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The Forest of Death was as grim as ever. The trees were looming, ominously swaying when there was absolutely no breeze. Sakura groaned. She did not want to be here, much less with her teammates that were doomed the moment they entered and with Anko.
Anko was batshit crazy when she was young. Mellowed out after a couple of therapy sessions.
Naruto proved his courage and raised everyone’s spirits monumentally with a flick of his hand and a shit eating grin. Sasuke’s eyes were twitching from using his Sharingan and Sakura pressed a cold stone she found on the floor into his hands.
He stared at her stupidly.
She pointed to his eyes, “The cold will help with your inflamed nerves around the socket.”
He still stared at her, expression did not shift but pressed the river stone to the corner of his eye. “Thanks.” He mumbled.
Sakura grinned, patting him on the back. “Well, then--” She looked around, all teams had dispersed but she was sure those creepy golden orbs had eyes on Sasuke. “Let’s try to avoid the snakes, hm?”
Naruto blanched, “Snakes? Are there snakes in there?”
“It’s a forest, Naruto. You have the scroll, right? Don’t lose it.” Sakura griped.
“And why are we giving Naruto the scroll?” Sasuke asked, holding the river stone to the corner of his eye. He looked dumb but at least he started taking her medical advice seriously. Didn’t really question her anymore after an incident he had with a picket fence and Naruto’s lack of foresight.
Sakura wasn’t sure either. She couldn’t remember who was protecting the scroll the first time around. “Because we trust him.” She said, watching the blonde from the corner of her eyes as he crouched down to inspect a bush of stinging nettle. Sakura kicked him away from it, “Maybe.”
Sasuke scoffed and into the forest they went.
-
Sakura’s hopeful disposition of entering the forest through one end and out the other with no interruptions from the obsessive snake sannin was working out pretty well. They trekked through mud where Naruto was quick to find out quicksand didn’t discriminate, nearly got suffocated by a fifty foot centipede but made it out alive thanks to Sasuke’s quick work of chakra strings.
They encountered a team along the way and Sasuke had to stuff Naruto’s mouth with their scroll so he could stay quiet while Sakura weaved a couple layers of genjutsu on the unlucky team. They had two heaven scrolls, which meant they were in a position of trade now.
It was a little too easy but Sakura wasn’t about to question it. They were two nights in and in the heart of the forest. Massive trees and overgrown foliage covered any exposure of the sun, which meant they had to be a little more vigilant for opposing teams hiding in the shadows.
Naruto was surprisingly efficient at finding shelter.
“I’m impressed.” Sakura said, tapping his shoulder to hand him a scorched fish.
The blonde wiped his nose, “Yeah, the old man taught me how to find shelter.”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, “In the forest?” - Here was Sasuke with a whole housing complex under his name.
Naruto shrugged, “Just in case.” - And here was Naruto with a measly studio apartment.
“In case of what?” Sakura pressed, feeling the tip of a murderous blade of anger slice across her heart.
“I get kicked--”
Sasuke shoved a hand in Naruto’s face and pressed down on the back of Sakura’s neck as a warning. Naruto opened his mouth to shout but Sakura quickly pinched his ribs. It was all fun and games until it wasn’t. Her heart beat wildly against her chest and Sasuke glanced down at her, feeling her dread through a finger he placed on her pulse.
She knew this chakra.
“Sakura?” Sasuke whispered. “Calm your heartbeat. I can feel your chakra flaring. You’re going to alert everyone within a mile radius of where we are.”
That was exactly what she wanted to do. They couldn’t do this alone.
She gripped Naruto’s hand until he let out a protest in the back of his throat but he let her crush the bones in his hands. A figure dropped into the clearing, lanky and pale just as she had remembered him. She had to be logical. They needed to run; to get to Kakashi.
None of them could take on Orochimaru as they were in their current state. Sakura could barely make a dent on a boulder much less land anything on the Sannin but when his golden, conniving orbs found her eyes, when Sasuke stiffened and Naruto’s chakra responded to that slimy tongue darting out between the lips, Sakura blanked out.
-
Sakura woke up with blood on her hands and a medic hovering over her, pumping unsoothing medical chakra into her liver. She brushed his hands away, mumbling that he wasn’t doing it right.
“My teammates.” She croaked, “There was an...an intruder.” Her head was pounding.
The medic’s eyes shifted, just a twitch but Sakura caught it despite her double-vision. “Your teammates are fine.” That was clearly a lie.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto’s frantic eyes popped up in front of her and she was half relieved to see he didn’t suffer anything more than a bruised eye. Her other half would be relieved once she saw Sasuke. Naruto’s whiskers were stark against his tanned cheeks and she could feel the heat of Kurama searing the top of his skin when he gently helped her sit up. “You had me worried.”
