Sakura had a surplus of thoughts whirling through her mind as she followed Kisuke Urahara - whose name she finally properly remembered much to her embarrassment - and his companions to their home. Despite accepting the offer they had so graciously extended to her, she was still very apprehensive about the whole situation, with good reason.
Being in an unknown land made Sakura very wary and unsure; however, her confidence in her own ability and strength made her feel prepared for whatever was going to be thrown her way. It was frustrating how she would lean to one side, then the other.
'It's like anxiety purgatory.' Sakura thought with humor. 'So does that mean I'm halfway to hell?'
Rikishi had given her a brief rundown of the country he had been born in after she told him about her own, or at least as much as he could without giving her an entire history lesson. He told she'd be safer here than her own world, and that took some weight off her mind.
"I'm not saying you won't run into trouble - because you seem like a trouble magnet - but you don't need to worry about battle and strife like you did in your world." Rikishi told her. "Not that you wouldn't be able to handle it."
He sighed, and stood up for the first time since she had met him. He didn't look like he could hold himself well, with his weak looking body, but he stood firmly, and Sakura got the sense that he had been quite an imposing figure in his young age. It was strange how he, with his slightly translucent body, had such a strong presence.
"I'm no expert on ninja warfare and battle," He began, "but I've been in a war myself you know, and from the look in your eyes it's clear you've had your share."
Rikishi put his arms behind his back and looked at the sky. "I'm not a religious type, but maybe this is God's way of giving you a break?" He looked back down at her and winked. "But who knows, I'm just an old ghost who hangs around an alleyway."
Rikishi really was a sweet old man, and Sakura felt a sort of kinship with him. Both of them were separated from their friends and family, unable to interact with them. He hung around that specific alleyway, he told her, because his children and grandchildren lived there and it gave him a peace of mind to know how they were doing.
"Are you regretful?" Sakura asked.
Rikishi stroked his beard in thought, and then shook his head. "It's not that I'm regretful, it's more like I'm just not ready to go quite yet."
He looked back at the building with a sad smile. "I'd like to see my grandchildren grow a little bit more, then I think I'll be ready to move on," He laughed suddenly, "but until that happens, I think I'll haunt this alleyway a little bit longer."
It made Sakura sad to see Rikishi being separated from his family like that, but it was a fact of life. You lived, you died. Rikishi didn't look so regretful that his life was over, but rather that he couldn't see his grandchildren grow in the flesh.
He had extended a helping hand to her and asked for nothing in return. She would have to go back soon and chat with him again, he was great company and seemed like he was quite lonely. It was really the least she could do.
His words did bring forth questions in her mind, however, and her need to consume knowledge was rattling her to her core. She desperately needed to know more about the world she had found herself in. Obviously because she would need as much information as possible in order to return home, but it wasn't just that. Sakura craved knowledge. She loved reading about things that confounded her and then understanding them. The situation presented to her was just that, a puzzle that she wanted nothing more than to learn about and solve.
She wanted to know about this world.
Did they have Hokages? Daimyo? What was the technology like? If ninjas existed in the past, were they like her? Did chakra exist? She had never seen a ghost before, was there a reason she had been able to see Rikishi, and no one else could? How did 'cars' work? Roads? What was modern life like in Japan?
Sakura desperately wanted to know.
And then there was that mystery...
Just how she had managed to travel to this world?
And who would want to send her to this world?
For Sakura, the circumstances surrounding her current disposition were confounding. Aki and his team had been hired to kill her, and Sakura felt it was not a coincidence that promptly after their battle, she had ended up in Karakuracho. She didn't believe it to be the work of those boys. No, it was more likely their mysterious benefactor; but even if she believed it was their anonymous sponsor, it didn't explain why or how she had ended up here. And if they had ordered the boys to kill her, why send her anywhere?
Just prior to the teleportation, Sakura hadn't sensed a single presence aside from the the three boys. But there had been that strange, cold feeling and that hissing sound; it was so vivid that Sakura still felt the cold frosty feeling, and the animal-like hiss in her ear. It explained nothing, though, at least not with her current knowledge.
"Haruno-san, are you alright? You've looked like you've been quite deep in thought for a while now." Sakura jumped at Kisuke's sudden voice which tore through her reflection like paper.
"A-ah, I'm sorry! Were you saying something?" Sakura asked. Kisuke stared at her and hummed, tapping his folded fan against his chin. They were in a more residential area now, and Sakura noticed that the kids and the tall man had moved farther ahead. The red-haired boy kept glancing at her from over his shoulders as the streets lights illuminated them.
"I realized there might be a lot you would be worried about, I apologize if I frightened you earlier." Kisuke said. He sounded sincere, but without getting a good look at his eyes, Sakura had a hard time reading him. This man was a whole other enigma Sakura just couldn't decipher for the life of her.
Inviting her to live with him… he was so strange. Sakura figured she could chalk it up to kindness, and they had been kind to her but…
Kisuke Urahara was a strange and eccentric man. From leaning over an unconscious woman while she slept, to inviting that exact woman to live with him. But there was something else too, beneath his bizarre and odd surface, something Sakura couldn't quite grasp.
