the man a sound thrashing, if there was just a tiny bit of awe in his voice, Hamura chose not to mention it and for that Hagoromo was thankful.
And fifteen minutes later, Sakura rose to her diminutive height dusting off her hands leaving behind a smoking crater with an unconscious enemy "Would you mind taking us to you're leader" Hagoromo eyed her warily and she gave an inward smug smile.
"Not all this way please" she nodded politely choosing not to comment on the fact they inched their way around the destruction she'd created and kept a minimum five feet away from her, Sakura bit her lip and took a deep breath, 'Lady Tsunade's not going to like this' she thought.
Ten minutes into their trek Hamura decided to question the pinkette a little more "So tell us a little more about yourself" he asked speeding up just a little to walk at her side, Sakura tilted her head up to meet his pale lavender gaze and frowned.
"Well I live in a village called the Leaf Village and I'm currently the apprentice of the Hokage, I suppose you wouldn't know what a Hokage is though that's our leader and they take care of the political side of things and make sure our village is running smoothly" Sakura chattered.
Before slapping a hand over her mouth curse her stupidity what if this whole thing was a trap and here she was just offering up information without a care in the world "I see, I see and what of you're family do you have any siblings" Hamura wasn't even paying attention to the fact the girl almost had a meltdown.
Hagoromo didn't miss the panic though as the pinkette spoke again "I have my mother and father but no siblings I have teammates and one of them could be considered a little brother, the other I love even though he's not in the village right now" Sakura gave a wistful sigh that was full of longing.
For Sasuke not that either of the males trailing her knew "Excuse me teammates?" Hagoromo finally inquired unable to keep silent any longer now that the conversation had gotten rather interesting to say the least what was teammates.
Sakura gazed over her shoulder at the obviously older male "Yeah we go on missions the four of us or at least we did until my two teammates left to do other things but my sensei is still in the village, he trained us the minute we became genin" she nodded with a smile.
It was obvious that neither male walking with her understood a single thing she was saying judging by their matching expressions of confusion "Pardon me but what is a genin?" Hamura frowned deeply the world had changed and he wondered if it was a good thing.
"Well in the village we are each classified by a rank in the system the lowest on the skill totem is an academy student they are entered into the academy it's where they learn the essentials to be a shinobi that's using you're chakra to fight from age six to twelve" the pinkette took a deep breath.
And though she was extremely weary the least she could try to do is explain "Then we take an exam that determines if we can become genin and get put on a team with two others and a sensei, next is a chunin it's a rank up from genin and of course jonin and then finally anbu the highest" she finished.
"Of course there are other variations to ranks such as a special jonin or even a root anbu but I don't know many details on those guys yet and of course at the top of the totem pole is our Hokage be it a he or a she" Sakura grinned imparting the knowledge she'd recently learned.
Hagoromo and Hamura shared a look of wariness with each other but if they were ever going to find a way to get back to their time they had no choice but to follow the pinkette and talk to her leader this Hokage whoever they might be.
The older of the duo shrugged "Right so how much further do we have to go" Hagoromo asked wanting to be home where things made sense and away from things such as Hokage's and genin and all that other nonsense that the girl had been spouting.
Emerald clashed with onyx "Not much further see there you can see the gates of the Leaf Village" Sakura pointed in front of her and the brothers looked forward, indeed there was a red gate but it was guarded now that was something familiar to see people standing guard.
As they approached the gates the guards tensed and brandished strange weapons at them Hamura was all for activating his dojutsu and disabling them but Sakura held up her hand "They aren't a threat" the pinkette exclaimed with a glare.
"Pardon us Sakura-san but are you sure the chakra that rolls off of them is enough to set the entire village on edge" one guard rolled his shoulders but did as the young girl commanded without asking and stowed away his kunai as did his partner.
Sakura felt a headache coming on and rubbed her temples furiously in an attempt to keep the throbbing at bay "Just trust me I'm taking them to see Lady Tsunade" she smiled though she couldn't help the wince as the throbbing made a comeback.
Hagoromo frowned he knew that look it was a familiar one he hadn't realized that the girl was really putting her neck out there for him and his brother so as calmly as he could Hagoromo raised his hand already glowing green and healed her headache.
The girl whirled in surprise as the healing chakra faded "You're a medic ninja" Sakura looked about as excited as ever before her skin paled that could only mean one thing they really were from the past because she hadn't even seen the man form the hand signs needed to perform the jutsu.
"Medic" Hamura creased his brow "It is true I and my brother have the gift of healing chakra but we wouldn't necessarily classify ourselves as this medic person" he stated in a flat tone getting tired of standing around and waiting.
Her excitement quickly fizzled "Right this way" Sakura sighed tiredly why did all this stuff happen to her maybe it was the curse of team seven that was a plausible explanation right "You have to sign in" she said once they were on the other side of the gates.
Hamura and Hagoromo signed in without complaint though it was strange to do so before following after the pinkette once more as she weaved in and out of crowds leading them to the center of the massive village before Hamura once again thought of some questions.
"Excuse me but what were those strange weapons and why on earth do you need to sign in at you're own village" he crossed his arms trying to look intimidating because he wanted these particular questions answered.
Another sigh and Sakura craned her neck around to meet his lavender eyes "Kunai, see I suppose you didn't have any in you're time line and to keep track of those visiting or leaving or coming back from missions" she explained before holding out one of her own kunai.
Hamura took the weapon inspecting every inch of it before handing it back "No we don't, we have these sorts of weapons" he showed off his own blade in the form of a scythe "And missions" he raised a brow expecting to be answered once again.