“Sasuke?” She asked.
His eyes traveled to the body next to her, a deep frown settling between his lips. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”
Oh no. Sakura shoved the medic away from her and Naruto instantly helped her crawl over to Sasuke. “Why is there a medic here?” She asked as she tilted Sasuke’s neck to the side. He was burning like an inferno was lighting him up from the inside out. Her fingers trembled as the dark mark of the seal stared back at her, pulsating and angry, freshly imprinted.
Sakura sighed, “Fuck.” She cursed.
Naruto did a double take at her choice of words.
“Medics are dispatched when a green flare is lit.” The medic gestured to a burnt cardboard cylinder on the floor. “Are you going to withdraw?” He asked, “Your teammate doesn’t look too good.”
Sakura glared at him. Had Konoha medics always been this incompetent? If he had assessed the situation properly for two seconds, it wouldn’t have taken more than a couple of brain cells to figure out that Sasuke was the one who needed aid first.
It didn’t matter anymore. The reason why she didn’t want to enter the exam in the first place already happened. Orochimaru tagged Sasuke. She waved the medic away, frustrated, “We’ll finish the second round. Have Kakashi-sensei and Anko-sensei on standby at the tower.”
She leaned down to inspect Sasuke’s curse. She had no chakra left but she could at least suppress the conflicting one in Sasuke’s body temporarily. She’d be out for the count and would have to rely on Naruto after that. Naruto had a steady hand on her upper arm, as if grounding her back to life.
The medic stared at her strangely after her command but left quietly with a nod of his head.
“Naruto, what happened?” She asked as she tried to squeeze out as much chakra into the palm of her hand.
He chuckled nervously, “You went crazy, Sakura-chan. Got in a few good hits and then he beat you up like a rag doll. A snake ate me and I didn’t see what happened to Sasuke but when I got out of the snake, you were knocked unconscious and Sasuke was screaming bloody murder with that snake freak wrapped around him.” He paused, “He - She? Whatever bit him.” A shudder wracked his body.
“Then what?” She urged as she molded her chakra intricately to taper down on the curse seal.
Naruto watched her like he was witnessing someone completely different take over from her. He’d seen it happen more often than not now but this time, Sakura had complete control of herself. There was no switch. He wondered if it was okay to tell her about the Kyuubi. His hands clutched at his stomach. “Sakura-chan....I--there is something inside of me.” He swallowed.
She snapped her head up at him. “Inside you? What?”
Naruto stuttered, “I...the old man told me that when...crap.”
She abruptly stood up, taking his hand with an urgency and turning him around, “Is it a tic? Did it get inside you? Shit. We have to take it out immediately. Or could it be a virus? Oh my god, Naruto. You need to tell me these things!” She said in panic, lifting his jacket to find the point of entrance.
He pulled away from her, “No! The fox! That stupid fox is sealed inside of me!” He blurted out.
Sakura stopped, her fingers loosening the grip on his jacket. Had Naruto always been afraid to tell them about the Kyuubi inside of him? The third really condemned Naruto to hell with the decision of keeping it a secret. Some protection that was.
Naruto shut his eyes tightly, clambering backwards. He couldn’t tell what Sakura was thinking and that was a bad thing. “Shit. I shouldn’t have told you--” He was cut off when Sakura patted his cheeks fondly.
“Is that all?” She asked quietly.
He stared at her, “Is...that all?” He echoed, stupidly.
She sat back down, wiping the sweat from Sasuke’s brow, “Play nice with him. He may be of use to you later.”
“Who...Sakura-chan, I just told you that the Kyuubi who destroyed the village thirteen years ago is sealed inside my stomach.” He waved his hands frantically, patting his stomach roughly.
“Yes, Naruto, I heard and…and it doesn’t matter.”
Naruto blinked before a slow smile stretched across his face. He smiled brightly, risking it all and hugged her from behind. “You’re the best, Sakura-chan.” He whispered, voicing cracking.
Sakura let him hug her for a couple of seconds before she shrugged him off, “Stop that, you’re heavy. Now, tell me what happened.”
He peered down at the mark where her small trickle of chakra was making a river between the spaces of the seal, “I think, well--to be honest, I’m not sure. I think I went crazy as well because I just remember repeatedly hitting that creepy snake dude.” His mouth pinched together, “What’s that?”
“A curse seal.” She said, “Naruto. I’m going to need your help. Sasuke is in trouble and I’m going to try to fix him. I need your help, okay?”
“Do you know what’s going on with him?”
Sakura hesitated to answer, “Sort of.”
