A/N:

:)

posting this on tuesday this week bc i have another fic scheduled for thursday, but future chapters will (usually) still be released on thursdays

If Kaho were to spontaneously time travel three days into the past, she thinks that she'd spend all of her time beating herself into the dirt. Maybe then she'd learn to stop saying "what's the worst that could happen?"-esque lines and getting herself caught up in ridiculous situations.

Alas, she doesn't have such an opportunity, so all she can do is watch on in what feels like slow motion as Akira bursts forward with an unfamiliar name on his lips. Hotaru hisses something in her ear - Wave , it sounds like - before following after him, and she feels something like resignation settle in her bones.

Ah, fuck me.

She sends a mental apology to Kakashi, hoping desperately that he won't decide to kick them all to the curb if they end up surviving this nonsense, and throws herself through the hole in the fence.

" DISTRACTION! " Akira shouts.

What the fucking fuck , Kaho thinks as she watches her black-haired teammate sail through the air, releasing a spray of kunai towards the man on the cross. The man - Kaiza , Akira had called him - slips downwards thanks to the slackened rope, and Kaho barely manages to get beneath him before he splats against the ground.

She stumbles, but balances herself after letting out a soft grunt. When she looks around, she sees that Akira had been caught up by a crowd of weapon-wielding thugs.

"Do you need any help?"

Kaho's eyes flick to the side, and the man on her back lets out a sharp breath.

"It's fine," she bites out slightly harsher than necessary, then forces an exhale. It's not Hotaru's fault that Akira decided to be an idiot and disregard any sense of self preservation without even bothering to mention it to them first.

Hotaru grimaces, then cuts off his nod halfway so he can meet a pair of brass knuckles with his foot. A hiss escapes his lips, but he takes the wielder down swiftly; while Hotaru is the worst at taijutsu out of their entire team, these are still untrained civilians, and she's fairly certain that any one of them could take down at least a dozen thugs by themselves.

"You need to get him out of here," he says after a moment, lowering his leg as he steps away from the fallen thug. "He's losing too much blood."

"I noticed," she replies dryly. Her clothes are far wetter and warmer than they had been before, and considering that Kaiza is missing an arm , she's unsurprised that he's turned into a human fountain. "I don't know how to get out of here, though."

Before either can say another word, the man on her back lets out a shuddering breath.

"You don't need to be caught up in this," he rasps. "I can handle myself."

"Oh yeah, 'cause you were doing so well at 'handling yourself' before," she snarks back, feeling a little guilty when his breath hitches. She understands that he's likely trying to protect them, she does , but considering his state, there's not much that he can do except rely on them.

"We need to find Kakashi," Hotaru eventually says, eyes somewhat distant. Kaho has noticed that happens every now and then, whenever he's thinking especially hard about something. A moment later, his eyes clear up, and he turns his head slightly towards the corner of the fence. "He's over that way. It seems like he's waiting for us."

Kaho wonders, briefly, why he hadn't joined them, but she supposes it makes a decent amount of sense. Even she knows that 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' is rather famous, and would undoubtedly be recognized by at least one person if he were to appear out of nowhere. If things went poorly, it'd be a political nightmare.

So, even if he wanted to jump in, they're probably safer without his direct intervention, as helpful as it would be.

"You go," Hotaru says after a moment. "I'll hang back here."

Kaho grimaces, but nods nonetheless. She needs someone to watch her back, and without getting some help, Akira will likely be overwhelmed sometime soon.

"Be careful," she tells him, then breaks off when she receives a nod in response.

" STOP THOSE BRATS! " a middle-aged man in a suit - who she's fairly certain had been the orchestrator of this little event, considering he seems to outclass everyone else around by leagues - shouts, red-faced. She might've worried about his blood pressure had he not seemed like a Grade A Douchebag, what with her almost being able to see the veins throbbing in his head.

Unfortunately, his rallying call does manage to break many of the thugs out of their confused stupors, and more than one notices her attempting to slip through the shadows.

"To your right," Kaiza murmurs from her back. She moves without much thought, and watches as a man knocks himself out against the wall next to her.

"Huh," she lets out. "Thanks."

Kaiza lets out a huff of laughter that's tinged with a hint of hysteria. Fair enough , she thinks. This situation is all sorts of ridiculous.

Shaking her head, Kaho speeds up once again, weaving between more than one blow that's aimed her way. Kaiza, the apparent badass, also manages to keep her from being decapitated when he catches a stray sword in his hand and headbutts the attacker to the ground.

Kaho turns her head to gape at him, and he tries to offer her a smile, but it looks a little more like a grimace. "We should keep going."

