Sakura and Kakashi exit the Hokage Tower, the former throwing on her jounin vest (she always feels more comfortable with it on, an unfortunate side-effect of war- but she doesn't allow herself to dwell on her paranoia and if Kakashi can wear his all the time without a second thought, well, so can she). As she finishes adjusting her temporary uniform, Kakashi speaks up from beside her.
"Yo. How about some dinner? I have questions for you," he starts, "about your techniques in that spar," he clarifies, having found himself on the receiving end of a suspicious gaze.
Sakura stops, considers - when the fact that she hasn't actually eaten proper food in ages catches up with her stomach, the answer comes to her quickly.
"Sure. Your treat," she says, grinning at her companion.
When Kakashi's response is just a deadpan stare that she somehow translates as "why does it have to be me", she just body-checks him with her shoulder and reminds him that she has no money. Nodding, Kakashi simply directs them to the place he has in mind.
"There's a new family-owned restaurant that opened up last week. Do you like sukiyaki?"
Not five minutes later, the two find themselves entering a quaint, elegant-looking space; the decorations are sparse, but they're simple, classic, and tell of all the hominess of a traditional civilian family. Ink paintings line the wall - "Oh, its my son! He's a lovely artist, don't you think so?" says the hostess as she leads them to a table - and delicate little centerpieces are set by each sitting area. It's a common-known fact that shinobi often prefer more enclosed spaces when dining in small groups, often due to discussing mission parameters and objectives, so the hostess leads the two to a smaller side-room sectioned off with shouji.
After a few polite 'thank you's and two placed orders later, Kakashi and Sakura are left in privacy to wait for their meals.
"Well this restaurant is… accomodating," Sakura starts, picking up the (assumedly) complimentary tea and looking around their private room.
Kakashi just nods, gingerly sipping his own tea as his fingers tap the table. He clears his throat.
"So, how did you trick my sharingan in that spar? I'm no genjutsu specialist, but I could swear that only sharingan could trick other sharingan."
Sakura raises her eyebrows at the question, tilting her head slightly in consideration.
"Well, contrary to popular belief, the sharingan doesn't just magically see through every aspect of genjutsu; my brand of genjutsu targets all of the senses and therefore requires more than sheer ocular power to see through. What the sharingan actually does," she continues, Kakashi listening in interest, "is notice the disruption in reality and warn the subconscious brain, which, in turn, tries to alert the conscious brain. However, with a genjutsu mistress like me, who targets the subconscious brain for both invocative and evocative genjutsu, the sharingan has a much harder time relaying that information. It isn't impossible, and the sharingan will see through it in time - but when you're in the field, it doesn't matter if it only takes you a few extra seconds. By then, you'd be dead."
Kakashi takes in the information and considers it carefully, seeming to review it before settling on his next question.
"So, a genjutsu mistress, huh? I see why they had you at the frontlines. And how did you figure all of that out? As far as I know, nobody knows how the sharingan works, so what makes you so sure?"
"You, actually," she replies. "You let me examine your eye. Speaking of which," she shifts her posture, something more serious settling in, "it took me examining your eye to find out you suffer from chronic chakra exhaustion. I can't kick your ass for that right now because technically that wasn't you, but you need to let me fix that eye."
Kakashi's charcoal-grey eye widens minutely at the revelation, a stunned 'you can do that?' followed by a disbelieving 'How?'
Raising a brow in amusement, Sakura explains.
"The problem with it now is that when the transplant was originally performed, the operator never took the time to look and see that the sharingan has an extra network of chakra pathways; all I had to do was shift those pathways into a position conducive with the ocular nerve and chakra pathways of a non-Uchiha eye. I could even do that tonight, if you're willing," she finishes, as the hostess slides open the door and places their food on the table before them.
Kakashi regards the woman before him thoughtfully; in another time, he let someone examine his eye? He'd never even let Tsunade look at it, despite her offer - for him, it would take a massive level of trust. Somehow, though, he can't find it in him to hesitate in accepting her offer. He knows a shinobi should be slow to trust, but something about the time-traveller in front of him just makes him want to drop his guard, so instead he just asks how long it took for him to let her fix his eye her first time around.