“How do you know this stuff, Sakura-chan? I know you’re super smart but now you’re smarter than Kakashi-sensei and the old man.” Naruto crouched down and placed a hand on Sasuke’s forehead, soothing out his frown a little bit. He looked at her a little embarrassed, “I saw parents do it to their kids…” He struggled to explain.
Sakura wanted to cry, “Just...just help me when I’m done.”
“Okay.” He said grinning but it was crumbling as he watched Sasuke’s labored breathing. “Is he going to be okay?” He asked softly. “Is this why you told us to avoid snakes?”
“Yeah.” Sakura replied, covering the curse with her hand as her chakra ballooned around Sasuke’s shoulder. “After I suppress this seal, I’m going to faint. You need to carry both me and Sasuke to shelter. Hide us. Protect us. I’ll wake up in a day. Sasuke will too. We’ll get the Earth scroll together after.”
He nodded, seriously. He would protect her even if it meant his life.
And maybe Sasuke too.
-
When Sakura came to, Naruto was doing his best not to nod off and burn himself with the fire he made. She smiled softly but sought out Sasuke first. She was growing concerned but his fever seemed to have broken and his breathing wasn’t as shallow.
Orochimaru’s chakra was still contained in the fuin she layered over Sasuke’s curse seal but that was only going to last about another day at most. They needed to get to the tower.
Her chakra wasn’t replenished as much as she would like and not for the first time since she transmigrated back to her twelve year old self, she hated her lack of strength and ambition. She couldn’t waste anymore chakra on Sasuke though. Naruto couldn’t carry the whole team himself and she did enough for Sasuke to survive until real medical help could come.
She crawled over to Naruto, tapping him on the shoulders. “Hey.”
He jumped, “Sakura-chan, you scared me.”
She looked around, “You secured us a really good spot.”
He shrugged, “I guess cause I know what to look for when finding shelter.” He said, a little subdued.
Sakura promised to fix that upon finishing up this horrid exam. She wished they never entered. “Go get some rest. I’ll take it from here.”
“Shouldn’t we start moving? We’re on our third day...the end of our third day actually.” He frowned, poking at the fire. “I couldn’t leave you two and find the scroll myself.”
Sakura pulled at his ear, “We’ll be fine. You did good. Go sleep.”
He handed her a fried squirrel, which he gutted. “It was the only thing I could find.” He said sheepishly.
Sakura was no stranger to eating wild animals. She grabbed it from him, hovering the stick above the fire, “I like mine a little charred.” She nodded in the direction where Naruto had stuffed her and Sasuke in the basin of a tree trunk, “Go on.”
He yawned, “Shout if you need anything.”
-
Of course, one way or another the sound ninjas found their base.
Sakura was not in a favorable position, being on the defensive and offensive at the same time. She was low on chakra, hungry and angry that she was reliving this a second time. Not to mention, in a couple of minutes, other teams would get involved.
She didn’t want to see Ino or Lee get hurt.
Raising both her hands up in a sign of surrender, Sakura rolled one of the heaven scrolls over to Doku with her feet. Just enough that it landed between them. Not too much on their side but enough that it seemed like she was willing to give it up. “Just take it and leave.”
“We’re not here for the scroll.” One of them sneered. The short hair, cocky one.
She remembered Sasuke broke both his arms and she was tempted to do it herself.
“Well, that’s all you’re getting.” She said plainly.
“Hand over the Uchiha and--”
“Shut up!” Sakura hissed, surprising the opposing team. Sasuke’s chakra was starting to respond to the intrusive threat of the sound nin’s team. Their chakra was spiked in staccato, excited like they happened upon a meek prey. They were dead wrong if they thought Sakura was going to go down biting Kin’s arm like last time. “My teammates are sleeping and you do not want to wake them up right now.”
They surrounded her in a standard lock. “Look, we won’t hurt you if you just give us Uchiha Sasuke.”
Sakura stared at them like she was contemplating. It was tempting but unfortunately, she loved Sasuke in this lifetime too. “You have the Earth scroll?”
Sakura stalled, threading her chakra in a delicate weave to initiate a web of genjutsu. It was all she could manage for now. Genjutsu didn’t require nearly as much energy and chakra as any other techniques if you were good at it and Sakura was exceptional at it. It would be a rough one for the genin team but Sakura was not in a forgiving mood.
“A trade.” She suggested, “Uchiha Sasuke for the Earth scroll.”
They looked surprised that she would give up her teammate.
The dude laughed, raucous in disbelief. “So much for Konoha’s allegiance of loyalty. Look at this scared little girl giving up her--”
And then they were down, knees buckling and bodies flopping over on top of each other.
Sakura scoffed, “Loser kids.” She muttered under her breath. Her genjutsu would last, at most, fifteen minutes and that’s if there was no disruption in her chakra or theirs to maintain it. She needed to get her teammates out of the area. They were on their fourth day and she wanted to avoid Kabuto as much as possible.
