A/N: I use a number of Japanese terms in my writing simply because using them provides a more accurate explanation. In addition, some Japanese words don't really have English equivalents or at least they can't be explained in English without being wordy. I'll try to keep my use of Japanese terms to a minimum.
An engawa is like a wrap around porch/walkway around a traditional Japanese house. A yukata is a casual summer kimono made of light weight fabrics and an obi is a kind of sash worn with a kimono that is wrapped around the waist. Geta are traditional Japanese footwear that are a kind of sandals. Kata are a form of martial arts training where one practices a series of moves and hones these moves through repetition and by building muscle memory.
Kakashi leaned against the shaded outer wall of the temporary interrogation rooms. With Pain having destroyed the village just a few weeks prior, there had been a great many changes to Konoha. Having the interrogation building out where anyone could see, albeit disguised as any other one of Tenzo's mass manufactured buildings, was one of the odder changes.
The door swung open and shut with a soft click before Ibiki joined him in the shade.
"So, no sign of her, huh?" the scarred man asked gruffly, taking in Kakashi's bleak stare.
Kakashi nodded curtly. "Nothing. Even with my ninja hounds, Kiba, Akamaru, and Naruto entering sage mode, we couldn't find anything…"
"Well... Either way, it was a good decision, bringing back that girl. Sai was able to get her back just in time for Shizune to heal her," Ibiki replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the construction crews at work a fair distance away.
"So she made it then. Good. Have you…" the copy ninja paused, searching for a word that wasn't 'torture', "Talked to her yet?"
"Yes. She's a veritable fountain of information. Started giving up secrets about Orochimaru without us even saying anything." He narrowed his eyes. "Damn recruits are too green for this job though. They fell for her waterworks far too easily."
"They'll learn. Did you get any information regarding Sakura from her?"
"Yes, but… It sounds so unusual. She claims that Danzo had an arm implanted with sharingan which would close each time he used a jutsu that would reverse his own death. She says that Sakura had been about to land a blow on Sasuke when Danzo appeared behind her, perhaps to take the killing blow for himself. Sasuke used Amaterasu to set Danzo ablaze and both Danzo and Sakura disappeared. Danzo reappeared. Sakura didn't."
Kakashi's eye settled on Ibiki. "Sharingan, huh?"
"Any ideas, Kakashi?"
"Perhaps. I thought it was just a legend, but I thought the same with the rinnegan. Could be useful information," he replied, his eye returning to some undefined space in the distance.
"Don't you think it's more likely that your student was taken hostage by the Akatsuki?" Ibiki questioned seriously.
"Sasuke certainly believed otherwise."
"And you trust the word of a traitor?"
"I don't see any reason why he would lie about it. And we met Madara on the battlefield briefly. I imagine there would have been more gloating involved if he had abducted Sakura…"
"You have a plan then?"
"Not a plan… At least not yet," the silver haired jonin pushed away from the wall, beginning his trek, "But an idea."
"Good luck, Kakashi. I'll get ahold of you if she says anything interesting," Ibiki replied, turning away to enter the interrogation rooms once again.
While Kakashi dreaded the thought of becoming Hokage, he knew that his first act as the acting leader of Konoha would be finding a way to locate his lost student. They had abandoned her far too many times in the past.
To do so again, when their help was most needed, was unacceptable.
When Sakura and the family of merchants finally arrived at the small trade city, the group easily passing by the wary civilian sentries, Ichirou had foisted a handful of money into Sakura's hands. Despite how many times she tried to turn down their offering, saying that their deal was concluded and she had gotten all that she needed from them, they were insistent on repaying her for her defending them.
She eventually accepted the funds, mostly because she realized she had no money in this time and certainly couldn't spend the entirety of her time in the past camping in the woods and eating roasted fish. Well, she could… but this was certainly preferable.
They parted with the promise of one day seeing each other again, even though Sakura felt it was a hollow declaration. She couldn't spend a minute more than necessary in this time. Even now, with the few things she had done, she was concerned about the impact her actions would have on the future.
As she strolled through the town, intent on finding an inn before going out and trying to gather information on when exactly she was, she began to notice the odd stares she received from everyone she passed. At first, she attributed the stares to her unusually colored hair, that usually being the culprit during her timeline. But, after observing the dated clothes everyone wore, she realized that she must have looked like a freakishly dressed lunatic.
Every man and woman she saw wore a yukata, some other form of traditional wear, or work clothes. She stuck out like a sore thumb and sticking out was the worst thing to be when someone wanted to slyly gather information.
Suddenly even more grateful for the wad of funds in her pouch, she made a sharp right turn into the nearest tailors.