Hagoromo rubbed his forehead his brother was to inquisitive for his own good sometimes "Otouto perhaps we could lay off the questions for a bit, she's already risking a lot to bring us here we should be a little more courteous" there he'd said it.
Before the younger could retaliate a small giggle filled the air from the girl that was walking between them, when had that happened they both wondered since the last they knew she had been ahead of them and they'd been trying to keep their distance though it hadn't been working out very well.
"Missions are what we go on to bring income into the village though they are also classified by rank academy students are excluded from missions and it starts from genin up to jonin and even Hokage have to go on missions sometimes though it's rare" Sakura answered.
"The ranks are followed D, C, B, A, S and SS, D are for those just starting out so genin and their jonin sensei C can also be given to genin once they've done a decent amount of D and their sensei think they are ready for a harder challenge" the pinkette continued keeping her eyes forward.
"C and B are for chunin, though sometimes someone will lie about a mission rank and genin will accidentally be assigned to an A rank mission, B and A are for jonin level shinobi, S are for Anbu level and SS are for Anbu, Sannin and Hokage level shinobi" she finished again.
"I forgot Sannin are the level below Hokage and our hokage happens to be one of the very few people who have ever been christened as a sannin and I'm her apprentice" Sakura grinned as they finally, finally reached the Hokage Tower.
Surprised at the in depth answer they'd received even though it must be a pain to explain all that she had Hagoromo and Hamura were silent as they began climbing the stairs and entered the massive building they were stood before.
Before going down halls upon halls to finally reach a door where Sakura knocked calmly on the door "Enter" a rough female voice called out from within and the pinkette swung the door open admitting herself and them into the room which turned out to be an office.
And sat behind the desk in the room overlooking a giant glass window that showcased some of the Leaf Village was a woman with blonde hair and honey colored eyes "Sakura who are these people" that were narrowed on them with a glint of wariness.
So came the explanations again this was getting tiresome "I'm Hagoromo and this is my little brother Hamura, I believe as we might have guessed earlier that we entered into some kind of time slip jutsu and ended up here in this time from ours and we'd like to get back" Hagoromo explained.
Tsunade raised a brow before glancing to her fourteen year old apprentice "It's true Lady Tsunade and they have the last name Otsutsuki who else would call themselves by that name other than the real Hagoromo or Hamura" Sakura added to the story.
"And how else do you explain their presence, one minute there was no one there and then these two pop quite literally out of now where I felt it myself how they came here out of no where" the pinkette stated wanting to help the two brothers.
With a sigh because she knew Sakura wasn't lying to her "Alright tell me exactly what you remember and what happened right before you came here" Tsunade turned her narrowed eyes onto the duo wanting to get them back to their own time and quick.
Hamura spoke this time nodding his head politely it was only thanks to the girl that this was possible after all "We were told to follow this toad named Gamamaru, he jumped into a stream and we followed and when we exited the river we were here and the toad was no where to be found" he said.
Tsunade blinked rapidly "Did you say Gamamaru" she frowned why did that name sound familiar, she thought for a few minutes before it finally clicked the old toad elder from Mount Myoboku "Did you two try going back into the river" Tsunade said suddenly.
Both brother shared a look as if that thought had never occurred to them "Explore all options if that doesn't work then I'll have my teammate who is fortunately in the village go to speak with Gamamaru to find out what else can be done" Tsunade explained.
They bowed grateful that they were receiving help "Sakura go with them to the river if them jumping in doesn't work bring them back here in the meantime I'll find Jiraiya" Tsunade barked suddenly and the pinkette bowed before scrambling for the door.
With that the three of them were quickly on their way back to the gates of the village Hamura and Hagoromo signing out without Sakura prompting them two and this time it was them leading the way back to the river they'd emerged from.
It took them a little over two hours to reach the river and they were certain it was the same "Okay so all you have to do is repeat you're previous actions by jumping in" Sakura who'd been silent this time grateful for the reprieve in questions looked at the water with a dubious expression.
Obviously she doubted that it would work, Hagoromo and Hamura shared a quick smirk and sidled up to the young girl sandwiching her between them "Well if this works I'm glad we met you Sakura" Hagoromo leaned down as did Hamura.
"Yes it was only thanks to you that we received even if it wasn't much help at all, so we thank you Sakura-san" Hamura in all his hotheadedness was polite as they both simultaneously kissed the pinkette on the cheeks causing her face to erupt in a blush before they charged head first into the river.
Holding their breath and then kicking up off the bottom of the river bed once they felt it a couple minutes later they breached the surface of the river and found themselves once again in unfamiliar surroundings though with a familiar face.
"Bout time you two got up here been waiting for like ten minutes" Gamamaru huffed at them "Come on then there's something I need to show you" he waved his webbed fingers at them, Hagoromo and Hamura shared a look of confusion.
They'd been in that other time for hours and yet only ten minutes had passed in this time, it really had been a glitch in time and they could only hope that whatever jutsu was at work wouldn't take them to that other time again, even if they regretted leaving the pinkette behind.
In the future Sakura watched the river for about three minutes before turning and heading back to the Leaf Village, they must have made it through for they had never returned, oh well it was out of her hands now, she made it back to the village explained the situation and finally returned home.
Thinking of the two brothers who'd randomly appeared and just as suddenly disappeared the sage of six paths and his brother Hamura, Sakura sighed softly and rubbed her cheeks as they turned red again just before she closed her eyes and drifted off into a blissful sleep, it would make for an interesting story to tell for sure.