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Sakura kept her hair cropped short these days and her chest bound (not that anyone could really tell if she had breasts under her heavy armor and chainmail anyway). She was recognized as one of the most outstanding knights to serve under her queen, alongside two of her closest comrades, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Truly, only her two comrades and her queen were aware of her secret – she would never be allowed to command a legion of troops otherwise, nor would she maintain the level of respect that she had worked so hard for. No, no one outside of those three knew that Haruno Sakumo was in fact Haruno Sakura, and was very much not male. Years of hard training had given her the solid and muscular build of a true knight, and her height was passed off as poor genetics (as was her hair). Her voice was low for a female, so no one gave her speech a second glance. Yes, Sakura had established herself well as a leading knight and strategist in the Queen’s royal army – and also apparently as a passable male and eligible bachelor, as she even had to dissuade potential female pursuers from time to time.
Sakura’s time in the Queen’s service had proven to be varied and full of intrigue. She would occasionally lead small attack units behind enemy lines, occasionally plan strategy with much higher-ranking knights than herself, and occasionally participate in illustrious (and arduous, Sakura thought) ceremonies in the Queen’s castle. Indeed, it was rare for Sakura to find herself surprised at anything anymore.
However, her current orders had her quirking an eyebrow. Presently, Sakura found herself on a solo mission from her queen. It seemed that a princess from an allied nation had found themselves locked in a castle protected by a dragon (very cliché, Sakura thought), and she had been entrusted with retrieving the princess. Truly, it was a good-will mission more than anything, and most of the queen’s forces were fighting battles on the outskirts of the opposite side of the kingdom. Sakura had been angry when she had been ripped away from her men and fellow commanders, but she knew that they could not sacrifice many men for a large retrieval mission. She also knew that Queen Tsunade held special respect for her – after all, who else was it but Queen Tsunade herself that had given Sakura access to the best trainers and swordsman that the kingdom had to offer in order to hone her skills as a knight? She was in the Queen’s most trusted inner-circle, and she could never repay her for the kindness she had shown her in the wake of her parents passing. Indeed, she would serve out any mission the Queen requested, even if it seemed poorly timed.
After a fortnight’s travel by horse, Sakura saw the castle in question up ahead. It seemed rather innocuous at first glance – a castle is a castle, she thought – but she was smart enough to know to look past appearances. After a quick rest and a meal to replenish her energy, Sakura left her horse tied up a ways outside of the castle in an area that would be shielded by greenery. This way, it should stay hidden until she returned with the princess.
Quietly and with great skill, she donned her shield and drew her sword – a brilliant gift from the Queen, awarded to her upon her knighting. She approached the castle with stealth that she had gained from her years of training, and entered the courtyard.
The entire castle seemed to be empty, which Sakura thought strange. She knew that quiet, however, was never a good thing, and no more had she begun looking for the first sign of trouble when it found her.
From the sky, a large blue dragon emerged. Its brilliant scales glittered in the afternoon sun, and its scorching breath lit the ground near her feet. Quickly dodging the attack, Sakura ran behind a stone and tried to stay out of sight. She knew she couldn’t take the dragon on her own – shit, she and her men combined weren’t likely to take down a fully-grown dragon. The plan had been to sneak in and sneak out (as was Sakura’s specialty), but it looked like that plan had gone out the window.
The next 10 minutes were a game of cat and mouse (or dragon and human, Sakura thought bitterly) as Sakura dodged the dragon’s attacks the best she could. She was slowly working her way toward the main entrance – she had to make it there in order to find the princess, she knew. Her chest ached from her rapid breathing, but she was almost there! Sakura mentally counted to three, then made a run for it. Her feet thudded the ground as she pushed her body to its limit in an attempt to make it into the castle.
She was almost there! She could see inside the castle, the door was cracked open, and inside was –
Her thoughts were cut short as a scream of agony pierced the air. Hers, she thought belatedly. The dragon had swiped her with its long talon, the flesh peeling from her side and immediately cauterizing from the dragon’s own heat. She blinked the tears from her eyes as she forced herself to move, move, move! until she was fully inside the castle door. The door was assuredly not large enough for dragons, which gave Sakura a sliver of relief. Moving as far as she could away from the door, Sakura managed to make it to the foot of a grad marble staircase when she began to lose consciousness from the pain radiating out from her injured side. She pushed on as far as she could before falling to her knees and, quite soon after, lost consciousness completely.
