A/N Sorry that this is late. I had meant to update yesterday and start a new 2x schedule. On Tuesday my grandpa fell and hit his head. I spent most of yesterday in the hospital with my brother and dad and nanna. In case anyone was wondering, dying from a brain bleed is not a peaceful or comfortable way to go. I don't know how much longer he'll last but I'm guessing not long. This is the third grandparent I will have lost since starting to write. This is escapist for me and distracting. Reading your comments and knowing there are at least a couple of you out there that are enjoying this as much as I am is always uplifting in a special kind of way. Any way, This is a shorter chapter but I'll be posting another in a day or two. I am finding that my chapters for this are varying widely from barely 2k to almost 6k. I have total, between this Part one and Part two like, 80K words so far. This is going to be AT LEAST 100k by the time I'm done. As Part Two is mostly disjointed Kakashi as I think of scenes I want and I have a ways still to go on this part, it will probably be more. Enjoy
Chapter 4
Sakura
Two days into the past
Sakura stood outside the hospital. The paperwork the Hokage had given her was clutched in her hands as she stared up at the building. All she had to do was go in.
Why was this so hard?
She was trained by Tsunade. These medics needed what she had to offer, the Hokage had been clear on that. But was this going to change things? Or would this be the first proof she had always been here? When Kakashi had suggested it the night before, it had opened up an entire new set of possibilities. She was terrified.
She would just have to do her best and see what came of it.
"Are you going to go in, or just stand out here all day?"
Sakura turned to glare at the bored-looking Jōnin standing behind her. His hands were buried in his pockets, and he was watching her with a raised brow. She hoped he wouldn't be annoying all day.
Rolling her eyes, she huffed and started moving.
Inside, they were directed to the office of one of the head medics. She looked at the name on the plate inside the door. Asamida Ryoshi. Definitely not someone she was familiar with. When she was beckoned inside, she realized why: Asamida Ryoshi looked positively ancient.
"Good morning." The old woman stood and rounded her desk.
Sakura bowed slightly. "Asamida-sama."
"I received your file from the Hokage." Shrewd brown eyes inspected her critically. "You managed to track down Tsunade and convince her to train you." She laughed sharply. "That, all by itself, is impressive."
What Sakura realized must be her file lay open on the desk between them. "I wish you could have convinced her to come back and help me run this hospital. I want to retire." She gestured to the open file. "If any of this is true, maybe I have hope yet."
"Asamida-sama?"
"Come with me. We have a handful of younger people in our training program, and I'd like to see what group I should give you."
Having known Lady Chiyo, this woman's spry movements did not surprise Sakura. So, when she suddenly headed for the door and down the hall, Sakura was right at her heels. They talked as they walked, Kakashi following lazily behind.
"Obviously, you would be wasted on the newest trainees. But the kind of chakra control it takes to master the high-level medical jutsu Tsunade specializes in is unfortunately uncommon."
"Are there any particularly promising students or trained medics?"
She slowed somewhat as they approached what Sakura recognized as the training wing. "One or two. Onasho Aiko is about your age and in her final level of training. Semori Kisa is one of my best surgeons, but I do not think she would appreciate being re-trained by a junior."
If she was skilled enough to be mentioned, maybe it would be fine to ignore her. Sakura remembered the woman who had been in charge of the hospital when Tsunade had returned. They had constantly butted heads until the new Hokage had finally relieved her of her duties.
Older, prideful medics were bound to be the bane of her time here.
Stopping at a double door, Asamida nodded to whatever lay beyond. "This is our advanced class." She pointed at a particular medic through the small windows. The young woman had shoulder-length brown hair and looked to be waiting anxiously for the class to begin. "That's Aiko. Her chakra control is above-average and she has a passion for this. I'd like you to especially work with her, but of course I have no doubt you will raise the standard of the entire class."
Pushing the doors open, she led Sakura into the classroom. Kakashi gave her a small salute, making himself comfortable leaning against the wall in the hallway.
"Good morning. As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, we've been gifted with a new teacher. This is Yamada Hana. Somehow, she tracked down the legendary Sannin, Lady Tsunade, and convinced her to train her. Having mastered everything she had to teach her, she has acquiesced to our Hokage's request to stay in Konoha."
They stopped in the center of the hall, all eyes on them. Sakura waved around the room. "Hello. I look forward to teaching you everything I can."