Sakura prided herself in her ability to read people, but not this man. Even with what she could gleam from his exterior, every other part of him was unreadable. It intrigued Sakura.
Said enigma was staring at her, and Sakura realized he was waiting for her to reply.
Sakura waved her hand in front of her face, "No, that's alright! I'm sorry if I've been rude, I really appreciate you taking me in even though I'm a stranger."
Which was true, even with Sakura's anxiety over the whole situation, she was really grateful. His first impression might have been bad, but he seemed like an alright guy. It looked like he was housing the two children as well, so he couldn't be too horrible.
'A smart murderer would use children as a disarming tactic.' The irrational part of her thought.
Sakura rubbed her temple, shoving her paranoia deep down.
Maybe lack of rest was making her this way? She only had a brief sleep earlier, and it had been on a hard bench. She had also been increasingly tired since she had been "displaced", but she figured that was the stress of the whole situation crashing down on her.
"Anyone who would leave a beautiful young woman like yourself alone to face the harsh elements of the night would have to be heartless." Kisuke replied with a cheerful smile that filled Sakura with the sudden want to kick him. She didn't know how to handle those offhanded compliments. She blushed lightly and frowned.
"We have a spare room, and although Tessai usually takes care of housekeeping duties, I'm sure he'd be happy to have an extra helping hand."
Ah that's right, she would be working as their housekeeper. Sakura didn't quite quite know how to feel about that. Truth be told, she was quite a messy person. For the most part she kept places tidy, like her work area. Her apartment on the other hand... She would get distracted with work or personal projects often and would neglect certain cleaning duties for a while. She couldn't remember the last time she had used the vacuum. It was probably gathering dust in her closet, ironically. She could only hope she did a good job, especially if she was earning her keep like Kisuke said.
Sakura slipped into her polite tone, dipping her head. "I'll be in your care."
Kisuke stared at her for a moment before diverting his attention forward, tapping his fan against his chin once again. "We're happy to have you, Haruno-san."
Neither of them spoke after that, continuing down the street in silence. Sakura hung back slightly, lost in her thoughts once again.
'I wonder how long it'll take before they realize I'm gone.' Sakura thought, thinking about Naruto and her friends. 'Naruto will feel incredibly guilty; I wish i was there to tell him it's not his fault.'
Her chest panged at the thought of her friends and parents; she was already homesick. Sakura didn't know what she'd do without Ino and Naruto to liven up her days. The hospital too, she hoped, would be alright without her. She couldn't help but imagine scenarios where everything went wrong simply because she wasn't there.
Her thought process was broken once again when they made a turn into what Sakura had presumed was an empty lot. It made her hackles raise slightly before she realized it wasn't empty like she first thought. The murderer idea was unfortunately a possibility in her paranoic brain until she was proven otherwise.
There was a house, quaint, two stories high with a blue shingled roof. It had large wooden shoji-style doors at the entrance, with a bell hung above them. Just above that on the second floor, there were wood paneled windows, which Sakura assumed would slide open from the inside.
There was a wooden shed to the right of the house and a white 'car' to the left. She assumed it was a car, Sakura didn't really know enough to be able to completely tell. And then right in the middle of the second floor was a large sign that read "Urahara Shop".
It wasn't a very intuitive sign was it? If Sakura hadn't already known it was a candy shop, she'd assume they sold shady merchandise. The location wasn't great either, being far from the street and blocked by the large apartment buildings surrounding it. Did they even have any customers?
It was… nice though. It was very reminiscent of the architecture in her world, and that familiarity made her feel slightly more at home. Her chest squeezed and she couldn't stop the frown that settled onto her face.
It made her incredibly homesick.
"Welcome to my shop, Haruno-san, please make yourself at home." Kisuke gave her another a chipper smile.
Sakura hoped she would be able to find her way back home soon.
Upon entering the shop, Kisuke asked the large man to take Sakura to her new room, wishing her a goodnight. He said they would give her a tour tomorrow since she must be tired. It was true. Sakura craved a real bed right about now. That bench hadn't done her spines any kind of favors.
She unfortunately didn't get a chance to learn the names of the children, because Kisuke ushered them to bed soon after.
The tall man, who introduced himself as Tessai Tsukabishi, led her to the room she would be staying in. He gave her a small tour on the way up, directing her attention to the toilet room on the bottom floor. Once on the second floor, Tessai pointed out that his room was further down the hall, and that if there was anything she needed or if she had any problems that she needn't feel shy.
When they got to her room, he showed her where the futon was and how to open the seemingly broken window with a neat trick. He seemed like a quiet man, but despite his stoic exterior he was very kind.
Done with his duty, Tessai bid her a goodnight with a bow and added that breakfast would be at 8 am if she wished to join them, then left.
Listening intently as his footsteps grew quieter and further away, Sakura let out a big sigh. Finally alone, she dispelled her henge, revealing her regular ninja outfit and forehead seal.