When Sakura awoke, she was on a cold, stone floor. She was groggy and her side felt as though it were on fire (technically, it had been, she reminded herself). She attempted to pull herself up, but grabbed her head as it began to throb in agony, protesting her movement.
Suddenly, a quiet cough sounded from across the room.
Stilling, Sakura (still grabbing her head) looked from her spot on the ground. She could immediately tell that she was no longer in the entrance and had somehow been brought to one of the bedrooms housed within the castle.
Sakura then blinked.
And then she blinked again.
Instead of a hapless, beautiful princess in need of saving, she was greeted by a very lackadaisical-looking adult male reading a book and petting a small dog. The man’s silver hair fell over his left eye, and a dark mask covered the lower-half of his face; between both of these barriers, should make out about a quarter of his face, maybe even less. He seemed relaxed and wore loose-fitting clothing more becoming of lounging than fighting.
Never one for beating around the bush, Sakura ground out a polite greeting: “Who the hell are you?”
Sakura couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as though the man was smirking at her from under his mask. “Now, I’m uncertain of what they taught you about manners in knight-school, but it’s usually those who do the breaking in who explain who they are and what they are doing.”
Sakura took a deep breath in an attempt to answer, and immediately regretted it. Her side launched into new spasms of pain as she struggled to stay up-right. “Shit shit shit shit shit.”
Although Sakura’s eyes were closed and focused on riding out the pain, she could tell that infernal smirk he wore earlier was still very much present on his covered face. “That seems like a rather vulgar name. Did you anger your parents greatly as a child?”
Sakura worked up enough strength to glare at the man who still looked relaxed on his bed.
“My name,” she wheezed, “is Haruno Sakumo.”
The man quirked an eyebrow at her and said nothing more.
“I was sent by my queen to rescue a maiden being held in this castle. A maiden,” she said, as she looked around the room, “who does not seem to be here.”
“Ah, yes,” the masked man said, moving to the edge of his bed, “she has been gone for quite some time. You see, I ensured she had a safe trip home when I arrived to this castle several months ago.”
Sakura stared at him blankly once more. “Several…several months ago? But my queen only received the request for help recently!”
Nodding sagely, the man sighed. “I keep telling them that we should speed up this whole mail business, but no one listens to me.”
Sakura grimaced. “So, why are you holed up in this very cliché castle, exactly?”
The main gazed her her with one droopy eye. “I’m of the very dainty sort, you see.”
Snorting, Sakura sat up.
“But really, why is a grown man hiding out from a dragon in a castle?”
The man scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’m not much one for people. I found this nice castle, and well, you see, no one really bothers me in here. Something about a big, scary, fire-breathing dragon keeps people away. So, I just decided I would live here.”
“And the dragon…doesn’t bother you?”
“Yes, well,” the silver-haired man said scratching the back of his head. “Turns out that training dragons is very similar to training dogs.”
Sakura was dumbfounded. “You…you trained that dragon? As in that dragon is your pet?”
“I like to consider him my partner,” he said, finally moving off the bed and walking toward her.
“So, to be clear, you don’t need saving.”
Kakashi looked to left, then his right, and shrugged. “Meh. Guess not.”
Sakura rubbed her temples harshly as she determined her next course of action. Her lovely reward was certainly gone, since she couldn’t really rescue a princess who wasn’t there. And, to make matters even better (not), she had found a useless loaf of a human who was hiding in a castle to avoid real-world responsibility. Seriously, what the hell? This was not what she had anticipated when she accepted this mission.
As the man approached her, he held out a hand to help her on her feet. “By the way, who is your queen?”
Sakura took the man’s hand and pulled herself up, ignoring the burning in her side. “Queen Tsunade, Ruler of the Main Kingdom” she said with as much pride as she could muster through clenched teeth.
The man looked at her thoughtfully. “Kakashi.”
Confused, Sakura looked at the man. “I know of no Lord or King named ‘Kakashi.’” The man chuckled in response.
“I should certainly hope not. That name is mine.”
Blinking slowly, Sakura nodded. “Kakashi. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.” She looked around the room, trying to find a side-room that would allow her some privacy to dress her wounds. “However, I need to uh, tend to the wound that your…pet so lovingly gave to me. So, if you don’t mind –” she gestured to the room around them “- could you show me where I may have some privacy to do so?”
The small antechamber that Sakura found herself in was quaint and surprisingly well lit. She was grateful for the small velvet bench perched in the center of the room and a tall, dusty mirror propped up against the far wall. Much like the rest of the castle, Sakura could tell that this room had once been a grand sight to behold, with all the embellishments and decorum expected of the home of royalty
She deftly began to unfasten her armor, gingerly lifting the metal and chainmail away from her burnt skin. She hissed in pain has she accidentally bumped her wound, causing the cold metal to press harshly into her flesh.