She blows out a stream of air, then nods, still a little shaken (though mostly impressed). They arrive at the fence a moment later, and just as she's wondering how the hell she's going to get them both over, Kakashi steps out from around the corner.

She startles, then blinks when she sees that his hitai-ate is nowhere to be seen.

"Kakashi—"

"Give him to me," Kakashi says in a clipped tone, and Kaho's jaw clicks shut. After a brief moment of silence, she allows the silver-haired man to take Kaiza from her back. "We'll talk about this later," he says quietly, which should not make her chest tighten the way it does, before climbing up and over the fence without using a drop of chakra.

"Go help your teammates," he orders after falling on the other side of the fence, gaze hard when he turns to face her. "I'll deal with him."

Kaho, unable to untangle her tongue, simply nods as she takes a step backwards. When Kakashi starts to turn back around, she takes another, then swallows before running off to find Hotaru and Akira.

She finds Hotaru instantly - it's not hard, what with his teal hair and all - and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees that he's mostly uninjured. As she's running by, she grabs onto his sleeve and yanks him towards her. He raises his fist, but stops before he strikes.

"You shouldn't do that," he mutters, eyeing the blood on her clothes with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"We need to go now ," she says instead of mentioning it, "Kakashi's waiting for us with Kaiza."

Hotaru runs his hands through his hair, looking a little frazzled. She understands completely; if she survives this, she's not moving for the next week . "Right," he says, then jerks his head towards the left. "Akira's that way."

Kaho doesn't bother asking how he knows that - or how he'd known about Kakashi, either - since they're a little preoccupied at the moment, though she files away the question for later.

They manage to keep themselves hidden until they run into Akira, who's breathing heavily, but looks otherwise fine.

"Oh," he lets out upon noticing them. "Hey."

" That's all you have to say?" Hotaru hisses, causing Akira to grimace.

"Alright, I admit this was a little reckless—" "A little?!" "—but we're all fine, yeah? And besides, nobody will be able to say anything about where we're from, so we shouldn't get in trouble politically."

Kaho opens her mouth to make another remark, only to pause when she registers what he'd said. "What?"

Akira points at his head. "I took my hitai-ate off before going in. So did Hotaru and Kakashi-sensei. I thought that's why you flipped yours around."

Kaho glances down, blinking when she sees that her hitai-ate had managed to shift enough that the metal plating is facing the inside of her jacket. She decides not to mention that she hadn't done that on purpose.

"This is nice and all," Hotaru says flatly, "But how about we stop talking and start moving."

"...Eh?"

Hotaru rolls his eyes and grabs Akira by the wrist, dragging him along like a disobedient puppy. Considering the stunt he'd pulled, that isn't too far off.

"Kakashi's waiting for us and he is not happy," Kaho tells him, causing both boys to wince. It does get them moving, though, and they're almost to the fence when—

" STOP THOSE BRATS, YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS! "

"I think he might be angry," Akira says, and Hotaru's hand twitches like it's taking every ounce of self control that he has to keep himself from smacking it against his own face.

"Then hurry up ," he says, then jumps up onto the fence along with Akira.

Kaho grimaces, but reaches upwards nonetheless. Only a few gaps up, though, she feels something tugging at her sleeve, and she lets out a sharp exhale as she resists being pulled to the ground.

Hotaru and Akira both look down to see the man below, but the latter is the first to act. He leaps down, taking the man down swiftly before beginning to usher them back up the fence. She nods, then freezes when she sees the other man creeping up behind him. "Watch o—" she begins, then feels the word die on her tongue as the man's blade plunges into Hotaru's side.

He lets out a pained gasp, which is immediately followed by a sickening crack ringing throughout the air. The attacker stumbles backwards, hands clutching his nose as Akira - who'd regained his footing in what seemed like an instant - lowers his bloodied elbow.

"Damn brat —" the man begins, only to choke when Akira nails him in the solar plexus. He promptly crumples to the ground when his legs are swept from beneath him, and Kaho watches, wide-eyed, as Akira stands over him, looking like he intends to continue.

"Stop," Hotaru wheezes out, which seems to break their other teammate out of his stupor, because the unnatural blankness on his face is replaced by worry. "I'm fine."

"You—" Akira begins, but swallows his words when Hotaru shoots him a glare.

"Help me up," he simply says, and after a moment, Akira hesitantly lifts him onto his back and the three of them make it over the fence.

"I'm fine," Hotaru repeats when they both keep looking back at him, sounding more tired than before. He presses a hand to the wound, stifling the blood flow, though he's still in rough shape. After letting out a shaky breath, he looks towards the left. "They're that way."

