Chapter Text
Haruno Sakura just punches a Goddess in the face with all her might and now Kaguya wants retribution.
So she watches when Kaguya flies towards her and aims a deadly hand at her, which Sakura fails to evade in time.
Haruno Sakura can only watch as death approaches her with morbid fascination.
In seconds, Kaguya punches a hole through her chest and out her back and Sakura can only gasp in pure agony and shock as Kaguya's invasive chakra wraps around her beating heart.
In the distance, she can hear Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei shouting her name.
But Sakura is already falling, falling into the ground with blood gushing out from the hole in her chest.
Thereafter, she lays there on the ground, bleeding while her teammates desperately tries to reach her just as Kaguya launches attack after attack at them.
Soon, Sakura can sense her heart weakening, her vision darkening, and her breathing becomes a gasp until all ceases completely.
Haruno Sakura dies swiftly and in complete agony without even saying any last words to her teammates.
However, before she can process what happened, Sakura suddenly finds herself somewhere else instead.
The place is bright and tranquil while there is a horned, old man hovering before her.
"Haruno Sakura," the old man greets.
"Who are you?" Sakura asks him warily as she slowly stands up.
"I am the Sage of Six Paths. My name is Otsutsuki Hagoromo," the strange man replies.
"Oh…" is Sakura's only shock response.
"Do you know why you are here?"
"Where is 'here' exactly?"
"We currently exist beyond time itself. This is where you will usually end up after each of your deaths."
"Deaths?" Sakura inquires, looking puzzled.
"Yes, other than Naruto and Sasuke being the reincarnation of my children and having the ability to seal my mother. However, you - Haruno Sakura - is my last contingency plan when all else fails."
"Contingency plan?"
"Contingency plan to defeat my mother. Now tell me Sakura, what do you know about your clan?"
"My clan?" Sakura says, looking confused. "My clan is mostly a merchant clan. A Civilian."
"Yes, but that is also incorrect. Do you know what your clan symbol means?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Just answer the question, little kunoichi."
Sakura frowns before she responds, "It doesn't mean anything really. It's only an infinite circle."
"No, Sakura. Your clan and your clan symbol is more than what it seems to be. Do you ever wonder why you have such perfect control over chakra?"
"No."
"You have perfect chakra control because you are a mutation. You have mutated blood that can mold chakra easily to your own will. The Haruno Clan has a dormant kekkei genkai and you only activated it when you died for the first time."
"I have mutated blood?" Sakura mutters in shock. "But what's got to do with your contingency plan?"
"I am getting to it. Be patient," Hagoromo tells her. "Since you don't know what your clan symbol means. I will tell you. Your clan symbol is that of an infinite circle because your clan's secret kekkei genkai is the ability to loop back in time repeatedly depending on the chakra use. Moreover, the Haruno circle is a simplification of the Ourboros, which is a circular symbol depicting a snake, or less commonly a dragon, swallowing its own tail, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself. It is an emblem of wholeness or infinity. The Haruno Circle also symbolizes the kekkei genkai's ability to absorb the ball of Chakra from others. And your clan is capable of all of these feats mainly because of my interference. I was the one who suggested the Haruno's symbol many years ago with the intention to track down the descendants with these abilities, which I am responsible for their mutation to begin with.
Sakura is struck speechless after hearing the Sage's revelation.
"So what do you want me to do now?" Sakura inquires.
"Once you get out of here, I want you to do everything you can to defeat my mother even if it takes a hundred loops to do so. And with your perfect chakra control, you can mold and replicate the jutsus or doujutsus from the people you will steal from."
"I can really do all of these things?" Sakura asks skeptically. "And how does this replication of other's jutsu or doujutsu even work?"
"How does it work? Take the Sharingan for example. Due to constant use, it leaves an imprint on the chakra of the user, like muscle memory. And your mutated kekkei genkai can replicate that after absorbing the user's chakra. Your mutation will also acquire the ways in how to activate the doujutsu and with your perfect chakra control, you will be able to mold chakra and recreate certain areas of your eyes to mimic the sharingan. To simplify it, you will be absorbing more than the chakra but also the muscle memory and the basic structure of the jutsu or doujutsu itself. You are literally going to steal the doujutsu and use it until you lose the user's chakra in your system."
"I see," Sakura mutters to herself while she stares at the Sage with consternation.
The Sage must have seen her doubtful expression because he suddenly says to her, "Haruno Sakura. Please don't doubt yourself. Trust in my words and you will see the truth. Now that we have little time left, I will make this swift. Do you sense any foreign chakra in your system?"
Sakura frowns but does what the Sage says and examines herself for foreign chakra.
She suddenly feels an invasive presence within her and informs the Sage immediately.
"I can sense Kaguya's chakra in me."
"Good," the Sage remarks. "You can use my mother's chakra to replicate her abilities. Perhaps you can try replicating the rinnesharingan."
"How do I do that?"
"Start gathering chakra into your eyes and simply follow the flow of it. Just let your instincts lead. The rest will be up to your kekkei genkai," the Sage advises her.
Sakura does what the Sage instructed and starts gathering chakra into her eyes. That's when instinct, her kekkei genkai, and a foreign muscle memory kicks in.
In no time, Sakura finds herself pushing chakra to specific areas of her eyes where Sakura immediately begins to see changes in her vision.
"That's enough," the Sage says after a moment.
Sakura stops pushing chakra into her eyes. Now, she can see everything from every direction. It will probably take time for her to get used to but Sakura has plenty of time to experiment on it since she has a kekkei genkai to loop back in time.
"Now, once you get out of here, I advise you to start absorbing chakra from others to add certain abilities into your repertoire that will help you defeat Kaguya. I also advise you to keep absorbing chakra from Kaguya before you die and loop back in time. This will give you an extra advantage against her prior to arriving back in time," the Sage tells her. "As for the time loop, it only depends on how much chakra you have before you die. Since you only have little chakra left before your first death, it means that you will probably go a few hours back in time, which isn't much. So try to accumulate chakra from others when you go back in time so that you can send yourself further back each time you die."
"Alright, I can do that." Sakura replies.
"We only have a moment left. But don't worry. I will be here every time you loop back in time to teach you more about your kekkei genkai and how you wield it" the Sage smiles at her. " So I will see you soon, Haruno Sakura."
Thereafter, Haruno Sakura finds herself waking up five hours before she dies in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War.