Sakura, relaxing her arm and thus resting her beef in the egg she was currently dipping it in, tilts her head slightly upwards in thought.
"I think… Two years after the war started? That was really the only time we could have had the opportunity. We had both been relocated to the same station, along with Naruto - something about needing to re-boost morale - and I wanted to use the opportunity to examine the Sharingan and see how it functioned. After that, the battlefield just went to shit, so we wouldn't have had time outside of that window."
"Re-boost morale? How would the presence of the three of us accomplish anything like that?"
Sakura's eyes flash with something unidentifiable, her mouth settling into a firm line.
"Our enemies were so powerful that normal shinobi had no chance. By the time I'd been sent back here, Team Seven had become the leading force of what was dubbed the Konoha Twelve; only the Twelve and a handful of others could even enter direct combat with the enemy. We were stationed together to hit the general enemy forces - basically, mindless drones - as hard as possible, in order to show that our side still had strength in the war and that they didn't have to give up hope. It's impossible to say this without sounding like some arrogant prick, but honestly? They needed to see Team Seven's legendary damage path. You and two of the second-gen Sannin? Well, let's just say that the landscape was never the same by the time we were through with it."
Kakashi couldn't tell if his student was proud or bitter, or maybe both, so instead he just nodded.
"So, Naruto was also one of the new Sannin?"
At this, Sakura grinned fiercely- that's definitely pride being Kakashi's dominating thought as Sakura opens her mouth to speak.
"What you think you know of my damage path? Multiply it by ten. That's Naruto."
Kakashi shakes his head fondly, secure in the knowledge that his team is going to be an absolute handful, and they finish their meal in silence. When he spots Sakura sipping her tea contentedly, he can't help but ask one more thing.
"So, I hear you three almost died on your first C-Rank" leaves Sakura choking and spluttering on the hot liquid as her face lights up red in embarrassment and, maybe, because of the lack of oxygen.
The evening cool of Konoha finds Kakashi and Sakura chatting mindlessly about the restaurant and their meal, walking home side-by-side. They fade into a companionable silence, Kakashi reading Icha Icha Violence and Sakura contentedly taking in the comfortable atmosphere of the village. Soon enough they find themselves at their building; Kakashi pauses and glances sideways towards his student.
"Team Seven will be having their first real training session at noon tomorrow, Training Ground Five. Should I expect you to be there?"
He watches her reaction carefully - it could be too soon after what happened with the spar, after all, and he doesn't want to push her limits. Sakura's brows furrow, and her smile fades as she absently reaches up to run a hand through her hair.
"I guess so," is her final response. She'd rather it be sooner than later - she didn't exactly fancy waiting anxiously if she could just get it out of the way. After a quick 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then' from Kakashi and a 'Sleep well' from Sakura, the two shinobi enter their respective apartments and prepare for the night.
Morningtime finds Sakura in her kitchen, fiercely debating with herself.
Upon waking up and making her way to said kitchen, she realizes Goddamnit, there's still no food, I forgot, and is currently trying to convince herself that she can't just eat food pills for breakfast.
You're in a village right now, Sakura. In peacetime. You shouldn't consume that many food pills if there is an alternative. What did your liver ever do to you?
Grudgingly, she leaves the artificial mix of chemicals in her pouch, eyes the clock - 11:15 AM - and heads to Training Ground Five.
That reminds me, I need to apologize to the Sandaime. That's got to be- what, the fourth time I've destroyed training ground three?
Determining to speak to him later, Sakura continues on to the grounds, arriving thirty minutes before Team Seven is set to show up. She observes the space critically; there's a wide, lazily-flowing river, but for the most part, it's just a large grassy clearing, surrounded by trees. She absently flickers to the top of one nearby, internally freaking out about what to expect. As she waits, she struggles to grasp at the concept that she's about to meet not only herself, but her brother and attempted murderer as well, as young genin that have done nothing and know nothing. Too soon, however, she's forced back into reality by the sound of said genins' arrival.