A middle aged woman, her platinum blonde hair tied up in an intricate bun secured with a single pin, tending the counter gave her the same odd stare as everyone else.
"Good afternoon, my dear. What, er… Interesting clothes you have," the shopkeeper greeted with a forced smile.
Sakura could feel a tick developing in her eyebrow at the stranger's roundabout insult but withheld her anger. If she wanted a good deal, the last thing she wanted to do was upset the person who set the prices. She plastered on her best fake smile as she strode up to the counter
"Thank you. They're quite trendy where I come from but I find myself in need of something more fashionable for the area. I noticed the lovely fabrics on the dresses on display in your windows and knew this place was run by a woman who would have exactly what I need," she greeted in a saccharine tone that hurt to even speak in, trying to butter up the blonde before her.
Her tactic appeared to have worked flawlessly because the middle aged shop keeper's smile lit up her face immediately.
"Then you're obviously a woman with splendid taste. Come with me, my dear. I'll find you the perfect outfit," she crowed in response, taking Sakura by the hand and leading her into the back of the shop.
The medic left the store with a paper bag filled with more subtle clothes and feeling thoroughly violated. The shop keeper apparently had no sense for other people's personal space as she had been on Sakura with measuring tape before she could even take her cloak off fully.
Either way, she had left the shop with a couple of outfits more fitting of the area, some more pairs of undergarments (thank the gods), and a lot less missing from her funds than she had anticipated. The surprisingly kind shop keeper, at least after she had gotten past her initial judgement of the kunoichi, had even given her a set of geta for free.
While she enjoyed dressing in yukatas during the festivals in Konoha, she wasn't sure how to feel about dressing in such impractical clothes for the rest of the unforeseeable future. They had no pockets! She would have to maneuver all of her gear into the folds of her clothes and her obi, a task she wasn't looking forward to.
Sakura made a beeline for the nearest inn, knowing that more than likely the entire town had spread word of the strangely dressed visitor. As she pulled open the sliding door, she was greeted with the same odd looks she had received earlier from the innkeeper sitting at the front desk.
She paid the proprietor enough for a three day stay, just enough time to find some information on when she was and possibly some lead on how to return home. While she lamented the cost, she knew it was a necessary sacrifice. Taking the key from the gentleman still eyeing her warily, she made her way to her rented room.
After locking the door behind her and taking a quick look around the minimalist room, she dumped her purchases and her pouch on the low table in the center of the room. She sorted her supplies on the low table, taking a drink from her half full canteen as she did. She set out one of the yukatas she had bought before standing.
Now was the time to take a proper shower before going out to find something to eat and gather information. After all, people talked freely in restaurants. Two birds, one stone.
Unfurling her storage scroll, she withdrew a bar of soap (yeah, who's laughing now, Naruto?), her hairbrush, and toothbrush before entering the small bathroom connected to her room. She was disappointed to find that this inn lacked an bathtub and instead just had a tiny sunken shower that appeared to be fed with a glorified garden hose. She immediately felt a sharp longing for her shower at home and prayed that this place at least had hot water.
She found her wishes were in vain when she turned the knobs to the shower and was met with an irregular stream of frigid water. At least they had towels...
Sakura went to work cleaning her old clothes first, using the bar of soap to scrub the dirt and filth off of them far more thoroughly than she had at the river. She watched as the water going down the drain morphed from a murky brown to clear, the stains on her old outfit slowly washing away. She draped her wet clothes over a rack on the wall before taking a deep breath to gather her wits and hopping into the freezing stream herself.
She took quite possibly the fastest and most productive shower of her life, her teeth chattering loudly as she did so. The damn river was warmer than this…
When she emerged, she immediately wrapped herself up in two towels, one for her hair which kept dripping droplets of frigid water down her back, and one for her body. She scrubbed at her teeth and then her hair before emerging from the bathroom in a state somewhere between clean and miserable.
Sakura rapidly dressed in her new clothes, praying to the gods that this thrice damned town at least had hot food. She sealed away all of her non-essential items, including her headband, in her storage scroll and slipped it into her obi. She tucked a couple kunai into the belt as well, concealing them easily in the thick cloth. Finally, she tucked her now meager funds into her pouch which she concealed with her obi.
She carried her sandals out of her room and put them on at the door before beginning her search.
Sakura located a tempura stand with little trouble, grateful for the decrease in odd stares. While she felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb in her pastel green yukata, she received little more than curious glances now, more than likely due to her unusually colored hair. Even the patrons already at the stand didn't bother to give her a second glance, something she was grateful for.
She ordered a meal for herself and ate in careful bites, casually listening in on the conversations of the people mulling about around her.
"The crops are coming in nice this year. Should get a hefty price for them next time I come through."