"They're?" Akira echoes, still sounding a little off.

"A shinobi… Two ," he corrects. "One's unconscious. There's… also a few civilians."

Kaho glances at Akira, who remains silent, lips pressed together as some unreadable emotion swims within his eyes. Her skin crawls. She's never seen either of them like this before.

She hates it, but she can't bring herself to break the silence that blankets over them. Her tongue sits in her mouth, useless, and it's all she can do to trudge on.

Unsurprisingly, Kakashi is the first to notice them coming. His gaze is hard, at first, but he falters when he sees the way Akira is bridal-carrying a too-pale Hotaru.

"Hey sensei," she whispers, hating the way her hysteria-tinged voice cracks. "Sorry we're late."

"What happened?" Kakashi demands, stepping forwards. She can't help but notice the scroll in his hand, which likely holds the body of the other shinobi.

"There was a man with a sword," Kaho eventually says when it seems like neither of her teammates are going to speak. "Hotaru…"

"It didn't hit anywhere vital," the boy mutters tiredly when Kakashi sits in a sharp breath. "I'll be fine."

Kakashi only looks marginally reassured by that. "Right," he lets out. She can't tell what emotion he's going for, but whatever it is, it falls flat. "Put him down."

At first, it looks like Akira might not listen. But a moment later, his shoulders slump, and he lets out a defeated "Okay" that has Kaho's gut twisting.

Kakashi pauses, briefly, before focusing his attention on Hotaru. Akira lowers him down gently, but when he touches the ground, he winces.

"Lift your hand," Kakashi says, crouching down. Hotaru hesitates, but does as he's asked, revealing a splotch of dark crimson that peeks through his partially-ripped clothes.

Kakashi lowers his hand towards the wound, then lifts the bottom of Hotaru's shirt upwards. The boy takes in a shaky breath when the air brushes across the wound. Kaho swallows, forcibly unfocusing her gaze when she sees another face superimposed onto her teammate's.

"We'll just wrap it for now," Kakashi decides. "Though it'll have to be cleaned and treated later."

"You can all stay at my house for now," Kaiza finally pipes up, sounding guilty. Kaho can't help but notice that he has a freshly-bandaged stump of an arm, while the other is wrapped around a sleeping little boy who seems to have fallen asleep crying. "It's my fault that you were injured in the first place, after all."

Akira exhales. "Don't. I was the one who rushed in without a plan. It's…" He swallows. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Kaiza frowns, looking like he might disagree, but seems to realize that it's not worth arguing right now. "Even so, I'm somewhat responsible for this. Besides, I have a decent amount of supplies at home. You can treat your friend there."

Before anyone else can offer their two cents, Kakashi speaks up. "Alright. We'll take you up on that offer," he says, gaze sliding towards the old man who stands next to Kaiza.

The man startles, but seems to understand what Kakashi is asking, because he nods afterwards. "I guess you kids can stay as long as you need," he tells them. He's clearly trying to project annoyance, or perhaps indifference, but the concerned look in his eyes betrays his kindness.

"Thank you," Kaho eventually says when it becomes clear that no one else will. It's odd, she thinks, being the voice of their group for once.

Kaiza offers her a soft smile, which he then extends to the rest of her team. "It's nothing."

The first thing she notices about Kaiza's home is that, compared to the other houses she'd seen around, it's surprisingly nice; it's decently sized, the structure is well-built, and while the paint doesn't look new , it isn't chipping off, either.

Kaiza must catch her looking, because he offers her a sheepish smile. "This isn't technically my house," he admits. "My father-in-law was the one to build it."

"Damn straight," the old man, Tazuna - who's standing close just in case Kaiza has any issues, because he insisted on walking himself - mutters.

When Kaho had finally gotten a moment to breathe, she dredged up a few hazy memories of Tazuna, Inari - the little boy who Akira took upon himself to carry, since Kakashi had Hotaru and Kaiza was a little short-handed - and his mother. She remembered Kaiza, too, after piecing some things together. The difference was that this Kaiza is alive , and she's certain that had their team not intervened when they did, he wouldn't be.

After that, they fall into a bit of an awkward silence, and without Akira to speak up, there's no one to revive the conversation. Fortunately, it doesn't last all that long, since the door opens up rather quickly when Kaiza knocks.

"Tsu—" Kaiza begins, only to choke when a blue-haired woman throws herself at the man.

"You idiot!" she cries, hugging him tightly.

"It's nice to see you too" Kaiza lets out with a slight wheeze, like the air is being squeezed from his lungs.

"I thought you were dead ," the woman says, pulling herself backwards, but not removing her trembling hand from his face. She glances down at the man's arm and bites her lip, looking like she's doing her best not to cry.