It's Naruto her eyes find first, his bright blue eyes reflecting the sunlight, signature goofy smile in place on his countenance. He walks onto the grounds with his hands clasped behind his head, and her eyes nearly mist over seeing that carefree and cheery aura back in place (though in this time, it technically never left); he opens his mouth and turns to the young girl next to him.
That's *me* is the first thought upon seeing herself - and isn't that surreal - followed quickly by Oh god, thats me.
The pinkette is taller than Naruto, but that's about all she's got going for her right now; the adult Sakura can clearly see the lack of muscle definition, the impracticality of her hair and oh god that dress rings loud in her head as her face scrunches up in response to her internal cringe.
Finally, she sees him. Glossy, raven-black hair, permanent scowl, angsty aura, and shadowy onyx eyes. She steels herself, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, an internal mantra of he's just a genin, he's just a genin, he hasn't lost his mind yet, he's just a genin rushing through her head at the instinctive rage upon seeing those eyes.
Sakura forces herself to ignore the primal fight-or-flight response, berates herself for responding in such a way to a twelve-year-old, and opens her eyes once more for a closer look. Upon further inspection, she sees the warmth in those jet-black eyes and the concealed amusement in his features as his pink-haired teammate shouts for the umpteenth time "no, Naruto, you can't fill an explosive tag with ramen, are you kidding me?!"
Sasuke is just a kid. A traumatized, hurting kid.
It's up to her to treat him like one.
With that thought, she begins to regain control of her emotions; even the good ones - it wouldn't do for her introduction to this Team Seven to leave them suspicious, and nothing shouts "what the fuck" like a stranger looking at you as if she's seeing a ghost.
Forty minutes later and she recognizes Kakashi's chakra draw near, and wow, isn't that a new record, but he makes no move to show himself to his team. Looking up from her own tree and zeroing in on his position, she sees him glancing between her and Team Seven with a raised brow, which Sakura translates as "well? You first".
Sakura's eyes narrow and she stubbornly hunkers down on her tree branch, daring Kakashi to begin a battle of wills with her. Kakashi only looks amused as he readjusts in his tree, maintaining eye contact, and putting on what Sakura saw as an absolutely infuriating smile. After twenty whole minutes of Kakashi being too stubborn to be the first to move and Sakura just too stubborn to concede (the branch is poking her in the back, for God's sake, why can't Kakashi just fucking go), Sakura lets out a barely-audible growl of frustration and hisses out "Fine. Fine." between clenched teeth. Pushing herself off of the tree a bit too forcefully, she Shunshins down to the unsuspecting team.
Sasuke is immediately at attention, as suspected from a boy who's constantly on edge. Naruto stares at her with those wide blue eyes, looking at her as if she just performed some amazing jutsu, and Sakura's young counterpart is looking hesitantly between her and Sasuke, simply trying to gauge his reaction and respond accordingly.
"Who are you," Sasuke demands bluntly, eyes sharp and his body shifting to an offensive posture.
Outwardly, the time-traveller tilts her head, her features looking nothing but calm- inwardly, she's freaking out.
Shit! What the hell am I supposed to say, 'I'm Sakura Haruno'? Am I an idiot? Why didn't I think of a name beforehand?!
Sakura Haruno, jounin of Konohagakure, panics over a cover name for a whole five seconds. She frantically covers her indecision with a facade of 'I'm not panicking, I'm simply observing the team', before she finally opens her mouth to reply.
"Amano Haruko," she says at last. Kakashi chooses this moment to flicker beside her, heavily clapping a hand on her shoulder.
"Just call her Haru-chan. She really doesn't mind, and in fact she loves it when-" a strangled sort of choking noise leaves his throat as Haruko puts him in a chokehold quicker than the genin could even see her move. Naruto blinks once, twice, and then laughs so loudly and so freely that it makes Haruko melt just a little. Unfortunately for her, this means that Kakashi has enough space to wriggle out of her grip.