There was a smattering of applause. Aiko, she noticed, looked especially eager.
"Look at the mark on her forehead. It is a seal for a jutsu I believe Lady Tsunade created herself. From the little I managed to get from her before she left, I understand it requires immense Chakra control. None of you are capable of this." She sniffed and looked around at the medics, their attention now rapt. "Do not be discouraged. This is the fruit of genius, once-in-a-generation talent. I only share this so you are properly respectful. Hana-sensei is here by special request. Learn everything she can teach you. Make yourselves invaluable to Konoha."
With a final glance around the room and a final nod to Sakura, the old woman left.
The faces were different, but the setting was familiar. Sakura spent plenty of time training new medics. This was comfortable for her.
Rolling her shoulders and smiling brightly, she got to work.
KSK
Sixteen days into the past
Sakura walked out of the hospital, stretching her arms over her head. It had been a long day. Checking her watch and noting how close it was to dinner, she glanced over at her bodyguard.
Thankfully, Kakashi hadn't been terribly annoying, despite the tedious hours standing around the hospital while she worked. Having felt a bit bad for forcing him away from actual missions for something so boring the last two weeks, Sakura had allowed him to bum meals off her several times. She would get him to pay for her at some point though.
Naruto's voice filtered through her mind. Believe it!
When she laughed to herself, he tipped his head to the side in interest.
Just when she thought he was about to say something, someone came running up behind her, calling her name.
"Hana-sensei!"
Well, her new name.
Sakura turned around, finally, after two weeks used to answering to it. "Aiko-san!"
Asamida had been right about Aiko. Out of all the trainee medics, she was the most skilled. It was fun to teach her.
"I'm glad I caught you, Hana-sensei." She gave Kakashi a small nod of greeting before turning back to Sakura. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to hang out this evening? We could do some shopping or get dinner…"
When Sakura took half a second too long to respond, considering the positive change in dinner date, Aiko blushed faintly. "It's just I know you're new to the village and I haven't seen you around with anyone else. If you're busy, that's—"
"No, actually I'd love for you to join me." Biting her lip, Sakura glanced back at Kakashi. "You don't mind, right?"
He sighed and shrugged. "Well, I'm supposed to follow you if you're not at home…"
She pouted. "Just hang back a bit." When he just looked at her, she rolled her eyes. "Let us hang out for a while, and I'll buy you dinner again."
"Tch. Oh, all right." He blew out an extremely put-upon sigh. "I hope the Hokage decides you don't need me following you around soon. You're such a pain."
Aiko grinned at her when she giggled, and fell into step beside her as she started off. Once they'd left Kakashi a fair distance behind, she started talking. "So, how are you finding Konoha so far, Hana-sensei?"
Sakura smiled, breathing through her nose. She could hardly tell Aiko how nostalgic it felt to be in the old city. Or about how weird it was to avoid certain people, like her parents. The only other person she'd spent any real amount of time with was Kakashi. "It's nice. Though I've spent most of my time working so far."
"I get that." Aiko nodded. "I've spent most of my time the last few months pretty much head down, studying. The Hokage has sent me on a handful of missions but nothing too serious. It's been a while since I've done anything fun, either."
"Well…" Sakura stretched her arms over her head as they headed for the shopping district. "It's a good thing we have the night off."
KSK
Kakashi
From what Kakashi could tell, Sakura was just as boring as he was. All she did was work. In the two weeks he had been following her, she'd gone from her apartment to the hospital and back again, occasionally stopping for groceries.
The only exceptions were the nights he managed to pout his way into her buying him dinner. She felt guilty for the boring hours he spent watching her at the hospital, and he was not above taking advantage. If she thought he was ever going to buy her dinner, she was crazy.
Despite her lack of interesting hobbies or social life, Kakashi still found himself unable to stop thinking about her. And it wasn't just because she had dropped into the past via his bed.
Though he did think about that the most.
Probably because he'd never really had a woman in his bed before. He'd been nothing but a weapon in the hands of Konoha since he was six years old. Everyone he had ever cared about was dead. For so long he was angry and hurt, and that was all there was. So he allowed himself to be used by the village.
Gradually, he had come to realize he could be more than that. He was forming connections again, relationships with his fellow shinobi; with the Hokage he had grown to respect. But still, he worked almost constantly.