Kaiza's expression falters before he offers her a warm smile. "Well I'm here now."

Kaho looks away as the interaction continues, feeling like she's intruding on something personal. Eventually, though, the woman seems to realize that she has guests, and steps back to smooth out her dress.

"Hello?" she greets in a slightly confused voice.

"These are the people who saved me," Kaiza tells her.

"Oh," she lets out, then offers a slightly wobbly smile. "Well, thank you then. I'm Tsunami. Pleased to meet you."

"I said they could rest here for a while until they could recover," Kaiza says next. "I hope that's alright."

After a brief pause, Tsunami nods. "Of course. If you really saved my husband…" she trails off, stepping to the side. "Well, come on in. I was just about to start on dinner anyway."

"Thank you," Kakashi offers a little blandly. Tsunami doesn't seem to mind, as she simply smiles softly in response. Akira follows after, only briefly nodding at the woman, and Kaho goes in next, offering Tsunami a thanks of her own.

"Make yourself at home," Tsunami says as she closes the door behind everyone, then glances between Hotaru and Kaiza with a slight frown. "The medical supplies are in the closet. I can get them quickly, if you'd like."

"Don't bother," Tazuna says, walking off. Tsunami looks after him, expression turning into something vaguely exasperated, but fond.

"I suppose my father will be getting them," she amends. "Please, feel free to use anything he comes back with. And don't hesitate to ask for anything else."

"Thank you," Kaho repeats for the third time that day, feeling a little awkward at that point.

Tsunami hums. "It's only fair," she says. "Though I'd appreciate it if you could do something for my husband as well…?"

"Oh, you don't—"

"Of course," Kakashi interrupts Kaiza, who turns around to look at him, surprised. "Your hospitality is appreciated."

Tsunami responds with a thanks - which Kaho is getting rather tired of hearing, if only because it only ever seems to make the atmosphere even more stifling - before kissing her husband on the cheek and heading off towards the kitchen.

"You can just put Inari down on the chair," Kaiza says a little sheepishly after tearing his gaze away from his retreating wife. Akira does so gently, and Kaho finds herself feeling a little sorry for the kid. She doubts that he'd be able to sleep for so long whilst being carried around rocky paths if he hadn't been so exhausted.

Not half a minute later, Tazuna returns, supplies in hand. "Here," he says simply, placing them on the table. "Don't waste anything."

"Of course not," Kakashi replies, and Kaho finds her lip twitching upwards when she hears that his tone has changed from that intense flatness into something vaguely amused. The feeling disappears quickly, though, when Kakashi enlists her and Akira's help to start treating Hotaru, who had fallen asleep around halfway to the house.

"He's getting a fever," Kakashi tells them with a frown in his voice, and Akira exhales sharply. "He'll be fine," the silver-haired man assures them, eyes flicking towards Kaho's black-haired teammate. "He'll just need a lot of rest. It might be a while before we can leave here."

"How long would that be?" Kaiza asks, then flushes when everyone turns towards him. "Ah… not that I want you to leave quickly or anything," he rushes to explain.

Kakashi raises a brow, then shakes his head. "Hopefully, only a few days. It's too early to tell, though."

"So will we make it back before our allotted time?" Akira asks, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Kakashi pauses. "It's unlikely," he admits. "But they won't send out anyone to search for us until another week passes, or unless they're given reason to suspect anything is wrong. That being said…," he says in a harder voice, turning back towards Hotaru, "We will be talking about your actions when Hotaru is coherent."

Akira takes in a breath, and Kaho swallows.

"Yes, sensei."

A/N:

*slaps chapter*
this bad boy can hold so much foreshadowing

I bet you didn't expect THAT ONE, did you?

also: heyo! longest chapter so far!
i hope you enjoy it, because i sure had a great time writing it (probably because it's at least mildly angsty, ngl)
it's super fun writing three oc-inserts, tbh. i was worried that it'd be super difficult to think of content, and it is, but it's also good practice and i'm having a great time making up all these scenarios and backstories. 10/10, would recommend

Kaiza probably should've been unconscious for the latter half of this, if he didn't bleed out, but I read about some guy getting his arm blown off and still fighting for like, another four hours and still surviving, so I'm taking that idea and running with it (adrenaline ftw; also, this whole fight only takes like 4 minutes in real time)
plus, in case it wasn't clear: Kakashi healed him/wrapped up his injury afterwards. he didn't do the same with Hotaru because it wasn't life-threatening and it'd be better to fix him up somewhere secure/sanitary

anyway
Thanks for reading!