It was cold, that was the first thing her mind registered. The air around her was piercing on her skin, especially since she wasn't used to the snow since Konoha was a continental place. She could barely feel her hands and legs, but at least she was aware of her beating heart; which started running faster the more she's awakened.

Sakura thought hard about what just happened, but she came out point blank. There was no reconciliation of her dream, but she has a feeling that it was heavily important. The last thing she could remember was Naruto's cry of her name, and strangely the beast's hiss when he was burned away by her chakra.

"Shh, she's waking up!"

Her muscles tensed as whispers filled her ears, and her fingers twitched in search of her trusted kunai. However, panic settled in when she couldn't find it, nor could she move freely since she was covered by a generous amount of woollen blankets.

Her eyes fluttered open, fatigue settling deep inside her bones when her breathing picked up. Her blurry vision could hardly make sense of the hazy blue figure in front of her, but she could practically feel the worry radiating from them in waves.

When the silhouette started clearing up, the first thing Sakura saw was wide, innocent blue eyes shining with concern and wonder. The girl was cute, she had dark brunette hair pulled back into a long braid with two loops framing her small face, clear acorn skin that shone healthily, and her plump lips were pulled up into a hesitant but warm smile.

"Hello!" The girl said cheerfully. "Welcome back to the land of the living!"

"Katara, don't get so close to her!" A boy's voice became known to Sakura.

"Ah yes, because you can clearly see she's in a perfect state to do cartwheels around." The girl said exasperatedly, giving a curt glance to the boy beside her.

What kind of name is Katara?

The rosette noticed that they looked alike. From the colour of their eyes to the shade of their skin, and even a little to the jawline if you squint, she deduced that the two of them are siblings. Though the obvious difference between them was the way they held themselves. The girl carried a warm aura around her like that of a big sister's, while the boy carried himself in a posture she knew entirely too well.

A Shinobi, then? But there was something awkward in him that made her hesitant to call him that.

"You never know! You must expect everything from a possible enemy. She could be deceiving us!"

'Okay, yeah,' Sakura mused to herself as she listened carefully to them, gathering information from their body language and interactions as she was currently mobilised. 'He does make a rational point.'

"Come on, Sokka. Stop being so paranoid! She's just a child!" The girl, Katara she reminds to herself, pointed at her with her hands while glaring daggers at her brother.

'This is not good, people have to be more wary when it comes to shinobi,' She blinked at the thought. It was then when she realised that she was in the midst of springing up from the futon and her muscles were so tense that she could basically feel the burn.

Still, with the way the girl defended her, it basically made it clear to Sakura that she wasn't a kunoichi, or a cautious person at that.

"She could be a spy!" Fair.

"Haha! Exactly, because she totally looks like one!" Katara countered back sarcastically as she pointed at Sakura's vulnerable state. The rosette made eye contact with them and blinked, causing the girl's eyebrow raise in a 'I told you so' manner and the boy's to twitch in annoyance.

Even though the way Katara defended her was heart-warming (if not worrisome, Sakura always worried about people who seem to trust too easily), she also could see her point. Pink hair isn't exactly subtle, and it actually makes a terrible disguise for undercover.

"Even if she isn't one, she's still weird! Look at her hair!"

"The same could be said about those pilose in your armpits!"

"Katara!"

Suddenly, someone coughed from behind her head, and the two siblings froze at their aggressive stances. Sakura, along with Katara and Sokka, slowly turned their heads to the source of the voice to find a old woman looking at the two with the most deadpanned stare. If Sakura wasn't as alerted as she was at this point, she may have found it humorous.

"How considerate of you to provide entertainment for our guest," The old woman drawled out. As if that sentence was a fierce scolding, the two darted away from each other in the speed of lighting, putting at least three feet distance in between them.

"Granny! You know, we're always up with the old customs and hospitality!" Sokka gave her a false grin.

'Granny' was not impressed, if the raising of her eyebrow said anything about it. At last, she turned towards her, and Sakura felt uncomfortable under her piercing stare. It wasn't like she hasn't faced much stronger enemies before, Zabuza and Orochimaru being the prime examples, but something about this old woman's gaze made her extremely apprehensive. It was like she was encountering a veteran, and Sakura's back straightened out of manners; bowing her head slightly in a nod at the respected elder.