Romantic entanglements were, for a long time, not something he cared about. He had been a soldier since long before such things would have ever even occurred to him. Now that they had, there never seemed to be time or anyone he had any interest in.
Until a pink-haired kunoichi with a warm body and arresting green eyes had fallen through time and into his bed. When he'd had her pressed against the wall, at the time he thought she might be a threat to his life or the village, but he had liked the way it felt. It was… a little embarrassing.
Besides their introduction, she was interesting because she was from the future. More than that, she knew him there. Thinking about the tidbits she'd given him and all the things she hadn't was driving him crazy.
Him, Hatake Kakashi… somebody's Sensei. The idea was utterly preposterous. And apparently, it would be. He was a good soldier, but not a very good mentor. But she'd told him he needed to do it anyway, despite being terrible at it.
He wanted to know more.
He wanted to ask when the next Icha Icha book would be released. He wanted to ask about his future romantic entanglements she seemed to know about.
He thought he might like her in his bed again.
He would probably not get any of the things he wanted.
Instead, he spent his days watching her teach shinobi with nowhere near her level of chakra control how to heal horrific wounds—sometimes from the hall, sometimes in the classroom if it was a particularly interesting lesson. Once in a while, she would check the progress of whomever was stationed closest to where he was standing and lean over just so… and he could see a nice slice of cleavage.
She was right. He really was a pervert.
Hanging back as she walked with her new friend, he cocked his head to hear what was said. Mostly inane small talk. Happenings at the hospital, little bits about Aiko's family and a specific story she remembered when they passed a particular street.
His place as her sole dinner companion possibly forever usurped, Kakashi tried not to sulk. And then he immediately scolded himself for even feeling like sulking about it. It was ridiculous.
Shaking useless emotions from his thoughts, he proceeded down the street behind them.
They wandered through the market stalls, stopping here and there to inspect wares, both making small purchases as they chatted. Sakura managed to keep the conversation turned toward Aiko. It seemed like they were having a nice time.
Sakura stopped so suddenly at a stall Kakashi had to pull up fast and pivot into another stall to avoid the group of people behind her. Pretending to be interested in the knick-knacks for sale, he peeked around to see what had caught her attention.
She was staring intently down at something. Her eyes misted as she picked it up, but from one heartbeat to the next, she blinked and smiled back at her friend. He couldn't tell from his vantage what she'd been admiring—clearly something she recognized from her past, or the future. With what looked like a forced laugh, she set whatever it was back down and started walking again.
Catching the words 'ramen' and 'sake', he guessed where they were headed next and allowed himself the moment to fall behind and see what had caught her attention. "Excuse me, ma'am, could you tell me what the young woman with the pink hair was looking at just now?"
The lady behind the stall gave him a knowing smile. It made him uncomfortable. "Ah, it was this. A kashigata set, for making rakugan. Said it was exactly like her mother's."
That explained the misty expression. "She didn't buy it?"
She shook her head. "No. But they would make a nice gift from an observant boyfriend."
Holding back a sigh at the woman's smile and obvious sales pitch, he only thought about it a moment longer before pulling out the necessary ryō. She probably had a birthday. He could give it to her then. And she had bought him dinner quite a few times.
Stashing his small purchase in his hip pouch, he slipped through the crowd towards the best ramen spot in town.
He approached Ichiraku slowly, hanging back and listening to their conversation.
Blah blah blah, 'hobbies' blah blah blah.
"How much sake should we drink?"
Blah blah blah
"I'm so sorry Hana-san, I feel like I've been talking about myself this whole time. Tell me about your family? Are your parents shinobi too?"
And that was his cue.
Sakura was stammering out something about her mother as he slid onto the stool beside her.
"She's really boring, trust me." He turned his one exposed eye to meet her flustered green ones.
As Kakashi waved over Teuchi to order their food, Sakura suddenly leaned in very close, muttering under her breath. "If I drink too much sake, knock me out if I start to say something I shouldn't."
He scoffed. "Since you're spoiling me with dinner again, I planned to join your little drinking party."
"Aren't you technically on the clock?" She eyed him skeptically, before turning to order her food as well.
He sighed. "Please. I can handle a little rice wine."
Chuckling to herself, she accepted her food and passed them each a glass. "We'll see about that."