Naruto was indeed at Ichiraku's, the person sitting beside him was Jiraiya though, not Sasuke. The seal master invited him to go on a trip to find the most beautiful woman in the elemental nations, or so he said. Naruto didn't seem all that excited, but in the end the Sannin managed to cajole him into agreeing anyway.
Haruka had no idea where her other teammate was, but she was also pretty sure that Sasuke wasn't the one she was supposed to check in on. Whatever Kakashi was worried about, Jiraiya would be able to handle it better than her, so she merely warned the Sanin of their visitors and then left to find her sensei again. He had no doubt gone after Itachi and Kisame.
She didn't have to search long. Apparently the moniker Tailed Beast without a Tail was well deserved. She could feel the swordsman's chakra far outside of her usual range, and quickly headed in his direction. He'd either decided he was done waiting for someone to call him out, or someone already had and he was fighting.
The scene Haruka arrived to didn't leave her much time to think. Kakashi was kneeling on the water in the middle of the Naka river, Kurenai and Asuma to either side, and Kisame and Itachi in front of him. His chakra levels were ridiculously low, considering they had been full less than twenty minutes ago. The exposed Sharingan eye could probably account for most of that, but it still seemed curious. She'd have to puzzle it out later though because right now Kisame was sprinting towards her sensei, while the other two Leaf jonin stood around uselessly with their eyes closed.
Haruka used a quick succession of Body Flickers to get in front of him in time. She even managed to get her chakra barrier up, and realize how useless that would be against Samehada, because of course Hoshigaki had to wield a sword that ate chakra.
She felt Itachi's chakra flicker as if he was about to move, but then Gai was suddenly there out of nowhere. He kicked the swordsman away with so much force that he skipped over the water five times like a big, blue stone before he finally managed to stop his momentum.
"Who the hell is that?" Kisame shouted. While Itachi warned his partner not to underestimate Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Haruka thanked the green clad jonin for saving her ass. He actually seemed confused by that for a second, and she realized that he'd tried to rescue Kakashi, not her. Gai had either been as distracted as her in order not to notice her in time, or those Body Flicker's had been a lot faster than she'd thought.
The last of Kakashi's chakra reserves gave out a moment later, catching Haruka's atention as he fell over and sunk below the surface. Gai pulled him back out immediately though, and handed him over to Asuma. The latter warned them not to look into Itachi's eyes to avoid getting caught in the same genjutsu that had hit Kakashi.
"Just take him and get out of here will you?" Haruka snapped. "You are useless like this. And why the fuck would you try to fight those two in the first place?"
"Ah, Haruka-chan one has to defend their home even against overwhelming odds," Gai told her, but she ignored him. She didn't know how strong exactly Kisame was, but it didn't really matter considering that none of them stood a chance against Itachi anyway. So instead of being careful she decided to gamble, walking forward and looking right into Itachi's eyes.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but held Kisame back and let her come closer.
"I missed you, you know?" She asked, body flickering forward to hug him. Itachi stood frozen in place for a second, but then sighed and hugged her back. His chakra was a curious mixture of almost overwhelming sadness and a tiny spark of contentment, whereas everyone else's just reflected their shock.
Haruka stepped backwards after a long moment, again staring right into Itachi's eyes.
"Kakashi is pack, I'm not going to watch while you kill him," she declared, putting as much steel into her voice as she could manage. "Please leave Itachi. You already got what you wanted didn't you?"
"Brave, aren't you little girl?" Kisame said with a smile that showed way too many teeth. He was about to raise his sword, presumably to attack her, when Itachi called him off.
"We didn't come here to fight, this is nothing more than a waste of time. We're leaving."
He didn't raise his voice even just a little bit, the tone as pleasant and polite as always, but it was unmistakably an order he expected to be followed. The swordsmen didn't look happy at all, but obeyed without a word of protest. Then both of them vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but ripples on the water.
Haruka watched the spot they had been in until Gai startled her out of her thoughts by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Kakashi needs rest," he said, carefully, quietly, as if he was expecting her to lash out. She almost snapped at him that she wasn't some frightened animal, but he slowly unclenched her fists for her and she noticed the blood dripping down her palms. When had that happened?
Haruka blinked at the red liquid curiously as if she didn't know what it was, which probably explained why Gai guided her towards Kakashi's flat with a hand on her back. By the time they had made it she'd come to the conclusion that she was likely in shock, even though she had no idea why. Nobody had even gotten seriously hurt, and while her sensei was chakra exhausted, it was hardly the first time. Certainly nothing to worry about.
"No!" Kurenai suddenly shouted, drawing Haruka's attention. "I don't care. She hugged him! I want some answers!"
"Please—" Gai started in an effort to calm the woman down, but she didn't seem like reasoning with her was an option. Haruka hadn't even noticed that the jonin had been talking to each other. How could she possible this distracted?
"We're friends," she whispered, and suddenly the room was silent. "It's classified," she added when she noticed that they were staring at her as if waiting for a more elaborate explanation.
"Bullshit!" Kurenai shouted again, advancing on her. "How could that possibly—"
"I think it's time for you to leave," Gai cut her off. He was suddenly between the two kunoichi and didn't look like he intended to move again anytime soon. Asuma gave Haruka a very long look that she couldn't read at all and then he escorted Kurenai outside. She didn't think he'd said a word the whole time, but then she hadn't really paid attention either. Kurenai clearly had come to the conclusion that she wasn't trustworthy, but what of the other two jonin?
"I do not know how, but you have earned my eternal rival's trust, and so I will trust you as well," Gai told her. Maybe he could read minds. She was about to ask when a wave of dizziness hit her. It seemed Kakashi wasn't the only one stupidly low on chakra. How had she not noticed that before?
"It seems those impressively fast Body Flickers do take their toll after all," Gai mused. He was definitely a mind reader.
Haruka yawned, closing her eyes for just a moment.