Looking around, Sakura took in just how lucky she had been to have met these people when she did. Worries aside, they had been nothing but kind to her, giving her a place to stay essentially free of charge. She was wary still, of course, but if the situation took a turn for the worse it wasn't like she couldn't defend herself. Her intuition told her that they were good people, and her intuition was rarely wrong.
The room was quite spacious and quite beautiful. With the tatami floor and shoji screen doors, Sakura couldn't help but think of home. There was a window ahead of her that faced the apartment building, which she opened just as Tessai showed her. She leaned on the frame and breathed in the fresh air, as the wind tickled her face. It wasn't much of a view, but Sakura wasn't one to complain.
Opening the closet and pulling the futon from the top shelf, Sakura began to prepare for bed. She was downright pooped.
She shed her clothes and gear and folded them off to the side of the futon, leaving her in just a tank top and shorts. Sitting on the top of the futon cross legged, Sakura took the scroll she had sealed her items into earlier and bit her finger, spreading the streak of blood across its surface. With a small "poof", all of her items spread out in front of her and Sakura began organizing.
She pushed the things she would seal to one side, and the ones she wouldn't seal to the other.
She would keep her kunai and weapons sealed; she didn't need anyone finding things they shouldn't if they were snooping in her room. The same went for her poisons and antidotes, she really didn't want to have to try and explain that.
She munched on one of her protein bars as she continued to sort, realizing she was quite hungry. A lot of time had passed since her last meal in the morning.
She hummed as she worked. She'd seal her soldier pills too, oh dear, the explosion tags as well. Ninja life was quite dangerous, Sakura realized, when she had a civilian house and shop to compare it too. She'd have to be extra careful not to let anyone get their hands on her things. It was one thing to try and explain why she had weapons and poison, but she didn't want anyone to accidentally explode either. She put her ninja clothes and hitai-ite in the 'seal' pile.
Sealing everything except her coat and extra pair of civilian clothes, which she she was glad past-Sakura had the foresight to pack, Sakura turned out the lights and settled into bed.
The sound of footsteps and general noises on the first floor of the shop lulled her into a drowsy state. It was quite nostalgic, and made her think of when she used to live with her parents. In her sleepy stated, she thought of home.
A lot of things had happened to her in such a short span of time, and to think it all happened on a mission where she was tasked with delivering mail. Sakura let out a snort. Just earlier that day she had been upset with Naruto for giving her a dumb mission, and now here she was, transported into a literal other dimension.
Naruto…
Thinking about her friends made her heart hurt. Ino would be so worried. Sakura was rarely late in returning from a mission, and if she was she would always send out word. Naruto would know things were wrong the moment Sakura didn't return that day. But would there be anything he could do about it?
Naruto, even with all his godlike powers...
Sakura raised her arm and pressed it against her eyes. She had to find a way home.
Kaguya had been capable of dimension hopping, right? So it wasn't totally out of the realm of possibilities…
… but Kaguya had also been a goddess who was so powerful that she was capable of creating her own dimensions. Sakura could only assume that the dimension she was in wasn't a Kaguya one, unless Kaguya thought it would be a great hoot to create another secret dimension with cars with the express intent to hit Sakura with them.
Regardless, Sakura was not Kaguya or a goddess, so finding a way home would be harder than just snapping her fingers. Would she even be able to return to her world?
There were footsteps coming down the hall behind her, the sound of a door sliding open further down the hall and then shut. Then it was quiet again.
Sakura clenched her fists.
No, she would be able to go home. She would do as much research as she could, and find a way home.
She would go home.
Sakura drifted to sleep with that thought repeating over and over in her head.
When Sakura awoke, she did so with great disorientation. The sound of construction in the distance greatly confused her because there wasn't any construction going on in her neighbourhood right now. Her eyes were blurry as she peeled them open, and all she could think about was the fact that her room smelled a lot like… grilled fish? That wasn't right.
As her blurry vision began to crispen up, so did her mind. She remembered that she wasn't at home like she thought, and was instead a resident of Kisuke Urahara's candy shop for an indeterminate amount of time.
What time was it? Sakura rolled over to look at her alarm clock before remembering she had no such thing. Grumbling into the futon, Sakura laid there for a moment before lifting herself up push up style. Her body creaked as she planked, something she usually did at home when she woke up. Ugh, but she felt just awful though, and not because of the planking.
'Sudden interdimensional travel isn't great for the body, it seems.' Sakura thought irritably.
Sitting up, she grabbed her folded civilian clothes, a beige jumper and white capris, and slid into them. It was a bit awkward only having one pair of clothes, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She would ask them if they had a washing machine she could use later. She reapplied a masking henge to hide her forehead seal.
Sakura slid her door open slowly and peered out into the hallway. No one was there, and Sakura concluded that all the residents of the shop were down below for breakfast. Plodding down the hallway quietly, Sakura combed through her hair with her fingers, trying to smooth out any snags and tangles. She would also ask if they had a shower she might be able to use too.