Sakura picked up both their Heaven scrolls and found the Earth scroll of the sound nin’s team buried underneath the eight layers of wrap Doku thought was so cool. She secured both scrolls and stepped on the cocky ninja’s hand for good measure.
Kakashi always said to double tap. She couldn’t do that here with her laughable chakra pool but this was the best she could do.
Sakura looked at Naruto and almost felt sorry she was about to wake him up. She couldn’t do this alone--not with her pathetic muscle mass. Sakura took a quick minute to mourn her lack of abilities at the age of twelve and then another minute to be proud of the woman she’d become.
Then, Sakura woke Naruto up. She could barely lift Naruto, much less both of her teammates. Despite being disoriented and confused at the mop of sound-nin’s in a heap in front of him, he trusted Sakura and did not say a word. He simply lifted Sasuke onto his shoulders and they took off.
Sakura glanced back, looking into the trees. She thought she had felt an eerily familiar presence. She hoped he would not interfere--she couldn’t deal with another mess right now.
-
Sasuke woke up screaming in pain while Naruto was mid-stride. It startled Naruto so much that he threw his teammate like a sack of hot coals. Sasuke was so delirious with pain, he probably didn’t even notice his back wrapping around the trunk of a tree.
Sakura would have found it funny if she wasn’t concerned about the hot spike in Sasuke’s chakra. She sent Naruto to go scout with clear directions of not engaging with anyone or bringing anybody back while she tried her best to cool down Sasuke’s body temperature.
He seemed to snap out of it himself when Orochimaru’s chakra got sucked back into the seal like a vacuum. One blink and suddenly he was lucid with only a slight fever. Sasuke’s willpower to survive must have triggered--it was a powerful asset that would eventually lead him to darkness. Sakura hoped he wouldn’t in this timeline.
Also, she took the liberty to slap him as hard as she could without chakra a couple of times.
“Where are we?” He asked, rubbing his cheeks.
Sakura hid a smile by turning away like she was trying to gauge where they were at by the spaces between the trees. “About six miles out from the tower.”
“How do you know that?”
She knew because Konoha eventually paved out the forest to make it accessible for training and herb collection. Pros and cons to that. There was heavy debate between the sides but it eventually passed - the forest was a huge advantage for Konoha as a defense barrier but times of peace and all that bullshit.
“I had a lot of time to study the forest.” She responded then lowered her voice as if gently coaxing him, “It’s the fourth day.”
Sasuke blinked, “Four days have passed since we entered?” His hand moved to cover the curse mark on his neck. It dulled to an aching throb but it was bearable compared to the hot searing pain of when he first got it.
Gross. He got bit by a human snake.
“Unfortunately.” Sakura said, “You can make it on your own the next six miles right?” She smiled sheepishly at him, “I’m a little drained.”
Sasuke felt wholly responsible for that. He couldn’t believe how useless he was during this part of the exam to the point that Sakura and Naruto were the legs on the team.
“Sakura...I…” What was he supposed to say? He guessed a thank you would work. “Thank you.” He said softly.
The look on Sakura’s face was dour and it only darkened when Naruto popped in with trash.
Kabuto.
-
She twisted Naruto’s ear, “I told you to not bring people back to camp.” She hissed loud enough and with intentions for Kabuto to hear.
She had quickly wrapped Sasuke’s shoulder with bandages before Kabuto got a good look at the seal and her counter. “That man is not an ally.” She said to Sasuke with slight trepidation.
Sasuke was wildly confused by her reaction to this strange nobody but Sakura’s instinct had been surprisingly accurate. He would learn to trust her judgement. As much as he hated to admit it, it was far better than his or Naruto’s.
Thankfully, he took her words without question and hammered a fist down on Naruto for burdening their team with an extra.
Naruto whined, “But he helped me when I touched some poisonous plant.”
Sakura really didn’t want to be anywhere near Kabuto. Granted, he did change and was managing the orphanage in Konoha but he was still creepy enough here that she was incredibly wary of him. Not to mention, he was completely brainwashed by Orochimaru at this time.
“I told you to go scout to find a safe route back to the tower.”
Naruto pointed at Kabuto, “But he said it’s his like...fifty sixth time taking the exams. He knows the best route.”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, turning a very suspicious glare at the older participant. “How old are you?” He asked.
Kabuto simply smiled, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose to catch the glint of the sun, “Somewhere in my twenties.”
Naruto crossed his arms like this was something to be proud of.
“Whatever.” Sakura muttered. She motioned her hand for Kabuto to lead, “Go ahead.”
Kabuto was observing her with the blandest expression on his face like she wasn’t worth his time and she probably wasn’t. She preferred it that way.