"That was awesome, Haruko-san! Are you going to train us, too?" he asks, his blue eyes shining. For his part, he's practically radiating excitement- Sasuke, however, remains critical, and Sakura of course is basing her reactions against Sasuke's. Haruko frowns, internally resolving to break Sakura of her fangirl phase, and turns back to Naruto. She opens her mouth to answer, but she hears Kakashi cut in with a 'what, am I not good enough for you?' making Sakura reply with a quick mutter of 'Maybe it has something to do with you being chronically late' before again returning her attention to the blonde.
"Yes, Naruto-kun, I'll be helping to train you three. But," she raises a hand, cutting off any jubilant shouting on Naruto's part, "only occasionally. I'm on the mission roster, and I'm not your official Jounin sensei, so I'll probably be very in-and-out."
While Naruto rocks back and forth on his heels, excitedly declaring that with two jounin sensei', I'm even closer to Hokage-dom, -ttebayo!, little Sakura turns to Haruko and timidly asks, "Haruko-san, are you a jounin?"
Naruto, realizing that he technically doesn't have an answer for that either, stops his movement and turns towards Haruko expectantly. Sasuke straightens in interest and Haruko realizes that she isn't actually wearing her jounin vest, just the same sleeveless black turtleneck and grey sweatpants from yesterday.
"Yes, Sakura-chan, I'm a jounin. Now, I'll let your sensei tell you what he has planned for the day." If anything, she adds on in her own mind, silently doubting that Kakashi actually has any real training plan.
However, to her surprise, he just nods and says "Today, we'll be learning the tree-climbing exercise."
Haruko blinks, mildly taken aback that he's teaching them this early; she ignores the protests (Just like last time, Naruto complains, Sasuke looks disappointed, and Kakashi amused, until he walks up the tree and Naruto exclaims that it's one of the coolest things he's ever seen and demands to be taught). After teaching them the basics of the exercise, Kakashi leaves them to their own devices and begins walking back to Haruko, intent on giving her a moment to process her meeting of the team. He's stopped, however, by Sakura's bright voice calling out "Hey, this is easy!"
Shocked, he looks upwards, finding her sitting on a branch at the top of her tree. He looks back down at Haruko, who's eyebrows twitch in amusement as a smirk plays on her face; the woman then proceeds to step forward and shout up "Come on down, Sakura-chan. I'll teach you the next step from here while those two figure it out."
Sakura's cheeks blush red; Haruko knows that the embarrassment is due to the girl not wanting Sasuke to be mad at her. Which reminds me, at this age, I'm pretty sure I was still on my 'Failsafe Sasuke-kun diet. Haruko internally flinches at her own younger self, promising to break Sakura out of that habit as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
Refocusing on the moment, Haruko takes Sakura across the clearing to the gently-flowing river, walks out onto the surface, and explains that the second phase of this training is water-walking. All she receives in response is a hesitant look before Sakura deftly glances behind her, making sure nobody can hear. Timidly shuffling her foot against the ground, the girl confesses, "I don't think I can do this kind of training."
Haruko smiles softly, knowing that with time, she will help her past self out of her self-doubt. Gently, she says "I know you can do it, Sakura-chan." Knowing that she is best taught and assured through facts, Haruko continues, "To tell you a secret - not even your sensei finished the tree exercise on his first try."
Sakura's eyes widen in disbelief, hope and trepidation filling those jade pools in equal parts. She looks back at Kakashi before returning her gaze to Haruko, a stunned "really?" falling from her lips.
"Really, I promise. You have incredible chakra control, Sakura-chan. You just need to believe in yourself."
Sakura pauses in thought before a hesitant sort of light enters her eyes, her incredulous expression being replaced with one of soft determination. She steps out, softly, and immediately sinks in the ankle-deep shallows, slips on the rocks, and faceplants into the water. She comes up, spluttering, and looks immediately to Haruko with a fierce redness on her face. She's surprised, however, when she doesn't find the disappointment she expects; instead, the black-haired woman is regarding her with the same soft, encouraging smile as before. Haruko's only response is a soft nod of assurance; now, no longer worrying about being in trouble, Sakura focuses on what just happened. The look in her eyes shifts towards analytical as she remembers exactly what went on in her body, the realization of her mistake coming to her nearly instantly. Water isn't still like a tree is, she thinks, recalling the way she could feel the water move beneath her; this time, she'd get a feel for the flow, first.