She heard some young voices arguing, and a voice she recognized as Kisuke's telling them to settle down. She descended from the second floor, footsteps soft on the hardwood floor. As she approached the commotion, the voices rose in volume.
Sakura's hand hovered in front of her as she contemplated opening the door. She felt hesitant about intruding on their meal. She was a stranger and an outsider after all. She didn't have to contemplate anything for long, when the door slid open of its own volition instead. It gave her quite a fright as she yelped.
'Ninja reflexes.' Sakura thought embarrassedly.
Tessai stood in the door frame, towering over her. Sakura felt herself perspire a little. Was she interrupting?
"Good morning Sakura-dono, we were just about to have breakfast, would you like to join us?" Tessai inquired. Sakura swallowed slightly, "dono"?
She peeked around Tessai's large form, seeing Kisuke and the kids staring at her. She met Kisuke's eyes and quickly averted them.
"If that's not a problem?" Sakura questioned.
"Of course not!" Tessai sounded appalled at the notion. "I made enough for all of us, including you Sakura-dono." Though his face was stoic, Sakura got the sense that he would be upset if she declined.
"Then if it's alright…" Sakura gave a small smile. Tessai nodded, pleased and moved out of the doorway so Sakura could enter. She looked for an empty spot, and sat on the floor next to the orange-haired boy and across from Kisuke. She looked at the table and noticed that there was indeed an extra meal set out for her. The meal in particular was grilled mackerel, rice and miso soup. The grilled mackerel explained the smell when she woke up.
A roof over her head, warm meals… they were too kind to her. It was so refreshing that Sakura didn't know how to handle it. She was accustomed to rude and ridiculous behaviour, being a doctor. Even when she tried to help people, people who would come to the hospital with the express intent to get help, they could act very rude.
As much as Sakura loved her job, it was exhausting, and the amount of unapologetic and ungrateful people that came in everyday was astounding. Sakura found that civilians were more likely to get uppity with her than ninjas, but shinobi were their own can of exhausting. She sighed in remembrance of all the times she would have to corral her injured teammates back into their hospital rooms, with force, because they thought it would be a good idea to go gallivanting off like they hadn't just been mortally wounded.
Being a doctor is fun, Sakura thought with bitter humor.
When she used to take missions often, before she opened the Children's Mental Health Clinic, there would be times where some of their clients would have to house them, and it often made for awkward situations when those clients didn't want them in their own home. The shinobi they had decided to hire, to protect their things. It peeved Sakura a little thinking back on it.
So, such blatant kindness was a shock to her system to the point that Sakura was incredibly suspicious. Her ninja instincts told her to be prudent. Being poisoned was always an option, even if Rikishi told her no such thing would happen.
Seeing her hesitate, Kisuke tilted his head in askance. "Are you not hungry Haruno-san?"
Her stomach suddenly growled loudly and she received some humored looks in response. Sakura flushed in embarrassment and seeing that everyone else was eating, she figured it might be okay. She clapped her hands together.
"T-thank you for the food…" She picked up her chopsticks and followed her housemate's examples.
It wasn't poisoned. Good.
"Was your sleep alright?" Asked Kisuke good naturedly after Sakura had a couple bites.
"It was great." She smiled, swallowing a mouthful. "It sure beat a park bench."
She took another bite quickly, trying to cover up how much she regretted saying that. It probably sounded incredibly pitiful considering they thought she was homeless. Which was true, just... not in the way they thought.
"So how did you end up living on the streets like a bum?" The red-haired boy asked. Sakura choked on her rice and coughed, covering her mouth politely.
"Jinta-dono! Don't bother our guest with such a rude question!" Tessai scolded the red-haired boy, Jinta, as Sakura now knew.
"I'm just asking her a simple question." Jinta scowled at Tessai, head in his hand. He narrowed his eyes at Sakura. "The manager just brings in a weirdo off the street and you expect me to just accept that?"
"Jinta!" Tessai raised his voice again. Jinta flinched and then crossed his arms and looked away, glowering.
"Sakura-dono I'm terribly sorry for his behaviour, we've never housed a," Tessai paused, as if searching for a word that didn't rhyme with 'thumb'. "Stranger before."
Sakura, now recovering from her coughing, put down her chopsticks. She suddenly wasn't as hungry anymore. "...No that's fine, it's understandable that my presence here would be upsetting."
"Ah, no Haruno-san, your presence here isn't a problem at all." Kisuke said, waving his fan in front of him.
Jinta huffed, "Can we even afford having another person living here?"
This time Kisuke stepped in, "Jinta, thats enough."
A look of surprise crossed Jinta's features but was soon replaced by a scowl. "Whatever, I'm not hungry anymore anyways." He got up from his spot and left the room in a huff, leaving Sakura with feelings of guilt. Her stomach still rumbled hungrily, but she had no wish to continue eating the food in front of her.
It was not a great start for one of the children of the house she was living in to hate her. However, she understood all too well. She was a stranger whom they knew nothing about other then her sloppily crafted lie, intruding in their home. And from the sounds of it, her stay had not been discussed among the younger members of the family. She was something new and strange, and her presence meant change.