“I don’t mind if your team stays behind me but I would be a fool to have the complete team at my back. I need one of you in the front.” He turned to Sasuke, “How about you, Sasuke-kun?”
Sasuke visibly blanched, “How do you know my name?”
Kabuto pulled out a rookie card, “Reconnaissance.”
Sakura held onto Sasuke’s wrist very tightly, “Sasuke-kun stays with me.” She said firmly, “Naruto, lead with Kabuto-san at your side. Sasuke-kun and I will follow. You’re okay with this, aren’t you?”
Kabuto nodded, “I don’t have much of a choice.” He stared a bit longer at Sasuke’s wrapped shoulder. “Were you injured? I know some healing jutsu.”
Sasuke inched his shoulder away from him. “No thanks.” He declined immediately. “Sakura--”
“Let’s go.” Sakura cut in. She didn’t want Kabuto knowing anything he shouldn’t.
Sasuke seemed to have caught his mistake and rolled with it. “Sakura can help carry my pack.”
Much to Sakura’s surprise and immense relief, they made it to the tower on the fourth night with seven hours before the exam would officially close its doors.
No interruptions except a pit stop for Naruto to take a dump. Sasuke struggled with his burning shoulder and Sakura silently pleaded to him to hold off until they found Kakashi to actually seal off the curse. He did good, hiding his pain between clenched teeth.
Sakura pulled her team to huddle in the corner, completely dismissing Kabuto once they received their official passing of the exam.
Kabuto watched as Naruto trotted off to another team while Sakura pulled the Uchiha over to their sensei and they left for a private room.
He looked down at her measly ninja card where she was, at best, mediocre in all areas of assessment except intelligence where she was slightly above average.
Strange.
She didn’t know anything above average when he traveled with them but it also seemed like she was purposely hiding her competency. A little out of the ordinary but nothing that wasn’t taught in the academy for ninja kids.
-
Sakura practically dumped Sasuke on the floor after she sent Naruto off to be a busybody and collect information from the other team. He was unsuspecting and the best to gather data on the opposing team because people always magically wanted to talk to him.
She also didn’t want to take four hours explaining to Naruto what was inhibiting Sasuke’s body - or what will.
“Is this what you meant by something happening in the Forest of Death?” Kakashi asked his female student as he braced a knee against Sasuke’s back so he wouldn’t flop over. Poor kid. His chakra was being drained from the seal and Sakura used a counter that was wildly impressive but hard for a twelve year old body to handle.
He would have a talk with Sakura a little later about that.
“Yes.” She said morosely, kneeling next to Sasuke who was lingering on the edge of unconsciousness.
“Are you completely lucid right now?”
Sakura was quiet for a second, “Yes.” She answered. She was sure this was the last triggering event for her current self to completely take over her twelve year old self.
Kakashi hummed like he understood her context. “You already countered the curse seal.” Kakashi said, bending down to examine her handiwork. It was a level five seal but performed with mediocre chakra. Took it down a couple of notches but it didn’t take anything away from the fact that his weird kiddo performed a counter to a curse seal with a fuin jutsu that originated from Whirlpool. It would suffice until Kakashi could tie up the loose ends. “Mind telling me where you picked up this technique?”
He only knew of two people that advanced in Fuin and they were both dead. Even Jiraiya couldn’t compare to this level of intricacy.
Sakura pinched her lips, “Hm, if I told you ten years in the future, would you believe me?”
“Nope.”
“Then I read it in a book on the third floor of the library.” She breezily answered.
He smirked underneath his mask, patting her head. “You did good, Sakura.”
Sasuke was still bitter that Sakura ratted him out to Kakashi but as long as he was allowed to continue with the exam, he didn’t let it get to him. Much.
“I told you it was none of your business.” He hissed.
Sakura frowned, “You're my teammate. It’s my business.”
“You’ve always been so annoy--”
Sakura cut him off before he could finish that sentence and light a fuel to a fire he would not be able to put out. “Annoying, yes. Sasuke-kun, I spent a lot of chakra containing that mess on your shoulder. A thank you would be nice though.”
“I never asked--”
“You couldn’t.” Naruto chimed in, walking up the stairway. “You were unconscious and a dead weight.” He was serious and mad which looked pretty funny coming in hot at four eleven and a ninety-eight pounds.
Sasuke bristled at the accusation.
Sakura sighed, turning away from her team as they started another round. Did she really have to go through this a second time? And why?
Maybe she should throw in the towel and retire in this life. Ino scowled at her from across the arena but there was a slight nod of acknowledgement. Sakura smiled, maybe after she wiped the floor with Ino’s ass.
-
Naruto won by a fart.
Unsurprising.