Pushing herself up completely, she walks out of the shallows and back to the shore, pausing to concentrate her chakra. She gently puts one foot on the surface of the water, not yet stepping with her weight, and sends her chakra downwards. There, Sakura thinks, as she feels the ebb and flow of the water and gently redirects her own chakra to match the rhythm. Pausing only to gather up her confidence and form a hand seal, she inhales and steps out once more. This time, she makes two wobbly steps before slipping and falling on the river-rocks, but when Sakura rights herself this time, all Haruko sees on her face is pride and a new sense of determination. Satisfied, Haruko walks back to shore, telling Sakura to do her best, and heads for where Kakashi is reading underneath a tree.
"Hard at work, I see," comes the bitingly sarcastic voice of the woman beside him.
Kakashi laughs, not bothering to look up from his reading. His peripherals register the shape that settles next to him, and they settle in a comfortable silence.
After a few chapters of Icha Icha, Kakashi breaks the quiet with a soft and casual "so, how are you dealing?"
Haruko breathes deeply and considers her answer.
"Mostly, I'm just not thinking about it. I'll likely process it later, but… you know, it's all at once just as bad and not at all as bad as I thought it would be." She contemplates going further, explaining more, but she admits to herself that deep down she just really doesn't want to think about it right now; instead, she settles on redirecting the conversation.
"The kids will be at it for a few hours. I forgot about it last night, so how about I fix your eye now?"
Kakashi, content to take what he's given, simply asks if she's sure that it's okay to perform such an operation right here and now.
"I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't," Haruko says, and Kakashi nods. Putting away his book, the copy-nin asks "What do you need me to do?" and Haruko directs him to lay his head in her lap, face up. She removes his hitae-ate, places her hands over his eyes, blocks out the outside world, and begins.
Fixing Kakashi's eye was just as tedious the second time around - it isn't exactly difficult, but patiently shifting around the nerves and for all intents and purpose re-structuring his entire ocular system is slow-going. Perhaps there'd be a saving grace in Kakashi's amazingly soft, fur-like hair - that is, if it weren't for the warm weather outside; as it stands, it's mostly just uncomfortably hot. Two hours later, a mildly stunned and quietly grateful Kakashi can activate and deactivate his sharingan at will.
When she breaks out of her 'medic mode', she realizes that the members of Team Seven are still going hard; Sakura is experimenting with different movement speeds and rougher parts of the river, and Naruto and Sasuke are having the exact same problems as they did last time. Haruko stands and, brushing the dirt off her pants and shaking the fatigue from her bones, decides to head for Naruto first.
Kakashi watches in a curious silence as Haruko walks over to the hyperactive blonde, before it's all he can do to repress snickering as she uses ramen of all things to aid her teaching.
"If you're making instant Ramen, you put in the water and cover the ramen for three minutes, right? Well, what happens if you try to eat it too early?"
"The noodles are all hard, and they don't let you mix the rest of the soup in because they stay in that block!"
"Precisely. And if you wait too long?"
"The noodles get squishy and gross and they fall apart as soon as you try to bite them. I think I prefer undercooked instant ramen, at least it's eatable-"
"Exactly, they squish. Now, imagine the noodles are like the tree, and the wait time is how much chakra you use. If you don't gather enough chakra, the tree has no give and you won't be able to sync your chakra flow with the flow of the tree. If you gather too much chakra, the tree will start to fall apart and explode and generally become a mess."
Not totally accurate, Haruko sighs in her own mind, but it should work.
Soon enough, Naruto is consistently several steps higher, and she's confident enough to leave him on his own for now.
Now, for the tricky one.
Haruko looks at Sasuke's increasingly frustrated face, and starts the walk over to his tree. Once she arrives, Sasuke barely acknowledges her presence; likely out of embarrassment, but you never know.
"Sasuke-kun," she calls up, and wow isn't that a throwback, "come here for a second."
Though she can see he doesn't want to leave his training, the boy complies and she soon finds herself looking down at an expectant Sasuke. At this point in time, he wouldn't be blatantly rude - especially given that he doesn't really know her, he likely respects her for her jounin status and that, if anything else, will keep him from being too angst-ridden for now.