"Oh, look at Ayumi. Does she really think that that yukata and that obi go together?"
"Arata is growing to be a fine young man. How is his woodworking training going?"
'Useless,' she thought with a inward huff as she neared the end of her meal. She considered buying another plate just to extend her time eavesdropping when a quiet voice piped up from across the stand.
"Did you hear? The Uchiha and the Senju are at it again. There was a bloodbath in Biei a week ago. That Demon Uchiha set the whole damn forest ablaze. The fires are still burning even now," a bald man whispered to his dark haired friend.
"Biei? Damnit, I have friends there… When will these clans cease their endless warfare?" another man muttered back miserably.
Sakura tuned out immediately and paid for her now finished meal with a shaky hand. She couldn't believe her luck and her misfortune. She cursed as well as praised her studies. She knew of the battle of Biei, one of the more gruesome battles in the Warring States Period, waged between the two most powerful clans at the time: the Uchiha and the Senju.
As she headed back towards her room at the inn, observing the setting sun with unseeing eyes, she became aware of the gravity of her situation.
Sakura hadn't just been shot backwards in time. She had traveled nearly a hundred years into the past.
Sakura spent four days in the small trading town, gathering more information and trying to make some plan to return home.
On the second day, in between rumors she overheard while mapping the small city and a couple of awkward questions from curious townsfolk, she had gleaned another valuable piece of information and one which had her feeling incredibly conflicted: She had, apparently, amassed quite a reputation already for the part she played in the conflict she had appeared in when she first found herself in the past.
The battle that she had been thrusted into was a melee being waged between two prominent clans at the time: the Taiyo clan and the Hogosha clan.
The two families had been involved in their own personal feud for decades and the battle Sakura had found herself in was supposed to be the battle to decide who would be the victor once and for all. They had amassed every fighter from both sides and had met on that bridge, intending to put an end to their grudge match for good.
And Sakura had destroyed both sides of the conflict and demolished the bridge itself in less than fifteen minutes. She wanted to slam her head into a wall as punishment for her stupidity.
She argued with herself that she had no idea that she had been in the past when she had been thrown into the fight. And those men had attacked her first anyways, so what was she supposed to do? It wasn't like she had recognized their clan crests either, so they weren't well known in her timeline anyways... Maybe they would have annihilated themselves anyways so her influence didn't matter?
Or maybe she had single-handedly destroyed a clan, or even two, from some other village that she simply wasn't aware of. The thought that she may have dramatically altered the timeline made her want to vomit from anxiety.
How was she supposed to navigate in the past when she could dramatically alter the future with every person she interacted with? What if that fish she caught was endangered during this time and was now extinct in the future? What if she had stepped on a bug while traveling through the forest and now the Aburame clan didn't exist? What if the few members of the Fuma clan she had killed while defending the merchant brothers would prevent the formation of Konoha?
The uncertainty and the endless possibilities made Sakura feel sick to her stomach and she spent the entirety of the second day in the town locked in her room at the inn, hoping to the gods that her mere existence in that space wasn't changing the future.
On the morning of the third day, she had woken up with the determination to be far more cautious. She would avoid the major clans as much as she could and she would try to avoid battles as much as possible. The last thing she wanted was for her presence in this time to alter her future too much before she returned.
The next day was spent gathering information on the layout of the land. She needed to get to a larger city in order to try to find some books or scrolls on space-time ninjutsu. While she seriously doubted she would find a scroll for a "Return to Your Own Timeline Jutsu" floating around in a civilian bookstore, she held out hope for at least some form of knowledge about the subject.
After all, finding a solution to a problem was first done by amassing information.
On the fourth day, Sakura ran into a serious problem…
She was broke.
She had five hundred ryo to her name after spending her last thousand on breakfast. Not even enough to afford a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's.
As she fretted over what she could do to survive during this timeline, listing off ideas in her head as she savored her meal, she heard a man clear his throat behind her.
"Excuse me? Sakura, is it?" a deep voice asked.
She turned in her seat to face an startlingly tall man with slicked back, jet black hair and deep umber skin. He wore clothes crafted with fine cloths and she could tell by looking at him that he was very well off.
"Uh… Yes. That's me," she greeted lamely, caught off guard by being approached by a stranger after her seclusion.
"I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Atsushi. I'm a friend of Ichirou's," he greeted with a small bow before continuing in a more nervous tone, "He told me of how you defended him and his family from an ambush and even healed his nephew. I was hoping that I could perhaps pay you to guard my caravan as well? We will be setting out for the city of Kiso soon."
"I, um… I'm not so sure about that..." Sakura started, her mind returning to her promise of not interfering with the timeline. She was already listing off ways that she could turn him down when he spoke again.