Sasuke won his fight and of course, fainted away because he exerted too much chakra.
Sakura thought about it again when of course her match up against Ino lit up on the marquee board. She didn’t want to chance Ino diving into her pool of thoughts. Her inner was gone probably because of her transmigration. It wouldn’t be hard to kick Ino out from invading her mind but there was a more pressing matter than beating Ino.
Ino was already down in the arena, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Are you coming down here or what, Forehead?”
Naruto was eagerly encouraging her while telling Ino to shut up. “Sakura-chan! You gotta go down there and beat her!”
Sakura pouted, “But Sasuke-kun’s not here to watch.”
The blonde only let that deflate him for a second, “But I’m here!”
“Blahh, I guess.” She said and flipped over the railing, landing neatly on the balls of her feet. “Sup, Pig?”
Ino was as indignant as ever, offended by the nickname.
Sakura had to admit--it was the most fun she’d had since becoming twelve again. It was the first time since coming back where she could fully focus on her problem and not her teammates.
“Did Sasuke-kun have to carry you all the way here?” Ino taunted.
Sakura laughed, “He sure did and it was wonderful.” Then she reached out to Ino inviting her to a handshake, “Let’s have a fair fight.”
Ino blinked, lips in a slack line before a smile inched the corners, grabbing her hand in a firm grip. “It’s not about Sasuke-kun this time.”
“It should have never been.” Sakura admitted. She released her hand and pointed to Ino’s lip, “Did you get hurt? You’re bleeding.”
Ino wiped her hand across her lip, scowling. “Chouji slammed into me.”
Sakura pointed to her own swollen eye, “Some weird snake dude tried to pull a fast one on me.” She pulled off her headband and tied it across her forehead. “For the record.” She added as she tightened a knot behind her.
Ino smirked, “Short hair looks good on you.” She complimented, genuinely.
Sakura tugged on the strands, “Thanks.” She pulled up a kunai, “You should try it out. I can help you.”
It was a game of tag after that. Ino entered her mind, Sakura kicked her out. Ino entered her mind, Sakura chased her around.
By the end of it, both girls were on their knees. Ino, frustrated because she couldn’t trap Sakura in her own mind and Sakura, just drained from making sure Ino didn’t touch any parts that would compromise her.
“Why isn’t it working?” Ino panted, wiping a bead of sweat that dared trickled down her forehead. Nine out of ten times, Ino would best Sakura in a spar. She didn’t want to think about this being the one chance where she couldn’t.
Sakura was winded too. “Can we just shake hands and call it a draw? Negotiation and diplomacy make up a good ninja too.” She eyed Hayate with a raised eyebrow.
He only coughed into the palm of his hand and averted his eyes away to the Third. Surprisingly, he was watching the fight intently.
Naruto shouted from the balcony, “You can’t do that Sakura-chan! You can beat her!”
Sakura glanced up to where her teammate was hollering with half the mind to tell him to shut up because she didn’t want to lose either. Kakashi was back, suddenly chilling with his book whipped out and Sasuke was probably out of commission since he was nowhere to be seen.
He was eyeing her from above the frame of his book.
Sakura scowled and straightened her body, rolling her neck to work out a couple of joints. Ino struggled to get up, taking on the brunt of a physical collapse under the strain of her technique.
“Why?”
“You fought well, Ino.” Sakura complimented her friend with warmth. “You are going to be a fine kunoichi in the future.” She said.
Ino swore this was not Sakura because this girl in front of her said with so much conviction like she knew Ino was going to be great. Ino knew she was going to be great and she didn’t need anyone to tell her that. But to hear it from Sakura, felt like it solidified her tenet.
Sakura walked over to the blonde who was now visibly struggling with labored breathing. Her eyes dilated. “I poisoned you.” She explained, pointing to her hand then Ino’s mouth.
“What…” Ino’s words slurred and her eyes rolled back before she collapsed. Sakura caught her with the intention of going down with her because she essentially had zero energy left to even hold herself up.
But she had to look good in front of Naruto.
Kakashi was there with a firm grip on her shoulder to keep her steady. His other hand gently transferred Ino over to Asuma.
“Poison?”
“Water hemlock.” She said, “Rubbed it on my hands before the match.” Digging into her pouch, she handed a small vial over to Asuma who was watching Sakura with one eye and Ino with the other as the medics hovered over his student trying to figure out what was wrong. “The antidote. Quickly.” She instructed Asuma.
She promptly passed out in Kakashi’s arms right after.
“You’ve got a good student.” Asuma said once he gave the antidote to the medics. They stared at it questioningly. “Go on, before my student dies.” Ino was starting to convulse which immediately subsided once they injected her with Sakura’s antidote.
Kakashi stared down at Sakura, “Seems like I do.”