"Haruno-san, you'll have to forgive Jinta, he's immature, but he's not usually this rude to guests." Kisuke rubbed his chin with a sigh.
Sakura turned away from the door Jinta went through and directed an understanding nod at Kisuke. "No, I understand, but," She looked down at the meal in front of her. "Maybe it would be better if I looked elsewhere for a place to stay if I'm going to cause trouble."
Sakura really didn't know where she would go if she did. She had no identification, no money, and definitely didn't have any official documents. No matter where she went, people would be suspicious of her. She had really struck gold here, but she didn't want to be a burden on them when they had already showed her kindness.
"You said your step-mom kicked you out, correct?" Kisuke asked after a moment. "You don't have any other relatives you could stay with?"
Sakura shook her head.
"Friends?" He added.
Sakura shook her head again.
"Then there's no reason for you to leave, is there?" He chirped, unfolding his fan in front of his face. "Jinta makes it sound like our house is about to be repossessed but I assure you we're fine, and you staying here won't be a problem."
"But I-" Sakura began.
"If you're still feeling guilty then why not start your work today?" He interrupted with a wide smile. Sakura opened her mouth to retort but couldn't form the words.
"You can help me while I shop Sakura-dono." Tessai finally spoke up. Sakura was shocked silent, and directed her wide eyes over to him. "It'd be best to make sure you have all the things you need if you're going to be living here."
"Yes, since you'll be living here." Kisuke added.
"Wait-" Sakura attempted.
"M-miss, I'll help out as much as I can, since you'll be living here." The little girl supplemented softly, putting a hand on her bicep. Kisuke put a gentle hand on the child's head.
"Isn't it great that you've decided to live here?" He enthused.
They were really laying on the pressure weren't they? What could Sakura say to change their minds when they had so clearly made their choice. 'No' was not an answer they were going to take, clearly.
"I guess it's good then, that I'll be living here." Sakura supplemented with a small smile.
Kisuke flicked his fan closed with a slap. "Perfect, let's give you a proper tour then shall we?"
After finishing off her cold breakfast, Sakura followed Kisuke around the shop. He began his tour by showing her the kitchen and the bathroom, and then led her to the storage room. He told her she didn't have to worry about it since it was all shop items. He also added that she should avoid this room, since it was so unorganized it was actually a safety hazard. Sakura couldn't help but be curious about just how messy it was.
He then showed her the laundry room, as well as their extra rooms, which were quite similar to the room where was currently sleeping in design. When they arrived upstairs, he pointed out where his room was and essentially told her what Tessai had told her the night before.
She didn't have to do much, from what Kisuke told her. She really just did anything Tessai couldn't get to, and Sakura was realizing this job was more for her benefit than theirs. She was touched honestly.
Shortly after her tour, she joined Tessai out on his excursion to the grocery store. She was greatly curious about how shops functioned in this world, but couldn't help but narrow her eyes at all the cars that drove past her as they walked down the street. She had been given no reason to like those metal death machines, and she would continue to avoid them if she could help it.
Tessai's stride was quite large and Sakura had to jog slightly to keep up with him. Curse her little legs.
When they arrived at the store, Sakura had been very confused on how to enter when the doors showed no obvious handle for her to grab. Thankfully Tessai approached first and the doors opened automatically, confounding Sakura greatly. She was glad she was standing behind him because the expression on her face probably would have been quite comical; suspicious too. She was finding it very difficult to blend in with regular society when things kept surprising her like this.
After getting over the shock of the doors, Sakura followed Tessai into the store. It was quite similar to her world's stores with the lines of produce and items, only a lot whiter with shiny tiled floors. It reminded her more of the hospital then a grocery store, but she supposed that was just how it was here.
They went straight to the produce section where Tessai began to purchase ingredients for supper and the rest of the week. Sakura felt a little bit awkward, following him around so closely, but she really didn't know what else she should be doing.
"Sakura-dono, what type of foods do you like?" Tessai suddenly spoke up. It took her by surprise since he hadn't said much since they left.
"Um, anythings okay, I'm not very good with spicy things though." She answered. "But please don't change your meal plans on account of me."
"I see, spicy things, hmm..." Tessai held his chin in thought, and looked to be contemplating things Sakura couldn't quite understand.
They continued into the meat section and Sakura had a striking realization.
'Oh no… the meat in my fridge…' She thought mournfully. That was going to be a horrible thing to come home to.
The rest of the shopping trip went by fast. Sakura picked out the things she needed while she would be living there, things like toiletries and a towel or two. She watched in fascination as the woman who was ringing them up scanned their items. She recognized the cash register, but even it was more high tech than the ones she had in her world.
Once they left the grocery store, Tessai turned to her abruptly, giving Sakura quite a startle, and handed her some cash. Sakura nearly dropped it in surprise, not expecting to just be handed money.
"Wh- um?" She stuttered as she fumbled with the money. Tessai did not look perturbed by this whatsoever.
