Chapter Text
It was an ordinary day in the life of Sakura Uchiha – her daughter was on a mission, same as her husband whom they didn’t see for a couple of months, but it was a comfortable routine for their family. So, as usual Sakura woke up early, had quick breakfast and headed to the hospital. But just after sunset when she was ready to go home and have a bit of free time, Naruto showed up in her office.
“Lord Seventh himself, it is not good.” She laughed welcoming an old friend inside.
“I’m sorry but it is kind of important, and I don’t know anyone better for this job than you.”
“No problem, Sarada and Sasuke are away, so I can work a bit late. What is it?” She asked looking at the scroll in man’s hands.
“You must rest, Sakura. I know how much time you spend in the hospital.”
“And it is you who are telling me this?”
Indeed, there were huge dark circles under blue eyes, but no one really expected a Hokage to take vacation.
“I guess you are right, look at us, we are boring adults.” Naruto laughed lightly. “Anyway, we just received this scroll from a secret mission and it looks quite interesting. I’m not sure though what it is, but it most definitely involves medical information I don’t feel comfortable sharing with anyone apart from you.”
“Okay, anything else?”
Sakura took the scroll, looking at it with anticipation. It was a long time since she worked on something thrilling and secretive. Usually it was Sasuke who dealt with dangerous top-secret missions, sometimes not being able even to share details with her.
“Actually yes, not sure but it might have something with other dimensions.”
“Wow, it seems cool. And I’m thankful you asked me and not Sasuke.”
Sakura playfully punched Naruto in the shoulder.
“It is urgent and I don’t want to call him back from the mission. Plus, I trust your judgment better than his.” Uzumaki grimaced most likely recalling something recent.
“Sometimes you act like kids, you know? But it brings me back in time, so I don’t mind. Okay, I will start now and report to you when I have some news.”
“Thank you, Sakura-chan!” He smiled at her just same when he was a brat of twelve years old. She missed those times so much. Life before traumas and wars, before everything went into chaos and they had to sacrifice their teenage years to make it whole again.
“Anytime for the Hokage.”
They waved each other goodbyes, and she left for the lab in the hidden section of the hospital. Protection of her research was the most important thing and she couldn’t risk it.
***
In the end Sakura spent all night trying to decipher the scroll - it was quite complicated, but she managed to get important medical information which was really valuable for ninja healing. No wonder someone hid it so well, with these new techniques they could save people faster and more efficient.
But she was avoiding one part, at least till now – dimensions. Naruto was right, under all of the layers of healing techniques was something more crucial, something she was not comfortable working with. Sakura was postponing that part secretly waiting for her husband to show up and do the job properly but of course, he was too far away to return tonight. So, as a grown-up and pretty smart woman, she finally decided to take a look.
After many years spent with Sasuke and learning from each other, she was the second person in the whole world who could understand this scroll, no surprise Naruto asked her to check it and no one else.
“Well… what is this?” she finally retrieved the text and started reading it under her nose.
Any well-trained ninja knows that you shouldn’t do it, but after a sleepless night and finally a successful attempt to get information, Sakura didn’t realize what she was doing. And in a second everything got dark in front of the eyes, her body felt light, and some unknown power pushed her forward.
It lasted just a moment, but when light came back, everything was different. Sakura wasn’t at the hospital anymore, on the contrary she found herself in the middle of some field with sun shining brightly. Definitely not the end of the night.
“Another dimension. Shit.”
It was not a surprise actually to be transferred somewhere else, what she didn’t like was how easily she forgot to follow a protocol and now ended up who knows where.
After looking around and realizing the ground looks like Konoha, she sighed a bit peacefully. So, most likely she was sent either back in time or to the future. Not the worst-case scenario, there are more chances that Sasuke finds her here than in some strange alien-like dimension.
Sakura was planning her next steps when she heard familiar but hostile voice behind her:
“Don’t move.”
It was Kakashi-sensei and based on his reaction, he had no idea who she was.
At least, yet.