"My family and I are in the business of mining and trading rare metals and I would be able to give you a fair wage for your services," he rapidly explained, sensing Sakura's trepidation, "You're obviously a skilled ninja and one of the few who bothers helping us civilians... Would forty thousand ryo suffice for your help?"
'Forty thousand ryo?!' she screamed in her mind, already doing the calculations. She would be able to afford a week, if not more, at an inn and three meals every day with that kind of money!
The kunoichi immediately thought of refusing his offer, once again thinking of her vow to avoid altering the timeline. But, with the amount of money this stranger was offering, she could afford to actually stay in the next city to gather information instead of roughing it in the woods. Not just that, but Kiso was a large trading city that she had been planning on heading for anyways.
The medic scowled as she thought of the pitiful five hundred ryo tucked in her obi and how nice it would be to be able to afford a proper bed and meals during her stay in Kiso.
Sensing her inner conflict and misinterpreting her scowl, Atsushi nervously spoke again, "I apologize if my offer wasn't appropriate for a woman of your standing. Would fifty thousand ryo be better?"
Sakura's eyes shot to the man before her with a surprised expression. Fifty thousand ryo now? Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, starting to wonder how likely it was that his caravan would be attacked.
"That's a lot of money coming from a person in this town. Are you expecting trouble?" she asked warily, eyeing the man's fine clothing.
"We do business trading precious metals such as gold and silver. We're always expecting trouble," he answered and Sakura could sense that he was being honest.
"...And Kiso, you say?"
Atsushi's face brightened up considerably, a hesitant smile gracing his lips, "Yes, ma'am."
Sakura hummed thoughtfully, glancing back at her unfinished breakfast.
"You're in luck then. I happen to be heading that way myself. Let me finish my meal and I will join you to act as a guard for your caravan."
A young ebony haired man pushed open the sliding door leading into the sprawling home he shared with his brother. He found that the house was empty and quiet and assumed he would find his sibling training outside. His assumption was correct and he located the wild haired man practicing his kata drills in the garden bordered on all sides by their home.
"Madara," he greeted as he stepped out onto the engawa and perched on the edge of the overhang.
"Ah, Izuna. You've returned," the elder brother returned, glancing over his shoulder before returning to his precise kata, "How was the trip?"
"Well enough. No attempts at ambushes on the way back this time. However, I heard an interesting rumor while we were in town," Izuna returned, a small smile building as he recalled the fascinating rumor he had overheard.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Madara asked, finishing up his kata before standing to his full height and giving Izuna his undivided attention.
"The merchants have been talking about a strange woman who appeared in the middle of a battle between the Taiyo and Hogosha clans on Samurai Bridge. She annihilated both forces and destroyed the bridge before the survivors fled."
"Why would some random woman get involved in a conflict between two clans? And she destroyed that entire bridge?" he questioned curiously as he walked passed their koi pond and joined his brother, sitting down next to him on the engawa.
They had both seen that bridge and were well aware of it's craftsmanship. It would have taken a boss summons just to dent it and the thought that one solitary woman could accomplish such a feat while simultaneously battling against two of the more powerful clans in the country was near unbelievable.
"I didn't hear. But that's not even the most interesting part…" Izuna replied, pausing for effect and earning a dry stare from his sibling, "They say she destroyed it with her fists."
"Her…" he paused, giving his younger brother a disbelieving stare, his eyebrows perched high on his forehead, "Fists? And no one knows anything else about her?"
"Just that she has pink hair and the strength to topple that bridge," the younger man replied with a shrug.
"Hm. Good information to have, nonetheless, even if it is simply a rumor. We may find ourselves facing her in combat if she finds herself interested in involving herself in melees between clans."
"I'm curious as to where she came from. I've never met anyone with pink hair before. Or any woman strong enough to take on two fronts during a conflict… Or destroy a bridge like that with her bare hands…"
"I would find it difficult to believe that anyone had until now, brother."
A/N: Madara is 21 and Izuna is 20. Sakura is 17.
I base ryo off of yen. 100 yen is about $1, 1,000 yen is $10, and so on. So, 50,000 ryo (how much Sakura is about to be paid for her guarding this caravan) would be about $500.
Ayumi means "pace, stroll, walk". Arata means "fresh". Taiyo means "sun". They are the clan Sakura faced who wore cloaks depicting a sunburst. Hogosha means "guardian" (kinda). They are the fighters who wore the armor. Atsushi, the name of the next merchant, means "industrious". The Fuma clan actually exists in the canon Naruto universe. Also, Biei, the village that was attacked and that Sakura used to determine when she was, is actually a travel destination in Japan. Same with Kiso.