"I have some more stops to make, Boss asked me to give you some money so that you could get some clothing." He took a look at the watch on his wrist and nodded. "We can meet back here in an hour."
And with that, he walked off, leaving Sakura all by her lonesome. Sakura stared at the money in her hand with absolutely no idea what to do. How much money was this? She didn't understand this currency at all. She hoped it wasn't a lot, otherwise she would feel horrible.
Sakura was unbelievably confused, and she felt exceptionally lost. Tessai had just left her to her own devices. Maybe he thought she would be more comfortable shopping for clothes by her herself, and if that was the case it was quite thoughtful. Only…
She wasn't a resident of this world so she didn't understand a thing. She wished Rikishi was there to explain money to her because she kind of felt like crying all of a sudden.
Sakura looked around trying to mentally register the area she was in so she could remember where they should meet and then walked the opposite way of Tessai in hopes of finding a clothing shop somewhere.
Thankfully she did not have to look far before she caught sight of a clothing display in a big window across the street. Sakura looked at the street with irritation. She would have to cross the road that cars drove on. How was she supposed to get to the other side? It seemed dangerous if cars were just going back and forth constantly, how did civilians do this normally?
Maybe you just had to be quick? She was a ninja so being quick wasn't an issue at all. Sakura looked both ways and tried to time when there were no cars coming either way, taking a step off the sidewalk. She went to go take another step when a large hand grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back onto the sidewalk.
A car zoomed past her, and Sakura frowned. She would have made it had this person not interrupted her. She spun around to tell them off but stopped mid-sentence.
"That's dangerous." The large man warned. "You have to be careful."
He was quite tall, easily above 6 feet with dark skin and short, wavy brown hair. He was wearing a brightly colored and patterned button up shirt and looked to be about Sakura's age, maybe even older. And oh, he thought it was dangerous, so maybe she wasn't supposed to cross the street that way.
"T-thank you, I didn't realize." Sakura flushed and bowed respectfully. The man looked at the money in her hands in confusion.
"Is someone chasing you?" He asked, looking worried. Sakura looked at the money she was cradling in her hands and back at the man. He must have thought she was running away from someone and that was why she was willing to jump into traffic.
"Ah, no, no one's chasing me!" Sakura waved her hands, and then remembered she was holding the money and stuffed it sloppily into her pockets.
The man had a perplexed expression. "If you want to cross the street, you can cross over there." He pointed towards a crowd of people who were all standing on the sidewalk. There were white painted stripes leading to the other side of the street in front of them, and as the cars slowed down and stopped, they began to cross.
Oh, that's how it worked.
"Are you a foreigner?" He asked, taking in her amazed expression.
She let out a nervous laugh and scratched her cheek. "I guess you could say that."
"You speak Japanese very well for a foreigner." He complimented her. Sakura couldn't help the confused expression that crossed her face. Was there other languages? This world was strange.
Seeing her confusion, he tilted his head. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Sakura waved away his worries, and then thought about the money in her pocket. "Actually, if it's not too much trouble, can you tell me how much this is?" She took the money out of her pocket and held it out to him.
The man looked even more baffled making Sakura sweat slightly. The man took it from her hands hesitantly and flicked through it.
He looked completely mystified."There's 50,000 yen here."
"...Is that a lot?" Sakura inquired. The man handed it back to her.
"It's a lot to just be carrying around with just your hands."
"Oh…" Sakura looked at the money in her grip. She very much did not want to use this money now that she knew that. Wasn't Jinta just saying that they couldn't afford to feed her too? But then Kisuke did say they were okay… She really didn't know who to believe. She really didn't want to be eating their food and spending their money too.
"Will you be okay by yourself?" He asked, concern flittering over his features. Sakura looked up and waved him off.
"I'll be fine, thank you for the help!" She was really lucking out with all the kinds strangers she was meeting. She bowed again, then turned around and ran over to the crosswalk he had pointed out, leaving a very mystified man behind.
"Chad, you coming?" A blonde boy called over from a short distance away. The man in question turned in the direction he had been called from.
"Sorry, I'll be right there." Chad said, making his way over to his friends.
"You're always helping people out, huh." The blond boy laughed, patting him on the back. He then looked over at another boy. "Sorry dude, what were you saying about a cockatoo?"
"Cocka-tiel." The bald boy corrected.
Following the two, Chad made one last look over his shoulder.
What a strange woman.
Sakura was extremely confused as she stared at the price tags on the articles of clothing hanging from the racks. She had no concept of how expensive they were other than the general idea that 50,000 yen was considered "a lot". She was considering asking the worker there, but was worried they might try to pull one over her in the name of sales.
She compared two price tags to each other and let out an anguished noise. She had absolutely no clue what either of them actually cost. Was it expensive, cheap? She was tempted to storm back to Kisuke and throw the money in his face.
Maybe she would just head back to the shop and call it a day, and just tell him that everything was too expensive. Then she wouldn't have to pay for anything and waste his money.
She also only had one pair of underwear.
She held her head in her hands in torment, not even noticing the other shoppers giving her a wide berth.