Once she finally removed the last of her mail and protective garments, she was left in her bindings and trousers. Scooting the plush bench a little closer to the mirror, she wiped away what dust she could for a better view of her wound. She winced once more as she turned her torso to get a better view in the old mirror.
Her wince turned into a grimace as she examined the wound. A long and jagged wound ran from the area near her navel, around her side, and stopped roughly an inch short of her spine. Its angry and fresh pink gouges and twists reminded her of just how lucky she was to make it out as unscathed as she did.
She pulled out a small brown satchel that she wore on her hip. Opening its drawstring, she pulled out a roll of dressings and a small tin of healing salve.
Suddenly, without warning, the dog from earlier came padding into the room. She glanced over her shoulder at the dog and smiled. “Hey, puppy!” She turned back once more to the mirror to dress her wound.
She nearly fell off the bench when the dog replied.
“I’m no pup. You should really learn how to speak to your elders.”
Without thinking, Sakura screamed. This is it, she thought. I’ve finally lost it.
Then, several things happened at once.
Suddenly, Kakashi was in the room frantically asking “What happened??” followed by “Oh, it’s just Pakkun” followed by sputtering sounds and “Oh…. OH. You’re…you’re a woman. Oh, dear. Oh my. Well. Um.” And then the door slammed shut.
Sakura’s faced flushed as she tried to come to terms with the fact a dog had just spoken to her and that man saw me in my trousers and bindings and that man knows I’m a woman!
The excitement had caused her blood to pump furiously through her veins, making her head pound harder and her vision blur once more. Oh, shit she though as she passed out once more, slumping off of the stool. She was barely conscious when she heard the small dog yell “Hey boss? I think we might have an issue in here…”
When Sakura awoke, she felt much better. Her head seemed much clearer, and her side was no longer causing her pain. She found herself in a soft bed and in more clothes than she remembered wearing before passing out. Reaching for the hem of her shirt tentatively, she pulled it up to check on her wound.
It was completely gone.
No scar, no remnants of the gouging or burns – nothing. Just completely unmarred flesh.
A soft cough told her that she was not alone in this room.
Flushing, Sakura let down her shirt and re-covered herself with her blanket.
The man from earlier sat in a chair from across the room. “My apologies. Pakkun alerted me when you passed out and I couldn’t leave you on the floor.” Looking out the window, he added “How are you feeling?”
Sakura felt her side through her shirt again to make sure she wasn’t crazy – her wound really was gone. Completely. Hoarsely, she asked “How long have I been out?”
The man thought for a moment. “Perhaps a day.”
Puzzled, Sakura furrowed her brows. “Then…how is my wound healed? Is this something you did?”
Sighing, the man turned from the window to face her. Holding out his hand, he produced a small, blue fame.
Eyes widening, Sakura stared in amazement at the fire in his palm. “Y-you’re…you’re a mage! I thought mages were simply a myth, that your kind no longer existed in these lands!”
Smiling sadly, Kakashi let the blue flame die out. “Indeed. Although, I am the last of my kind.”
After a moment, he lifted his eyes to look at her. “I have healed your wounds. Please, you should be on your way soon.”
He turned around once more. “It’s best for me to spend my time alone. Mages are no longer around for a reason, you see.”
A frown tugged at the corner of Sakura’s lips. “Sakura.” she said, suddenly.
The man didn’t turn around, but she could her him chuckle lightly. “A much more fitting name for you than Sakumo, I think.”
He began to head toward the door. “Your armor and clothing can be found in the armoire,” he stated. “Fluffy - the dragon - should not bother you when you leave.” On his way out, he called back once more. “Oh, and your horse should still be tied the tree that is 50 meters northwest of the castle."
She yelled at him as he disappeared from her sight. “Wait! Where are you going?”
But, there was no reply.
Before Sakura left the castle, she left an item on the armoire for Kakashi. She had no idea whether he would return to the castle, but she had a feeling he would.
When he did return to the empty castle later on, he would find her knight’s pendant on the armoire. He would carry it with him on his travels and remember his brief, yet strange, encounter with the female knight called Sakura.
That was not the last time Sakura would meet the mysterious mage from the castle. Indeed, she would meet him several times during the course of her travels.
And, perhaps over time, she would even fall in love with him.