She tilts her head, thinks back to her Team Seven, and tries to remember how Sasuke best learned things.
Well, I know he respects power and status, and he needs to be acknowledged as Sasuke instead of Uchiha Sasuke. I know he best learns with guidance as opposed to figuring it out on his own, unlike myself and Sakura, and I know he hates being coddled. Here goes nothing, I suppose.
"Try again. This time, really feel your chakra and how it reacts to the energy of the tree," she instructs - not quite a demand but clearly not a request, either.
Sasuke seems to consider her for a moment before nodding sharply, turning around to face his tree, and refocusing his chakra. When the bark predictably explodes from the tree, forcing him back and onto the ground below, Haruko sees the boy stare at the tree in concentration; after a few minutes, he walks back to the woman, armed with his conclusion.
"The tree pushed me away," he says confidently. "I know that's what happened."
'But I don't know why' is the unspoken end of that statement - even at twelve, he's self conscious due to his assumed genius status - so Haruko carefully keeps her voice free of anything that he may interpret as condescension or kissing-up.
"That's correct. The tree did push you away; this is happening because you're building up too much chakra and releasing it too forcefully. You're viewing the tree as something to conquer, and the more your frustration builds, the more unstable and agressive your chakra becomes. Because of your mindset, your chakra is responding as if you're attempting to attack the tree. The tree isn't in a competition with you, and the exercise isn't something to beat; if you take a different approach and consider the tree as something to work with rather than something to work against, you may find it easier."
Sasuke takes in the information and glances sideways towards the tree in thought.
"Here, try this," Haruko offers, walking towards the tree and resting her hand upon the bark.
"Most ninja have an easier time gathering chakra with their hands. Since the key in this exercise is to synchronize with the tree's natural energy flow, it may help if you feel that flow with your hands first, that way you eliminate the need to initially "feel out" the tree with an area you're unfamiliar with, like your feet. This way, you know what to look for instead of going in blind."
When Sasuke follows suit, resting his hand on the bark and closing his eyes in concentration, Haruko retreats back to the treeline.
"Thanks for the help, sensei," she says in mock gratitude, once again settling next to Kakashi, who is contentedly reading his novel.
"Maa, you had it covered."
Haruko just scoffs, shaking her head.
"I'm taking a nap," she declares. "Wake me when the kids have become S-Rank."
Haruko closes her eyes and drifts off to the warm sound of Kakashi's laugh, eager to get some much-needed rest.
When Haruko wakes, the sky has taken on a dusty orange glow. She stretches out her stiff limbs, content to go back to sleep until-
"Well, look who decided to join us. Welcome back to the land of the living."
Haruko cracks open one eye in disdain, engaging in a brief staring match with Kakashi before deciding that, frankly, it isn't worth the energy. She stands and stretches out once more and walks over to Team Seven - who apparently are currently sitting together with Kakashi in the middle of the clearing.
"We were just taking a break," Kakashi says, before continuing, "Or rather, trying to." At that, he turns back to his team, and looks down on them in reprimand.
Confused, she turns to the team, ready to ask what happened, until she hears Naruto grumble "Like we expected to need food, sensei, seriously!"
Kakashi, knowing what medics are like, knows before it happens. He covers his ears.
"You what?!"
The three genin flinch at Haruko's fiery voice, the demand clear in her tone.
"You didn't bring food?!"
"Or water," Kakashi supplies amusedly, raising his hands in mock surrender when Naruto hisses "traitor!" and Sasuke and Sakura practically start throwing kunai at him with their eyes.
"Or water?! Come on, you three!"
Kakashi chuckles as Haruko reprimands his students, already hearing the beginnings of a lecture on the importance of diet and hydration. She's just finished with the rant on the importance of staying nourished and always bringing ration bars when, unfortunately for her, her own stomach lets out a loud and angry growl. This, of course, sends naruto into hysterics- "You can't even say anything, Haruko-san!" He laughs out at Sakura giggles beside him, Sasuke raising a brow. "Even you don't have food!"