-
Kakashi really considered Sakura’s words when she mentioned to him no favoritism this time around and that comment about ten years in the future.
No, no. That was impossible.
Was it?
He could call lightning to the tips of his fingertips. That was supposed to be impossible too.
The Haruno Sakura that got assigned to him was normal as she was profiled in her dossier. Then a shift happened. He didn’t have much time to contemplate any further when his team arrived with Naruto’s boisterous voice filling the empty air.
“You should have seen Sakura’s fight! It was boring since they didn’t do anything but Sakura-chan won.”
“That’s the best way you can win a fight.” Sakura argued her point. “But thanks.” She said dryly. “I suppose winning is winning even if by a fart.”
Naruto flushed in embarrassment at the jab.
“By not doing anything?” Sasuke scoffed.
“You work smarter not harder, Sasuke-kun” She retorted hotly. “Better than getting your ass handed to you.” She muttered.
The Uchiha pulled back in utter shock that Sakura, of all people, was saying he got his ass beat. Did he need to remind that all three of them got fucked over in the forest?
Kakashi was wondering where Sakura picked up her language from. Was she secretly hanging out with Anko? Is that how she knew about the curse seal? That would answer a lot of his questions, now that he thought about it.
“There was a fucking psycho that bit my shoulder--something you seemed to have known about.”
Sakura blinked at the accusation in his tone. She was about to slap his head a whole three hundred and sixty degrees when Naruto beat her to it.
“Hey.” He said, tone scathingly low, “Sakura-chan risked her life to save you so shut up if you don’t know anything and she warned us.”
“About snakes?” Sasuke frowned, “You were a whimpering twelve year old girl six months ago and now you know about snakes, forbidden seals--” He waved to his shoulder.
“Cursed seal.” Sakura corrected him.
He ignored her which was pretty impressive to do since he was talking to her, “And my brother.” Sasuke managed to get out without blowing an aneurysm. Naruto looked amazed that Sasuke was less than two seconds away from snapping at Sakura and that what she said actually bothered him. Sakura’s words never had a bearing on Sasuke before.
Well, that was before she started making sense and sounding smart. Smarter.
“Dude, cool it.” Naruto said, nudging his teammate. “Why are you so pissy? We all advanced to the finals. You can duke it out on the field if you’re matched up against Sakura-chan.”
Sasuke snorted, “Unlikely.”
Sakura lifted an eyebrow, “Ino is still in the hospital.” She reminded him, “Because I smudged a prickle of water hemlock on her. Seriously, nothing more than a speck that could barely be seen.”
“And?”
“And your brother is no traitor--maybe a little deranged but he loves you but you’re going to kill him anyway because you won’t listen to reason.”
Just kidding. She didn’t say that.
Sakura shrugged, “I’m just saying studying and applying that knowledge on the field is going to get you further than punching someone’s eyeball out.”
The Uchiha stared at her blankly before he blurted out, “Who are you?”
Naruto thought that was sage advice as he nodded his head, agreeing with Sakura because she was always the better person to agree with.
“Now now, children.” Kakashi decided to jump in despite being curious about who Sakura was as well, other than his supposed student. “I’ve arranged exclusive teachers for you to train with since you’ve all advanced to the finals.”
Of course.
-
“Are you from the future?” Kakashi asked her after the team dispersed with each of his students agitated with something. Sasuke with the fact that Kakashi wouldn’t start their training until tomorrow. Naruto because he got stuck with some no name Ebisu. Sakura left that one alone though.
Sakura because Kakashi completely dismissed her pointed advice of not taking on any favorites.
“What are you talking about, Kakashi-sensei?” She grumbled kicking a small pebble along the curbside of the bridge.
“There is no other explanation. That or you're an enemy that infiltrated Konoha, taken on the identity of Haruno Sakura and I’ll have to kill you right now, right here.” He said oh so blase as he picked his nails with a sharpened kunai but Sakura knew underneath that uncaring tone, he really meant it. He was going to kill her.
“I’m from the future.” Sakura immediately responded.
Kakashi clearly didn't believe her. She was sure he was trying to determine if she was certifiably insane and push her off to Ibiki.
“You were fine when you first got assigned to Team 7.” He recounted.
“I’m fine now.” She said.
“No more episodes?”
Sakura pursed her lips. It was safe to say she had full control of her twelve year old body. She wasn’t too sure where that soul went and she really really hoped it didn’t transmigrate to her twenty-four year old self cause damn that would be a hot mess.
She wondered if she died?
“Was there anything in my profile detailing an alter-ego?”
Kakashi blinked. “Schizophrenia?” He racked his brain. He probably should have paid attention a little more to her dossier but everything was so average about her when he perused her profile. He wished she was still average.