Fuck it, she would buy a couple things and just pray it all come to a small number. If what she had was 50,000 yen, then she just had to spend less than that, right? She grabbed a couple things she thought looked nice, and tried them on. She put a couple back when they didn't fit, but kept the majority.
She grabbed an armful of underwear because you can never have too much, and made her way to the checkout counter. She plopped everything onto the counter, and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as the cashier rung up her items. She was completely unaware of the frightened looks being sent her way as her mood had turned noticeably sour. If she never had to buy things again in this world, she would be very happy.
"T-that'll be 13,560 yen yen, ma'am." The cashier stuttered, bagging her items. Sakura let out a big sigh of relief and just handed the woman all her cash. The cashier fumbled with it, not quite expecting to be handed such a large sum, putting it in the register and then handing her back the correct change. "T-thank you for shopping with us."
Sakura nodded and took her items, stuffing the remaining money in her pocket on the way out. Now she just had to meet up with Tessai and go home. She made her way across the street, now confident in her ability to cross roads. The ins-and-outs of it wasn't something she still fully grasped, but as long as she just followed everyone else's example she'd be fine.
Sakura made a face and looked into the bags holding her newly purchased items. She still didn't know how to feel about buying clothes using money she didn't earn herself. There were a couple of shirts and a pair of pants, but the majority was underwear. As much as the idea of using some else's money bothered her, the idea of only having one pair of underwear bothered her even more.
'I don't know how I can possibly repay Urahara-san and Tessai-san's kindness.' Sakura thought glumly, spotting a fountain near their meeting spot and she taking a seat. 'Even if I had money it still wouldn't be enough.' It wasn't like she could get a job.
'Hi!' Sakura played out in her head. 'I know I don't have any identification, but would you like to give your money to me anyways? What? A resume? Of course I have one. Yes, I know it says I have 13 years of experience as a ninja but I can explain.'
She let out a great sigh. There was so much she had to learn about this world and its workings if she ever wanted to blend in. It was a skill she would have to acquire if she ever wanted to return home
Patience was key here, Sakura thought, just because she wanted to return home soon didn't mean that she could. She would have to wait for the clues to come to her, and then maybe she could get a start on returning to her world. In the meantime, she would have to deal with the fact that she was here. She worried about the hospital, but her medic-nin were trained by her specifically, and she was a damn good Doctor if she was allowed to brag a little bit. They would be able to handle anything that came their way.
Sakura thought back to what Rikishi said. Maybe this was a higher beings way of giving her a break? She didn't actually believe that, but maybe she should just enjoy the time she had here rather than mope.
She spotted Tessai coming down the street and stood, making her way over to him.
Thats right, she would make the best of it.
When Sakura and Tessai returned to the shop, they found the two children out in the front sweeping. Or one, rather. Jinta wasn't, and Ururu tried to coax him to do his work but to no avail. Tessai approached Jinta from behind, who didn't notice until Ururu pointed over his shoulder. Jinta let out a shrill scream and Sakura couldn't help but expel a huff of a laugh at what was clearly a daily reoccurence.
She stood there watching for a moment, before realizing she should take the groceries into the shop. It was a small gesture, but she could start her work by helping unload them.
She slipped by the three of them, sparing a small smile at Ururu whose gaze trailed after her, and entered the shop. She picked up some of the groceries Tessai had set down when he was intimidating Jinta and slid by the small shelves holding the merchandise. Sakura walked into the back and slipped off her shoes near the back porch, feet pattering on the wood floor. She tracked down the kitchen and did her best to unpack what she had into the right places.
Sakura opened the refrigerator and prepared to put some items in, only to find that the fridge was quite unorganized.
'Tessai-san seems like an organized guy, maybe he just never got to it.' She thought rolling up her sleeves. Well, this was the perfect time to make herself useful.
"Haruno-san?" She heard Kisuke call from down the hall. She turned her head to answer, but the air around her went cold and was definitely not a result of the open refrigerator she was crouched in front of.
A chill went down her spine quite suddenly, and Sakura felt a burst of...something appear in the distance. It didn't feel like chakra or anything she was familiar with and it wracked her body to the core. Her head felt heavy, and her vision went blurry and it was she could do to just stay upright. Her limbs felt weak and a cold sweat was breaking out all over her body. She leaned against the fridge door, and hoped the cool air leaking out of the machine would help her recover from this ill feeling.
When the need to vomit finally disappeared, Sakura opened her eyes again. She took great big breaths and tried to lessen her headache by channeling chakra into her temple.
What the absolute hell was that?
"Haruno-san?" Kisuke called again, stepping into the room. "Are you in here?"
"I-I'm down here." Sakura finally answered, regaining her composure.
Kisuke peered around the counter with a puzzled expression when he caught sight of her kneeling in front of the fridge. "It's a little bit too early for a snack don't you think?"
Sakura smiled wobbily. "I thought I'd organize a little bit, since it's the least I could do. Was there something you needed?"
Kisuke covered his face with his fan. "I came to see if you found everything you needed but... are you alright Haruno-san? You're quite pale."