Embarrassed, Haruko indignantly squeaks out "It's different!" before regaining her composure, explaining that at least she has an excuse seeing as she doesn't have any food to bring. Kakashi sharply looks at her in question, and Sasuke demands "What do you mean you don't have food" in his own, 'I'm-totally-not-concerned-I'm-just-confused' way, and suddenly Haruko finds herself on the receiving end of eight demanding pairs of eyes.
"I've been out of the village for weeks; I just moved back in two days ago and I've been busy tying up loose ends, which haven't included grocery shopping-"
Cutting her off before anyone else could respond, Kakashi claps his hands together and looks down at his team.
"Well, here's your first official D-Rank mission as Team Seven!"
Haruko raises a brow as Kakashi smiles at her, and then his 'cute genin'.
"We're going grocery shopping."
Three hours later, Haruko forces open her apartment door, arms overflowing with bags. Grocery shopping with Team Seven was… an experience.
Naruto kept trying to sneak every kind of ramen in the entire store into her basket, which Sakura thoroughly berated him for ("ninja need a healthy diet!"), and Sasuke somehow made shopping look angsty as he grudgingly picked up tomatoes and other vegetables. He picked up an avocado before Sakura turned to him, stating that it was too high in fat and kunoichi needed to maintain their figure- Haruko stepped in and decided to use this as a teachable moment for the team and outlined that a good shinobi's diet should be high in nutrient-dense calories, and contain plenty of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Sakura looked unsure; Haruko then subtly motioned for Kakashi to continue on with the two boys of the team. She crouched down to Sakura's level and put on a reassuring smile.
"When I was your age, I also liked a boy," she began, ignoring Sakura's blushing. "I also tried to diet to win his affection. Unfortunately, however, that meant that I didn't have the energy I needed for missions and training. I learned pretty quickly that I needed to cut it out if I wanted to be able to protect my team. Now I eat around three thousand calories a day." Well, I should, her mind supplied unhelpfully as she took in Sakura's wide-eyed expression.
"Even occasional sweets are fine; a well-trained and well-fed kunoichi will metabolize it quickly and burn of any excess calories during missions and training."
At that last bit of knowledge, Sakura paused to consider before hesitantly nodding.
"Let's go find the boys," Haruko said, ushering Sakura out of their aisle.
When they reached the produce section, they found Naruto and Sasuke at each other's throats about what to buy for Haruko; Naruto was shouting that she needs ramen in her life, and Sasuke shouting that "nobody needs ramen in their life, usuratonkachi," which forced Kakashi to step in before they got themselves kicked out of the store. As Kakashi whisked them off to the grocer, Haruko reminded him that she didn't exactly have any money to pay for the food- Kakashi just smiled and pulled out his own wallet, citing that the Hokage would reimburse him and therefore the village would be paying for her food.
"After all, it is a mission sanctioned by me," he stated, internally knowing that the Hokage would surely support his decision to make sure Haruko had such things as food.
If not, he mused internally, I don't mind buying her some groceries. The woman traveled through time and is now trying to save the entire ninja world; I can pick up her tab once in a while. Kakashi knew she'd likely hate being the recipient of that kind of charity- the hesitant look on her face told him that - but who said she needs to know?
Haruko conceded then, promising to pay Kakashi back as he pulled the necessary bills out of his wallet and his team put the groceries in bags.
Back to the present, as Haruko awkwardly stumbles through the doorway (I'm going to need to get that door fixed and it hasn't even been a week), she realizes that they went a little bit overboard. Trailing behind her with various levels of difficulty are the members of Team Seven - Naruto, ever trying to outdo everyone and everything, is trying to carry in a mountain of bags as big as him; Sasuke's is scowling at the blonde over his own oversized haul, and Sakura walks behind the two with the beginnings of an expression that, if she were older, would be the trademark long-suffering stare of the only female member of the legendary Team Seven. Kakashi, on the other hand, is enviably balanced and poised as he gracefully steps inside.
"What the hell, Hatake," she mutters, watching as he deftly maneuvers to the kitchen and sets down his bags, Haruko's own joining his on the counter soon after. "How do you even do that?"