Sakura shook her head, “I think my alter-ego morphed into myself.” She was being as genuine and honest as possible. She was trying to tell him she was from the future without telling him, seeing as he didn’t believe her the first time she tried shoving his down his throat.
“So the medical nin-jutsu and fuin - you learned that all from your alter-ego.” Kakashi said, skeptically.
“Yes...my alter-ego that’s ten years in the future.”
“Right.”
“Right.” Sakura eyed the finger Kakashi had looped around the pommel of the kunai. “You’re not going to throw that at me, are you?”
“Of course not, I need to file down my nail.”
“Right.” Sakura inched away carefully, “Should we pretend this conversation didn’t happen?”
Kakashi was quiet. He actually believed she was from the future. There was that whole incident in Ronan where his memory was erased because they were involved with someone in the future. It wasn’t completely impossible but then that begs the question: why Sakura?
She was a paper ninja.
Until she became something more, Kakashi assumed.
“You know I can’t.” Kakashi said softly. “I may not have known Haruno Sakura well but --”
“You didn’t know me at all.” Sakura pointed out. “Not until I was on your team. But you know Sasuke-kun and Naruto. You will eventually know me too, sensei.”
“You are twelve, right?”
Sakura nodded, “Yup!” She chirped.
Kakashi wasn’t so sure but Sakura had already scurried along.
-
Well, all’s well that ends well, right?”
Gaara was such a tragic kid. It really broke her heart looking at him after hearing the full story from Naruto. There was a lot of grief in her heart for her friend.
Sakura forfeited her match against Shino with a lazy draw of her hand. He actually looked fairly disappointed and she wasn’t sure if it was because she was assumed to be an easy match up or challenging one.
Gaara and Sasuke took off with a near neck breaking pace, hopping over the large wall that was crumbling from the ambush. Sakura easily dispersed the genjutsu and gave Kakashi a drone look when he dramatically incapacitated an enemy that was about to slit her throat.
“I don’t suppose you knew this was going to happen too?” He asked her, stabbing a sound-nin in the eye with a kunai. She didn’t even flinch when the nin’s blood splattered across her collarbone. Kakashi was no longer expecting her to - because her supposed ten year older alter ego, of course.
“Course not.” She muttered, crouching low trying to spot Naruto.
“Nothing to do with why you forfeited the match against Shino?”
Sakura sighed, straightening. “Let’s talk later. I’ve been trying to talk to you and now you want to make conversation in the middle of an infiltration.”
“You don’t sound twelve.”
“Alter-ego.” She answered.
Kakashi waved her off.
She had to drag Shikamaru along, pinching him harshly on the thigh and seriously, it was always like pulling teeth with him.
Couldn’t forget Naruto either because he was the sole reason Gaara had a change of heart. Poor kiddos.
-
Naruto took off in the trees, climbing the branches with dexterity he pulled out of his ass when he saw Gaara go from crazy to insane. Sakura groaned when she felt her feet move itself to intercept Gaara’s attack headed straight for Sasuke.
Sakura swept low, grabbing Sasuke and hauling him out of the direction of danger that was Gaara. Sasuke shuddered under her hold, tearing his nails into her biceps as the cursed seal threatened to break under the multiple layers of fuin Kakashi masked.
“Sakura!” Pakkun barked at her.
A pit of sand came hurdling in her direction, shot from Gaara’s gourd in his volatile state. It caught her shoulder and ripped a good chunk of flesh from her. She screamed, dropping Sasuke unceremoniously fifteen feet from the ground. Naruto caught him right on time before his face became a pancake.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto screamed just as Gaara faltered. He put Sasuke down then slammed a kick into Gaara, sending him back several meters, buying them enough time for her to try to stay awake.
Pakkun hovered over her worriedly. “That’s a bad wound.” He sniffed her blood.
Ah, shit. She knew when her body couldn’t handle pain. She was going to pass out soon.
Sakura gripped Naruto’s hand, “Take care...of Gaara.” She whispered to him.
Naruto’s confused face was worth it.
-
The Third’s funeral took place on a grim day. She wasn’t feeling too dreary though, although she was sad Naruto lost someone he thought of as family. Sarutobi was not a good leader. He turned a blind eye to the Uchiha Massacre, covered up Danzo’s evil and let orphan kids fend for themselves.
Not cool.
He wasn’t a good leader but it didn’t necessarily make him a bad person. He was still kind, she guessed. She dropped a white carnation onto his casket, the movement causing her shoulder to twitch in pain. Glancing over at Naruto, she gently reached out and squeezed his hand, a moment of comfort for the both of them.
She gave Sasuke a rough pat on the back and remembered this was how it went. She really hoped she could go back to her timeline before shit hit the fan here.