"Well, dear," The woman snorted, "there is no need for such formalities. Though from what I can see," Her sharp blue eyes pinned on her. "You're quite far away from home, aren't you, little soldier?"

Sakura raised her eyes to meet hers, allowing a small — if albeit forced —smile appear on her lips. "May I acquire the location of my placement first, please?" She side-eyed the children beside her. "I will not talk otherwise."

'Granny' looked contemplative as she looked at the child in front of her. The girl with the pink hair — and here Kanna thought she has seen everything by now — and with eyes as green as the grass she has seen in the lands of Earth Kingdom. Unlike her dear grandson, who liked to jump into accusations from the get-go, Kanna was much more experienced in the art of surveillance and interrogation.

"You're in Wolf Cove, Southern Water Tribe." She informed her gruffly, still studying her and her reactions as she sat down on the soft mat.

Sakura snorted, a flare of anger coursing through her. She was exhausted, aching, and felt as if she was disconnected from herself and her surroundings. Once there was ground beneath her, now she was walking on clouds, waiting to sink through them and fall to her demise.

(Maybe she was being dramatic, but what she initially means is that she doesn't feel good at all. She feels sick, with a certain heaviness behind her eyes and a pressure on her jaw. She didn't have time nor the patience for measley jokes.)

"Right," Sakura said wryly, eyes narrowing. "Try again. I may look like I have a concussion, but I haven't hit the state of delirium just yet to believe in imaginative regions. I will ask again, where am I?"

Kanna narrowed her eyes right back, raising her hand when Sokka scowled and stepped forward. The confusion and anger the girl had just displayed seemed too genuine for it to be just acting.

"Where do you think you are, child?"

Sakura blinked, thrown aback by the question. With a little securitization, glancing between their attires and the things around her — so much wool and fur, honestly — she came only to the most plausible conclusion.

". . . Land of Iron," She said it with a pause of hesitation. "I don't understand though, Iron is supposed to be a neutral ground . . . unless this is not Iron . . . Village Hidden in the Mist?" She shot them a hard suspicious stare, looking ready to defend herself at any time.

Kanna closed her eyes as pure gibberish came out if the girl's mouth, but the woman pursed her lips. Just as strange as her hair, the girl was talking with a certain accent similar to the Earth Kingdom citizen.

"This is Wolf Cove, Southern Water Tribe," Kanna repeated herself patiently, watching as the rosette fluttered. She felt pity for the kid, but she also needed to ensure the safety of her grandchildren and her village, no matter the cost. "I have never heard of such a thing as a Village Hidden in the Mist, or a land called after Iron. We also know for a fact that you haven't hit your head —"

Sakura looked slightly chastised at that.

"— and by the . . . wig you have on your head," Kanna eyed the hair suspiciously. "No, that's your hair. Can I ask, is it natural?"

Sakura blinked in bewilderment, nodding.

"Fascinating," Kanna mused. "You're not from here, I presume."

Before any of them could say anything, a outrageous cry came from the boy clothed in blue.

"Oh, come on! You can't be serious?! Do you really believe in that spirit oasis dump?!" Sokka raged in exasperation. "Okay she has pink hair, big deal! I have seen weirder things in my life, like the catduck half-breed lion that almost mistook my leg for food last year!"

"Can you let her talk?!" Katara snapped with a glare, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm from Konoha," Sakura admitted to the elderly. "The Village Hidden in the Leaves. It's in Hi no Kuni-"

"The what now?"

Sakura shot him a curious, yet irritated glance. "Hi no Kuni, you know, the Land of Fire? How can someone not know basic geography?"

"Aha!" Sokka exclaimed in triumph, spinning his spear upon his grip, and pointed it threateningly towards her. "I told you so! She's a spy from Fire Nation! Granny, Katara, I will take her to the igloo-"

"Stop right there, young man," Granny Kanna reprimanded. "Do you think Konoha exists in Fire Nation?"

Katara frowned. "Honestly, it may be a new-found place—"

"New found?!" Sakura exclaimed in offence. "Konoha has been around for almost a century, much longer than than the other Shinobi Villages mind you-"

"What in the celestial moon is a shinobi?!"