"Language, Haru-chan," he teases.
"Language, my ass," she hisses under her breath, quickly turning and plastering a smile on her face as the three youngest enter the kitchen. She takes their bags one at a time until the entire result of the shopping trip is spread out on the counter.
"...Thanks, you guys," Haruko says distractedly, eyeing how the bags - even pushed together closely as they are - are almost falling off of her counter.
Sakura is the first to speak up.
"Um, I think we overdid it, Haruko-san. Sorry," she says sheepishly.
Haruko just shakes her head. "Don't worry about it - this way, I can make sure your sensei actually eats, too," she says, shooting a pointed glare at Kakashi.
After a brief, mildly awkward silence, Kakashi clears his throat. "Well, It's time for you three to be getting home, now," he says with an air of finality.
A quiet chorus of "Okay, sensei,", a few reluctant 'goodbye's, and three 'It was nice to meet you, Haruko-san's later, the noisy Team Seven leaves the apartment, shooting suspicious glances between the two jounin.
"How much do you want to bet they believe we're secretly dating by the end of the week" is what Kakashi opens with as he starts unloading groceries, startling Haruko into a fit that was some uncharted place between coughing and laughing.
Kakashi cracks a smile at her amusement, opening cabinets and placing things on shelves.
"Honestly, knowing us three as genin, we probably have bets going right now," Haruko says once she recovers.
"I didn't expect kid-you to be so proficient in chakra control," Kakashi says, genuine surprise and a note of question painting his words.
"Sensei, I'm a medic-nin, what did you expect?"
"Not that, even I didn't master it that fast."
"What can I say, Hatake - guess I've just been amazing since day one."
"Yes, Miss Sannin-Sama, miss," he replies, earning him a swift whack upside the head and a fond smile.
"As much as I'd love to invite you to stay for dinner, Kakashi, I'm afraid that I'd just sleep through it at this rate."
Kakashi chuckles, knowing that despite its success the day would still have been taxing for her - especially considering her long operation on his eye.
"Alright, Haru. Quick thinking on the name, by the way. I like it. And thanks for my eye."
With that, Kakashi flickers out of her kitchen before she can reply, leaving a note inscribed 'make sure you eat' in his place. Haruko snickers, shaking her head fondly. She smiles through her exhaustion, and, bringing out a cutting board and some simple ingredients, makes her start on dinner. After all, what would her sensei say to her if she didn't eat?
A/N: Hello lovelies! Here it is! Chapter six, at last! I'm so sorry for the wait - hopefully the longer length makes up for it somewhat. I realize that the overarching plot hasn't really come into play- don't worry, it will, I'm just making sure she and the key relationships are set up. This is going to be a story driven more by character relationships, interactions, and the setting, so I felt like it was important to first have a solid base for all of those. Again, I don't have a beta reader, and it's late right now - I did do a quick once-over for typos, but I apologize in advance if there are any errors!
Also, a quick disclaimer - I was halfway through writing this chapter when it came to my attention that "Haruko" is one letter away from "Haruki", which is the name a time-travelling naruto has in "The Lives Worth Saving". It's a fantastic fic, and it remains one of my favorites, but I just wanted to say that I genuinely didn't even realize until halfway through that the names were so similar. I chose Haruko because its meaning of "Spring Child" is an easy enough tie in to "Haruno Sakura" which, as most of us know, translates as "Cherry Blossoms of the Spring", and "Haruko" sounds similar enough to "Haruno" that even if its a stretch she can say "Oh, I thought you said Haruko" if for whatever reason someone refers to sakura as "haruno" and she slips up and answers.
Oh, also - this is NOT a romantic fic. Kakashi and Sakura are/will be very close, but it's much more of a 'little-sister-big-brother/cool-uncle' kind of relationship - I personally dislike most romance as I feel that oftentimes it's unnecessary and detracts from a story; not to mention, most people seem to default to "romantic love" when they want a strong relationship between two characters, but "familial love" and "platonic love" are just as beautiful and strong and I think that more people should appreciate that.
Anyways, with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think. I always love to hear from all of you! Until next time!
- xAya