"I'm fine, I just-" She shuffled in her spot and felt a familiar crinkle in her pocket.
"Ah, that's right!" Sakura stuffed her hand into her pocket, pulling out the money left over from her small shopping trip. "This!"
"This?" He questioned. Sakura stood up and held the money out to him.
"This." She repeated. "You didn't need to do that."
"Hmm? I'm not sure what you mean." Kisuke feigned ignorance and eyed the money, open fan covering his face aside from his eyes.
Sakura sighed, exasperated. This man. "You've already given me a place to stay, free of charge, you didn't need to pay for my things too."
Kisuke made no move to take the bills and coins from Sakura's extended hand. Between his hat and fan, Sakura couldn't make out what expression he was wearing.
He snapped his fan closed and beamed at her. "Why, you work here now, so it's not like you're staying here for free. Besides," he said with a grin. "It's my responsibility as the owner of this shop to make sure you're stay is as comfortable as possible."
Sakura's eyes widened and her stomach did a flip, leaving her with feelings she couldn't quite describe. Was it guilt?
"Why…?" She muttered, an expression of distress crossing her features. Kisuke looked confused but before he could ask her what she meant, the expression was replaced with a scowl.
"Regardless," She said, putting the money on the counter and turning her back to him. "It's really not necessary."
Sakura kneeled in front of the fridge and continued to sort the items. That was probably his cue to leave but instead Kisuke stared at her turned back and hm'd, noticing her bag of recently bought clothes near his feet. Using his cane, he opened the flap revealing the contents within.
"Well, I suppose having more underwear couldn't hurt, could it?" He said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. Sakura lurched at that statement, hitting her head on one of the refrigerator shelves and letting out a sharp hiss of pain. Kisuke winced at that. Whoops.
She spun around and glared at him, rubbing her sore head. "My underwear is none of your business!"
"Hmm," He rubbed his chin in fake thought. "It was my money that bought it."
"Oh, now it's your money, how convenient." Sakura remarked with a scowl, still nursing her tender scalp. That hurt more than it should have. "Well, if that's the case, then please by all means help yourself to all my tampons too."
Kisuke made a choking noise and started coughing, clearly not expecting that response. Sakura raised her eyebrow at that. He picked the wrong woman to tease if he wanted to embarrass her with mentions of her underwear. Sakura hadn't spent all those years as a doctor doing gross doctor things to be demure.
"I didn't think I was going to get interrogated over my purchases." She gave a dramatic sigh and pantomimed opening a bag, a look of sorrow crossing her features. "Urahara-sama, please, it's all I have to feed my children."
"Underwear?" He wheezed, still gathering his bearings.
Sakura couldn't stop herself from laughing aloud at that. "Oh, I didn't tell you? My favorite pastime is just consuming underwear by the handful." She stood with her hand on her hip and shook her finger as if she was scolding him. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to screen your employees?"
They stared at eachother for a moment before they both burst out laughing, Kisuke slightly more refined, cackling behind his hand while Sakura leaned on the counter for support. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. It was so dumb, but she felt a little bit better now.
She sniffed a little as she regained her composure, catching sight of the money on the counter. She smiled sadly. "I really do appreciate everything you're doing for me, and I wish I could pay you back."
Kisuke sobered up quickly at her sudden seriousness and looked at the the pile of money she was staring at. He finally picked it up, and Sakura deflated in relief, thinking that was the end of it. Instead of pocketing it, however, he approached Sakura and grabbed her wrist, placing the bills and coins into her open palm. He curled her fingers around the money and held her hand closed. She frowned and opened her mouth to argue, but Kisuke placed his closed fan over her lips.
"I knew what I was doing when I asked you to live with us, so," He looked quite serious as he told her this. "The least you can do is respect my wishes as the owner of this shop."
With that, he swished out of the room, leaving Sakura with a lingering warmth in her hand and in her chest. Despite how much Sakura wanted to chase after Kisuke and refuse the large sum in her hand, she couldn't find the energy to do so.
The household she had found herself in was an odd one for sure, but not in a bad way. It reminded her of her own home and friends who were oddballs in their own right.
She had worries of course, she always had worries, but Sakura thought that maybe, just maybe, she would fit in here after all.
She stared out in the direction of the presence she felt in the distance just minutes before and frowned. There were mysteries though, and she'd be damned if she didn't figure them out.
AN: 50,000 yen is about $450 and 13,560 yen is about $120.
Urahara may be a greedy merchant, but also I can see him having no concept of what "Too much money" is because he's ridiculous. He's definitely a mysterious force in Sakura's life right now, she's having a real hard time wrapping her mind around his character. He has his reasons too, of course.
Yes, talk about her underwear, Kisuke, you're a genius. Thats peak romance right there.
Thank you by the way, to all of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this fic! It's been so long since I've written something, and this is the first time I've written something quite seriously with the intent to finish it. So, the fact that anyone is interested in this silly little fic of mine means a whole lot to me.
Thank you so much, I hope I continue to not disappoint you all!