There was no way Sakura could pretend to be someone else – her pink hair was quite a distinctive feature, and in the end, no matter how old her other self in this timeline was, she didn’t change so much to be taken for a random girl. The only positive thing in this situation was her clothes – it was a habit to wear a medical coat at the hospital, so now at least Uchiha symbol was hidden from others.
Sakura tried to move and face her teacher, but she felt the tip of kunai pressing to her back.
“I said: don’t move.”
He didn’t realize it was her, honestly, no one would get it just from behind. And based on his young voice, she was guessing that the scroll brought her back in time.
“I can explain.” She answered, turning again.
Kunai disappeared for a second but then it was pressed to her throat and green eyes met with the eyes of her much younger than she remembered teacher.
“What the…” The hand with weapon trembled a bit but didn’t move away.
“Please let me explain.”
Sakura swiftly dodged the kunai and stepped away from her sensei.
“Don’t attack me, it is me, Sakura. I know I don’t look like your Sakura but it’s me. I can prove it.”
It was obvious that Kakashi-sensei didn’t believe her – knowing him after so many years, she knew that he was planning his next attack. And she had little time to come up with some information that a limited number of people knew.
“When we met for the first time as a team Seven, I said that my dream is to be with Sasuke or something like that. And he said that he wants to kill Itachi.”
The eyes in front of her widened.
“And our first mission… was to the Land of Waves!”
“How…”
His body relaxed a bit, and eyes were deeply staring at Sakura.
It was a wild guess and a potential mistake to give him these facts – what if team Seven doesn’t exist yet in this timeline but she couldn’t really say anything else. Before that moment, still in the academy, they never talked to their mentor, just met a couple of times in the corridor.
“It will sound crazy but I’m from the future. I was investigating a medical scroll in the hospital and accidentally ended up here.”
He didn’t move or say anything else, but his eyes moved to her white medical coat. So, Sakura kept explaining.
“It was a direct request from Hokage, quite urgent, so I was a bit in a rush, and didn’t take precautions as usual. Look at me, Kakashi-sensei, it is me, just much older.”
She stepped closer to him, smiling in a friendly way. It was crucial to persuade him as soon as possible – she couldn’t expose herself for a long time. There was always a chance to encounter another person from her past.
“I guess we must be similar age right now, actually.” She laughed.
“I heard about time travelling but till now it was only hypothetical thing. A lot of ninjas were looking for scrolls with such information, but no one found it. In your time it’s different, I suppose.”
He finally put kunai down, approaching her.
His sharp eyes were thoroughly checking her body expecting an unpredictable trick from her side, and his sharingan was burning red. Oh yes, he had it at this timeline. It felt strange to see these eyes on someone else than her husband and daughter.
“I promise it is me, I can keep sharing other embarrassing details if needed. I know your favourite icha icha novel!” She laughed trying hard to ease the situation.
“No, I trust you.” His face finally relaxed and he lowered headband on his left eye. “What I don’t understand it’s why you are so calm. I’m sure going back in time wasn’t your initial plan.”
“I know someone who can travel through dimensions.” She answered vaguely.
How much information can she share with her sensei?
“I see.” He nodded.
“Can I stay with you? I must hide from everyone, obviously”. She pointed at her hair. “I always can mask myself, of course but since I don’t want to change anything in the past, I prefer not interacting with others till I can return to my time. Or till I find that scroll in the past myself.”
“You know where it is?”
“Not sure, I know its whereabouts but if in a couple of days nothing changes, I will have to go on a mission to find it. Will you help me, Kakashi-sensei?
Sakura couldn’t risk losing time. Who knows how fast Sasuke will be informed about her disappearance and how long it will take him to find this dimension. It would be quite stupid to sit and do nothing, especially having her sensei here. With his sharingan and her memory of location of the scroll, it can be quite a successful attempt.
“Of course, I always help my team. Even if they come from the future.” He finally smiled back at her.
Maybe this mistake would be even a pleasant opportunity to reconnect with her former teacher?